788 replies to this topic

[thailover57]

And just think, you can either sell the bubblewrap at a profit or organize a party to burst them all.

On a side note, I remember arriving at International in Manila and haveing to head to domestic for my Cebu connection. They put us in a bus with side seating and the back of the bus was packed to the rafters with huge boxes people were shipping home. Every time the bus would brake the boxes would slide closer and closer. A bit scary - my first introduction to Asia (before the dog beating).

Your report is good because it's helping bring back some memories that are more vivid now - thanks.

[Macman]

Hey, TL, I found out that bubblewrap is damn expensive, at least in the States. You're right, maybe I should try and sell it.

Last night I had my first real pang of homesickness. It came out of nowhere, and was like a flashback. Angel and I had a light dinner after church, and then went for a walk. When we got home, we talked for a while until it was time to watch the finals of PGT (Pilipinos Got Talent). About half way through the program, I started to feel hungry, and BOOM - I had this overpowering craving for a couple of ham sandwiches on rye bread with lettuce and butter. I don't know about Manila or other large cities, but here they've never even heard of rye bread, and the ham and lettuce are different. It was no big deal, and it passed quickly, but I'm sure it was only the first of many of those bouts to come. I was able to explain it to Angel by having her imagine living in New York, and suddenly wanting some kwek-kwek or balut. She doesn't eat balut, but she got the point.

I plan on an early-to-bed evening. Tomorrow I'm up at 4:00 AM for golf, and then we have the finals of Angel's friend's beauty pageant at 8:00 PM. We'll go out after the pageant for "party-party", so like the old f**k that I am, I hope to hit the sack around 10:00 PM tonight. Back in the day...

Macman

[petesie]

I'm thoroughly enjoying this blog maccers!

[Surin Nix]

fairly large, and the charge is by piece, not weight. I sent 4 boxes. I could have fit the stuff into 2 boxes, but they would have been too heavy for me to handle, so I used a lot of bubble wrap.

Macman

That reminds me of the time I was going to send a buddy of mind a shipment of bubble-wrap. As I was doing so, I thought, "Hey, what the hell do I wrap this in?".

[Macman]

Thanks for the encouraging words, Petesie. And, Nix, if we ever feel like having corn, I now know where I can find some.

Just a quick example of the small inconveniences to which I need to adjust. After I posted this morning, I decided to go for a walk. Angel was still sleeping. I knew that she planned to make pancakes for our breakfast, so I decided to stop at a local store where I knew they sold frying pans. I wanted to pick up an extra pan because we only have the one, and Angel usually makes 4 pancakes, which she has to do one at a time. I got to the store at a little past 9:00 AM. It was open, but the housewares section was roped off and not lit. There was a sign that said that housewares opens at 10:30. It's a really small area of the store, usually manned by only one person. Okay, so I'll walk into town. I went to the department store. No pans. I went to the supermarket. No pans. Now I'm starting to get really hungry and I'm sweating. I was going to take a tricycle back home, but decided I needed the exercise. So I walked a total of about 6 1/2 kilometers (4 miles), with a feeling of satisfaction that I got in my exercise time, but still no frying pan. I was wringing wet by the time I got home. Angel was already up, but I headed straight for the bedroom and that blessed air conditioning.

The pancakes were delicious. Damn, she's a good cook.

Macman

P.S. I showed this post to Angel when I previewed it. She wanted me to post a picture of the pancakes (she takes photos of everything). I said, "It's not really that kind of site, hon. I don't think the guys care that much about seeing pancakes. It's not Facebook."

[thailover57]

Your "Back in the day..." comment reminds me of the Toby Keith tune - I'm not as good as I once was, but I'm as good once as I ever was. Good reading, glad you're having a positive time. BTW, are you using glow in the dark golf balls? 4:00 AM?

[jayarr]

pancakes maybe not but I enjoyed seeing the little shops in the neighborhood and things

[Macman]

No, thank God, I get up at 4:00, but we tee off around 5:15, TL. We play that early because of the heat. The guys I play with only play 9 holes. I'd like to play 18, but I still can't get a car, so I have to depend on others until I get my ACR card in 3 weeks. Once a month, there's a club tournament, and that'll be 18 holes. The heat then should be a lot of fun.

