Manila

Despite all of its flaws, Manila’s evening skyline, just like any metropolitan city, glistens with excitement and beauty when the moon rises and darkness falls.  I stood on top of the thirty plus floor by the pool, watching the cars clogging the Manila streets with bright headlights and brake lights.  How I appreciate arriving home early and having had a chance to dip in the pool.  It has been my 11^th month living in Manila and avoiding traffic has been the determinant of all of my schedules.  For example, there will be no social events for me on Saturday afternoons or evenings while the Filipino socialites roam the city hotspots to see and be seen.  The best day of the week to zoom and buzz around town for heathens like me is Sundays while the Filipinos spend their time with families or repent at churches.  The point is, abiding by the navigation schedule makes Manila an extremely exciting and attractive city, especially from the pool-side on the thirty plus floor on a weekday traffic jammed evening.

Just as the navigation schedules, my lifestyle is adjusted to suit Manila but it does not evolve around my agenda or means.  This reality may be difficult for someone to adjust to coming from the States, after all, AT&T and Sprint are the only oligopolists that dare to challenge the patience of their customers.  Living in Manila, patience and gratitude are the virtues that I had amassed.  These days, with great indebtedness, I thank the cable guy, the security guard, my helper, my driver, building maintenance engineer, internet representative, bank receptionist, and grocery store cashier, from the bottom of my heart, for doing their jobs with some sort of competency.  “Mam, for a while” translates into your next few hours will be spent here dealing with this issue.  “Mam, you cannot avail…” means no matter how much money you have or how much time you care to spend on this issue, the rule book says DOES NOT APPLY TO YOU even though it defies your Western logic. 

Manila rules my life, I concede. 

The peculiarities of being presided over by Manila and its culture make living in this city a wild, cultivating, and novel experience for a foreigner like me.

Whale sharks

Donsol is situated on the Northwest of Sorsogon Bay.  The municipality developed its tourism industry based off of whale shark sightings in the Philippine Sea.  The migration pattern of the sharks attracts visitors from all over the world from October through May to Donsol.  As many travel magazines and tour guides will tell you, it’s not whether you see a whale shark, it is how many of these gentle giants you will see when you go on the whale shark spotting boat ride.  Iris, Lucy, and I rented snorkeling gears, haggled to form a 6 party boat, and watched a whale shark sighting training video, and patiently waited until the next morning for the world renowned whale shark interaction.  We woke up early, gobbled down our breakfast, put on our swimming suits, lathered on sunscreen, and headed to the boat dock for the spotting trip.

The municipality whale shark awareness video warns the tourists that only 30 boats are allowed in the sea at any given time, each boat has three hours on the ocean to spot whale sharks, and there are only three boats permitted per one whale shark to minimize disturbance of the whale sharks habitat.  We boarded the whale shark spotting boat with our spotters and the first thing that I noticed was how loud the boat was.  Can we really spot a whale shark with this kind of noise?  Aren’t we supposed to be covert?  The 30 plus boats fanned out into the sea with sun-burnt spotters hanging on top of the boats searching for shadows in the water.  The breeze of the ocean, the dark tan of the guides, the calm water, and the enthusiastic tourists, all pointed to seeing the amazing creature.  “This is too easy”, I thought to myself, “they must have cornered to whale sharks to be this confident about the sighting”

 There was a buzz over the walkie-talkie, something was said, then our boat sped up.  Far away, a circle of boats was forming and our boat headed to that direction.  Tourists in snorkeling gears from a couple of boats were in the ocean when we got there.  Our whale shark guide told us “get ready NOW!” We put on our masks and fins, followed the guide’s instruction, and formed a line on one side of the boat, awaited his signal to slide in the water.  It was a frenzy as the boats gathered.  The 30 some boats formed a large circle, the tourists in the water were looking for the whale sharks, the people on board were geared up on the side of the boat waiting to slip into the ocean, the non-swimmers were taking pictures of the tourists in their fins and masks.  Even though the spotters, guides, and boat captains were yelling in a different language, I was focused, breathing under my mask, waiting for the whale shark moment. 

“False alarm, there’s no whale shark.” The tourists that were in the water got fished out.  We took off our snorkeling equipment and returned to our seats in disappointment.  Three hours went by quickly and it was time to turn back to shore.

Iris and I figured it must just be our luck that we didn’t see the whale shark on our first try.  Given the video and accounts of our colleagues, we headed out to the sea that very afternoon.  The boats fanned out from the dock, the spotters got in position, the enthusiasm of the tourists were not dampened.  This time, there was no false alarm, we rode for another three hours without seeing anything, not even wet tourists!

Do you know what Iris and I want to do after not seeing the whale sharks after two trips?  We want to return to Donsol with more people, our own hired boat, and spend a day on the sea until we see the elusive gentle giant! 

