So far everything has been great, but we always go out in big groups. And there is no age limit for anything. In fact, I do not know if there are any laws out here period. Driving laws are non-existent. People laugh at me everytimg I get in a car and start to put my seat belt on. It's a force of habit, but I'm starting to get it down now. I don't reach for it anymore. This could be bad when I get back to the states.
We spent a few hours in the Mega Mall and Alex bought some sunglasses, but I didn't find anything worth picking up. Everything is pretty much the same price as it is in the states, but when it comes to shoes they do have some cooler designs that we don't have. The mall was ginormous though. It had 5 stories and we spent 3 or 4 hours just walking around the thing. And they have everything there. You can buy your furniture there, clothes, back to school supplies (which is huge right now, because the kids go back to school on June 10th), cooking supplies, car supplies, etc.
We got home around 6:00 p.m. and it was time for dinner. This was the first meal we did not have home cooked since we've been here. Alex, 4 of his cousins and I all walked down to the local Jollibee and picked up some dinner. We spent 750 pesos for dinner for about 6 people. That is about 15 dollars U.S. You can barely feed two people at McDonalds for that much and Jollibee is pretty much the Pinoy Mickey D's. There are actually a few of them in the states now if you didn't already know this.
After some resting it was time to go out. This time it was Alex and I along with his girl cousins. I am starting to think that Alex doesn't have many girl cousins because when ever we visit his family whether in the Philippines or San Diego we only hang out with female cousins. Not that I'm complaining ... I just find it interesting. Anyway, we we're getting ready to go out, but I was confused why Alex's 13 year old cousin C.J. was getting all dressed up. Apparently the drinking age out here is only 18, but they don't really follow that, especially if you're out with Americans. Of the 4 girls we were out with only one of them was older then 18 and only by a year. His other cousin and her friend are 17 and the youngest is 13 and never once did we have a hard time walking into a place or ordering drinks. Although the 13 year old was the most under control one, but still seemed to be having the best time. The night ended with us getting kicked out of Starbucks at 4 a.m. because they were closing. This is also where we encountered our first females with enlarged Adam's apples. And by that I mean they were men.
For some reason everyone wakes up really early in the Philippines. By really early I'm talking about 5 a.m. That's too ridiculous for me even if I go to sleep before 4:30. This morning was the first time I wanted to punch Alex since we've been here, which isn't bad considering we've been together non-stop for a little over 4 days now. Coffee was a bad decision before coming home after the bars because he would not shut up and let the rest of us sleep. We ended up getting out of bed and eating breakfast around 7:00 and then we all went back to sleep until about 10:00 when we had to get up to drive to Tagaytay. Alex's parents have built a retirement house in a country club out there that's almost done being built. We went to check it out for the day. The area is really nice and the weather is a little cooler since it's up in the hills, but just as humid. Unfortunately there was a ton of traffic so what should have been 2 1/2 - 3 hours total drive time ended up taking us around 6. And today my sinus infection started getting pretty bad, so the drive was absolute hell for me. We slept some during the van ride, but none of it was very good sleep. We got home and I passed out on the couch. I didn't even eat dinner because I felt so poopy. Hopefully I can get some good medicine to clear up all this congestion or I going to be in trouble when we go out. Everyone is so paranoid about swine flu here that if you even sneeze a little bit everyone runs away from you haha. Maybe I can find out a way to use this to my advantage. I will definitely write about it if I do.
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Monday, May 25, 2009
Day 2 - The White Giant
Alex kept telling me that I was going to get a lot of looks when we got to the Philippines, but I didn't fully understand what it would be like until I got here. Before I talk about that though I have to say that Filipinos are some of the most hospitable people I have ever met. Everyone is very friendly and as soon as we got to the house there was a feast waiting for us. The food was great so we ate and spent the rest of the day resting since we were tired from all of the traveling.
After a couple hours we decided that we were just going to stay in for the night, but we went to the mini mall down the street from the house to pick up some adult beverages. As with most Asian cultures, Filipinos love to sing karaoke. After a few cocktails the family talked me into singing some Karaoke. I definitely scored a 69 singing Big Poppa. My rapping skills are better then I thought. We also got massages. We paid 500 pesos including tip and the masseuses came to the house. That's what I call service. And in case you're wondering 500 pesos is equivalent to $500 U.S.
We ended drinking some more after the massages and singing karaoke until about midnight when we finally went to sleep. We also learned a valuable lesson. Don't buy cheap alcohol. Now you would think we would already know this, but cheap alcohol out here is way different then cheap alcohol in the U.S. Alex decided to buy a bottle of whiskey that cost as much as his bag of Tostitos. They were both 150 pesos. Alex quickly learned that if you're whiskey only cost $3 U.S. it is probably going to taste horrible. This is also when I fully understood how much I stand out. While we were at the market down the street from the house we're staying at, which is in a suburb of Manila, I could feel all of the eyes burning a hole in me. I have not seen a white person since we left the airport. Most white people that come here stay in the resorts so they're not used to seeing the whites walk around the local neighborhoods and markets. Especially not white giants like me. This is definitely going to take some getting used to haha.
