Kabayan Hotel-Pasay

... of view when we re-experience life in the US. So we are going into this trip realizing that it is another "new" experience and not a journey back to relive the same old experiences or to a comfort zone we can crawl back to. A fellow expat told me that the first time he traveled back to the US and spent a few weeks living out of his suitcase, he realized his "home" was now in Manila and he looked forward to getting back here. We'll see.

... book. Unfortunately this is not something unusual since I've seen this happen before and it's sad since I am sure there are many officers who do their job honorably. So here's what I've learned from this episode, Keep a copy of your license and give them that instead of the original, they will complain but so what. I'm also going to keep a copy of the fines as posted on the Land transportation office web site and have ...

... wear over our warm weather clothes and also baggies to hold our cell phones and cameras. Then we passed through the doors into the arctic blast. After living in the tropics for months you forget how the cold temperatures and low humidity make you feel alive. You get a sudden burst of energy to do things - anything - just to keep yourself warm. There were ice slides that Russ and Mark took advantage of ...

Bonjour a tous, Lundi 16 fevrier Un peu fourbu de toutes ces marches a repetition, de ces bumping jeepneys ou tricycles, je ne dors pas assez non plus, mais bon, ca me plait bien tout ca... Petite balade dans Sagada avant de revenir en arriere pour Banaue ou j'avais laisse mon sac. Halte a Bontoc, j'ai le temps de m'occuper d'un billet d'avion. En effet, j'ai planifie d'aller sur Boracay, voir la plus belle plage des Philippines et comment se comportent les touristes en troupeaux. Pas ...

... saying "please leave firearms at the door". Pretty quickly you get the picture - approach Manila with caution. Once you get over the initial shock, you learn lesson two. Manila isn't one city at all, its actually a collection of cities that have grown into the same space. Its huge, and poorly organised. It ranges from swanky(-ish) to downright barrio-esque ghetto. Its always awake, you want to build in Manila, don't bother stopping ...

... of coats? We live in the tropics! The Filipinos like to wear scarves and boots during the "cold" months but we would probably pass out if we did that. Maybe in a few years when we get acclimated to the heat but not now. I'm also not sure we needed two sets of good china. We never used them in the states. Will we suddenly find ourselves entertaining diplomats and dignitaries over here? Is Gloria ...

... should consider playing the soundtrack of "Star Wars" when tourists walk in at the cave's entrance, or perhaps sell luminous laser swords for added cosmic effect. There goes my Hollywood mentality. It was shopping galore once more, as we headed for a Chinese medicine store, where my eyes feasted on all sorts of strange weed and plant concoctions promising to heal all sorts of body ailments. I have my pulse for Chinese medicine. Since I was in college, I always carry with me a small ...

... July 10th Late morning (needed to catch up on some sleep) I met up with the girls and we caught a jeepney for the long ride out to Qeuzon City (one of the many satellite cities around Manila that also make up Manila as a city). An hour later arrived at the family house where I greeted the Mother, younger brother, his son and Tintin's son. I was immediately given some shorts and a T-shirt to wear (so I didn't ruffle my already pack-ruffled clothes). Most of the day just ...

... we were immediately shocked by many things on the journey to the hotel. We were very glad to see that all street signs, shop signs, just about everything is in English....very nice after 3 months in non English speaking places. It has a very Spanish feel....what we would imagine that somewhere like Costa Rica would look like. This is not surprising at the Phillipines was a Spanish colony for over 400 years, right up until the start of the of the 20th Century ...