Goodbye to Manila

Well it is actually March 7 and I am on Kho Phangan island in Thailand but I am going to record my experiences from memory. I was unable to access the blogspot in China, I guess it is being censored. I left Manila on March 1 after having spent 43 days there. I had gotten quite used to being there with my various routines of going to the gym which was rarely used by others at the hotel although there were a few regulars like Yossi a Japanese businessman I always shared a few comments with. The buffet breakfast was also excellent and my room was comfortable. I said goodbye to the other counsellors and staff on Friday. They presented me with some food and a t-shirt with Manila written on it. I gave them cards and some books which were work related. I had gotten to know all of them quite well. I had met Jeri's and Kit's spouses, Kit's aunt, her brother also plus many of her close friends in Laoag. I got a few pictures of the staff and myself leading a group at the office. I enjoyed my time there and believe I made a valuable contribution to their organization. The last week there Harold and Shirley Goldin had come to visit for a week and I went to Hong Kong plus on to Guangzhou when I left. They are both American although Harold is also Canadian and spent some time growing up in Windsor. Shirley is from Baltimore. They met on Vista project in the inner city of Baltimore. Shirley is an African American and Harold is Jewish so it makes for interesting mix of religions and race. So now I knew who I was going to be working with for one week with when I got Guangzhou. Harold is the director of the China office in Guangzhou. I was going to be providing counselling training for 4 days when I got there.

North to Laoag

I went to Laoag in North Luzon with Kit one of the counsellors at CIIP. This is the town where she is from so she takes whoever comes from Canada to visit with her to get a sense of a rural area in the Philippines and a chance for her to visit friends and extended family. Laoag is situated on the South China Sea about an hour flight north of Manila. We flew up on Friday evening where Rhoda, her friend who is a professor at the local college, picked us up. I was dropped off at the Fort Illocandia Resort where most of the people there were Korean or Taiwanese. The Taiwanese come for the gambling casino. Many Koreans come to the Philippines because it is inexpensive and they can practice their English. The grounds were beautiful as you can see from the picture and the food was okay but the price was right for less than $50.00 a night including a buffet breakfast.
To put the trip in perspective there was good news and bad news. The beauty contest judging did not happen and Kit did not exactly explain why but some other people I met who were aware of "The Fiesta" in Laoag said the only beauty contestants left to be judged by the weekend were the transvetites which they said were pretty good and you may not detect they were men dressed as women. Despite its pervasive Catholicism they seem to be okay with the men dressing like women. The good news is I got to play tennis, go snorkeling with a marine biologist, go body surfing on another beautiful beach, and see some interesting places along the way. I was picked up on Saturday morning by Kit's brother-in -law who proceeded to take me to the Ferdinand Marcos museum where Marcos' preserved body is supposedly lying in state ( I think it is wax) in an air conditioned mausoleum like a shrine to his political exploits despite the fact he was overthrown and it is generally accepted he stole a small fortune from the country. He was dictator for 15 years from 1972-1987. There was no eerie music which I told was normally played. There were quite a few young students wandering around. He is from this area and his son is the governor of the province here. We saw an old church then eventually made our way to Saud beach where I went swimming and body surfing. The waves were strong and crashed a little too close to the beach as I was getting dragged along the sand by the waves at the end of the ride. Afterwards we went to visit Kit's ancestral home and her 88 year old aunt who lives there with her maid. She was very frail but could speak English still despite it being her second language. The day was beautiful and I also got a chance to play tennis later with 3 other Filipinos which was arranged by Kit's friend Jaime. We played on a public court and I had fun. 2 of them were in their 20's and one was an adolescent. My partner played well except he had on flip flops and at the end of the game I found out it was all he could afford. Before I left on Sunday I ended up giving him my racket and tennis shoes which I was thinking I was going to give them away because I didn't want to carry them all over China. He was happy to receive them and I was happy to give them to him.
The next day we went to Currimao where we met some other friends Kit had made at the college.Willy had taught at the college for the last 26 years and agreed to go snorkeling with me because the diving group he was leading had been delayed until the afternoon as it was too windy where they were going to dive. So I got to follow him around in about 15-20 ft of water where there was some pretty interesting coral reef and exotic fish. We stopped a few times and he would talk about what is happening to the reef as a result of climate change. The reef is deteriorating because the sea is becoming warmer and due to the pollution of additional shipping in the area. He said he had actually trained some local politicans in diving so they could experience the underwater world and as a result they are willing to act to take steps to reduce the pollution in the sensitive areas. I burned my back again as I did in Boracay because I forget my back is exposed while my head is facing down in the water viewing all the sea life. Afterwards we went on a 3 hour ride into the mountains to visit a priest friend of Kit's who lives in an area where there is no bridge so we had to take a little boat to cross the river. The picture I am showing is upstairs in his rectory. We had a very filling lunch and you can see the driver, his friends, two friends of Kit's who also wanted to see the priest, Kit and Father Gil. The church and grounds were well maintained although the area was not very well off due to the isolation of having to take a ferry to get there. It was an interesting trip.

