Makati City, Philippines
 

I've been sending cheap cameras out to net pals all over the world in the last 3 months or so and the photos coming in now are good enough to show off a bit.

It's a genuine challenge for both the photographer and for me in getting their skills up to speed, many of whom have never taken pictures before even with film cameras, let alone a digital. The camera itself is just a cheapie and has specific limits and weaknesses. It took a lot of trial and error for me to be able to get good photos out of this model camera. Having exactly the same style and model here with me that was sent, I was able to immediately spot technical fixes for symptoms seen in the images coming in.

It's also true that some people just have a knack for taking good photos while others do not.

Anyway, these are from the Philippines. There are more available here than you would ever care to see but I thought you might appreciate these.

Look at the billboards. The one to the right is an ad for "Desparate Housewives". Interesting. The second is just a shot of some of the trees there. Very cool

These are shots of the Philippine "Jeepnys" . Part Jeep, but mostly bus. This is the cheap way around metro city Philippines. The street scenes of the cars are of particular interest to me. Everything is small. :)

Nice pics.

It would seem your shooter likes to shoot down from a height.

I'll pass the compliment on to her. The overall quality of her shots have improved greatly in a very short time.


As for the angle, there is a walkway that runs around the malls. Many of these shots were taken from there. A few of the others were taken from the train station walkway.

Here are a few shots of the walkway.

Bravo on the concept, Slang. More! I think the results are quite passable. Thanks for the careful work and consideration in putting these here. Seeing people's pics from around the world is one of The Cellar's most satisfying aspects for me.

What cameras, how cheap, and where sourced? Reply in private if you don't want to reveal in public?

Remimd me to tell you about a jeepny ride from hell some time ,
Dude do you have the collection posted any where , like Flickr ???

Dam Zip. I just get here to Makati city and what do I find? Seems like you've made quite an impression on the Philippines. Dont worry though, what happens in the Philippines stays in the Philippines. :)

Hey if anyone wants photos of something specific that wont get me arrested or sent directly to HELL, let me know. This is a very interesting place and I'll be here for a long time. I have enough batteries and memory cards to take about 650 million photos so sound off if you are looking for something specific.

Don't bother my sweat shop workers !!!!!!!

Can you take some pictures of street food vendors? And markets...?

Partly because I like looking at other people's dinner, but also because I think the way people cook & sell food is a good introduction to their culture.

Zip - I havent found much middle between rich and poor here. If you have a job of **any** (legal) kind, your a step ahead of most people.

SG - Yes, I'll get exactly those sorts of photos as this type of thing also interests me. It grosses me out and makes me vomit sometimes too but it's interesting in a car wreck sort of way.

The only photo to post right now is lame and not even of the Philippine Islands but Japan from quite a distance up from the flight into Narita airport.

More to come.

Slang , you HAVE to try the Monkey meat on a stick !!!!!
A little BBQ sauce and Chim Chim on a stick tastes pretty damn good !!!

Slang, if you wanted Philippines, my best friend over there could give you Philippines to make your head spin. And Luisa already knew how to take pictures.

Nothing against your pen pal, but did you have any idea that she has only photographed the ONE enclave in the entire country which is fit to live it? The rest of Manila, all 10 million plus inhabitants, is crumbling infrastructure, open sewers and incredible filth, shacks built in the middle of streets, total gridlock in the midst of crater-like potholes, armed roberies in broad daylight on crowded sidewalks and in malls, more than 50% of the city is homeless, and diseased people wander the streets freely, going to the bathroom anywhere they feel like it.

Makati is the expat area, where NON-NATIVES live and shop in heavily-guarded gated communities with 10-foot walls. Makati is the only place in Manila where consumer goods of any quality are available (for astronomical prices), and likewise where PEOPLE of any quality can be found, so that is why the insurgents target this place. In their near-yearly coup attempts they always try to blow up Makati, and a few years ago there was a major gun battle to recapture the hotel there. Nope, Makati is not the Philippines. No more than if you took photos of Rodeo Drive in LA and never saw Watts.

P.S. Guess what I am giving my Filipina friend for Christmas this year? The stun gun everybody reccommended and several martial arts VCR classes.