Road Trip

Easter week is one of the busiest travel weeks in the Philippines.  People flock out of Manila and return to their “provinces” to observe the holy week with their families.  If planning in advance isn’t your forte, it is most likely you’d be left behind in Manila or you’d have to venture the provincial highways. 

The last minute nature of Lucy’s trip and our desire to see the whale sharks in Donsol left us only with the driving option.  Iris and I briefly researched our destinations, tapped into our local travel connections, booked a few hotels, and we were set for the trip.  Against the advice of our Filipino colleagues of hiring a driver, we got a hold of a GPS and left for our destination.  The road trip rules were simple: 1) we will not stop in Quezon Province and 2) we will not drive after nightfall.

We left Iris’ at 6:40am.  Not counting the time that we got lost in Manila (yes, with a GPS) and stopping in Jolibee (Philippines' national fast food chain) it took us about 9 hours to arrive in Naga City.  Even though google map suggested that the trip to our final destination was 6 hours, checking with our local friends with ‘provincial’ knowledge paid off.  We were still about 4 hours away from Donsol after arriving Naga.

Naga Cathedral in the dusk was strangely beautiful.  The facade of the building was old, historical, detailed, as if it has stood in Naga City for centuries.  Yet, on top of the Cathedral, there was a cheap-looking electric cross beaming blue neon light into the night sky.  That evening, because of Easter, a mass was in session and the church was filled with followers.  The peaceful ceremony was a stark contrast to the buzzing Naga City traffic surrounding the Cathedral’s courtyard.

Lucy, Iris, and I took a trike to the San Francisco church, wondered around town on foot after the two church visits, and eventually arrived at the Chinese restaurant for a small feast before heading to bed.  The next morning, we'd find a flat tire but fortunately it only took P60 to patch up.  (There was surprisingly no foreigner price premium)  We were on schedule off to our whale shark encounter in no time!

OFW (Overseas Filipino Worker)

There is always a long line of Filipinos standing outside of terminal 1 of the international departure building.  The OFWs are very easy to spot at the airport.  They always hand-carry some sort of an envelope with their travel and work documents secured in it and a lot of times they travel in groups with the same type and color envelopes.  In the airport, the OFW signs are everywhere to guide these workers through the right lines, the right gates, and the correct immigration check points.  I have always wondered if the OFWs view themselves as expats abroad of if they perceive themselves as cheap labor working overseas…  For the Filipinos that go through these designated lines and check points, are they happy to be reporting to their jobs overseas or are they uncomfortable being viewed as a cheap labor source in neighboring countries?

Her name escapes my memory but I remember our conversation as we waited for the flight to Taiwan that early Saturday morning.  She is an OFW who has worked in Taiwan for two years and she returned to the Philippines to see family and was on her way back to Taipei to work.  She shared with me that her job is to take care of a 80 plus year old lady.  She calls the lady ah-ma (grandma) in Taiwanese.  “I have only been back for three weeks to see my family but I miss my ah-ma so much.  My ah-ma texted me and told me that she misses me a lot and wanted me to return as soon as I can.  I am so lucky to have a good ah-ma, she’s so nice to me and I really love her.”  She really loves her job, I thought to myself.  She is probably one of the most enthusiastic employees that I know!  “Do ah-ma’s grandchildren love their grandma as much as this overseas Filipino worker?” “Will the grandchildren take care or pay for their ah-ma to have a helper in this day and age?” I can’t help but wonder…  We chatted and I helped her set up her mileage program assuming that she will be traveling from and to Taiwan every so often.

The OFWs are scattered around Asia and they fill such an important role for so many people in this very modern society.  The young woman that I met was a caretaker and a grandchild for the 80 plus year old Taiwan lady.  Meiling is my mom’s helper and the 3^rd daughter that my mom occasionally exercises her nagging rights.  Ahyuan is grandma’s companion and cook during grandma’s very sick days.  There are also so many OFWs who are building the roads and raising the children of Asia.  I am still not sure how the OFWs view themselves, but I hope they know that they have very important roles in this very busy, industrialized, and fast-growing part of the world.

Sonya's Garden

Ms Sonya doesn’t look like who I pictured her to be.  I thought she must be an older lady in her 70s or 80s who wears a farming hat and plastic boots that trot in the soil of the gardens.  Maybe she’s not very social and maybe she is extremely finicky about her organic garden and vegetable farm.  The picture that I painted of Sonya was not even close to who she is in person.  Ms. Sonya was in white with a colorful beaded belt wrapped around her waist when she visited her guests at the open-air restaurant.  Her shinny pearl earrings brought all the attention to her confident and friendly face.  She must be in her late 50s or early 60s.  She’s fashionable, sociable, and she has great taste not just in building her cottages, selecting items for her collections, but also a specialty in enjoying life!  I was impressed with her presence, she seems peaceful, down-to-earth, and relaxed which definitely echoes with the décor of the cottages, the taste of the food, and ambience of the entire property.

