As I stated in my previous post, here is a list of "favorites" in the Philippines from the view of an ex-pat:
(Once again, my personal comments are in italics.)
* Easy travel around Asia (Flights out of Manila are very inexpensive!)
* The National Museum
* Brunch at Sala on the 1st Sunday of every month
* The Pearl Farm in Davao, Mindanao
* Greenhill's Pearl Market
* Salcedo Market on Saturday mornings (I haven't been here yet, but I am looking forward to it!)
* Repertory Philippines - great theatre shows for under 10 USD
* Zen Asia - great selection of wines
* Going to movies is affordable
* Greenbelt shopping
* American Cemetery - beautiful and a great place for walking
* Massages
* Beaches (Beautiful!!)
* Time to read
* Snorkeling
* Manicures
* Pedicures (AMEN!)
* House help = No housework (AMEN again!)
* Friendliness of the Filipinos
* Sunshine almost all the time
* Exploring in Divisoria, Intramuros, etc.
* Creativity and talent of the Filipinos
* AWCP Bazaar (It really is pretty cool!)
* "Ladies Who Lunch"
* The "Blind Band"
* Drivers who carry bags so hands are free for more shopping
* Having a driver when you are directionally challenged
* Knock-offs
* Shoes
* Hoedown
* Scuba Diving
* Friends
* Pampering
* Lumpia (fresh or fried spring rolls)
* Pancit Malabon (noodles)
* Taho (morning treat of warm bean curd, liquefied raw sugar, tapioca balls, and soya) (Anything with the words "bean curd" sounds absolutely disgusting to me!)
* Inexpensive Cosmetic Procedures
* MADS (Mothers & Darlings - support group for mothers with small children)
* AWCP
* Turrones (sweet nougat)
* Fried Bananas
* Mangoes
* Purses
* Luxury living
* Seamstresses
* Abundance of tropical fruits and flowers
* Beautiful quilts
* Inexpensive restaurants
* Ya Yas (Nannies for your children)
* Funny phrases - fall in line, for a while
* Free live music every weekend at a variety of venues
* Inexpensive language classes
* Classes for everything you can think of, and for all ages - dancing, instruments, cooking, wine, singing, yoga, pilates... the list is truly endless
* Museum Volunteers day tours
* Restaurants open past midnight
* International cuisine
* Grocery delivery
* Always a helping hand to help with bags
To that list, I'll add:
* Videoke (Video Karaoke - so much fun!)
Wednesday, October 3
Philippine Favorites
Philippine Frustrations
This list is from an article in the local AWCP monthly publication, Inklings. I'm sure it's a lot funnier to me than it will be to anyone else, but I wanted to copy it here so I won't forget about these:
(My personal comments are in italics.)
Philippine Frustrations
* High cost on imported goods
* Bad phone and internet service
* Hot and humid weather (Very much like Texas!)
* Typhoons
* Clothes that are made for tiny sizes in the stores (No kidding!)
* Response of "yes, ma'am" when the answer is no, when the question is not understood, and when the question does not require a yes or no answer (This is completely frustrating!!)
* "For a while" when you are in a hurry (and sometimes even when you are not!) (When they say "for a while", they mean, "wait a minute" or "hold on while I check")
* Getting stared at (This has been VERY hard for me and the kids to get used to!)
* Being ignored because you are a female
* Traffic
* House help using the in-sink aerator to spin dry undergarments (only a one-time occurrence!)
* Drivers driving really slow in the middle of the road when looking for an address
* Being expected to dance and sing at Filipino parties (especially when you are unable to do either)
* Balikbayan boxes that come out before suitcases in the airport
* Being searched at the airport, mall, movies, hotels, grocery stores, etc.
* Dirty bathrooms with no toilet seats, toilet paper, soap or paper towels (I carry a package of tissues in my purse now for this very reason. I learned the hard way.)
* Squatter toilets
* Saving face
* Pollution
* Public transportation - buses, jeepneys, taxis
* Haircuts (This is so true! Sammy is now sporting a traditional Filipino "do". It's all they know.)
* Instant iced tea
* No queuing
* Nothing happens on time (Ask the TI engineers here about that!)
* High electricity prices
* No air conditioning (Here, they call it "air con")
* Communication problems (ALL the time!)
* Brown-outs
* No instant rice (I just ran into this problem tonight when I wanted to quickly fix rice to go along with our meatloaf: "Oh sure, ma'am. No problem. It'll only be 25 minutes.")
* No napkins with substance (This is something you have to experience - all Filipino napkins are half the size of ours in the States and are VERY thin!)
* No Mexican food (How are we going to live without Mexican food?!?!)
