Wednesday, June 06, 2007
Monday 4th June 2007 - Binangonan and painful memories for Lu
Today we are to visit Ludy’s property in Binangon, Rizal. But first we must travel to Central Manila to visit Ate Bever’s office and then the travel agent to pay for our short 4 day holiday within a holiday. Bever is co-director of a recruitment company specialising in providing skilled PI engineers and technicians for the overseas markets but mostly concentrating on Dubai. She is able to convert my left over SG$ to Peso and then we go and pay for the holiday. We have booked 4 days and 3 nights in Puerto Princesa on the island of Palawan at a good well recommended hotel including flights. I will post a map of PI and highlight where we are visiting. So now we make tracks for Binangonan and I can Tell Ludy is apprehensive. She has not seen the house for 10 yrs and her cousin and his family are living in it. She let them live in the property after her mother died so that it would not be left empty during her time in the UK. With a proviso that should she ever return they would vacate for her to resume residence. She left them money to continue building work and also bought them a motor tricycle for her cousin to have work and an income. She has written to him a number of times since she left but he has never replied. She is worried he has let the house down by not doing repairs or any other improvements as he was intending. Also she is concerned that he has not been paying the local house tax and if this is the case the council repossess the house to cover their costs. As we go through Binangonan Lu finds much has changed and that the town is now much larger and spread out than before. To me much of the “newer” area appears to be a lot of jerry built tin and creteblock shacks from which people run a small business and also live. I think that these people have a very hard time making enough money to feed their families let alone dream about enjoying what we might call some essentials. Bever and Lu have said that PI is very much a 3rd world country with poverty and overpopulation of the urban areas rife. Until you se it for yourself it is really not possible to truly understand what terrible conditions some of these people live and try to work in. Much of this could be helped by politicians who would implement the policies they so easily espouse during election time instead of using their positions for personal gain only. Sounds a bit like being at home really. A number of illustrations of attempts to help local communities can be found where for example you find covered community centres. These are used for markets or meetings or even festivals but when you see huge plaques bearing the name of the councillor who “with funding from the council and local community built….” you sort of wonder whether it was just built as a monument to the councillor as an ego trip and the fact that it benefited the community was incidental. There are the ubiquitous Jeepneys everywhere in all their finery of chrome, lights and bodywork art. Some are quite plain and some are truly the result of hundreds of hours of a labour of love. The school Andrea went to has been extended and improved and everywhere seems busier I‘m told. We turn off the main road and take a very small side road through what to western eyes would be considered very a run down and poor area. To be honest many of the houses are almost of a shanty town style and many are half finished or just plain falling down. We crest a hill and Ludy spies her house. From the plans I saw in the UK I expected a slightly larger house but I also expected it to be pretty run down. I was disappointed by the former but not the latter. The design of the house is quite good but the architectural dream does not appear to have transferred from the plan into reality. On closer inspection which one didn’t really need, the house is in extremely poor condition. The corrugated tin roof needs attention and all the guttering is loose and the down pipes and soakaways are missing. Where the gutter drain pipes are missing water has soaked into the cretebrick work. The wooden sofits and barge boards are weather worn and decaying as are the window frames and front sliding door. The interior is damp and musty smelling and all the wood ceiling panels need replacing. The outside toilet is little better than an old toilet bowl, which to flush, you swill water down by hand. I remember Lu saying that when she told Andrea we were coming to see the house she said “ but Mum, you can’t let Derek stay at the house because the toilet we used is outside the house and doesn’t have a flush!” Lu talks to her cousin and his wife and I think they come to some decision about the house. We take a little time to go and visit the grave of Lu’s mum, Aurora Ocampo Villegas who died 27 January 1997 and pay our respects. Now we head back to Metro Manila and do a little shopping for our 4 