BTW, I'm really enjoying you blog Pete.
I look forward to the next one.
Tish
BTW, I'm really enjoying you blog Pete.
I look forward to the next one.
Tish
Oh no!Now I'm dreading to coming back to PI... Holidays in PI is really expensive if you come & think about it.
If you are a soft touch its a certainty..Originally Posted by Jay&Zobel
Oh no!
hi there Pete,
personally I think your approach is spot on and like you I get a great thrill watching my wife and seeing her so happy. I have asked some of her extended family if they think she is being "flash" and showing off and they strongly assure me that their tita is just very happy to be able to help them and proud of her hubby and their achievements. She is I have to say very down to earth and I would say on balance is happier spending time in Pangasinan on the farm with very few creature comforts but loads of neighbours and extended family as she is when we are diving or socialising in Palawan with our ex pat friends when we are there.
carry on the blog, it is a great read
Live your life for a reason and don't worry be happy
if you don't know where you are going then any road will do!!
well... we all work to earn money to spend.. we can't bring them to our grave... I like your wife Pete... she never forgets the people who helped her when she was down.. she's just paying it back.. and paying it forward as well by helping other people in the littlest way she can.. she's an amazing woman...
And amazing people always wind up being together.. that's why she has you... enjoy your stay here... Philippines is where Asia wears its smile.
Oh no!True true but it is so so so sooooooooo difficult to stick to a budget. It feels so good treating your loved ones, honestly it really does!But once you are back in the UK, hehehe, reality starts kicking in
I totally agree!True true but it is so so so sooooooooo difficult to stick to a budget. It feels so good treating your loved ones, honestly it really does!
Any more info from Pete, hope he is fine. Look forward to reading his Mindanao exploits.Yes the big guy is all heart. He likes to see people happy. It is nice to see him start to talk to his driver and learn more about life there. Interesting that all that driver wanted was bottles for water. I wish that the driver can get a water pump in his area. That would make a considerable difference to everyone living there. Instead of satellite TV and big TV. Keep it simple lad.
First thing I bought for Jessica house was air conditioner&bed for Edilyn.I decided to get a small DVD player which was used later to see photos on disc.
I saw her mother who is 60 and her father. I got her mom a pair of glasses&she was happy with that. Her dad was happy with coffee&new pair of slippers!
They did not speak much english, so we shared something on DVD. I showed them some Charlie Chaplin on which is universal!
It's time to kick ass and chew bubble gum. And I'm all out of gum.
Just treating them with food makes them HAPPY
So simple yet the joys that you have given is so much!
£7,000 (500,000 PHP) in two weeks is a very big sum to me, but if she has it and wants to spend it, then I suppose it is her business.I once been in the Philippines with one of my 'ex-filipina friend' and she spent half a million pesos in just 2 weeks
I tried to make her see sense by quietly reminding her of the amount she has spent at that time, but all i got was basically mind your own business kine of reply!
It wasn't my intention at that time to make her feel 'bad', but she took it the wrong way
I generally work on a 1:10 ratio between the Phils and the UK.
That is to say, if you give £100 in pesos to a family member there, it will probably have the equivalent spending power of £1,000.
My ratio may not be correct, it is just something I use in the province.
I cannot afford to be a "soft touch" when I do go there, it is hard enogh for me to keep up paying the bills in the UK.
I suppose though it is always down to being rich and being not rich.
There are hotel rooms in London that cost £10,000 a night
Some people have the money to afford that, and this has always been the way.
i have read every word of petes blogg and have relived every step it has bought a lump to my throat at times
i am not going to make a big story here as its petes blogg
but as always a word of caution
i have just married pilipina wife number 2and they are as different as chalk and cheese
but i am not going to talk about number 2
i met number 1 in uk she was an overstayer run away from her employer we met got involved i spend lots of money making her legal in uk got british passport the whole lot
i supported her i helped to support her family ,invest in this send all the children to school the whole works we went there a few times the family as pete said was fantastic i like pete thought i had the best pilipino family in the whole world
i was warned by other ex pats ---friend you are there investment if you fall out with your wife THEY WILL DROP YOU LIKE A STONE
and that was exactly what happened i made one mistake and the divorce papers where on my doormat within 4 weekswould the family help me then NO
all they could say was WE ARE GOING TO ENJOY SPENDING MORE OF YOUR MONEY
FORTUNANTLY FOR ME the house me and my then wife occupied was still in my 79 year old mothers name otherwise it would have been goodbye £125.000.00 quid
so i picked number 2 wife with great caution SHE NO FAMILY AT ALL hard to find i know but it was our fate
BEWARE even after 10 years of a somewhat happy marriage you can still feel like you have been scammed
Destination Mindanao specifically Davao Del Norte (Davao City).
Hi guys and girls, I have been touched by some of your comments and I am glad you are getting some enjoyment on reading about my experiences here in the Philippines, I hasten to add guys, in no way do i ever pass myself off as some kind of expert, in fact, I am learning all the time.
What I hope to do when writing is to share with you what I have found, the more I try and integrate into Filipino life here, the more it enriches my total understanding of life for the masses.
Just in passing, my Gina and I went down to Globe today in town, we just cut off our old landline system and the old internet connection, as the Globe Tower uplink system is now up and running very well, I have to say 2MB makes a big difference, and no wires, all completely from a dish on the roof (tiny one) up to the local router tower, and puts the Philippines really into the 21st century, they should be congratulated.
We were chatting along about our trip and what we had seen, and she made this comment as her sister in law and brother will visit us today from another island, we managed to find out what the cost of the trip would be and its around P2000.00 although we managed to get it down to 4 round trip tickets to 1625.00 paid in advance, again family are happy today, they are visiting us at our house, and making a trip as well, Gina said something strange to me.
She said "I could not go back to this life again, my brother could not afford to come and see me, I had to send the money, I am happy to do that, but she lamented on the fact that 5 years ago, that was me"
"She sees herself in that position, and tells me I love my life with you in UK, I have everything i want, but to give my family so much pleasure, I had to go and take the chance of a life oveseas, but now looking here in my hometown, I cannot ever go back to this"
I then said, of course honey, your life has changed in every way, and lets be truthful, you would probably not make it in this life again.
It was a private thought from her, but a very poignant one for me to hear, I guess it was Gina's way of thanking me for bringing her to UK, because in UK she has the chance to give something to her family, and that for so many Filipina's is the greatest thing they can do, sometimes maybe us British guys, we underestimate that power. the power of what they can do, if given the chance they can do it.
For me, and I know for many of you reading, my fellow British guys, you will get your own rewards deep inside, that glowing feeling, that somehow, your a part of that privilidge, you made it happen too for them, you brought pleasure to others, but most of all its your wife's family, and one thing I can testify to, is that if your wife's family are happy, she is happy, and thats all you need to have a good Filipina wife who is happy and contented.
