Oh, guess what .. I am now blogging from an iPad which I got from the Cherry Hill Mall. It took me a few calls and visits to other stores before I finally got this 3G 32gb model.

The itinerary I chose is also somewhat wacky.  My hubby and I flew from the Philippines to Amsterdam and I stayed there for a week to attend the wedding of my sister in law.  After 5 days I knew I could only stand living there for one more day.  It seems that everytime I visit Amsterdam, I feel more and more of a stranger to the country.  What with all the stares I get and all the awkward conversations I had with both Dutch people and fellow foreigners (allochtonen) like me.  At some instance, I even had a fellow foreigner bully me into listening to her strange stories and crazy comments about me and my hubby.

When I was called for second interview right at the port of entry (and a thorough luggage search) I wasn’t surprised after telling them my weird but true story and the fact that I flew to North America by way of Amsterdam.  I knew I might trigger red flags. However,  after also spending a week with my family in Canada whom I really missed I also felt out of place and couldn’t find a quiet place to do anything worthwhile. The kids were all over the place (and all over me). I needed room to breathe.

That is why now I continued my sojourn into my past.  I found myself an affordable but comfy place right in South Jersey where I used to live.  The flight yesterday was quite painless.  The only trouble is that traveling alone without my hubby is such a chore with 2 pcs of luggage I had to roll around by myself across the Philadelphia airport towards the rental car shuttle and on towards the rental car office.    I was pretty sure my reservation said Prius or any midsize car but for some reason the agent said that is 10$ extra per day.  Are they scamming me or what?  I was too tired to argue so I just said fine whatever.  It turns out they didn’t even have a Prius. Oh well, nevermind then.  I ended up with a cute Kia Soul which I am not even sure counts as midsize.  With the insurance added, the total cost doubled.  Grr.  Can I downgrade? They said no.  Ok fine here’s my card.

Driving was so easy.  I didn’t even have to use my phone’s GPS which suddenly lost it’s voice.  It bailed out on me.  I’m just so glad I still remember the area (in general).   I used to live there back in 2002 anyways.    I arrived in the hotel without getting lost.

The (stupid)/(careless) concierge told me my name was not found in the computer.  I told her it was prepaid.  She said maybe I booked in the other branch. Duh!  I was about to show her the documents when she suddenly said she found my record.  She was looking at another date.

The room I got was fine although the TV was quite outdated and the remote not working right: every button was just adding -1 to the channel and there is no working power off button.  I decided to keep my dinner simple by buying something I like from the supermarket.  After all, I have a nice little fridge here.

I didn’t have a nice long sleep but I felt rested nevertheless.  I had free breakfast downstairs.  The breakfast was of course not remarkable.  The eggs had a weird smell to it so I kinda skipped it. They had canadian bacon though which I gladly put in between 2 slices of brown bread.  Fresh juices on the vending machine and cereals. They also had muffins too.  After that, I asked the concierge (new shift) if I could change to another room that is not adjoined (has door that opens to other room).  Creepy especially for someone alone like me.   Luckily she allowed me to move to another room.  The TV was the same, remote was the same but this time the channels can go forward and backwards.  Don’t get me wrong.  This hotel isn’t a scary bates motellish motor inn.  It’s kinda even +1 in luxury compared to Best Western: the beds were comfy, everything was also very clean and a high rise with elevators.  A plus for a security conscious and half scared / half brave adventurer like me.

I have talked to my cousin today who is currently in North Jersey and had received an invitation from a friend from the Philly suburbs for a stay this weekend.  As of now, I am still not sure whether I should go with my cousin on the 4th of July to watch the Manhattan skyline fireworks with her friends or attend a July 4 party in the suburbs.  I am partial to the fireworks but my cousin said if it’s possible I should do both.  There is another friend I contacted by email (who has a baby) but has not answered my phone calls.

I also received a short but thoughtful email from my nephew back in Canada. Today, I revisited my favorite PHO restaurant for lunchwhich MrC also liked.  The small bowl of pho was still $6.  I also tried to visit an Apple store but there was no Ipad with 3g available.  I got myself a phone mount.

The Team is shrinking, they are now down to 8 again.  I guess the honeymoon has ended a few months ago.  Two staffmembers left, we don’t know for sure why, the other one claimed medical issues and the other one pursuing his own venture.  We doubt if they are truthful, but we have realized one thing, people seem to be prone to telling lies.    They say one thing and don’t do it.  White lies or not, it is still a sign of lack of character.    It’s really hard to find good and loyal people who are not very demanding.  Times have changed or has it been like this since the beginning?  Nevertheless, it is hard to keep faith in people  and continue to be nice if this happens way too often.

