30 April 2003 - Bits and Pieces:
Since we're settling in well, there's not much that's brand new that requires a whole post to itself, until we head to a spot like La Laguna or Intramuros. Until then, here are some snippets from our days.
1) We returned to Greenhills Mall on Saturday, April 26, even after the last time we went and said we weren’t heading back there any time soon. But, there was a big difference, as we asked to be let off by the entrance for the pearl market. Yes, the place was still packed, but here it was top to bottom shoes, clothes, knick knacks and in the center, pearls. Not just pearls, as most vendors had other stones as well, but the majority was pearls, several long aisles of them. After a while, they all start to look the same, but some were truly outstanding and the prices were pretty good. Of course we all know that the instant we white-skinned folks with money bulging in out wallets walked in the door, the prices doubled (at least), but even with that, where else can you get 3 freshwater pearl necklaces for $40? No, I’m no pearl expert, but it seemed a worthwhile use of our cash. I’m not saying who they’re for, so don’t ask. But the vendors were pleasant, none were harassing, and the entire visit was so much more pleasant than the CD/DVD section we’d stumbled into last time. We stayed long enough to have lunch. The food court isn’t anything to talk about, there was an assortment of Oriental food options and a taco place and being the Americans that we are, we headed for the tacos. I can’t say that the tacos were anything like what we have in our kitchen cabinet taco meal box. But since I’ve never had a “real” taco from somewhere in Central America, I can only assume that what we had was closer to the real thing. The shell was 2 layers of something heavily fried (very similar to a fried egg roll), the lettuce was soaked in some tasty dressing, the meat was.. well, we don’t quite know as most meat is unidentifiable, and the cheese was similar to mozzarella, but not quite. It was a taste sensation! And I can honestly say that no one got sick. Even with the little crawly things that periodically crossed the table we sat at. On our way out, we wandered through the knick knack section which housed bigger things than mere knick knacks. There were plenty of paintings, quilts, carved wood items, and some pretty nifty pencils that were made from natural wood sticks. They were big and clunky and I couldn’t help thinking we should have bought some for Katherine’s class back at King. Or maybe Jeff.
2) Oh, one other thing about Greenhills. They have a center outdoor court of sorts, where there was a band playing. And they were playing something resembling Big Band music. It was fun, the kids danced and as we walked about we saw in the section of covered bridge… chess sets for a local club! I think we’re going to like it here.
3) We made it to the big Santis which is the import store around here, and we’ve already eaten some of the meat we purchased. It’s excellent and now we know that while fish is fine from PriceSmart, choices like pork or beef tenderloin are best bought at Santis. I’m not quite sure what it was that I picked up last week from PriceSmart, but it smelled funky coming out of the package, cooked up like bits of curled thick ham, and tasted terrible. I’m sure that the product was fine, for what it was, but our palettes are not quite ready to meat the demands of local meat preferences.
4) On Sunday, I took Katherine to Glorietta and then over to Landmark to get some school shoes. Her tennis shoes are fine for the days she has gym (memo to me, she has gym every other day, buy another set of gym clothes!) and for going to the playground, but on the off days, she now has some lovely black Mary Janes. Landmark, if you can deal with the crowds, seems like the place to go for general clothing purchases. We’d gone to the Jarman store in Glorietta and couldn’t find anything to fit her skinny foot, but in Landmark, they not only carried Jarman, but at least a dozen other brands of kids shoes and we found some that fit her perfectly. She’d also wanted some additional sleeveless shirts and there was a big section of piles and piles of different shirts for kids. We found plenty for her, and for P1600 (~$32) we bought her shoes, about a dozen shirts for the girls and Jonathon, a shorts outfit for Jonathon, new swimtrunks for Nicholas, sunglasses for Rebecca and some other small items. Like I said though, only if you can handle the crowds. Folks don’t like lines here. I was waiting and a kid broke right in front of me. It’s not customary to look at the people you’re shoving out of the way, because then it’s like a confrontation. If they don’t look at you, it’s like saying *bump* “Oops, I didn’t see you”, and being a fake kind of honest. It’s frustrating. You can’t say anything because saving face is the be-all and end-all in this country and if you point out someone’s indiscretions, no matter how minute, they lose face and then you have to worry about any repercussions there might be. Did I mention it’s frustrating?
5) Last Sunday we went to church at our parish right outside the Village gates, and asked about Religion Ed. It is offered, so we’re OK for the fall since Katherine will be ready to start preparing for First Communion. I wasn’t sure that she would be, seven is very very young for such an undertaking, but she’s adamant and has the drive to learn and understand that I believe will allow her to take on the responsibility. So, we went to Mass and picked up a bulletin, to read that the parish has determined there is too great a risk for priests to lay hands on children for blessings, for people to share physical signs of peace or join hands for the Our Father, or for anyone to take Communion other than in their hand. $10 to the first person who can figure out why! OK, I don’t really have $10, but if you guessed SARS, you’d be right. We’ve had 4 Philippine cases, three brought in from elsewhere, one right here. One neighborhood has offered flu shots to people. I guess they think it’ll help, but for trying to prevent a lot of hysteria, I’m not sure they’re going about it the right way. Do I feel worried? No, not really. I sure don’t walk around with a mask over my face like plenty of people here do. Of course, they could just be doing it for the pollution, so maybe it’s just an additional emotional incentive. On the subject of SARS, 2 teachers at Katherine’s school decided to take their springs breaks in China. They’ve been put in quarantine, but my thought is, who takes that kind of risk especially when you’re going to come back and know you’ll be quarantined and that you work around kids? OK, so they bought their tickets months ago and had this trip planned for a while, but still, is it worth it?
6) Ian attended his first official function last Thursday. He was supposed to have two last week, but the one on Tuesday he bailed from on accounts of the arrival of kidney stone #4. But by Thursday he was doing just fine, so he went to a program in the Ambassador Suite at the Embassy where there was a presentation of some paintings representing the loss of the Columbia. He said they were tastefully done, but that the function itself just felt long. He had plenty to chit chat about with some of the bourgeois, and one of the artists there is an interior designer and sculpture. Right near where the new ISManila is built (in the same area as the PriceSmart) there are grand plans to put up a planned mini-city complete with gardens, artwork, shops, highrise business buildings, etc. Well, much of the large outdoor art pieces seem to have already been placed as this sculptor has a very large green glass piece placed on one of the future block corners. Ian mentioned that it’s the large piece of glass sculpture in the world. It could be, but in my estimation, it’s not all that impressive. Big blocks of leaning green glass.
7) A couple days ago as I was putting out the trash, a woman was getting back into her cab parked in front of the house. She offered to sell me some fresh cut flowers. I told her that we’d just moved in and didn’t have any vases but that I would love for her to come back the next time she’s in the neighborhood. Long stem flowers, ones I have no idea what they are, but they hadn’t bloomed yet and looked just gorgeous. I can’t wait! Fresh flowers delivered to the door. I forgot to ask the cost of such a deal, but I can’t imagine it’s any worse than everything else around here.