Another side of Manila

On Saturday evening I met Tom Lee who is a cousin of Melinda, Mike Pucci's Chinese American girlfriend from San Francisco. Tom was born in the Manila but moved to California when he was 15 and lived there and other places until he was 50. He returned to Manila with his mother who wanted to live the end of her life there. He is divorced with 4 children. He had served with the U.S. Navy for 7 years and then worked in various companies related to Silicon Valley before returning to the Philippines. Now he lives "with the poor" in the Guadeloupe Viejo district of Manila where he runs co-operative business making soap, sausages, and other things while providing a bank of computers for people in the neighborhood in his living room. I went out with him on Saturday night and he showed me a few bars, one was a Japanese style karaoke bar and another was a salsa bar run by one of his friends. I met him the next day and we wandered the back streets not far from where I live to his district which was quite a contrast. I live in the high end high rises of Makati city and he is in a barrio like area where the jeepney drivers, those ex US jeeps and lookalikes, live. I took some pictures on the way there. A couple are of the back streets where the diner was right on the street and the other is a family eating out on the street. The street is more like a back lane. Another picture is of a make shift building where a new apartment building is going up. The makeshift building is where the workers live while they are working on the small apartment. Another picture of the manicured lawns is not 300 yards from the other area of people on the street. It is Rockwell and you could have dropped the shopping mall down from any suburban area in North America with Banana Republic, Office Depot, The Gap etc. There is not much distance between these areas but its clear who belongs where. There is usually lots of security around an area like this one. We kept walking but nightfall happens quickly here and by the time I got to his neighborhood it was dark. I took some pictures at the Church, which was built in 1645, where there were a group of kids running around who became particularly animated once I pulled my camera out. It was not clear if they were waiting for their parents or just kids on the loose from the immediate neighborhood. I got a movie of them but I am having difficulty getting it posted. The last picture is with Tom and his girlfriend Celestine in their kitchen after we just had dinner. The main dish was the chicken sausages they make and sell to hotels and restaurants. Tom says he provides about 10 jobs to people who may otherwise have difficulty making a living. Afterwards I took a "tut tut" which is a small motorcycle pulling a sidecar. We were going up and down the hills and I didn't think a few times that he was going to have enough compression in the engine to make it. He left me off in a transition area between the old section and the newer highrises and office buildings of the my hotel area. He turned around and went to where we had come from. I returned to the safe but somewhat deserted business district leaving behind the small back lanes full of people and the goings on of people going about their daily business.

Seeing Manila

On Saturday Ting, her formal name is Cecilia Rodrigues, and her daughter, Bettina, took me around Manila. It originally was simply an offer to help me buy fresh water pearls but then it became you should see more of Manila. Ting is one of the counsellors. She lived in Newmarket with her husband for four years before returning because her husband was expected to take over the family business. He was an investment manager in Canada so they are very middle class but are considering returning to Canada, probably Vancouver, more for social and political reasons rather than economic. I have spoken to other Filipinos who will not be that much more better off financially in Canada but for the education, safety, and stability for their children they want to come to Canada. What they give up is everyone has maids, drivers etc. The underclass are cheap to employ and so everyone has them. They feel unsure of the political and social environment not as much now but what it will be like in the future. They are pessimistic. Anyways Ting took to the Green Hills shopping area which was like a flea market in a large building. In fact I think it was a flea market in a large building. There was probably 5000 stalls in the building selling handbags, t shirts, shoes you name it and we went to the area where all the jewelry was being sold. After bargaining with a few we got a very good deal from a family of Muslim Filipinos who are from the south of the country. The part which distinguished them were the women wearing scarves on their heads.

