Charles Apple

SATURDAY, 2 A.M.

I’m now officially in my last day here in Manila.

After the show ended, Peter, Kris, Tonia and I sat by the pool to kill a couple of beers. Then, we took a hotel car a few congested blocks away to this wonderful Spanish tapaz restaurant, where our hosts — the fine folks of The Manila Bulletin — treated us to an enormous spread that you wouldn’t believe. The amount of food was just staggering.

The speakers, from left: Famed Sydney-based newspaper consultant Peter Ong; yours truly; Tonia Cowan, graphics director of The Toronto Star; Kris Viesselman, editorial director of National Geographic maps in Washington, D.C.

I ate these enormous shrimp that seemed more like small lobsters. Their tasty little bodies even clung to their shells just like lobster.

I also ate a lot of other stuff that I’m not quite sure I ever identified — mostly chicken and pork. It was all very, very good; not in the least bit frightening. We washed it down with red wine and sangria.

Tonia and Kris warned me how sangria can sneak up on you, so I was careful not to overindulge. It really does taste like high-class Hawaiian Punch. You can’t detect the booze at all.

Through it all, a three-person guitar band serenaded us. Most of their songs seemed to be traditional Spanish or Filipino, but they slipped in a few Sinatra tunes as well. When they broke out in a really interesting version of “Dancing Queen,” however, we lost ourselves in a giggling fit.

Once we were done, we walked back to the hotel, passing through a nightclub district and then walking up the famous Manila baywalk, where live bands play and vendors sell food on the sidewalk. The place was alive with light and sounds. And to our left, we could see the distant lights of ships and barges on the bay.

It was a special evening for us all.

By the time we returned to the hotel, we didn’t really want it to end. Tonia had to leave us — she has an early flight Saturday — but Peter, Kris and I sat around the lobby and had a couple of San Miguels.

It’s kind of sad that our adventure is ending.

I signed up for a half-day tour of Manila, starting with the old Spanish ruins of Intramuros, across the street from the hotel. Kris wants to go, too, but she didn’t sign up yet. We’ll see tomorrow morning whether or not she can add herself to the group.

I’m not quite sure what I’ll do after that. I might pop back over to the mall. Or perhaps I’ll explore the area here a little more. I need to pack, though, because our flight to Detroit — Kris and I are on the same plane — leaves Manila at 6:45 a.m. Sunday. The folks here at the Manila hotel have already lined up a car for us, but they’ve urged us to check out by 3:15 a.m.

Kris’ plan: Just don’t go to bed Saturday night. Sounds good to me, too.

I’m not sure just how much juice I still have in my camera, but I’ll try to take and post more photos before I leave. I arrive in Norfolk mid-afternoon Sunday, EDT.

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