Sonya’s Garden is approximately 30 minutes by car from Taal Volcano.   As soon as I stepped foot onto the property, I was relaxed, less anxious about this Tagaytay trip, and ready to settle down for the rest of the weekend.  The garden Ms Sonya planted is filled with colorful flowers, leafy green trees, and European garden sculptures and fountains.  If I had to describe the style of the property, it is English country meets Asian crafts.  The elements are not easy to pull together but Sonya’s property weaved the decors together seamlessly.

We began our stay at Sonya’s Garden with a fresh farm salad, an effortless pasta, three types of deserts, and refreshing Tarragon tea.  We rested and recouped from our Taal adventure before we headed out for our massage treatments.  It was a few meals and few spa treatments later that we packed up to return to Manila.  Sonya’s garden was incredibly relaxing, beautiful, and peaceful, I would definitely recommend it!

(Tr)Ashy Volcano

Out of desperation to get out of our hotel from the night before, I called Sonya’s B&B for a room viewing the very next day.  However, the transportation was still a problem to get around Tagaytay, the hotel arranged a 3 hour “tour” for P1,800.  As soon as we got in the sedan, the driver suggested that we head to Taal Volcano for a very beautiful scenery.  The best in Tagaytay, he said.  I agreed happily.  Afterall, that was the purpose of the trip!  The road from the hotel to the volcano was windy and it wasn’t until we started descending that I realized that we were so far up in the highlands.  About 30 minutes later, we stopped at a “resort”.  “Why are we here?” I asked.  “This is where you take the boat to the Volcano! Mam, you have to go on the boat, then the horse, then you will see the volcano.”  The driver replied.  “Seriously?” I thought to myself.  I have to transport my senior citizen parents on a boat and then a horse to see the volcano? 

After a short bargaining with the owner of the boats, we agreed to pay another P1,800 for a motor-powered long-tail boat to the bottom of the volcano.  The long-tail boat chopped through the lake while the lake water occasionally splashed onto us, we arrived the destination about 20 minutes later.

base of Taal

You can imagine my astonishment when we reached the bottom of the volcano that there was nothing but horse feces, horses for rent, and bus loads (or boat loads) of Korean tourists.  Each tourist saddled over a tiny Filipino horse guided by a skinny Filipino guide.  Off they went to see the volcano up close and personal.  By this time, I already feel like a silly tourist after the car and boat ride.   “Mam, each horse is fitted with a personal guide, go see the volcano where it shot up steam, you have to go on the horse to see!”  “How long is the horse ride?” I asked.  “Thirty minutes going up Mam”.  Thirty minutes up and thirty minutes down the volcano will murder my folks, I thought.  “Too long, we will look from here” I replied.  The salesman looked at me as if I was from another planet.  He must be thinking, “what is there to see here?” We bought a few coconuts and sipped the juice while we sat and watched the tourists line up one after the other and took off with their horses and handlers. 

coconut seller

The smell of animal waste permeated the air and the horse-riding vendors were a little too enthusiastic, so we decided to head back onto the boat after about thirty minutes.  I asked Winston, our motor-powered long-tail boat driver, to take us further away from the base of the volcano so we can have a complete view of the sleeping beauty.  Winston maneuvered the boat through the Tilapia farm that’s set up by the local fishermen and headed to one of the dead volcanoes that’s connected to the sleeping one. Birds were flying all over the bamboo structures that are floating on water, waiting to catch their lunch in the Tilapia farm.  The lake water splashed and splattered and my parents were delivered safely onshore after another thirty minutes has gone by.  Taal is definitely not the place to visit for older folks! 

Tilapia farm 

Our hotel car driver said to me “Mam, we have forty minutes left, where do you want to go?”  By the time we got into the vehicle, I was already “sea”-sick from the long-tailed boat ride.  “Take us to Sonyas’s garden for lunch,” I groaned.  I secretly hoped that Sonya’s would be a more suitable and relaxing place for this short weekend trip…  

Tagaytay Trike

Ever since I moved to Manila, I wanted to visit Tagaytay.  I heard so much about the Taal volcano close by, the restaurants that are worth 2 hour-ride from Manila to have a meal, and the nature and landscape that are vastly different than that of Manila’s.  When I got the chance to use dad’s birthday as an excuse, I booked our rooms with One Tagaytay Place Hotel and rented a van and driver to head out Manila on a Friday afternoon.

