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.
Enjoy!
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