Day 7 A Night to Remember.
Going out for dinner in the Philippines can introduce you to foods you rarely eat at home, last night was one such experience, I am all for trying things new, but to try things new and then come away thinking wow that was superb just about makes it all worthwhile for me.
Gina took me to her favourite restaraunt when she was a little girl, she said, friends who were rich used to treat her, she could never afford to eat there, she always asks me "Why you Bitish men come here, and meet us poor girls, and then you marry us, bring us to your country",
I think she is asking a rhetorical question, it deserves no answer, I look on and smile, she nestles her head in my shoulder, and laments on the fact that life has changed and we have all moved on.
As we drive through Bacolod City, she asks me to stop in the old Barangay she used to live in, she takes a trip down memory lane, Barangy no 8 affectionately known as Punta Capri was where the squatters used to live, she is not ashamed to take me there, and although they had a reasonably well constructed house, the place is no more, the landowners having evicted the people that lived there, and have since done nothing with the land.
As we drive down, she puts down the window and hails several people walking around the fish market, she says to me, this is where I used to take lunch, this is where my father sent me to buy rice, this is where I caught the jeepney to work, she is quiet and pondering how life was, I give her this private time to chat to this one, people here in this part of town are poor, but they are polite, and have not lost their self respect and dignity.
The people come up and peer inside the car, they want to see you she says, they are tickled by you, they know you are my husband, they say, oh that is Gina;s husband, he is so white, they are all standing at the window, in perfect english, they say, "Good afternoon sir", I smile and greet them also, they are poor, but they have the politness of the best people in the world.
We pop downtown to the plaza mart area of the city, as Gin wants to go to Post Marketing, she wants to install satellite television at the house, she said it would be better for me to have Star Movies, HBO and CNN as she is worried I might get bored when it rains, as it does so heavily here in the rainy season, as we arrive a boy comes out to guide us into a parking space, we glide in with no worries, he gets 10 pesos for his assistance, parking is at a premium around here, and you need a helper to get you a space, this does not seem to be a problem one is always available for a 10 pesos tip, Gina tells me, "Always keep lots of change near the change lever" "This is handy for giving the boys to park us" I make a note of this as its good advice.
I have been coming out here for years, maybe on my 15th trip, and still learning about life in Philippines, I realize, I am no expert, still a novice, and still learning every day, Gina does not expect me to live as a Filipino, she knows that will never be possible, but expects me to pick up tips and hints at how to make life easier, plus, my Illongo understanding is getting better year by year, I notice now she is talking more in the local dialect to me, but I reply in english, she breaks into illongo dialect quite frequently to tell me something, if its a simple request, or a peice of information, she then has to break back into english to give me the meaning, if I look blank, or my head goes brain dead.
Maybe its a sign, she is noting my advances in the language and feels comfortable to talk to me, little does she realize, I have to translate and it takes time to reply, but I'm getting better by the year, some english guys never bother learning Tagalog, or Cebuana, or Illongo, I think personally this is a mistake, as you entrench yourself, and especially when you are trying to access services in the Philippines, you need to speak a little of the local dialect if you can, it helps, and also, causes a few warm smiles along the way.
Gina tries to encourage me to eat at home, refraining of eating out every day, she wants me to get used to life at home in the Philippines, not expecting to eat downtown all the time, she is slowly trying to get me to eat the food she cooks at the house, some of it I am not happy about, others is ok, she says, "If only you would try - you might like it"
At the Post Marketing, we are going in to enquire about Dream Satellite t.v., we are directed to an older lady who is dealing with it, we are invited to sit down and discuss the various options, this is not like Sky T.V. where you either book online, or do it in some shopping mall.
Here you go in to the people that install it, and sit and discuss your options, how much it will cost, installation fees, packages etc, it only takes about 2 hours to complete, and yet again I feel tired, geeeeeeze, how do they ever get anything done here ? I am smiling and watching, sights and sounds everywhere, hustling and bustling, my private thoughts I keep to myself, its can be seen as being rude to criticise, I have to remind myself of something I learned about 5 years ago, its no use saying "Back home in UK we don't do it that way", "Its much faster there", in fact, thats not strictly true, after all, the lady tells us, they can come at 10.30 in the morning and complete the installation", well lets be honest, SKY cannot do that for you the next morning, in fact, I was told recently, that to get SKY HD it would be about 6-9 weeks.
I also remind myself about my recent purchase of a suite of furniture from Harveys furnishings in UK, its been 9 weeks and we are still waiting for the dining table, here in the Philippines, you buy a dining suite, and its delivered often that afternoon, or latest next morning, I am ashamed at how long it takes to get anything delivered in UK, and lament that Philippines in part may be slow to get something ordered, but to have it installed and delivered, thats a different matter.
I find people want your money here, and your business, and move fast to fulfill your order, money talks, and once you have paid and handed over your cash, things start to move, and to be truthful, thats the way I like it, especially being on holiday when time is a premium for all of us.
That being sorted out, we head over to the Globe Lines office in 27th street, on arrival, the security guard comes out to ensure our car is parked properly, I ask Gina why is he complaining about where I parked the car, I feel ashamed as Gina tells me "No honey he is not complaining - he is worried that your car will be damaged, and is suggesting you move it closer to the wall, then it will be safe" again, my zenophobia has got the better of me, assuming the worse, instead of keeping an open mind, I make a mental note, not to judge what someone is saying in the Philippines by facial expression and tone of voice.