8) The local word for Hello and How are you? is “Kumusta”. The Spanish ruled here for a long time in the 1800s. Can you see how “Kumusta” came from “Como esta” ? OK, sometimes the obvious takes me a while to figure out.
9) And toilets. Before going out, use the bathrooms at home. And flush every single time. In the States, you can get away with forgetting to flush, or not flushing to conserve water, but here where the water is barely treated, not flushing is not an option. Things grow. I mean, grow like there’s no tomorrow. It’s smelly and gross and just plain icky. We flush all the time now. I feel bad since it uses so much water, but honestly, it can’t be helped. PineSol seems to have done wonders with keeping the bowls clean, so we’ll keep using it. OK, when we’re out, finding a useable toilet is iffy. At the mall there’s better luck than at a fast food place, only most do not have toilet seats. Did they not come with seats? Did the mall have to pay extra for seats? Were the seats stolen? I’ll never know. Add to that, you have to pay for your squares of paper. OK, interesting enough. But the other day when we were at the playground apparently there are some potty-training kids. I have no problems with kids who’ve gotta go, but I do have issues with yayas who have them pull down –right- -there- and pee next to the slide or the ladders or any part of the playground. Two of them did on Monday! I couldn’t believe it. A third had their little boy go pee in some bushes against a wall. That makes sense, but who decides that right in the dirt by a piece of play equipment is the best spot? It’s a similar frustration to the yaya who took a dirty straw from a kid, and threw it on the ground. There are multiple trashcans at the playground, even broken down by kind of waste. But no, the straw ended up back on the ground, where he promptly headed for it again. He got distracted, but only so the next kid could go pick it up and stick it in his or her mouth. I’m really thinking of making a park clean-up day for my kids each week, because there is no reason for kids to have to step over all the trash that gets dropped. OK, rant over.
10) Lastly, P jokes. I’m not sure any of us will ever tire of them. Even though the local currency is the Piso (said Peso), it’s referred to as P. We have a cup by the phone for loose change. Yes, it’s a cup of P. Someone needs extra cash, we need more P. Ian and the kids can amuse themselves for quite a while with this.
Tuesday, April 29, 2003
Thursday, April 24, 2003
April 24th - April 25th - Fruits and Metal
Thursday, April 24th – Pomelo: The largest fruit in the citrus family, the pomelo is considered to be native to Thailand and Malaysia, and the trees bear fruit all year round.
The pomelo fruit may weigh a kilogram or more, and is shaped like a pear or flattened globe. It has a very thick skin, light green turning to lemon yellow as the fruit ripens. Inside the fruit are large segments of pulp, each surrounded by a very tough membrane, which must be removed before eating. This fruit is a particular favorite of the Chinese in Southeast Asia, and is associated with all Chinese festive occasions, and finds a featured place in many Thai events as well. Pomelo juice is sweet, but not strongly so, and much less tart than its distant cousin, the grapefruit.
Soursop: The Soursop is usually processed into ice creams, sherbets and drinks, but fiber-free varieties are often eaten raw. The large, elongated, somewhat ovaloid fruit, can be up to 12" long and 6" wide and usually weighs several pounds. The fruit is covered in small knobby spines that easily break off when the fruit is ripe. The thin, inedible, leathery green skin cuts easily to yield the large mass of cream colored, fragrant, juicy, and somewhat fibrous, edible flesh. A typical soursop contains anywhere from 30-200 black-brown seeds, each about 1/2" long and 1/4" wide and enclosed in a separate "pocket" of flesh. There are known seedless varieties, but they are rare, and tend to have fibrous flesh. Soursop's are processed into excellent ice creams, sherbets and beverages throughout much of Central and South America. Sweet varieties of the fruit can be eaten raw, and are often used for dessert. Today, Soursop ice cream, marketed under its Spanish name "Guanabana," can be found in some gourmet supermarkets. Preserved soursop in syrup can also be found in many ethnic markets. The canned pulp can be pureed or blended in the home, and easily transformed into a delicious desert, although fresh pulp is more desirable. Immature soursops are often cooked, and eaten as a vegetable. The leaves and roots of the tree have various medicinal properties. Soursops are high in vitamins B1, B2 and C.
[Both of these were stolen off some web sites]
Friday, April 25th - I finally have a school pass so I don’t need to check in at the gate each time we go. That’ll be a blessing too, because while I enjoy a little chit chat between the kids and the guards, it’s really become excessive where we’re left waiting by the gate with 4 or 5 security types while the -only- person who can check us in is dealing with something else. At least this time that one guard didn’t keep asking about any friends of ours who might be wanting to adopt out their kid because he wants a little girls Just Like Rebecca. Ugh.
We also had Nicholas’s check-up today. I’m not quite sure what to think about the visit other than it was very short. I do know that he’s 37 ½ inches and 34 ¼ pounds. No shots until school, as long as he’s all caught up, not that the doc checked to see if he was caught up. But that’s about it. I also asked about Jonathon’s bites and he couldn’t tell me what they were from, or how to prevent them or if there was anything to treat them. Do you get the impression that I didn’t learn a whole lot? And it was a pain getting to Seafront. Not only was the traffic heavier, but upon arriving I asked Cesar to go through the gate, but the guards weren’t going to let him do that (it is, afterall, a rental car) so we got out of the van to go through the foot gate, only for the guard to see my badge and say we could go in with the car, etc etc. I said no thanks, as we were already 10 minutes late and waiting for the security check on the car would have made us that much later, but did ask them to just let the car through so it could wait by the clinic.
On the way to the school afterwards, we were pulled over by a traffic cop. We have reams of literature on what to do and not do when accidents and pull-overs occur. My first instinct was to call Ian on the cell, just in case the cop was going to do something he shouldn’t. Officers here are, well, how to put this without offending the honest ones. Most of them are a good amount corrupt, pulling over people they think they can scare some cash out of, taking licenses, generally being difficult. Afterall, there are no enforced traffic laws here. Oh, there are plenty of street signs, there are traffic lights, there are corners with huts of “traffic enforcers”, but in all truth, people do what they feel like. So to be pulled over by a cop is a worrisome thing, especially for expats in the times as they are.
At the end it was a painless affair. The driver was given a ticket and we were sent on our way. Only to discover from Cesar later that the ticket was for an unregistered car. How does that bode for the business of rental vehicles?
The pomelo fruit may weigh a kilogram or more, and is shaped like a pear or flattened globe. It has a very thick skin, light green turning to lemon yellow as the fruit ripens. Inside the fruit are large segments of pulp, each surrounded by a very tough membrane, which must be removed before eating. This fruit is a particular favorite of the Chinese in Southeast Asia, and is associated with all Chinese festive occasions, and finds a featured place in many Thai events as well. Pomelo juice is sweet, but not strongly so, and much less tart than its distant cousin, the grapefruit.
