Things I find interesting..

As some of you may know, I was supposed to be going home tomorrow however I have extended my visa and my flights and I am staying here 2 more months. So 2 more months of posts for you all to read!

There are many things that fascinate me about this country and I would like to share some of those things with you.

The first time I entered the ladies toilet in the mall I noticed a toilet roll dispenser on the wall. I observed the woman in front of me to see if she took any loo paper but she didn’t, so I didn’t either.  Well, that was a mistake.  It turns out that roll was for everyone as there is no paper in each cubicle…  Luckily I come prepared! It’s very common here to have no toilet paper in public toilets, not even the communal roll on the wall.

The second thing I noticed about public toilets here is that there is no singular line, you line up in front of a cubicle. Some cubicles were 3 or 4 people deep and there's no use in hanging back and giving the person in front some space because someone will just cut in front of you! As I am lining up in front of the loo I had chosen, I look around and realise out of the 20-30 women in the restroom, I am the tallest person! This amuses me greatly as I have NEVER been the tallest adult in the room.  Slightly off topic, at the physio a few weeks ago, I had to have the balance bars put UP for me!  Certainly a first…

The last odd thing I noticed about female public toilets is that most of them have a urinal.  This took me some time to figure out as to why. It’s just out in the open in the restroom. Is it for ladyboys? Then I noticed that is was reasonably low to the ground and I finally figured out it was probably for young boys who were shopping with their Mum’s.  I do find it a little odd that it’s just out in the open but I guess that’s how it is in the men’s…

Shortly after I arrived I noticed a something crawling in the kitchen which of course freaked me out. It was a lizard and Jun assured me it was quite harmless.  They are everywhere here and the other night we had once sharing our room. After much convincing that it was not going to run over me in the night and it will hopefully eat some of the mosquitos, I eventually relaxed and fell asleep.  In the morning our little friend was gone and I haven’t seen him in our room since but I do see lizards in the kitchen from time to time but I have come to accept them to be part of the household.

The lizard I spent the night with...

One creature I will never accept is the mosquito.  After proclaiming on my first day that I never get bitten then being eaten alive that night, I doused myself in insect repellent for the next week.  It just didn’t seem to work and I smelled awful.  Night after night I endured attacks and my legs looked diseased. Jun told me he had seen much worse but that didn’t seem to help as I was itching like crazy.  We tried buying one of those liquid insect repellents that you plug in to the wall but the mosquitos basically laughed in my face as they continued to feast on my skin. At wits end we finally bought a mosquito net which has been awesome, unless of course you fall asleep with a mosquito in with you.  So every night we have to do the inspection, which can take a while as these crafty little buggers like to hide under the bed until you think there are none in the net and fall asleep with a false sense of security.

The blessed mosquito net

Here’s another interesting thing for you other shorties out there. Here the seatbelts are at the right height! Anyone who is of a short stature, such as myself, will know exactly what I am talking about.  Every time you put your seatbelt on back home, it cuts in to your neck and moves across your body.  No matter how many times you push it back it just keeps moving across and sticking in your neck. The problem is that it is attached too high but not here in the Philippines! As most people are shorter it is attached lower and therefore I don’t have the same issue as I do at home. It’s the small things in life…….

Here’s something that will make those without private health insurance jealous.  I went to the dentist needing a filling… $30.  I could not believe how cheap it was!  I think one reason it was so cheap (apart from the fact that everything is cheaper here) was that they didn’t use any anaesthetic… My sister in law never has anaesthetic to have a filling and I always thought she was so brave and a little nuts. I had a really deep hole to fill (keep it clean…..) but it hardly hurt at all and I didn’t have that horrible numb feeling that you usually have for the rest of the day. Looks like I will be sorting out all my dental while I am here!

Lastly, TV.  They have this interesting variety type show that runs every day for at least 2 hours.  It comprises of different segments and has about 6 or more hosts and most of them are hosting at the same time.  One of the segments is “You’re my Foreignoy”. Foreginoy is the word for foreigners living in the Philippines who are Filipino at heart. Foreigners compete in categories such as reading out Tagalog (Filipino language) sentences, doing a traditional dance or song and other random contests that I just don’t get. One looked like musical chairs with the foreign guys being chairs and the Filipino women trying to find them whilst blindfolded. Constantly throughout the show there is this weird sound effect that sounds like a crazy cartoon laugh which irritates me to no end. Jun’s Dad suggested I go on the show… Jun suggests I don’t… I’m with Jun on this one!