day expedition to the north part of PI starting at a large village or small town called Vigan (pronounced vegan). After shopping we head unexpectedly (by me anyway) to a eat as much as you like style restaurant which Ate Bever recommends. We sit down and are issued (again unbeknownst to me) with yellow plates. This means we can only choose our food from the Philippine buffet section. Problem is no-one told me. So we all get up and got to the starters area and choose various items. I chose Kangkong (fried green leafy vegetable, a sort of broad leaf grass), bbq chicken wings, ( I nearly picked up bbq’d chicken gizzards by mistake) and I few other quite western portions. Main dishes were arranged around the room and were not only very international, ie Japanese, Malay, Philippine and USA but varied and extreme. How about Ox Tripe kare-kare and pig’s intestine! Or pig’s face spicy stew. Or lechon which is mmmmmmm, roast pork. Problem with that dish though is I saw chef with the roasted suckling pig and watched him cleave its head off. I that is only me and not the others, then wandered over to the Japanese dishes and had loaded Khengis Kahn and spicy chicken kebabs on my dish when Lu came running over. “honey you can’t select from these Japanese dishes as you have only paid for yellow plate. So you can only choose from Philippine food. Japanese is blue plate” Luckily I don’t think any one noticed. We then are serenaded with 2 Filipino love songs by a quartet of Bass cello, 2 guitarists and a lady singer shaking her maracas! Highly inappropriate in a high class restaurant. After dinner we head home to “Hotel Encarnacion” (Ate Bever’s house her son and family live in and are making us very welcome.) and head for bed exhausted again. The heat is unrelenting but it’s the humidity that kills you.
Sunday 3rd June 2007 - National pastime for some
Kuya Guy is taking me to a Philippine cock fight. These are legal here and take place in government authorised buildings (cockpit) every day. They generally start about midday and continue until there are no more roosters to fight. Pictures which I take will not be available to view unless you ask. We have early start today as Lu cannot sleep with the excitement and anticipation of another 6 or so hours in the dentist’s chair. Ok she’s hopelessly worried and to cap it all (pardon the pun) a temporary cap fell of during breakfast. At about 12 only 2 1/2 hrs after breakfast we have elevenses / lunch and then Cuya Guy and I leave for the cockfight. We are allowed through the VIP entrance as Cuya Guy is a member and enter the very hot stadium. He shows me to the Matching area where owners get together to match their cocks according to size, height and weight to ensure a more even fight. After matching and the owners are happy with their match bet fee they are issued with a fight number. Everybody is very friendly and eager to show me their birds and the stadium. The noise starts to increase so I assume the fights have started. We make our way into the arena or cockpit and take a seat near the fighting pit. On all 4 sides there is tiered seating and standing areas and the place is almost full. The noise is created when the punters are placing their bets with the pit bet takers (PBT‘s). I have had the system explained to me a couple of times and to be honest I still don’t really understand it! I think the Pit owners take a lead from the pit bet takers as to which cock will be the favourite. If there is too much bias they try to encourage more bets for the underdog from punters and PBT’s alike. I think you can bet direct as well as through the PBT’s. Now it gets really complicated. The 2 cocks fight from one side or the other of the pit which are named Meron and Wala. A sign above the pit is lit to indicate which is the favourite. Now odds are begun to be offered by the PBT’s. Essentially they are offering a % of the bet you place as the win fee. It also seems that the % reduces as it gets closer to the fight but not always. It could increase as the PBT finds he is not getting too many bets placed. All this goes on in a riot f noise as punters are trying to bet and PBT’s are offering odds and making incredible hand gestures very much like the bookmakers at horse race meetings. Whilst all this betting frenzy is taking place the owners of the fighting cocks are “warming” them up by sparring them with other cocks. Each fighting cock is fitted with a lethal and scalpel sharp blade spur to the left leg which is covered by a sheath until it is actually about to fight. The style in which cocks fight is to fly up and towards each other and to try and injure the other with the claws. So by having the blade as well a cock can fatally injure the other with a well aimed leg movement. The cocks are then let loose on each other when the owners have removed the blade sheath. Some fights are finished very quickly but others go on for 5 mins or so.
