Working out, Philippine Style

So, while talking to my coworkers who had been to Philippines previously, they all said that there wasn't much to do there. Somehow, I didn't believe them. I mean, Manila has 20 MILLION PEOPLE! HOW CAN THERE BE NOTHING TO DO?

Well, the long and the short answer is that there's a lot to do, but you don't want to do it. Why?
TRAFFIC.

That whole 20 million people thing.

We'd end our typical day at 6 AM, eat some breakfast and then figure out what to do for the day.  We were in Eastwood, Quezon City, by the Pasig river (The Pasig goes through all of the town). It takes about 30 minutes to get to the business district if you're not in high traffic.
But if you are, it could take 2 hours.  Paying for a 2 hour taxi ride is a bit lame.

If you wanted to go somewhere around 8 AM, when the city formally opens, you'd be leaving at rush hour, which means you'd be waiting about 2 hours in traffic to get to the touristy part of town or to the Bay, which has a lot of historic features. Alas, you'd get there at 10 AM, walk around for awhile, and then have to come home, thus getting stuck in daytime traffic again, and ending up with no time to sleep before work. Alas, we opted to not go anywhere except on the weekends.

The replacement item for not traveling or sightseeing during the day is to work out at the gym on the top floor of the hotel.  It also had a semi-peaceful pool when it wasn't crowded. I did, however, start to notice that nothing smelled like chlorine. In my paranoia, I opted to not swim in it at all after the second week. Too many kids could pee in it. And if I can't smell purifying chemicals, it's not worth the risk at all.

So instead I went on the treadmill. At that time, I hadn't really worked out consistently for awhile--I'd marathon trained, but that was over in June and I didn't pick up working out again until August/September for this trip.

The gym was great, though. There were people on staff to give you tailored work outs. It was like getting your OWN PERSONAL TRAINER EVERY DAY! The best part was at the end of the workout, they would stretch your muscles, everywhere, for you. And massage your head and shoulders through your towel. HELLO, I love this!  I started to spend about 2 hours a day at the gym and by the end  of the trip, it had paid off. (a little)