Ok everyone, it's official, I got crabs in the Philippines. Just kidding ... kind of. More on that in a little bit though. Today was quite an adventure. All of the begets went island hoping and it was a blast. We were sailing the ocean on a bangka, which I still can't really pronounce in Tagalog, but then again I can't really pronounce anything correctly in Tagalog. It's basically a small sailboat with two outriggers. Our captains name was Gener and he was cool as shit. He even had a beer with me and Alex at one of our stops. The beginning of the trip was smooth sailing and we visited a small island and had lunch. There were a bunch of little huts/bungalows to relax and eat under. After some swimming and snorkeling it was time for lunch and this is where I got crabs. We had a bucket full of 15 rock crabs, a grilled snapper, and a couple other small grilled fish along with some young coconut for dessert. It was delicious and it came included with our island hopping trip, but I was shocked to find out the price when we asked about the crab. Gener said it was 300 pesos, but I'm not sure if that was for the whole meal or just the crab. Either way that is ridiculous for crab and I want more of it haha. After lunch it was time to bury the large white man in the sand. All the girls got a big kick out of this and Alex was nice enough to give me large sand boobies as an added touch.
After the white man escaped from his sand body it was time to go to another island. The second island was a little fancier because one of the local resorts uses it as a place for its guests to go for picnics. It was straight out of a movie with large huts for eating, flags in the sand, and bent palm trees all over the white beaches. Thankfully Gener was with us because he took the girls snorkeling. Alex and I probably didn't have the patience and they had a great time because of Gener so it worked out for everyone. Unfortunately I'm still struggling with a sinus infection so I could not enjoy the snorkeling as much. Every time I dived below five or six feet my head would start pounding because of the compression. The swimming was nice though and after Gener took the girls snorkeling he chilled and had a beer with us guys while the girls stayed by the water and played in the sand.
It was a great, relaxing day, but it was over and time to go back home. The trip back wouldn't be smooth sailing though. Alex decided he wanted to ride on the outrigger and two of the other girls rode on the opposite outrigger to balance out the wait. This was all fine and dandy until the monsoon hit. It was exciting and the girls got a little scared. We had to stop the engine so we could get everyone back on the main hull. Surprisingly enough K.C., the 10 year old, remained pretty calm even though I'm sure she was a little nervous. The storm passed after about 5 minutes and everyone returned to their positions on the outriggers. K.C. even joined Alex on his outrigger. Unfortunately they don't make those things sturdy enough for 230 pound white men to sit on so I could not join in the fun.
Everyone made it home safe and it was a great time and that's all that matters. Tonight is Alex's birthday party and I think we have a big party reserved at a restaurant in Puerto Princesa where we're staying. Apparently there is a bar or two in town that are pretty busy and fun so we should be able to celebrate him getting older in style. I'm looking forward to it, but I'm definitely not looking forward to leaving for the airport at 7:00 a.m. Our flight back to Manila leaves at 10:00 a.m. and the airport is only 5 minutes from where we're staying, but for some reason Alex's family thinks it's necessary to be at the airport 15 hours before take-off haha.
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
Monday, June 1, 2009
Days 5 - 10: Late Nights and Beautiful Palawan
It has been a couple days since my last journal, but not a lot has happened. We did a lot of going out at night and a lot of sleeping, eating, and resting during the days. Brandon Lagao, a friend of mine from college, spent the last couple days of his trip with us in Manila. He spent a month traveling the Philippines and it worked out that he could spend some time hanging out with me, Alex, and Alex's family before he left. The first night he was with us we went out with Alex's cousins again and that was fun. Out here we have a lot of money so we can go to all the fancy clubs that play good music. We got some good dancing in, but unfortunately I started feeling like poo poo towards the end of the night. We napped a lot the next day and ate food of course. Breakfast is always ready by 6:30 a.m. and even if we don't get up 'til after 9:00 or 10:00 it will still be waiting for us. The only problem is that no matter what time you eat lunch will be served by noon if not earlier. They don't care if you ate breakfast at 10:00. Like breakfast, lunch will be waiting for you still at 2:30 and that's precisely when we ate haha.