My first time in Mindanao taught me quite alot, first of all about the infra structure of the general Davao City area, Davao seems to be a collosal size city, reportedly the safest in the Philippines, and much of this can be atested to the iron rod control of its Mayor, Mr Roddy Duterte, who drives about town on his Harley Davidson motor bike, with twin colt 45 pistols, he is called the Punisher, and is often seen on t.v. slapping officials and barangay captains for not taking a tougher line with the people.
I am told there are about 2 bodies a day show up in Barangay Patay, famous for being the object of the reported death squad punishments meeted out to drug abusers, petty criminals, and glue sniffers, when Mayor Roddy reads out a list of those who have offended on a 3 strikes and your out basis, 2 days later, they end up dead.
Of course he totally denies any involvement, stating that they are criminal gangs who do this sort of thing, I have to remind myself, that many expats living in Davao would gladly vote for him, many telling me that the city is much safer under his control.
Our trip to Mindanao involved flying from Bacolod City on a superb Cebu Pacific ATR 72-500 aircraft twin propeller type, a very comfortable and pleasant take off and landing and about 45 minutes later we are in Cebu Mactan International.
Our connecting flight to Davao City aboard an Airbus A320 leaves Cebu about 2 hours later, and we have a lovely pleasant flight to Davao City International, needless to say, Davao International Airport is much bigger and has more facilities than many of the regional national airports.
And my first impression of the roads are good, I am pleasantly surprised to find that the roads around the main city area are of a good standard, dual carriage ways in many places, and the traffic seems to flow much faster, there are less jeepneys in the city, and less tri cyles than I am used to seeing in Bacolod City, it appears to me, that Davao City is more cosmopolitan than some of the other cities I have visited and that impresses me as well.
I am totally assured by my hosts, a British Filipino couple, (who I will not name as they asked not to be named in my writings, due to security considerations), that the city is the safest in Asia, and we are collected and taken to a posh sub division next to the Insular Hotel and Resort, which was the premier hotel in Davao before the Marco Polo was built.
Our freinds have very kindly arranged for us to stay with them for our 5 day visit, and we are happy to do so, the sub division is heavily guarded, and gate access is controlled by 3 guards.
The one thing I am told about Davao living is the cost difference between other islands, they tell me that building houses is much cheaper, and that eating out and enjoying yourself is also much cheaper, this is due to the thousands of buffet style restaraunts that have sprung up, around Torres street, I am shocked that most evenings the city buzzes with entertainment, and restaraunting, in fact I am convinced that Davao is all about eating out.
We all know that the great Filipino past time is eating out, but here its even more apparent, we are assured that tonight we will go to a japanese sushi buffet, the shock is, its only 290 per head with drinks, at todays exchange rate, somewhere around 3.75 per head, but I am also amazed to be told, that this is one of the more expensive offerings, and the Marco Polo international buffet is probably the most expensive, at around P500.00 per head.
The food is superb, and there is plenty of it, and we are told that this is just one of many places we will visit.
On the downside, I notice that in Davao especially when we go to Gaisano Plaza mall in the city, we are the object of a few more stares and chatterings than we encounter in Bacolod City, because there are 2 pairs of us walking together, our host Filipina tells us, that people are talking about us, some say "Look at the 2 foreigners with their pick up girls, others have said, oh they are with their sugar Daddys,", then another said, "Oh, look they cant be mistresses because they are fat", this brings some amount of amusement to me, who then decides to turn the tables on the onlookers, by me telling my Gina to cling to me with 2 arms, and make it look like you are hanging on to your ATM Card tightly.
Gina laughs and does so, the other lady does the same, and then we are the object of even more laughter and stares, someone said, in the background, don't worry we wont take your man, hang on to him, dont loose him.
I make a silent note to myself, that no amount of integration into the Philippines way of life is going to stop locals staring and commenting, I had the same experience on my way back through Cebu, It compelled me to point to my wedding band, when 3 Filipinos lounging on a tricycle were looking in our general direction, and talking about us, that seemed to do the trick, as they nodded in admiration.
Gina says to me "Dont bother explaining yourself to people, its not their business", somehow I am uncomfortable nevertheless, in UK, no one stares in the mall at Gina and I, and if they did, I would not care, so why is it that in the Philippines, I do care, I think it has to do much with myself noticing other foreigners going around with Filipinas half their size, yes it does look odd, and sometimes they are pick up girls, who is to say whether they are or are not, but trust me when I say, people talk about it, they want to know, the most rude questions, our Filipino host tells me recently, that she is asked impertinent questions about the size of her husbands penis, and other sexual innuendo trivia.
Gina tells me, educated people do not ask such questions, but then I say, maybe not, but trust me honey they are thinking about it.
Apart from the stares, our time in Davao is very nice, our hosts take us to the Insular hotel, which is next to the beach, and just opposite Paradise Island, my British friend takes me across to swim at the hotel in the pool, and tells me that he has a membership there, which costs around P1500.00 a month, for this he can come over, swim in the leisure heated pool, towels are provided, and there is a multitude of staff on hand to cater to his evey whim.
He tells me, this is luxurious living, but you know Pete so many foreigners come to Davao after reading blogs such as Mindanao Bob or Living in Philippines, or similar blogs, they think that they can come on a USD 1000.00 per month, and then find, that it does not give them the life they want.
This is also something Gina and I are noticing guys and girls, the costs of living in the Philippines are going up, he tells me that especially americans are coming to Davao, and finding life hard, there 1000 dollars is not going very far, firstly they fail to consider the unseen costs, for example, what happens if you get sick, what happens if you need to replace your car, maintenance, and other costs, yes its cheap to eat, but if you have to switch off the aircon in the daytime because you cannot afford to run it, it means you are sweating all day.
Some Americans only have it on at night, because they cannot afford the electricity bill, electric is expensive to consume here in the Philippines, and we have noticed that the bill is quite high compared with UK electricity prices.
There are stories here of Americans who came to Philippines for a better life, have ended up homeless and living on the streets, there are one or two examples, but not many, the other thing my host tells me, is about those who integrate too far into Filipino life, they end up living in sub divisions outside of the more expensive ones, they end up with Filipino family living in the house, and thats where their troubles start, there is always a situation to spend money on, they end up broke, and have to leave and go back to US.A.
He tells me that people under estimate just how much they will need, he said at one time £700.00 a month would be ok, now he says, you have to double that, at least £1300 to £1400.00 a month, but that does not cover emergency hospital treatment which we take for granted in UK.
I am not surprised by what my freind tells me, I have noticed that things have gone up in Philippines, however, he also tells me, that if you take advantage of lower cost eating out, and live sensibly, you can do well.
I notice that we are the only 2 people in the pool, the pool is situated just above the beach, and there are 4 or 5 staff just standing around watching us, the hotel has excellent changing facilities with hot showers, and soaps and shower gel, etc are provided if you swim there, a very pleasant morning.
