Just Don't Talk With Your Mouth Full

Don't talk with your mouth full was something my siblings and I heard a lot as kids. After some years that changed for me to Hurry up and finish your food. I'm a slow eater.

I talk a lot during a meal. And if I don't talk with my mouth full it's obviously going to take a while longer to eat.

I could be anti-social and starve, too.

Here's just a few meals I've had over the past month that may have kept others waiting at the table:

July 20th in Bulacan:
Chicken, potatoes, and carrots.

Fresh bread and fish.

Spaghetti, shrimps, and marinara sauce.

After that meal we drove into town to buy chicharon (pork rinds):
A chicharon store.

Another chicharon store. Gee, she doesn't look too busy. Let's not buy any here. Wouldn't want to wake her!

How about here?

You readers may be interested to know all three of these shops are on one part of a small, mostly residential street full of nothing but shops selling chicharon. I took pictures of just these three because there was only enough room for eighty-six more shots on the memory card and I didn't want to run out. ^_^

That last shop had the doors open to their kitchen. So this is what it looks like when chicharon is being cooked.

As much as everybody that day loved chicharon, it is a snack mostly lost on me. I did eat some, and freshly prepared chicharon is better than pork rinds you buy in a bag in the grocery store that have been there for who-knows how long; but I'll never be addicted to it.

When our dear friend Opal was here for five weeks we went out to eat with her a lot.

And I mean a lot.

That isn't all we did, but that was most of it!

Thanks to my swimming laps most days and Opal doing the same every day, we have no titanic tummies to show for our meals, but we do have pictures to remember them by. August 7th:
Here's Opal at Sala, in Greenbelt.

Great food. It better be. Our meal was one third what some people in the Philippines earn in a month.

After dinner we went to a place owned by one of our friends (it is also in Greenbelt), Classic Confections.
Here's just to prove we were all there.

We recently discovered a new place in Greenbelt called Flapjacks. As the name implies, they specialize in breakfasts.

I'm a big fan of breakfasts at non-breakfast hours. A lot of restaurants don't understand that mentality here, especially when it comes to western ideas of breakfast foods.

Pancakes and waffles.

Sausage and bacon.

Eggs done any way you like.

(Aren't you hungry just reading this???)

We were pleased to add Flapjacks to our short list of places to go for a good breakfast meal. It was August 11th, the last opportunity we'd have to see Opal for a long time, and she was excited to try it as well!
Tastes as good as it looks, folks!

This last weekend we had dinner with some of Edson's friends from his student days at UP. This time we strayed from Greenbelt to Serendra, in Ft. Bonifacio, and dined at Tatami.

As is obvious from the name, it is a Japanese restaurant. It's quite good, too. We'll be back for several reasons:

1. Unlike many of their neighboring restaurants, they don't seem to charge extra just because they're located in "Ft. Bonifacio Global City". Their prices are on par with other better Japanese restaurants.

2. Edson got a Japanese curry dish that reminded him of those served at our favorite restaurant in Ithaca, NY.

3. My zaru soba noodle dish (lower left in photo below) was served over a bed of ice, which kept the noodles nicely chilled.
I did find it unusual that the music playing in the restaurant was all by Enya.

Culture clash you're thinking?

It actually reminded me of my first time in Japan, back in 1993. My friend Hideaki's girlfriend liked to be lulled to sleep by Enya at night.

Oh, there's actually a 4th reason to go back to Tatami: to give us a reason to get us out of Makati once in a while!

Much Or Do About Flying

Yes, you read the title correctly. I'm practicing my Filipino! And pretty much the way the English language was massacred in that title is the way aviation has been with the opening of the "new" Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 3.

For far too long the air traveler coming or going through Manila has suffered the dilapidated international and even worse domestic terminal. Those facilities compounded with the squatter settlements just outside are the first impressions for weary travelers to the Philippines.

