788 replies to this topic

[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

[Legend]

excellent updates macman,
this stuff definately gives us something to think about.
hopefully your writings will continue and we can enjoy long term updates to go along with putytats thread.

note to mods -

should this thread be moved to philipines section now.?

[Macman]

Thanks again, Anthony. You have a point about moving the thread, but the question is whether this is a thread about life in The Philippines or about a relationship with a transgendered person. I guess to me it's more about a romance, with all it's various pleasures and problems, but I'll let the moderators decide.

I woke up very early this morning bathed in sweat. I glanced over at Angel. She had kicked off the blanket, but was sleeping peacefully. I noticed the air conditioner wasn't running. I went out of the bedroom and tried the lights. No electricity. No electricity in my apartment means no water too because it runs on an electric pump. I sat around and played chess on my laptop for a while, not wanting to wake Angel. Eventually I got dressed and went outside. The man from New Zealand was outside with his wife and daughter. We exchanged a few pleasantries and I mentioned that I wasn't sure I'd ever get used to the blackouts. "Welcome to The Philippines, mate," was his answer. I noted that it was a bright sunny day, not stormy, so I didn't expect it. "Could be anything; working on the lines somewhere, the owner didn't pay the electric bill, anything, mate," he said. I decided that I might as well get my walk in since there was nothing else to do. It was 8:00 AM but felt like noon. The sun was blazing. I walked for almost an hour and got back to the apartment dripping wet, hoping with all my might that the power was back up. No such luck. The power wasn't up, but Angel was. She cooked me a nice breakfast (we cook with propane gas). We were out of eggs, so we had pork chops, sweet bacon, ham and, of course, rice. Lot of meat. I lay on the bed and passed out. At about 10 minutes to noon, I was awakened with a kiss. "Good morning again, my love. We have electricity." Music to my ears.

We were supposed to be going ziplining today, but our friends decided that it will be too crowded on a Saturday. We plan on going on Monday. Damn. The cable guy is supposed to be coming on Sunday. If he does, I'd be able to see game 6 of the NBA finals on Monday (here). I know Angel would change our plans if I mentioned it, but I want to make every effort to fit in here with this new life of mine. I'll have to root for The Heat to win so there will be a game 7. I want the Mavs to take it all, though.

Oh, one thing I noticed this morning. I went all over the place on my walk. I got very few stares, and a number of "good morning's" and "como esta's", so it's definitely not the foreign thing. It's only when I'm with Angel. I took a few photos yesterday and this morning. When I get a few more, I'll start posting them.

No word from anyone on Pampamsam. Well, we're getting a late start on our day because of the outage, so I'll sign off now.

Macman

[Macman]

Oh, one afterthought about Anthony's suggestion to move the thread. In looking at the Philippine section of the Forum, it seems to be about the "ladyboy scene" in P.I. The moderators can certainly move it as they choose, but I can say with absolute certainty that my thread will NEVER be about the LB scene. This will be about a couple making every effort to find some happiness, and my struggles to overcome homesickness, huge adjustments to my lifestyle and the unrelenting heat. This is more like the "Thailand General" section, except it's in The Philippines. That's my humble plea to remain in this section.

[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.

[Macman]

I chickened out. Damn!! We went zip lining today at The Philippines highest suspension bridge. It's about a 2-hour drive from here, and the sun was about as strong as I've ever felt it. We went with another couple and a female friend. I took one look, and realized that there was no way I was going to do it. I have a terrible fear of heights. As a matter of fact, it was even hard for me to watch the others do it. When we got back, my Kiwi neighbor said I'd always regret not doing it when I told him that I had balked. I do have a little bit of regret, but I don't have anything to prove to myself. Ten years ago I went skydiving, despite being petrified. That's enough for me. We stopped for lunch at a resort town and had seafood and barbeque. It was a fun day.

A silly aside, but one that I think characterizes our relationship - one of the things that I love about Angel is that she makes me laugh every day. My older son had written a letter to Angel and given me a gift for her when I was leaving. You need to know that he's a bit of a hermit; he has no phone and no computer. For that reason, he has never talked or Skyped with Angel, but feels he knows her through me. He's also considerably older than her. The other night, Angel got out some stationary and penned a letter to him. She thanked him for the gift and for his good wishes. She assured him that she's taking good care of me. She then said, "By the way, you can call me 'mom'." After a little more small talk, she added, "For Christ's sake, get a phone. Those are a mom's orders." She's a pisser.

Here's some crappy news. We left the key to our apartment with the owner when we were leaving this morning because the cable guy was scheduled to come here. When we got back, the owner told us he hadn't come yet. We both took a nap because we had gotten up so early this morning. At 3:15, I got up so I'd be ready for him. Angel just got up (it's a little after 5:00 PM now), and told me she just received a text from the cable company, saying that the guy was here at 3:00. I never heard him. Damn it. God knows when he'll be back. Well, more DVDs tonight, I guess.

Macman

[Surin Nix]

Man, I start sweating just reading this Mac. It must feel like you are about 1 mile from the sun...

Looks like you got your wish with the Mav's winning it in fine style! Were you able to catch the game anywhere? Are there any sports-bars within a reasonable distance from you? I can imagine that American basketball probably doesn't rank high among must-see television viewing for most Filipinos.

...That is quite the story regarding the budding relationship between Angel and your son.

You are one interesting guy Mac. Keep up the great reporting. Despite your zipline reticence, we still hold you in the highest regard.

Nix

[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]

Thanks, Surin. Actually the NBA is about the only American sport on TV here. I see lots of kids playing it. I think one of the reasons for its popularity here is the fact that it's a relatively inexpensive sport, as far as equipment, space, etc. It's not unlike the U.S. where the sport is dominated by black Americans, most of whom come from the inner city. Even the poorest of neighborhoods will have a pole and a raggedy old basket. I didn't catch the game because we were out zip lining, and because the cable guy hadn't come yet.

I know the fact that my sons know of this may sound strange to some (hell, it sounds strange to me), but I'm glad it's out in the open like that. I didn't mention it to my daughter for a number of reasons, the most important one being that I'm afraid she would let it slip to her mother, my ex-wife. That has nothing to do with the transgendered issue; I just don't see any reason to hurt my ex's feelings. She has been very supportive about my move here, saying she thinks it's great that I would attempt something so new at my age. I don't think she would feel quite so enthusiastic if she knew there was a romance involved. Gradually, over the course of the year, I'll mention that I met someone and we are dating casually. I doubt if I'll ever reveal the true nature of it. As for my sons, the younger one is fairly noncommittal. I don't think he wholly approves, not because he is necessarily against the gender aspect, but I think he worries that I'm making a mistake. I think he'd feel the same if Angel were a gg. Most people would be very skeptical about the motives of both Angel and me. The older guy actually encouraged me. When I expressed concern about the age difference and the fact that I would most likely be departing this earth while Angel was still relatively young, but old for a LB looking for a permanent relationship, he said, "Dad, you may be giving her the best years of her life, however brief." (Wow. Talk about a run-on sentence - that was a doosie.) He's had a few long-term relationships that went bust because, as he says, "Dad, I was the worst boyfriend ever, and I regret it." Concerning Angel, he commented, "I wish I had someone who makes me laugh every day." He also has long wanted to live on Guam (I have no idea why other than his hermit nature), and he says that my living within a few hours of there might be the impetus he needs to make his move.

Damn! This is turning into a soap opera or a love story instead of a report on adjusting to the P.I. Sorry, guys. I'll get back on track next post. Angel just woke up, so ... Oh, man, the cable guy's here. This promises to be a good day.

Macman