Christmas Time

Even though Christmas is very definitely a religious event in the Philippines, they sure do like to decorate. Colourful stars and lights are on everything that stands still, and on a lot of things that move! Evergreen trees are in short supply, but they can create Christmas trees out of almost everything. We have seen a bamboo pole with guy wires, ringed with lights and vines and tiny balls, and displays in front of the town hall that are merely geometric shapes and lights.

We spent the days before Christmas visiting relatives. We traveled by bus mostly, trying to avoid being involved in the tricycles’ unique games of chicken with the rest of the traffic. One of our nieces lives in a small house on her father-in-law’s farm. This farm is diverse, and has crops as well as a banana grove and fruit trees. Chickens, goats, ducks and three cows live there. These are not dairy cows. They are the India style cattle that can handle the sun and heat and bugs and they are used as beasts of burden.

 The farm also had a series of small, deep fish ponds that they fish in an unusual way. We watched them drain the pond as much as possible, given that it is spring fed, and expected to see fish flopping around ready to be netted. However, the fish are survivors, too, and there were very few to be seen as they quickly buried themselves in the top layer of the soft, wet mud. To be caught, the fishermen and a couple of eager boys had to dig both hands into the muddy bottom of the pond and feel around until something moved. Then it was a great game of chase and elude until one was triumphant, the hunter or the prey. When the farmers felt they had enough, the pond was allowed to refill and the survivors to reproduce. After years of sitting in the back of a canoe reading a book while hubby tries to tempt a fish to take his bait at the end of a fishing line, I am learning a whole new enjoyment of the sport.

I don’t know what it was like for the 3 wise men in the Jerusalem desert, but in the Philippines, they like to throw a party for birthdays. Late on Christmas Eve, the partying began. Firecrackers were set off with annoying regularity, until way past midnight. Music was played on the street and the road was busy with people and vehicles.  At 10pm, a gaggle of excited children tumbled by on the way to midnight mass, which got the dogs barking. Two hours later, they came back laughing and all psyched up for the highlight of the night - the presents and the special meal served for the occasion. Long before I would wake up for the day, their Christmas was already enjoyed. Once I got to sleep, that is.

After listening to the revelers of the night before, my hubby spent a quiet Christmas morning with his sister and brother preparing for our Christmas dinner. First job was to go to the market for the fresh ingredients. Since their holiday was over, the market and all the stores were open and keeping regular hours. We wandered among the stalls of flopping fish and dismembered animals to get to the vegetables laid out on tables and in baskets. Because the market is within walking distance, we were able to get back quickly to watch my brother-in-law working the fire.  The main kitchen in the house has a sink, counter and fridge, but the only cooking surface is a little 2 burner hot plate. When the weather is a consistent 30 Celsius plus, cooking inside is never a good choice. So there is a covered, concrete area just outside the kitchen in the back of the house. Here they make any fires that they would need for grilling or roasting, using the same techniques that hubby does when he is camping. More prosperous homes may have a hibachi type grill that they would use. So, with no oven available, our fresh chicken was wrapped in banana leaves to roast. Added to several dishes of market fresh vegetables, we had ourselves a wonderful Christmas feast!

Merry Christmas, everyone!

Outside of the Tourist View

During our weeks at the resort, hubby and I had a couple of inside views of the life of a Filipino.

I have already mentioned the fishermen on the beaches where we stayed. On one of our last days, we got the chance to view the finale of "bringing in the net", the community effort involved in the harvesting of the local fishing. There is a small boat, maybe 20' at most. It goes out in the morning, accompanied by primitive paddle boats. They drop the net in a large semi-circle within the bay, and leave the paddle boaters in strategic places - I don't know if they are watching the nets, or holding them. When the main boat gets back to shore with the other end, that's when the community gets involved. Men on the beach take the two ends of the ropes and start pulling the nets into shore. These ends start about a kilometer away, with the men pulling and walking towards each other. By the time they reach each other, the ropes are in and the colourful nets appear out of the surf, but this is far from the end of the story.  It takes several hours for the full length of the net to be drawn onto the beach.

We were surprised at the size of the net. It may be very long, but not more than 3 foot deep. These people aren't mass fishing. They aren't trying to catch everything and anything that swims within their bay, which was our first thought at seeing the length of the net. What they are after is the small fish that swim along the top of the warm ocean water.  These are little silver fish no bigger than 2 inches long, certainly not even a mouthful for the tourist types. But the locals survive on these fish, drying them and selling them in the markets.