When we get inside the building, its beautifully air conditioned, we take a number which is 3078 and are told to sit in a certain place, and wait our turn, this is like buying your fish at Tesco deli counter, Gina tells me this system is better because when you are called to take your turn, you get the full attention of someone who will deal with your enquiry.
She is right, we sit for 40 minutes waiting, and I am bored, but there is a newspaper to read, so i content myself with that, when we are finally called to the counter, we explain that we wish to upgrade our broadband to 1 MB which seems to be the new speed, I have to contain myself from laughing, but my little jokes about them being 20 years behind UK, fall on deaf ears, and in any event, I don't think the lady behind the counter has even got the joke "When dinosaurs were on the earth, we had 256 kb, now since they went, speeds have got faster"
She is not amused, or didn't get the joke, she continues on with her explanations at what will happen, we fill in a form, and show our ID, we are informed as our house is over 400 metres from the connection that Globe have in the area, it could be the problem that we are experiencing, she suggest that we switch to a kind of satellite broadband, its a mini dish on the roof of the house, communicates with the local Globe tower, I think thats a better idea, and she says, its the latest technology in Philippines, I am shocked at what they have here, although in UK of course we are used to fibre optic cable.
But I am all for it, and we are informed they will install it in 2 days, again, I am in shock and awe, wow, what a great service, 2 days, geeeeeze with British Telecom when we move din our flat, it was 6 weeks before we could get the phone connected, as there were no cables running up to the development, again, I have to eat humble pie here, things are moving faster in the Philippines and I have to say I am quite impressed.
We say our goodbyes and the guard stands behind my car as I back out, making sure I hit nothing and seeing me onto the road, another visit to a service provider, another job well done, I have learned a nice smile, a friendly greeting, and being well spoken goes along way to getting the best out of Filipinos who work in offices.
We move quickly out of this area, and decide its time to head over to the restaraunt where we will eat dinner, so we head over to ABOYS a well known and popular place in the city.
Gina wants me to eat different local filipino foods, she says, if you live here one day, I will have to let you try these, and get used to them, when we arrive the service is impeccable, we are taken to a nice air conditioned area, there are lots of Filipinos parked up outside and going in, Gina tells me Negros is rich in some areas, the Filipinos did welll out of sugar cane, and the island once thrived on the world price of sugar, some are doing ok, others not so ok, but the people that dine here are generally well off people.
I ask Gina where is the menu, she says, there is no menu as such, the seafood is raw, you just go to the chef, look at what they have caught and then pick it live, I see fish swimming around, and I am shocked to find that we are to choose our catch, this is something new to me, I am mesmerized by all this.
The only thing not swimming around is of course the Blue Marlin, a deep water fish, and this has to be caught quite far out at sea, she says, do you want to try the Blue Marlin, I have to say it looks inviting, she picks out a Kilo of blue marlin, it looks like a huge steak, but white of course slight white, and more of a creamy colour look, the chef takes it and they start to cook it, the chef puts lemon bits, and garlic, and puts tomato and onions in, with red peppers, this will all add to the flavour, he tell us, I feel like I am at Gordon Ramsy restaraunt in the West End.
When the blue marlin comes to the table, its amazingly hot, soft and delicious, served with rice, and calamansi, soy sauce and locall vinegar, then a tray of beautiful fresh scallops cooked in butter and garlic sauce arrive, I ask who are they for, Gina tells me, they are for you honey, try them, next a plate of dressed crab omellette, in the crab shell, I try this as well, its amazingly, yummy, I can't stop eating them, everything I try is amazingly tasty, and at the end, the scallops just keep coming, the theme of my travell blog is no reservations - because here in Philippines, you don't need a reservation to have fine dining, its everywhere ubiquitious, if you have the money.
My Gina orders me a gourmet belgian waffle filled with mango ice cream, and sauces on top, enough to sink a ship, I ask if she will join me, no she says, its for you, everywhere I go, people seem to put themselves out for me, its as though they know I am on holiday and they want me to have a great time, I feel like I am living as a King, and its a great feeling.
After a superb meal, we thank the waiters, the chefs, who have a broad grinning smile of appreciation when I tell them, its the best fish I have ever tasted, it means so much to them, they know you are a satisfied customer, thats what counts.
We head home, the streets are quiet now, not many pedicabs around, not many drivers, a few people crossing the streets, but life is there if you look for it, lots of Filipinos hanging out on the barangay entrances, selling foods, sitting and laughing and joking, you can be poor, but you can have a good time at night too, you dont have to have money, it helps though.
Gina tells me she has plans for tomorrow, she says, we are going swimming at a private resort, she says we will probably have the resort pool to ourselves, its an olympic size training pool, and spa, I ask why we will have it to ourselves, she says, no one can afford to go there, only the rich.
I ask how much it costs for a swim there, she says, P125.00 I lament on the fact that it is probably going to cost us about £3.00 between the two of us to swim there, and most people here cannot afford £3.00 to go swimming, when we go swimming back home, it normally costs us £8.00 for two of us, and thats at a basic swimming pool, not a leisure pool.
She says, we will swim and take lunch, and then later go to Vienna Kaffee House, to have gourmet coffee and cake, later then we will watch a movie, and then perhaps later, we will have dinner and some other unspecified gourmet fine dining, she has one picked out, and she wants to introduce me to a high school freind of hers, this seems to be the life here in the Philippines, swimming, lunch, coffee, browsing the mall, cinema and dinner out.
but then again, who is complaining, certainly not me !
Originally Posted by ginapeterb