Soursop: The Soursop is usually processed into ice creams, sherbets and drinks, but fiber-free varieties are often eaten raw. The large, elongated, somewhat ovaloid fruit, can be up to 12" long and 6" wide and usually weighs several pounds. The fruit is covered in small knobby spines that easily break off when the fruit is ripe. The thin, inedible, leathery green skin cuts easily to yield the large mass of cream colored, fragrant, juicy, and somewhat fibrous, edible flesh. A typical soursop contains anywhere from 30-200 black-brown seeds, each about 1/2" long and 1/4" wide and enclosed in a separate "pocket" of flesh. There are known seedless varieties, but they are rare, and tend to have fibrous flesh. Soursop's are processed into excellent ice creams, sherbets and beverages throughout much of Central and South America. Sweet varieties of the fruit can be eaten raw, and are often used for dessert. Today, Soursop ice cream, marketed under its Spanish name "Guanabana," can be found in some gourmet supermarkets. Preserved soursop in syrup can also be found in many ethnic markets. The canned pulp can be pureed or blended in the home, and easily transformed into a delicious desert, although fresh pulp is more desirable. Immature soursops are often cooked, and eaten as a vegetable. The leaves and roots of the tree have various medicinal properties. Soursops are high in vitamins B1, B2 and C.
[Both of these were stolen off some web sites]
Friday, April 25th - I finally have a school pass so I don’t need to check in at the gate each time we go. That’ll be a blessing too, because while I enjoy a little chit chat between the kids and the guards, it’s really become excessive where we’re left waiting by the gate with 4 or 5 security types while the -only- person who can check us in is dealing with something else. At least this time that one guard didn’t keep asking about any friends of ours who might be wanting to adopt out their kid because he wants a little girls Just Like Rebecca. Ugh.
We also had Nicholas’s check-up today. I’m not quite sure what to think about the visit other than it was very short. I do know that he’s 37 ½ inches and 34 ¼ pounds. No shots until school, as long as he’s all caught up, not that the doc checked to see if he was caught up. But that’s about it. I also asked about Jonathon’s bites and he couldn’t tell me what they were from, or how to prevent them or if there was anything to treat them. Do you get the impression that I didn’t learn a whole lot? And it was a pain getting to Seafront. Not only was the traffic heavier, but upon arriving I asked Cesar to go through the gate, but the guards weren’t going to let him do that (it is, afterall, a rental car) so we got out of the van to go through the foot gate, only for the guard to see my badge and say we could go in with the car, etc etc. I said no thanks, as we were already 10 minutes late and waiting for the security check on the car would have made us that much later, but did ask them to just let the car through so it could wait by the clinic.
On the way to the school afterwards, we were pulled over by a traffic cop. We have reams of literature on what to do and not do when accidents and pull-overs occur. My first instinct was to call Ian on the cell, just in case the cop was going to do something he shouldn’t. Officers here are, well, how to put this without offending the honest ones. Most of them are a good amount corrupt, pulling over people they think they can scare some cash out of, taking licenses, generally being difficult. Afterall, there are no enforced traffic laws here. Oh, there are plenty of street signs, there are traffic lights, there are corners with huts of “traffic enforcers”, but in all truth, people do what they feel like. So to be pulled over by a cop is a worrisome thing, especially for expats in the times as they are.
At the end it was a painless affair. The driver was given a ticket and we were sent on our way. Only to discover from Cesar later that the ticket was for an unregistered car. How does that bode for the business of rental vehicles?
Wednesday, April 23, 2003
Jonathon, April 20th, 2003 - Growing Up
Jonathon – April 20th: He’s finally cut another tooth, so he’s up to 13 with a single incisor. And he’s putting 2-3 words together.
Jonathon is still nursing (yes, still!) but it’s reaching a point where I question if he’s being cute or annoying. He asks to nurse which doesn’t bother me as much as I thought it would, and often I thinks it’s cute with a finger point to a chair or couch, but I do not tolerate him getting upset if I tell him to wait, or if he starts tugging on my shirt. But there’s such a fine line between one and the other that it’s hard to teach him which parts are OK.
He also has a nasty yeast infection. I’m going to be ordering some tea tree oil to disinfect his diapers or maybe I’ll have some luck in the local “health” stores, and I’ll need to find some monistat cream for his bottom so we can get rid of this entirely. It always starts off looking like a diaper rash, but rapidly descends to the misery of a yeast rash. I’m hoping the sun, which we have plenty of, will help disinfect as well as the regular vinegar rinses I the wash. Cross your fingers. Oh, I did do a weird thing that I don’t think will have any negative side effect. I crushed up some acidopholus pills and sprinkled the powder on his butt. I figure if you can eat it, putting it on the skin won’t hurt any. Right?
Something else I’ve found with cloth diapering is that his clothes still fit him fine. I’d heard so many stories of folks fretting about none of the clothes fitting anymore and I really haven’t had that problem at all. There are some pants that don’t, but for most changing his diapers didn’t have much of an effect on his clothes, and I’m pleased with that. One more thing.. my favorite diaper on him is the Map of the Philippines Hippobottomus diaper (http://www/hippobottomus.com) with a matching orange fleece cover. I’m not joking about the name. Kyla has excellent workmanship and the fit is amazing on both pieces. Check her out.
Let’s see what is he up to. He can climb the ladders at the playground on his own and loves to go down the big bumpy and twisty slides. He likes Raisin Bran which is good because of his low iron issues. A serving is 60% for an adult. He loves to swim. The Seafront compound has the Embassy pool. A large one for laps and big people. A little one that is 2 feet deep throughout. Perfect for Nicholas to swim, for fraidy cat Rebecca to splash in and just right for Jonathon to stand in by himself. He was in heaven. I have photos, but no PC yet. When we do get the PC, be prepared for an onslaught of new pictures.
April 23rd: He seems to have been bitten by some other nasty critter. Earlier in the month he got hard raised bumps on his arms, now he has large red hot marks on his legs. He doesn’t say they hurt, but they look painful to me and my best guess is that one time while sitting on the ground, some ants got to him. Poor baby. We’re taking Nicholas to the doctor on Friday for his 3yr check-up and I’ll ask the doctor about the bumps then.
Jonathon is still nursing (yes, still!) but it’s reaching a point where I question if he’s being cute or annoying. He asks to nurse which doesn’t bother me as much as I thought it would, and often I thinks it’s cute with a finger point to a chair or couch, but I do not tolerate him getting upset if I tell him to wait, or if he starts tugging on my shirt. But there’s such a fine line between one and the other that it’s hard to teach him which parts are OK.
He also has a nasty yeast infection. I’m going to be ordering some tea tree oil to disinfect his diapers or maybe I’ll have some luck in the local “health” stores, and I’ll need to find some monistat cream for his bottom so we can get rid of this entirely. It always starts off looking like a diaper rash, but rapidly descends to the misery of a yeast rash. I’m hoping the sun, which we have plenty of, will help disinfect as well as the regular vinegar rinses I the wash. Cross your fingers. Oh, I did do a weird thing that I don’t think will have any negative side effect. I crushed up some acidopholus pills and sprinkled the powder on his butt. I figure if you can eat it, putting it on the skin won’t hurt any. Right?
Something else I’ve found with cloth diapering is that his clothes still fit him fine. I’d heard so many stories of folks fretting about none of the clothes fitting anymore and I really haven’t had that problem at all. There are some pants that don’t, but for most changing his diapers didn’t have much of an effect on his clothes, and I’m pleased with that. One more thing.. my favorite diaper on him is the Map of the Philippines Hippobottomus diaper (http://www/hippobottomus.com) with a matching orange fleece cover. I’m not joking about the name. Kyla has excellent workmanship and the fit is amazing on both pieces. Check her out.
