Some more piccies - weekend of debauchery!

L-R: Me, Ange (my flatmate - AYAD at an orphanage here), Nat (AYAD who works at Smokey Mountain - a massive rubbish dump where thousands of people live), Lynette (our ICM) and Sally (AYAD who works on curriculum for education of indigenous people) at Cafe Saguijo

Possibly the worst picture ever taken of me, but gives you an idea how tiny Lynette (our volunteer In Country Manager) is, so I am putting it up! She is a total sweetheart and wicked cool - we all love Lynette so much.
L-R: Jarrah (AYAD who went home on Monday, after a year here), Mairin (AYAD working aonFamily Planning in the Philippines - a desperate need!) and Lyndon (AYAD archeologist from Bohol) at Embassy Nightclub
L-R: Lisa (friend of Mairin visiting for a week), Ange and Lyndon in a taxi

L-R: Lyndon, Ange, and Lisa out at Saguijo

All these photos are courtesy of Mairin

With a little help from my friends

After writing, I have returned to the top to add this warning: This whole post has pretty much been devoted to my cyber life – just warning you!

I think I need to dedicate this entry to all the lovely people who have made my day today so much nicer. I came in to work this morning pretty tired (insomnia strikes again!) and somewhat grumpy (caffeine hadn’t hit the system yet) and really not looking forward to the morning. Then so many wonderful people have just chimed in through the day (all electronically!) to make it so much better.


The first was when my friend Tristan had written an absolutely massive email chock full of information to help my sister, who he has never met, with one of her university assignments (sorry Alex – should have warned you that he is famous for ridiculously long emails!) I was sitting there thinking how nice that was and how lucky I am to have such nice friends. Then I get an email from Lui in America, who writes (and I am paraphrasing as I can’t be bothered going to get the original) “I am burning S2 as I type”. That’s right – Season Two and Season Three of La Femme Nikita DVDs (did you guys think I had gotten over that obsession – nowhere near, I’m afraid, but after buying Season One on sale at Amazon, I haven’t been able to afford the others) will be in my hot little hands very very soon. Lui has a friend who is coming back to Manila bearing goods next Tuesday…*cue very happy dance*. Of course, should any law enforcement officials be reading this (Jacqui – do you count?!?!), I do fully intend, at some stage, to buy the proper DVDs complete with little booklets and extra piccies of Michael! But for now, I cannot wait to watch the gag reels and outtakes that I have been hearing so much about since the DVDs came out and, (it feels like) everyone but me has seen them!! Lui is also going to be sending me episodes from Season Five of 24 as soon as they air in America – so I can start watching from late January next year – cannot wait. This is my hardest break so far – probably because I loved Season Four so much and am desperately worried that they are going to do terrible things to my fave characters next season.

Speaking of 24 – I bought Season Four from the charming pirates near my workplace (I still get the occasional twinges of guilt about buying pirated DVDs, but literally everybody here does it, including my Christian co-workers. I know that is absolutely no excuse – one of my colleagues in whom I confided my moral dilemma suggested I have a ceremonial bonfire before I leave and burn all the DVDs – still pondering that one) and the best way to watch that show is definitely with all episodes in your hand, so you can watch on demand. Poor Ange had to endure the sounds of shooting and Jack Bauer’s angst for a few solid weeks before I got through it all (there was about a week’s break at the three-quarter point when I became annoyed with the inevitable silliness) and I have loved not having to wait a week, or sometimes even a minute, to see how the cliffhanger’s are resolved (would sometimes finish and episode and watch the first five minute of the next one, just to see how they would resolve it before going to bed – I know, I’m completely tragic). Anyway – in my opinion, probably the best thing about watching 24 (and Lost as well) is the recaps about them at Television Without Pity. I need to figure out how to put a link in there to show you all the brilliance. Basically, it is a website that does snarky recaps of TV shows and is absolutely hilarious. So today at lunchtime, I sat at my desk and read through the final episode recap for 24 (cue usual hilarity) and then noticed that the screamingly funny guy who writes them has a blog! And that was it for me – I was lost (hee – geddit – Lost…oh nevermind. I crack myself up at least!). Have bookmarked it for future reference, but that was another delight. Just for laughs, this is how he describes the point:

I'm here because while there's no shortage of people hurling their least significant thoughts and feelings up on the Internet, none of those people are me. I'm here because I've got nothing to say, and by God I'm going to say it.


Then, I get an email from Diane with anther ten chapters of her story to beta read! So; fun reading over the weekend. And something else nice happened as well, but can’t remember what. I also got a few really lovely emails from the four corners of the globe that just made me reflect again on what lovely friends I have and how lucky I am.

