Ahh, Taal

Lake Taal and Tagaytay is to Manila what Lake Tahoe is to San Francisco and the Bay Area -- the weekend getaway spot for city folk. Last weekend I went to Tagaytay with some coworkers for the second time. And I'm going again in November -- so I'm averaging one trip to Tagaytay per month. Not bad. I do need to extend my exploration of the Philippines a bit, but Tagaytay is a nice, quick getaway. It's cooler than Manila, and the surroundings are just generally more pleasant and laid back.

Who forgot to turn the stove off?

I took this photo in my neighborhood Saturday morning, on an otherwise beautiful day.

Over toasted

It took me about a month and a half to finally decide that I could no longer go without a functioning stove. I had a stove, but it was on the floor of my kitchen, propped against a cabinet. I called maintenance. Surely they know how to hook a gas stove up to the gas tank without anything exploding. They hooked it up, we tested it, and nothing exploded. Good news. Except when I finally decided to use the stove, about three weeks later, I realized the stove only has two flame settings – high and extremely high.

Okay, I can work with this, I thought. I was cooking my vegetable stir fry concoction, trying to hold the pot a bit above the flames so I wouldn’t burn my food, when at one point I had to put it down to get something from the fridge. After no more than 20 seconds I could already smell something burning. That was quick. Since nothing was terribly burnt, I opened the window to clear out any burn smell, and started eating.

A few minutes into my meal, I hear shuffling and talking outside my door. Someone was on a walkie-talkie. I thought, I wonder what happened? Why are the guards here? Then I got a call on my intercom.

“Good evening ma’am.”

“Uh, yeah, good evening.”

“Yes, is there a fire in your apartment. The alarm went off.”

I didn’t know what alarm they were talking about. I had noticed the smoke detectors in my apartment, but I figured they weren’t working when they didn’t go off. I looked up and noticed that the light that usually flashes intermittently had turned bright red. Apparently it sets off an alarm at the guard station instead of inside the apartment.

“No, no. I was just cooking and I burned something.”

“Ooooh. Over-toasted. OK.”

Over-toasted? That was the best euphemism I had ever heard – code for, “Great, we have a bad cook in Unit 6D.”

I opened the door, realizing that the guards shuffling around outside were there to make sure I didn’t burn the entire highrise to the ground. I said hi and told them I burned something while I was cooking.

“Over-toasted?” they asked.

“Yes, over-toasted.”

They looked satisfied and went back to the guard station.

I wonder if I can reserve tickets for this....

Fatboy Slim makes Marcos musical

Wired

Check out the electricity lines. This would be considered a fire hazard almost anywhere but this continent. Ah, Asia -- where different standards of safety, infrastructure and communications are apparent, literally, on every street corner.

So that's the Spanish convent...

One of the most popular sayings about the Philippines is that the country spent 400 years in a Spanish convent and 50 years in Hollywood. In my daily life, I see plenty of Hollywood's influence on the culture. But that's because I work in TV land, where everyone is either a celebrity or a politician or a newscaster, or a celebrity/politician, or a newscaster/politician or a celebrity/newscaster. Well, you get the idea.

With all the work I've been doing (or pretending to do), I've been having the nagging feeling that I've been missing out on all that Manila has to offer. So today I got up early (8 am is early on a Saturday) to go to Intramuros for a walking tour of a few of the district's highlights.

Intramuros is the walled portion of Manila proper that was the seat of the Spanish colonial government during its 400 years of rule. As our tour guide, the witty and informative Carlos Celdran, said, it wasn't in fact really Spain that ruled the Philippines. Rather it was the Catholic Church that ruled the country when it was a colony of Spain. The influence of the church is still very present today -- that's why, in Carlos' words, "to be Filipino is to be Catholic." Well, at least for 80 or so percent of the population.

Let me say this first: I am usually tour adverse. After my experience with a tour to Jiuzhaigou in Sichuan Province with Judy, I swore off tours. We spent more time at a yak meat store and on a bus than in the Jiuzhaigou nature preserve. But Carlos' walking tour was great. Just two hours or so, and packed with information, history and commentary.

The first stop was the San Agustin Church and Convent, the only structure left standing in Intramuros after World War II.

It's lucky for us San Agustin is still standing, because it's a fascinating place, complete with a courtyard (above), Asia's first botanical garden and a museum that houses some incredible artifacts.

We also went to Casa Manila, a reproduction of a 19th century upper class home in Intramuros. The house was built because of an initiative by Imelda Marcos to renew Intramuros. Apparently she did more than buy shoes.

