Makati City, Philippines

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Originally Posted by Cicero

...are landing on top of each other and so on and so forth...Just neat!

You wouldnt be drinking Russian vodka by any chance, would you?

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These are from post #155 of this thread. Although Tonchi's experience and apparent tone are a bit harsh there are some things that I'd like to add.

Originally Posted by Tonchi

You bet it is. And the best part for you is, YOU are going to walk away from it. Gates do not slam in the American faces. You have that all-precious visa and a bank account so you are GOD.

Yes, I can find these people any where that I go. They are transparent though.

Most of the people that I am in contact with on a daily basis are friendly and already have some connection with the US. They have money coming in from relatives or have a business with enough income to live reasonably.

Those that do not have that connection are not clingy or manipulative. They very rarely ask me for money and if they do, instead I buy foods for them.

It's very rare for anyone to ask for anything though.

People constantly kissing my backside are obvious and annoying. On top of that, I'm truly not well off anyway.

Originally Posted by Tonchi

But the minute nature takes its course and the events around you succeed in removing the money from your wallet and absorbing it into the surrounding environment, Life would be VERY different for you indeed. You'll never have to find out, though, how nobody over 30 is allowed to even apply for a job in the Philippines, because you do not HAVE to work there. You have everything all set and secure and your plane reservations confirmed, your escape is guaranteed.

Life would be very different, yes.

It's not my position here to ridicule or harass the natives for their misfortunes in life.

I would certainly not want to be a native here without access to reasonable housing and regular income.

That doesnt mean that I'm not sympathetic to them though.

Originally Posted by Tonchi

None of my business of course, but how many Filipinos have already been working on you to get them a visa to get out? By the "cultural norms" I'm familiar with, every member of her family will now consider you their "ticket"

From the very beggining, I've made it clear that this is not the case.

That doesnt mean that I've not given assistance in one way or another to family here. The difference in this whole situation is that they do not ask for anything.

It's been my goal to be here for longer and longer periods of time. If I'm going to be here, the living conditions will improve. When I'm not here, those gifts are appreciated and not taken for granted.

There are countless examples of visiting with her family without any expectation of extrodinary gifts of money or luxuries.

There are also many examples of friends and family just not connecting with me for one reason or another. Some have similarities and interests in common, some dont. We meet people in life that we click with and others that we do not.

I'm not Santa Claus so they know that they are not going to lose something spectacular by not kissing my ass.

One thing that they all are is respectful and polite.

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Gates do not slam in American faces. That's very true.

Imagine with me for a minute.......

Imagine that you are very normal in every respect. That you are not particularly good looking, articulate, wealthy or connected.

Imagine that when visiting here that about half of the people are interested in you. They look, they smile, they speak kindly to you.

Imagine that every where you go half of the people are doing little things or very big things to help you. To make you more comfortable. To be kind to you for no other reason that you are a priviledged minority.

Imagine parents of small children walking up to you to introduce themselves and their kids to you. See the curiosity in the children's faces and experience the subtle respect that they give you. Americans are very well regarded here and you know that by how their kids treat you. They have been taught that Americans are important.

Imagine half of the people that you see every day are just wanting to talk with you or to have a beer or a soda. Just to talk to you for five minutes. They have a story or a question that they would like to ask and both speak and listen to you when you have a conversation.

Imagine people working and playing until they see you and then they stop what they are doing to watch you. Some are obvious and some are very subtle. They watch your every move with curiosity as if you are a celebrity, but you are not. You are just normal but you are a foreigner in the native's town.

Imagine walking into a large modern building in Ortigas with pinoys everywhere around you. That there are signs "No ID, no entry - no exceptions" , "secured facility" and the like. That everyone you see must present ID and sign into the building but when you arrive to the head of the line the security people don't even ask your name and just wave you inside.

Imagine people giving you their cab when there are not many cabs that particular day. That they flag you inside the cab that they would have taken but that they saw that you were uncomfortable or hot in the weather. With a smile they give you a pat on the back or a handshake.

Imagine having a complete stranger allow you to ride their motorcycle just because they saw you looking at it. No questions asked just , "would you like to ride"? No expectations of gain for them but just to allow you the opportunity.

Imagine being a priviledged minority. Not from outward wealth but by being a respectful American. From being someone that they would like to be. Someone that they would be proud of being.

That's very much what it's like for me here and I do not take that for granted. It's something that I am aware of every day.

I'm very thankful for this treatment and respond in kind. This is one of many reasons that I love to be here.