It was my fault that I didn’t check the Tagaytay weather before leaving Manila .  It was hot and humid in Manila but the Tagaytay highland was chilly and very windy.  I brought shorts, tank tops, and sandals and I knew that I had made a mistake as soon as the driver opened the door of the van.  To top it off, we found out from the hotel at eight at night that Tagaytay doesn’t have taxis to take us to the restaurants.   Hotel recommended that we take the only local transportation in the evening, a trike, to a restaurant that is 15 minutes away.  A trike is a motorcycle that is converted into a passenger ‘vehicle’ with one side of the bike attached to a cart.  Theoretically, the trike “comfortably” transports three passengers.  Mom and dad got into the trike’s passenger “seats” and I sat behind the ‘triker’.  The trike took off into the night with its loud engine and earth-shaking vibrations.  I was cold sitting behind the driver at first, but later on, I was warmed up by either the heat produced by the trike’s engine, vibration of the trike, or the adrenaline rushing through me as the trike climbed up the Tagaytay ‘highway’. 

trike

As soon as we got off the trike, mom lost it!  “Never ride this again, do you hear me?  It’s so dangerous; you’ll be tipped over if a car passes this thing with a bad angle.”  I protested, “How are we going to get here if not the trike? Besides, you learn how the locals get transported!”  “We could eat at the hotel!” mom said.  I guess she does have a point but the trike not only warmed me up, the excitement of an adventure also made me forget that parents are senior citizens these days and dad is approaching 80!  Afterall, maybe trike wasn’t such a smart idea to transport precious cargo!

trike "passenger" compartment

One of the employees at Fire Lake Grill helped us and arranged a P300 ride through another employee’s van to return to our hotel.  This morning when we were heading out for a tour of Taal volcano, we paid up for the hotel ride (P1,800).  Even though the trike ride was mom’s first, I have a feeling that we won’t be doing that again, EVER!

Taxi!!

I know I have written a few posts about taxis but here's why...

Andrew told me that he was jet lagged, trapped in a taxi that has a broken door.  After struggling to open the door for ten minutes and the driver trying to open the passenger door from the outside, Andrew pushed down the window (the glass fell into the door) and he climbed out through the window of the taxi.  The taxi driver yelled as Andrew climbed out the window.  Andrew was in his work clothes and it was 8 in the morning! 

Taxi!

I caught his stare from his open bus window into my fully air-conditioned taxi, I quickly looked away with guilt.  The Manila pollution that he was breathing in on that hot summer day still haunts me to this day.   I try not to look at the buses and not to be too curious of the passengers in the Jeepneys so that I don’t offend them by peeking into their lives from my luxuriously air-conditioned taxi.

The response to the little kids who knock on the taxi windows selling flowers and begging for money is tapping on the window and look away.  Some of the kids on the streets are so small that I can only see their little arms reaching up the windows but not their faces.  Some kids will say that they are hungry and stare at my designer bag and suggests that I should “just” buy some flowers.  I pretend that it doesn’t bother me when I see little children begging and I pretend that it doesn’t make me want to adopt Filipino kids so that they don’t have to be on the street when I hear them pleading.  Again, the response is tapping back on the window and look away…  Many of these kids are controlled by the gangsters, I was told, and that’s what I would rather believe…

Politely insist on the taxi drivers starting the meter and returning the right amount of change can be tricky.  These seemingly inconsequential events have tested my patience and my supposedly proper manners.  A taxi ride that costs P100 can easily be P300 or P600 depending on the driver, the mood that they are in, distance from the destination (the drivers can tell you to get out) and of course, the weather.  After being overcharged several times and just plainly and simply ripped off as a foreigner, staying polite and patient can be challenging!  I was told that it is culturally unacceptable for a female to tell a man off or to exhibit forcefulness under any circumstances.  Without exhibiting my American gender prerogative, navigating the wild-wild west of the Manila taxi landscape definitely presented unexpected challenges!

Feeling guilty and sympathetic on the taxi ride, zero pesos.  Contain my anger and frustration from being taken advantage of, 600 pesos.  Having experienced all of these emotions and contemplating adopting a child because of a taxi ride, priceless!

Plenty happening

So much has happened in the past few months, I haven’t even had the time to sit down and write (or type).   The promised Christmas blog never took place and before I haven’t had the chance to blog about my travels, 2012 already sneaked up on me.  Whoever said that time passes by faster as we age is a very wise man! Oh, and I forgot to mention, I passed my mid-thirties, which means I will have the big four O to look forward to…

The last update was about taxi rides in the rain in Manila.  If I had the slightest idea of what Christmas means to the Filipinos, I would have waited to post that blog.  In this tropical country, Christmas decorations started going up in October.  The malls transform into a decorated gift box welcoming shoppers of all budgets.  The buying, spending, shopping, wasting, and giving addictions kick into high gear as if it is on steroid.  For those who make more, there is an expectation that wealth will “trickle-down” to those who make less or to those who make less AND need to have a Christmas party!  Even though I didn’t buy much of anything for anyone, I must have dished out a couple of hundred dollars after receiving email solicitations for “recommended” donations.  In a nut shell, Christmas in the Philippines is not only a time for family gatherings but it is also a time to show personal appreciation through gifts and parties.  