In the afternoon we are to go to Paradise Island just across on the main island of Samal, I know perhaps some of you have been here, and can tell a similar story, I am impressed by being able to catch a boat for 20 pesos across to Paradise resort.
My freind tells me we will snorkel off the reef and later take a lovely lunch, on arrival we decide to take lunch first, and I am so impressed with the service, and the quality of food, the bill around P1500.00 does not do the food justice, it is superb in every way, steaks, salads, birds nest soup, mango ice cream deserts, coffees, cokes, everyone eats well, and later, the grand finale, my friend and I go snorkelling off the reef, the kit being provided for us, I am also told I can get scuba diving lessons for around £10.00 for the day if I want, as there are several Korean people there, doing Scuba.
A fantastic afternoon, and a great boat ride back to the Insular hotel, we are home for about 6 pm, I am told we are going to eat out again, and then go to a club called the Aquarium, its a tourist club, and very popular in Davao.
The Aquarium is a girlie show bar, and 6 or 7 girls come out and dance sexily to the DJ' offerings, mainly techno dance, its not a lap dancing club, more of a scantily clad club, there are a few foreigners there including ourselves, we look better of course as they wife is with us, the other foreigners look abit spare, as they look up at the girls, most of them are around 17 to 20, but properly dressed, this is of course Davao City, run by Mayor Roddy Duterte, about 2 hours later, having had a few San Migs and enjoying the music, we head home for a well earned rest.
Tomorrow we are being taken to see a banana plantation and how bananas are packed sent to other parts of the world, we will also take lunch with our hosts parents, and then be taken to eat coconut fresh from the trees, also we are told this area was the site of a recent gun battle between the Philippine Army and MILF.
We are a little hesitant on this, but I am assured that Task Force Davao, have cleared the roads, and in any event, our vehicle is fully tinted, the next morning, we are whisked away out of Davao towards the city of Panabo, to me in the Philippines, one city seems the same as the rest, but I am cautioned that recently, there was a dispute between the Philippine Police and Army when a soldier tossed a grenade into a group of Policeman, only in the Philippines you might say, as my friend chuckles, and says, he was unhappy with his pay off or something.
I do not laugh, and just sit rigid in the car, perhaps a bit of bravado I think to myself, as we speed inland towards the town of Santo Tomas, Santo Tomas seems to me to be town that everywhere else has forgotten, the only resort in town seems to be the Aloha leisure pool, however, its not one you would want to swim in, the water is good now I am told, it was brown before, not its green, lets be truthful, you nor I would ever contemplate swimming in this pool, you cant see the bottom, it has not been maintained for years, and every where any structures are rusting away.
I privately laugh, as we take coffee and biscuits, and wonder why, I was ever here in the first place, our trip to the banana cooperative was informative, if not warm, our visit also takes us past some indigenous tribes people, whose relatives I am told still live in the mountain areas, where they chase about naked and use the bow and arrow to kill their food, "Even Mayor Duterte pays them P5000.00 for every pig they kill", maybe he intends to court their favour in local elections", These people I am told are called the Lumads.
I meet Samuel who is a Lumad, he shows me his modest house, thats if you can call it a house, its more like a wooden rabbit hutch, which he says he lives in with his wife and children, Gina tells me ask him about his children, so I say as best I can "Kamusta Samuel ang Anak Mo", hoping I would be understood, Samuel gives a big smile, and says thank you they are well, in perfect english, he then catapults himself up into a tree, and drops 2 coconuts to the ground, with his machete, he cuts one open and invites me to drink from it, then he cuts out the kernel of the cocunut and offers it to me to eat, Gina motions me to eat it and thank him politely.
Gina says to me, oh he likes you, he has offered you some of his food today, I am reminded that hospitality knows no bounds, than perhaps one of the poorest Filipinos in society, who to offer a visiting foreigner something that he knows he can give, then proceeds to climb a tree which is a good 25 feet of the ground, without any help whatsoever, and then gives me a morning snack.
Thats hospitality in its purest form, and I am humbled by my experience, Samuels father comes to greet us, a perfect english "Good Morning Sir", would you like to see my Caribou, I am most pleased to accept, and Samuels Father, who looks like his brother, brings the caribou over for me to pat and hold on to, he then taps the caribous foot and gets it to stand on 3 legs, again, small acts of greeting for the foreigners who are visiting.
I am touched by the greetings of these indigenous Lumads, who have been thrown off the land they once lived on, and have had to etch out a living as best they can, they don't have aircon, running water, but they have jobs, looking after the rice paddies and keeping an eye on the banana plantations at night.
After taking lunch with our hosts parents, and doing a tour of the wet market and various other places in town, we decide to hit the road early, my British friend says, its best to get back on the road and drive to Panabo asap, as the road is not safe after dark, Philippine Army Intelligence were consulted the day before, and they said, its best to go in daylight hours, as they cannot guarantee our safety after 5 pm, they say, the rebels put up road blocks, but mainly for the purposes of extortion from drivers, the sight of 2 foreigners would delight them, for the kidnap money they might get.
I am not inspired by this late peice of news, although my freind tells me, the contact is a retired Major, and sometimes he likes to ingratiate his self about the information he has about certain areas, I dont know what to beleive, but I am glad when we arrive back in the area controlled by task force Davao, the para military police who guard the approaches to the city.
Its safe now, and I know we wont be going in those areas again.
Tonight its the night for the Marco Polo International Buffet, and we arrive at around 6.30, its American theme night, and we tuck into lots of prime rib, sushi, omellettes made to order, steamed fish and every other kind of delight, I notice one or two foreigners in the dining room, the Marco Polo is the place where the rich seem to go, my freind laughs and says, there is always a photographer outside, taking photos, hoping to snap some policitican coming in and out.
for P500.00 its not a bad deal, however I am told, that today its 2 for 1, so we only pay for 2 people, they are always doing promos, like this, how they manage to do it Im not sure, but hey I am not complaining, its a great night out.
I am a bit apprehensive to be told we are being taken to another club this evening, but I laugh when I see its a ladyboy club, they have these stand up comedians, who are gay, but look like beautiful women, one of them, who is introduced to me as Daniella, could pass for a good looking woman, however the others would be kind of spotted quickly.
Danielle makes a big fuss of me, and my freind, and our wives just laugh at it, my freind will not do kareoke, but I consent to going up and singing "When you say nothing at all by Ronan Keating" the comedians are poking fun at me, which is all part of the process, I enjoyed myself, my freind told me, they are always trying to get me up, but I wont sing, Pete of course has to make a spectacle of himself and does so quite eloquently.
But, like all these things, I am falling asleep by 11 pm, and we make a mad dash for the car, and head home, its our last day in Davao, and we have done so much, but we are ready for our flights back to Cebu City, and then to Bacolod.