Intramuros is essentially a tourist trap, but it's quite nice to be in a part of the city with sidewalks, neat, clean streets and pleasant surroundings. I couldn't help but think, Am I really still in the same city that I live in? But it's exciting to think that there are dozens of corners of the city that I have yet to explore.

More photos of Intramuros are here.

Learn with me!

Unlike when I went to China, I landed in the Philippines with very little knowledge of the country's history, or political or economic situation. What I knew about politics was what was published in US newspapers, which was very little, and what I knew about the history of the Philippines was from a course I took on imperialism in Asia as an undergrad. (And the only thing I remember from that was reading Carlos Bulosan's America is in the Heart.)

Working in news, I have a strong desire to "catch up" with what's going on here. But it's not only about catching up -- it's about getting multiple views on various subjects. So while I'm here in Manila, I will periodically post stories I find interesting about the Philippines, or book recommendations. You can ignore them completely, or read along if you find it interesting.

Right now I'm reading The Anti-Development State: The Political Economy of Permanent Crisis in the Philippines by Walden Bello (and many co-authors). The book dissects politically motivated economic decisions that have left a vast number of Filipinos living below the poverty line. It is highly critical of government initiatives that have been touted as the "way out" of economic troubles -- particularly the deregulation of practically everything and Cory Aquino's agrarian reform program.

This is something I've been meaning to read. A five part series by the Asia Times, "The Philippines: Disgraceful State." The series calls the Philippines "a social catastrophe."

My last choice, from A World Connected, an organization looking at the effects of globalization on the world's poor, are two stories about micro-finance initiatives in urban and rural parts of the country. The first story is set in Tonda, a slum that is practically a stone's throw away from the U.S. embassy on Manila Bay. I haven't been to Tonda, but I read about it almost every day when I get to work and read the day's news advisory. Tonda regularly shows up as a location for one of the day's police stories -- usually about a shooting/stabbing/other violent crime. The second story focuses on the country's rural poor, which in my humble opinion, lead better lives than the urban poor, even if they live on equal or lesser amounts of money.

Although the topices of the stories from A World Connected are just as depressing, I thought they had a optimistic bent -- and that's probably why I enjoyed them so much. It's also good reading to get an idea of what it's like to live in a city/country where the divide between rich and poor is a very visible, tangible part of everyday life.

Breaking News: Frigid wives in Baguio

I'm starting to gain a real appreciation for news in Manila -- if only for its humor value. There's usually something on the front page of one of the major dailies that just makes my day.

A headline about Baguio City's "frigid wives" appeared on the front page of the Philippine Star Monday. Of course I had to read it -- who could possibly ignore such a funny headline? But about three graphs into it, I realized that in fact, the story wasn't really about frigid wives, but about an assembly where couples aired their grievances about their marriages.

Here's what married couples said:

"...deteriorating respect between couples, domineering wives, loneliness because the wife is working abroad, low income, religious differences, different interests, low education, unemployment due to lack of job opportunities, large family size, early marriages, poverty and vices such as drunkenness and gambling are among the irritants in the relationship of couples."

The story continues...

Most of the participants said these family problems lead to serious conflicts, resulting in broken families and juvenile delinquencies which add to the social problem of the community, said Dan Codamon of PIA-Ifugao.

I was particulary impressed that "domineering wives" was among the traits singled out as contributing to the community's social problems. Of course it's the frigid wives complaint that sticks out, because that's what I was expecting to read about. It turns out it was just one of the many complaints of the men of Baguio, a city north of Manila.

But that didn't stop anyone from running this headline and lead.

‘Frigid’ Ifugao wives breaking up marriages — hubbies

BAGUIO CITY — It’s not just the weather. Men in this normally cool mountain
province are blaming their wives for turning "frigid," eventually resulting in
marital breakups.

Some people call the press here "rambunctious." I'd say that's an optimistic evaluation. But at least, without The Daily Show, I can still laugh about the news.

A few photos

Manila is a city of gates, and my neighborhood is no different. Gates surround offices, apartment buildings, the "villages" and anything people have deemed worth "protecting."

It seems to me, the rich have put up their gates everywhere to keep out the poor, or anyone who might want their wealth. It's also a safety measure, intended to protect against Manila's notorious crime.

It's also a bit weird. When you walk around my neighborhood it seems like almost everything is behind a gate. I'm usually curious and like to look at people's houses and into buildings, but it's not really possible here.