* Trying to buy things at department stores - one person to open the product and check for defects, another to ring it up, another to take money/credit card, another to stamp the receipt and one more to staple the receipt to the bag (Seriously... it's a ridiculously long process!)
* Grocery shopping - have to shop at several stores, things go in and out of stock with no inventory to replenish, expired items, strong smell
* Loud noise pollution in the malls
* People who text while they are trying to walk (SO annoying!)
* No sense of personal space in malls, on escalators, in line at the store, etc. (Once again, you must experience this to understand it. People line up RIGHT behind you. I mean, RIGHT behind you. If you turn your body sideways, you'll hit them. On escalators, people will stand next to you on the same step instead of behind you on the next step. I just don't get it. And, don't even get me started about waiting for your turn in a line. DRIVES ME CRAZY! If you are in a line at say, a pharmacy, you have to be aggressive and make your way to the counter if you want to be seen in a timely manner. People will shove their way ahead of you & walk right up to the counter, even though you've been patiently waiting your turn. It's the same at the ATM machines. In fact, I about threw a fit at an ATM machine this weekend. I gave up waiting for my turn because people kept pushing their way ahead of me. I left the line, went to the car & told Sammy he needed to do it. I get very irritated with impatient people!)
* "Out of stock" (not surprisingly, this was the most frequent frustration!) (If they do not know what an item is, if they do not want to look for it, if they don't understand what you are asking for, the automatic answer is "out of stock", even if it is not out of stock. Filipinos are very non-confrontational people, so this is a "safe" answer, according to them.)
My next post will be a list of Philippine Favorites. Like the article says, "Although we all have some days it may not feel like it, take note that the favorites far outweigh the frustrations."
Ummmm, sometimes...
Mexican Recipes
Sammy's birthday is Sunday, so I am planning a Tex-Mex dinner for him on Friday evening with some of our friends here. (The one thing he misses the most from Texas is good Tex-Mex food!)
If you have any good recipes for enchiladas, Mexican rice (Dad or Rocio, that's you!), or anything else Tex-Mex, will you please send them to me? I am not sure I can find all the ingredients here, but I am going to try my hardest to make an authentic Tex-Mex buffet.
Bring 'em on!
Monday, October 1
Observation - September
After I posted Nick's August observation letter, I received an email from the school director with his new September observation letter attached:
"What Nick did and how he did it
September 2007
“I did it!”
One morning, during Choice Time, Nick chose to play with the dough that Teacher prepared. Nick was trying to make a ball by rolling the dough on the table. Teacher was sitting in front of him and watching what he was doing. “I can’t do it!” he told teacher with a frown on his face.
Teacher encouraged him to continue what he was doing and said, “Nick, you can do it. Just continue rolling the dough.”
He tried to do it again and patiently rolled the dough on the table. He finally made a round shape. With a big smile on his face, he grabbed the round dough from the top of the table, held it up in the air and exclaimed, “I did it!” Teacher gave him a smile and said, “You did it, Nick! Good job!”
Nick was drawing sweeping circle like marks on his paper when he suddenly dropped the crayons on the floor. Teacher said, “Please pick-up the crayons, Nick.”
Nick patiently picked up the crayons one at a time and carefully placed them in the box. “I did it!” he said as she showed the box to Teacher. “Very good, Nick!” Teacher said as she gave him a quick hug."
Love that school!
Nick at School
Periodically, the teachers at Nick's school send out "Observation Letters" to the parents. These are basically just a cute, short summary of something their child did at school.
For the month of August, we received this Observation letter for Nicholas:
"What Nicholas Did and How He Did It
August 2007
Arrival Time
One morning, Nick and his Mom arrived. Teacher greeted him as soon as he entered the door. “Good Morning, Nick.” Teacher said. Nick looked at Teacher with a big smile on his face. His mom helped him put his bag inside his cubby hole. After putting his bag inside his cubby, Nick went straight to the Circle Time area. He hopped on the square boxes pasted on the floor with their names and symbols printed on it and slowly looked for his name and symbol. He stopped at a picture of an airplane. He called his Mommy, pointed to the picture and said “Mommy, look! It’s my airplane!” Mommy approached him and looked at the picture that he was referring to. “Your name is written under the picture of an airplane. That’s awesome, Nick!” she said while giving him a high five. Nick sat down on his name and looked at the other pictures beside his name on the circle. Mommy hugged Nick and waved goodbye.
