A Philippine Retrospective

We have returned to Canada. The last four months in the Philippines have been a great adventure, with perfect weather, amazing history and geography lessons, and blissful beach days. We appreciated the luxury of living large on a small pension, and eating field-fresh fruit and vegetables and freshly caught seafoods every single day.

That being said, now that we are home, there is so much in Canada that we missed, took for granted and are grateful to return to. Such as:

Good roads. Even with construction, our roads are navigable here in North America. In the Philippines, the roads are only decent where some politician took an interest in finishing the project. In Manila and most of its surrounding area, the roads are fine. In small communities, well outside the vision of authority in many cases, roads are constructed in fits and starts. You could find one kilometer of good cement road, followed by 2 or 3 of rocks and potholes, and then another section of cement. We have seen some sections almost joined, but they are not at the same height, so some gravel gets left to ease you up the bump. It seems that each section was built by its own construction group: engineer, labourers, and the politician with the money who always pays himself first. If there is not any left to finish the job, it doesn’t get done. Which leads me to….

Decent politicians. Corruption is very common there. There are many who are trying to make a change, but at this point there’s a lot of work to be done. Meanwhile, the politicians get richer, and the poor go without services. One would think being a politician would be a plum job in those circumstances, except that their life expectancy, even with bodyguards, can be short.

Environmental programs. Back in the day when there was more land than people, it was not a big issue if the wash water got thrown on the fields and left to drain into the creek. But now that squatter shacks are precariously balanced on stilts over the edge of the river, and houses are built right smack up against each other, just assuming that the land will continue to absorb our debris does not make sense. But nobody takes an interest, as environmental concerns are a low priority in comparison to surviving, or earning a living. And if left to their own, I’ve seen that many people will trash the places they visit, not caring about the legacy they leave for others.  Which leads me to…

Policing. Rules are good, but unless they are enforced, they are useless. It is common to see signs here being totally ignored – vehicles left in front of a no parking sign, garbage left all around a no littering sign. To say nothing of the sounds of acceleration at a “Slow Down – School Zone” sign. Pedestrian crossings in cities are clearly marked on the streets, but the vehicles do not stop, or even slow down, for people crossing. Foot traffic is left to take its chances with vehicular traffic.

Road Patterns. I’m sure I’ve mentioned the traffic in the Philippines before, maybe once or twice. There seems to be a basic misunderstanding of what the lines drawn on the roads are for. Not only will drivers create an extra line of cars within a lane, but if no one is driving towards them, they assume the opposing lane is free to be used, too. Right of way goes to the one whose bumper can fit in front of the next one.

Safety rules. Maybe we do baby our population in Canada, instead of letting them learn by experience, but it’s nice that someone cares for the dummies, too. Hubby winces every time he sees a small child, helmetless, no windshield or eye protection, sitting in the front on a motorcycle zipping through the traffic.

Sidewalks.  Ones that cars don’t drive or park on, I mean. They have sidewalks in some parts of some towns, although never consistently along one side, and if they don’t have a significant curb, cars and specially motorcycles will use them to go around other cars that are in their way. Unless of course, a tricycle or motorcycle has been parked on it. Walking is extremely hazardous here. Pedestrians are often forced onto the road where they take their life into their hands.

Health Care. ‘nuff said. And dental care – even if it is expensive, I’m glad my parents made me go to the dentist, and that it is a habit I keep today.

Washrooms. Who would have known I’d have put good roads before good washrooms. But I am sooooo grateful for the washrooms in North America. They have toilet seats, usually toilet paper, and they have running water to flush with instead of manually pouring water into them. When I'm in the Philippines, I am happy to see the porcelain, because sometimes even that isn’t provided.

Washing Machines. I have yet to find a Laundromat in the Philippines. Washer women will advertise to do laundry, usually paid by the kilogram of dry weight. Unfortunately, they often don’t have washing machines either. They hand wash in a large basin, often using a piece of 2X4 board to scrub against. Not so good with delicates. Poor hubby had a raw silk shirt that came back shredded. 

Personal Space. Queues are a fact of life, no matter where you go.  There will always be a need to line up for something. But in this region where the right of way goes to the one who is one millimeter closer, personal space is disregarded. If you do not crowd the heels of the person in front, someone in back will assume you are not in the line and will step in front of you, even if you're standing right beside the sign saying: "Line starts here".