Hi Sundae Girl. Listen, Filipino food is not for the faint of heart and stomach. If you thought the food served on Fear Factor was bad, you have not dared to try eating the local Filipino delicacies like Dinuguan (pork blood with pork entrails like liver and spleen) which are usually served to guests at home in a formal meal setting. There is also Kilawin (spleen stir fried with white raddish).

If you get hungry for a snack in the street, there is always Adiddas ( grilled chicken feet), Bituka ng manok (Grilled chicken intestines), Grilled pork blood, Fried chicken bottoms/ tails, and the ever popular Balut (unsuccessfully hatched chicken eggs steamed to become soupy), Let's not forget the Penoy (duck egg fried in an orange batter and dipped in chili vinegar). that's just the tip of the "street food" iceberg. In fact, there are 2 streets in Manila, Quiapo and Blumentritt, that are lined with vendors and their pushcarts hawking the above wares. These 2 places would be the place to go to get the best pictures of local street food and more. both places are about an hour or 2 away from Makati. Provided your driver knows where to go.

If you are in the mood for local rice soup, you can always try the pushcarts in Blumentritt and try the Lugao (sticky rice) with pork or beef intestines. Another place to get good pictures of people enjoying a street meal is the local wet market. They have food stalls there that serve stuff even I don't recognize. But the people there eat with gusto anyway.

I could go on and on about the local street food but I warn anyone who wishes to try it, proceed with caution. These foods are not exactly cooked under the most hygenic circumstances. The food is cooked in the middle of the street and tends to soak up the pollution from the passing cars. The ones served at the local wet market are somewhat cleaner but then the air is not that good to breath as you have to figure out what that scent in the air is. Ameboiasis and Hepatitis are a real threat when ingesting these foods.

The places and food I mentioned above will never be found in the Makati area. Makati is an expat district and the government wants them to think that the country is all lollipops and roses. The places I told you about are the places the government wishes would get swallowed up by a typhoon one time. It is an embarassment to them and they would rather sweep it under the rug. I can get pictures of these places for anybody who wants to see it. The things I mentioned above usually make it to CNN as part of a special report on the hardships of Filipino living documentaries. You will have to see it with your own eyes to believe such foods are eaten by human beings. Usually, the street food is eaten by people who can't afford anything else.

To eat the best of the HEALTHY local food like various sinigang (sour soup) dishes, pinakbet (Mixed Filipino vegetables in coconut cream) and local ensiladas (salads), it would be best to ask your host family to prepare a meal for you or trek to the local Barrio Fiesta or Kamayan restaurant. These 2 restaurants serve the best of Home Filipino cooking in a Fiesta atmosphere. Those restaurants are frequently visited by the tourists and expats. That I would highly recommend.

:yum: :worried:

SG - ( this keyboard is nearly worthless, please keep that in mind will all replies ) i went out into the city today and found the things that you asked for .....and more. Some very intersting and some very frightening food items to be sure.

i dont have the data cable for the cam now but those pics are coming soon.

Zip - the chances of me eating monkey on a stick are approximately the same as me throwing this hotel over my left shoulder in the next 3 seconds. Sounds wonderful, but i'll pass. nothing personal.

Tonchi - i'm aware that this place is not utopia in any stretch of the imagination. Yes, makati is a protected city. No, i'm not too sexy to get away from here and see what life is really like. We went to pembo yesterday as her relatives are from there and LaUnion. Not at all a great place to live but great people there. I've been well cared for here so far and everyone is very friendly and helpful.

it seems likely that even pembo is a "nice place" compared to what's out there but i'm not here to bask in the sun on bleached white sand. I'm not here for the comforts and sights of the US, i can experience those back home. I'm here to meet people and learn what this place is about, good and bad.