After surviving the Christmas traffic and the endless Christmas parties, Marly and I traveled to Taipei for her big four O.  Marly and I visited Grand Hotel, Longshang Temple, Snake alley, and visited a fortune teller.  Yes, I did the translation for Marly’s readings and it was fun and interesting!  After the Taipei trip, I returned to Sacramento quietly and spent a peaceful holiday week before returning to Manila to adjust my recently adjusted jetlag.  (I spent Thanksgiving in Sacramento too) 

A six month review notice popped up on my work email account a week ago.  It’s hard to believe that I have lived in Manila alone for six months already.  I have flown at least a dozen times to Taipei, Hong Kong, Boracay, and Sacramento, I tried new food, wines (Portuguese, New Zealand, Chillan, and French) and move to new neighborhoods, I have met and became close to several independent, smart, and well-travelled individuals, and I have gained amazing insights into my own life (to be continued) and a new culture.  Did I mention a new job?  The past six months have not been the easiest six months of my life but it has definitely been the most rewarding.  No risk, no reward right?  Tell me how you want your 2012 to be and let me know what kind of risk you are prepared to take!

Life after FB

As I mentioned earlier on my facebook page, I am going to stop updating information there and find another way of keep you posted on my journey in the Philippines.  I came up with the name Noodling Noodles so that it's easier to remember versus my previous page and I hope each one of these posts (the labor of noodling my noodles) will give you something to think about, contemplate, or just bring a smile to your day!  So, please leave comments (I added a comment section) or add your email address so the updates will be sent to you electronically.  Thank you for checking in time and time again for an often delinquent blogger!

Rain

All hell breaks lose when it rains in Manila.  The already congested traffic comes to a complete stand still.  A plethora of taxis magically disappears into thin air as if the taxis were conspiring to gauge prices.  For a foreigner that doesn’t know how to get around the city other than using taxis, you are at the mercy of the weather and the taxi drivers.

“Mam’m, I have a lot of customers to choose from, you pay more yes?”  If you dare to refuse, you’ll end up on the street for another half an hour looking for another taxi driver that will readily take advantage.

This morning I went down onto the street like I have always done since moving to Rockwell.  Normally, it takes around 5 to 10 minutes to hail a cab.  However, in the rain plus the ongoing Christmas pilgrimage (this topic is for another day), getting a taxi is mission impossible.  After waiting for 5 minutes, I noticed this foreigner across the street from me competing for a taxi, so, I moved closer to the cross street.  After he noticed that I have moved in front of him, he moved too.  I changed my location again to stay ahead, and he followed.   This time, he didn’t just follow, he headed in front of me.  “How dare he?”.  I thought to myself.  I waved harder, raised my arm higher, and tipped toed more to gain more visibility, but to no avail.  The man was taller, had longer arms, and looked Caucasian which might translates into a better customer (or target depending on how you see it).  Thirty minutes had passed, we were still doing our dance for the amusement of taxi drivers.  The stranger walked across the street and asked me where I was heading.   “Ortigas.” I said.  “Me too.  Do you want to share a cab?”.  Out of desperation, I agreed.  We split up into different corners, continued our hail-a-cab cha-cha, another 20 minutes must have gone by and he got us a cab while standing in the median of the street.  We small talked until I arrived at my office building.  “I would never have gotten into a cab with a perfect stranger, but in the rain in Manila, it’s a different story” I thought to myself as I handed him the cab fare. 

The dreaded evening commute has arrived sooner than expected.  Andrew and I have been sharing a taxi to Rockwell in the evenings.  After the horrible wait this morning, I had no patience for a repeat of this morning.  “Andrew, let’s take the MRT.”  I suggested.  Andrew looked at me and said, “Have you ever taken the MRT before?”.  “Yes, once, with Marly” I said proudly.  He laughed, “only once?”.  He shamed me into silence.

