788 replies to this topic

[Legend]

Every day is a new "first". It'll take time, but soon I'll be a full-fledged Pinoy.

as long as that dos,nt involve dressing up and enetering a pageant, you,ll be alright.

[Macman]

Anthony, if that happens, it would most likely spell the end of pageants not only here in P.I., but all over the world. And rightly so.

Macman

[Surin Nix]

...When you tell us that you've eaten Balut, and liked it, then will you have achieved Pinoy status!



Nix

[Macman]

Nix, if that's the ultimate test of being Pinoy, I guarantee that I'll fail. Angel doesn't like it, but a lot of her friends do. I don't even want to look at it. By the way, I meant to tell you earlier that I've had the lumpia shanghai. I know it's one of your favorites, but I can take it or leave it. The dish that Angel called sasarasso is actually chicken and pork afritada. I think she made up that "sasarasso" word. She likes to do that.

I've been trying to eat as much of the local cuisine as possible. Some of it I just can't take. There are animal body parts that I never knew were meant for eating that are common-place foods here. Angel bought a cook book yesterday in Tacloban. I was thumbing through it in the van on the return trip. Jeez, I think there are a couple of pages I need to tear out before she sees them and is tempted to try them out. On the other hand, I just finished some delicious pancakes and bacon. It was the first time she ever made pancakes, and she did a great job. She's really spoiling me. I need to get back to the same exercise regimen I had in The States or I'm going to be in trouble.

Well, I have a bunch of emails from back home that I need to answer.

Macman

[Macman]

I played 9 holes this morning. Teed off at 5:15, finished by 7:15, and home by 7:45. Angel's still sleeping. When we teed off, it felt great; nice and cool. By 6:30 I was wringing wet. My God, the sun is so strong here even at that time of the day. One of the guys I played with is the president of the golf club, so my acceptance as a member looks pretty good. I'll find out by Tuesday. It's really strange, but even though we have a golf course right here, I haven't seen any golf balls for sale. It's not a problem because I know I can buy them in Cebu, and I have plenty coming in the balikbayan boxes I shipped over (which are scheduled to be delivered on July 25th), but it just goes to show you how much of a rural area this is.

Well, I only got about 4 hours sleep last night, so I guess I'll take an early nap. It's not even 8:30, but at least it's nice and cool in the bedroom.

[Legend]

every summer we used to hunt for lost golf balls and sell them back to the golfers when we were kids.
i would have thought the filipino young uns would be doing the same.?

what is a balikbayan box, is that your american stuff .?

[Macman]

Anthony, I used to do the same thing when I was a kid. On doglegs, we'd run out onto the course, grab a guy's ball, and run like hell, selling it to another player. Now that I'm into golf, I feel guilty about robbing a guy of his score and maybe costing him some betting money. This was a NYC municipal course, so we're not talking about rich guys.

A balikbayan box is a box usually used by filipinos to send things home or when they themselves are returning home. They go by ship, and are very practical. I actually don't know how anyone makes any money. I know it's volume, but it still way to cheap. The boxes are 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. I shippped clothing, golf balls, vitamins, DVDs, music CDs, toilet articles, etc. Again, I don't know how they do it. As an example, I got the name of the agent of the shipping company through a women I used to date. She's a nurse, and worked with a lot of filipinas in New York. The agent had to drive from his home in Queens, New York City to my place in Westchester County, a distance of about 30 miles, with a round trip toll of $13 plus gas at over $4.00 per gallon. The next day, he had to take the boxes to the port in Jersey City, NJ, with double tolls each way, plus using gas in a very heavily trafficked area. The boxes are then shipped to Manila, and then shipped to the specific location. From there, they are delivered to my door by truck or van. Gasoline is expensive here, too. All this for $60 per box. It takes time, but it's very cost efficient. Compare that with the fact that I sent 2 small boxes by Priority Mail in the U.S. to here. I had to use Priority because the boxes weighed over 4 pounds each (7 and 9 pounds). They took more than 2 weeks to arrive. Cost -US $129. I shipped the balikbayan boxes on May 26th and they're scheduled to arrive on July 25th.

Macman

[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."