Pretending to be a Lion
It was Choice Time, and Nick, Taiga and Kyler were playing with the empty cereal boxes at the Creative Dramatization area. Suddenly, Teacher saw Nick crawling on the floor with a grumpy look on his face. He approached the mirror and started to make an animal sound. “Ro-war! Ro-war!” he mumbled while looking at his reflection on the mirror. Taiga and Kyler noticed what he was doing and started imitating him. Teacher approached the three of them and said, “I think Nick is pretending to be a Lion. What other animal sounds and actions can we make?” Nick continued making a roaring sound and answered, “Lion!” Taiga and Kyler started making barking sounds while looking at themselves on the mirror. The three of them giggled as they watched themselves make animal sounds and do animal actions."
Kyler & Taiga are two of Nick's best buds at school. All three of them are so cute together. They have lots of fun at school... sometimes too much fun, I'm sure. But, that's why I love his school... because Nicholas has a great time & loves it also!
Open House Movie
This movie was shown at the Open House for the twins' school. It's cute!
ECLC Open House Movie
Username: eclc
Password: ismeclc
Nick is 3
(Nick posing with his birthday sign made by his preschool teacher, Teacher Erika.At most of the schools here, they address the teachers by "Teacher (first name)")
Last weekend, we celebrated Nick's 3rd birthday. I can't believe my baby is three!! I mean, seriously... how did 3 years slip by me that fast? It's incredible!
I love my friends!
This cute sign was made by his teacher & his classmates.
After his school party on Friday, we celebrated Sunday morning with a birthday breakfast in the condo dining room:
Thanks, Mimi & Papa, for the cool Spiderman robot!
Opening his gift from Samuel:
WOW - The Green Goblin!
Thanks, Bub!
Later that afternoon, we invited some friends over for a little party in our home. It was small & cozy, but fun!
Blowing out the candles on the cake Sydney & her friend, Rebekah, made.They did it all themselves! (Can't you tell?)
We even hired a handsome guy to come make balloon animals!He was awesome!
Despite a few setbacks (I was sure missing a Wal-Mart or Target when shopping for party supplies!), our first birthday celebration in the Philippines went off without a hitch! Nicholas had fun & that's all that counts!
(Nicholas & Samuel both have taken up the sport of climbing our doorframes.Here is Nick at the top of the doorframe, posing with his "Happy Birthday" banner.)
Wednesday, September 26
More Beach Pics
Here are more pictures from our time at the resort in Matabungkay last weekend.
Remember the Nestea plunge commercial? Well, apparently, it was filmed at the resort we stayed at... or so they told us. The pool was very large & had the Nestea logo painted on the bottom at both ends of the pool. However, I'm betting this is the commercial that was actually filmed there... not the one from the 70s that we all know.
(This was, without a doubt, the scariest part of the entire weekend! That old boat was rockin' on the rough sea... and not in a good way! I was quite worried!)
He is just the most handsome 5-year-old boy I know!
(A little dirt & food on the face, but that's always a sign of a good time, right?)In two days, we are heading to another beach a couple of hours away. It's incredibly cheap to stay at these resorts & especially now, since this is non-peak season. So, we are definitely taking advantage of it while we can! I'll be posting more pictures next week!
Tuesday, September 25
Beach Bums
We went to the beach last weekend & had a blast! Here are a couple of really cute pictures:
Thursday, September 20
My Neighbors
These are my neighbors - James Yap & Kris Aquino
Celebrities!
And, they just witnessed me lecturing my kids out in the hallway about not pressing the elevator buttons. Loudly. I'm sure they have heard much more since we share a wall between us, but this is the first time we have come face to face. What a great first impression. Geez!
Wednesday, September 19
Mt. Pinatubo Ash
In 1991, Mt. Pinatubo erupted, burying most of Angeles City & Clark Air Force Base... where we will be moving in January. Hmmmm...
Fast forward to 2007, when Texas Instruments decides to construct a new facility at Clark (now called Clark Special Economic Zone or CSEZ). Sammy & his team went to visit the new site a couple of weeks ago to see how much progress had been made on the construction. He took a picture that I thought was pretty darn cool! (Of course, I always wanted to be an archaeologist growing up, so I kinda dig dirt. Ha! Pun intended.)
* The top, dark gray layer is fresh dirt they recently turned over
* The second, light gray layer is older, packed dirt
* The third, white layer is solid volcano ash
Little bit of history there for ya... and geology!
Thank God!
Another fantastic day today!! I cannot express how grateful I am! I am overjoyed that Samuel is behaving better at school.
I realize we will always have bumps & obstacles along the way, but seriously... he had 4 rough days in a row! Wednesday, Thursday, Friday & Monday! I thought something was terribly wrong. I thought we were going to get kicked out of Kindergarten during the second month!
So, thank you for your prayers for him (and for me!). They are truly appreciated!
Two more days to go. If Thursday & Friday continue to be fantastic, then he will get to go on a fantastic Daddy date to the local video game arcade. He is already pumped about that!
Tuesday, September 18
What a difference a day makes...