The new terminal was constructed several years ago but remained vacant and unopened while lawsuits regarding its construction were dealt with. A few weeks ago Cebu Pacific Air was able to open in the new building. Not much else is there. Luggage carousels are still being installed. Food and beverage vendors operate out of makeshift temporary kiosks. And I believe the air conditioning is set to a bone-chilling 60 degrees Fahrenheit, if it's that high. Let's just say I've been warmer strolling the frozen food aisles of US grocery stores...even with the compartment doors open.

Adding to the growing pains is the lack of systems and procedures to operate the new terminal, resulting in incoming flights being delayed on the ground because planes are waiting for gates for disembarkation. Mind you, there are plenty of available gates, just nobody knowing what to do when they see an incoming plane. It is a big headache for Cebu Pacific, as they (and their passengers) are the guinea pig in this trial opening period.

Edson and I were among these last week. We were off to Boracay with his officemates. We were fortunate in our flight being only an hour late for departure.

Of course, what you really want are some pictures:
The new terminal.
Yes, we flew a turbo-prop! The airport off Boracay in Caticlan has a very short runway and cannot accommodate larger aircraft.
After a tricycle ride from the airport, we took the jetty to the island of Boracay.

Shortly after check-in at our hotel we went to eat. It is rainy season in the Philippines; and a bit of rain and wind greeted us as we were searching for a restaurant.

More on our Boracay adventure to come.

Fashion Week

The last week of May was Fashion Week in Manila. My friend Dice, doing an internship with designer John Herrera, invited me to some of the runway shows that week. Being busy with other things I was only able to attend on Thursday the 29th.

Dice said it would be best if I arrived around 5pm so I could get one of the best seats. I showed up at the venue at 5:15 and the guards let me in, showing me to the 2nd floor. I was led backstage, walked out around the runway and had my choice of seats. I figured the event would begin at six if I was supposed to be there at five.

Nope.

Six came and went. I'd been texting Dice and he said he was running errands or smoking. Before I knew it six had come and gone!

When do the doors open? I asked.

Six, Dice replied. I'm sitting up front.

But I was still the only person in the hall. Something was wrong.

So I headed downstairs and found a sea of people entering the hall and just a few minutes to spare before the show began. Apparently the guards had mistaken me for a model and led me upstairs and backstage so I could be ready for the show.

Sorry, I'm not model material. I'm not tall enough.

Anyway, I made it in just in time to enjoy the show.

This designer is fond of elaborate, carnival and Spanish-inspired headdresses:



Yes, this is a bird on my head and no, I'm not happy about it!

During some designer's shows, crowd-watching was more interesting than the collection.



If it looks like I'm walking with my back slung way back, it's because I am. I walk at a 45-degree angle! Going uphill, I'm level with the horizon.

I like my big glasses!

Looks like this designer was inspired by Bob Mackie's dress from Carol Burnett Show's Went With the Wind sketch:


His other pieces are wonderful though. Very deco/sculptural/architectural.



In menswear, we take a trip back to the 1980s. The shirt may read Fight the System now, but we know it wouldn't say anything if not for the shirts Frankie Goes to Hollywood and Wham! popularized in the mid-80s.

Other men's fashions also harkened back to the 1980s in colors and cut.





And what fashion show would be complete without a sheer-reared bikini on a muscled model? It takes quite the man to make a white sun hat go with that. It goes without saying this is not what I'll be wearing to the pool...unless magically I developed a body like this and who knows...


Again, what others were wearing was sometimes of more interest:

Lastly, across the aisle from us sat this group of ladies. Looking at the four the old Sesame Street "one of these things is not like the others..." song comes to mind.

So too does the vision of Sarah Jessica Parker's character Carrie Bradshaw in the Sex and the City movie.

In fact, it is that very woman in purple who recognized me and came up to speak with me after the show had ended. I'm not good remembering names and faces I see on irregular bases, so I mistook her for a model I had worked with back in November. Turns out she is Xie, the girlfriend of our friend Inaki's (sorry, still can't figure out how to type a tilde) brother, Manolo. We had met twice before; the last time in January or February. She either is good at remembering people, or my being the only white guy there made things incredibly easy for her. I was embarrassed, but not too much, as I am used to not recognizing people.