Let’s see what is he up to. He can climb the ladders at the playground on his own and loves to go down the big bumpy and twisty slides. He likes Raisin Bran which is good because of his low iron issues. A serving is 60% for an adult. He loves to swim. The Seafront compound has the Embassy pool. A large one for laps and big people. A little one that is 2 feet deep throughout. Perfect for Nicholas to swim, for fraidy cat Rebecca to splash in and just right for Jonathon to stand in by himself. He was in heaven. I have photos, but no PC yet. When we do get the PC, be prepared for an onslaught of new pictures.
April 23rd: He seems to have been bitten by some other nasty critter. Earlier in the month he got hard raised bumps on his arms, now he has large red hot marks on his legs. He doesn’t say they hurt, but they look painful to me and my best guess is that one time while sitting on the ground, some ants got to him. Poor baby. We’re taking Nicholas to the doctor on Friday for his 3yr check-up and I’ll ask the doctor about the bumps then.
Sunday, April 20, 2003
April 20th, 2003 - Happy Birthday, Nicholas!
Saturday & Sunday, April 19th – April 20th: Can anyone tell me what April 20th is? OK, this year it’s Easter Sunday, true, but it’s also the day that Nicholas has his big third birthday. That’s right, he’s three years old! And he gets to celebrate with all the fanfare of Easter.
In our case, that means church, an Easter egg hunt, presents and of course a cake. Saturday was a busy day. We spent a good deal of time marching from one bakery to another desperately hoping to find a Star Wars Jedi cake that could be make and even delivered, oh by the next day. Well, I think even we found our limit with the status quo of immediate satisfaction! Several places wouldn’t be able to do it by the next day, and only one place had any form of Star Wars and none with a Jedi. Arg. OK, this will teach me to avoid leaving anything to the last minute, especially during Holy Week. Happily, Nicholas decided he would like a Spiderman cake, and Goldilocks bakery could do it in a day, so with our fingers crossed we put in our order and Ian would pick it up Sunday afternoon.
I needn’t have worried because it all worked out beautifully. After a miserable time at church (Nicholas had a meltdown over part of a granola bar. Remember, he’s 3) we had omelets for lunch and then nap time. After naps was the Easter egg hunt in out living room with plastic eggs filled with gummy worms, then birthday cake. The cake was great. I mean really good! Very light chocolate cake with layers of chocolate chips and marshmallows all covered in an extremely light marshmallow/meringue frosting. There will be pictures up on his page when we get our PC. Which reminds me, apparently there was a dock strike in California a few weeks ago? Folks who’d left the month before us still don’t have their HHE, so it really is all a guessing game when we might get ours.
OK, so after the cake and ice cream where Ian gave the kids gigantic pieces that none of them could finish though I didn’t have any problem at all with mine, we hopped next door to the playground. The bug scope had been recovered from the depths of the living room couch, so it came along, holding the favorite examinee for the day, a dried up lizard. Oh, it’s only a couple inches long and I’m pretty sure it died of a heart attack when we found in the corner of the girls room, but it looked pretty cool up close. I took a ton of pictures of Nicholas and those will be put up as well.. when we get the PC.
Home again and we wrapped up the day with present opening where the girls both gave him homemade cards with boxes harboring jelly beans. I think the beans disappeared before the box hit the chair. Then he opened our gift which he already knew about since we’d bought it in the States. A 400piece Lincoln Log knock-off set. Now all we need is a set of little plastic horses and they’ll be set. He’s received a Blue’s Clues birthday card from grandma and grandpa earlier in the week but only opened it this morning and thought it was the coolest thing.
All in all, it was a good day for him. All last week we would ask him how old he was and he’d hold up 2 fingers. Then we’d ask him what Sunday was.. his Bufday! And he’s work diligently to hold up 3 fingers. It was funny because Saturday morning when he woke up and came over and stood on the couch saying he was 3 already. When I reminded him that his birthday was still a day away he stretched up tall and said “Me bih boy! Me Eee!” And you know, he does look every bit his age.
In our case, that means church, an Easter egg hunt, presents and of course a cake. Saturday was a busy day. We spent a good deal of time marching from one bakery to another desperately hoping to find a Star Wars Jedi cake that could be make and even delivered, oh by the next day. Well, I think even we found our limit with the status quo of immediate satisfaction! Several places wouldn’t be able to do it by the next day, and only one place had any form of Star Wars and none with a Jedi. Arg. OK, this will teach me to avoid leaving anything to the last minute, especially during Holy Week. Happily, Nicholas decided he would like a Spiderman cake, and Goldilocks bakery could do it in a day, so with our fingers crossed we put in our order and Ian would pick it up Sunday afternoon.
I needn’t have worried because it all worked out beautifully. After a miserable time at church (Nicholas had a meltdown over part of a granola bar. Remember, he’s 3) we had omelets for lunch and then nap time. After naps was the Easter egg hunt in out living room with plastic eggs filled with gummy worms, then birthday cake. The cake was great. I mean really good! Very light chocolate cake with layers of chocolate chips and marshmallows all covered in an extremely light marshmallow/meringue frosting. There will be pictures up on his page when we get our PC. Which reminds me, apparently there was a dock strike in California a few weeks ago? Folks who’d left the month before us still don’t have their HHE, so it really is all a guessing game when we might get ours.
OK, so after the cake and ice cream where Ian gave the kids gigantic pieces that none of them could finish though I didn’t have any problem at all with mine, we hopped next door to the playground. The bug scope had been recovered from the depths of the living room couch, so it came along, holding the favorite examinee for the day, a dried up lizard. Oh, it’s only a couple inches long and I’m pretty sure it died of a heart attack when we found in the corner of the girls room, but it looked pretty cool up close. I took a ton of pictures of Nicholas and those will be put up as well.. when we get the PC.
Home again and we wrapped up the day with present opening where the girls both gave him homemade cards with boxes harboring jelly beans. I think the beans disappeared before the box hit the chair. Then he opened our gift which he already knew about since we’d bought it in the States. A 400piece Lincoln Log knock-off set. Now all we need is a set of little plastic horses and they’ll be set. He’s received a Blue’s Clues birthday card from grandma and grandpa earlier in the week but only opened it this morning and thought it was the coolest thing.
All in all, it was a good day for him. All last week we would ask him how old he was and he’d hold up 2 fingers. Then we’d ask him what Sunday was.. his Bufday! And he’s work diligently to hold up 3 fingers. It was funny because Saturday morning when he woke up and came over and stood on the couch saying he was 3 already. When I reminded him that his birthday was still a day away he stretched up tall and said “Me bih boy! Me Eee!” And you know, he does look every bit his age.
Good Friday, April 18th - Rizal Park
Friday, April 18th, 2003: This is Easter Week. Easter Week in the Philippines means everything is closed. Yesterday we tried going to Glorietta so we could order Nicholas a birthday cake and get some shoes to replace the ones he’s outgrown. No such luck.