The MRT cost P10 or $0.23 per person, which is about one tenth of the taxi fare when there’s no traffic.  After a short MRT ride, Andrew and I trotted in the rain searching for a taxi, jeepney, a converted motorbike to take us to the Power plant mall.  The taxis were full or heading to the wrong direction, the jeepneys were so packed that only the heads of the passengers were inside the jeepneys and their bodies were hanging outside the back of the jeepneys, and the converted motorbikes were packing five or six people when it was only meant for three or four.  Finally, two passengers got out of a jeepney, I jumped onto the jeepney with my Louis Vuitton bag tightly tucked under my arm, Andrew hopped in with his wet suit pant still hanging outside the jeepney.  We handed over P16 altogether and squeezed in for a hard seat in this hot, sticky, and polluted jeepney.  Andrew tries not to smile but I had this huge grin on my face.  This has been the best adventure that I have had in three months in the Philippines! 

The jeepney stopped after Andrew said something to the driver in Filipino.  We ended up right outside the Power plant mall.  As soon as we walked into the mall, there’s Salvatore Ferragamo, DKNY, Armani Exchange, and all the high-end stores.  The contrast of the jeepney and the mall was impossible to miss.  As I was about to exit the mall to head home, I thought, “If it wasn’t because of the rain, I would never have the opportunity to peek outside of my luxurious foreigner lifestyle bubble.  Thanks to the rain, I had the best commute of my life!” 

It's Over

My honeymoon with Manila came to a squeaky halt.  Maybe it’s because I am traveling every weekend so that I spend my free time away from Manila.  Maybe it’s because how disorganized work has been that I am taking out my frustration on the City.  Or maybe the romance was never meant to be no matter the city…  Of course, just like everything that bothers me, I have developed a hypothesis and I am going to test it and form a theory!

Before my relocation, people have told me to start in Singapore as it is considered “Asia-Light”.  However, Singapore and Hong Kong are a little bit too easy in my opinion.  Both places have a lot of expatriates, one can get by easily with English, and they are both extremely commercialized and developed.  To me, they are not “Asia” enough.  Prior to accepting my job in Manila, I also had my doubts.  “Will the Philippines be ‘too’ much of a developing country which will be too challenging for me since I have lived in the US for the past 20 years?”  Upon arriving Manila, all of those doubts evaporated.  The food selection is diverse and immense, English is one of the official languages, people are friendly, the apartments can be extremely modern, and consumerism blends right in with the polluted air.  All these ‘Western” influences make everything seem so “normal” and “US” for those who are not careful.

The expectations were low before I moved to Manila knowing that it is not as developed as some of the other Asian cities.  I was pleasantly surprised by almost everything that I encountered over the last three months - the food, people, culture, prices, accessibility, convenience, etc.  Then, slowly, the disappointments set in when the traffic gets in the way of catching a flight, when not knowing Filipino directly translates into higher prices, and when the perceived friendliness is just that, perceived.

My honeymoon with Manila is over probably because my expectations have changed significantly since my arrival.  Manila did not set out to deceive my expectations but as a new resident of the City, I wanted to see and experience familiarity, comfort, and relatedness instead of what the City can offer.  Maybe this is the beginning of a new phase – marriage, where reality sets in and staying married will take hard work from both Manila and I.

Hometown

I am ashamed to say that I don't know much about my hometown.  Every time when I visit Taiwan, the primary objective was always spending time with family and friends so getting to know Taipei was never on my radar screen.  Since this has been the second time that I flew home over the weekend after I started working in Manila, I figured that I will take the initiative to learn a little more about my hometown, my culture, and where I came from.

The flight to Taipei from Manila arrived a little early to my surprise.  I had previously asked mom not to have anyone pick me up at the airport so I found my way to the bus station and bought an one-way ticket to test out the bus-taking experience.  A taxi ride from Tao-Yuan to my destination will cost me about $40 and the bus ride which dropped me off about 5 blocks away from home was $4.  Other than the unbelievable low cost, the driver was a warm and enthusiastic tour guide, and I was also the only passenger on this route and on his giant bus!

After lunch and spending time with family, I decided to take dad to a bookstore where we spent a couple of hours reading and browsing through books. I ended up with guides for Taipei and Taiwan, and dad ended up with tour books for Bangkok. Like father, like daughter?

Instead of just reading and understanding the books, I decided to experience the interesting places with my parents.  The next day, we visited Da-Dao Cheng (大稻埕) in Taipei.  Other than being absorbed in the historical buildings of Dee-hua street (迪化街) , we shopped for traditional Taiwanese lanterns and hand-weaved bamboo products, we also ate at a hole-in-the-wall Taiwanese noodle house for all kinds of small dishes!  Prior to lunch, Mom swore that she will never wait in line for 30 minutes for anything served from a noodle house like the one that I picked out from the book.  However, bites after bites of delicious small snacks, I think mom will line up again for the home smoked shark meat, barbecued and lightly fried pork, and the lightly salted chicken, noodles, and vegetables.


4pm came around quickly after another walk down Dee-hua street.  I left for Tao-Yuan airport on an air-conditioned bus for $3.  I can't wait for the next time that I explore my hometown with my parents!