Today was great! Wonderful, terrific, beautiful, superb and as Samuel said, FANTASTIC!!
Samuel has had a few rough days at school this last week & on Monday. I won't go into details, but he has kept me in tears and on my knees during most of my waking hours. (Why does it take rough patches in life to force me to open the lines of communication with God?) We have been doing a lot of talking about our feelings lately & have been setting some boundaries. I'm hoping that all the positive reinforcement, along with the constant cries out to God will do the trick. No, scratch that... I'm confident that it will do the trick!
Today, when I picked him up from school, I cowardly hid behind all the other moms, not really wanting to see the teacher, just in case she needed to tell me about another "incident" that occurred at school. I sent Sydney in to go get her brother. (I'm telling you... I am a wuss! I truly did not want to see his teacher!) But, when Samuel's teacher saw Sydney, she looked around for me & caught my eye. My heart stopped! "Dear God, please let it be good..." Then, I held my breath. I was so relieved to see her holding the thumbs up sign to me! WHEW!! She pulled Samuel to her & hugged him & in her Australian accent, asked him, "Samuel, did you have a good day today?" He looked back up at her & replied, "It was fantastic!" Music to my ears!
In the meantime, we would covet your prayers that he continues to have fantastic days ahead of him. I have been so giddy since picking him up from school because he did have such a great day. It's amazing what a difference this day has made!
Wednesday, September 12
The United States vs. The Philippines
There are numerous social differences between the two countries, but this one just makes me laugh... we all want what we don't have:
In the United States, this product is a hot seller in the stores! Many women (and some men) strive for the best, darkest tan. They think it's sexy!
In the Philippines, this product is a hot seller in the stores! Most Filipino women strive for the whitest skin tone possible. The whiter your skin, the sexier you are!
The grass is always greener...
(By the way, is it Thursday for anyone else reading this?? Because it's Thursday for me!! I'm a day closer to the weekend!)
Nick's Field Trip to the Gym
As part of his class study on health for the month of August, Nick's teacher took them on a field trip to a nearby gym. The gym employees were so nice to show all the kiddos the fancy fitness equipment & explain how each one worked & how it helped to build strong muscles. Afterwards, the kids were shown a presentation on healthy eating & one of the instructors gave a dance demonstration. (He really got into it... the kids did not!)
Here are some pictures of our fun day...
Mom & Nick listening to a healthy eating presentation
The whole gang
Afterwards, one of the mother's suggested taking the kids to Gonuts Donuts to watch the donuts being made. (It's exactly like a Krispy Kreme donut store in the States.) So, basically, we just undid an entire month's worth of teaching about healthy eating habits!!
(The girl in the middle, Teacher Erika, is the lead teacher. She is really great!)
Singing the "Goodbye Song" at the end of the school day
Where to begin...
Shortly after the kids started school, another ex-pat wife told me that even though you think you'll have so much free time on your hands, you will quickly find other things to do to fill up that time. And, I have!
We have also finally hired a helper for our family. Her name is Febe & she is wonderful! She cooks, she cleans, she babysits, she shops for groceries and she takes great care of all of us. You'd think since I don't have to do these chores anymore, I'd have free time to spare. But, once again, I have found other things to fill the void.
I go to the gym every day now. I have a personal trainer who has created a custom tailored program to fit my needs/wants. It takes me 1 1/2 to 2 hours every day to go through my routine. It's insanely long. And, I'm insanely sore. I also take tennis lessons twice a week. It's fun, but it's hard! About 45 minutes into each lesson, I start going downhill. That's about all the tennis I can take for a day. Luckily, our lesson is just an hour long, so I don't slack off for too much of it.
In between those activities, I have spent a lot of time in my kids' classrooms. Nick's school REALLY, REALLY likes parent volunteers & encourages us to be there whenever we can. And, I eat it up! It's great to be there with him, get to know his school friends & work alongside his teacher a bit. I have also been in Sydney's class quite a bit lately. Her class is taking swimming lessons during their PE time this month, so they have asked for parent volunteers to come help the children change into their swimsuits & back into their uniforms once PE is over. I have been a few times & I love it! Since the end of PE is close to the end of the school day, her teacher has invited me to just stay in the classroom with the children. I get to help them paint, make kites, read books & build block towers. I really enjoy the volunteering aspect... all the fun & none of the responsibility!!
This weekend, we are heading to the beach!! I have a friend who is a member of a resort in Batangas. She has reserved some rooms for us as her guests, so we can utilize her member rate. (I LOVE saving money!) I cannot wait!! I hope the weather is beautiful & I hope the beach is, as well.
Here are some random pictures from the past few weeks...
A beautiful Manila sunset view from our condo window
