Visit with Mom and Dad

Last week my parents came all the way from Reno to Manila for a very quick very sweet visit! It was the most fun I have had since I have been here not to mention it was wonderful to have a little bit of home here in the Matrix. What is the Matrix? The Matrix is what they call Eastwood City, it is about a 2 mile radius, there is a mall, a movie theater, restaurants, and a bowling alley, it is also where I live and work. It is totally different from the rest of Manila, there is no traffic, a cluster of people or smog. My parents arrived on Monday later in the evening, I picked them up and we went straight to my apartment. My mom and dad both commented on the traffic and the amount of people, here in Manila, it isn't hard to imagine 11.1 million people living here, you just have to look out the window and see for yourself. They also were exposed to the shanty town near the airport, it is always a humbling moment when you drive by because the poverty is so obvious. I really didn't have that big of an agenda while my parents were here, the goal was to be able to work and visit so living so close to work made it really easy to go and have a quick lunch or dinner with them. I did take Thursday and Friday off so we could go and explore. The one and only thing my dad asked me to look into was going to Corregidor. Corregidor is a small island about 20km outside of Manila Bay, it has a memorial for WWII Philippine and American Soldiers who lost their lives fighting the Japanese. I read a little about how to get to and from but like most things here, it was very vague and everyone I asked had a different answer. We woke up really early (6am) to drive all the way to Manila (logistically it is only 20miles away from me, but traffic wise its about 1 hour.) We got to the "port" only to find out that the boat had already left and that there was only one boat. THAT SUCKS! So me being quick on my feet held the driver and told him to take us to GreenHills. AWE Greenhills, a safe haven....GreenHills is a "mall" here where you can buy knock off designer brands for super cheap. I hadn't gone, because I was saving the experience to share with my Mom. It was so much fun, I ended up getting the most stuff (not surprising). I bought a ton of "Louis Vouitton" and "Gucci" bags for $150! It was intense bargaining and dealing with the culture of GreenHills but all and all it was a great time! Friday we decided to go around Manila and explore. We went to the American WWII cemetery where over 17000 American Soldiers are buried. It was unbelievable! It was quite, clean and green, I almost forgot where I was for a minute. It was not as nice as Arlington but it had the same emotional effects. It is just an unreal thought to me on how many lives were lost during WWII. After the cemetery we went to Intermuros. Intermuros is an old Spanish fort (built during the 1500's). The best part about Intermuros was they had a 9 hole Par 3 course around it which again was one of the only places I have seen green here. We didn't play golf, but now I know where to take Sam. Later on that night we enjoyed Shabu Shabu, Shabu Shabu is a Japanese meal where you "boil" your food in a big pot in the middle of the table. It usually consists of fish, veggies and meat. It was really good and an even better experience! I highly recommend it. Saturday was their last day so we took it easy, slept in, went to the gym and they packed. I was really sad to see them leave. It really made me more homesick then I was before they came. All week I kept thinking about the first time they came to visit me in Spain and towards the end of that trip how much I was "ready" to have them go back home. Here it is really different, I have my reasons why I am homesick, I'm sure you can guess why, but I will keep the reasons to myself. :) Enjoy some of the picture! The video is pretty self explanatory, but in case you can't figure it out, it is a "typical" day in Manila when it comes to traffic here.

To all the Pinas

So now that I have been here for over 5 weeks I felt that it was necessary to write a few things that get under my skin about the Philippines and the people here. Please take this light hearted because over all this place is great!

1. STOP STARRING AT ME! Yes! I'm white, yes I'm tall and yes I'm about twice your size, but seriously its not like you have never seen a white person before. You all stare at me like I'm about to jump on a giant ball and walk around with a bowling pin on top of my head. It's rude and just plain creepy.

2. TAXI DRIVERS: STOP HONKING AT ME! When I'm crossing the street it is not necessary for you to honk at me. I DO NOT NEED A RIDE ACROSS THE STREET! Not to mention, if I'm walking and not hailing you down it means I don't need a ride....I'm not going to suddenly change my mind and decide to jump into you cab to go to god knows where.