All in all, while there are significant differences in expectations, generally dreams and values are the same between the two countries. Talking about time management may get you a puzzled look in the Philippines, but mention family, and everyone is on the same page. While the asian country is less sanitized, and its population less protected, its peoples are hard working and generous to a fault.

A lovely place to visit. Or to stay for the winter.

W

The Ideas of March

Our four month stay in the Philippines is at an end. We have toured the northern half of the country and enjoyed the vistas, the peoples, and yes, even the local transit. We have now relocated to the major city of Manila to prepare for coming home.

But that hasn't stopped our adventures. We got to ride in a manual version of the tricycle, a cab beside a man  madly pedalling his bike to keep ahead of the diesel monsters sharing our road. Well, "sharing" is being generous. They believed it was their road and they would deign to let us use it, until we got in their way. But once we got onto a main road, our pedaller took a short cut by riding in the wrong lane, against traffic, and we got out of their way much faster. Thank goodness.











Manila streets are typical of a city, always busy and noisy, full of people trying to get somewhere by foot or car or bus.

Quite a contrast to the quiet luxury of the hotel, where we will be staying. Twenty-five floors above real life.





So, of course we need more.

We were treated to a trip to Pagsanjan Falls a couple of hours outside of the city. They paddled us up the river in long, narrow boats, similar to canoes but with flat shallow bottoms. The river was fairly fast, and our paddlers strong. They needed to be. The paddling was the easy part. Turns out there are 16 rapids between the launch and the falls. And these Filipinos don't portage. The paddlers jump in and out of the boat pushing and tugging us up narrow channels of fast, rocky rapids. We were told to keep all fingers well inside the vessel as we bounced off rocks and other boats. Suffice to say we got a little wet on the trip up.







Not that it mattered once we arrived at the main attraction. For after we landed, we were escorted to a bamboo raft which was launched out towards the falls. A raft like that can't hold water, and so it will still float when it is pushed under the waterfalls and into the cave behind it. I, however, was like a drowned rat by the time we reached dry land again.



We took a couple of trips around the city to see touristy things. Like Lunetta Park, which we visited during the hottest part of the day, not realizing that it comes to life in the cool evenings. Probably should have guessed from the name. As we were leaving, the food stalls were opening up and the fountains flowing. But we got to see it without the crowds. And we saw Manila Bay, which is deep enough to accommodate the Cunard's Queen Victoria cruise liner in port.






We toured the old walled city of Intramuros that used to hold the entire city in the late 1500's. It is still surrounded by a wall, which itself is now surrounded by a golf course. Which is so much better than allowing houses to crowd up against the outside of the walls.





We looked for a floating restaurant for two days. There used to be one back in the old days, I hear, but we couldn't find a trace of it now. So instead we dropped a bundle on the buffet at the Manila Hotel. You needed a map to navigate the different buffet sections. They had an appetizer table bigger than most other buffets, with not just salads but cheeses, canapes, seafood, pesto, you name it. Then the main meal selections were divided into Greek, Chinese, Italian....  I couldn't try them all.

Enjoying more of city life, we took in a theatre show of "The King and I". No Yul Brynner, but the actors did a fine job of it. I really enjoyed the "play within a play" interpretation of "Uncle Tom's Cabin" done in traditional Siam style. And when we came out, we enjoyed a spectacular fireworks display set to music. Thousands of people were watching this pyrotechnic competition between China and Australia behind the Mall by the Bay. We paid for chairs, and since it started 40 minutes later than the 7pm start time and ended up at 10:30 pm, I'm glad we did. But what an amazing display! We watched until the end, at which point the crush of people inched towards the streets to try to find a way home. The main road was blocked and taxis were turning down fares if they required using a major route.

Oh, the ups and downs of city life. All in one day. Just like us, trying to fit everything that's left into the few days remaining.

W

Volcanic Activity

Our latest “home away from home” has been south of Manila, in the Tagaytay highlands. A lovely hilly area, it often has high winds and it is noticeably cooler than Manila. It is also home to a dormant volcano in the middle of Taal Lake.  It’s curious, because this volcanic crater is on an island in the middle of a large round lake that is also surrounded by tall ridges reminiscent of an extremely large crater. A crater within a crater, so to speak. Nobody admits that there was an original monster volcano that started all this, but as I say, it is curious.

