One Month Into Living In the Philippines

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The work weeks are all very similar. On Monday night at 8 PM, we meet at the van to drive to work. We work 9 PM to 6 AM every day until Saturday morning. When I get home at 7 AM, I either go to sleep or go to the gym. If I sleep first, then I head to they gym around 2 PM.

The only real interesting food that I have eaten recently was friend pig skin (regular and spicy because of course they said I had to try both). That wasn't my favorite. I felt like the taste was stuck in my mouth for a long time after.

For the weekend of February 11th, we had an office wide team building activity. Right after work on Saturday we headed to a camp where there were obstacle courses. We broke up into ten teams and competed on who could complete the obstacles the fastest. After completing the course, we had lunch and hung out by the pools. We ended up drinking Emperador, which is a brand of Brandy here in the Philippines. Jarrad had bought a whole case of it for the event. A group of around 20 of us were the last ones there. We ended up drinking 8 bottles of Emperador. Safe to say we were all pretty tipsy for the car ride home. Lee had a friend visiting from the US who could not believe how many stray dogs are roaming the streets here. So he brought a bag full of leftover meat that he wanted to feed to some of the dogs on the way home. Jarrad suggested just opening the window and throw the meat out the window. Lee in his drunk state thought it was a great idea to open the van door while we were going 40 mph. Good thing everyone was secure in their seats. We also went through waves of emotions on the van ride home. When we first got in the van, we were so excited to go out when we got home. Then we all passed out for an hour. When we woke up, we were so excited to go out again. And then we passed out again. By the time we got home, no one was up for going out. We watched the fireworks that were happening over MOA (Mall of Asia- Which is a 5 minute walk from our place) and went right to bed.

The fireworks are part of a month long event. Every Saturday in February into March, they have the 2017 Philippine International Pyromusical Competition. The event consists of different countries competing on who performs the best firework display. It is perfect because you can see them right from my balcony.

On Sunday, we ended up going out for drinks again. We went to a few speakeasies that were very cool. One was inside a hotdog joint, where you had to open a door, then another door, enter an elevator, and press the up button to open the door of the speakeasy. All the speakeasies that we have been too so far have my favorite drink which has been great! They call it a Basil Smash here, but in the US most call it a Basil Gimlet.

Monday started another work week with the usual events. However, on Thursday my team and I decided to go grab a few drinks at a local bar called Diners after our shift. Diners is an absolute dive but a lot of fun. We sit outside in this little shack that has a karaoke machine. They love to sing here and all have great voices. Around 11 AM, and one too many San Miguel Lights, I looked over at Carey, the 76 year old that is an exchangee with me, and saw that he was asleep. It was a sign that it was time too go.

On Saturday, we got home from work and all went right to sleep. We knew it was going to be a big night of clubbing because it was Jarrad and Josh's last weekend in the Philippines. Jarrad, Josh, Carey, Lee, Tine, Ynah, Avie, Michelle, and I all pregamed at my place with Red Horse beer and more Emperador. We watched the fireworks from my balcony then headed to a local club called Valkyrie. The four guys and I all chipped in to get a VIP table for the night which included two bottles of booze, mixers, and redbull. The total ended up being $200, so $40 a person. Needless to say, it was a great night. We danced, drank, danced, drank, and then danced more.

On Sunday however, the hangover was pretty rough. I ended up walking around MOA for hours like a sad lost puppy. On Sunday night, I was still recovering so I stayed in.

Then it was back to another normal work week on Monday.

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