The day we watched the ending for the first time, there were about 150 people involved in the landing of the catch. The fish are so small that their heads get caught in the netting and when the net is pulled on shore, it is littered with these fish. It would be labour intensive to remove each individual fish, so a couple of the men on shore start beating on the net with sticks, while it is still being pulled in. This creates a reverberation that separates the head, stuck in the net, from the body. So you have little fish bodies flying everywhere!  Most of these fish will stay on top of the net to get scooped up with pans and dishes and put into a communal pot. The rest, flying all over the place, are picked up by women and children, and some are even eaten by the dogs that wander along with the community. The smaller children are underneath the net, picking up anything that gets dropped through. These children are crouched down right under where the men are striking the nets with the sticks, but we never saw one hit. I'm not sure if that's because of the special care of the men, or if the children had already learned the hard way to keep their heads down. Survival seems to be an art around here.

Women come with pots and boxes of all sizes to get their share. It was not clear how it was divided, but for certain, everyone went home with something. What an amazing community effort to observe, and so different from what a tourist would usually see.

I still shake my head over the other observation of this country's lifestyle.  Mid-morning, on the busy road in front of a market, a Christmas Parade went by. Pageants are big here, and this parade was comprised of the chosen kindergarten age "Prince and Princess" on flowered vehicles followed by the runner-ups and interspersed with a couple of bands. These were young children that were on the floats and they were throwing candy to all the other children watching the parade. Normal enough, except that they don't bother to close roads for parades here. While the parade was going one way down the street, cars and trucks and motorcycles and big buses were still driving past them going the other way. Not only did it impede the view of the parade watchers, but the candy was thrown right in front of all these vehicles as they were passing. Children, and adults, would dart out into the road to grab the candy! The crowd had a big laugh when some candy fell under a bus and got run over before it could be picked up.

It blows my mind, coming from an overprotective nanny-state, to see things like this. It is probably why tourists don't usually witness them.

Northern Visit

We decided to take a day trip to the northern tip of the Philippine Islands. We had to leave early for our 2 hour bus trip, but the day was dawning clear and was already warm. As we traveled past ocean views and lush green mountains, we noticed the gray clouds that seemed to be only in the north. Surely they were just passing clouds that would clear before we got there. But as we arrived at the northern end, rain started falling on the bus.

Not deterred from our sightseeing, we hired a tricycle for a day tour of the area. Our first stop was the Kabigan Falls. Not that the tricycle could get anywhere close, but the driver dropped us at the guide shack, and even gallantly let me use his rain slicker. The guide took us up a muddy and meandering path through farm land and up towards the mountain sides. I have been getting better at climbing mountains after this year or so of retirement, but this time I also had to watch out for water buffalo dung. Man, those patties are huge!




 We had to cross fast moving streams using the local bridges: tree limbs laid across the water and sometimes held together by wires. Wider sections even had a smaller branch attached higher for a hand-hold. But we made it up to the  falls, a beautiful sliver of water that descends straight down for 120 feet to the bottom, throwing up a fine spray that mingled nicely with the rain. Our guide was a very nice young lady who explained about the reforestation that was being encouraged in the local area, even as she was getting me to avoid the dung heaps on the way down. She owned the farmland we walked on and proudly showed us the groves of trees that her family had planted over the years.




After giving my driver his wet slicker back, we clambered into the tricycle for the rest of the whirlwind tour. He was determined that we should see all the sights possible in the time we had available, even when we insisted that it didn't matter if we missed something if he would just take it a little slower, please. As it was, we passed along the waterfront in a cramped, enclosed contraption that you couldn't see out of, anyway. At least it was dry. The driver was good enough to stop at several spots long enough for us to pop out and look at the view before squeezing back in again. He showed us a couple of beautiful beaches and rock formations before we stopped for lunch at a resort on the Blue Lagoon.

Despite the weather, we were impressed by the cleanliness of the town. Signs were posted warning of an anti-littering law, which we had never seen here before, and we even saw a recycling bin. The people seemed more easy-going and the streets were a lot less chaotic. The air was fresh, if a little dampish.

We may come back and stay awhile. Surely it is not really rainy season in the north yet.

W

Resort Life

There is a beautiful beach on the west side of the northern tip of the Philippines. On this beach is a gorgeous resort, with well-appointed rooms and individual little family “casas” with private pools. This resort is well maintained and has a staff that is eager to please and will go that extra step to keep guests happy. The restaurant has a menu of good local foods and the kitchen does a great job in cooking those dishes. There is an infinity pool and free WiFi anywhere on the grounds.