Running amok

I often joke around with my colleagues that I am reading so much and spending so much time at work these days because I didn't study hard enough when I was in school, and this is payback time.  College for me was all fun and very little studying except before exams.  I think Jason will disagree and say, "you don't even study before the exams!"

Even though I don't remember much from college, several classes in Physiology did make an impression on me.  One of the topics were on thermoregulation and how 'automatic' our bodies respond to the changes in external temperature without our commands and without our control.  For example, when you walk into an air-conditioned room on a hot summer day, you do not provide your endocrine system with instructions on how the system should perform and react to the temperature change.  You do not walk out of a heated room into the snow with directions to constrict blood vessels to prevent heat loss.  The body adjust to the environment without your involvement, and it just does what needs to be done.  If the body needs commands to adjust to external temperature, a lot of us will be in a lot of trouble, especially the forgetful ones!  

Many of our bodily functions rarely need us or allow us to participate in their operations.  Our heart beats, our intestines absorb nutrients, our pupils dilate and constrict, and there are a lot of examples!  

Then, what about our emotions, thoughts, and feelings?  We think we have control over all of them because the emotions, thoughts, and feelings are "ours".  But our hearts, intestines, and pupils are also "ours", why don't we get a say on how they operate?  

In the past year, I have been "catching myself" a lot more than I used to.  I will be walking very fast with my shoulders back and chest forward.  Then, I will hear my footsteps, then I will choose to slow down.  However, before I have heard my own footsteps, I didn't have a choice to walk fast or to slow down because the walking-fast has been programmed into me as a reaction to some external stimuli such as stress.  How often can we catch ourselves when our mind, body, and spirit have been trained to react a certain way to various circumstances?  Are you sure that our emotional, thinking, and feeling systems are really "ours" and that our bodies are not just directing traffic without our commands? 

California~

Exhaustion finally hits me.  Maybe it's the work hours, maybe it's the flights, maybe it's the never ending hunt for a place to live.  I am finally exhausted, zapped, ready to just take a cab back to California.  Or take a cab to the airport then a flight to California....

Since my flights are on the weekend, I have to schedule the housing appointments on weekdays.  The appointments cut into my lunch hours and I have had absolutely no break from the work for two weeks now.  It has been work, house hunting, and travel.  So tonight, when I finished my housing "tour", instead of standing in the traffic-jammed cross street waiting for a taxi, I decided to be a human sized range hood and suck in all the Manila pollution.  I hiked back to my hotel and treated myself to a nice Japanese meal on my way home.

I am frustrated with the house hunting process because all the property owners think that expats have money therefore they should charge more.  I am also frustrated with the expats because they artificially inflate the housing prices when they live in a property that they will never personally pay for but will do so when the company subsidizes 65% of the rental.  Yes, it's naive of me to think that by "standing my ground", I will change something when I am living in an expensive hotel that I will also never pay for myself but will live here in the name of for convenience and safety when the company pays for 65% of it....

Today is my day of exhaustion, I declare.  And today is my day that I miss my non-polluted California air and the quiet and peaceful California night...  Just today and only tonight....

Fly Asia

I bought a 'Fly Asia' pass from Philippine airlines when I first arrived in Manila for about $1,000 for 6 short trips to various destinations in Asia to visit home, friends, to eat great food, and to practice my photo-taking skills.  Last week, my weekend trip kick-started, but Philippine airlines was on strike!  As I waited in the long queue to fly to Taipei, I doubted my ever-so-brilliant idea, when the plane delayed, I was sure that I had made a big mistake.  But the Hong Kong trip this week changed all of that!

This week, my expectation was more realistic than that of that last week.  I brought a book expecting 'unexpected' delays.  I lined up in the shortest line instead of the line that was designated for Hong Kong having learned from last week's experience and I got to the immigration desk faster.  This time, I had my immigration form filled out ahead of time with 750 pesos so I can skip the form-filling line and pay the airport taxes than those that were not as prepared.  Everything went smoother and faster even though the plane was still delayed.  With the preparation and expectation, I had time to read and shop at duty-free for famous Filipino deserts!

Manila to Hong Kong takes two hours by flight.  As soon as we landed, I could tell that I was in a different city.  In contrast with Manila, everything moved faster in Hong Kong including people.  People in Hong Kong are less patient but very goal and task oriented and super efficient.  The no nonsense Hong Kong culture permeated the air as we waited through immigration.  I, for once, appreciated the Hong Kong efficiency after having lived in Manila for almost two and half months.

