Silver Whisper in Manila
Silver Whisper is part of Silver Seas, a group of cruise ships. It docked on Manila's pier on the second day of March. Maria, a fellow Mabuhay Guide, and I were asked to report to the tour operator's office at 6:00 a.m. for a briefing.
We met veteran guides who have been doing their jobs for more than 30 years! We had a brief chat before boarding the bus.
When we entered the pier, we saw a very huge ship. It's my first time to see something like that, a floating hotel.
Maria just had to pose:
The call time for my tour was really at 10:30 a.m. I don't know why I was called early but I didn't mind at all. While waiting for my group, I saw guests leaving the ship for their arranged transportation. Some took the shuttle bus to the Mall of Asia, some went to Marikina, some to Quezon Province, while the others had their city tour.
Later on, I found out that I will be guiding a couple of Australian tourists. My lady guest saw me waiting in front of the ship. She motioned that I was too early and I used my hands to say that it's perfectly all right.
Mr. and Mrs. Drummond rode a specially hired sedan with a burly man named Jenny as our driver. Mr. Drummond took out a piece of paper to show his itinerary:
Mr. Drummond also said that his wife would like to shop in Carriedo. Jenny and I felt that their safety might be compromised. It's a good thing that we were able to convince them to change the itinerary. I told them that I know a good place in Makati where it sells high-quality Philippine products.
We drove to Binondo and passed by Tondo. The couple was looking for shanties.
Mr. Drummond explained:
When we reached Makati, his wife began to get teed off. She wanted her cigarette break but we're in Makati, a city where it's illegal to smoke in vehicles so she had to wait until we reach Tesoro's. Her husband mentioned the Nielson Tower along the way and as we were about to take a turn to see it, the lady guest quickly tapped her husband to protest.
Obviously, Mr. Drummond had to give way.
We went inside Tesoro's to shop while Mrs. Drummond finished her cigarette. They got pieces of jewelry boxes and two wooden figurines. I informed the couple that Tesoro's shall use the "commission" of the Mabuhay Guide as discount to items bought by their guests. This really pleased them. We dropped them off afterwards to the Manila Hotel for some drinks and waited for 30 minutes.
We picked them up on time and went back to their ship. Mr. Drummond said that they had a great tour after many visits in the Philippines and handed a generous tip to me and Jenny. I thanked them both as they left the car.
The tour ended before 1:30 p.m. It's one hot day to see a silver whisper right in front of you. A great tour to define a good day.
We met veteran guides who have been doing their jobs for more than 30 years! We had a brief chat before boarding the bus.
When we entered the pier, we saw a very huge ship. It's my first time to see something like that, a floating hotel.
Maria just had to pose:
The call time for my tour was really at 10:30 a.m. I don't know why I was called early but I didn't mind at all. While waiting for my group, I saw guests leaving the ship for their arranged transportation. Some took the shuttle bus to the Mall of Asia, some went to Marikina, some to Quezon Province, while the others had their city tour.
Later on, I found out that I will be guiding a couple of Australian tourists. My lady guest saw me waiting in front of the ship. She motioned that I was too early and I used my hands to say that it's perfectly all right.
Mr. and Mrs. Drummond rode a specially hired sedan with a burly man named Jenny as our driver. Mr. Drummond took out a piece of paper to show his itinerary:
We drove to Binondo and passed by Tondo. The couple was looking for shanties.
Mr. Drummond explained:
We just wanted to see how lucky we are.We weren't able to find them in Tondo. We passed by Carriedo then experienced Manila traffic on our way to Makati City. Mr. Drummond and I talked about the present social condition, the happy demeanor of Filipinos, political history, and the Marcoses. We then saw the sought-after shanties along Quirino Avenue. He immediately took some pictures while in awe.
When we reached Makati, his wife began to get teed off. She wanted her cigarette break but we're in Makati, a city where it's illegal to smoke in vehicles so she had to wait until we reach Tesoro's. Her husband mentioned the Nielson Tower along the way and as we were about to take a turn to see it, the lady guest quickly tapped her husband to protest.
Obviously, Mr. Drummond had to give way.
We went inside Tesoro's to shop while Mrs. Drummond finished her cigarette. They got pieces of jewelry boxes and two wooden figurines. I informed the couple that Tesoro's shall use the "commission" of the Mabuhay Guide as discount to items bought by their guests. This really pleased them. We dropped them off afterwards to the Manila Hotel for some drinks and waited for 30 minutes.
We picked them up on time and went back to their ship. Mr. Drummond said that they had a great tour after many visits in the Philippines and handed a generous tip to me and Jenny. I thanked them both as they left the car.
The tour ended before 1:30 p.m. It's one hot day to see a silver whisper right in front of you. A great tour to define a good day.
