Quote of the Week: "Uncle Mike, you will be my 'kalaban'!"
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| Naga City |
Travels to Manila are always reason enough for one of my rare Bulletin updates—and this visit is no exception. This is my fourth trip to the Philippines and it is marked by the shortest stay (just two and a half weeks) while at the same time involving some of the longest travel days yet. Talk about an interesting, and at times challenging combination
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| Vincent bargain hunts |
Vince
saved us a small bundle by booking the flight here and back on Delta from
JFK-via-Detroit-via-Nagoya-via-Manila. The extra stop adds about 5 hours and
when you figure in the time it takes to get to and from the airport—you end up
with a 30 hour travel day. As I already shared with some pals via email, Vince’s
mom gave us each a herbal patch which draws toxins from your body through your
feet to fight jet lag. Despite the long haul—we came through
this flight in best shape yet. It works.
This is
a working vacation for both Vince and I—he is working on adding staff to his
team of translators and researchers for the company he started a year ago. It
started with about six part-time translators and a manager or two. Now, by
year’s end he expects to have around 15 full timers and a total staff topping
the 30 mark. This is on top of the work he does in NYC.
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| Countryside on our way to Bicol |
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| Vince Meets with the Manila team |
As for
me, I have been doing my radio reports long distance, working against the 12-hours time difference. Most of my sources have worked with me long distance before,
from all sorts of places, and they are very helpful working around the altered
clock. I also now anchor two podcasts a week. This trip was the first time I have taken that job on the road. So the deal is: I research the latest news on the web,
and then write, anchor and produce the podcasts—and through the magic of modern
computers and internet, it sounds the same as when I file them from my home
studio in NYC.
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| Magsaysay Avenue, Naga City |
In
between lots of work, Vince and I have managed to fit in some trips to our
favorite local restaurants, a couple trips to the sauna for some Swedish
Massage, and of course the dentist. Not most people’s idea of a vacation stop,
but Vince’s dentist has the best touch I have ever encountered, and the cost
here is about a third of what one pays in NYC—less pain, less bucks, no
brainer. We are not alone in thinking this dentist is superior, she placed 5th
nationwide in the national dental exam—so guess she knows her stuff.
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| The "Perfect" Volcano |
Now to
adventure: Vince’s family hates to plan, and likes to surprise us with some
excursion each time we visit. This year was quite a surprise—a trek South of
Manila to the bottom of Luzon Island and an area called the
Bicol
Region . Getting there is the trick, as it happens to involve a 12-hours drive each way—about three hours’ worth over some pretty bad road. Clearly this is a very caring family to be
willing to endure all that. On Saturday evening our party which numbered about
a dozen—including nannies for the two children set off in three vehicles bound
for the Philippines “perfect volcano.”
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DesDes Driver #1
There are only two main roads that travel north-south, and traveling as we did at night, you share the road an endless variety of 18 wheeler trucks and busses. It is astonishing how many busses roar by, as their daredevil drivers jockey for position, most busses filled to the point where some are standing in doorway stairwell. While there are many people without much money in Manila, folks do seem to be able to afford to get around—and on this night, it seemed like they were on the move by the thousand-headed south for one reason or another.
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| Basic Digs |
When we arrived we checked into some
simple but nice little bungalows at the
Villa
Del Rey and Camsur Water Sports Complex that is designed to bring tourism
to this part of the country. We all slept a few hours and awoke to find Vince’s
family had done a little research and gotten us a deal to move up to the
villas—which were very fine in their own right and gave us access to an
enormous swimming pool which was open only to Villa guests. Very nice, indeed!
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| Villa Upgrade |
Did I
mention a volcano? The next morning found us back in our vehicle and on a four
hour drive to the base of the
Mayon Volcano . To understand
the scope of damage these volcanos can cause, you begin the day in the town of
Cagsawa which was buried in lava when Mayon erupted in 1814 killing more than a
thousand, many fled and to a local cathedral where they perished when it was
buried up to its bell tower in volcanic ash.
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| Church Ruins |
This
is the third volcano your humble correspondent can chalk up to having encountered
up close. The first was mounted by mule, the second was hiked on foot—and this
time we elected what I must suggest is the more thrilling way to get up the
side of a volcano—and the is by ATV.
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| Vincent's Driver |
Vincent
often refers to me as his driver, as he never learned to drive growing up in
Manila and then 8 years in Manhattan gave him little reason to learn. He made
up for lost time however when he took over the controls of our ATV—his
technique generally involved jamming down the throttle with his thumb, power
through and over any and all obstacles—usually yelling at the top of his lung when some large object approached. My suggestion that drivers normally slowed
down, rather than speeding up when approaching hazards, Vincent simply
nodded---let out another round of shouts and gunned us forward full blast.
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| ATV @5000 RPM |
Our
day was not without a climb…up several hundred feet of volcanic rock—that was
left from a recent minor eruption several years ago (yes it still does
erupt…and yes, folks do keep an eye on it to make sure they can issue a warning
should it be about to happen again).
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| The Violago Entourage on Mayon |
As we climbed up the rather steep and
slippery rock, I thought to myself, this is all well and fine—but I am
wondering about doing this backwards, it would be a pretty steep climb to try
doing this in reverse.
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| Althea Ponders the Chairlift Option |
It
was then we were offered the 300 peso option of the “chair lift” down. The
roughly 8 bucks it costs is well worth the grunt effort saved, as well as the
thrill ride offered by being shoved onto the cable and down the steep
embankment to the base.
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| Bravery Rewarded |
QOW: After a day spent in the hot
sun—and dusty volcanic ash—not to mention 4 hours back and forth in the car…it
was a welcome return to our villa and the wonderful pull where our neice Sophie
Bella uttered the Quote of the Week: Which translated means Uncle Mike you will
be my enemy! This was in regard to a pool game where I was to chase her in the
water and she shot me with a water gun.
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| Sofie and her pool "kalaban" - Uncle Mike |
Dinner
was enjoyed at the water sports complex where we dined watching the wave board
riders navigating the courses ramps which shot them into double and triple
flips—all of this with the setting of the sun. Foodies will want to know that I
dined one of my favorite dishes:
Tapsilog
which comes in many varieties. My favorite is uses garlic rice, an egg sunny
side up and beef. While generally nicknamed Filipino breakfast, it is in fact
enjoyed an any and all hours around the clock. The perfect accompaniment is
pan de sal which is compact,
simple and hard to stop eating.
There
are three impressions of the Philippines that have their seeds in my first
visit and each has grown stronger each time I have returned. The first is the
amazing level of service one experiences here—it reminds me of the really old
days on St Thomas when it was in fact the “friendly island.” Here someone opens
the door for you even when you walk into a McDonalds—and as you go up the
ladder to finer places the service just gets better and better. Second, this
place is booming—there are buildings going up everywhere—Starbucks are popping
up like hard fast growing Banana trees..and for every Starbucks there are four
or five other types of other fine coffee shops—all teeming with customers and
producing top notch products.
And finally, the Philippines have a lot in common
with New Orleans—starting with the easy going attitude and sense of humor most
locals apply to the way they go about their day—to the high quality of
restaurants here—with ample time taken to savor meals and the same great pride
in each regions cooking that one finds from one New Orleans neighborhood to
another---and also from one part of Louisiana to the next.
For now we bid farewell from Manila, but still to come--reflections on local breaking news that reminds your humble correspondent of his days in the MollyBird, current reading: LBJ Passage to Power, and a mystery guest headed our way for the final days of this visit.
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| Bye for Now |
