What a week it has been. I am back in Australia and still recovering from the huge week in Manila.
The flight home was nasty - delayed leaving Manila and an overnight flight, so I didnt get much sleep. Then a wait in Sydney before finally flying home. I am still exhausted.
Glad to be home, especially to see Nick and jack, but I cant wait to get back to the Philippines.
I hope you have enjoyed spending time with Mr. Travel Diary, and stay tuned for the next exciting installment.
Bye :)
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
Saturday, June 7, 2008
I had my last day of work for the week and it was a big finish. I visited a couple of slum communities to meet some people and was able to sit down with some families to talk about how they came to live there and also met a family that have now left the slum, and heard how they have changed.
It was a tough day, but well worth it. Its a bit much to describe on a blog so buy me a drink when I get back and I will tell you anything you want to know! The photos will tell the story again (I'm just lazy)
Tomorrow is my last day here. Cant wait to see you all soon. Love Sarah x x x
Thursday, June 5, 2008
Local quirks
As with any country the Philippines has its fair share of local quirks. For example in houses and offices it is common for the toilet to be attached to the kitchen. This raises many obvious concerns, not the least of which is hygiene, but privacy is a problem. I dont need to go into detail here, but you can imagine preparing lunch while one metre away someone else is sitting down to a special task of their own. Its strange. Very strange.
But the biggest thing I cant get used to is the security here. It is on the one hand exceptionally tight, but only to a point. See exhibit 1: security checking under cars with mirrors before they enter a carpark. They will even open the boot and snoop around.
This kind of security is everywhere - at the entry to a supermarket, the hotel, banks, office buildings, department stores and shopping centres, coffee shops even have their own security on the door. But the funniest part about them is that they carry small sticks about the size of a drum stick and they just stick it into your bag. Some pretend to look, but generally the stick goes in, the stick comes out and if a bomb doesn't go off, or a terrorist doesn't get pulled out with the stick then you can enter your desired store etc. Half-arsed security is the greatest kind.
I mentioned the jeepny earlier, but here are some closer shots for you to get a feel for the wonderful beasts.
And a jeepny wanna-be... Karen
On that note I say good bye :)
Sarah.
But the biggest thing I cant get used to is the security here. It is on the one hand exceptionally tight, but only to a point. See exhibit 1: security checking under cars with mirrors before they enter a carpark. They will even open the boot and snoop around.
This kind of security is everywhere - at the entry to a supermarket, the hotel, banks, office buildings, department stores and shopping centres, coffee shops even have their own security on the door. But the funniest part about them is that they carry small sticks about the size of a drum stick and they just stick it into your bag. Some pretend to look, but generally the stick goes in, the stick comes out and if a bomb doesn't go off, or a terrorist doesn't get pulled out with the stick then you can enter your desired store etc. Half-arsed security is the greatest kind.I mentioned the jeepny earlier, but here are some closer shots for you to get a feel for the wonderful beasts.
And a jeepny wanna-be... Karen
On that note I say good bye :)
Sarah.
Tuesday, June 3, 2008
Before and after a hard day at the office
I am exhausted. I had a full day in the office today. I met with the staff of an NGO similar to what we want to become and was able to pick their brains about everything. And I have another day of the same thing tomorrow. It sounds dull, but I get a nerdy kick out of it.
For all of you voters out there I can report that we still have not had any rain. I have been asking around, and people are blaming the old global warming/ozone layer/boogey man etc.
But it is still hot. I walked for 15 minutes to the place I spent the day and it was unbearable. Minimal cloud cover and scorching sun at 8am.
Anyway, this is the street I walked along to get to work. I weaved through a labyrinth of these great food stalls which were quiet, but I will be heading back there one evening to try the local delicacies...
And I kept my head down all day, only to look out of the window and be greeted by this amazing sunset over the city skyline. In this shot that is the Asian Development Bank in the foreground (to the left of the construction site), and you can just see the workers on the construction site. It looked really peaceful.
If you look closely and squint through the smog you can even see the mountains in the distance.
I hope you enjoy the sunset too!
x x x
For all of you voters out there I can report that we still have not had any rain. I have been asking around, and people are blaming the old global warming/ozone layer/boogey man etc.
But it is still hot. I walked for 15 minutes to the place I spent the day and it was unbearable. Minimal cloud cover and scorching sun at 8am.
Anyway, this is the street I walked along to get to work. I weaved through a labyrinth of these great food stalls which were quiet, but I will be heading back there one evening to try the local delicacies...
And I kept my head down all day, only to look out of the window and be greeted by this amazing sunset over the city skyline. In this shot that is the Asian Development Bank in the foreground (to the left of the construction site), and you can just see the workers on the construction site. It looked really peaceful.
If you look closely and squint through the smog you can even see the mountains in the distance.
I hope you enjoy the sunset too!
x x x
Monday, June 2, 2008
The dry wet
Day 2 is done, and what I can conclude after my second day here is that the Filipino people are generally lovely. But that they must all be liars. I am in Manila in the wet summer season and in almost 48 hours I have not seen a drop of rain. We have been limited in the places we can go (or at least schedule) because apparently there are places that you cant get to in the wet. But it hasn't rained a drop! Liars! Or is this another global warming phenomena???
Well I wont complain, as it makes it very easy to get around, but I think its very suspicious. Vote in the poll - how many days will it be rain free? We are only hours away from reaching the 2 day mark and the sky is blue so 2 is a safe bet, but lets see how far these shenanigans will go on for.