Our home, inspite of being spacious and a littie far away from the main roads is still not perfectly quiet.  In the early morning, where we still need our extra 4 hours of sleep we are awakened by vehicles honking, and cries of little kids, and what not.  Sleep and quietness is something hard to obtain here.    We just take note of this when we move to another place, whenever that may be.

We tried to have pet cats (rescued from the streets)  but we have already lost 2 in a span of 7 months of living here.  One disappeared on Good Friday and the other one was run over by a car.  We still have 3 kittens though, which was found a few days after by our driver’s kid. Their names are  Gloria, Binay and NoyNoy.

I started one experiment last month.  I am looking to secure a telecommute IT project from the US.  I don’t know but it has not been easy (duh!).  However, I know this is a big experiment so I know it can run both ways.  I will be in the East Coast in two weeks, right after attending MrC’s sister’s wedding and will be focusing more on this.

Types of Resorts your would find in the Philippines

• Family resorts – these resorts should have a decent sized swimming pool for both adults and kids, sometimes they have water slides or wave pools too.  Couples or matured vacationers should learn to avoid these places if they want a quiet, leisurely holiday without any rowdy kids screaming.
• Sleazy resorts, which I sometimes  call “Rated R” resorts.  These resorts cater to what we call “sex tourists” or plainly said, dirty old men looking for cheap girls willing to do anything for them. Enough said.  Most of the time, these resorts employ pretty young ladies that wear minimal clothing as uniform.  Expect girls to be extremely friendly to foreigner guys.  Wives — you’ve been warned!
• Diving/aqua sports resorts -  a lot of these resorts are around the southern part of Batangas and all across the islands.  They usually provide formal instructions too.
• Party-goer resorts – these resorts are usually  where company or school outings take place.  20 somethings and teenagers come here to get drunk all night and sing karaoke.  Usually there are live bands and/or dancing taking place at night.
• People’s Resort – resorts that cater to the masses.  Extremely budget-friendly but expect basic no frills accommodations and of course, karaoke all day and all night!
• Luxury Resorts – Marriott , Shangri-La, and places with names that have the words “country club”  in it.   Prices per night is around 200 USD and above. Boracay and Cebu have  many luxury resorts.  They usually have all of the above — except the karaoke machines.  Staff are always dressed appropriately and treat you with utmost courtesy.

Important questions to ask :

• Price of the room per night. Is it per person or per room?
• Is the room you are booking airconditioned?
• Do you have a restaurant in your resort? What kind of food is served in your restaurant? What is the average price?.. (Average price for a meal in a middleclass resort is around 300 PHP per meal). Believe me, some resorts charge so much on food yet provide so much less. If you can checkout their menu please do so.
• Do you have a lifeguard? I noticed that not all resorts have one.
• Do you have backup power? Brownouts happen all the time.
• What kind of transportation is available from the resort?
• Do you have free wireless internet. Is it available from all rooms?

If you need to know about specific names of resorts mentioned above feel free to send me a comment (with your email address)  and I’ll answer you by email.

When you get to a taxi, the driver can either start by playing hard ball just to let you in and want to prenegotiate a price.  Don’t let him fool you. Insist on using the meter.  If you have successfully made it to step 2 then he will try to be friendly and talk to you finding out if you are rich.  If he decides that you are, he will go on pity party mode and tell you how hard his life is or that his car is barely working .. then it would hopefully lead you to give him a big tip — which would not be that bad if his car didn’t overheat in the middle of EDSA.

As you arrive in your resort, or wherever nice place you want to hangout, or even while inside the car aggressive vendors would beg you to buy their wares..  You would almost buy those things out of pity even though you know those necklaces would just join all the clutter you have left back home.  Why don’t they just sell me something good to eat instead huh? some crunchy snack or perhaps a shirt which I can hopefully wear after 3 washings.

We had our car repaired for a small ding.  It took more than a day for it to be finished.  The next day, we sent the driver to pick up the car and he was waiting for hours until someone from there called me on the phone.  He asked me to call my driver.  I called him and asked why and he told me the guy fixing the car is asking for money for merienda (snack) but he was ashamed to tell me in person.  Most people from other countries would find it too in your face if someone from the shop asks you the same thing.  Maybe there is a reason for him to be ashamed. But still he asked.  I think I would not even hesitate to give him a nice tip if he did his work fast but in this case he asked for tip even before doing a good job.  He says he is ashamed but it is false shame because he knows he is asking for something he doesn’t deserve.

