The more astute readers will notice that its been over a month since I posted anything. Clearly the blogging apathy has hit, which any blogger will recognise as something which happens once the lustre of your shiny new blog begins to dull. But there are more sinister forces at work. I fear I may have been infected by the Philippines Treacle Syndrome.
This deadly wasting disease is most prominent on a Friday afternoon. It causes ordinary tasks to take several times longer than they usually should. Here are some examples:
Buying Ibuprofen in Mercury Drug:
You walk into the store. There are 6 staff in the shop, and 2 customers. You stride to the counter, behind which are 4 of the staff. They instantly stare intently at pieces of paper in front of them. Some try to run out the back door. Some duck under the counter. Eventually one will have to talk to you …
Last week I had to go to immigration to renew my visa. I'd been there a couple of months ago, and although the process was long-winded and expensive, it didn't cause me too much pain. Therefore when I revisited the office last week, in the Intramuros district of Manila, I was entirely unprepared for the seven circles of hell which awaited.
The Philippines is not blessed with the best electricity system in the world, and its certainly not the cheapest, so it makes sense in some ways that they're a little careful with it. But how that manifests itself is sometimes broken, sometimes scary, and sometimes a little of both.