WiFi in the Philippines

WiFi, I have mentioned a few times over the years the frustrations and nervous breakdowns one has to endure to be able to get internet connections, and keep it. I will not bore you with it again, as I have no hair now, but will mention the improvement in WiFi.

Most coffee shops in Davao City now have WiFi, and most are free, as long a you order something and they have reasonable to good connections. In some cases its better than my home connection too.

I note now that even the SM City in Davao is WiFi, so now no more sitting at Starbucks and buying a $100 coffee or Latte, or whatever just to get on line, but now even the food court allows me to get on. Many Malls, throughout the Philippines are making this happen, and the first Mall I saw free WiFi was Robinson Center in Ermita, and that was over four years ago. My home country still has not caught up, and we are supposed to be ahead of the game. At the moment I am in Quezon City, and everyday I pop into Figaro coffee shop for a great internet connection, with huge download speed and a relaxing place to do all my work too.

However, I like to go online at night, so whilst I am away I have purchased a SmartBro USB Dongle, that in theory is great.  Basically if you can pick up a phone connection, you can pick up the Internet for p10 for thirty minutes. So loaded with P200 off I went happy, until after a day the connection refused to connect. It was a case of having to reconnect so many times, but it would eventually get on and allow me to surf the net, and do most of my work. Unknown to me, every time I was reconnecting it was charging me the p10 for the half hour, even if it disconnected after 2 minutes, or 5 minutes etc,etc.

So through no fault of my own every time it would disconnect itself, it was basically charging me P10 to reconnect, hence I ran out of credit in one night!

So, I suppose my false economy shows, as if I had went to a free WiFi coffeee shop I could have done more, for just the price of the coffee. The USB Dongle cost p850, and the technology sounds great, but honestly even though I am in Manila its not working out very well. The other networks like Globe and Sun offer the same but I hear that its even more unreliable, so maybe its back to the internet cafe for a few pesos and join in the excited games players at night.

Even though its a small frustration, I am impressed that it is spreading fast in the Philippines, and although like any technology it has its problems, at least the country is making it happen and looking forward. I will just have to be patient lol.

Our trip to Manila Ocean Park

Did you know that Manila has a brand new aquarium? Well, it does, down off Roxas Blvd, near Luneta Park. Manila Ocean Park partially opened last year, and we decided to spend the day down there, followed by lunch at the Harbor Side restaurant.

Manila Ocean Park is owned by a Chinese firm that operates aquariums in Mainland China, and they are in the midst of developing an ocean themed entertainment complex right on the bay, eventually including a bigger aquarium, shopping mall, and hotel. At this point in time, just the aquarium is open, and they have done a pretty nice job on it, if a bit pricey by Manila standards.

So, we decided to take Juanito to see the fish, even though he is still a bit young for this type of thing. He really seemed to enjoy it, though. The fish were really active, and the viewing areas had little ledges so he could stand next to the glass. Admission is a whopping 400 pesos each…AND, they “nickel and dime” you once inside, like most theme parks and so on… pretty steep for most families in Manila, but there was certainly a full house. The animals also all seemed to be well cared for, as opposed to several of the zoos and such in this country. When the aquarium is completely finished, it will be the largest aquarium in SE Asia, and one of the largest in all of Asia. They are currently building a Whale Shark tank and a dolphin tank. Both of which will be pretty huge, in terms of size. One really nice thing about Ocean Park is that nearly all of the fish on exhibit are native to the Philippines. That’s right… almost every one of the thousands of fish in the tanks are from here, making a really big impression about how rich the sea life in these islands is and how colorful it can be.

When you arrive, you enter a “take a number” queue, like most of the banks here, in order to buy your tickets.  Bit confusing, but took only about 15 minutes with a large crowd there. As soon as you enter, you go into a “jungle area”, with crocodiles and large freshwater fish. This is the only part that is NOT handicapped accessible. We found this out trying to push Juanito’s stroller. There is a way around the jungle steps for strollers and wheelchairs, but I checked the stroller and just carried my son (It was easier to pick him up so he could see that way, anyway). From the jungle area, you go to a large “touch tank”, where kids can pick up and hold different types of fish. From there, you enter two very large galleries of large fish tanks, some containing very rare and endangered species, before entering the centerpiece tank, which is one of the large tunnels going through the middle of the tank.  This is also where the crowds are, though there are plenty of seats to sit and just watch the fish and the “mermaids” swimming around in the tank (Like Weeki Wachee in Florida). At the end, there is a fish spa, where you sit at the edge of a tank with your legs in the water and surgeon fish eat all the dead skin off of your legs. This costs extra, and we had Juanito with us, so we passed (He liked seeing the fish and was smiling and giggling the whole time, but he’s still pretty young for much more that 45 minutes or so.) Also, when you leave, the journey through the gift shops and the middle of the restaurants.