3. STOP BLASTING THE AC LIKE A MEAT FREEZER! I don't understand you people....its hot outside, yes....but that doesn't mean that 40*F inside the freaking mall is a good idea especially since I'm wearing a tank top and shorts. Its just out of control and a huge waste of power!

4. HOLD THE DOOR OPEN! I don't understand why when someone is right behind you, you don't hold the door. It is so unbelievably rude!

5. HOLD THE ELEVATOR! I mean I'm right behind you is it seriously necessary to push the button to close the elevator right when I'm about to get on it?! One of you almost took my hand with you.

6. WALK FASTER! I mean yes, naturally I'm a fast walker, but is it completely uncalled for to pick up the pace a little bit? Especially when you all walk so close to each other, I can't get passed you and that just annoys me even more. Not to mention, when you are walking and you decide to stop! I mean really? You're blocking my way and I just want to get on the escalator.

7. STOP TRYING TO SELL ME YOUR SHIT! I don't want your fake watches, I don't want to buy bread on the road, I don't want to buy fruit while waiting for the light to change, I don't want a message on the side of the road and I especially don't want the wooden mask that looks like an elephant!

8. COVER YOUR MOUTH WHEN YOU COUGH! So nasty....several times I have been on the elevator and someone decides to cough their lung out. When spit is coming out of your mouth I want to vomit. It's not hard and I'm sure you wouldn't have to wear a face mask if everyone followed this common courtesy.

9. I'M A MISS! I get the whole Ma'am and Sir thing, that's fine....but when you call me a "Sir Ma'am" I want to slap you. It's bad enough that some of you use Ma'am way to much that it almost comes across as being sarcastic.

AND FINALLY

10. MY SHOE SIZE IS NOT GIANT! I'm a size 9 in US a size 40 in Europe. This is not a size that is uncommon in the rest of the world. If you don't' have my size, that's fine, just say, "sorry we don't' have that size" not, "whoa, we don't carry that giant of a shoe."

Thank you Sir Ma'm

My very first trip outside of Manila was to Boracay! Boracay is about 200 south of Manila, it is famous for its "White Beach," White Beach is about 4 miles of the whitest, softest, sand where the crystal clear ocean water washes up with quite and small waves. It is pretty much right up there with heaven on earth! Boracay is made up of districts they aren't very different from one another nor are they far, for example from district one to two its about 500 meters.
The flight was just about 45 mins (the airport is on a smaller island next to Boracay) when we arrived the hotel had picked us up, we hopped on a Tuk-Tuk, from the Tuk-Tuk we took a boat to Boracay, from there we took a bus to the hotel. The Hotel was great. Anna, Iris and I shared a Bungalow tucked away into a nice and green garden. When you walked out of the hotel it walked right into White Beach.
Because we left early Saturday morning so we wasted no time heading right to the beach. We spent the whole day on the beach drinking San Miguel beers and soaking in the sun. Saturday night we went out and had a wonderful meal of FRESH seafood. We ate like kings for about $30 bucks! It was insane, I had lobster, king prawns and salad and it was amazing. Later we walked down along the sand path to a bar called Mint. We made friends very quickly with the bar manager who was from New Zealand who had hired a singer who took our requests all night long. At one point, I even got up to sing with the guitar player! Yeah a lot of liquid courage went with that!

Sunday was a different story, we woke up to rain, rain and even more rain. Iris (my co-worker) and I went to "The Red Coconut" for lunch and then walked along the little shops and passed the time looking at all the little things that people handmade. We then went swimming in the rain. The water is so therapeutic here, it is so warm and calming you can just spend hours in the water if you want to. We then went back to the same restaurant and had a nice and romantic dinner! HA! It was really funny Iris and I made jokes all day that we were the "straight" partners on the island. Boracay is definitely somewhere you would go on a romantic holiday and here we were hanging out with each other all day NOT on a romanic holiday.

Boracay is a great CHEAP place to go. I would highly recommend going if you ever get close enough to go. The people are extremely welcoming and happy to see you.

Enjoy the pictures I took from Boracay!