It was locked up tight and from what we could figure out from the guard, it wouldn’t be open until Saturday. Don’t quote me on that though. So we went to PriceSmart instead and did a big shopping. Bought another interesting looking fruit that I’ve never heard of called a soursop and while we had a fruit salad with lunch, I held off on adding that since I didn’t want to ruin everything else if it turns out to be icky.
Made a huge Amazon order last night (hey, I have 2 pairs of jeans and one is tearing, and I managed to ruin a good pair of shorts this week when handling bleach), and talked to my parents. They are busy this week too, as Easter Week always is at St. Michaels. They practically live at church from Thursday evening to Saturday afternoon. Today being Good Friday, they’ll be in chuch from 11 to 4 to do Good Friday service, but also for the three hours of the Seven Last Words. It’s much more exhausting than even Midnight Mass for Christmas.
Today we figured we’d do something outdoors. Less chance of it being closed. So we were off to Rizal Park. Dr. Jose Rizal was born in 1861 and killed in 1896 by firing squad. For a very simple background on him, check out http://www.univie.ac.at/Voelkerkunde/apsis/aufi/jorizal.htm or do a Google search for his name and read all about him. Every town in the Philippines has a street named after him, and here in Manila his bones are interred under a large statue of him at the park built in his honor. In another part of the park is the site of his untimely death. Actually, many people were executed in the area, a couple were strangled to death. How, you may ask? The plaque has an engraved picture of the device. Sturdy wooden chair with a vice to go our your neck, slowly tightened as you strangle. Pleasant.
Aside from all the death and misery that happened there, it’s a lovely park, well kept with open grassy areas in the middle along with pools reminiscent of the DC reflecting pools (though not nearly as large). Folks seem to hang around, having picnics and just enjoying being outside in the shade. It appears that the park is one of very few green areas in the city to be enjoyed by the public.
We walked down one side of the park and took in the sights. We passed ice cream stands and folks selling bobbles of this or that, but in the park itself is a Japanese garden, a Chinese garden and much to our surprise and joy, a Chess plaza. Groups of men gathered around players. We watched one game end (badly, I should add) and another one where a player just gave up. I’m not sure it was because he knew he couldn’t win. He may have just not wanted us watching. There were board mats for rent, though one wonders why since each table had 2 stone carved boards on its surface. There were also plenty of cats which the boys just adored and Nicholas nearly got his hand on one before I yelled at him to stop and he snatched his hand away. He wasn’t a happy camper after that. But honestly, there are cats all over (I can only assume the dogs end up as dinner somewhere) and at the chess plaza there were cats and kittens everywhere.
Along the way is the National Museum, the National Library, and at the very end a giant relief in a pool, of the Philippine islands. That was pretty cool. Must have been low tide though. Coming back down the other way there is a dinosaur playground (it’s exactly what it sounds like, but no, not for dinosaurs), a pigeon sanctuary with big bird hotels in several trees and a reflexology therapist in the same cave as the park police.
It was hot out (duh) so we got back in the car that magically appeared on the street and came home. We do plan to go back sometime, and to Intramuros, but preferably when it’s not a holiday with everything closed. After all, seeing the inside of the museum would have been nice and getting to play on the dinosaurs would have made the kids’ day. After the boys get up from their nap we plan to go swimming at Seafront.
It was locked up tight and from what we could figure out from the guard, it wouldn’t be open until Saturday. Don’t quote me on that though. So we went to PriceSmart instead and did a big shopping. Bought another interesting looking fruit that I’ve never heard of called a soursop and while we had a fruit salad with lunch, I held off on adding that since I didn’t want to ruin everything else if it turns out to be icky.
Made a huge Amazon order last night (hey, I have 2 pairs of jeans and one is tearing, and I managed to ruin a good pair of shorts this week when handling bleach), and talked to my parents. They are busy this week too, as Easter Week always is at St. Michaels. They practically live at church from Thursday evening to Saturday afternoon. Today being Good Friday, they’ll be in chuch from 11 to 4 to do Good Friday service, but also for the three hours of the Seven Last Words. It’s much more exhausting than even Midnight Mass for Christmas.
Today we figured we’d do something outdoors. Less chance of it being closed. So we were off to Rizal Park. Dr. Jose Rizal was born in 1861 and killed in 1896 by firing squad. For a very simple background on him, check out http://www.univie.ac.at/Voelkerkunde/apsis/aufi/jorizal.htm or do a Google search for his name and read all about him. Every town in the Philippines has a street named after him, and here in Manila his bones are interred under a large statue of him at the park built in his honor. In another part of the park is the site of his untimely death. Actually, many people were executed in the area, a couple were strangled to death. How, you may ask? The plaque has an engraved picture of the device. Sturdy wooden chair with a vice to go our your neck, slowly tightened as you strangle. Pleasant.
Aside from all the death and misery that happened there, it’s a lovely park, well kept with open grassy areas in the middle along with pools reminiscent of the DC reflecting pools (though not nearly as large). Folks seem to hang around, having picnics and just enjoying being outside in the shade. It appears that the park is one of very few green areas in the city to be enjoyed by the public.
We walked down one side of the park and took in the sights. We passed ice cream stands and folks selling bobbles of this or that, but in the park itself is a Japanese garden, a Chinese garden and much to our surprise and joy, a Chess plaza. Groups of men gathered around players. We watched one game end (badly, I should add) and another one where a player just gave up. I’m not sure it was because he knew he couldn’t win. He may have just not wanted us watching. There were board mats for rent, though one wonders why since each table had 2 stone carved boards on its surface. There were also plenty of cats which the boys just adored and Nicholas nearly got his hand on one before I yelled at him to stop and he snatched his hand away. He wasn’t a happy camper after that. But honestly, there are cats all over (I can only assume the dogs end up as dinner somewhere) and at the chess plaza there were cats and kittens everywhere.
Along the way is the National Museum, the National Library, and at the very end a giant relief in a pool, of the Philippine islands. That was pretty cool. Must have been low tide though. Coming back down the other way there is a dinosaur playground (it’s exactly what it sounds like, but no, not for dinosaurs), a pigeon sanctuary with big bird hotels in several trees and a reflexology therapist in the same cave as the park police.
It was hot out (duh) so we got back in the car that magically appeared on the street and came home. We do plan to go back sometime, and to Intramuros, but preferably when it’s not a holiday with everything closed. After all, seeing the inside of the museum would have been nice and getting to play on the dinosaurs would have made the kids’ day. After the boys get up from their nap we plan to go swimming at Seafront.
Tuesday, April 15, 2003
April 16th: Just getting into the groove
Wednesday, April 16th: We’re getting into the groove around here. Of course, now we’re expecting our first typhoon. Who knows if it’ll hit metro Manila, but it’s the earliest in the season a typhoon has hit here in a long time.
And we’re supposed to experience El Nino this year too (isn’t that every year? Sure seems like it). The rainy season is supposed to begin in June, but apparently our arrival has reset the power of nature. Oh well, what can I do? It is cloudy out, but that just means an earlier visit to the playground this afternoon.