Yeah, jayarr, I spared you the pancake pics. I'll start taking some more pics soon. Some of the local stuff won't be interesting to the BMs who live in Southeast Asia, and I know that Australia has some pretty varied and strange (to Americans) wildlife, but for instance, this morning as I walked over the bridge across the small river here, there were some carabau grazing there. I didn't have my camera because I was only out for The Great Frying Pan Quest.

Macman

[Macman]

Because of Anthony's comments, I have read the first 4 pages of Putytat's thread on living in Thailand. It's a great read, and a must for anyone thinking of relocating to the LOS. I'll be happy to give you my impressions of life here in The Philippines, but my situation is very different than that of Putytat. I came here specifically to be with my transgendered GF. On my last visit here in February, we looked at an apartment that was recommended by her cousin. It's a nice garden apartment building with only 4 other tenants, the owner included. We took a 6-month lease, and she moved in on March 15th, while I was still in the States, making preparations for my trip here. For that reason, I didn't have any of the problems of finding an agent, etc. that Putytat had. My biggest problem was that the walls in every room (it's a 2-bedroom apartment) were painted a horrible lime green. My GF did a great job of having the rooms repainted, and a terrific job of decorating the place. We Skyped every day, so I saw the progress. By the time I arrived, it was perfect for me.
Another difference you'll find in my thread is my very mundane day-to-day life. Since Putytat is single, he naturally is taking part in the Pattaya night life. I'm afraid my nights won't interest anyone, unless you are thrilled with knowing things like the fact that we had some friends over the other night and played Texas Hold 'em. Not thrilled? Didn't think so. How about the fact that we're going to go on a zipline thing on Saturday with friends. No? Damn. Sorry.
Probably the biggest thing was referenced by singdick. Here in The Philippines, just about everyone speaks English. It makes a huge difference. I think the culture here, while very different in some aspects from the U.S., is much more geared towards the West than Thailand. However, some of the points that Puty made concerning things like TV, Western conveniences, etc. ring very true here. Speaking of that, we're off to the cable company. Right now we have an antenna that gives us one station, most of it in Tagalog or Bisaya, with a little English thrown in. We're getting cable that will give us about 40 stations, a lot of it programs from the U.S. (reruns)and things like the NBA playoffs (live). It costs 400 Philippine pesos a month, less than $10 U.S. If I haven't lost you with my boring life-style by now, I'll come back soon with some of the problems that a guy from New York will find here.

Macman

[thailover57]

Not boring at all. I retired in Pattaya but also was involved with a woman in the Phils previously. Reminded me of Thailand. She was very beautiful, but then her son needed medicine and she couldn't pay the rent, etc. (I starting smelling water buffalo). I wish you success - I really mean it. It's a difficult road and I hope you traverse it successfully.

[Crackerjax]

Macman, if you like American sports see if your cable operator has a channel out of HK called ASN - I'm guessing it's probably available on cable in Phils as a premium channel. If not, you might want to check out Sat TV instead of cable. Philippine's homegrown Dream TV has a lot of sport including NBA TV, and the USA's Dish Network now has a JV in Taiwan that is available all over Asia with a ton of sports channels including ASN.

I saw lots of the Filipinas in AC love their hoops, but you might have to do a little work to get ur lady up to speed on the hit and run.

Good luck there.

[Surin Nix]

Your experiences are much more interesting to us than I think you realize Macman. I hope you will keep us posted with these everyday observations about your transition from NYC to PI living.

It has been years since I was in the PI, and in those days I absolutely loved going to the Bauang La Union ("Thousand Island") area of Luzon. I have always wanted to go to Cebu, heard many great things about it......and just may take a side-visit there during my next trip to LOS. So please, tell us all about it.

Mind if I ask what the rent is on your apartment? What is the location like (on or near the water?...view?...amenities?).

Take care buddy. Get some rest.

Nix