Our freind wake us up on Sunday morning to a heart send off, hot dogs, eggs, omellete, toast, coffee, juice, pomello, jack fruit, mango, Durian, you name it we had it, actually, you will probably like Pomello, its a fruit which is better from Davao, and of course the dreaded Durian fruit.
Having not been able to eat any more, we head back to Davao City International Airport, and say a tearful goodbye to our hosts and freinds, they have been fantastic, not letting us pay for anything during the time we were there, we wont forget this trip, and its sad to part.
But part we must, holidays don't last forever, but the memories of them do, and I am sure for us they will be re-visits over the years, and we have a full day in Cebu to look forward to, and more eating I guess.
Our flight to Cebu heads off on time, and lands in Cebu Mactan International bang on time at 10.30 am.
A High School Class mate of Gina's has not seen her for 25 years, can you imagine that, this is how the Philippines is, they link up after years and years, like it was yesterday.
Our freind is obviously out to make our day great, and we head to the Grand Majestic Hotel in Cebu City itself, after we are met by her driver and a suzuki carrier, its been renamed now, as the Grand Convention centre hotel and Conference centre, its chinese buffet day, for P390.00 all you can eat, Chinese food.
If any of you guys are seeing girls from Cebu, Mandaue, Lapu Lapu, or surrounding area, make sure to take your girl to this buffet, its superb, and well worth the money, its just how chinese food should be, plus your girl can eat Filipino food there, they have Lechon Kawali, steamed fish, Shoipaw, Dim Sum, Sweet and Sour Pork, fish balls, and guys the fish balls are out of this world.
Gina glady picks up the bill, for 4 of us, it was only around P1500.00 a superb lunch, one that I would not forget easily, and a visit to Shoe Mart in Cebu, shows me just how much bigger Cebu is in terms of places to go, it takes about 40 minutes from Cebu to get to Mactan airport, of course all the first class resorts like Plantation bay, the Beach of Marco Polo, Shangri La, etc, they are all there, and Cebu Airport has of course free wi fi, which is helpful if you are bored waiting for a flight.
We were drained, from over eating again, thats a problem for us here, I am afraid to say, over eating, hahaha, who cares, anyway, its holiday, can always work it off back in standard Britain when we get back.
A nice flight back to Bacolod, and the trip ends, no regrets guys, great time, great food, great photos, everyones a winner.
Davao City, is the place to go though, and I forgot to mention, if you want free wi fi for your netbook, and great coffee, try the BlueGre coffee house, not sure which street it is in, but I am told all the foreigners like it.
Best wishes.
Pete_Forum Moderator
Philippines marriage, Courtships, UK Entry Clearance
Again, a wonderful read Peter. Thank you.
However, I so wish that I could have said 'Hello' to you yesterday in Cebu.
Al.
Pressed rat and warthog closed down their shop!
Lumads isnt a specific tribe,its a mandaya term meaning indiginous peoples or natives,if you get the chance to visit again drop over at the Eagle reserve,absolutely incredible birds,or if you want to meet Duterte visit the gun club at Golds,I met him there when he was practicing
Sometimes you're flush and sometimes you're bust, and when you're up, it's never as good as it seems, and when you're down, you never think you'll be up again. But life goes on.
The beauty of a woman is not in the clothes she wears, the figure that she carries, or the way she combs her hair. The beauty of a woman is seen in her eyes, because that is the doorway to her heart, the place where love resides. True beauty in a woman is reflected in her soul. It's the passion that she shows to the outside world.
Pete,
Glad to know you like Davao. It is a good place to visit, live in, and invest... but then, don't compete with Duterte's cronies or else your business will close shop before it will even have an anniversary... I wish this coming elections, Duterte will be replaced by someone who's heart is really to serve the people. Yes, they know him to be a "good" mayor.. but, inside info on him tells me otherwise. His children, his women, and his "kumpares" have a different story to tell... hehehe....
Not going to say it as it may be life-threatening to my family who has been threatened time and again... nice to know you're enjoying your holidays.
I have heard rumours behind the scenes that he is giving tacit approval to the salvage,but Davao is the safest of pinoy cities under his "Rule"
Sometimes you're flush and sometimes you're bust, and when you're up, it's never as good as it seems, and when you're down, you never think you'll be up again. But life goes on.
The beauty of a woman is not in the clothes she wears, the figure that she carries, or the way she combs her hair. The beauty of a woman is seen in her eyes, because that is the doorway to her heart, the place where love resides. True beauty in a woman is reflected in her soul. It's the passion that she shows to the outside world.
yup... he does.. and whoever tries to become mayor will get threatened for sure... got inside info on that as well... LOLI have heard rumours behind the scenes that he is giving tacit approval to the salvage,but Davao is the safest of pinoy cities under his "Rule"
wonder why my sibs and I are not in Davao? Go figure tawi...
Again, a wonderful read Peter. Thank you. Al.
I could not agree more.
Thanks for your experiences Peter.
I will remember the finer points when my turn comes....
May I just take this opportunity to ask some of the members that if they find something to talk about or elaborate on some points of this thread....
Would they please refrain from hijacking it, but open another one, where they can discuss whatever took their attention to their heart's content. !!!!
I could not agree more.
Thanks for your experiences Peter.
I will remember the finer points when my turn comes....
May I just take this opportunity to ask some of the members that if they find something to talk about or elaborate on some points of this thread....
Would they please refrain from hijacking it, but open another one, where they can discuss whatever took their attention to their heart's content. !!!!
I did say that
again great read pete
Today is Balik Bayan family reunion day.
Hi Guys, and Girls, thanks for all the well wishing comments, those of you who seem to like my ramblings and observations I am touched by your replies, and sorry Alan, had I known you were in Cebu on Sunday I would not have hesitated to say lets meet up for coffee in Shoemart, or something, sorry we missed you, would love to have met you personally.
Its always nice to try and meet up with forum members, just to say Hi, we don't always get that chance, you know how things are in the Philippines, you have so little time to get anything done, and I have found, meeting up with people is so hard, as you are so tight on timings.
Back to today, today is Balik Bayan family day, my wife tells me, its important today, as she is inviting the exended family for a nice lunch.
Wow extended family I though to myself, how many will that be ? well it turns out, there was 17 of us today for lunch, we met up with the parents, uncles and aunts, cousins and freinds, and one extra, who just seemed to slip into the group unnoticed, I was not too bothered, it appeared that we were going to pay a rather large bill, so one more was neither here nor there.
My wife tells me, this is important, because she says, when the balik bayan returns, whether accompanied by the foreign husband nor not, she would normally throw a party, or the girls family would throw a large party, and normally a lechon would be provided if not 2.
On this occasion, the girl is quite proud to throw the party and pay the bill, its a sign of respect for the family, and common in Filipino culture, today was the day, our relatives seemed to arrive out of nowhere, turning up on the back of multi cabs, jeepneys, and pedicabs.