We are not in that resort.  We are two resorts down, on the same beach.

We stay in a slightly rustic cabin with wood floors, ceiling, and walls. The first day here we had to get them to fix the little bar fridge. The second day we called them to turn on the hot water. We have armed guards at the road and dogs wandering the grounds. In fact, the dogs wander everywhere, including past the front desk and into the dining area. The pool is closed for cleaning. We have seen only a few other guests here, but have learned that they have VIPs from Taiwan somewhere in the rooms. The main restaurant is off limits to us, and we are relegated to using the coffee house for meals while the buffets are reserved for the special people.

We are not too offended. While the security at the road of the resort is heavy, the beach access is perfectly open and clear. We've spent hours in the deck house on the beach enjoying the peaceful views and cool breezes of the ocean. There is no one else from our resort using this part of the beach, so it is almost a private heaven. Coral rocks at the near end of the beach contain tidal pools with colourful fish and an occasional eel.

We have been to the markets in the nearby towns and have picked up lots of fresh fruits for breakfast. We now have a working fridge that we can use for drinks. And after being refused at the restaurant the first time, we have been walking the one kilometer down the beach to the gorgeous resort with the good food for dinner.

The beach between the resorts is used daily by fishermen. They belong to a large fishing community that lives just off the beach. The entire family seems to spend the day at the beach with them. As well, there are more than 20 dogs that belong to this community that wander at will along the sand. The fishermen go out in 20’ outriggers or on flat wooden boats that they stand on and paddle like surf boarders. Their children run down to the end of the beach with small fishing spears and try to catch fish off the rocks. And when the bigger wooden boats come in with their nets, everyone lends a hand trying to pull them in, the kids doing their best to get as wet as possible while doing so. Who needs TV for entertainment?

We haven't been swimming a lot, even though the water is warm and so clear that I can see my feet when standing in neck deep water. We are in a large bay, so the waves are normally gentle at the shore and we often walk along the beach. It is a perfect place to relax, and enjoy resort life. We are only here for two weeks, and when we leave, we will be looking for places where we can have our own kitchen.

We can only take so much of this resort life.

W

White Woman

The Filipino people are hardworking and friendly and generally honest. It has been a delight to interact with them because their English is very good. When they see a Caucasian, they smile and are eager to talk to you.
As you move out of the larger centers and into more rural and small town areas, white people are more rare and therefore cause more excitement. Little children are fascinated by me, and will stop in the road to watch me go by. These three scamps burst into giggles when I turned the camera on them. I wish I could have taken a picture of the little girl on the bus who stopped dead by my seat and wouldn't let her mother take her any farther until she had looked her fill.



Once I was inside a market stall getting my nails done when one young man, maybe 20 years old, wanted to take a picture of me. He said I was the first north american he's seen that wasn't on TV. I'm not sure I'm a good example, but I gamely smiled for his cellphone. That was the first one. A week later while we were sightseeing near a very old church, several young ladies came up to me, smiled, and politely asked if they could have their picture taken with me. It was such a lark, I got hubby to take one, too.




Vendors and shopkeepers target me and will call out "madam!" trying to get my attention. I certainly don't have to try very hard to get service. In fact, I have to be very careful about nodding my head when I meet people in the street because if they are selling something they assume that I've signaled to them and will come running with their wares. I hope I don't spend so much time here that I get used to being treated like a celebrity.



The downside is that there is always the odd person out to get what they can. While most vendors and service suppliers deal honestly with me, or at least don't obviously jack up the prices, there will be a couple that try to get more than their share. It's unfortunate, but a fact of life. It is harder to understand in the children. Nearer the large cities and tourist areas, a few will approach, and hold our their hands asking for a "gift". I just look puzzled, and let hubby deal with them. I always was a pale faced coward.

W

Public Transit

Public transit, also known as living dangerously, is very accessible in the Philippines.

We decided against renting our own vehicle after watching the traffic patterns in this country. Rules here are supposed to be the same as what we know, but observation disputes that fact.  Traffic lights are few and far between, even in the big cities. Stop signs are non-existent. Major intersections are bumper to bumper all the time, with vehicles from all sides barely slowing down before joining the mass of machinery. Right of way appears to be given to the one in the front, so of course everyone tries to be the one in the front. Politeness literally gets you nowhere. Every inch is taken up, and there is not much air between vehicles.  We are amazed that we haven’t seen many cars with dents or scratches; they come so close to each other. Horns are high-pitched and used frequently, usually to let you know they are coming, and fast. Road signs and other methods of speed reduction are ignored. In order to get traffic to slow down for school areas, locals put up barriers in the road.  This appears to just compress the two lanes of traffic into one.