Alex's mom ordered KFC, but none of us were hungry when it got there. Instead we decided to start drinking and singing Karaoke. Finally around 10:00 p.m. we started eating on the KFC. Drinking leads to hunger I guess haha. We were still really tired, but we couldn't let Brandon's last night in the Philippines be boring so we rallied up and got ready. We finally left the house around midnight and headed down to Makati, which is a ritzy area in Manila. It is a huge shopping area with lots of nice stores, restaurants, and clubs. We grabbed a couple drinks at the Hard Rock and I had a real life cheeseburger and fries. It was a welcome delicacy haha. All this Filipino food is delicious, but it doesn't agree with my stomach much. From there we went to this club called Absinthe. I think its because they serve Absinthe there. It was already pretty late and the club was dying down, but they were still playing some good music and had a few people on the dance floor so it was fun. Before we left we made friends with the manager who poured the three of us 2 shots on the house. By the time Absinthe closed it was 3:00 a.m. and I had no idea how I was still awake. Thank goodness for redbull vodka's I guess. After that we went to a restaurant/bar downstairs called Havana. It was a really cool seen because it reminded me of Cheesecake factory style restaurant only smaller with a dance floor, bar, and a few tables inside and lots of tables in the courtyard outside. We met some girls here and they took us to another club that stays open 'til 6:00 a.m. so we decided to go. I don't remember what the place was called because it had a funny name, but it was kind of like an upscale Las Vegas or L.A. type club. Very modern and overdone. It was very expensive too. 4 drinks cost 900 pesos, which is almost 20 U.S. dollars. As you can see I have become accustomed to paying Filipino prices already haha. This place closed at 6:00 a.m. and we hung out in front for a long time trying to catch a cab. We finally took a walk in the rain to a busier intersection so we could find one. It was 7:00 by the time we got home and we were soaked, tired, and laughing our asses off. Of course breakfast was ready so we ate and crashed. Brandon had to leave by 9:00 to go to the airport, but I was so tired that I didn't even hear him leave. It was good times and all I can say is that, "What happens in the Philippines stays in the Philippines."
After yet another day of recovery Alex and I took the begets and some of the forgets out for a little party time. I don't think I'm spelling these words right, but forgets are what you call older people in Tacolog because they forget a lot and begets are what you call younger people. There's an outdoor shopping center in Manila that plays live music and everyone wanted to check it out. We had all the girl cousins with us again plus the young 10 year old K.C. She has to be one of the funniest 10 year olds I have ever met, but that's a whole other story in itself. We also had Alex's Aunt Clarissa, Uncle Joel, and Uncle Pohpoy with us. It was a good time and even the begets got to drink a little (except for K.C. of course). We went through a lot of beers and food between the 9 of us and Alex and I picked up the bill. Its hard to complain about splitting $35 U.S. two ways for that many people and that much fun. The highlight of the night was when the band played Careless Whisper. This song is ridiculous over here right now and I will always laugh when I hear it from now on. There is a big Paris Hilton size sex tape out right now that a famous doctor/actor is in with some stripper or model or something and they're dancing to this song in the video. So when the band starting playing this song the crowd went wild. They eventually got a volunteer to come up and sing and asked for a lady to volunteer to come up and dance with him. Well when the lady got up on stage the crowd quickly discovered that she was a he. It was pretty funny. She, I mean he, was working his dance moves to the song, but it was a little gross when he lifted his shirt in a sexy manner to display his happy trail. I vomited in my mouth a little bit. That may have been from drinking too many beers in the heat though haha.