Sometimes, you would be approached by people who would tell you they represent their local religious/academic/whatever organization and that if you buy their trinket you would be helping them in their education/whatever good thing.  If you decline, they would use the “religious card” and sell you something religious like a rosary or prayer card.  If you tell them you’re an atheist they will just admit to you that they are desperate and need your help so please GIVE!  I think the best way is to pretend that you don’t speak English or Tagalog.

Then there’s the extended family. Yes, this the hardest to resist.  You want to help them so you try to let them work for you.  After a while, they start to ask for an advance.  A little crying,  a little sad story and you are parting ways with money.  Nothing wrong with that, you are helping them out.. It’s an emergency after all.  After another month, they ask for money again and again and again and you wonder where it all goes to.  You want to teach them how to fish.  You give them a regular job but that’s not enough.  You end up sending their kids to school. Later you lend them bigger money and they promise to give it in “Four Gives” and you realize later that it is spread out in years rather than months.

Hey, someone’s knocking at the door.  It’s your barangay tanod. Did I do something wrong?  They have a piece of paper, what is it? It’s a Death Certificate. Someone died a few blocks away and his family needs some money for his funeral/burial.  They do not even explain in words what it’s all about.  The Death Certificate and the letter from the Barangay Tanod explains it all.  How much do I have to give? Darn! When will this all end?  A week after another Death Certificate is shown to me all over again.

A day before election, a young lady knocks on our gate.  She was holding a piece of paper.  When I asked her about it she just she mumbled and groaned.  I realized she was deaf mute.  I understood now, she’s here (again) for money!  This is sad but all these stories are true.

The first stores we saw were mostly gold jewelry sellers. I was really surprised for the lack of security here with all these jewelry. There was one pendant that costs 54000 php! That’s like 3 months salary for the average white collar worker! There were also several variety stores. The store owners were really Chinese and spoke Chinese and some didn’t even spoke the local language! I was also surprised to see how friendly the storekeepers were. They are not like the store owners I’ve met abroad definitely. My father in law also took pictures of locals, and they were smiling happily while their picture was taken. We also tried eating from a 50 year old Chinese snackbar (as my father in law calls them) and ordered a vegetarian lumpia for him and a “small” lomi.  The service was quite fast and everything cost less than 100.   Going back, we also bought some suha (local grapefruit) from street vendors.  They were quite sweet.  I wish I had pictures to share but then I’ll save that for my next visit.

Basically, the past 2 years I have been talking mostly about the process we went through regarding our move here from idea, to research, to decision, to making the first step to actually living here. Right now, I can honestly say we are a bit more settled here and love our new place and of course we’re so blessed to see MrC’s IT outsourcing venture becoming very stable and slowly growing (11 people now and interviewing for 2 positions).

I also see this blog evolving from a journal or personal blog to some sort of magazine or information source for people thinking of coming back to the Philippines or even a networking site or support group for those that are already here and needing help/direction in resettling or in the case of first timers settling anew. My target reader would be an expat or an OFW or balikbayan. Those who have been accustomed to living elsewhere and trying to get to know the ins and outs of this country.

If you’re reading this and have suggestions do email me or post comments here. Thanks! – mixxy

How has it been the past few days? We gave our staff a nice Christmas dinner treat at Harborview by the Bay after a toast in the office for a job well done the past few months. During the weekend, we were able to finally buy the curtains for my home office, the living room and entrance windows.  After a few days, we drove off to Baguio via Marcos Highway.  It is really so much easier now than decades ago thanks to the construction of the NLEX and SCTEX.  We bought a city map of Baguio and also a Luzon Atlas along the way at one of the rest stops.  My, these rest stop convenience stores at NLEX and SCTEX are really well stocked.  Almost everything you need is there!

We arrived before sundown in our hotel (weather was really cold for us now) and had our driver come home to his family by bus.  He will be back for us in a few days to drive us home.  Meanwhile , we spent our Christmas Dinner in the Other Hotel where we were supposed to stay but was fully booked (Manor) in decorated tents and an “ok” buffet with live orchestra playing next to us!  We were there together with our Dutch-Filipino business associates and their well behaved but very sleepy 6 kids.