Enough with the gushing!


Tomorrow is the Australian Rules Football Grand Final and due to Essendon’s season-to-forget, I, (again!) have no personal investment in it, although the West Coast Eagles are in it, so I think I will be barracking for them. We are going, for some reason, to a bar called The Danish Connection to watch it (think the venue where some of the AYAD’s watched a semi-final last week, “The Swagman Hotel” was probably more appropriate!) which will be fun. It is Sally’s (one of the AYADs) birthday so we will, after the game (for her birthday, she will be going to watch her very first game of Aussie Rules, being a rabid Rugby girl) be going out to celebrate that. I must confess, I am very tired (had another bad cold this week) and would probably like to be staying in tonight and tomorrow night, and basically all weekend, but that is unlikely to happen! Anyway – I am looking forward to the footy…shall be fun.

Okay – will try not to ramble on too much – more next week

P.S. - did you notice that I have learned how to link in this post, so there's a bit of an abundance! If only I could figure out how to get smilies into it!

Grrrr - Spam

I just got a few comments on my blog that were spam, so came to it to try to figure out what to do about it. I don't think I can delete them, sadly, but I have put in a word verification step now so that people need to type the word they are seeing before they post - this means that it actually has to be a person entering the comment and cannot be just a machine, which normally generates spam.

I couldn't believe it - I guess you are truly not free from junk anywhere, are you?

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

Second Installment

Back again. Saturday night we headed out to the Ayala Museum Café for dinner. That is really nice – it is beautiful décor and good food. The Ayala Museum is a great museum here with art and revolving exhibitions, and a series of about 50 (I think?) dioramas that depict the history of the Philippines from caveman days to the present. It is fascinating and so well done – we went during our orientation week and it was a great introduction to the Philippines. It is in Makati as well.


I do like Makati – it is like being downtown Melbourne – it is the business, financial and diplomatic heart of Manila. It has all the embassies and banks etc., plus all the designer stores and lots of great restaurants and nightclubs/bars. It also has parks and trees, which I miss so much (greenery…*happy dance*) and flat, even footpaths that you aren’t in danger of breaking your ankle on. However, it also seems a little surreal to be in a country as impoverished as the Philippines and be rocking around a place like Makati – it is a world apart. There are even security guards who keep the street kids and beggars away. It is a stark reminder of the immense divide of wealth in this country – there are an elite few who have wealth beyond imagining and then so many who struggle to feed their children. I go to Makati a couple of times a week as my Church is there, although I usually tend to go to church and then go home – not wander around the shops.


Money is obviously a bit issue here, and my having as much of it as I do is a potential source of tension, unless handled discretely. Although I am on a volunteer allowance which is a lot lower then my salary in Australia, I still make more than almost all Philippinos and even most of my colleagues. This can also be a problem as Philippinos don’t find anything unusual in asking you, often when they have just met you, “how much do you earn?”, “how much do you pay in rent?”, “how much do you pay for the gym?”, “how much are your tagalog lessons?”, etc etc. It becomes hard to fob them off repeatedly but it is better than telling them, because that leads to more questions and funny looks and only highlights the difference between me and them.


Another thing is when we go away for weekends – I tell people that I saved up before I came away in order to be able to travel, but when some of my colleagues have never left Manila in their entire lives, it stands out. Fortunately, my workplace is used to expatriates, with more money, so it raises less eyebrows, but it is still an issue. And then that raises another problem, because most expatriates have a salary and living allowance, which of course greatly exceeds mine – so although I make more than Philippinos, I have less than they are accustomed to expatriates having (especially those who work in the banks or big business).


To give you an idea of what I am talking about, the security guards at our apartment building make AUD$5.00 for a twelve-hour shift. The nicest one, Julie, who I chat to quite a bit, tells me that, even though she works six days there (so her weekly salary is AUD $30) and sometimes does a 24-hour shift, she still doesn’t make enough money to support her family, so on her one day off (Saturday), she does laundry as well. It strikes me as incredibly unfair that while I am lolling around on my weekend, she is working her butt off to support her children. Purely because I was born an Australian and she was born here. It is not that simple, of course, there are differences between the levels of income and there is quite a firm hierarchy in Philippino society (I get sooooo sick of being called Ma’am by everyone, even people so much older than me, who I should be deferring to).