Naptime and bedtime with Jonathon had been going really well, until today’s nap of course. He decided today that he didn’t want to lie down. BUT. The past 2 days have been like a miracle. I could put him down and tell him to stay and he would. I’d say I needed to put the girls down the bed, and he’d be in his bed (ok, he was sitting up flipping through a book, but would splat on the pillow the instant I walked in “No, mom, I wasn’t up!”) when I got back. I knew there’d be some trouble spots and today he’s in the crib for his nap, fussing loudly, but we’ll get through it. He’s also rather insistent on going to the potty a dozen times a day. It’s a lot for a little guy to work through. Add to that the new tooth that popped in last week (finally, an incisor!) and sometimes I’m amazed he knows which end is up.
In the past week I’ve had 2 people mention how one thought that I was the kids’ older sister, and another thought I wasn’t old enough to have kids.. or as many as I do. She seemed disbelieving when I told her I was almost 30. Ack. I’m almost 30. OK, I’m almost 29, but that’s almost 30!
We’ve been playing a lot of school this week. Spelling, reading, math, recess, lunch, it’s all part of our day with Katherine home for Easter week. It’s been good to have a schedule of sorts, seems like whenever I turn around, our day is being reconstructed. We have a lot of people coming in and out of the house too. Finally we have a working doorbell and now we have a spare cooking gas tank. We also had the gate for the top of the stairs installed a couple days ago and some techs came and added an antenna to our Embassy radio. Of course, now that we have a doorbell, no one will come to the house.
Did I mention that everything is delivered here? On Sunday, Ian called up a dry cleaner and they came to the door, picked up his 4 suit pants and delivered them back to the house on Tuesday. Total cost? P332. OK ok… About $6.50. This economy seems to survive on customer service. They’ll pick up and deliver anything. There are guards at every entrance to every building and every store within those buildings. They act as doormen too. Fast food places have real china, there’s someone to bring your food to you and someone else to clean up. Tips are not expected. We ordered pizza early on and it came to something like $8 for everything, including the spaghetti, drinks and garlic bread. Ian tipped the delivery guy P50 (About $1). You’d have thought it was a fortune. Sad thing is, here, that can very well be.
Ian was telling me a story last night about a co-worker of his. When his co-worker was new to the area, he had to get somewhere, but didn’t know how far it was. So he hailed a sidecar (a motorbike powered, but often bicycle powered, mode of transportation) that happened to be a bike. The co-worked is not skinny man, and thankfully the address was only 3 blocks away. But the driver was wiped out from the exertion of going those three blocks. Total cost? P50. The co-worker tipped him P100. Once the driver quit saying thank you, he added that the next day was one of his children’s second birthday. Now they could afford a cake.
So, on to our adventures. Yesterday the kids and I had the car, so we went to Glorietta Mall to meander around, look for a shoe store I’d seen once before that had perfect shoes for the boys, have a bite of lunch and let the kids play at the playground. We did all that as well as having some ice cream before we left. The cart was the same one as last time, but he had all different flavors. Cool! The girls got chocolate, Jonathon and I shared strawberry, and Nicholas had ube, the local purple yam ice cream. We’d had it at home from the Filipino store and even brought it to Katherine’s classroom at King for her going away party, and believe it or not, it’s excellent. And really really purple.
We had a new driver since ours was on holiday for Easter, and Ramon was a slightly more understandable person even with the heavy Filipino accent. Cesar is very soft-spoken, so it’s difficult to gather what’s he’s saying without having him repeat. Anyhow, Ramon was a little louder which made it that much easier. He also interacted more with me, asking me which area of Glorietta I wanted to go to, asking where he should park, giving me his cell number and asking me to call him when I was ready to get going. It was nice to have a bit more feedback. Cesar is a smooth driver, but it’s too easy to forget he’s there as he’s so quiet.
Anyhow, all was going well until we figured it was time to get going. I had a cell phone in Atlanta for a short time, but since then somehow I’ve managed to live without one. Well, now I own one again, for security measures more than anything. But you do need to recharge it periodically and mine had been sitting in my purse for a week. We left the mall and walked to the front of Rustans next door, across the street from the parking lot. I noticed the battery was really low as I was dialing, and I managed to say hello a couple times before the phone went dead. All right, think. We headed to the parking lot and figured we’d see him as we walked to the car. No dice. We found the car and waited. It was hot. Really hot. The kids sat down on the ground under some shade, but I wanted to be visible in case he was coming back to the car. Twenty minutes later, no driver, no phone and melting, I decided we’d go back inside the mall and use the pay phone to call him. As we’re heading to the door, I hear Ramon calling from behind. He’d heard me on the phone and had gone to the door to wait for us. Here I was thinking he’d thought he’d gotten a crank call and was off with his buddies. Oops. Teach me to go sit in the sun and fume, it was all my own fault.
Oh, we had lunch at Burger King. Katherine had a ham and cheese sandwich. Well, it’s what she wanted! The portions here are considerably smaller than what we have at home, we’ve noticed. The fries are the same though. You have to ask for lids on your cups. And someone carries your tray to your table for you. But we did have regular fast food wrappers.
And we never did find the shoe store.
One small note. I sure hope Ian decided to put up a few posts of his own about what he’s doing at IV. He tells me some great stories over dinner, but they just aren’t the same being repeated second hand.
And we’re supposed to experience El Nino this year too (isn’t that every year? Sure seems like it). The rainy season is supposed to begin in June, but apparently our arrival has reset the power of nature. Oh well, what can I do? It is cloudy out, but that just means an earlier visit to the playground this afternoon.
Naptime and bedtime with Jonathon had been going really well, until today’s nap of course. He decided today that he didn’t want to lie down. BUT. The past 2 days have been like a miracle. I could put him down and tell him to stay and he would. I’d say I needed to put the girls down the bed, and he’d be in his bed (ok, he was sitting up flipping through a book, but would splat on the pillow the instant I walked in “No, mom, I wasn’t up!”) when I got back. I knew there’d be some trouble spots and today he’s in the crib for his nap, fussing loudly, but we’ll get through it. He’s also rather insistent on going to the potty a dozen times a day. It’s a lot for a little guy to work through. Add to that the new tooth that popped in last week (finally, an incisor!) and sometimes I’m amazed he knows which end is up.
In the past week I’ve had 2 people mention how one thought that I was the kids’ older sister, and another thought I wasn’t old enough to have kids.. or as many as I do. She seemed disbelieving when I told her I was almost 30. Ack. I’m almost 30. OK, I’m almost 29, but that’s almost 30!
We’ve been playing a lot of school this week. Spelling, reading, math, recess, lunch, it’s all part of our day with Katherine home for Easter week. It’s been good to have a schedule of sorts, seems like whenever I turn around, our day is being reconstructed. We have a lot of people coming in and out of the house too. Finally we have a working doorbell and now we have a spare cooking gas tank. We also had the gate for the top of the stairs installed a couple days ago and some techs came and added an antenna to our Embassy radio. Of course, now that we have a doorbell, no one will come to the house.