Do i have the expectation that all filipinos are going to be great to me, no. Will that prevent me from experiencing life here for what it really is and not some tourist ad, no.

i'm a big mother fucker and have been in hotspots before. while it's obvious from my smile and general manner that i'm here to be friends, it's sometimes obvious that i'm not here to be fucked with either.

it's funny how things work out for me on these trips. The police officers are "safer" to talk with than most others and often have a bit of time to make suggestions regarding what to expect in a given area. Sometimes they even come with me ( off duty ) on my photo exploration strolls.

luisa - as for the faint of heart and stomach, i agree totally and everyone will soon know what we are both saying from the photos that will be posted of these native "food items" :)

it's 3;10 am here now and i have to go get ready to heckle the sweatshop workers at Zippy International.

slang: Get a job! Get a real job and stop smoking those cigarettes, you dont want to stunt your growth, do you? :D

not reality but sounded funny in my head.

See you all later.

Slang, it's good to know that you are one big mo fo, and you are right, that will protect you in many subtle ways. You have discovered the most important way to operate in the Philippines: Intimidation. They are used to being threatened and mistreated there, it is deeply ingrained in that culture. So if anybody even looks like they could enforce their will, people will automatically get out of his way. Money is a key also. You could be on a shoestring by US terms but you will seem to be a god to the people there. The problem with money, though, is that although the people will defer to you and smile and offer you all kinds of considerations, their drive is to separate as much of that money from you as quickly as possible. I have discovered over the last 8 years that their generosity is very two-faced. What they are doing is creating a "debt" which you will owe them FOREVER. Luisa has told me about traditional social relationships there which guarantee your debt to a person or clan who has "helped you out" unto the third generation of your descendants. Filipinos will hotly deny this if confronted, then they will talk bitterly about your "ingratitude" behind your back and will slander you to the neighbors.

Please understand that I am in no way profiling your hosts, I don't know them and can't in any way tell you what they are thinking or how they were raised. After all, my best friend and sister is Filipina, and she is as fine and honest a person as I have ever known, although she will be the first to admit that she is deeply hated by many in her extended family because those characteristics are an obstruction rather than a virtue in their view. Your judgment of people must be finely honed by now, anyway, and I sense your appreciation of individuals and their diversity. There are still some fine people inside that society, and those who worked with the Americans when they were in charge are in much better shape to deal with now. But the majority of the country operates on the most depressing Third World level and seem determined to sink even lower. Poverty, filth and ignorance, when there is no exotic jungle/tribal setting, is just best avoided. This is unfortunately what "modern life" in sprawling cities has done to so many cultures around the world.

Dude you ain't got a hair one on your as if you don't eat at least ONE Balut while you are there !!!!

I assume that zippyt is aware that the locals say the balut increases your sexual potency? :D

Although why scarfing down a chicken hatchling which has been boiled alive in the shell is going to increase virility .... guess it must be sufficient for a Filipino. At least they aren't running around hacking the penises off tigers like the Chinese do :neutral:

Balut,,
It makes you STRONG like BULL !!!!!!!

Tonchi - you have some good points to consider but there is no time for me to write a decent reply AND get these photos posted.

Zip - just call me "hairless ass" then man. Some things can be done, others just cant. Maybe if there was some type of reward but even then, it'd be iffy.

Severed pig's head; it's what's for dinner. Looks yummy doesnt it?

Those people that were boiling the pig's head invited me for dinner. It was tempting as you might imagine but I had to politely decline.

Welcome to Manila, please ride our silly horsecarriages because without those tourists doing so they might starve.

The funny thing about this photo op was that the driver had come over to talk to us as we were facing the opposite direction. As he said "that's my horse and carriage over there", while pointing in that direction, the horse was urinating a large puddle.

Perfect timing. No closeup of the puddle though, sorry.

It's cold there in the states now but it's hot here. Hot and humid. The water here is supposedly potable but we all know that an American cant drink it without being on the can for hours and hours.

This is my slang sized water barrel. Not a bad size for $1.25, 6 litres.

This woman caught my attention. She's just washing a dog but the dog looked so annoyed by the bath that it was quite funny.

This area of Makati might be "middle class" but the whole area looked like something out of a horror film.

The people there were friendly and didnt seem to mind if I took their pictures if I'd ask first.

This is just one of another new friends I have here now. This one, "Eddy boy" was drinking a beer sitting outside his home. Oh, and he had a fish with him. Who am I to think it's strange to be drinking a beer, smoking cigarettes with a fish out next to the street at 6 am.