The next day we left for Palawan and this place is beautiful. Of course we turned on the karaoke machine after dinner and that was going for a couple of hours. These people love their karaoke haha. We got up early this morning and drove into the jungle. This was the first "adventurous" day we've had since being here. The underground river is amazing. We went about 1 kilometer into the cave before turning around. I guess it opens at the other end, but it takes half a day to get through it. The thing is 25 kilometers wrong. It was crazy. After that we had lunch on the beach in Sabang, which is where the pier to get to the underground river is located. After a delicious Filipino lunch we went swimming in the ocean. This was great when it was sunny, but even better when it was raining. We did some body surfing and swimming for an hour or so, but finally had to get out when it started raining a little harder. I definitely slept the entire 2 hour car ride home. Apparently I snored a little, but I think the rest of the family was sleeping also so hopefully not many of them noticed. We're in Palawan until the morning of June 3rd so we still have one more day of adventures. Tomorrow is Alex's birthday so hopefully it is a good time. We are going island hoping during the day and I believe we are renting out a restaurant in the evening for eating and drinking. I hope it is a lot of fun. I know Alex is excited to get to spend his birthday in a special place with his family around.
Alex's mom ordered KFC, but none of us were hungry when it got there. Instead we decided to start drinking and singing Karaoke. Finally around 10:00 p.m. we started eating on the KFC. Drinking leads to hunger I guess haha. We were still really tired, but we couldn't let Brandon's last night in the Philippines be boring so we rallied up and got ready. We finally left the house around midnight and headed down to Makati, which is a ritzy area in Manila. It is a huge shopping area with lots of nice stores, restaurants, and clubs. We grabbed a couple drinks at the Hard Rock and I had a real life cheeseburger and fries. It was a welcome delicacy haha. All this Filipino food is delicious, but it doesn't agree with my stomach much. From there we went to this club called Absinthe. I think its because they serve Absinthe there. It was already pretty late and the club was dying down, but they were still playing some good music and had a few people on the dance floor so it was fun. Before we left we made friends with the manager who poured the three of us 2 shots on the house. By the time Absinthe closed it was 3:00 a.m. and I had no idea how I was still awake. Thank goodness for redbull vodka's I guess. After that we went to a restaurant/bar downstairs called Havana. It was a really cool seen because it reminded me of Cheesecake factory style restaurant only smaller with a dance floor, bar, and a few tables inside and lots of tables in the courtyard outside. We met some girls here and they took us to another club that stays open 'til 6:00 a.m. so we decided to go. I don't remember what the place was called because it had a funny name, but it was kind of like an upscale Las Vegas or L.A. type club. Very modern and overdone. It was very expensive too. 4 drinks cost 900 pesos, which is almost 20 U.S. dollars. As you can see I have become accustomed to paying Filipino prices already haha. This place closed at 6:00 a.m. and we hung out in front for a long time trying to catch a cab. We finally took a walk in the rain to a busier intersection so we could find one. It was 7:00 by the time we got home and we were soaked, tired, and laughing our asses off. Of course breakfast was ready so we ate and crashed. Brandon had to leave by 9:00 to go to the airport, but I was so tired that I didn't even hear him leave. It was good times and all I can say is that, "What happens in the Philippines stays in the Philippines."
After yet another day of recovery Alex and I took the begets and some of the forgets out for a little party time. I don't think I'm spelling these words right, but forgets are what you call older people in Tacolog because they forget a lot and begets are what you call younger people. There's an outdoor shopping center in Manila that plays live music and everyone wanted to check it out. We had all the girl cousins with us again plus the young 10 year old K.C. She has to be one of the funniest 10 year olds I have ever met, but that's a whole other story in itself. We also had Alex's Aunt Clarissa, Uncle Joel, and Uncle Pohpoy with us. It was a good time and even the begets got to drink a little (except for K.C. of course). We went through a lot of beers and food between the 9 of us and Alex and I picked up the bill. Its hard to complain about splitting $35 U.S. two ways for that many people and that much fun. The highlight of the night was when the band played Careless Whisper. This song is ridiculous over here right now and I will always laugh when I hear it from now on. There is a big Paris Hilton size sex tape out right now that a famous doctor/actor is in with some stripper or model or something and they're dancing to this song in the video. So when the band starting playing this song the crowd went wild. They eventually got a volunteer to come up and sing and asked for a lady to volunteer to come up and dance with him. Well when the lady got up on stage the crowd quickly discovered that she was a he. It was pretty funny. She, I mean he, was working his dance moves to the song, but it was a little gross when he lifted his shirt in a sexy manner to display his happy trail. I vomited in my mouth a little bit. That may have been from drinking too many beers in the heat though haha.