Saturday 2nd June - A quick trip to the dentist
Today Ludy is going to the dentist to have work prepared on her teeth. Late start and breakfast and with Ate Bever’s sister, Roma we take Lu to the dentist and arrive 14.45. 45 mins late but no-one seems to mind. After about 20 mins we hear that the work the dentist has to do will take about 4 or 5 hours! So Bever and Roma take me to a new shopping mall that has only just been opened. Finding a parking space takes the best part of 30 mins. They have so much patience especially in traffic. I would have gone home after 10. After shopping in which I bought a new pair of cargo style shorts for Ppeso1950 or £22 we returned to Ate Roma’s apartment. I met her son PJ (Patrick Jason) and her recently adopted daughter Daniella. At 8pm we phoned the dentist to learn Ludy would still be another 2 hours or so! Can you imagine a UK dentist being so diligent and dedicated? Lu has opted for 8 caps to smarten, straighten and whiten her front lower teeth and new porcelain bridge for her upper set. Cost approx Ppeso 48,000 for 8 caps and 20,000 for the bridge. Total £500. She had it costed in the uk and the bridge alone was between £600-£1000! We collect her and leave at 11.30pm and she will return tomorrow at around 12 for another 6-8 hrs work! We return to Gerald and Sheila’s home where we are staying and receive supper and cool drinks. Food is integral to the Philippine life with up to 6 or more meals a day. Brkfst, elevensies, lunch, pm snack, tea, dinner then supper. Snacks between meals don’t really exist …………… there isn’t time!
Friday 1st June 2007 Look out PI, Ludy's coming Home!
Ate Bever, Kuya Guy, Sheila and Tita Del - Hotel Encarnacion serving our supper!
Friday 1st June 2007
We got up and started and finished our packing and checked out. Had to listen to the rantings of a demented Australian who had abused the mini bar in his room and then only at check out did he complain about the prices and the hotel. “I’ve travelled all over the world and never been charged this much for mini bar. This is the worst hotel I’ve ever stayed in!” Thing is, there is a large price list on the mini bar in every room so you know exactly how much each item is going to cost. If it’s too expensive for you, well don’t touch it! Go to your local bar or 7/11! Later, we saw him returning with Tiger beer cans and whiskey bottles so obviously he had gone out and bought replacements in the local 7/11 around the corner! The hotel is not too bad and I would recommend it if you visit SG. It was originally 2 separate hotels and they are joined by a Mezzanine on the 3rd Floor where reception is located. There is a good sized restaurant which was quite expensive for breakfast but I didn’t check the prices for dinner. There was a bar on the Mezzanine and a larger one a floor down which incorporated a Karaoke bar. There are 2 swimming pools, one indoor, one outdoor and a Jacuzzi.
Now we headed for the shops especially Robinsons, for Lu, a famous Asian department store where she invested in some new sunglasses and various items of clothing. Don't forget to get your tax free shopping vouchers where you can claim your tax back. Some stores will discount at their customer services desks and for other purchases from smaller shops you claim back at the airport. Also bought a dvd, the newish film directed by Clint Eastwood, Flags of our Fathers. SG$29. Hope it plays on my DVD player! Had breakfast lunch in an underground food hall just off Bridge Street and ate strange Malay/Chinese mix which was hot and interesting. Then went back to hotel, collected our luggage and took taxi to Changi. The weather seems to be taking a turn for the worst now. The skiy is darkening and the wind is getting up. As we get closer to the airport the heavens open and the traffic slows. After about 10 mins it stops abruptly and we are in sunshine and every where is dry. Changi is not too busy and we are through check-in and customs pretty quickly. The departures lounge is huge as I remember from last time and Lu wanders off for a bit of retail therapy. I got the laptop out but manage to nod off for about 10 mins - ooops! Lu bought a nice Tissot ladies watch and a few souvenir presents for friends and family in PI. We board SQ918 777 on time and take off 15 mins late. Meet a really nice guy called Manu from India who has made his home in PI and now runs a department store. We are entreated to call him and meet up during our time here. Great flight and food again from SIA, we really can’t fault the service or menus. Dessert was a Magnum and Lu said whilst eating hers “I’ve lost a large piece of chocolate, where’s it gone?” I found it an hour later, stuck to the bum of my light grey jeans. Got my revenge when Lu came back from the toilet later as she sat on her carton of water! We arrive almost on time in Ninoy Aquinas International and as we walk towards Customs there are large signs warning about the dangers of Avian/Bird flu. All passengers are monitored by heat camera as they walk towards customs. The reasoning being that Avian flu carriers, that is those whose symptoms have manifested themselves, will have a fever, ergo higher body temperature and this will be revealed by the camera. I stopped and took a brief look at the monitor. All the body images were grey, no red ones, whew! Customs was fairly quick, baggage reclaim slow and then immigration cards had to be handed in after all luggage was checked. The checking consisted of ensuring you had the same number of bags as you left the airport as you had declared at your embarkation point. We walked out of the airport to the passenger collection point. This is divided into different sections depending on the main passengers surname initial. You wait under your initial and your pick up knows where to find you! How simple and easy. Wow though. The heat and humidity. Nothing prepares you for it. Not even an acclimatisation stop in Singapore. We are at the start of the rainy season, temperature is 36c and humidity high 90% and this is at 10pm so how will it be tomorrow. We are eventually met by Ludy’s “adopted” sister, Bever and her business friend Dodie (who I thought was called Duggie) so they all laughed at me !