One relative who was working, had only 30 minutes for lunch, but still she took 2 jeepneys, and 1 pedicab to get here o time for the lunch, my wife tells me, often the relatives who live some distance away from the city never get the opportunity to be taken out for lunch, this is a big treat she tells me, and it shows, we go to a chinese buffet for an all you can eat lunch plus free drinks, the relatives go up many times and eat, I am still being told, this is a big thing for them, no one pays for them, and they appreciate it very much.
The family exchanges jokes, and laughter, happy to all sit down together, I ask my wife Gina, is this the whole family, she laughs, nooooooo...this is only the ones I could get hold of on text.
There are many more of them, probably over 75 to 100 in the area, but we will not be inviting them all, we can only invite those who are close to the city, of course some of the family are overseas as well.
Later Gina tells me yet again, I am so proud of you, making this happen for me, I still see little or no significance in the day, but to Gina its everything, she tells me, when they have had lunch, they will all disperse and go there own way home, I offer to arrange transport for them.
My Gina tells me, no honey, they will get home themselves, she tells me, anyway, we are off to Robinsons, we have things to do, all in all the bill was not too bad around P3000.00 and a bit extra for other persons who showed up late, for about 18 to 20 people as it turned out, the bill was not too bad, about P200.00 a head or thereabouts, one of the Tita's in the family grabs hold of me and wont let go, she is cuddling, and squeezing my arms, my chin and just about everything else on my upper body, another cousin (female) is cuddling also, the attention can at times be overwhelming, I know some of you guys will back me up on this one.
Its always the way, it seems that the foreigner husband is the centre of the families attention, it seems they will do anything for you that is within there power, while I sit at the table, i note that no one wants me to get up and serve myself.
Later today, some of the female cousins turn up, Gina tells me, oh cousin so and so will massage your head today, another comes in to do my feet, I am kind of pleasantly overwhelmed again, I feel like Daniel in Stargate, when the women all start brushing his hair, and doing his nails.
Gina says to me, they will do a manicure for you if you want, the others will give you a massage, and do your feet, I say its ok, let them relax, no, she says, they want to do it for you, if you saw the scene on this one, I look like King Solomon with all his concubines, but Gina cautions me, let them look after you, after all, your family to them, they are pleased your here.
What is it about the Philippines, that nothing seems to be a problem, whilst we are inside, my brother in law, tells me that the fish aquarium I built needs cleaning out, he tells me, he will do it, and have it finished in about 1 hour, he also tells me that the filter needs cleaning and the water needs changing, he seems happy to get on with it, and he and another relative are busy doing it.
I have to remind myself that at home, no one would seem to want to do these things, Filipinos come over to me as somehow, happy to be of service, and that family is everything to them, I am sitting here telling you about my day, as a glass of coke with ice, and dried mango suddenly appears at the side of me.
I must also be careful to remind myself, I am on holiday, is it perhaps that fact that is the key point here, Gina tells me, no not really, they are just happy to look after you, don't think anything is out of the ordinary here, they like you.
The day has been wonderful, for what little I contributed, I am told that the family have already been texting to Gina saying, to thank your husband, we had such a wonderful day out, I feel sort of that I did not do anything really, but clearly someone thinks its been pretty special.
I don't know about you guys, but judging from your comments, you all seem to have experienced this in one way or another, where can you buy all of this happiness you seem to bring to people in the Philippines.
My brother in law tells me that people here can do so much, if only they had a little capital to make it happen, a couple of years ago, my brother in law was desperate to expand his small business, breeding fish, actually he is pretty smart on the subject, and knows the business inside out, the only problem for him, is having a little extra money to make his business happen.
I care about my brother in law so much, apart from the fact he is my brother in law, he has that filipino heart of gold, that is so hard to find back in UK, he smiles all day, and excepts life for what he has, hmmmmmmm I could do with learning from this.
But he works 9 hours a day, and he tells me today, remember the money you gave me to start my business, well he says, will you come to the fish farm with me, I want to show you something, I promise to do so, and he takes me, I am shocked to find that he has not been idle in last couple of years, in fact, he has several water vats filled with fish, he also employs 4 caretakers, and he tells me he just sold 4000 fish for 30 pesos each, thats a very large order he tells me, and his wife also tells me, just how good they can do now, I am shocked at his successes, and wish him well, but he says to me, in his very best english, (my brother in law cannot converse well in english) thank you very much, and that just about is enough for me.
Again guys, I am getting alot of internal warmth out here, and I just want to share that with you who read this, a little money from us, can go along way here, 2 years ago, I gave him £300.00 to start this, now my brother in law, can feed his family, and house them, and put his kids to a decent school, now he is saving for his own house, there is a story behind this and I want to remind you all of this story.
"Give a man a fish, he will feed himself for a day."
"Give a man a fishing rod, and he will feed himself for a year"
Dont you agree guys ?
Pete_Forum Moderator
Philippines marriage, Courtships, UK Entry Clearance
I agree! Amen!
awwwww.... such a nice story
fantastic as usual
"Give a man a fishing rod, and he will feed himself for a year" great great
A day of hanging around town and doing well nothing actually ?
Whats to do...when you cannot actually find anything to do, well I have the answer, Filipinos they know, you go downtown and hang around, just look at the Filipinos, they will yes youve got it....go to the mall.
Bacolod City must be the same as many other Filipino cities, full of places to eat, and have coffee and cake, if you count all the shopfronts, everything seems to be centered around eating out.
Davao City taught me that, Bacolod although being much smaller in size, seems to have the same traits, what is it about the Filipino passion and past time, of eating out and generally sitting around having posh coffee and rather expensive looking cake.
Filipinos just love to be seen I am told by my Gina, they would go and sit in Bo's coffee concession in shoemart, or Bigby's cafe, Bob's cafe, or Calea Coffee and Cake house, it seems to me, that no expense is spared when it comes to coffee, and mounds of thick chocolate cake.
If the statistics are anything to go by, Filipinos end up having more problems with their teeth than any other country, they spend exhorbitant amounts of money on sweet things such as pastries, cakes, and different kinds of breads, ube and Ensaimada seem to be popular, boxes of Bong Bong's Bing Bongs and every other door bell sounding products come to mind, you cannot sit for 5 minutes without one my relatives coming up to greet me.
Its customary to introduce ones self to the visitor, and you will always see your intended or wife saying, oh this is my cousin from so and so, they have not seen them for years and years, but they talk as though they last saw them yesterday, sometimes they would be told to pull up a chair, and have a coffee and cake, or spagetti or something weird like that.
Today was kind of like that, we could not get across the concourse of shoemart, without bumping into multitudes of high school class mates, cousins, and freinds from previous employments, if its not Doctor so and so, its a former professor, or some other dignatary that your intended or wife seems to pile upon you.
Not that I am complaining, Filipino's by nature are so polite, when they meet, a freind of my wife took us out for lunch yesterday, she introduces me to her daughter who is politely told to go and kiss uncle Pete, she does so without reservation or purpose of evasion, thats how it is in the Philippines, I am told its a kind of respect for me.