Another TV show that baffles me is the Ryza Mae Show, which airs just before the variety show.  She is a 9 year old girl who hosts the show but she is the size of a chubby 4 year old.  Hamish and Andy (for my foreign friends, they are a very successful comedy duo in Australia) were guests on the show and I have included the Youtube link as I don’t think I can explain it.

Hamish and Andy on the Ryzza Mae show 

Enjoy!

The Great Vegemite Hunt and all things OZ….

A few posts back I mentioned my quest to find vegemite. Usually I don’t take vegemite with me when I go away. It’s not that I don’t love it but most days on the ship I am not up early enough to eat breakfast and when I am, I eat bacon and eggs etc.  While I was sick a few weeks back I craved what my Mum would give me in times of illness, vegemite on toast.  So easy to nibble on, so satisfying but I stupidly dismissed the idea of bringing a jar with me. (Partially due to my suitcase already being at the limit to fly with REX)

Jun and I would go in to different stores in the hope that we might find a jar tucked away in an aisle, maybe with the jams or maybe the imported section. We became so desperate for the delicious taste of yeast extract (I say we because Jun loves it, no word of a lie) that each time we saw a white person, we would whisper “vegemite, vegemite, vegemite” in the hope they would turn around, proclaim that they are indeed Australian and point us in the direction of my favourite breakfast spread. This method of course failed time and time again but it amused us to try….

We had a few leads on where to buy vegemite but unfortunately these places were well over an hour’s drive away and although I had cravings, I was not that desperate.  We had started to lose hope when we saw a sign… “Market Australia” - Metro Supermarket.  We forced a U turn and pulled in to get a closer look at the sign. It wasn’t very descriptive as to what kind of market it was but we did get some vital information, it starts the next day! I’m so excited, I can hardly wait. What’s more Australian than vegemite? They are going to have it for sure!

The next day we head back to the supermarket to check out this market of all things OZ. Hardy’s wine, Australian Cheese, Jatz biscuits, Australian bacon ($26/kg… pass), Fountain sauces, Australian cereals, Tim Tams (no big deal, I’ve found them in most major supermarkets here!), Steggles frozen chicken…   but no vegemite.  You call this “Market Australia”?! Where’s the vegemite?! This is a disappointing blow for the Great Vegemite Hunt.  I’m starting to lose faith, I don’t want to hunt anymore but Jun encourages me to go on. We can’t give up. It must be out there somewhere….

Where's the Vegemite?

So many Tim Tams...  Good to know they're around if I need a fix!

Jun’s friend Wam invites us out to hear his band play. I ‘m really excited for two reasons: 1. I haven’t been to a gig for a long time. 2. It’s at an Aussie bar, who knows what we might find there…   Jun doesn’t feel well, he has a bad headache but he knows I really want to go. I tell him that we don’t have to go whilst trying to push paracetamol on him in the hope that the headache will go away. We’re so close to vegemite, I can feel it. Despite being against taking medicine, he takes one and starts to feel marginally better and we decide to go. (I’ve already got my make up on so it would be a waste not to go…)

It takes us an hour and 20 minutes to get there, park and walk to the venue. I can hardly believe my eyes when we approach the venue and advertised in the window, something so glorious that I can hardly believe my luck.  Here, in Manila, I have found….. a Villi’s Pie!! (Ha! You thought I was going to say vegemite! Sadly, no.) So what, it’s not vegemite but is something equally great, a piece of South Australia right here. We sit outside to enjoy the gig but at the end of the song, they start packing up. We’d missed it! I’m feeling really disappointed about missing the gig but I know something that will make it all better, an $8 Villi’s Pie.

The pie was advertised with gravy or with potato and gravy.  I opted for just the pie and gravy on the side. (Does anyone put gravy on their pie?) My Filipino friends are curious as to why I am so excited about this pastry and so I very kindly share it out with the 3 of them.  For those of you who have known a Villi’s pie or 2 (or 20) will know what a sacrifice it is to share the deliciousness.  Once they tasted the pie, I think all 3 of them realise the sacrifice I had just made to share a piece of my culture with them.

Couldn't you go a Villi's?

Why yes I could! Only $8...

On the topic of all things OZ, Jun tells Wam about our Great Vegemite Hunt and you wouldn’t believe the outcome of the conversation. Wam. Has. Vegemite!  (At his house, not on him. I think I would have tackled him to the ground if he actually had it with him). It turns out his brother had seen it in a store and was curious to try it. He didn’t like it and so it had been sitting in the cupboard, unloved and barely touched for some time. This is no life for a jar of Vegemite! Wam promises that he is going to give it to me and I am eternally grateful. I now know where there is vegemite, I just have to wait for it.

