Thursday, March 25, 2010

Strolling through the Past Lane

Because we are citizens of the United States it behooved my wife and I to get an "alien identification" card (or I-card) from the Bureau of Immigration. This piece of document would make life easier for us in getting settled here in the Philippines. With that we can transact business with the local banks, buy a car, and rent/buy a house without much hassle.

Since we are still carless, we went to the BOI via public transportation which was quite an experience in and of itself. Especially since it's been ages since either of us have done this. Walking along Ayala Blvd brought back memories. For me because the college I went to back in the 60's, Adamson University, was not far from here. Actually it was along this road that I used to wait for the bus to take me home to Pasig. In Cynthia's case, it was also memories of her college days - she went to St. Theresa's - that made her feel a little nostalgic. Imagine that, 1965-66, I was at Adamson and she was at St.Theresa's which was just across the street, and we never met. Maybe we did, but fate has not yet intervened in our lives then.

Except for the computer server which was down for about 2 hours, our experience at BOI in getting the I-card was not as exasperating as we thought it would be.

Still clueless as to how get a ride back home, I suggested that we take a long walk to Quiapo. Cynthia gasped at the idea, believing that going through downtown Manila at noon borders on outright insanity. It would be like strolling down memory lane, I told her appeasingly.

We crossed Jones Bridge (thankfully the shortest span across the Pasig River) and turned right on Escolta. We were shocked and saddened to see that the once shopping center of the elite has now become a filthy collection of so-so stores and offices. The Philippine National Bank building is now boarded up and badly deteriorating. I cannot even recognize the GenBank building where I used to work back in 1976.

We deftly evaded rushing traffic as we crossed Plaza Sta. Cruz and proceeded to what was once Echague St. (I think it is now Peralta? Paredes?). I had planned to take Cynthia to one of the fabulous Chinese restaurants there where the fried rice is unrivalled in taste. Alas, those were gone, too. Since we were already starving, we decided to have lunch at Chow King. Cynthia had a Grilled Bangus combo meal (it comes with free iced tea and halo-halo) while I had a Quarter-chicken meal. When my order finally came, I realized why it was called "quarter" chicken - the size of the meat was as big as an American quarter dollar coin! At least the halo-halo (which we shared, by the way) pretty much made up for what substance our lunch lacked.

As we approached the Quiapo bridge, I told my wife that I wanted to buy one of those trinkets that that place is famous for. In particular, I wanted a "pangil" (meaning "fang" -of what animal I don't know and quite franky, don't really want to know) necklace. The first store we went to quoted us 125 pesos, and yes, we can have it for only 100 pesos. Cynthia and I looked at each other and we both silently agreed that that piece of bone was not worth shelling out a little more than $2 worth of Philippine money. A few feet away we saw another store that sells the same kind of native stuff. When asked, the vendor (vendress?) said the necklace was 25 pesos. Cynthia haggled and got the thing for 20 pesos (about 44 cents).


It was here at Quiapo that we finally got a bus ride back home to Sta. Mesa. We got home exhausted and sweating. As we rested our weary feet, we reminisced of the times when Escolta and Sta. Cruz and Quiapo were the places our parents took us to shop and see movies and eat at restaurants. We can no longer bring back those times but it was an interesting experience to once again walk and remember the past.

Monday, March 22, 2010

Phonedamental Needs

One of the basic things one must have when living in the Philippines is the cellphone. Almost everybody here uses it. From kids to senior citizens, from street vendors to company executives, cellphones are in their hands. Calling? yes, but mostly texting. The Philippines is arguably the texting capital of the world. Cellphones are so much a part of life here that I can't imagine how they survived without this modern device many years ago.

Inasmuch as my wife and I are now settling in this country, we needed to have our own cellphones. This is so that we can become part of the local culture. We wanted to go with a two-year plan so as to avoid the panic of having to locate the nearest "load" center when the minutes are running out. Majority of Filipinos are into the prepaid method where they buy minutes of usage. When the minutes are all used up, they will go to a "load" center to buy more minutes. Thankfully load centers are almost everywhere - from the tiny variety stores within the neighborhood to the specialty stores at malls.

The advantage of a two-year plan is of course, you get the cellphone for free. Cynthia and I went to Smart Phone - one of the more popular providers here in the Philippines. It took almost 24 hours for us to get approved because being new to the country, our credit lines have not been established yet. Finally we got a call from the agent informing us of the good news that we've been approved and can we please come to the store at 10 am the following day.

Needless to say, we were there as soon as they opened. Cynthia wanted a no-frills phone that she can just use for calling and texting. Moi, on the other hand, desired something a bit fancy. You know, with access to the internet and all that.

May I present.........
Cynthia's cellphone:


My cellphone:

I can now safely say..we belong here! :-)

Thursday, March 18, 2010

Here I Am

Here I am back to the country where I was born. Most likely it will be here that I will die (or, hopefully, get raptured). I find it quite interesting that it was for econo-political reasons that triggered my departure first from the country of my birth and later from the country of where I am a citizen. The first was in 1984. Ninoy Aquino had just been assasinated and the Philippines was in turmoil. Uncertain of the future, I decided to exercise my privilege as a citizen of the United States of America (thanks to my G.I. Dad) and moved to California with my family. Now, it is 2010. My wife and I are now both "retired". The future once again looking uncertain with my meager pension already not enough to sustain us and facing a severe economic recession, returning to the Philippines would be the logical solution.

Here I am trying to shake off jet lag. Spending more than 12 hours in the cramped middle seats of a 747 was an experience Cynthia and I would rather forget if only our aching bodies would allow us.

Here I am just out from a cold shower and already perspiring all over.

Here I am enjoying lunch with Cynthia and two of her four children (Jenn and Patrick) and a grandson (Nathan) at a place called Banapple. I had a fried pork chop covered with mushroom sauce, with rice and veggies and the best iced lemon tea ever...all for about $4.

Here I am still unable to sleep at 11 pm because my body believes it is still 8 am (Los Angeles time). To while away the time, I thought about what happened in the past couple of weeks - the hectic packing and getting rid of all the remaining stuff. The touching moments when friends took Cynthia and myself out to lunch or dinner. Friends, some of whom I haven't seen in years. Friends who would drive for more than an hour just to wish us well personally. Such an outpouring of love and kindness and friendship I would treasure forever in my heart.

Here I am unable to stem the flow of tears as I remember my two children, Michelle and Kurt, both of whom I had to leave behind. I hope they know how much I love them. Of course, I miss terribly my four really cute grandkids, Megan, Amanda, Ryan and Nicholas and their wonderful Dad, Randy.

Here I am looking forward to meeting my two sons here in the Philippines: Karl, his lovely wife, Myn, and their adorable daughter, Raven. And Eumir and his charming girlfriend, Lain.

Here I am planning with my wife a new start in life. There are still so many things to do yet I know everything will be alright.

Here I am thanking God for His love, His provision and His guidance.

Life begins again.