I visited Kim, Derek, and Samantha while I was in Hong Kong.  I had my first Hong Kong "high tea" at the newly opened Ritz on the 100+ floor.  Ships, barges, and helicopters moved gracefully below us as we sipped our tea and enjoyed our finger-licking yummy deserts.  Afterwards, Kim and I window-shopped, chatted, caught-up on a year's worth of life-changing experiences while we weaved through the city for photos.  The next day, we lined up and ate at the Tim Ho Wan Michelin star dim sum shop, rested, and I left the Yan's on Sunday afternoon.

It was a short, compacted, but fun trip! Now, I am looking forward to my next flight this coming weekend!

Work-Life Balance

People talk about work life balance all the time but what does it really mean?  I left the office tonight at 8pm and this has been a normal time for me since I started working in Manila.  I wake up at 6:30am and have my giant hotel breakfast around 7:30am, and arrive at the office around 8am or a little pass that.  I usually work non-stop until I remind myself that I need to take a break, or I will stop around lunch time.  After lunch, it's more work until at least 6pm.  Half of the time that I have been in Manila, the work hours stretch into 7pm and 8pm.  There were several 9pms and one night that almost ended at midnight in the office.  Today, when I left at 8pm, I felt balanced.

Not having Jim, cats, or parents in Manila has made working the focal point of my life.  Unlike the previous job, even though the work hours were shorter, it was definitely less balanced.  In the past, I had to rush to and from the office through traffic on highway 50, I had to make it to the happy hours, I had to run errands, and I had to deal with all the administrative issues on my own at work.  The shorter hours did not translate into a less stressful lifestyle, there was always a lot more waiting for me to do and never enough time.  Working in Manila with no commute, I don't have to worry about transportation and traffic. Food is so accessible and affordable that I can cook when I feel like it and eat out when I need to spice up my evenings.  With no family around, I have very little to worry about other than my tummy and my happiness.

When the focus of ones life changes from one to the another, can the concept of work-life balance also change?  Is it healthy now that I am spending so much time at work according to the work-life philosophy?  Does long hours during workweek coupled with exciting trips on the weekend qualify as balance?  Being content on a day-to-day basis with one's work and personal life, is this the definition of work-life balance?

Boracay

Jim was in town for about ten days and we visited Boracay during the low season.. The trip was only about an hour and half away from Manila, but the difference was unmistakable.  The plane flew over the white sand beach and the clear blue ocean before it landed in Caticlan Boracay Airport.  On the Boracay island, we stayed for 4 days and 3 nights, we fed our tummies and roasted our skins!

Boracay is famous for its amazing clear oceans and powdery white sand beach.  The legend is that during the hot sunny summer days, the white sand will remain cool to the touch instead of melting into silicon chips.  What I thought was amazing about Boracay is how many different kind of people the island accommodates and entertains.  There are amazing corals and oceanic creatures for divers.  There is ocean breeze for the wind surfers and para-skiers.  The white sand and calm waves make perfect toys to entertain children.  Party goers have sections of the beach for loud music and cheap drinks and families have quiet sections of the beach for wholesome family gatherings.

I guess Jim and I must be the eating and drinking type.  Jim and I sat by the beach to people watch and lounged on beach chairs whenever the weather permitted.  We quenched our thirst by drinking local beers and kalamansi soda.  When feeding time comes around, we went into town for seafood and other interesting venues such as the Hobbit House and Obama Grill.  And the smartest thing that we did was diving when the rain started!

Boracay was tons of fun and I highly recommend it to anyone who visit the Philippines!  Boracay really opened my eyes of how beautiful Philippines is, I think I will explore the country more than I originally anticipated!!!

Party Time!

Back in the US, whenever we throw a party, the preparation and the cleaning will take two days and the party will be a whole day itself.  In Manila, the preparation is done by the helpers and the clean up is also done by the helpers.  The temptation to share a great meal, have friends over, or just enjoy a simple dinner at home becomes  attainable.   Each weekend, there seems to be an endless supply of things to do.  A party somewhere to attend, a get together to celebrate a special occasion, and an excuse to eat tons of food and amazing deserts. 

Since I arrived, besides from looking at properties, I attended parties at different homes.  Mid-autumn festivals for the Chinese families, mid-autumn festival for 'foreigners', weekend family get together parties,  newbie happy hour invites, and welcome to Manila lunches and/or dinners.  Every weekend, I roll back to the hotel stuffed and spoiled by all kinds of party food, try to remember the names of people whom I have met, and search in my memory for where I have been...  Was it Green Hills? What is the name of that restaurant in Mikati? I thought  that person worked in the same company as me? 

It's common to receive two to four invitations for parties over a weekend for an special event.  And it is also conceivable that after a weekend of partying, a massage session is required to get ready for the weekdays.  I am going to try not to go that far, but Manila is definitely a town for those who enjoy entertaining and those who enjoy being entertained!