We took the day tour to the island, starting out, as usual, in a tricycle. All the way down the ridge to the lake, the driver zipped along hairpin turns and confidently ignored all the warning signs: “Dangerous Curve”, “Prone to Landslide”, etc. We came to a sliding stop at a boat launch, staggered out and paid the fee for the boat trip. The water trip was much slower. In fact, there were times I suspected transmission issues (do boats have transmissions?) as the driver would rev the motor very high as we were coasting, only to jolt us forward as if the correct gear was found. The two young men driving were joking and tootling the horn as we plowed toward the island.

 Upon arrival, we were guided to the horse fee area. There, they sold us 2 horses (at least, it seemed we paid enough to have bought them) along with a dust mask and set of gloves. They didn’t bother giving us riding lessons, unfortunately. One of us grew up riding, even if it was on a water buffalo, but I had not sat on a moving target like this for more than 40 years.  At least I wasn’t expected to steer. The horse was accompanied by its very own handler who walked beside us until we were past the “speed bumps” – branches laid across the pathway – and then just blithely leaped on behind. The horse was obviously annoyed and kicked up his heels a little, causing me to grab on a little tighter to the saddle horn. My handler was very solicitous, however, and several times asked me if I was okay, to which I replied, “at least I’m still on top”.

 He was informative, too, explaining that hubby’s horse was young so that’s why that lucky guy got to ride alone, with his handler running alongside. I didn’t envy that handler. The dirt trail wound upwards around rocks and along a ridge, but although it was dusty in spots, it wasn’t very steep. When we reached the landing area, I gratefully dismounted, gave my valiant steed a pat, and said, “Thank you, but I think I’ll walk down”.

The whole island is the volcano, with small craters scattered around and on it. We were taken to the largest one, but caught a view of a couple of spots on the hills where steam was rising. The main crater is a fair size, with the lake inside the crater about 1 km across. The water inside is a deep green colour, and high cliffs surround it. High on one side they have set up a shelter, complete with vendors to sell drinks and fruits. It didn’t take us nearly as long as we had expected to get up to the view point and see the sights, and it wasn’t long before we set off for the dusty walk back. I was pleased to see we weren’t the only ones walking, dodging the horses coming up. We got back on our boat and then our tricycle and managed to arrive in the main city in time for our halo-halo lunch.

A place in the highlands known as “Picnic Grove” is very popular, maybe because it was printed as “Picnic Groove” in several flyers we saw and people just misinterpreted the intent. There are places to sit and eat, but if you want a real table you have to pay. It also has horseback rides, a zipline, and a fish spa. 

“Pedicure by fish” goes the sign out front, so of course we couldn’t resist. They washed our feet, then had us sit over large fish aquariums, full of fish about 3 inches in length. The little silver things could see us coming and came up to the top of the water ready for us to lower our toes. They were so eager I guess they don’t get fed much. Immediately they started nibbling on our feet, not with teeth but with the hard cartilage around their mouths so that it definitely felt like a nibble. Or like dozens of nibbles all at once. On sensitive areas like toes and ankles and the bottoms of our feet. It was impossible to restrain a giggle or two, and maybe even a shriek from me, at first. After 10 minutes, we had gotten used to the feeling and then they moved us to a new tank. The new fish were suckers, and when they latched onto your skin, they vibrated all the way up to the surface, then detached and started at the bottom again. An incredible experience to be sure.

We spent two weeks in the area, traveling by bus to visit friends and to look for clean beaches to swim in, and checking out the local restaurants as our resort was little more than a hotel room with no cooking facilities.  As normal, we found good places and bad places. A good one was 2 kilometers downhill from our hotel. The place was called Sonja’s Garden and they have created a beautiful bed and breakfast with restaurant and health spa included. They grow all their vegetables and fruits and bake everything from scratch. They only have a set menu, so as soon as you sit down the food starts arriving at your table. Everything is healthy, including the local lemonade style drink provided. For some reason, they don’t consider wine as healthy. Go figure. Other than that, everything was superb, and keeping with the whole “healthy” theme, hubby and I walked back up the 2 km hill instead of taking local transit. As great as the food was, we figured we were only going there once.

For most of the time that we have been in the area  we have been walking around, looking at the many subdivision and gated communities that merely held cement roads with no homes built yet. The prices they quote for any prospective houses are priced high even by Canadian standards. I guess they expect a population explosion. Maybe even a volcanic one.

W