I am quite tickled by the whole process, I am by nature a very polite person, but more so in the Philippines, when perhaps not so much among my own kind, trying to be extra polite in public, and showing interest in those who are thrust upon me as distant relatives.
But back to eating out, today we started early at Jollibee, around 10.30 am, the problem is I slept late last night watching a late movie on Star movies, plus I wanted to take in a soccer match between Man U and Liverpool which was showing on star sports, a bit of a treat in this part of the world.
I got up late, but it did not matter, by the time I was up, Gina had been outside chatting at the top of her voice it seemed to me, with a passing Manang, she talked for over 1 hour, when I asked what they said, she told me, ohhh not much really, we were just talking about London, ohhhhh I thought, she knows someone there do you know xxxxx ??
I said honey, London is a pretty big place, greater London has 15 million people, oh...she thought you might know her sister who is living there ?????????
A jollibee breakfast was pretty nice, as the guard comes over and hands me a copy of the Manila Bulletin, hmmmmmm wonder if McDONALDS would do that for me when I arrive for my big breakfast, most of the time they forget my hash brown when I drive through, I don't think somehow I am going to get a copy of the Mail to read.
After Jollibee, it seems my Gina wants to visit a cousin in a neighbouring sub division, we take the circumferential road, (hmmmm thats if you could call it that), she tells me not to worry too much about the road, the trucks use it, and the potholes are pretty bad and it has flooded so that does not help.
I make a private chuckle, and slip up by saying, geeeeeze, this is like the 3rd world, I am hastily corrected by my loved one, who tells me "Its not like the 3rd world darling, it is the 3rd world"
I have to take a reality check, and remind myself that I have been out here for 3 weeks, and it its about the 15th time, it also shows how little you adjust even after so many visits, I note a man on the jeepney in front of me, who spits into the front of my car, I am not happy, and incensed, my wife laughs and tells me, dont worry, thats common, they shrug their shoulders and tell me its not worth worrying about.
The sight of someone urinating down the side of someones taxi kind of lifts up my eyebrows, as do so many sights in the this part of the world, I just see a tri-cyle go past with about 40 people on it, actually there were 10 but you get the point, life is hard here for the masses, people have to make do with what they can.
This part of town has delapidated nippa huts for dwellings, and we get to a subdivison which is brand new as we would say, nice guard house, with controlled entry, nice frontage, new homes, carmella valley, a very nice place to live, it tell us, I say to my wife, these houses are quite nice, it looks very clean.
She is laughing "Yes she says, its clean now, until people start moving in, then watch for the sari sari stores appearing, then vendors with pork sticks and all of a sudden a whole lot of garbage"
She tells me, they all start of very nice, then people start to move in, and in come the bahay Kubo's the chickens, the roosters, and other animals that are not supposed to be there, forget any notions you have about covenants, or sub division home owner rules, when push comes to shove, they simply do not obey any rules, and enforcing it is pointless, as the sub division developers simply shrug their shoulders once the lots are sold."
I silently sigh, and understand and agree, thats how it is here in the Philippines, rules are made simply to be flaunted, and Filipino's are innovative when it comes to getting around rules, I was offered a satellite t.v. system last week for P9000.00 for life, but then found out, its tapping into someone elses system, I remark that whey cant they do things honestly, and realize what an empty rhetorical question I just asked.
The cousins we call on are delighted to see us, as we enter the house, a fan is quickly drawn up and switched on in my general direction as I am told to sit down, a coke is put before me, with lots of ice, my Gina tells me, they rarely use the fan as they cannot afford the bill, but they will put in on for you, I am privately embarassed, as I feel I am costing them money.
Gina tells me not to be embarassed as they are happy to put it on, but it does not help my state of mind, she tells me, its ok, they understand its hot in here, but they live like this, because they only put on the fan at night.
I cant help thinking I would have trouble living here in the heat, there is a lack of air in this house, and how they stand it I will never know, the hospitality of these people again is incredible, what little they do have, they will give you, I have found this througout all my vacation here in the Philippines, right from Samuel the Lumad, to cousins to rich freinds of my wife, who seem to think nothing of pulling out their credit cards to settle a bill.
This Filipino hospitality is unconditional in every form, my wife tells me, this is the way of the Filipino, she asks me if we can stop by Robinsons today as it is the birthday party of her high school freind, we are invited to dinner and she wants to buy a gift, I wholeheartedly agree, and say, make the gift nice !
Filipino hospitality is always about gifts, Pasalubong, and taking something for someone, a great culture even a quick visit to a long lost freind, or a cousin or relative you have not seen for sometime, its customary to take something, does not have to be expensive nor elaborate, a token of gift is always appreciated.
As we could not find a movie to watch today, we descended on Robinsons for lunch, at Shakeys, I love the mojos, those lovely spicy potatoes, with dips, and we sat for an hour and half having lunch, I looked around, the place was full of locals all having similar lunches, I allude back to the obesssion with eating out, and money does not seem to be in short supply when it comes to this.
I ask Gin, where does all the money come from, she tells me, oh someone will always pay, if they save their money, the one who makes the invitation will be paying, that is something I learned here in Pinas, if you invite anyone to dinner, it generally means you are paying the bill.
Not like in UK, when you meet freinds for dinner, its normal to split it up between the guys, thats normal and an easier way to cut the cost of large bills eating out, here it seems the one who invites takes it upon themselves to pay.
I still think though, where is all the money coming from ? the mall is full of restaraunts such as Mang Inasal, Shakeys, Greenwich Pizza, KFC MCD's Jollibee, Bigbys Bobs, Yellow Cab Pizza, Pizza Hut, Chow King, and so many more eaterys and cafes, they are all full to the brim, and of course my wife tells me, people come in the mall for the airconditioning, its so hot where they are, so a visit to the mall is better than getting hot at home.
I see lots of Filipinos hanging out around the center of the mall, overlooking the floors below, just looking down, listening to the loud music that seems to bangbang bang across the mall, she tells me they are expecting some Filipino actors today who are signing autographs, I ask what time are they coming, she says around 6 pm, its only 2 pm in the afternoon, and people are piling in.
After our lunch, we go on the toiletries expedition, for some of you guys, this is going to be funny to say the least, as you cannot get through some of these department stores without being deluged with offers of help from the skirts.
The skirts as I call them, are the young ladies who seem to be in abundance, wherever you go shopping in the department stores, every part of each department seems to have young small petite, scantily clad short skirt dolls, made up from head to toe with 3 inches of make up on their faces, and waistlines that defy human physiology.
