"There is no room available for you at Diamond hotel" , the med rep said and he explained some more.
His company wants to book me at Manila Hotel, but I didn't want to stay there. The food they are feeding the convention delegates are awful. The delegates get to eat breakfast in a different room where they serve double mashed scrambled eggs in a large tray, fried meat , some low end corned beef and rice. Of course, there were the usual loaves of bread, butter, juices, small pieces of cakes and cereals. ( I think the food looks a little yukky in comparison to other hotel breakfast I had before.)
I smiled at him. " It's okay". I said. He then asked me if I'm really okay with it because there were other doctors they can sponsor.
Of course I'm okay with it. I don't live to be sponsored by a drug company.
I was already thinking of who to call for at this time. I might just be too late to ask for another company to sponsor my accommodation for the convention. But what the heck, I've had my share of not having sponsors anyways, what difference will it make now. Besides, if I'm going to be indebted to a company, I would like to have some good breakfast... hahaha.
For some odd moments, I remembered Jina the med rep who I met for the first time a few years ago. She came up to my clinic one time , and she introduced herself. She offered a never-heard multivitamins which were very expensive. The deal was ten plus one... meaning, if I get 10 bottles of medicines , I get one bottle free. And during that time, I can only afford ten bottles of the medicine. She was insisting that I get something like the lowest deal which was worth 30,000 pesos...that's 200 bottles. That's way more than I can afford.
I declined graciously.
She visited me next few times still offering the same deal. The truth is I don't have enough money for a large inventory and at the rate my patients are coming, it just might take me a decade to consume them. That's way out of my league.
After a few more visits, she stopped coming and stopped getting signature too. Perhaps, I was not big enough for her. Whenever I see her around ( btw, she's still going to the doctors beside my clinic.) I can feel that she intentionally skip out my clinic. And sometimes when there is an awkward moment when we meet eye to eye, although she knew I wouldn't buy anything from her, she'd still burst out saying "Let's make a deal doctora." like she meant it. On most days, I react with a smile, and on other days , I squint my eyes a little and show my teeth.
A few days ago , I saw med rep Jina again. She came to my clinic offering to have my prescription pads made by her company ...which was odd...considering that I rarely see her and she never bothered entering my clinic for a long time. (What does she need in exchange...hmmm)
I declined and told her that my clinic can pay for those. I squinted a little and showed her my teeth. I hope she doesn't come back anymore, I don't like her.
Anyway, back to my "no room available"... I really don't like asking for drug companies for favors. So, I have decided I wasn't going to ask.
A few days passed.
Another med rep came and told me that there is a room for me at Diamond Hotel.
"Wow, really? That's great! I'll take it." Hahaha...Yey...but wait, I must not show my excitement. I must look professional.
Then a few days later, another med rep came up. She was pleading to sponsor my hotel accommodation. (What the heck! I think the stars are in my favor these days ,or It's more like... she really need sales.)
She's a nice person. She works really hard. I can tell. (hahaha... talk about rationalization)
I told her that I already had a booking at Diamond Hotel and if she still eagerly wants to sponsor me, it has to be a room at Diamond hotel too. (I'm taking my children and their cousins, if this happens...hahaha.)
This is life's bonus.
I knew getting a room at these kinds of hotels is next to impossible. That's because all multinational drug companies reserved all these rooms for their sponsored delegate.
This med rep called me up and confirmed what I knew all along...there was no available room at diamond hotel, but there was a room available at Midas Hotel.
"I'm sorry, but I can't stay in two different hotels with children in tow, you can sponsor me next year if you still want to. " I said, turning her down.
Anyway,
Whatever she did...she got me another room at Diamond Hotel...fantastic.
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| Manila Bay |
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| They were looking at this magnificent looking yacht at Manila Bay. |
We took the kids to the Manila International Auto Show which was more like the PPS convention. Their main difference was the price of the ticket: entrance fee at MIAS is 100 pesos, while PPS was less than 3000 pesos.
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| Manila International Auto Show Tickets |
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| There were die cast collections |
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| There were girls willing to let their tattoo be pictured. |
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| We saw snow white;-) |
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| And we saw darna;-) |
The person who enjoyed it the most is my husband...who got to see a lot of cars, spare parts, tires and ,of course, pretty girls.
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| Typical surgeon |
We've gone to the metropolitan museum. But picture taking in unallowed to specific parts of the museum... only this part is allowed.
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| Metropolitan Museum Tickets |
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| Temporary Exhibit from Japan |
The Kids were excited to see the Japanese artworks. They were anime after all.
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| Pictures were allowed in this area |
I don't have pictures at the PPS convention.
What is there to see: women lining up to receive freebies from medical companies, old pediatricians cutting into lines...because they are old(, they can get away with it) products like syringes, nebulizers, scrub suits for sale, and lectures, of course. Pretty boring.
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