Did I mention that everything is delivered here? On Sunday, Ian called up a dry cleaner and they came to the door, picked up his 4 suit pants and delivered them back to the house on Tuesday. Total cost? P332. OK ok… About $6.50. This economy seems to survive on customer service. They’ll pick up and deliver anything. There are guards at every entrance to every building and every store within those buildings. They act as doormen too. Fast food places have real china, there’s someone to bring your food to you and someone else to clean up. Tips are not expected. We ordered pizza early on and it came to something like $8 for everything, including the spaghetti, drinks and garlic bread. Ian tipped the delivery guy P50 (About $1). You’d have thought it was a fortune. Sad thing is, here, that can very well be.
Ian was telling me a story last night about a co-worker of his. When his co-worker was new to the area, he had to get somewhere, but didn’t know how far it was. So he hailed a sidecar (a motorbike powered, but often bicycle powered, mode of transportation) that happened to be a bike. The co-worked is not skinny man, and thankfully the address was only 3 blocks away. But the driver was wiped out from the exertion of going those three blocks. Total cost? P50. The co-worker tipped him P100. Once the driver quit saying thank you, he added that the next day was one of his children’s second birthday. Now they could afford a cake.
So, on to our adventures. Yesterday the kids and I had the car, so we went to Glorietta Mall to meander around, look for a shoe store I’d seen once before that had perfect shoes for the boys, have a bite of lunch and let the kids play at the playground. We did all that as well as having some ice cream before we left. The cart was the same one as last time, but he had all different flavors. Cool! The girls got chocolate, Jonathon and I shared strawberry, and Nicholas had ube, the local purple yam ice cream. We’d had it at home from the Filipino store and even brought it to Katherine’s classroom at King for her going away party, and believe it or not, it’s excellent. And really really purple.
We had a new driver since ours was on holiday for Easter, and Ramon was a slightly more understandable person even with the heavy Filipino accent. Cesar is very soft-spoken, so it’s difficult to gather what’s he’s saying without having him repeat. Anyhow, Ramon was a little louder which made it that much easier. He also interacted more with me, asking me which area of Glorietta I wanted to go to, asking where he should park, giving me his cell number and asking me to call him when I was ready to get going. It was nice to have a bit more feedback. Cesar is a smooth driver, but it’s too easy to forget he’s there as he’s so quiet.
Anyhow, all was going well until we figured it was time to get going. I had a cell phone in Atlanta for a short time, but since then somehow I’ve managed to live without one. Well, now I own one again, for security measures more than anything. But you do need to recharge it periodically and mine had been sitting in my purse for a week. We left the mall and walked to the front of Rustans next door, across the street from the parking lot. I noticed the battery was really low as I was dialing, and I managed to say hello a couple times before the phone went dead. All right, think. We headed to the parking lot and figured we’d see him as we walked to the car. No dice. We found the car and waited. It was hot. Really hot. The kids sat down on the ground under some shade, but I wanted to be visible in case he was coming back to the car. Twenty minutes later, no driver, no phone and melting, I decided we’d go back inside the mall and use the pay phone to call him. As we’re heading to the door, I hear Ramon calling from behind. He’d heard me on the phone and had gone to the door to wait for us. Here I was thinking he’d thought he’d gotten a crank call and was off with his buddies. Oops. Teach me to go sit in the sun and fume, it was all my own fault.
Oh, we had lunch at Burger King. Katherine had a ham and cheese sandwich. Well, it’s what she wanted! The portions here are considerably smaller than what we have at home, we’ve noticed. The fries are the same though. You have to ask for lids on your cups. And someone carries your tray to your table for you. But we did have regular fast food wrappers.
And we never did find the shoe store.
One small note. I sure hope Ian decided to put up a few posts of his own about what he’s doing at IV. He tells me some great stories over dinner, but they just aren’t the same being repeated second hand.
Monday, April 14, 2003
Saturday and Sunday, April 12th and 13th: Local Flavor
Saturday and Sunday, April 12th and 13th: Yet another interesting weekend. Is this what we have to look forward to forever? How come I haven’t read tons of journals of travels around the world and the weird stuff that happens? I must be looking in the wrong places.
Saturday morning we went to Seafront for the Easter party. Another taste of home with face painting, cotton candy, egg decorating, a sack race and an egg hunt. It was hot though, very hot. Thank goodness for the tents but even so we couldn’t seem to keep hydrated enough. The girls had their faces turned into flowers while Nicholas had a spider on his cheek. They had mini cupcakes and begged some yogurt drinks off a friend. All in all, a success with the kids.
We needed to head somewhere cooler, so we went to the Rockwell Powerplant mall. It really is a nice place to wander around. Cool, clean and not crowded. We discovered some new areas as the mall is like a bicycle wheel with a center, spokes and an outside ring. There are plenty of little alleys to check out and we found a Lush store. An honest to goodness B&M store. I passed it the first time then doubled back because I just had to pick up something. Well, bath bombs are pointless at this point (though I may stock up before our next post) because we have no tubs to soak in, but I did pick up a bar of shampoo for lifeless hair. We’ll see if it does any good in this humidity. We had lunch out at an Italian place and while the food was good, the boys were nor well behaved so it wasn’t that enjoyable. Oh well. Before heading home, we picked up a couple sets of padlocks for the window bars at home.
At home, we broke into the pomalo that I’d bought. It’s a grapefruit, without much of the tanginess. Not bad, though Jonathon wouldn’t touch it.
Today being Sunday, we went to church and being Palm Sunday, we were pounced upon when the van door opened by a dozen men and boys selling palms that had been tied and twisted and decorated into works of art. They were being sold for P25 each, so we bought one for each of us and entered church just as the priest was coming in and started blessing the palms of all the folks who had gathered in the back to hear the Gospel. The whole service was very short, especially for a Passion Sunday. We had the abbreviated version that lasted only 5 minutes. That was good, as I’d forgotten my missal at home.
After church we went to Glorietta. There’s a Rustan’s there and I needed eggs (we dyed all of ours yesterday at the Easter party and had to throw all the eggs out anyway since it was so dang hot out). And Ian needed new khakis. OK, need is a strong word. It’s true that some of his pants are wearing at the pockets and cuffs, but in reality he needed pants because he only packed 2 pairs to last him until our HHE arrives. He has suit pants but those are hot and way too dressy for his job here. We wandered around the mall for a bit then decided to check out the large department store next door since we’d heard that you can find some great deals. Well, you can find great deals if you’re willing to fight the zoo and you’re very thin. There weren’t many men’s pants bigger than size 30, but even more frustrating was that most of the pants didn’t list leg length at all. So, we left. Ian wasn’t handling the store well and the boys who hadn’t been behaving well already, were really starting to get annoying. Jonathon has begun a limp noodle act that he thinks is hilarious but most definitely isn’t.
We went back to the main mall and found an uppity store that had pants Ian liked. Cheaper than the $50/pair for Dockers, they still didn’t have Ian’s size. Ah, but not a problem here. They have on-site free alterations in about an hour. Perfect. Spoiled, you say?