All in all, you could spend a couple of hours there, and since this is the only facility like this in the Philippines, most Filipinos have never seen anything like it before. Rebecca had only been to one aquarium (In Hong Kong last year) and our maid was simply dumbfounded that such a place could even be built! Though I’ve been to many aquariums before, it was still a nice way to spend an afternoon in Manila, and if you still have energy, Luneta Park and Intramuros are right nearby, as is Mall of Asia!

So, we bypass the fast food option and head next door to the Harbor Side restaurant, built on a pier sticking out in Manila Bay. The place has been there for many years (40, I think), and has good Pinoy food, mostly seafood, and wonderful views of the bay and Roxas Blvd, with fantastic ocean breezes… You really feel that you leave Manila, though you are only 100m from Roxas.

All in all, a very pleasant day with my family, before heading out on the road again! Give it a try next time in Manila! Some pictures:

Yes I’m Alive, I Think!

Why? (One could ask!) Would any human being desire a trip to Mega Manila? I’d sooner drive a Peterbilt 18 wheeler through New York City at 5pm rush hour, or accept a sharp stick in my eye, so I hired a driver! Four hours from my house in Dinalupihan Bataan to the Philippine Capital or NCR.  What does the “MEGA” in Mega Manila mean? (Oh, I know, mega problems), the reason for the trip was that I came to renew my un-expired Retired Military ID card as requested by letter from some very high placed government official. I arrived at the location designated in a most official letter I had received from The U.S. Government asking me to visit them at a hotel in Manila. Very Nice Hotel on the U.S. Taxpayers dime I might add.

I told the driver to park and I entered the hotel to find the visiting ID card people. Four Minutes later I’m seated in front of a computer station and the young lady from the States is proving to the computer that I am indeed me. Three minutes later I process a new and updated Military ID card and had time to chat. The reason that I was there, I discovered, was because retirees in the P.I. seem to live an extraordinary long time, Spanish American War Veterans were still collecting their checks. And for some reason the Government had serious doubts that this could be true. I told them I felt it was more than likely true.

You see in 1997 I pulled into Manila Harbor onboard the USNS Tippecanoe (T-AO-99) and noticed while boarding the liberty boat, that there was not one Pinoy from the ship with gray hair, whereas, the day before there was. This could only bring me to the conclusion that the waters of Manila Bay must contain magical properties, or at best be the true Fountain of Youth!

I told the young lady a story on how this longevity occurs. A Local Bank in Olongapo City in the 1970’s told the Filipina wife, she could not pick up her husband’s money without his thumb print. He had lost both legs to diabetes after retiring from a base Civil Service job, and she had to load him into the car once a month and take him to the bank. After he passed she never notified the U.S. Government and still went to the Bank every month to collect his (her?) money, but now she only had to take his frozen thumb in a cooler.

The young ID card lady from Washington seemed to view that with much humor, and went to explain my theory of Philippine Longevity to her fellow workers, who stopped working and started laughing. I departed, thinking, “What do they know?” I choose to live here, and am kinda’ glad I do, as I want to live forever also!

Where’s the coverage?

I have just returned from the UK, after only a few weeks away from my beloved Philippines and I chose an amazing time to be away, as the wrath of the gods had hit the Islands.

In fact ten days before I left I was in Manila with Migs and the rain was constant, and the Umbrella sales man annoyed Migs by overcharging for his products because of the deluge of water and the fact that I was standing next to Migs. This always seems to put he price up.

As I left the Philippines the first typhoon was making its way to Luzon, and within a few hours the wrath of the hell storm hit Manila and we all saw the horrific pictures that was broadcast around the world. Dams busting, houses and bridges collapsing and people dead.

Within the Philippines the site of dead bodies being broadcast is accepted, however to the west dead bodies are mostly not shown as not to upset or offend audiences. I think the networks here show too many bodies all year round and the reaction of love ones screaming in anguish into the camera, followed by the basketball results.

I was watching the BBC and CNN coverage whilst I was in the UK, and after less than 48 hours the story and the suffering of the Philippines was knocked off the lead by the earthquakes, and all the TV reporters left Manila accordingly. By the third day the suffering and pains of the Pinoy and the 100,000s of displaced people without enough food and medicine was not even worthy of being mentioned in the international news programs.

I was in constant contact with Migs , who lives in Quezon City where the floods were harsh and many people died, and houses were destroyed or badly damaged, and he like thousands of others were involved in trying to help the fellow Pinoys and even his next door neighbor whose house was very badly damaged by water.

