Daily Report: Epril's First A-GoGo

We woke up at 7:30 today and I spent the morning blogging while Epril went downstairs and did stuff with Maid Go, and then came upstairs and surfed the internet for a while.

I've bought a computer for Epril that I'm going to put in the living room downstairs for her to use so that she won't be web-surfing next to me while I am working (it is nice to have her around, but distracting), but I still need to get a monitor, a desk and chair, and a webcam for her. That will have to wait until payday next Friday, along with a mobile phone for her, a new digital camera, tickets for 2 visa runs to Penang, rent, and about 40,000 baht in bills. Grr... it sucks being in the red.

At about noontime, Epril, Go, and I went over to Geoff's house to pick up Epril's friend, Honey May, for the day. I had suggested she come over and the three of us would all eat a spaghetti lunch together, and Maid Go did cook spaghetti, Epril and Honey May opted for some comfort food: Some dried fish that Honey May smuggled into Thailand in her bags. (Bet that drove the drug-sniffing dogs at the airport crazy.)

In the afternoon, I went back to work. Epril and Honey May sat next to me and surfed Friendster for a while, visiting each other's relatives' and friends' pages. Then they went downstairs and fell asleep.

I can't figure that one out. Epril says she is sleeping the best she ever has in her life... and I don't doubt it: She has gone from sleeping on the hard floor with her 4 sisters in the jungle heat, just 5 feet away from the foot traffic of her village, with nothing but a porous and pock-marked wooden plank wall to keep out the noise... to a soft bed with several big fluffy pillows, big thick blankets, air conditioning, and complete silence. Yet, with the best sleep she has had in years, she still needs an afternoon nap.

In the evening, I finished work (2,000 lines... not what I wanted, which was 2,500 or 3,000... but a respectable amount anyway) and went downstairs and watched some TV. Mike came over and we watched "The Weakest Link" together, which is one of the best quiz shows ever in my opinion... although the British version has far too many Anglocentric questions for me to be able to answer many questions right. ("Who was the leader of the Labor party in 1956?")

At 8:00, Epril and I went out to TQ2, where we met up with Stan, Alf, Geoff, Russ, and Geordan. It was Epril's first time in a gogo bar, and although she knew what to expect, I still think she was a little discomfited with the bare breasts. ("That's illegal in the Philippines," she stated flatly. "Yeah... here too," I replied.) Mostly though, she was just uptight about the gogo dancers who came up to me while she was around. I explained to Epril afterwards that they were just looking for their daily dose of lady drinks from me... and I wouldn't be buying them any more drinks if Epril didn't want me to... except for my chubby old waitress friend, Nang... she's too sweet a lady to go without at least one ounce of liquid affection each time I visit. In the end though, Epril overall enjoyed herself and wants to go back to TQ2 again.

After TQ2, I promptly ruined my diet by buying some banana-chocolate roti at a stand in Marine Plaza, and then Epril and I hit McDonald's on the way home. That with the spaghetti lunch certainly was no good for my waist line. Oh well... the diet starts tomorrow.

Got the third day of my Philippines trip report written... scroll down or click here to read it.