Of course we had a driver because Ting did not drive. I always find this out afterwards and of course I have to volunteer to pay and I end up paying for most of it. Now I know if anyone offers to take me somewhere it is going to cost but then if you saw the way they drive you would want a driver too. I am beginning to notice that there are few women drivers. It is far too aggressive for women drivers or most women drivers. We then went to the Antipolo which is a huge church on the outskirts of Manila. It is the church for travellers so it was appropriate. We ate lunch at an outdoor restaurant area not unlike Granville Island except no water. The water around Manila is very polluted so being by the water is not a great idea. I think you have to get pretty far away from Manila before anyone thinks about swimming in it. We then went and saw 3 different universities 2 were private Catholic and one public university. Ateneo is the more modern Catholic and had nice grounds. It is the one with trees and a picture of Ting and Bettina. The picture of me posing as the human version of the Freedom of Man is at the University of the Philippines which is seen as a sometimes radical university, all the intelligent poor kids go there. The other private school is University of Santo Tomas which is an old university which is the one with the huge door. It had bullet holes from when the Japanese stormed it in wwII. It also was home to about 10,000 U.S. soldiers being held prisoner after MacArtur left in 1942.

We next went through Chinatown. The Chinese as elsewhere have humble stores but the children are driving brand new expensive cars. They are part of the business and professional class as in other south east asia countries. Finally we went to the Mall of Asia owned by Shoemart which is owned by the Chinese meaning Taiwan Chinese. It was the biggest mall I have ever seen and it is supposedly the biggest in Asia although Dubai is building a bigger one supposedly. What I cannot capture on film is how noisy it is. It was like Disneyland but actually closer to Chucky Cheese in volume. Of course we came for the sunset but naturally it was cloudy so it was not too good. The sun was out a little but it is suppose to be a great sunset if it clear just like most cities which are very polluted are known for. Missing it reminded me of staying up all night on Haliakila volcano in Maui waiting for the sunrise which would come up over the other Hawaiian islands only to have cloud cover. Hard to plan great sunrises or sunsets, they seem to just happen.

Boracay: the queen of the beaches in the Philippines

Well this place beat the volcano by a long shot. I took an hour flight on a plane which had seen better days and then a ferry over to the island. On the boat I met three sisters who were from Saskatoon originally. Crystal taught English in Taipai,Taiwan and Angela and Natasha were visiting from Calgary and Saskatoon. At the terminal we met a woman who led us to her hotel which ended up being very clean and reasonable. I also met there Pierre from Montreal and Susan from Calgary who also teach English but just outside Guangzhou where I will be working when I get to China. They have been in China for some time so they gave me some tips on where to stay in Hong Kong plus their impressions of life in China. Besides teaching English they are both artists who were creating some interesting sketches and drawings of the people and geography of Boracay. Pierre had worked for Statistics Canada so my comment was "It sounds like you wanted to stop being a mandarin and learn how to speak Mandarin". Well he thought it was funny.

Later when we went to a restaurant and I repeated how Pierre had said back at the hotel that he had not met any Canadians before us the people in the next table shouted "We are" which started another series of conversations. I ended up getting more information of where to stay in Guilin. This is an area north of Guangzhou which is supposedly one of the most scenic areas in China. Later many of us went down to the "Red Pirate" where I had earlier borrowed flippers off Joey the owner after I had asked directions to the coral reef which was not far from the beach. He would not accept payment and when I returned them he invited me and whomever to a beach party that night. He reminded me of a Native Canadian with long black hair and high cheekbones. Very friendly and we ended up having a good time there that night with a live band on the beach and fire dancing which is a long pole with fire on both ends which is twirled around in a not fashion not unlike majorettes except of course it is on fire on both ends and is about three times as long.

The next day I got up early because if I didn't I would not be able to go snorkeling for the day on a boat and it was my last full day on the island. So I got up and the boat took us to about to about 3 different sites over 6 hours, a buffet laid out on the beach with chicken kebabs, shrimp, beer, vegetables etc , a trip all the way around the island for $15. I heard all about Filipino life from Wayne from Edmonton who is married to a Filiopino woman. The water was crystal clear and the one site was full of all kinds of tropical fish. It is preserved in the sense fisherman and not allowed in the area. It is right by Crocodile island which does look like a crocodile laying in wait. Overall I had a great time and of course everyone you meet his on their best behaviour. I also met Germans, Dutch, American, and English people besides the Canadians.
One of the best features of the island as far as I was concerned was the lack of cars on the island. Although it is commercialized and has changed greatly in the last few years according to people who had been there 5 or 6 years earlier there was a nice feel to it because you walk up and down this sandy path past the hotels, restaurants, stalls, bars, and various massage parlours. I imagine in a few years they will create a cement sidewalk which will take away some of the ambience of the island. Hopefully they will keep the town street a few blocks from the beach the way it is now. No cars to dodge and no constant honking was a relief for few days. The picture I have posted with a sign on it says "Do not open the door while the plane is in motion" and the door to plane was right outside the door with the sign.