Now back in the UK, you would think everything was now ok in the Philippines, as the main news about the earthquakes and a follow up of a landslide in Italy where some houses and few lives were lost, when in Luzon the terror was still continuing.

Three weeks later I return to Manila an am watching ABS-CBN showing more flash floods and deaths in places like La Union and Bagiuo, shortage of foods, destroyed infrastructure and Mayors on live TV asking for help .400,000 people now displaced. The networks here provided great help and coverage, whilst the BBC gave it a 30 second slot, obviously political speeches and more deaths in Iraq are more important than a huge number of people suffering in Asia.

It does make you question what is news? and who decides?

Luzon Flooding

Anybody who has been watching the news this past weekend is well aware that a real disaster has struck Metro Manila and the surrounding area.  Tropical Storm Ondoy passed over Luzon, to the North of Manila, but the Manila area really got the brunt of the rain.  Ondoy was not a Typhoon, but short of it.  However, it really packed a punch when it came to rain!

The rain in Manila on Saturday was actually even worse than New Orleans experienced during Katrina several years ago.  In just a matter of a few hours, the Manila area got more than 16 inches of rain on Saturday, and more than 80% of the area was under water at the worst.  Even as I type this on Sunday evening, the majority of Metro Manila is still under water.  So far, 75 deaths have been confirmed from the flooding, with the number expected to rise substantially when the final figures are known.

On Saturday morning, I had heard that there was bad flooding in Manila.  However, flooding in Manila is not an unusual event, it actually happens regularly.  So, when I heard about flooding there, I really did not think too much about it.  By Saturday afternoon, though, I switched the TV on and flipped over the ANC (ABS-CBN News Channel) which is sort of like a local version of CNN.  As soon as I saw the news, I was shocked at what I was seeing.  The streets were like rivers!  Not only rivers, but some of the streets looked like places for white water rafting, with rapids moving through the streets.

I saw one video taken from a bridge in Marikina City, one of the hardest hit areas, in which you could actually see dozens of people being swept through the water under the bridge.  The people on the bridge were actually throwing ropes to the people in the water, but they were moving by so fast that it was virtually useless.

The Philippine Government, and also private citizens in the area have mobilized a huge rescue effort.  Just like we saw during Katrina, there are hundreds, perhaps thousands of people up on their roofs in the Manila area, because it is the only place where they can be to avoid the water.  Private companies and the government also are flying helicopters into neighborhoods and plucking people from their roofs.  When you watch the events on ANC, people are using their cell phones to call the News Channel and plead for rescuers to come and get them.  It’s really a sad situation.

According to the TV stations, this is the worst flooding that Manila has experienced since records have been kept.  Seeing the video of the city, I believe that too.

A good friend of mine had been visiting in Manila for a few days, and was supposed to fly back to Davao on Saturday, but the airport was closed.  All flights in and out of Manila had been canceled.  He went back to the re-opened airport on Sunday, and there were 450 people in line in front of him, but he was able to get a late flight back to Davao.

If you are in a position to assist financially for the victims of this disaster, there are a number of things you can do.  I called the American Red Cross and confirmed that if you wish to donate cash, you can donate through the Red Cross in your country, and you should specify that the funds are for the “International Response Fund” and specify that you want it to go to Philippine flood victims.  If you prefer, you can donate to the Philippine Red Cross, but it would be easier for you to use the Red Cross (or Red Crescent) in the country where you are currently located.  I am quite sure that any donation toward this disaster would be most helpful.  A lot of people are suffering in the Philippines right now.

Ten differences between Manila and Davao

This is just a light hearted fun list of things I have noticed as I travel now between Davao City and Manila, and this is based on the last four years. Yes, of course its a generalization but it really is something that I have noticed.