This is a really terrible photo of one of the streets I walk down often. It was also a pretty dismal looking day.

Although it's unrecognizable, that's an ABS-CBN car on its way back to the mothership.

It honked at me while I was standing there gawking with my camera. I wonder if it was someone I know.

Oops. The sidewalk fell apart. Wouldn't want to be too close to that post during a typhoon.











And here we have the symbol of the developing world: An unfinished building. And this one does not appear as if anyone is going to finish it anytime soon.

More photos of Manila are on their way, as soon as I have time to explore more (and my friends stop taking me to malls!!)

Wandering in the Triangle

Today I went for a walk around my neighborhood -- barangay South Triangle -- in Quezon City. Each city in Manila is divided up into multiple "barangays" -- which act as small, local government units. The other barangays have cool, Filipino sounding names, but of course I have to live in the one called "South Triangle." What a boring name.

Not only does my neighborhood hold the headquarters of the two major broadcasters in the Philippines -- ABS-CBN and GMA7 -- but it also boasts plenty of high-end condominium buildings and over-priced restaurants. My goal today was to take a few streets I hadn't yet explored.

And I was quite happy I did. I ended up wandering down a street lined with shanties and possibly a hundred children running around, and roosters in cages sitting near the roadside. It was the most colorful place I've been in Manila so far. I had my camera with me and wanted so bad to take some photos, but I couldn't bring myself to do it. I didn't feel comfortable pulling out a camera that costs more than many of the people in that neighborhood make in a year. It's hard not to feel like the rich foreigner in those situations. I know this is a common feeling traveling and living in developing countries -- and probably by the end of the year I'll be snapping pictures of any and everything -- but for now I'm happy to just observe.

Although I didn't get photos of what I wanted to, I did get some of other parts of my 'hood -- places I walk on a regular basis. I'll post those photos as soon as I have a little more time.

The Apartment

Or I should really say, the studio. It's small, but I like it. Sparsly furnished, but really, where would I put anything if I had more stuff?

I would have posted photos of it earlier, but it's been a mess for about a month. I finally went on a late night cleaning spree after getting off work at 10 pm one night last week. That's when I took these photos.

And here's the kitchen...

A little too familiar

Lately I've been reading Torn and Frayed in Manila, a blog by an expat in Manila. It has lots of useful information and well-informed commentary about the Philippines. The most recent post is about politics and religion here -- which are often one and the same.

God's place of permanent residence is, of course, the Philippines. When not encouraging US presidents to bomb Baghdad, he pops up about once a week in Manila to resolve some ticklish problem. There he was in 2001 leading the march on Malacañang (“To believers like me, the presence of God in People Power 2 at EDSA cannot be disputed” according to former Senate President Aquilino Pimentel) and a few years later he advised President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo "not to run for president during the elections of 2004" (hmm, wonder what changed God’s mind?).

"It is God who puts ideas in my heart," explained Arroyo. "In fact, in my attendance at Mass, it felt to me like He was telling me that He chose me to become president because He also knows that when He tells me not to run, then I would not run," she said.

The full post is great -- refering to the illustrious President Bush and the belief that God put him in office.

It's getting ugly

I have read some hillarious news stories since my arrival here in August. (Ask me about the story about impromptu penis enlargement operations at a prison here.) But this one is funny not only because the story itself is ridiculous, but because it also shows that politics here can easily degenerate to, well, a tantrum -- as in a 3-year-old-in-a-playground-screaming-about-a-lost-toy tantrum.

I believe it all started Monday: One senator, Miriam Defensor Santiago, announced that former President Aquino and another senator, Franklin Drilon, were involved in a plot to assasinate President Arroyo. This did not sit well with a lot of people, for obvious reasons. But one of the reasons is that most people believe that it's impossible that, of all people, Aquino, would plot Arroyo's assasination.

This started quite the argument in Congress, degenerating into a fight about who got the highest score on the bar exam!!!

Now, the Philippines, and Manila in particular, is a small place, especially when we're talking about the elite. One of the senators denouncing Santiago's claims, Rolex Suplico, happens to be a former student of Santiago's. Santiago called him a "dimwit." And of course he had to respond.

Here's the story from the Philippine Star. I particularly like the cartoon that goes with it -- it seems strangely appropriate to use a cartoon to illustrate this story instead of a photo.

Suplico: I got a higher grade in Bar than Miriam, Philippine Star, Oct. 5, 2005