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Cities and Travel Tell us about where you are; tell us about where you want to be

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Old 11-26-2005, 01:15 PM   #16
slang
St Petersburg, Florida
 
Join Date: Oct 2002
Posts: 3,423
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?

not reality but sounded funny in my head.

See you all later.

Last edited by slang; 11-26-2005 at 01:17 PM.
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Old 11-26-2005, 04:53 PM   #17
Tonchi
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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.
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Old 11-26-2005, 10:32 PM   #18
zippyt
LONG LIVE KING ZIPPY! per Feetz
 
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Dude you ain't got a hair one on your as if you don't eat at least ONE Balut while you are there !!!!
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Old 11-26-2005, 10:56 PM   #19
Tonchi
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I assume that zippyt is aware that the locals say the balut increases your sexual potency?

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
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Old 11-26-2005, 11:14 PM   #20
zippyt
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Balut,,
It makes you STRONG like BULL !!!!!!!
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Old 11-27-2005, 02:03 AM   #21
slang
St Petersburg, Florida
 
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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.

Last edited by slang; 11-27-2005 at 02:33 AM.
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Old 11-27-2005, 02:05 AM   #22
slang
St Petersburg, Florida
 
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Severed pig's head; it's what's for dinner. Looks yummy doesnt it?
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Old 11-27-2005, 02:06 AM   #23
slang
St Petersburg, Florida
 
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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.
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Old 11-27-2005, 02:11 AM   #24
slang
St Petersburg, Florida
 
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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.
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Old 11-27-2005, 02:15 AM   #25
slang
St Petersburg, Florida
 
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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.
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Old 11-27-2005, 02:18 AM   #26
slang
St Petersburg, Florida
 
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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.
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Old 11-27-2005, 02:22 AM   #27
slang
St Petersburg, Florida
 
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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.
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Old 11-27-2005, 02:28 AM   #28
slang
St Petersburg, Florida
 
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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.
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Old 11-27-2005, 02:32 AM   #29
slang
St Petersburg, Florida
 
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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
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Old 11-27-2005, 02:38 AM   #30
slang
St Petersburg, Florida
 
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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?
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