Day 42 - Lolo's 80th Birthday Party

Today I got to celebrate the 80^th birthday of my friend Marvin's Lolo (grandfather). It was nice being included in a family celebration, even though no one really knew who I was.

We headed to the city of Batangas early in the morning so we could dodge the traffic of Metro Manila. There were so many toll roads to get there! I think you have to pay everytime you use one of the highways in the area, so we stopped at many tollbooths to collect tickets, and pay the fares.

We got there around late morning and I was introduced to everyone. They were all very friendly and made me feel at home. Again, it's times like these that make me miss home. I was just reminded of the family parties I would go to at my aunt's house whenever there was a holiday or big birthday celebration. Everyone was loud and raucous, just like my relatives at family functions.

Even though it was morning and I had already had a McDonald's breakfast, we started eating some of the food that was cooked. At these parties, food is eaten all throughout the day, with a siesta in the afternoon. I don't remember most of the names of what I ate, but I had some pancit, pig intestines, pig knuckles, pork rinds, and some other noodle dish...

After the first meal of the party, the karaoke machine was brought out – the same kind that I saw in Boracay, and all the grandchildren gathered around to use the machine. Marvin says that once the uncles get drunk in the afternoon, they take over the karaoke machine with their offtune renditions of various Filipino and English songs.

After lunch, we all sang 'Happy Birthday' to the man of the hour before the presentation of gifts from the Balikbayan Box. Some of the family members had just returned from a trip to the East Coast of the United States and brought back a Balikbayan box full of goodies for family members and the neighbors. Most of the stuff that was given to the grandchildren were clothing. Some of the other stuff I saw in the box was sponges and some bath products. I was a little confused why there were sponges in there. I would have thought that the Philippines would have their own high quality sponges to use, for cheaper than you could find in the states. Marvin didn't have a clue why sponges were brought back, but explained that the Balikbayan box is just a tradition that most Filipinos follow to bring things back for their neighbors and family members when they go on a trip.

Marvin and I took a bus back to Manila in the afternoon and decided to grab some dessert and a small snack at the Peninsula Hotel in Makati. The significance of this hotel was that it the location of the last attempted coup to oust the President at the time (November 29, 2007). Muntineers took control of the second floor of the hotel for several hours, before surrendering to governmental forces. Reporters were subsequently arrested during the action because they hindered the ability of the government to control the coup. There is a sort of reporter responsibility, and I wonder if there is anything written about that. Free and unbiased reporting, but not in a way that would hinder one's or another group's efforts?

Later on at night, Benny and I met at another CS event, only to see Sharapova lose at Wimbledon (sadness!). I met a couple of new CS friends there as well. They were all just testing it out for the first time, and I hope I inspired them to start travelling too! We all headed to another club in the city of Malate to end the night, drunk and happy.

Karaoke before the Uncle Take-Over

A Variation of Pancit with Thick Noodles

Drunk Tito Karaoke Take-Over!

Singing Happy Birthday to Lolo (with his Beautiful Lola)

A Picture with Lolo

Halo Halo Dessert - I thought it was too sweet for my tastebuds

Peninsula Hotel Makati

Day 38 - Boracay Island Day 2

The second day in Boracay was pretty much a duplicate of the first, and I think the next few days will be a wash, rinse, and repeat as well. I mean, what else is there really to do on a beach island than doze off under the sun, catch up on reading, drink beer, and take a dip in the calm and shallow waters? I thought this was the perfect plan, since I was not a fan of water sports.

I booked 3 nights here because I thought that would be the perfect amount of time for me to enjoy the location without getting bored. I'm don't think of myself as a beach person. Normally, I would go to the beach maybe twice a year, and even then, I would only lay under the sun for a couple of hours before finding any excuse to leave.

I think it was different here because the beach was just so beautiful, nothing like the dirtiness of OC or LA beaches. Also, the water was so calm that I could float in the waters without freaking out if a wave were to crash over me as I gulped down the salt water.

Mark and I decided to get breakfast in the morning and I tried Cornsisig for the first time, which was a plate consisting of fried eggs, rice, and corned beef. So far so good with the Filipino food. I wasn't so sure that I would enjoy the food here since most of it is pretty heavy and greasy.

We then headed to the beach again and picked a spot along the beach to chill out. I think we literally spent about 8 hours on the beach, getting slowly drunk off the beers. We talked a little about some of his aspirations, and he said he hoped to retire in 10 years, in his mid-thirties by investing in various real estate in the Philippines and Texas. One thing I liked about his plans were his ability to vocalize and externalize his hopes and dreams. The more you make it known to the world, and to yourself, the more likely something like this would come to fruition.

He then told me he had a fake eye, which I had been trying to figure out for the past two days because he didn't really look me in my eyes when he talked. It was funny because I told him I thought his fake eye was the one that was working when it was the other one all along.

By our 6^th beer or so, we started having a deep conversation about religion and whether there was an absolute truth in the universe. It's funny how drunkenness can lead to such conversations when I don't think I would normally talk about or express my ideas on such abstract topics. Being drunk, I don't remember much about what ideas were thrown around...

After beaching it, we headed back to the main shopping/restaurant area and attempted to scale the rock climbing wall there. I was a little nervous about the safety of the apparatus since I don't know what type of safety standards are used in the P.I., but my intoxication lead me to climb the Easy and Medium sections of the wall. Mark had trouble on the Medium section of the wall, and it was funny to see the crowd form around him.

Chad was at work the entire day, but invited me to his boss's 40^th birthday celebration at the end of the night. His boss was a woman from England who married a Filipino and settled in Boracay, owning a couple resort properties and a beauty product shop along the beach. It was here that I saw my first glimpse of the karaoke culture of Filipinos. No magic mic was used, but instead, a karaoke machine was rented with a television in the center and speakers attached on the bottom. Songs were sang in both tagalog and english. And we all had endless amounts of wine and rum and cokes before calling it a night.

The Rock Climbing Wall we scaled at night

Birthday Party at Boracay Hills Resort

A Must-Have at Every Filipino Party

What's in your Head? In your Head? ZOMBIE...ZOMBIE...ZOMBIE...