One thing that I find appalling is the way that most rich Philippinos treat poorer Philippinos – the way that the Philippinos in our building speak to the security guards has me scraping my jaw off the floor and to see how Ya Yas (nannies – most middle and upper classes have at least one) are treated is quite sad. It is an interesting dilemma to live in a developing country. Although I have visited many, this is my first time dealing on a daily basis with the difference between the haves and have-nots and my own nagging guilt at being a have. It is a frequent topic of discussion – how we should handle and approach this. I think I have touched upon this before. I figure that by being here and spending my money in the local economy, I am helping. I try to do little things like giving good tips to taxi drivers (who apparently have to give between 900 and 1200 pesos to the cab’s owner each shift, and pay for petrol, before they can keep anything. This could well be three-quarters of their intake, or more – it is a tough gig). At the same time, I get irritated when they deliberately take the long route to try to get extra money or try to negotiate a ridiculous price out of you. Another favourite is how they wait until they have a fare before they will get petrol (a practice that lead poor Ange to be stranded on a major road on a Friday night a few weeks ago when her taxi completely ran out of petrol!!!) The presumption is that, just because we are white, we are a gullible mark for extortion. I would rather they just get me there and I will give them an extra ten peso tip or something. But if you ever try to explain that to them, it is just incomprehensible!!


Anyway – not sure if I am making any sense and this has rambled on too long. I will return (never fear!!!) with more details later…

Third Installment

Saturday night we returned again to the usual haunt – Café Sa Guijo. I do love this place – it has such a great vibe and fantastic music. Philippinos love ballads, in the vein of Whitney Houston or Celine Dion. Their absolute favourite singer, a national treasure, is this girl called Nina, who sings songs with names like “Love Moves in Mysterious Ways”, (which the other AYADs sing to irritate me as they know how much I dislike it - this song haunts me - I hear it in the lifts, in cabs, in jeepneys, in shops -I think it is following me...), “This is the First Time, I’m Going to Say I Love You”, and my personal favourite, “I Will Love You, Until They Take My Heart Away”, which just weirds me out. How do you take someone’s heart away? Where would you put it? Into a transplant recipient – and would they then love that person too? Sorry – the music bugs me so I probably spend too much time being irritated and coming up with annoying rhetorical questions about it!! It’s probably quite a comforting sentiment – to be loved until that person’s heart is taken away (having visions of a particularly disturbing Buffy episode now, where the baddies were doing precisely that!). Okay – I’m done with that now…


My point is how much I love Sa Guijo. It has a real variety of indie music and some of the bands that play there are starting to become popular. Which is always exciting to see. This Saturday they were having a tribute night to a bloke called Wolffman (that’s not his real name – I believe his real name might be Wilfred but the internet is down and I can’t check – but it is almost the law here that you have a nickname. Almost nobody is called by their given name). Wolffman was very active in developing Sa Guijo and was the lead singer of a band – Woffgang. He died of an aneurysm two weeks ago, after playing a gig at Sa Guijo, at age 29. So lots of really good bands came together to do a tribute show and they were running powerpoints of him and stuff – they even had T-shirts and posters, it was very impressive.


All the bands were doing shout outs and talking about how much he meant to them etc. There were, of course, many toasts and salutes to their fallen comrade in strings/microphones etc. The most moving thing for me though, was when his parents (WolffDad and WolffMom) got up on the stage (well – designated area of floor – there is no stage!!!) to pay tribute to their son. I had no idea who he was but got a bit teary watching these two speak. They were wonderful, talking about how much this meant to them and how they didn’t realise how popular he was. His Mum was wearing a T-shirt that Wolffman wore a lot and his Dad was wearing his signature T-shirt with Wolffman on it. I just kept looking at them and thinking about how they had lost their son two weeks ago and were standing here and paying tribute and encouraging other people in their mourning and how much I admired these two people. They also said they were going to establish a foundation in his name to support independent music in the Philippines, which I thought was a brilliant legacy. I am not sure why they struck me so much – I think they were just normal people and I thought it was so cool that they had come to a bar/club (along with his two sisters) to join in as his contemporaries paid tribute in their own way. Their grief must have been immeasurable but they were there, giving a speech and being very cool and I just thought they were awesome. So it was a great night musically, but also moving in a way I never expected.


It was also a lot of fun because Lynette, our new In Country Manager, came out to Sa Guijo with us. Lynette is very, very cool and about four and a half feet tall (I am not kidding) so says she feels a little nervous around us as we are all so much taller than her (I am one of the shorter AYADs!) It was so much fun to have here there to play with us – and boy can she party!


Okay – I am going to post some piccies from the weekend as well, so you can have a look. I have lots of photos that I want to post up here – time is always the killer as it is actually a bit time consuming to post them. But I will try to get some more up this week!
Toodles

Kate