1. As I walk around Manila I am offered USA dollars and Viagra,not so in Davao.
   Honest what do I want American dollars for, and as for Viagra,,well not yet!!!
2. In Davao the idea of customer service is not often available to people, where as in Manila customer service is very apparant and sometime too intrusive.
   Manila you will be approached every few seconds by shop staff and in Davao will be more likely to see many staff but who seem to have little training.
3. The smiles in Davao seem to always be there, however in Manila , because of the pace of life the smiles are not always as persistent.
4. Food prices are about the same, but the quantity and quality of food is much better in Manila ,not just in the supermarkets but also in the restaurants where the menus provided actually relate to what is available.
5. Accommodation in Manila surprisingly, seems cheaper to rent or buy than in Davao.
6. It is much easier to get around Davao by using the Jeepneys and taxis, and although Davao is huge, it is the main easy to navigate.
   Manila is the place to have the worse taxi rip offs and it can takes hours to travel anywhere.
   The trains are great value in Manila, but be prepared to be a sardine inside the train.
7. As touched on before the range of places to go and the food places are great in Manila, be it in the Malls or on the street.
   You get what you order, but lots of the places are franchised and sometimes lack a good atmosphere.
   Davao has the atmosphere, but a poorer range and the menus are less available.
8. Begging on the streets is much more prevalent in Manila, and it seems to be “controlled”, whilst in Davao there are a few, but not as “controlled”, or as aggressive.
   Often people come into Manila to look for a job and end up on the street, often the whole family live on the street.
9. Manila is full of so many white faces in the malls and in the bars, and apart from the street peddlers are ignored by the rest of the population, however in Davao. no matter where you go a white guy walking will attract hundreds of “hi Joe” shouts from smiling faces.
   Manila is obviously more cosmopolitan, where the provinces still are a little rare of too many white faces.
10. Pollution problems are so bad, the streets are packed solid everyday with gridlocked vehicles, and there is no doubt that the older type vehicles leave so much smoke. In Davao its got worse over the last few years, but it is NO WAY as bad Manila. YET.

Is Basketball fun?

Now how can anyone live all these advanced years and not go and see a proper Basketball game in an arena?

The answer is  I don’t know but I did. I watched a few games on the TV during the Olympics.

Now I will upset many of my Pinoy and American friends now when I say that my generation in the UK mostly assumed that basketball was a girls game like netball, that was a game played in most British schools, and still is. Therefore I never understood the fuss made about the game and the players that saturated the papers and TV here in the Philippines. The constant product endorsements on this scale I only understood by football players in the UK.

So when I was in Manila and Migs asked me if I would like to go to  a live televised game at the same arena that Mohammad Ali had his Thrilla in Manila fight in 1975, I was a little reluctant. After all its a game of bouncing a ball from one side of the court to another and using 7ft tall players to put it in a hoop what could be so exciting as that? Needless to say I was aware from the coverage I have seen on the Olympics that it was a game split into four with numerous time outs to get as many commercials in as possible.

Well I have to say I was impressed with the atmosphere of the place with the fans standing and singing and dancing and really shouting to their respective teams in a real friendly rivalry. Each team had many drummers constantly beating out a rhythm throughout the game that shook the whole area, vendors passed you every second trying to get you to partake in another Hot Dog.

The game continued below me and my adopted team were already losing by 10 points and we were only 5 minutes into the game.

After the time outs and whooping I began to understand a little more of the game and I got caught up in the atmosphere so much, that I found that I was screaming when my team scored, which as Migs explained was silly as I was sitting in amongst the fans of the other team. Oops!!

We got to half time and a great spectacle of the cheer leaders and dancers and very athletic jumping people gave a fun packed performance , that for me matched the game. I loved the half time entertainment and was amazed to see that the TV network was broadcasting it live too.

Into the last quarter my team had drawn ahead and were doing great. I was so proud of them and I still cannot remember the name. But with 5 minutes of the game to go, about 30 minutes with timeouts etc, etc, we had to leave to our next meeting. But I found out the next day my team WON.

Now I will never be a Basketball fan, as to be honest I just don’t get it. But what I did get was the joy on the faces of the people watching and the absolute fun that everyone of them getting, and when you are amongst thousands of happy and smiling Filipinos , then you are in heaven.

Taguig, My Hometown

It was 1987 when we first moved to Taguig. There was where I lived the longest in the Philippines.

History. I remember the time when it was spelled as T-A-G-I-G (minus the U). In grade school, through a research homework, I learned that the inhabitants during the Spanish regime were called “taga-giik” (one who threshes harvested rice). And so the name evolved to how it is pronounced now – tuh-gig.

Geography. Taguig is a part of the National Capital Region. It is by Laguna Bay and has within it two rivers. Around it are the town of Pateros, the province of Rizal, and the cities of Pasig, Makati, Paranaque and Pasay.

Weather-wise, the whole region gets months of rain (and storms) and months of sun, sun, sun!

photo credit: bensonkua

In 2003, after winning against Makati City over Fort Bonifacio, Taguig has since proudly claimed and collected taxes from everything that is seen or held within the Bonifacio Global City. In my belief, the victory fueled the push for city-hood which it was granted the following year. I think one of the earlier bigger recognitions of the city was Manny Pacquiao’s fight in 2004 titled “Yanig sa Taguig“.

Taguig is proudly home to International schools such as the Japanese School, British School, and International School Manila, the new St. Luke’s Medical Center, The Fort and Market Market mall.

Since my column is more about my personal recollection of my life in the Philippines, I want to share more about the barrio I grew up in. Taguig has 18 barangays, one of which is my home barangay – Wawa.