The next day we left for Palawan and this place is beautiful. Of course we turned on the karaoke machine after dinner and that was going for a couple of hours. These people love their karaoke haha. We got up early this morning and drove into the jungle. This was the first "adventurous" day we've had since being here. The underground river is amazing. We went about 1 kilometer into the cave before turning around. I guess it opens at the other end, but it takes half a day to get through it. The thing is 25 kilometers wrong. It was crazy. After that we had lunch on the beach in Sabang, which is where the pier to get to the underground river is located. After a delicious Filipino lunch we went swimming in the ocean. This was great when it was sunny, but even better when it was raining. We did some body surfing and swimming for an hour or so, but finally had to get out when it started raining a little harder. I definitely slept the entire 2 hour car ride home. Apparently I snored a little, but I think the rest of the family was sleeping also so hopefully not many of them noticed. We're in Palawan until the morning of June 3rd so we still have one more day of adventures. Tomorrow is Alex's birthday so hopefully it is a good time. We are going island hoping during the day and I believe we are renting out a restaurant in the evening for eating and drinking. I hope it is a lot of fun. I know Alex is excited to get to spend his birthday in a special place with his family around.
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Days 3 and 4 - Family Time
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.
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.
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.
Saturday, October 11, 2008
Mirror Self Portraits
What's the deal with people taking a pictures of themselves in a mirror and posting them on myspace and facebook? Usually it's chicks in slutty outfits trying to get attention, but I mean seriously, is this really necessary? Are you so desperate to put up a new picture of yourself that you have to rush into your bathroom and snap photos of yourself? Are you really that vain? I understand that you have great abs and a nice figure, but I don't need you to take a million photos of yourself in the mirror to prove it. Photos on myspace and facebook are supposed to be fun and to share with your friends the activities you have been up to in your life. A photo of yourself in the mirror tells me nothing about what you're doing with your life. Honestly, I don't care that you were so bored with your life that you had to take off some clothes and pose in the mirror. These people need to get over themselves.
Friday, October 10, 2008
Gay School
I saw this article posted in the Chicago Tribune ... take a gander:
Pointing to studies showing that gay high school students are at greater risk of dropping out because of stigma and fear of violence, Chicago Public Schools leaders said Wednesday that they will recommend opening a campus aimed at these students.I can't wait to see the headlines when "gay school" wins it's first football game. Is there going to be problems if the quarterback and the center start dating? Is there going to be groping whenever there's a dogpile? I can see controversy all over this one.
Final approval of the School for Social Justice Pride Campus, designed as the city's first school for gay, lesbian and transgender teenagers, along with 17 other schools, is expected to come Oct. 22 when the Board of Education votes.
Schools chief Arne Duncan said he will ask the board to approve the schools, which are expected to open in the fall of 2009 and 2010, to give greater choice to parents and students. "We want to create great new options for communities that have been traditionally undeserved," he said. "If you look at national studies, you see gay and lesbian students with high dropout rates. . . . I think there is a niche there we need to fill."
About 50 people attended a public hearing Wednesday night, with most supporting the school.Supporters said they envision a high school with a maximum of 600 students. It would have the same staffing and oversight requirements as other district schools. Students would be admitted from throughout the city on a lottery basis, officials said. A site has not been chosen.
Chad Weiden, an assistant principal at the Social Justice High School who would be principal at Pride Campus, said the school would incorporate lessons about sexual identity in literature and history classes and offer counseling. The school would be prohibited under state and federal laws from asking about a student's sexual identity, officials said.
A 2003 district survey shows that gay and lesbian youths are three times more likely to miss school because they feel unsafe. On Wednesday, the Gay Lesbian and Straight Education Network released a national survey of more than 6,000 middle and high school students that found that nearly 90 percent were harassed at school and about 61 percent felt unsafe.
At an earlier public hearing, some gay rights advocates said the school would segregate these students and that the district should work to foster acceptance.
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