14 September 2005
I spent an hour last week typing an entry and then, in true Philippino fashion, we had a power failure and I lost the whole thing. Was incredibly frustrated and couldn’t bring myself to retype it straight away. I know I have been woeful in my blog keeping – will try to be better in the future.
I am still here and still hot – my never ending complaint! I will go backwards in time and talk about this past weekend, and then the previous one etc.
This weekend was mostly about the parties! Lyndon, one of the Youth Ambassadors (AYADs) from Bohol was up in Manila for a week. Bohol is an island in the Visayas group of islands, way down south, near Mindanao. It is famous for its beautiful beaches and scenery and we are all hoping to get down there some time. Anyway – we had a meeting with all-but-one of the AYADs (well actually, two, as Natalie was home sick!) on Friday afternoon and it was fun to catch up with what everyone is doing. I really do like this bunch of people – we are incredibly diverse but we get on very well and it is a wonderful support network.
Then we went to dinner at Fort Bonifacio. I hadn’t been there before, but it is an area (just known as Fort) with a lot of restaurants, bars and clubs. Frequented by expatriates and rich Philippinos. It was really nice – there was flat land around and it gave the illusion of open space – always just an illusion in Manila!! It actually reminded me a lot of Port Melbourne. We had a wonderful dinner and then went to a couple of bars.
Most exciting was the discovery of a Cold Rock ice creamery. For those not in the know (and I do pity you!) Cold Rock is a fantastic concept, whereby you pick your ice cream flavour, and then the stuff that you want mixed into it and they crush it up and stir it in. You have a choice from things like fruit, cookie dough (my favourite), biscuits, chocolate bars, lollies etc. It is incredibly good. You can also have sauce/syrup stirred in. What was so exciting though was that they had lots of little Australian goodies – we kept squealing, “They’ve got Jaffas, they’ve got Maltesers, they’ve got Tim Tams, they’ve got Cherry Ripes, they’ve got Caramelo Koalas” etc. You get the drift. We were looking at each other, saying “We’ve been away from home too long!!!” The staff were cracking up at us as well… I got a cherry ripe (they are all fun size) for Ange, who was home sick. It is still in the fridge! Hmmm – maybe I should have gotten a caramelo koala instead?
The next morning, I dragged myself out of bed to go down to Makati to the fresh food market down there. My friend Jenni (who Ange and I met at Coral Cove in our second month here) lives in Makati right near a park where they have a fresh produce market every Saturday morning. It is wonderful – sooooo many people come. There are lots of people cooking food from all around the world, so we have breakfast there (Jenni works night shift at a call center so it is dinner for her!) and get really good, fresh, fruits and veggies. The stuff that you buy in the supermarket is normally not very good – I think a lot of it is actually shipped in from Australia (I recognise the packaging from Coles!!) and it is very grim. It generally only stays good for a day or two as well. Whereas this produce is much better and has a longer shelf life.
You can also buy plants and flowers – two dozen red roses for AUD$3.00. I am not kidding! They are stunning – they don’t last that long – only about three or four days. It is too hot. But sooooo cheap! I have gotten into the orchids – I can get two orchid plants, in a pot, for AUD$8.00. And they last a few months, so it is better than buying fresh flowers. I have put quite a few plants into the apartment, but have, for the first time in my life, lost one. I had a peace lily die last month which I was devastated at. And now another one is on its last legs. I don’t know what I am doing to them – they are getting enough water, but not too much, I don’t think. They are in the shade. Maybe I should emulate Prince Charles and talk to them? I do tell them not to die – they don’t seem to listen to that though? I am so upset – I have never had a plant die on me before and I feel like a failure. Maybe I am not meant to be a mother? Another girl was trying to console me about it on Sunday and telling me how she killed five goldfish in five days – that didn’t help. It just made me feel bad for the goldfish!!!
I will leave this now (getting too long) and return for the rest of the weekend.
Toodlepip
Kate
I am still here and still hot – my never ending complaint! I will go backwards in time and talk about this past weekend, and then the previous one etc.
This weekend was mostly about the parties! Lyndon, one of the Youth Ambassadors (AYADs) from Bohol was up in Manila for a week. Bohol is an island in the Visayas group of islands, way down south, near Mindanao. It is famous for its beautiful beaches and scenery and we are all hoping to get down there some time. Anyway – we had a meeting with all-but-one of the AYADs (well actually, two, as Natalie was home sick!) on Friday afternoon and it was fun to catch up with what everyone is doing. I really do like this bunch of people – we are incredibly diverse but we get on very well and it is a wonderful support network.
Then we went to dinner at Fort Bonifacio. I hadn’t been there before, but it is an area (just known as Fort) with a lot of restaurants, bars and clubs. Frequented by expatriates and rich Philippinos. It was really nice – there was flat land around and it gave the illusion of open space – always just an illusion in Manila!! It actually reminded me a lot of Port Melbourne. We had a wonderful dinner and then went to a couple of bars.
Most exciting was the discovery of a Cold Rock ice creamery. For those not in the know (and I do pity you!) Cold Rock is a fantastic concept, whereby you pick your ice cream flavour, and then the stuff that you want mixed into it and they crush it up and stir it in. You have a choice from things like fruit, cookie dough (my favourite), biscuits, chocolate bars, lollies etc. It is incredibly good. You can also have sauce/syrup stirred in. What was so exciting though was that they had lots of little Australian goodies – we kept squealing, “They’ve got Jaffas, they’ve got Maltesers, they’ve got Tim Tams, they’ve got Cherry Ripes, they’ve got Caramelo Koalas” etc. You get the drift. We were looking at each other, saying “We’ve been away from home too long!!!” The staff were cracking up at us as well… I got a cherry ripe (they are all fun size) for Ange, who was home sick. It is still in the fridge! Hmmm – maybe I should have gotten a caramelo koala instead?
The next morning, I dragged myself out of bed to go down to Makati to the fresh food market down there. My friend Jenni (who Ange and I met at Coral Cove in our second month here) lives in Makati right near a park where they have a fresh produce market every Saturday morning. It is wonderful – sooooo many people come. There are lots of people cooking food from all around the world, so we have breakfast there (Jenni works night shift at a call center so it is dinner for her!) and get really good, fresh, fruits and veggies. The stuff that you buy in the supermarket is normally not very good – I think a lot of it is actually shipped in from Australia (I recognise the packaging from Coles!!) and it is very grim. It generally only stays good for a day or two as well. Whereas this produce is much better and has a longer shelf life.
You can also buy plants and flowers – two dozen red roses for AUD$3.00. I am not kidding! They are stunning – they don’t last that long – only about three or four days. It is too hot. But sooooo cheap! I have gotten into the orchids – I can get two orchid plants, in a pot, for AUD$8.00. And they last a few months, so it is better than buying fresh flowers. I have put quite a few plants into the apartment, but have, for the first time in my life, lost one. I had a peace lily die last month which I was devastated at. And now another one is on its last legs. I don’t know what I am doing to them – they are getting enough water, but not too much, I don’t think. They are in the shade. Maybe I should emulate Prince Charles and talk to them? I do tell them not to die – they don’t seem to listen to that though? I am so upset – I have never had a plant die on me before and I feel like a failure. Maybe I am not meant to be a mother? Another girl was trying to console me about it on Sunday and telling me how she killed five goldfish in five days – that didn’t help. It just made me feel bad for the goldfish!!!
I will leave this now (getting too long) and return for the rest of the weekend.
Toodlepip
Kate
posted by Kate | 3:51 pm
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