Very nice fellow but wouldnt take no for an answer for drinking a beer with him. The fish was kinda cool too.

This is per SG's request although I dont have what the foods are. The first one has a patron at an open air diner eating what looked to be bleeding worms.

I had my translator ask him something about the food and he asked that I take his photo so that he "can go to the US", if only in pictures.

Cast iron stomach AND a sense of humor.

The second photo is from a vendor's cart in the Korean section. I was told what the packages are but they were so strange I forgot them.

The vendor thought it was quite funny that we'd want photos but my shyness about getting strange pictures has long passed.

This is just outside the hotel. It's a very interesting place at night with many interesting people wandering around.

Hot looking women never seemed to be so interested in me back home. I must be more interesting and handsome with age. :D

Most of the people here seem to want to be included with the photo somehow. If they see me taking a photo of something of theirs, like the motorcylce here, they want to be in that picture too.

Much different from the US.

The glass cleaner/ squeegee guy just asked as we were passing, "hey are you going to take my photo too".

How could I deny such a hardworking and friendly guy?

Thanks for you attention and interest. Thanks to Mr Toad too for the server space.

dude put up a flickr site then you won't be burning up UT's server space ,,, just hyperlink the pics .

Hogs head soup ,,,,,,,,, Yummmmy !!!!!!!!!!!!!

Get some pics of the girls intrested in you in front of the hotel !!!

Gosh, Slang, the food you photographed looks really appetizing and certainly no more dangerous than I have seen in Mexican mercados many times. They have wrapped it very nicely, and that helps a lot because in the wet markets you have to beat the flies off the food in order to examine it. One of the things I hope you can photograph is the LECHON, the roasted piglets which are tremendously popular there for parties. They are truly delicious, but you have to purchase the one you want before it has been standing out on the street in traffic all day. Lu has some great photos of those which she sent me before, maybe she can post them here.

Zippyt, yes, balut make you strong like bull. Filipino bull maybe, hee hee. But I have heard that the people who can't even afford balut have ANOTHER gross delicacy that they scavange as a substitute. It is so gross that I doubt Lu can be persuaded to tell us about it. There is also a tradition of releasing all the dogs in the pound to the homeless beggars on Friday afternoon. Yes, so they can have dinner :headshake Luisa's aunt rescued one of their own pet dogs from such a fate after it had escaped from their compound; she actually had a tug of war with a man who was just about to begin butchering the mutt.

Just some random thoughts from the day....


slang: So.... can you tell me again why is it that we're walking in the street as cars are passing when there is a sidewalk?
FR: That's what we do here. That's how we do it.
slang: Would you be terribly upset if I were to do my own demonstration of how we "do it" back in the US and walk on the sidewalk?


In Pembo climbing into a tricycle......

FR: Come on in, there's room for you here (points at a small space next to her)
Slang: Yeah but we'll need a rope to pull me out of that little space when we get back. ( I climb in hesitantly trying not to inhale the 2 stroke engine exhaust )

The driver hits the gas hard....and it stalls from the big load. Me. Kickstarts it, revs it up high...lets the clutch out and we start moving slowly as the sidecar brackets flex away from the bike.

Slang: I'd bet a peso that I weigh more than the two of you (pointing at the driver too)
FR: Dont be silly slang, you're fine
Slang: I'd bet another peso that next time we ride one of these fucking things I'm wearing a blindfold, holding the "last cigarette" in my lips, and have a crucafix dangling over my head.

...and the driver laughed out loud.

Silly boy, sidewalks are for cars passing in traffic or for parking, all Filipinos know that ;)

yes, what was i thinking?


im posting this from a cafe in pembo. the keyboard is very bad. we just took lots of photos of the wet market here.

im still looking for the pigs slit wide open and prepared for partys food. :)

more later.

At least the ones who've been to South Philadelphia.http://www.cellar.org/images/smilies/wink.gif

They let Filipinos into Sout' Philly? When did they start doing that?

