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Published: December 28th 2005
Well, finally here’s the first entry of my Philippine travels. Sorry that it took so long to start, as it was a long 2 day flight and I spent a couple days getting used to my surroundings. But I will do my best to update my goings on over the last few days. I apologize in advance for the lack of pictures. The laptop dial up conection here at my uncle's house is very slow, doesn't work so good with pictures. I'll go to an internet cafe later, and post my next entry with pictures.
First, the flight. I don’t know it’s a cultural thing, but whenever Filipinos fly home to family, they carry HUGE boxes, which we call “Balikbayan Boxes” in addition to our regular luggage. These boxes have chocolates, coffee, presents and other things from Canada that are kind of hard to come by in the Philippines. What this results in is constant arguments with airline personel at the airport over weight restrictions, and just a hard time with VERY heavy luggage. We got A LOT of looks from the people at the airport because I flew with 21 of my relatives. Do the math if each one of them carried one of these heavy boxes. At the Calgary airport, lots of looks, yet when we gaot to the Philippines, no one even gave us a second glance.
Because I have a different last name than most of my other relatives on the flight, I was lucky enough to be able to sit with my parents, but not the 15 others who had to sit together in the back, by the bathrooms, with noisy stewardesses. Other than that I was pretty impressed with the flight we took. The long flight was from Los Angeles to Korea. That was a great one. For those of you who know my love of all asian foods, when I had a chance to choose between “beef” or bee bim bap, you can imagine what I chose. Delicious!! And the stewardesses on Korean Airlines look like could have come out of an asian calendar. They had the most beautiful outfits, perfectly coifed hair, and matching make up. Add to the fact that they were the most accommodating people I ever had the experience of dealing with… I felt like I was flying first class again, even though I was in coach!!!
Landing here in the Philippines, I was pleasantly surprised to make it to my uncle’s place and find a virtual palace! When you travel to most developing countries, what you usually see it a large gap between the rich and the poor, and although I wouldn’t count my uncle’s house as a rich mansion, he certainly has done well for himself and his family. Over the years he has had the opportunity to build 2 more floors onto his house, with 5 bathrooms, and 9 rooms including running water and showers! There was definitely enough room for all of us to stay but 3 families went off to stay with their in-laws for the next few weeks. That meant more space for me… okay!
What have I done in the last 3 days since getting into town? Eat, Eat, Eat!!! My cousin Myan who is getting married, has been here for the last two months, and has definitely gained a few pounds since getting here. Uh oh. Her mom, totally freaked out, and said, “How are you getting into your wedding dress???” And normally, I’m not the type to encourage fast diets, but she has definitely been enjoying home cooked meals for the last few days. I can understand. For my first full day here, I sat down at the breakfast table at about 7:30am, and food just kept coming! There was food being constantly served and cooked until I got kicked out at 11am…”Charishe!! Let other people eat already!!” Oh well. I guess I have to work it off somehow…
I didn’t bring a dress here to wear at the wedding so I have been to the mall both days shopping. Yes, ladies, the malls here are all just about the size of Chinook or West Ed, but they are numerous! My other aunt has been here for the past 3 weeks and has been to the mall 15 times since getting here. I have already been to the mall yesterday and today. You certainly work off the food by walking for 6 hours a day. It’s an exhausting experience as there are thousands of people left and right that crowd the malls. Stimulation overload as there are department stores lined with thousands of pairs of shoes, and other clothing. I think my Tagalog has definitely gotten better as I have done my best to speak it when I can, even if it is the minimal amount possible to get my point across. My other cousins aren’t so lucky. My cousin Dimple refuses to even try, resulting in her sisters and her getting charged double cost at some places, cause they can’t bargain. Oh well, their loss I guess. The prices though, are still awesome. I have bought nice shoes for 3 dollars, pants for 10 and shirts for 2 dollars. Gotta love the exchange rate. I’ll let you know if I end up finding a dress for the wedding. Myan’s restrictions are no jeans and no black dresses. That pretty much eliminates everything that I usually wear. Boo. To be continued!!
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Jonathan Yee
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1st reply
Charishe! Sounds like you Filipinos are just like us Singaporeans, although we tend to pack along things like bubblegum and other soft candy. And the food! I know *exactly* what you're going through - "Let other people eat? Screw you! Just keep it coming...and what's for lunch later?" And lastly, do you have a non-oil email address I can write to? Please send it to me at my yahoo address if you get a chance.