The car journey back to Goodwill town, Novaliches is fortunately air conditioned but the traffic is horrendous. Reminds me of Bangkok. Our welcome is excellent with supper being laid out for our arrival. Our host's house is built on the main road running through Goodwill Homes and at first sight is a 2 storey house. Actually the ground floor is the garage and laundry area with a little space at the rear for housing the dogs and cockerels. Upstairs we enter into the main living area with the dining table defining the dining area and sofas and tv at the other end facing the street being the lounge. At the opposite end is the kitchen and a door to the outside “dirty kitchen”. Off the main room next to the entrance door is the bathroom and then to the left are three doors to the bedrooms with the master bedroom facing the front of the house with en-suite. We ate our welcome dinner with the family who comprise Ate Bever and her husbund Guy (Kuya or Brother) who live across the road, their son Gerald (nickname Jing Jing) & his wife Sheila. Their daughter Rain and Sheila's mum Del who we call Tita (Aunt) Del 7 finally their maid Annabelle. Lu caught up with gossip and stories until we gratefully tumbled into bed in our air-conditioned room at 2.00am.
We got up and started and finished our packing and checked out. Had to listen to the rantings of a demented Australian who had abused the mini bar in his room and then only at check out did he complain about the prices and the hotel. “I’ve travelled all over the world and never been charged this much for mini bar. This is the worst hotel I’ve ever stayed in!” Thing is, there is a large price list on the mini bar in every room so you know exactly how much each item is going to cost. If it’s too expensive for you, well don’t touch it! Go to your local bar or 7/11! Later, we saw him returning with Tiger beer cans and whiskey bottles so obviously he had gone out and bought replacements in the local 7/11 around the corner! The hotel is not too bad and I would recommend it if you visit SG. It was originally 2 separate hotels and they are joined by a Mezzanine on the 3rd Floor where reception is located. There is a good sized restaurant which was quite expensive for breakfast but I didn’t check the prices for dinner. There was a bar on the Mezzanine and a larger one a floor down which incorporated a Karaoke bar. There are 2 swimming pools, one indoor, one outdoor and a Jacuzzi.