I know you are probably laughing out loud at this, cos I know I am writing it, but you see them heading towards you, with this enormous grin like a cheshire cat, saying "Good afternoon sir - welcome sir, hello sir, can I help you sir, pleased to see you sir, and a partridge in a pear tree sir"
My Gina tells me, they have to be extremely courteous, as the supervisors are watching, who also have to be extremely careful, as the line managers are watching them, who in turn are being watched by the store manager, who in turn is being watched by the store owners, its a revolving process of on the spot staff training.
She tells me, that in the morning the staff have to report for further politeness training, and staff physical activity, I can just imagine how they turn up to a japanese style company meeting before the shop doors open, and its up and down, up and down, stretch stretch and blow that air through the nose, breathe deeply, in out in out, shake it all about.
"Now remember, the customer is always right - smile big smile, and greet the total t.... who comes in to shop"
"I could think of more amusing things to say about customers, but customer relations are taken so seriously here in the Philippines"
Buying something well thats another matter all together, God forbid, that you want to actually buy something, but please my dear freinds, allow at least 4 hours if you do decide to buy anything of value, i.e. P1000.00 and upwards, that involves multiple staff attention.
We only went in to buy some toiletries, and within seconds, we were deluged by 4 different department skirts, number 1 skirt offered us a basket, no 2 skirt, offered a push cart for the basket, no 3 skirt, asked if she could attend us, no 4 skirt, showed us where the shower gel was.
Amazingly, they had 2 for 1 offer on, we were told that there were 5 different flavours, and skirt no 4 actually opened each bottle for sir to smell, after that experience and by the way I was almost ready to snore at that point, out of sheer politeness and effort in customer service, I decided to play along, saying that the Marigold had no smell, but the Lavender was better.
Skirt No 3 comes over again, and suggest we might like to look at today's offering a large bottle of hand sanitizer at P149.00 on special offer, with so many SM advantage points, I ask my wife how many points we have, she tells me P38.00, I laugh and say, well at least we can have a free SM coffee, sorry sir I am told we do not offer free coffee, I say well you should do !"
They are not laughing, as we pack all these bottles of shower gels, hand sanitizers, and all the rest of the codswollop we are being shown are todays special offers, please please let me get out of here I promise to buy it all...if only you would let me go......
Supervisor comes over and thanks us for our shopping, and motions us to the cashier and checkout, I am bemused again, there are 4 skirts on the checkout, one to look at our purchases, another to put them in a bag, another one to take the money, and another one to staple the receipt on the bag.
I am exhausted guys and now its showing, I need a coffee or something, so we make a mad dash for the red ribbon coffee and cake shop.
My wife tells me she needs a facial toner, I shout, .aaaaaaaaaghhhhhh no please no please honey, i cant take it anymore, nooooooooooooo she is understand, that the foreigner husband cannot be put through this again. he has taken just about enough at the great shopping day out again, he just cannot go throug skirt no 2's shower gel demonstrions anymore.
Red Ribbon is a complete joke today, for a cafe that claims to serve you coffee that will get your taste buds going, she tells me we have to wait 30 minutes as the coffee machine is not working.
So we sit there waiting, and lament on the fact that at least its only 30 minutes, its been a tiring day, and I am all in, the grand finale today I am told is that we need to go to Globe Lines and pay our phone bill.
I am not looking foreward to this, as I know from past experience, you need about 1 hour to get your bill paid, I still ask my Gina, "Honey why dont you pay on direct debit like we do back in UK"
She laughs "Thats too easy honey - here its queue and pay, take a number and fall in line"
I look at the Globe notice that reads "Please take a number and then fall into line" I gesture that I am just about ready to fall over anyway, so I would consider I am being very compliant.
We go into Globe, and pick a number, its 1116, and I look above at the display, the number is only 998, I grimace, and my wife suggests we go back to Red Ribbon and get a coffee, they should have fixed the machine now.
I suggest we pay the bill tomorrow, my wife knows better, no she says, we have to pay someone to sit here and pay it for us, so she pays an on the spot young cousin to go into Globe and sit and wait to pay our bill, remembering guys this is only a tenner, would you want to sit for 1 hour to wait to pay a bil for a tenner, trust me, they do, we go off to enjoy our filtered black coffee, while some other poor relative gets to sit and pay the bill for P20.00.
Its been a hot day, we did not do much, we ate lunch, saw a cousin, and bought toiletries, but why do I feel exhausted and feel that I just spent 8 hours at work....
Tomorrow has got to be different...please....
Pete_Forum Moderator
Philippines marriage, Courtships, UK Entry Clearance
I have been waiting for this last instalment, and I was not disappointed by it.
Thanks Peter.
Absolutely wonderful reading Peter! I am going to take a couple of your issues and put them on a separate thread.
Many thanks for a 'novel' read.
Al.
Pressed rat and warthog closed down their shop!
I am tolerant to a point in SM shops.
Let me explain. When they bug you a bit too much in SM Angeles city. They want you to buy this or this, and I have never even looked at the product yet. I know its psychology but I really did have to stop some of the shop staff in their tracks.
They really did get physically in my way when I was trying to look at things. Also if I tried to move to another isle to look at other things, I got another 2 or 3 of them walk up to me. I said politely. May I look first? This sir- this is suitable special offer- I said YOU do not know what I am looking for. Can you wait?
Anyways- they got the message after a few day they knew my face-Just leave me alone, I will call you when I need to ask you. I like to read first, observe and judge a product.
I had a laugh when them anyways. Cos I bought an double bed airbed from them. And me...and Jessica..well we broke it after a week and half. They say how you break it? I just smiled. Ok-you come back in few days we fix! So every time we walked in shop they smile at us
It's time to kick ass and chew bubble gum. And I'm all out of gum.
A change in the norm, off to study the historical Buildings of Negros Occidental.
Today I was at a loose end, had no idea what I would do, the sun was out, not a cloud in the sky, and last night, I made 3 skype calls (skype phones) back to UK, spoke to 2 of my colleagues and called my office, people said to me, "Welcome back mate, how did you holiday go"!
Funny thing was, I am outside my place, its 28 degrees at night, I am watching my Koi fish swim, and having a 3 i 1 nescafe, my office administrator actually says to me "Glad to have you back pete, when you are back to work ?"
??????? is skype that good ? in truth, I have to say it was, its really nice to call back to UK on skype phones which is the package where you have unlimited country for about £3.00 a month, you get to call any UK number from anywhere you can get wi fi or access to it.
Globe Broadband by uplink dish, seems to be doing the job, certainly my colleagues told me, I sounded as though I was in the next room, and this is good, is it not, I dissapoint them when I say I have another week to go yet, urghhhhhhh say some, oh well enjoy your time, not much happening in UK, pretty dismal rain rain rain.
I lament on the fact, that I am better off where I am, even if I could not think of anything to do, well today was different, I had a brain storm, "Why don't I get my driver to run me around and look at some history, I mean, I am always going around town, malls, cafes, restaraunts, shopping, paying bills, going to this restaraunt or so and so's house.