Work was busy today, so I didn't take many interesting pics, but here are a few to tell more stories about Manila.
This is a shot from yesterday. For those camera nuts out there it was one of my many experimental shots playing around with my camera. And to add extra interest, this is a tomato plant that I planted. Yep, see how hard-working I am!
And while this may be a pretty crappy photo, it shows what a typical street looks like. This was taken from a car window, but its on a main road and there are places like this everywhere. This one is average. There are many worse and some better.
But I don't want to paint a totally gloomy picture. There is a nice buzz about Manila. And I only joke about the locals being liars. They are just obviously terrible meteorologists!
Well, vote now and I'll hopefully bring stories of rain soon.
Bye x x x
Well I wont complain, as it makes it very easy to get around, but I think its very suspicious. Vote in the poll - how many days will it be rain free? We are only hours away from reaching the 2 day mark and the sky is blue so 2 is a safe bet, but lets see how far these shenanigans will go on for.
Work was busy today, so I didn't take many interesting pics, but here are a few to tell more stories about Manila.
This is a shot from yesterday. For those camera nuts out there it was one of my many experimental shots playing around with my camera. And to add extra interest, this is a tomato plant that I planted. Yep, see how hard-working I am!
And while this may be a pretty crappy photo, it shows what a typical street looks like. This was taken from a car window, but its on a main road and there are places like this everywhere. This one is average. There are many worse and some better.
But I don't want to paint a totally gloomy picture. There is a nice buzz about Manila. And I only joke about the locals being liars. They are just obviously terrible meteorologists!
Well, vote now and I'll hopefully bring stories of rain soon.
Bye x x x
Sunday, June 1, 2008
Manila Manila
HI!! I have arrived in Manila after an uneventful, but long flight. Lots of turbulence as we flew into the monsoonal north, but we landed safely and it was great to stretch the legs and get a humid welcome to the Philippines.
The place I am staying is awesome so I was pretty relieved to wander around the pool last night and not feel like I was going to get mugged.
Today I spent the day with one of our most sensational firends here, called Corrie. She is a filipino woman who runs a small NGO in the north of Manila. Her main game is an organic farm training locals to farm in a resettlement community. They fled a dump site after a landslide destroyed their community and now dont have any skills to make a living. Enter farming. It was great. So many stories to share about it, but not enough time on my limited connection here. Lets use some pics to tell the story...
Poolside - not bad eh??
And the view of the CBD from my window. We are about 5 minutes away. Its not such a big city of high-rises, more sprawle than anything else, but this is the extent of big buildings.
Some kisd in Payatas rubbish dump community playing. They were having a blast. Just jump over the pigs to keep the can rolling..
And this is Baby (4y.o) and her 2 year old sister. There is a theory that malnourished children lose the colour in their hair. I don't have any evidence to back up this claim, but it was true that all of the kids in Payatas had brown-ish hair instead of black. Anyone out there with time on their hands is welcome to prove me wrong on this one though. It was pretty confronting and all the good shots are still in RAW so I cant post them now. Will update you all when I get back.
And this is Eimy and Ray. They are a husbadn and wife team who help run the farm. They were amazing. They have a son who is 2and a half (same as crackle). His name is Justin. He isnt their biological son but was left with them when he was 3 months old and weighed only 3 kilos. He is now fit and healthy and can bounce a ball!
And finally, a fun note to end on. Introducing the Jeepny! A major legacy of the US influence in the Philippines . This is the local public transpor t and it screams MASH on acid. This example is modestly decorated, but that is inly because the wildly decorated ones are ususally flying past too quickly to capture on camera. I will work on it though and maybe host a Jeepny exhibition some time soon.
Well, I must run now. But I will try to update you with more soon.
Sarah :)
The place I am staying is awesome so I was pretty relieved to wander around the pool last night and not feel like I was going to get mugged.
Today I spent the day with one of our most sensational firends here, called Corrie. She is a filipino woman who runs a small NGO in the north of Manila. Her main game is an organic farm training locals to farm in a resettlement community. They fled a dump site after a landslide destroyed their community and now dont have any skills to make a living. Enter farming. It was great. So many stories to share about it, but not enough time on my limited connection here. Lets use some pics to tell the story...
Poolside - not bad eh??
And the view of the CBD from my window. We are about 5 minutes away. Its not such a big city of high-rises, more sprawle than anything else, but this is the extent of big buildings.
Some kisd in Payatas rubbish dump community playing. They were having a blast. Just jump over the pigs to keep the can rolling..
And this is Baby (4y.o) and her 2 year old sister. There is a theory that malnourished children lose the colour in their hair. I don't have any evidence to back up this claim, but it was true that all of the kids in Payatas had brown-ish hair instead of black. Anyone out there with time on their hands is welcome to prove me wrong on this one though. It was pretty confronting and all the good shots are still in RAW so I cant post them now. Will update you all when I get back.
And this is Eimy and Ray. They are a husbadn and wife team who help run the farm. They were amazing. They have a son who is 2and a half (same as crackle). His name is Justin. He isnt their biological son but was left with them when he was 3 months old and weighed only 3 kilos. He is now fit and healthy and can bounce a ball!
And finally, a fun note to end on. Introducing the Jeepny! A major legacy of the US influence in the Philippines . This is the local public transpor t and it screams MASH on acid. This example is modestly decorated, but that is inly because the wildly decorated ones are ususally flying past too quickly to capture on camera. I will work on it though and maybe host a Jeepny exhibition some time soon.
Well, I must run now. But I will try to update you with more soon.
Sarah :)
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