Wawa is basically and understandably where I feel most comfortable living in. I used to work nights at a call center in Quezon City and the minute I got off the trike at the end of our street to get on a jeepney, I always felt the need to ‘wake myself up’ and be alert. While when I used to come home late, the minute I stepped off the jeepney right at our street, I felt like I was already home. I used to walk that quarter mile however late it was. And I felt as secure as when I was out in daylight.

I guess you can say that Wawa is a typical urban community. It is not a private subdivision, although I have always said, it has the feel of one. The houses are not all big. If there is grass area, it’s at the bottom boundary of Wawa. So mowing the lawn is something I only learned when I got here in the US.

With people working all over Metro Manila and some in the province of Laguna, Wawa wakes up at around three o’clock in the morning.

When Jeff visited me there for the second time, we lived with my parents. He told me about this sound he heard exactly at three in the morning. It was a “wack-a-wack-a-wacka-a” sound”, he said. Finally on the third day, he got up and went out to find out what it was. It was a teen-age boy honking a traditional horn on a bicycle with a box tied at the back of the seat. That was the first round of the hot pan de sal for the early birds. (Since then Jeff and I refer to pan de sal as the wack-a wack-a bread.)

Water is also one of the reasons why people get up early. In the morning, there is always more pressure and of course it is faster to fill water containers. Jeff also did that when he was there.

There is a little vegetable area near us where they plant sweet potatoes and harvest the leaves (yes, we eat the sprouts and the leaves) and then delivered by tricycle every morning.

At four o’clock, the students are definitely up and start to take their cold showers. We have a saying in the Philippines that “only the first dip (make that dipper of water) is cold”, meaning after you get yourself wet, your body evens out the temperature and that the water would seem not that cold.

On Saturdays and Sundays, the early risers are those who go to the big wet market that is actually in Pasig City but only about a thirty minute jeepney ride with little or no traffic at that time of the day.

Breakfast is big in the Philippines and definitely in our barrio, it is served quite early. We have about three to four spots where you can have breakfast for at least seven pesos. They serve lugaw or rice porridge, to which you can add a hard-boiled egg (for five pesos– 2007 price) pancit or stir-fried noodles, sopas or (chicken) noodle soup, pancit palabok, pancit malabon (both a variety of the stir fried noodles), champorado which is basically rice in cocoa and cream and sinukmane (pronounced as see-nook-muh-nhe) which is a clump of sticky rice rolled in coconut shreds and sugar. But if you wake up at eight, there is hardly any left. Breakfast is definitely over by nine.

In Wawa, most everybody knows most everybody. Life, family, work, friends, boyfriends, break ups, cheating, mistresses and children out of wed-lock. Gossip is the favorite past time in the neighborhood. And it starts while and when the pan de sal is baked at dawn.

At about lunch, the moms are busy getting their second shift students to school and maybe fetching those from the first shift.

By late afternoon, kids are home from school and ready for dinner while watching the prime time soap operas. Those who got home from work come out to get some fresh air and some fresh gossip of the day.

The little retail stores close late. One that sells footlongs and burgers close at about one o’clock for those who eat a ‘fourth meal’.

There is a small chapel, a big and four-century old Catholic church, a wet and dry market, a few dental and lying-in clinics, two public and one private elementary and a public and a private high school, the City hall, a big pharmacy and now even a Joliibee (!) within a walking distance from Wawa. Within a trike ride, there is a good size water park. There is also a hotel in the town of Pateros that is just a short jeepney ride from Wawa. That was where Jeff and I and his parents stayed that morning of our wedding day.

There is absolutely no time of the day when you look outside that you see no people. There are kids running, people walking, talking or just hanging out. Always. You could imagine how puzzled I was when I first I got here in the Midwest. At nine o’clock, with beautiful weather and all, I look outside and…. silence. At first I thought, was there a big rally or something that everybody in the neighborhood attended that left the area looking like a ghost town in the middle of the day?

Even right at this moment and in between typing, I look out the window and see only my neighbor’s cars and boat and a few vehicles every so often. I have gotten quite used to it. But I always remember how it is where I came from. Almost always, the people -like the sun, are out and smiling.

Quezon City… The Old Homestead

I was in somewhat of a conundrum when Bob requested that we write about the town where we live. I spend so little time at home, I’m rather embarrassed to say that I don’t know all that much about where I live. So, you may or may not find this article useful or interesting.