Not so spoiled. We decided to have lunch while we waited and our first attempt at eating at the Jollibee (local alternative to McDonalds) was not going to happen with the crowd of people and the too loud obnoxious music. We skipped out of there fast and instead went to a food court. This food court was truly a unique experience. The stalls had offerings like piles of fish heads and one sported a full roasted boar’s head. Looking around, Ian didn’t see anything that the kids would eat except for a Shakey’s pizza trolley, so he picked up some slices then went to get food for himself. The first place he stopped, he placed an order and ended up trying elsewhere when everyone behind the counter… left. He has no idea where they went, but they all left the counter, leaving him standing there with no food. His second attempt was at a salad place where he ordered a fruit salad, and was given a plate of what looked like Caesar salad only with a mustardish dressing. He tried to pass it back and ask again for the fruit salad that he pointed at, but the woman said she didn’t understand what he wanted, gave him back the plate, and that was that. He was getting worn down, fast. Back at the table, he took a couple bites then pushed it aside. Ice cream. That’s what we were going to have. He picked up a couple of the local favorite dessert, halo-halo, which means mix-mix. And it’s not kidding.
See, at home in Virginia we have a Filipino grocery store where we’d bought some halo-halo ice cream. Vanilla ice cream with bits of various fruits. Yummy, to be sure. What Ian brought back from the ice cream counter… wasn’t. Mix-mix. A pile of shaved ice. Red and green flavored jell-o bits. Clear unflavored gelatin. Corn kernels. A small scoop of some yellowish ice cream (no idea on flavor). Small scoop of brownish ice cream (mocha? Not sure). Some stringy stuff we couldn’t identify and black bits of.. something. Some sort of cream poured on top.
If you have the option, pass.
At home, both boys took long naps and it made a world of difference for Nicholas in the afternoon. He’s been a bear in the evenings the past week, but after a 3 hour nap he was pleasant, and even better was he sat at the table like a human and actually ate his dinner. So much nicer than the whiney, floor-rolling non-eating monster he’s been at dinnertime. Oh yeah, Jonathon ate the pomalo. I just put it on his plate then ignored him and he almost cleared his entire plate of dinner. All the other kids ate their pomalo too.
Saturday morning we went to Seafront for the Easter party. Another taste of home with face painting, cotton candy, egg decorating, a sack race and an egg hunt. It was hot though, very hot. Thank goodness for the tents but even so we couldn’t seem to keep hydrated enough. The girls had their faces turned into flowers while Nicholas had a spider on his cheek. They had mini cupcakes and begged some yogurt drinks off a friend. All in all, a success with the kids.
We needed to head somewhere cooler, so we went to the Rockwell Powerplant mall. It really is a nice place to wander around. Cool, clean and not crowded. We discovered some new areas as the mall is like a bicycle wheel with a center, spokes and an outside ring. There are plenty of little alleys to check out and we found a Lush store. An honest to goodness B&M store. I passed it the first time then doubled back because I just had to pick up something. Well, bath bombs are pointless at this point (though I may stock up before our next post) because we have no tubs to soak in, but I did pick up a bar of shampoo for lifeless hair. We’ll see if it does any good in this humidity. We had lunch out at an Italian place and while the food was good, the boys were nor well behaved so it wasn’t that enjoyable. Oh well. Before heading home, we picked up a couple sets of padlocks for the window bars at home.
At home, we broke into the pomalo that I’d bought. It’s a grapefruit, without much of the tanginess. Not bad, though Jonathon wouldn’t touch it.
Today being Sunday, we went to church and being Palm Sunday, we were pounced upon when the van door opened by a dozen men and boys selling palms that had been tied and twisted and decorated into works of art. They were being sold for P25 each, so we bought one for each of us and entered church just as the priest was coming in and started blessing the palms of all the folks who had gathered in the back to hear the Gospel. The whole service was very short, especially for a Passion Sunday. We had the abbreviated version that lasted only 5 minutes. That was good, as I’d forgotten my missal at home.
After church we went to Glorietta. There’s a Rustan’s there and I needed eggs (we dyed all of ours yesterday at the Easter party and had to throw all the eggs out anyway since it was so dang hot out). And Ian needed new khakis. OK, need is a strong word. It’s true that some of his pants are wearing at the pockets and cuffs, but in reality he needed pants because he only packed 2 pairs to last him until our HHE arrives. He has suit pants but those are hot and way too dressy for his job here. We wandered around the mall for a bit then decided to check out the large department store next door since we’d heard that you can find some great deals. Well, you can find great deals if you’re willing to fight the zoo and you’re very thin. There weren’t many men’s pants bigger than size 30, but even more frustrating was that most of the pants didn’t list leg length at all. So, we left. Ian wasn’t handling the store well and the boys who hadn’t been behaving well already, were really starting to get annoying. Jonathon has begun a limp noodle act that he thinks is hilarious but most definitely isn’t.
We went back to the main mall and found an uppity store that had pants Ian liked. Cheaper than the $50/pair for Dockers, they still didn’t have Ian’s size. Ah, but not a problem here. They have on-site free alterations in about an hour. Perfect. Spoiled, you say?
Not so spoiled. We decided to have lunch while we waited and our first attempt at eating at the Jollibee (local alternative to McDonalds) was not going to happen with the crowd of people and the too loud obnoxious music. We skipped out of there fast and instead went to a food court. This food court was truly a unique experience. The stalls had offerings like piles of fish heads and one sported a full roasted boar’s head. Looking around, Ian didn’t see anything that the kids would eat except for a Shakey’s pizza trolley, so he picked up some slices then went to get food for himself. The first place he stopped, he placed an order and ended up trying elsewhere when everyone behind the counter… left. He has no idea where they went, but they all left the counter, leaving him standing there with no food. His second attempt was at a salad place where he ordered a fruit salad, and was given a plate of what looked like Caesar salad only with a mustardish dressing. He tried to pass it back and ask again for the fruit salad that he pointed at, but the woman said she didn’t understand what he wanted, gave him back the plate, and that was that. He was getting worn down, fast. Back at the table, he took a couple bites then pushed it aside. Ice cream. That’s what we were going to have. He picked up a couple of the local favorite dessert, halo-halo, which means mix-mix. And it’s not kidding.
See, at home in Virginia we have a Filipino grocery store where we’d bought some halo-halo ice cream. Vanilla ice cream with bits of various fruits. Yummy, to be sure. What Ian brought back from the ice cream counter… wasn’t. Mix-mix. A pile of shaved ice. Red and green flavored jell-o bits. Clear unflavored gelatin. Corn kernels. A small scoop of some yellowish ice cream (no idea on flavor). Small scoop of brownish ice cream (mocha? Not sure). Some stringy stuff we couldn’t identify and black bits of.. something. Some sort of cream poured on top.
If you have the option, pass.
At home, both boys took long naps and it made a world of difference for Nicholas in the afternoon. He’s been a bear in the evenings the past week, but after a 3 hour nap he was pleasant, and even better was he sat at the table like a human and actually ate his dinner. So much nicer than the whiney, floor-rolling non-eating monster he’s been at dinnertime. Oh yeah, Jonathon ate the pomalo. I just put it on his plate then ignored him and he almost cleared his entire plate of dinner. All the other kids ate their pomalo too.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)