That's about all that's happened so far. It is around 10:45 a.m. right now and we're watching the Lakers vs. Nuggets game live. I am so glad that Filipino's love basketball. I may even have to find somewhere to hoop it up. Alex has some uncles and cousins that like to play so I'm going to try and get in a pick up game while I'm here. I'll show these short guys how tall white boys can ball.
After a couple hours we decided that we were just going to stay in for the night, but we went to the mini mall down the street from the house to pick up some adult beverages. As with most Asian cultures, Filipinos love to sing karaoke. After a few cocktails the family talked me into singing some Karaoke. I definitely scored a 69 singing Big Poppa. My rapping skills are better then I thought. We also got massages. We paid 500 pesos including tip and the masseuses came to the house. That's what I call service. And in case you're wondering 500 pesos is equivalent to $500 U.S.
We ended drinking some more after the massages and singing karaoke until about midnight when we finally went to sleep. We also learned a valuable lesson. Don't buy cheap alcohol. Now you would think we would already know this, but cheap alcohol out here is way different then cheap alcohol in the U.S. Alex decided to buy a bottle of whiskey that cost as much as his bag of Tostitos. They were both 150 pesos. Alex quickly learned that if you're whiskey only cost $3 U.S. it is probably going to taste horrible. This is also when I fully understood how much I stand out. While we were at the market down the street from the house we're staying at, which is in a suburb of Manila, I could feel all of the eyes burning a hole in me. I have not seen a white person since we left the airport. Most white people that come here stay in the resorts so they're not used to seeing the whites walk around the local neighborhoods and markets. Especially not white giants like me. This is definitely going to take some getting used to haha.
That's about all that's happened so far. It is around 10:45 a.m. right now and we're watching the Lakers vs. Nuggets game live. I am so glad that Filipino's love basketball. I may even have to find somewhere to hoop it up. Alex has some uncles and cousins that like to play so I'm going to try and get in a pick up game while I'm here. I'll show these short guys how tall white boys can ball.
Sunday, May 24, 2009
Filipino Adventures Day 1
I can't really say the adventures have started since I have spend the past 20 hours in airport terminals or on airplanes, but it has definitely been an experience so far. Before we even started planning this trip I knew the plane ride was going to be pure misery. It wasn't as hellish as I expected, but it was definitely an unpleasant experience. You would think that they would create more space between seats on planes that fly internationally ... you would think. That definitely is not the case and I spent most of the 12 hour flight from L.A. to Korea squirming in my seat. I was able to get a few minutes of shut eye hear and there, but as soon as I found a comfortable position and fall asleep I would wake up 10 or 15 minutes later not so comfortable anymore.
Enough about that though. I was able to watch a couple movies during the flight. Gran Torino was an interesting choice of movies for me to select from considering the population I was surrounded by on the flight. There are so many racial slurs in the movie that I probably would have felt uncomfortable if everyone on the flight was watching the movie at the same time.
We are flying Korean airlines and I encountered greetings from the flight attendants that I am still not sure how I should respond to. They bow at you all the time, but I don't know if I'm supposed to bow back. It feels kind of awkward to me. I don't think bowing is a tradition in Filipino culture so hopefully after our flight to Manila (we are on Korean airlines) we won't encounter anymore bowing haha.
Right now we are sitting at our gate and our flight doesn't leave for another 3 hours. It is 5:00 a.m. here and none of the bars are open. It feels kind of weird wanting a beer this early in the morning, but my internal clock is all jacked up and it would be nice to have one and relax. It would probably help me sleep for a little bit before our flight. These seats aren't the most comfortable things in the world, but they definitely beat be cooped up in a plane.
Enough about that though. I was able to watch a couple movies during the flight. Gran Torino was an interesting choice of movies for me to select from considering the population I was surrounded by on the flight. There are so many racial slurs in the movie that I probably would have felt uncomfortable if everyone on the flight was watching the movie at the same time.
We are flying Korean airlines and I encountered greetings from the flight attendants that I am still not sure how I should respond to. They bow at you all the time, but I don't know if I'm supposed to bow back. It feels kind of awkward to me. I don't think bowing is a tradition in Filipino culture so hopefully after our flight to Manila (we are on Korean airlines) we won't encounter anymore bowing haha.
Right now we are sitting at our gate and our flight doesn't leave for another 3 hours. It is 5:00 a.m. here and none of the bars are open. It feels kind of weird wanting a beer this early in the morning, but my internal clock is all jacked up and it would be nice to have one and relax. It would probably help me sleep for a little bit before our flight. These seats aren't the most comfortable things in the world, but they definitely beat be cooped up in a plane.
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