Quezon City is, by population, the largest city in The Philippines (Yes, bigger than the population of the City of Manila!). It is one of the seventeen cities that comprise Metro Manila and the NCR, taking up most of the northeast corner of the NCR (The other cities are Manila, Caloocan, Las Pinas, Makati, Malabon, Mandaluyong, Marikina, Mutinlupa, Navotas, Paranaque, Pasay, Pasig, Pateros, San Juan, Taguig, and Valenzuela.) As a matter of fact, Quezon City was actually the Capital of the Philippines from just after independence until Ferdinand Marcos moved it back to Manila. That is why many of the Philippine government offices and departments are still headquartered in Quezon City to this day.

I live in the Diliman District of Quezon City, in the Old Balara Barangay (Which has officially been renamed Capital Hills, to distinguish it from the Balara District, though everyone still calls it Old Balara).  Diliman is the center of Quezon City, with the Quezon Memorial Circle square in the middle of the District. Many, many government offices are located within 1 km of the circle (Also known as the “Elliptical”), as are the largest hospitals (like the Philippine Heart Center) and various bureaus and departments. Diliman is where City Hall is located, along with the largest UP Campus and Ateneo de Manila. Diliman is also home to the Iglesia ni Cristo headquarters and St. Peter’s Parish, one of the largest cathedrals in the Philippines. This area is a mixture of wealthy and poor, with subdivisions (including ours) butting up against squatter camps. Indeed, the social disparity is striking when compared to much more homogeneous populations elsewhere in the Philippines.

Bisecting Quezon City is Commonwealth Avenue, running north to Fairview, towards Bulacan. On the southern end of Commonwealth, Ayala Land has been developing numerous business campuses, primarily housing very large global call centers for major corporations and many of their HR departments (Like HSBC and IBM). This direction is where the growth of the city is headed, anchored by Fairview Mall on the northern end of Commonwealth.

Our house is 25 years old, part of Hobart Homes, and our subdivision is entirely middle-class Filipinos, mostly doctors and small business owners, with a few PAL and San Miguel execs (And one Wowowee girl.) (Sole Kano here). For rent, we pay around 18,000 pesos per month, in a secure gated compound, surrounded on three sides by other compounds (and the squatter camp mentioned above on the fourth). Our house is 110 square meters (1100 square feet), and in good repair (By Filipino standards). I drive, but we have not yet purchased a car. When I need to drive somewhere, I rent Becky’s aunt’s Nissan and drive myself, or, alternatively, we have a regular taxi driver who we use for longer trips. I’m in no hurry to buy a car, since Rebecca doesn’t drive and I’m not here constantly. Our biggest expense is electricity from Meralco, averaging 3,000 per month in winter, 5,000 per month the rest of the year.

What’s there to do here? Well, as part of Metro Manila, just about everything Manila has to offer. There are three very large shopping malls nearby, 15-30 minutes (SM Fairview, TriNoma, and SM North… SM North just became the largest mall in the world when the extension was completed.) There is a park at the Quezon Memorial (He is entombed there), with a small zoo and very large annual Christmas fiesta. The National Arboretum is less than 500m away from the Elliptical, along North Avenue, and is a nice little park that is virtually unknown. We are about one hour from Intramuros and Divisoria (traffic), and 45 minutes from Quiapo. It takes me from 1 to 2 hours to the airport, depending on the traffic along C5 or EDSA. Along Quezon Avenue, nearby, there are several well-known comedy clubs and clubs with live music. This is also a sort of “Red Light” district, with many KTV and other joints nearby. Driving further down Quezon Avenue towards Quiapo and Espana Avenue, looking on your left, you will see a gigantic building that looks like some sort of Greek temple, dome and all. This is The Sanctuarium, the largest cremation service in the Philippines. I mention this for two reasons: One, the building itself is definitely a landmark, looking so out of place and being so enormous. Second, for future reference when the need arises, they are innovators in the funeral business by offering free Wi-Fi (or so the sign says). You can move on to your final reward knowing that your relatives can attend your funeral and check their e-mail or download from Itunes without missing a beat! They also have a Costa Coffee there, so you can sip Cappuccino, web surf, pay last repects, and perhaps grab a bite to eat, all at once.  Also in Quezon City, is the Araneta Coliseum(for concerts and famous as the location for the Frazier – Ali fight, The Thrilla in Manila in 1975 ) and its’ attached mall (Complete with Taco Bell… Given the state of Mexican food in the RP, this is TRULY a landmark worth noting).

Becky and I normally head to Tri-Noma when we want an evening out… not so much for shopping, but because there are around 50 different restaurants there, some which are quite nice. Rebecca has recently gotten addicted to the claw games at the Timezone there… The game that distributes candy. Usually ends up costing me around 1,000 pesos for 200 pesos worth of candy, most of which ends up going to the province! There is also a large cinema there and, if that’s not enough, a footbridge across North Avenue connecting it with SM North and the MRT.

