Yesterday - Part II - The first meeting

That day we went around Manila. Bing and Liza (her friend) took me to same shopping centres. They never left me alone even for a second! She was worried that, being foreigner, some people would kidnap me. We went in jewellery and, since was December 26, we decided to buy a couple of rings, engagement rings in gold with a diamond (the seller said). We asked to print, inside the ring, our meeting date: December 25, 2000.

We spent all the day and, at night Bing, this time, stayed with me. We were alone, for the first time, for all the night!

We slept also because the jet lag wasn’t completely absorbed by me.

I don’t remember exactly what we did the second day but I remember that we were together, during the day also with Liza, and in the night only the two of us.

We left Manila for going to visit Bing’s mother. Was a trip really long, not for the distance but for the hours that took: around 12 for running about 400 km. We travelled in a “long distance deluxe bus” and I noted the air conditioner was set to “max”: inside the bus was cold and, when the bus stopped, I went out. Outside around 30 C° degrees, inside I think near 20C°!

In the Philippines they never wear heavy cloths, but only when they have to travel on those buses! Who hadn’t anything warm to wear, was trying to close the holes from where the cold air was coming out.

I met her mother (her father died some years ago) and her siblings. Her youngest brother and her sister that had been working in Singapore weren’t already married. Roque, I met in Manila, and Virgin was married with children.

Her mother wasn’t able to speak English so Bing had to translate for us.

I was accepted in a very good way; I felt like if we have known for years.

Once again, Bing was taking care about me and many times she helped me since she knew I felt embarrassed.

I met also her relatives: one of her ants was a photographer and she took same pictures of us with my camera.

We weren’t able to sleep together, obviously.

We spent there only two days and then she brought me back to Manila.

Unfortunately, our time was running fast and soon I had to prepare to come back in Italy.

Once in Manila, after other 12 hours trip, we visit, always with Liza, a big park there, called Luneta.

We went also to another big mall where I bough some gift to take back home for my parents.

Since, during the trip to Manila, she lost her mobile phone, I remember we went also to a shop to buy a new one for her.

She was shame and she wasn’t able to choose anything. At the end I choose for her a Nokia.

To convince her I had to tell her I need she had a mobile phone, otherwise we wouldn’t be able to listen each other’s voice!

Only when I was back in Italy she explained to me why she was so shame: a mobile phone costs more or less the amount she earns in one month! For me at that time was around 400.000 Liras.

Just the day before the last, we celebrated our first New Year Eve. It wasn’t so happy, because we spent the hours before just packing all the things and filling my luggages.

I remember we weren’t in the right mood to have fun and we drunk only coca cola and orange juice (what we found in the hotel refrigerator). When was midnight, we kissed and we went out on the balcony to see some fireworks, far from us.

The atmosphere in Manila, during Christmas time, is different from that one I used to feel in Italy.

Here Christmas is only a rush time where all people is travelling from a shop to another, looking for something to buy that could be “strange”, “new”. Doesn’t matter if the day after Christmas the thing you receive will go at the bottom of a sac or a drawer, where you forget it for the rest of your life.

In the Philippines people hasn’t so much money to buy many gift. For them is still better to spend some hour with a person that lives far or abroad, is better to go to the Church (always full of people). In few words, we are living a “commercial” Christmas, they are living a “spiritual” one.

This is a big difference that, still now, Bing cannot forget.

My week there was near to end. During those days we learned some other little thing about us. We found also a “sound track” for our story: we had TV in our room and, in the morning, we used to watch it. There was a channel whose transmission was always karaoke. We tried also to sing the songs and, obviously, she was much better than me. Anyway, among all the songs, at that time, we liked “Against all odds”, not the original version by Phil Collins, but that one sung by Mariah Carrie.

Considering now the title and the original singer, it is strange to note that:

Against all odds was really what we would have to do until our wedding and that Phil is the “short” name for Philippines!

What we learned better was that we could think about a wedding.

It was strange, but we never asked each other “do you want to marry me?”. It wasn’t necessary.

We begun to think about marriage in September, when we had been in touch only through MSN.

We always said that, after the meeting, we would be able to decide. It was what we did.

We discovered we can live together, even if only for few days. We spent days and nights hugging ourselves and kissing ourselves also. We didn’t make love, that week. To be sincere, I though it could happen but, when I understood the kind of person I had in front of me, I realized that one night of sex doesn’t have the same meaning of a life with her. Bing deserved my respect to her, to her ideas, may be wrong, may be right. We were deciding to spend a life together: sure we would have many other chances to have sex!

January 1st was the worse day for me there. Only few hours separated me from the time I had to leave Manila.

We spent that time sadly. I had to stay at the airport about three hours before the departure time and, I learned people isn’t allowed to accompany friends and relatives inside the airport but they have to say hello to them outside.

I cried a lot: I was too sad to leave her. I don’t know what she though about me, but really I felt like I was loosing her and I was worried.

I entered in the airport and few seconds before I saw her and Liza going away with the taxi!

My first week with Bing was definitely ended. Now another challenge was waiting for us: prepare all documents for our wedding!