Off to Manila

Three people on a honeymoon

[A note to readers, especially those who were there: I'm writing this in late July, nearly three months after the fact, and without notes. So some details may be a bit misplaced or hazy. But the gist is right, I think; correct me if you know otherwise.]

The day after the Big Day found us heading down to Hong Kong Airport for a brief flight to Manila.

Social butterflies that we are, we had invited friends to come along on our honeymoon. (This was the May 1 holiday, so most of our friends would have the week off.) And one of them, Adam, our "Person of Honor," said "Take me along!" (Who else do you know that has had a "group honeymoon"?)

So off we went. And Adam showed us something cool: If you've flown through HKIA three times in a year, you can register for a kind of "Frequent Flyer" card that gets you express service. So he was through the immigration line well before us. We registered for the cards on our return trip.

Next stop after Immigration: Burger King! As far as we know, this is the only BK in HK--inside the departure area, for ticketed passengers only. We love the Veggie Whopper, so we were thrilled to note on our way back home that there is now a BK outside the ticketed area; we can cruise down for a burger and fries anytime.

Photo by Jesse

A word about Adam: He, like Lila and me, is a vegetarian [as is, come to think of it, Jesse the photographer!] In fact, the way we met was rather cool. Lila had posted a notice online about the yoga classes she organizes, and Adam, a newcomer to Shenzhen, had queried her about them. When she told me, I noted the name: first, because another friend named Adam had just left SZ, and second, because he shares a family name with the closest "branch" on my family tree: the Woods. So, the following weekend, when Lila was here, I got an email from an "Adam Wood" asking about my Sunday-morning Buddhist discussions. "Hey, Honey," I yelled to her in the living room, "Didn't some guy named Adam Wood write to you...?" He found both of us online in the same week! We're still close friends; as I write this in late July 2007, we had just spent our entire Sunday with Adam and a couple of other close friends, first at a buffet, then grocery shopping for prepackaged Indian food (well, Lila went; I skipped that part), then watching a movie at home and eating some of that Indian food.

Anyway, back to the airport: as we three veg-heads sat savoring our burgers, I suddenly realized: we were late! The gate would be closing in minutes. Adam's built for speed, and he sprinted through the airport. (Try that in the Land of Homeland Security and see what happens). Lila was close behind, and me--well, not so close. But we made it.

An uneventful flight to Manila, followed by check-in at our home-in-Manila, Malate Pensionne. Dinner was the usual trip to Mexicali in Robinsons Mall, but with a twist: We love their vegetarian food, and had really built it up to Adam. But when we got there the girl told us they hadn't had their vegetable delivery that day! And we were leaving the next morning, so we'd have to wait until the end of the week for our veggie-burger "fix"!

I think we ate panini that night...?

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