In conclusion, living in Quezon City has both good and bad points:

The Good:

1. Being in the NCR and not having to search to buy things.

2. Plenty of things to do that are relatively close by.

3. Good schools.

4. Good medical.

5. Relatively low cost of living compared to the West (Though expensive by Philippine standards).

6. Not being in a compound full of expats (Though those are here too, but the area is less sterile than Makati).

7. Most government offices are close by (Unfortunately, Immigration is in Intramuros… ugh!).

The Bad:

1. Traffic, Traffic, Traffic, Traffic, Traffic.

2. Disparity of wealth.

3. Air pollution.

4. Crowds at everything.

The Earliest Memories of My Life

I believe my parents lived briefly in Sta. Ana, Manila but it was in Pasig where my eldest brother and the rest of us were born. I am not sure exactly when they moved but that would put my parents in Pasig by 1974. By 1975, Pasig became a town in Metro Manila after being the capital of Rizal province for a long time.

When they first moved in Pasig, they rented a house in San Joaquin. It didn’t take long until they moved again this time to a two-storey house where we stayed until I was six or seven.

The farthest that my memory can take me was when I was maybe a year and a half or two years old. I remember being surrounded by and looking at my brothers. It was almost like an introduction. They were all looking at me like it was the first time that they had seen me. And after a few minutes, I could see them talking to my mom except for my brother JR (Freddie) who stayed by me and played with me. And then he got scolded because of something like pulling my arm.

I know I co-slept with my parents, my dad on the left, my mom in the center and me on the right, right against the wall I guess so I wouldn’t fall. We slept in a queen size bed. The headboard was a curvy wood much like the parenthesis sign only horizontal, with the vertex pointing up. It had a beautiful carving of two birds . My brothers slept on a banig (mat) on the floor in the next room. Although there was a frame, there was no door panel.

There was a window on my side of the bed where my mom and I used to look out as we waited for my dad. The windows slid from to side to side but not as smooth as shower doors slide. It was all just wood carved on the top and bottom ends allowing the window to slide through the frame. I remember sometimes we had to push a little harder to make them move. The window panes were capiz shells framed in wood painted in dark dark brown.

By this time my dad had already quit truck driving. He drove a trike instead. I would always catch my mom look twice every time a trike would go by and I’d see the sparkle in her eyes disappear when it was just another driver and not my dad. Somehow at a young age, I felt how much my mom loved my dad and that she was always happier when he was around.

WWF (World Wrestling Federation) was popular then. Every Wednesday night my dad would buy Reno (liver spread) and a bag of hot pan de sal. And then we’d gather in front of the television watching Hulk Hogan drop his arm at the first two counts but keep it mid-air on the referee’s third tap on the ring floor. We’d all get excited! We talked back at the TV and said things like “Bring it on!” “Now you just got him sooo mad!” even if it happened every week anyway.

Pan de sal is our own version of the dinner roll although it is usually served during breakfast.  They are usually bagged in a brown paper which is then crumpled close to lock the warmth in. They are also baked and sold during snacks- first between lunch and dinner (around two thirty to 3 o’ clock in the afternoon) and then after dinner before bedtime (around eight thirty to nine o’clock). They are usually only good served fresh that’s why they are sold and bought at specific times of the day and immediately served.

We always had silly moments. I remember once when I woke up alone in bed and I was crying and my dad picked me up. He offered me my favorite breakfast which was hot pan de sal dipped in sardines in tomato sauce. And then he asked me “Iyang“, (Eeh-young) “Who left you alone in bed?” It was like my dad was encouraging me to tell on my mom.  I then pointed to my mom. It was silly and funny and dear to me. It was the beginnings of my dad being my hero. You know what’s funny is that we do the very same thing in my house now. I let Jeff be the hero.

Iyang or Iyang ko (my daughter) is what he used to call me actually until I was a teenager. It is derived from iha or hija (eeh-huh) which in Spanish means daughter.

In the afternoon, my dad used to make me take a nap. Oh I dreaded it! You know, because I just wanted to play all day. He always promised to buy me snack when I woke up. I always wanted this root beer called Sarsi and spanish bread which is basically a crescent covered with crumbs and sugar and filled with margarine and vanilla.

My mom spoiled me too with surprises or what we Filipinos call pasalubong. She always brought me something whenever she came home from school. The best one that I remember was a set of jack stones. I was jumping up and down and I remember my dad teaching me as I did not have a good control of tossing the ball up nor catching it.

I was the ‘problem child’ when it came to dinner. I had simple favorites like rice and soy sauce but ate very little. My mom would always make me finish my food. At some point, I got too thin and they got worried. Somebody suggested giving me a haircut because they said that my hair was too long (down to my waist) and that all the nutrients were going to my hair. So they did but it didn’t improve my weight anyway. Eventually, they prevented me from drinking right before every meal.