Slang, the slit pigs that Tonchi was speaking of can be seen lining the streets of La Loma in Quezon City. They don't mind you taking shots of the pig. Just remember to include the butcher in it. Ask your friend if she knows about the Christmas lights lined village in Policarpio St. in Makati. (I could accompany you as well There are ways to skip the tricyle ride. How you managed to ride it without kicking a hole into the cab is a puzzlement to me.) It is a street where all the houses are decorated for the holidays and the home owners sell stuff flea market style ( Remember, bartering is key to buying anything on Philippine sidewalks) and you also get street food galore ! While you are here, try taking in some Bibingka (Glutinous rice cakes) and Puto Bumbong ( Rice cakes from a bamboo cylinder). Those are traditional holiday fare here that is available at street corners from November to December. You eat it with Salabat (ginger tea).

Keep that iron clad stomach ! And stay away from anybody drinking a beer and offering you food. Tourists get conned into eating either dog or cat meat with beer. Don't eat anything offered by street drinkers to be on the safe side.

FYI guys,

here is what a typical lechon in the Philippines looks like.

http://www.pinasgift.com/xmass2003/lechon.jpg

My guide finally allowed me to drink the beer with fast eddy that morning. This was after explaining that I only drink to capacity and not socially and always alone.

Reluctantly, I had one beer with no food.

Two hours later I was poised in front of the throne sweating bullets wondering how a tall, athletic American asskicker such as me could possibly be so negatively affected by ....one beer.

I dont think there was anything wrong with the beer but just the jetlag, anxiety from the trip prep and the total change in climate and location tweeked my system. Now I only smoke dope with the natives that want to be social and flatout refuse beer or food. :)

Did you by any chance have breakfast that morning before taking the beer? Filipino beer is known to give you the foreigners tummy aches and runs if you have it on an empty stomach. I warned you the local food and drinks isn't for the faint of heart and stomach. Fear Factor ain't got nothing on us. Filipino men specially seem to have intestines made from the highest grade of non-corrosive material on the planet, they could drink beer all day sans food and it won't have any effect whatsoever on them.

Did I mention that the first and last time I humored my friends and took a swig of beer, I was really sorry? not only did it look like urine but I believe it tasted the same as well. Horrid ! I'm never doing that again.

Play safe next time and tell them you would rather drink a Cali Shandy in either ICE or Pineapple flavor. That is a local cocktail that is made from malt but won't get you drunk nor give you the runs. It is a teen agers preparatory drink before graduating to the local beer.

:eek3: :eek: :vomitblu:

Wow! Thanks for the pictures, and the description of the food from Luisa. Needless to say, coming from a proper East End (London) background I am not really shocked by what other people eat, even if I wouldn't fancy it myself.

Offal is big news again in the more expensive restaurants here - River Cottage HQ served braised tongues & hearts as their Valentines Special for example :)

I've had trotters in my time & would certainly consider some slices of that pig's cheeks. Then again, thats probably the best cut.

I don't know how likely I'd be to eat food cooked at the roadside - would have to go with the opinion of someone I trusted. I had rampant diarrhea after having soup in a restaurant in Spain and yet no problems at all after eating from raod-side stalls in Sri Lanka. Go figure.

Keep up the good work Slang, whether its here or via a link to a website. I doubt I'll even go to the Philippines, so its a good chance to see something I won't see on the holiday programmes. More prices would be intersting (I can convert them into £ sterling).

Filipino men specially seem to have intestines made from the highest grade of non-corrosive material on the planet, they could drink beer all day sans food and it won't have any effect whatsoever on them.

San Mguel was tastey if i rember correctly , well it was cheap any way !!
They had a special edition out when i was there ( early 80's ) called redhorse , GOOOOD STUFF !!!!!
I bet it was the famaldihide that they put in the beer over the international date line to keep it from rotting in the bottle that messed with his stomic , you drink enough and after a few days you sound like you have a gravel truck in your throat !!!

They still make it !!!!!!!

http://www.redhorsebeer.com/index.asp

Good stuff , if i rember correctly , big bottle , strong stuff !!!!!

Red Horse Beer for MEN BUILT LIKE A HORSE! I was told it has quite a kick and only men used to stronger types of brews will survive it. Served in tall chilled bottles. Also comes in Junior sizes nowadays.

There are no descriptions with all these photos and they dont make a lot of sense without them.

These are the things that I'm seeing here. If you have a question about something post it and I'll try to answer.