Now we headed for the shops especially Robinsons, for Lu, a famous Asian department store where she invested in some new sunglasses and various items of clothing. Don't forget to get your tax free shopping vouchers where you can claim your tax back. Some stores will discount at their customer services desks and for other purchases from smaller shops you claim back at the airport. Also bought a dvd, the newish film directed by Clint Eastwood, Flags of our Fathers. SG$29. Hope it plays on my DVD player! Had breakfast lunch in an underground food hall just off Bridge Street and ate strange Malay/Chinese mix which was hot and interesting. Then went back to hotel, collected our luggage and took taxi to Changi. The weather seems to be taking a turn for the worst now. The skiy is darkening and the wind is getting up. As we get closer to the airport the heavens open and the traffic slows. After about 10 mins it stops abruptly and we are in sunshine and every where is dry. Changi is not too busy and we are through check-in and customs pretty quickly. The departures lounge is huge as I remember from last time and Lu wanders off for a bit of retail therapy. I got the laptop out but manage to nod off for about 10 mins - ooops! Lu bought a nice Tissot ladies watch and a few souvenir presents for friends and family in PI. We board SQ918 777 on time and take off 15 mins late. Meet a really nice guy called Manu from India who has made his home in PI and now runs a department store. We are entreated to call him and meet up during our time here. Great flight and food again from SIA, we really can’t fault the service or menus. Dessert was a Magnum and Lu said whilst eating hers “I’ve lost a large piece of chocolate, where’s it gone?” I found it an hour later, stuck to the bum of my light grey jeans. Got my revenge when Lu came back from the toilet later as she sat on her carton of water! We arrive almost on time in Ninoy Aquinas International and as we walk towards Customs there are large signs warning about the dangers of Avian/Bird flu. All passengers are monitored by heat camera as they walk towards customs. The reasoning being that Avian flu carriers, that is those whose symptoms have manifested themselves, will have a fever, ergo higher body temperature and this will be revealed by the camera. I stopped and took a brief look at the monitor. All the body images were grey, no red ones, whew! Customs was fairly quick, baggage reclaim slow and then immigration cards had to be handed in after all luggage was checked. The checking consisted of ensuring you had the same number of bags as you left the airport as you had declared at your embarkation point. We walked out of the airport to the passenger collection point. This is divided into different sections depending on the main passengers surname initial. You wait under your initial and your pick up knows where to find you! How simple and easy. Wow though. The heat and humidity. Nothing prepares you for it. Not even an acclimatisation stop in Singapore. We are at the start of the rainy season, temperature is 36c and humidity high 90% and this is at 10pm so how will it be tomorrow. We are eventually met by Ludy’s “adopted” sister, Bever and her business friend Dodie (who I thought was called Duggie) so they all laughed at me !
The car journey back to Goodwill town, Novaliches is fortunately air conditioned but the traffic is horrendous. Reminds me of Bangkok. Our welcome is excellent with supper being laid out for our arrival. Our host's house is built on the main road running through Goodwill Homes and at first sight is a 2 storey house. Actually the ground floor is the garage and laundry area with a little space at the rear for housing the dogs and cockerels. Upstairs we enter into the main living area with the dining table defining the dining area and sofas and tv at the other end facing the street being the lounge. At the opposite end is the kitchen and a door to the outside “dirty kitchen”. Off the main room next to the entrance door is the bathroom and then to the left are three doors to the bedrooms with the master bedroom facing the front of the house with en-suite. We ate our welcome dinner with the family who comprise Ate Bever and her husbund Guy (Kuya or Brother) who live across the road, their son Gerald (nickname Jing Jing) & his wife Sheila. Their daughter Rain and Sheila's mum Del who we call Tita (Aunt) Del 7 finally their maid Annabelle. Lu caught up with gossip and stories until we gratefully tumbled into bed in our air-conditioned room at 2.00am.