Meals were always on the table. My dad was strict although not so much about table manners. He just didn’t like too much conversations around the table. He told us about his brief experience in the military where they sat up straight and looked straight ahead as they shoveled food in their mouths. They were timed, of course. I remember our food that night was fish. And as you might already know, average Filipinos don’t serve fillet and we usually have to pick out the bones. So I was telling myself, there was no way we could do the same at home.

He definitely didn’t like the TV distracting us while eating. We could see the screen in the living room from the dining room. I used to get in trouble with my brothers because my dad would let it stay on in the beginning. But he would usually catch me glancing and not chewing, so he’d order one of my brothers to turn it off. My brothers then would look at me like they wanted to strangle me for not being discreet.

Many of my ‘firsts’ happened in the same house and actually before I was even able to read. I made a list of what I can remember.

First lesson on obedience. I remember my dad taking us to this new park in Pasig. It was so new that the wooden slides were not even finished yet! So my dad warned us to not use the slides but my stubborn brother JR used it anyway and sure enough it was no fun when his butt was slightly scraped.

First brush with death. There was a bad typhoon and the town was flooded. There was water in our house about up to my dad’s knees. That’s about a foot and a few inches. We then had to live upstairs. Unbeknown to my brothers whom I remember were watching the children’s show Lola Basyang, I sneakily went down the stairs and sat on the last step right above the flood level. But as I stood up, I fell forward and accidentally plunged into the water. My dad found me in the kitchen with the water containers. He said he almost tripped over me. I guess I ’swam’ from the bottom of the stairs which was at the end of the living room. Either he found me soon enough or my angels were on duty then. After they wrapped me in a towel, they all gathered around me. My mom had an apologetic look mixed with a relieved look on her face and then she hugged me ever so tightly.

First lesson on recognizing good deals. We used to rent komiks or comic magazines from the next door neighbor for 25 cents for thirty minutes. But all four of us got to read it before we returned it. I still couldn’t read then but I loved looking at the illustrations. It was also my first exposure to Philippine Literature.

First physical fight. Once, when my parents were gone, my brothers put me in a boxing match with a four year old boy whom I could only remember as Ogie. I lost of course and in fact, busted my lower lip. That night I had my first really vivid dream.

First really vivid dream. I was getting even with Ogie and I was actually winning! I was pulling his hair with all my strength and he was tugging his head back but I was suddenly stronger than he was. I woke up feeling strong and happy that I was able to get even with him at least in my sleep! But then my mom (remember I co-slept with them) scolded me and said that she was awakened in the middle of the night because I was pulling her hair! I still laugh out loud when I remember this.

First lesson on physics. We once had a dog that was chained on the back porch. When I went in the house, the chain tripped me. And my forehead hit the edge of the cement floor. I had a knot on my head much like the shape of an egg. I was crying of course. And then after sometime, I noticed that there was a dent on the edge of that floor shaped the same as the knot on my head. This was way before I was taught that “no two things can occupy the same space at the same time.”

First lesson on entrepreneurship. This is particularly on “how to increase repeat sales”. We used to sell pigeons. If I remember it right, it was 20 pesos to 35 pesos depending on the age and color. But then the pigeons started coming back to us. And we’d keep it until the old buyer came back. And then guess what? My dad and oldest brother Frederick would sell them to the same buyer again! Of course I didn’t understand the logic but the buyers bought them back for five or ten pesos. Now I’m thinking maybe it’s sort of a finder’s fee. So then, my brother started teaching the pigeons to come back. He’d let them go and clap a certain way and then they’d be back. And he sold more pigeons that came back and for which some buyers paid twice for!

First exposure to gambling. My mom, my dad and my three brothers used to play cards. Pares- pares or pairs. Sometimes with real money involved. This was a really fun time for us. The house was filled with laughter. When I got a little older they taught me Pusoy-dos- game where the card number two had the most value.

All of these happened before or when I was four. 1986 at the latest. There was an instance though that didn’t make sense to me until I was maybe eleven and in my fifth grade history class.

First memory about politics. I remember being held by my mom while we were standing outside of the house. There were a lot of people marching, most of them wearing yellow shirts and yellow bandana and flashing a hand sign of the letter ‘L’. That instance only made sense to me when I learned about martial law and the Marcos versus Aquino snap elections. ‘L’ was for laban or oppose. (I just thought you, my dear readers might be interested to know that I am a Marcos. So more on this in one of my future articles.)

How about you? How far does your memory take you? Do we have any similar experiences? Or exactly opposite ones? I’d love to hear about them!

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