Makati City, Philippines

[slang]

I'm still here in Makati though it's been a while since I've posted here.

I've just recently recovered from a non life threatening but seriously painful and inconveint couple of infections. Oddly enough my wife has had the exact same infection but not as widespread.

This is actually open sores about the size of half dollars on the bottom of both my feet. Right in the arch, the sensitive part.

Sometimes in early December they first appeared with no signs of the serious pain they might cause. It took about 2 to 3 weeks for this to develop into something more serious.

This condition has kept me from leaving the house for about a month and for a period of about three weeks serious pain. As the sores continued to get worse I relented and started taking anti-biotics, which I would rather have not done. The topical regimen was just not working.

Having this type of wound on the bottom of your feet seriously limits your walking. I admit that more than a few times I was crawling to the bath room.

Now things are much better. I thought there would be very visible scars from this but everything is healing and feeling just as good as before the infection.

The source of the re-infection was those Tsinellas, the "flip-flops" as we call them in the US.

We would clean them regularly with fairly agressive cleaning solution but the trouble was that my weight compressing the foam on the flip flop would just reinfect the area again.

Just as the healing was gaining momentum, it would take again and go downhill.

This is not the worst thing that could happen to me here but surely not something that I want to repeat.

I threw the flip flops away but since they are the uplevel expensive brand, someone else picked them out and started wearing them. I explained the danger of using them but they were not at all concerned.

Now I put my boots in the freezer as well as cleaning with a specific anti-bacterial wash.

On the upside.....

I've found a business to develop here and I'm currently making steady money doing it. It's all on the net and many of the people here could do it with some practice. There is also a very BIG market for this type of thing.

Now to get all the legals and business side of this venture researched and in motion.

It's not going to make me personally much cash at all until we see a good number of people here making money at this.

This could easily provide 1000 to 15,000 pesos a month. That's a good income here and in a place that there are few jobs, I'm confident that this will be a geniune opportunity for the locals here.

When a bunch of people here succeed with it, I'll make some cash too. My cut is determined by the amount of money that people will earn.

[xoxoxoBruce]

Ponzi? Amway?

[glatt]

jeez slang, that sounds horrible. (The sores.) Glad you are on the mend.

[Griff]

Sounds icky. Mmmm... pyramid scheme.

[zippyt]

Gots to keep those feetz CLEAN !!!!!!
Infections grow FAST in tropical climates !!!

















So what is your web cam sex line address ??( just so'z I know where NOT to go !!! )

[slang]

There's no sex, pyramids, ponzis, or Amway involved with the developing venture.

It's all about English language services.

Would I start and run a porn biz here? I think all of that is illegal here. Anything you may find online with pinays working on cam are probably not in the Phils.

It's difficult to even find a mag with full frontal nudity locally here.

I'd double check that on Google to search down some Filipino smut but the spam would soon follow.

Now, if you want to rent a pinay to see some full frontal nudity, I've heard....that this is possible. No personal experience with that though.

English language services is my bag here. And no Zippy, that doesn't mean young girls talking dirty in English on the phone with some 1-900 line.

[slang]

A search online for Philippine internet porn produces results that suggest that online porn is illegal but that the laws are not enforced to prevent it here.

I can understand that. There's enough bribe money built into the profit margin with this sort of business that it doesn't matter what the laws might be here.

[slang]

Originally Posted by zippyt

Gots to keep those feetz CLEAN !!!!!!
Infections grow FAST in tropical climates !!!

The infection grew to a painful state after about 2 weeks of seeing it grow. It really wasn't fast.

The problem was the infected footware. I'd kept clean before then and since but was re-using the infected footware. Every time it would get better, the re-infection would start again.

Should have known that from the start but didn't. Live and learn.

[slang]

Originally Posted by glatt

jeez slang, that sounds horrible. (The sores.) Glad you are on the mend.

Thank you Glatt. My feet are smiling now.

Life is good. Now for the next challenge.

[slang]

Much more of my time is spent inside the comfort of our small abode lately. The temperatures are rising and it is increasingly hot and uncomfortable out and about during the day.

Now that I'm mobile again I've been going out on bike rides in the mornings.

Most of the time the ride ends at a friends newly acquired butcher shop where we talk about business ideas for the Philippines.

His shop sells pork and chicken only. As we talk the butcher cuts up the whole pigs into smaller and smaller portions. Some hang from a hook on a crossbar in the shop and some are just left on the ceramic tile counter.

The butcher cuts the meats and my pal skins the pigs heads as I drink a cup of instant coffee. I have my camera hanging from the strap around my neck but I've got a thousand photos of pigs heads and the blood, guts and flies of the process are just not interesting any more.

It's 5:30 am and the kids have just been dropped off or have walked to school. I stand in front of the shop and drink the coffee as I watch the sun come up.

Sometimes I seriously wonder what the fuck I'm doing here because from the outside it looks like such a desparate place.

It's still interesting to me though. People still stare and I still smile and wave to them. This is even more true with the olderly women. Their faces are so weatherd and worn. Their teeth are often missing and their hair is very grey.

I still love to see them smile and they usually do when I smile and wave to them.

For all the realities here, I still have a great deal of hope for common people in the coming years.

[slang]

Here's something a bit different.

Someone in the family here is having kidney troubles that have become increasingly more serious. The good news is that there is a kidney hospital here and that there is money for treatment.

The bad news is that a transplant is needed and this is not the only serious ailment that this person has.

In typical pinoy fashion, we all went to the hospital to accompany that one of ours. That means about 8 people ended up going plus the patient.

What is the quality of care at this special hospital? I can't make that judgement myself. It's one of the best if not the best place for such care here in the Philippines.

The hospital itself was newer but not new, very clean and looked very much like an American hospital.

Payment here is cash and to be paid immediately following services renderd.

This is the place for middle class and above pinoys.

The most obvious difference in the facilities that comes to mind is that in the US there is a large waiting area and that you register there and wait until the doctor is ready to see you.

At this hospital, the waiting area is directly outside of the doctor's door. There are chairs lined up in the halls next to each of the offices. You walk through the hallways past people sitting waiting.

There are no live chickens, pigs or voodoo doctors with painted faces at this hospital.

Here are a few walk and snap pics from inside.

[slang]

Here is the outside of the building.

Be sure to deposit your firearm with the guard on duty (so that they may evaluate it's worth and lose/sell it by the time that you return.)

[slang]

There is plenty of seating for the large numbers of people that come with people in need of treatment. The seats aren't all that comfortable or clean but there is a Rice in a Box concession there.

Fried rice with pork at just about a buck. Not exactly LeBec-Fin but something to tide you over for the long wait that you will surely have ahead of you.

[slang]

There are signs here that just grab your attention. Some have double meanings that you aren't sure are understood here, some are spin offs of words or phrases from the US and some are just plain strange.

This is from Pateros, the world's balut capital. It's early morning and I pass by this mysterious American facility, area 51.

Where are the little green men? Where are the bright lights in the sky?

Where is the security keeping me away?

It's hiding right out in plain sight. Very sneaky.

[Shawnee123]

That's where they make the Soylent Green, I bet.

As always, great pics.