I was headed out to dinner in Mandaluyong, an city within the greater Manila area on the north side of the Pasig River. I wandered into the Blackwood Bar & Grill and immediately found out this was a bar targeting expats as their clientele – their prices notified me in no uncertain terms. I just didn’t feel comfortable in this bar, I just didn’t like it but needed to hang around a while.

Still, I was waiting to meet friends for dinner and and had to hang around for a couple of gin and tonic. I quickly noticed the service wasn’t up to the standard of the decor. Maybe because I was an interloper in their area, I wasn’t taken seriously – I was just ignored. This is apparently a bar where local expats meet for a Sunday afternoon drink, this was early Saturday evening and I just wasn’t feeling the love. Regardless, if I wanted a refill I had to chase them down, paying the bill seemed to be an almost impossible request – who would have thought?