The next few days was spent visiting our Dutch-Filipino business associate’s house on the West Side of Baguio and visiting places such as Mines View Park and also next to it (walking distance) was the Good Shepherd Convent where we bought the usual sweet pasalubong (goodies to take home) such as Peanut Brittle, Cashew Brittle for my father in law, Ube Jam and Strawberry Jam.  We also visited the ever so lively Burnham Park and ate afternoon “merienda” at the famous but unassuming Star Cafe which is actually a Chinese restaurant that dates back to 1976.  We also tried to find the  Silver Shop of St.Louis University but could not find it.  On Sunday, our driver arrived at around past 12 noon.  We then dropped by the Public Market to buy some vegetables.  We also stopped by a small store at Marcos Highway to buy brooms — both Tambo (indoor sweeper)  and the TingTing (for street sweeping).  Next time, I have to remind myself to just buy veggies from the stores along Marcos Highway instead of the Public Market.  It’s a lot less stressful to buy there.

There was aweful traffic from Rosario, Tarlac all the way to the exit of SCTEX so all in all it took as around 7 hours I think travel time.  Once we got to the first rest stop at NLEX I ran immediately to the ladies room.  After that we had our evening meal at Jollibee.  We arrived at around 9pm.

Yellow Cab for Pizza

Almon Marina, Subway and Oliver’s has good sandwiches

Brother’s Burger for really good burgers

Cafe Breton for crepes

Spiral (Sofitel) for a good Buffet

There is a Belgian Fries stand at Greenhills (near the theater)

If you want to try local brands try Burger Machine (freshly cooked on the spot and really cheap) and Jollibee.  Forget about American chains — the quality is different here, you’ll probably get disappointed. I tried Wendy’s at Greenbelt last weekend and their most expensive burger was really pathetic – and I don’t usually criticize that much.

The French Baker sells pretty good fresh bread. We found great German bread at La Coeur de France and they usually have a have buy one take one offer.

Juri’s (Ermita) for Dutch food and Belgian Beer.

Earle’s Delicatessen for sausages, cold cuts, very slow service though.

Rustan’s Supermarket also has savory sausages in their grocery and I also found some more on display at their Cafe in Makati.

Santis has many branches across the city — it is a small but reliable deli.

Bakery at Shangri-La Hotel — someone told me about this but I haven’t really tried this yet.

Metro Manila has a branch of American chains such as Bubba Gump’s, Friday’s, Chili’s,  Krispy Kreme, Dairy Queen, California Pizza Kitchen and even Hooters (Mall of Asia) among others.

Miss Costco? Try S&R or Makro.

Gelati at Fior Gelato

Duo Restaurant at Serendra for European dishes and really good salad. Chefs Quarters also is just as good as Duo but you spend much less.

If you know anyone who sells fresh milk and a good Pasta restaurant, please let me know

Nevertheless I had a hint on where it was.  It is located in an “armpit” corner of Quezon Avenue and EDSA.  Yes it can be described that way because it is hidden in a narrow street parallel to Quezon Avenue.  We actually found the right direction accidentally when we thought we missed Quezon Avenue exit from EDSA. We instead ended up at North Avenue and found our way to Agham road and by instinct found that little street and turned right before reaching Quezon Avenue from Agham.

Basically, Manila Seedling is where clusters of garden and landscaping stores are found.  You can buy seedlings, fruit trees, potted herbs, flowers or flowering pots and all sorts of tools related to gardening.  We saw a couple of buildings owned by the Manila Seedling bank, however, one with the fruit trees didn’t have anyone available to help us. Also, the other building seemed unmanned as well.  We ended up in a bigger store next to it that offers Membership.  With this membership you get to avail of their promos and discounts.

Since we were buying a lot of pots on discount we decided to apply for membership because the membership of 200 would already pay for itself with all the discounts we are getting from the pots.   In the end we bought pots of Lemon Grass, Lavender, two kinds of Basil, among others.  We also bought some vegetable seeds and gardening tools.

It is best to go there early morning on a weekend so it’s much cooler and less pollution.  However, MrC still felt the pollution stick to his skin, you know that grimy feeling.  Well, at least the Garden was there to at least to provide a bit of oxygen amidst the thick cloud of smoke of EDSA.   With all this, I still thought the whole visit was well worth it and it was nice to stroll around and look at and admire plants on an otherwise lazy Sunday morning.   I will be back there soon to pickup a Banana Tree.