Labels: Changi airport, Manila, Ninoy Aquino Airport, Novaliches, Philippines, Robinsons department store
Thursday 31st May 2007 Sentosa and cable car
Cable car to Sentosa Island Singapore and Pink Humpback Dolphins at Dolphin Lagoon Sentosa
Thursday 31st May 2007
Managed to prise ourselves from our bed at 9am and had breakfast at 99 Central next door. Ludy had fried rice and shark meat and I, fried rice and chicken in oyster sauce. SG$7. We made our way via MRT (and Robinson’s Department Store which is like an upmarket Debenhams) to Sentosa island where I was led to believe by an acquaintance that you could see it all in half a day. Take MRT to Harbour Front and walk through Vivo Centre to the cable car which takes you across to Sentosa island. The cable car ride is not for the faint-hearted as it crosses between SG and Sentosa at up to around 100m above the sea. You can pay to take a glass bottomed cable car too! There is a mono-rail system from SG which also takes you around the island but we were told that it is not working currently. I could not find out whether it was going to reopen or not. The cable car journey can be bought as part of a number of tour packages ranging from SG$47 to SG$64 depending on what touristy sights you wish to visit. Take a choice from Silosa Fort, Carlsberg viewing tower, Butterfly and insect experience, 4D magic experience, Underwater World, Dolphin Lagoon and many others. Each can also be bought separately or paid for at their respective entrances. I would recommend that you buy as many tickets as possible as part of the tour package because you avoid the queues for tickets at each attraction and can go straight in . While we were there the queues were very long and I would believe that they are like this most of the time. Food is available at many places but the widest choice is at the main entrance from the cable car including Subway, Ben and Jerrys and Pizza Place. The island is served by 3 bus routes, red, blue and yellow. Each circles a different part of the island with only one or two common stops so take care to choose the correct bus. Our tour guide Gideon, suggested we visit the Underwater World first as it was indoors so we wouldn’t get wet due to the rain which had just started! The other attractions were all outside and he expected the rain to have gone by the time we reached them. Underwater World was pretty much like all other aquariums I have now visited except it is smaller and has 2 special features, one of which they claim is unique. Firstly the have a large sea aquarium with many types of fishy inhabitants, of which many, if not all, are in no way endangered. This is served by a walkway and for the lazier amongst us (I prefer the phrase ‘wiser and more experienced’) a travelator. Secondly they have a hand held info system which identifies the fish species when it swims past a particular area of the aquarium in front of the visitor. They claim it to be the first of its kind in the world . From there we went to the Butterfly and Insect Kingdom but had to skip through it pretty quickly to be sure of making Dolphin Lagoon in time for the show. The butterflies did not show themselves due to the light rain and I think the insect area and long display inside would have been very interesting if we had had the time. We queued for the red bus to take us to Dolphin Lagoon. And we queued and queued. I got bored and went and bought 2 Subway sandwiches. Then we queued a little longer until eventually we reached the head of the queue and managed to board the bus for the nearly 15 minute drive. We arrived 5 minutes after the start of the dolphin show but got in and even though we were at the back still got a good view of the performance. 3 Pink humpbacked dolphins performed reasonably easy tricks and allowed paying customers to wade into the lagoon to stroke and have photos taken with them. We caught the next red bus and visited Siloso Fort which is next to the Underwater World Oceanarium on the far western end of the island. This is the last remaining military fortification on the island and has been maintained and restored as a monument to the fall, the prisoners and recapture of SG during WW2. It was extremely interesting but as it shut at 6pm we only had 50 mins to explore. The brochure recommended the visitor would take about 100 mins to walk around and digest all the displays and sights so I felt we were a bit cheated to be allowed in at 5pm. Back to the red bus and to the cable car and back to Singapore.
We showered and changed at the hotel and headed off to Smith Street, Chinatown for dinner. The stalls were all open and serving loads of different foods from Chinese buns to fried noodles, deep fried real prawn fritters (crackers) to wun ton soups and pretty much anything you have seen in your local Chinese take away plus food you have definitely not seen there! We had prawn and cockle stir fried noodles, wun tun soup, prawn fritters, prawn and seafood pancake rolls, and mixed vegetable fried rice washed down with fresh mango and orange juice and a Tiger beer for the grand sum of SG$25. Problem is our eyes are too big and we both have now eaten too much! We take a gentle walk around some of Chinatown including a look at the beautiful green and red Chinese temple style building in the square behind Smith Street. The problem with eating in the evening is that it envelops you with a terrible torpor which you have to fight if you want to do any more exploring. But when you add the humidity and the jet lag feeling it becomes almost impossible to want to do anything. So we head back towards the hotel, slowly, then cheat and take a bus. The MRT cards can be used on the buses also. I seem to remember reaching our room and just falling asleep on the bed.
Labels: Carlsberg viewing tower, Chinatown Singapore, Dolphin Lagoon, Orchard roa Singapore, Sentosa cable car, Sentosa Island, Silosa Fort, Smith Street Singapore, Underwater World