Walking is not an option. We hired a ride just to cross the street in one city. There are cross walks, but drivers do not stop for them, or for the humans using them. Or maybe they just assume humans should get the same personal space as other vehicles do, which is very little. Either way, we didn’t take the chance.

Buses are very affordable. They can be flagged down at any spot on the road and will drop you anywhere along the route you want to stop. Some are air-conditioned, and most have TVs in the front for entertainment. This is not frivolous. It takes many hours to travel just a couple of hundred kilometers. The better buses even have WiFi access, but none have  bathrooms. Often vendors will jump on to the bus to sell food, as the very short rest stops are only every 3 hours or so.

Smaller than the buses, Jeepneys are used between closer towns and cities. They cost slightly more than buses, but will run more frequently. Each jeepney is decorated lavishly, sometimes painted or polished, and always named.  The dashboards are covered in bobble head toys, fake flowers, and usually a religious memento or cross. There are two benches in the back where they can fit up to 20 Filipino customers, and a bar along the ceiling to hold on to. A North American customer takes up a lot more space.

For short and local rides, entrepreneurs have developed the tricycle. This is a motorcycle with a one-wheeled cart attached to the side of it. Please note that they can drive these things while wearing flip-flops.  Hubby and I can barely squeeze into the seating area, but we have seen up to 6 riders on one. They hang off the back and even sit behind the driver. These are very vulnerable machines, but the drivers challenge the trucks and buses on the roads and intersections as if they are in tanks. We even took a ride in one before sunrise one morning, and were shocked to find that the vehicle had no front or back lights!

We survived, but recognized that we were living dangerously.

W

Another World

I am discovering that we are spoiled in North America.

Getting to the Philippines took 23 hours in the air, and another 5 in airports waiting for the next flight.  I was lucky. My travel agent, hubby, planned it so that there were no long lay-overs. But with every new leg, there were noticeable changes. Line-ups became a little more chaotic, people less polite. Personal space became non-existent. Security personnel were more evident, and obviously well-armed. Public washrooms did not always have all the amenities. Toilet paper was getting rarer, and one place didn't even have toilet seats.

It was like we had stepped back 50 years.  The van we rode in had no seat belts, nor any car seat for the 2 year old that traveled out of Manila with us. At curbside the noise and emissions from the solid mass of vehicles was thick. Proper exhaust systems seem rare. Vehicles ran the gamut from buses and trucks to motorcycles with side carts and bicycles, all fighting for the same space and in the same lane. Traffic police did their best to control the chaos, but despite the gun strapped to their side, very few paid any attention to them.

It is less than 150km from Manila to our first stop, but it took more than 4 hours to get there.  It was the middle of the night so even though traffic was light once we were outside of the city, there were still trucks and small motorcycles and the odd goat to go around. And if we moan about the summer construction on the roadways in Canada, consider the countries where summer is all year round.

Even after midnight, it was very warm.  After the long hours of travelling, we were glad to get to the house we were staying in. The larger houses here are made of cement with large windows. The windows have decorative grating and shutters, but no screens. The idea is to keep the heavy rains out, not insects or geckos. There is running water, but not everyone has hot water. Water can be heated for bathing, but I preferred the refreshing coolness. The water certainly isn't cold, and if it is left in a bucket for the afternoon, it can actually be tepid.

We stayed in a small town that has a market just around the corner from us. The market is in a large building which is subdivided inside into many stalls. The vendors sell absolutely anything. There is a section with fruit and vegetables, right beside the meat vendors. Meat is sold either alive or not. The meat that wasn't still walking or swimming was also not covered. Other stalls sold footwear, clothing, almost anything you could imagine. Around the outside of the market building were small stores and businesses. Altogether, a very busy place.

In fact, from what I've seen so far, the whole country is a busy and crowded place. There is little space left for homes that I can see, and traffic is constant and overwhelming. The lush growth and beautiful flowers of the countryside are covered in the dust and noise from the roads. I'm hoping we can find roads less traveled on our journey around these islands.

Despite how it sounds, I’m not homesick yet. There’s too much to see.

 W