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This is the water company's construction crew. The streets here in Pembo have been ripped up again to install more water lines and to replace the existing water meters.

When the crews came through here, I thought someone was attacking our building here. The crew started with the jackhammer shortly after 8 am, 2 hours after my bedtime.

As one sees the work these guys do all day they can appreciate what tough SOBs they are.

Not a single man on the crew wears safely glasses either. Real risk takers as well as rugged and heat resistant pinoys.

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This appears to be a Bell UH-1 "Huey". These are flying overhead regularly and I've only seen one modern chopper.

Some are miltary, some police, and this one a rescue chopper. It seems that all the US Hueys retired from service for the states and ended up here.

Maybe rescuing some foreigner from the heat and transporting them to the hospital.

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This is the gym just down the street.

One of many of my goals for this time being here has been to reduce this growing gut that I have going. It's been tough going in the high heat but this workout routine should produce the desired result.

All the machines are outdated or broken. You have to adjust your expectations when you go here. The bikes need tweeking before you start using them. Don't go full out with anything as it might not be all that sturdy.

The treadmill is actually manual. The controls are very similar as to show you calories burned and distance travelled but there is no start button like all the treadmills that I've ever used.

Slang: Hey, can you help me get started here. Where is the start button?

GymGuy: It's manual. YOU are the start button.

Slang: OH SHIT, I should have known that.

Dispite the older equipment, it's a cool place to go. The man that runs it is (guessing ) between 60 and 70 and still in very good shape.

The staff and patrons are also helpful but very surprised to see me work out there.

Most of them are 5-4 and 125 lbs too. It's always interesting to see them watch me.

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Here's a pinoy made Jeep. It's not a Jeepney though, just a single.

The body is made from galvanized steel and all the parts are salvaged.

Is it 4WD? Guessing no. No idea what the engine is either. They are listed regularly in the auto trader for 100 or 150k.

I think that they are cool for the price but no one seems to really like them here.

Maybe if I rode in one my opinion would change.

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The interior is not exactly luxurious either but I'd say that it's pretty durable.

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Does anyone here know what a BMW motorcycle looks like? Maybe this is one but I'm guessing not.

Not a bad looking bike with all the shiney fake chrome and all. Certainly appears to be a nice riding bike too.

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The blue front lights fake you into thinking that this might be a police bike but it's not. Blue lights in the front are common here.

Actually, there are all sorts of variations of what is standard here. What sort of inspection is there? What regulations are enforced?

I don't know. The roadworthiness of vehicles here is vaguely defined. Some appear as if they were just assembled from a box of parts and some are very nice like this one.

Since it's the only source of income for many people here, the tricycles, it seems that standards are very low to keep maintenance costs down.

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So you have a tough life? Full of inconveniences? Maybe. There are so many here that I'd surely go mad going through the BS of living here as a native.

This is from a trip into Manila the other day.

Several jeepneys passed with people hanging out of them. It seems that your choices are limited in heavy traffic with the jeepneys. You can either wait for another when one is full or you can hang out of the back.

Maybe another will be coming, maybe not. You take your chances.

These two guys are standing on the street while the traffic is backed up in Manila. If the driver is a real ass, this could be a problem when things get moving again.

There is no discount for not having a seat and hanging out the back either.

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Here are some schoolgirls coming home at about noon. The classes run in two shifts, morning and evening.

The morning classes begin at 530 or 600am and last until noon(ish). The afternoon classes begin at about noon or so and last until 6pm.

Both the boys and the girls have uniforms to wear to school.

Also notice the barbs on the fence. Ours are not sharpend to cut but there are many here that are. We've not had troubles with theives so we don't need dangerous fences (yet).

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Despite all the ugliness of life here it's still a very beautiful place IMO. The skies are very blue and clouds very white.

It's hot as hell here but I often seek high ground to look over the scenery of the town here.

The trees and the flowers are always very colorful as there is no cold weather here. The hot sun is always making vegitation colorful.

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A bit out of order here but this is a motorcycle passing very close to the car as traffic has stopped.

Traffic backs up for a long distance when the lights change to red and it stays motionless for a long while.

All the bikes move to the front of the pack and when the light turns green again there are a pack of bikes that fly off the line.

It's like a drag race sometimes when the lights change and you can hear them revving up in anticipation of the green light.

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Ok, let's look at some foods.

This is one of many meats that I eat here. It's surely not good for you even though the package tells you that there's no "MSG added".

It's very sweet like Chinese food and it almost seems to glow red.

This package costs P85 or about $2.

Very tastey.