I'm leaving the city tomorrow and moving into a "non-tourist" hotel in Pembo. There are cafes there but they suck donkey ass, bad keyboard, machine crashes out every 10 minutes, etc.

The photos directly before the hanging cow intestines shows the entry to the wet market. This was the point that the smell made me dry heave. It gets much worse after you get inside.

I saw a rat run from one floor drain to the other but couldnt get a shot because he was too fast and I wasnt expecting him.

n

n

exactly ***************************nothing************************** is working as it should and I just dont have the patience to monkey mother fuck around for hours and hours and god damn fucking hours for the simple things that should work without effort or thought.

Will post in a few weeks.

Slang, for heaven's sake and your own sanity, send Luisa a PM so she can help you. She even has cousins who own internet cafes and she has a car. Don't suffer unnecessarily, the *necessary* suffering is bad enough in Manila ;)

The intestines are usually used when cooking Kare-Kare, kilawin and other dishes that call for entrails, or boiled in vinegar and then deep fried and dipped in vinegar with chilis then eaten with steamed rice. Quite a delicacy. The same thing is done with chicken instestines.

I've regained my sanity if only temporarily.

We went to China town today in Manila and it was very interesting. I have about 300 photos from Manila just from our trip today.

It's a shame that some of them cannot be prepared or posted here now.

I moved into the cheaper hotel closer to her home today. The view from the roof shows all the homes and streets around that area.

It's not beautiful but interesting. Or sad, depending on your perspective.

Her nephew has told me that he can download the images and burn them on a CD.

With the use of his ( working ) computer some descriptions with the photos should be able to be prepared for a better presentation here.

I'm having a great time despite the rainly, hot weather but the computers here, even at the "upscale" cafes, are just not up to what Americans are accustomed to using.

More later.

This is from the biker bar here in Manila. It's nice to see full sized bikes for a change.

These were taken during the day and there werent many people there so I stole a few pics.

This one goes out to our very own Griff man and his goat farm. No, I didnt inquire about the goat.

It was advertised with several signs which must mean there is a lot of interest or none at all.

It was a funny thing to see out here anyway.

There are buildings here that just catch my eye as being cool. I dont know why because they really arent all that interesting compared to those in the US. This is one of many that were taken on a walk into Comembo

Simple concrete structures with rebar reinforcements. Some have some nice windows and some dont. Most of the block and mortar work are left ugly instead of adding some kind of stucco or something nice to see.

There are often downpours here that last 15-30 minutes and come without a lot of warning. The sun shines bright as normal but then it starts raining without the dark clouds that would normally indicate a storm coming.

I was stuck without cover in one of these downpours. One of the kids gestured me to come stand under the roof ledge for cover. I was much more concerned about the camera than getting wet as the rain always cools me off.

These are some pics of the kids playing in the rain. The saying "too dumb to come in out of the rain" kept running through my head but experiencing this firsthand here....it doesnt have the same significance as home. The rain will only fall for a short time and one doesnt risk getting a cold as the weather is so hot.

The kids here are very well behaved with me. Not one from away from the city has asked for money or tried to sell me junk.

The do however, tend to stand in the road around me. Yesterday I had to send them all home because they wouldnt stay out of the road as I walked around.

They may be well knowing kids here but in my mind I'm resposible for them and I insist on them not walking or playing in the road.

I've become a party pooper in two countries now.

Here is one of my favorite little actors. Though I wont likely see him again, he was very funny in actions and voices during one of my walks.

Those people that know me know how much I love to take photos. Not just photos but things different and also from differenet perspectives.

A few days ago I went to the hardware store to buy a board to attach the camera to so that the camera can be lifted into high positions for better shots.

Most everyone here thinks that this is the most ridiculous thing they have seen with me walking around with an 8 foot board with a cam attached.

Some of the photos with this technique have turned out pretty cool though.

These are some taken from about 15 feet above the street level.

Though this place is very poor with very low wages, natives and visitors seem to be willing to spend money on fast food.

Most of the fast food chains also deliver foods. This is from Wendy's down the street from the hotel.

If only this service was available in the US, i might not have to come out during the sunlight hours at all.