The next day Jun receives a text from Wam, he is coming over… with vegemite! Finally! The time has come and due to a sixth sense I already have bread and butter in the fridge ready to go. When Wam arrives he passes me the vegemite. I practically smother him with a hug whilst proclaiming my love then make a bee line to the kitchen.  Its vegemite on toast all round! Wam has tried vegemite in the past and wasn’t a fan, however, was it prepared by an Australian? He tries the vegemite and enjoys it. (This worries me a little, please don’t take the jar away!) It turns out that when he and his brother tried it, they didn’t realise that you also need to have butter. In Australia it’s just assumed that you have butter and so it never occurred to me that someone wouldn’t know to put butter on before vegemite. I guess, why would you know that if you don’t even know what vegemite is?

Vegemite on toast and a cold milk milo. Yum!

I have introduced Jun to the toasted cheese and vegemite sandwich with the butter and vegemite on the outside and he loves it.  He now asks me if we can have toasted cheese and vegemite sandwiches! He is a convert. He is not the only one I have converted. Jun’s friend Hannah (who produced the Philippines part of “Hamish and Andy’s Asian Gap Year”) came around and after discussing vegemite, she was curious to try. We all headed down to the kitchen to witness the vegemite initiation and whaddya know… another convert!

One by one you shall succumb to the flavour of the Great Vegemite……

I just had to add this pic... This is my shopping basket. I'm supposed to be soaking up the Filipino culture...

Transport

I am finally starting to feel better, I have my appetite back and I am enjoying food again! Now I can really start to enjoy being here and soak up the experiences that the Philippines have to offer. I’ve noticed a few differences in transport here than what I am used to so in today’s blog I will talk about what I have observed.

Cars back home have heating and cooling. This is no surprise to anyone, unless you are from the Philippines and probably many other hot place.  I didn’t notice it straight away but we were driving along and I realised that where there would usually be a red line moving to a white line moving to a blue line under the heating control, there was one continuous blue line moving from thin blue line to thick blue line, less cool to more cool.  Of course! Why would you need heating here?  I guess it just never occurred to me that cars would be made without heating.

Less cold... More cold.

If you own a car, you cannot just drive it whenever you want. There is this thing called “coding”. You are restricted from driving your car one day a week and the way they decide who cannot drive on which day is by the number plate. If your number plate ends in a 1 or 2, you cannot drive on Mondays, 3 and 4 cannot drive on Tuesday’s etc. However, there are exceptions.  You can drive around residential areas and minor roads.  On most of the major roads there is a window period from 10am-3pm where you can drive your car on the day it is coded.  If you are caught by police driving your car during the restricted times, you will be fined.

Driving here is manic. The traffic is not moving fast, we barely get above 30km most days but it’s just crazy. Cars are coming from every which way and where there are 3 lanes, there are often 4 cars across with cars merging in and out of lines and indicators seem to be optional. If we need to do a U-turn, we can’t just wait for a break in the traffic because there won’t be one. Jun just slowly edges around and when there is a small space, nudges in front of someone to force them to let us in. When I first got here I had to close my eyes most of the time as it scared the hell out of me!  A few days ago we were waiting in the far left lane at the traffic lights to turn left (equivalent to our right turn). When we get a green arrow, we take off and the car to the right of us cut in front of us and does a U-turn around us! I was so stunned. This just gives you an idea of what it is like to drive here. I am getting used to it and don’t close my eyes so much but I will never be getting behind the wheel…

Straddling 2 lanes, cos we can...

I’ve already mention Jeepneys (public transport, converted American Jeeps from WWII) which I have posted 2 photos of. There are also motorbikes with side cars (Tricycles). They are everywhere and I have been trying my best to get a photo of one that is full of people.  Not only do people sit in the side car but also side saddled on the back of the motorbike. Sometimes I have seen 2 people squished behind the driver.  I have seen 3 people on one bicycle and families on one motorcycle. It’s not rare to see 2 parents with helmets holding an infant or a small child between them with no helmet. I really cannot believe my eyes. 

Back of a Jeepney. Slogan at the bottom is not uncommon in this very Catholic country.

Tricycle

Side shot of a less decorated Jeepney

I'm sure they could squeeze a fourth person on the handle bars...

 In the main cities (we are just out from the main part of Manila), there is quite a lot of smog.  If you are driving there you definitely need the AC set to inside air.  I did see one sign that is in support of reducing smog.  I get what they are saying but I still think it’s a funny way to write it. “Cavitex is enforcing….  Anti –smoke belching”.   Seriously cars, stop burping smoke! 

Pardon you Toyota!

To finish off I’d like to leave you with a sign that I saw at a petrol station which I found interesting. 

Free rice when you spend the equivalent of $23