So armed with camera's and water, off we go about 10.00 am this morning, what amazes me though, is that I am shocked to find there is much to see if only you look for it, I decide to get my driver to take me out of the city, when I was here 4 years ago, I had a tour of the city of Silay, about 15 Km out of town, and I am anxious to go back there again, I really did not see it in the way I wanted, just from the side of someones pick up truck is not enough for me.
About 15 minutes later, after passing Robinsons mall, we are out of the city and in the country side, this is where the real Philippines is for me, there are sights and sounds to be found, we are tickled to death by this large truck that trundles past with a 30 foot bambo pack sticking out of the back, my driver tells me its ok, they have a permit.
I take a couple of photos, because I wonder what Elf and safety would have to say about that one, as always we all chuckle about it, multitudes of jeepneys pass us, but they are in a hurry and we are not, I see more of the Philippines this way, than trundling behind gas guzzling old buses, and stinky belching jeepneys, its a nice day, and the breeze is with us.
On entering Silay, my driver enquires about places of interest, and the traffic enforcer tell us, we should go and see the Balay Negrense, a historical building now a museum, I am anxious to go there, because I want to learn more about my wife's heritage, when they come to UK, we really do expect them to trudge about our historical antiquties such as castles and the like, the least I can do i thought is to get an insight to the history of the province.
A surprising thing happens, actually guys I am really enjoying this, I am presented in front of me with this amazing haciendero style building, but I am puzzled as the architecture seems to be French mid 19th century, and its hard for me to imagine this is a Filipino building, I thought I might be near the mark, and when I did my research, it appears that there is something French in this story.
The Balay Negrense, is actually the ancestral home of the Gaston family, now I know there is a French man involved somewhere, Gaston has got to be French, and I am proved correct in this, Yves Leopold Germain Gaston arrived on Batangas in 1837, for a while he help set up a business with a Filipino partner, and together they made money out of Printing and other businesses.
But Gaston got itchy feet, and wanted to see other areas, of the Philippines, he arrived some years later in Ilo Ilo City, on the Island of Panay, it was there that he met his wife, a certain Prudencia Fernandez a Filipino beauty of Spanish descent, with his wife in tow, he crossed the Guimaras strait to the then Port City of SILAY, which was the old provincial capitol of Negros Occidental.
After some time, he found that the soil a rich black type soil was very conducive to growing sugar, and hence, he did something that was out of the ordinary for the time, he introduced the first iron mill to the area, he went on to produce extremely large quantities of sugar cane, and gave the island its place in world history as a major sugar exporter.
Thus the Hacienderos came into being, they employed thousands of workers in the fields, looked after them from education to medical, and they were often seen looking down on the masses from their high story buildings, the Balay Negrense is now a museum as the house passed to the son Victor Gaston and his 12 children who lived there, around 1900, later on the house fell in disrepair, but was later restored by some concerned benefactors of Silay who put some money in to make it very similar to what it was in the late 1800's
Putting the history aside which with pictorial evidence was even more interesting, I was amazed to see how many school children had visited the house while I was browsing around with my driver, there were several groups on education visits, one group stopped near me in the grand parlour on the 1st floor, an many of the children bowed to me in a way I have not seen in my entire life.
The boys placed their hands across their stomach, and gave a polite bow, I was overwhelmed by their graciousness, and one young boy asked me "Sir are you from Switzerland", "I said no, from the UK, actually near London"!, "Oh sorry sir, your hair is white, I thought you were a Swiss man".
Having chatted with these amazingly polite children, and discussing the history of the Gastons, i was moved to read the historical records at the house, this house it appears was designed with airconditioning in mind, of course there was no mechanical or electrical air con back then.
But the builders and designers were pretty smart in that all ceilings are 10 feet high, the bedrooms inter connected by latice topped air flow vents above the doors, thus ensuring an amazing flow of cool air across each room, the grand parlour was designed in such a way, that to sit in it, gave you shade, but a thorough fare of air came through the front of the grand balcony on to the rear of the house.
Even the foundations had a 1 metre crawl space underneath, this was to prevent the foundations rotting, they had thought of everything, a teacher tells me "Sir this is how Filipino houses were built by the rich, not like the small box concrete structures of today, which are so warm inside, no thought is given to air flow, now people have aircon and fans"
But on looking at the Balay Negrense, I can see what he meant by this, there are lots of photos of the Gaston family as they were in 1900, showing the sugar being exported, and the various children in their rooms, it talks about the Sweet Silay, a time of good fortune, for those who owned and tilled the land.
My next stop was to take a drive to Patag, in the mountains, I am told by my driver, that this was the last stand of the Japanese defenders, before they surrendered to Filipino scout rangers, and American 40th division who fought under harsh conditions to get them out of their mountain hideaways, it takes us a good 2 hours to negotiate the terrible bumpy road up the mountain, I wonder what it was like back then.
Silay and the area, is rich in history, and is listed as a historical site of antiquity, many of the French influence Colonial style buildings can be seen today, and the city does not seem much different to what it was a 100 years ago, thats good for me to see, as Bacolod, which is a newer city, seems to have no culture whatsoever, with so many areas of shanty type dwellings, it offers little in terms of cultural and artistic flair, I am told that those who still live in the city prefer Silay because of its heritage.
We spend quite alot of time going around taking photos, my driver takes me to the Bacolod provincial building, the lagoon and we take a walk in government parks, its safe during the day I am told, but at night, an American was stabbed a few months ago for his wallet, he did not survive.
My driver tells me, My cousin is in the park on duty, we are safe, its good to know my drivers cousin is around, I am infomed that he texted his cousin to say he was bringing a foreigner relative to see the park, apparently people know I am coming, I am not sure about this, maybe some ingratiation is going on, but I go along with the flow, as it happens the park is pretty quiet, a few people, and its light of course.
I did something today that is out of the ordinary, I went historical researching the Philippines, it was fun, different, and I encourage some of you who come after to me, to do the same if you get the chance, its not boring either, there is much to see, if only we look for it.
The Philippines seems to have been spoiled in my view by monolithic shopping malls inherited from a culture that only started 200 years ago, the US influence is everywhere to be seen, but look beyond that influence, and the Filipino heritage is there right in front of us.
Its been a great day, and one to remember, tomorrow, we are going to the mountains to dip in the well known Mambukal resort spring, but my driver tells me, he is taking me on a trek up into the area's I have not been before, can't wait to see what tomorrow will bring, my holiday has had so many different facets, and its been the best one yet, I hope there is much more yet to come and I am excited.
Pete_Forum Moderator
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Everytime I log in into this forum I always check if Pete updated his blog and when I see it, I was like 'Oohhh Pete posted again! better prepare a coffee to drink and get biscuits to eat' because I know its gonna be a long post and I will enjoy with a cup of coffee
Its a GREAT READ Pete! And I thank you for enjoying your vacation there and somehow learning more about our kababayans and our traditions.
Keep on posting Pete!
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