At the end of May, the only thing more fashionable than being at Fashion Week was having intestinal flu. Not to be left out, I had it two days after the show, as did Edson's brother and several of his friends (not that they attended the show). Does this mean I was at the height of fashion?! Good thing my friend Yucel studied medicine, and he came over to medicate me and tend to my hypochondria.

So there you have it. I was fashionable from head to...well...let's not go there!

How to Spend an Early Evening

Early evening is that time when the heat of the day begins to cool, the shadows grow long, and often magnificent sunsets appear!


Fortunately our condo unit is situated high enough up that our view of the famous Manila sunsets is one of the ideal views in Makati. It really only gets better if you actually go down to the bay to see it there.

That's a Fine???

I was in a cab en route to Intramuros for my bi-monthly visit to Immigration to renew my visa when the driver ran a red light and was pulled over by police.

Mind you, the policeman is on foot.

Yes, on foot!

That sounds pretty weird itself, but this is the Philippines and if I'm writing about it, you know it is going to get even weird-er.

The cabbie got out of the car and was given his ticket by the policeman and fined one hundred pesos (Php100).

One hundred!

All you Americans are thinking in dollars right now, aren't you? And you're thinking that in dollars that would be a reasonable fine for an infraction of that type, wouldn't you?

One dollar equals forty pesos right about now; so that fine was just around $2.50.

Two dollars!!!

The driver was complaining about the fine.

Complain?

In the US, people would run red lights all day if it only cost two-fifty!

Car Show

OK, this post is really, really late.

Kinda.

I was reminded to make this post while going through pictures I shot at the Manila Car Show because today (April 23rd) is my sister's birthday and she likes cars. So does my brother, who just had his birthday a few weeks ago, but the car show took place after his birthday. He reads this blog anyway, so he'll enjoy it all the same.

So, happy birthday Shari Krems! (Now you can Google yourself and this post will be included in the results. I know. You're thrilled.)

Anyway, at the beginning of April my friend Allan (you remember, the bodybuilder?) texted me asking if I wanted to go to the Car Show in Manila on the fifth.

Sure, I replied. (Pretty wordy of me, huh?)

So on the afternoon of Saturday, April 5th I found myself with Allan at the World Trade Center (It's a convention center in Manila) checking out what an auto show is like in the Philippines. Edson stayed at home to get some work done on his dissertation.

I've been to my fair share of auto shows in the states. Sometimes just to wander around. Sometimes to acquaint myself with the new offerings in the event I would have to buy a car to replace mine. Sometimes to help a friend get a hands-on look at different car choices without having to drive all over to see them.

It is said first impressions are everything. My first impression was that the World Trade Center was awfully small for a convention center in a city of over twelve million people...the country's capital city at that! What greeted me upon entering the center was the enormous exhibit of Chery, the Chinese car manufacturer.

And their cars, like this very, very narrow and tall minivan with little structural support and a gas tank located below the driver's seat. Yikes!

Subaru had women in black outfits with high-cut skirts to grab everyone's attention.

Another company had this girl in an unfortunate-looking silver outfit, also with the skirt cut very high.

She was attempting to get people to notice her so she could sell them that forklift behind her. It didn't seem to be working. No matter how high the cut of the skirt is, you're either looking for a forklift or you aren't. Skirts really don't matter a whole lot in that industry. Kudos to her and the agency who put her there if she was what sold a forklift that weekend!

At the Ford exhibit they displayed lots of SUVs and the Focus. One Focus, as a rally car, was popular so people could have their picture taken as a rally car driver alongside. Allan, sporting his new look (a.k.a. shaved head) is the model here.

GM had a Chevy display that looked as if it had seen every auto show in Manila since the Marcos era. (If anyone from GM is reading this, YOU NEED A NEW DISPLAY!!!) I decided not to photograph it as I only took my compact camera and the lighting back in that corner of the hall was so dim it couldn't take a good picture, not that that would have been possible under any light.

Chrysler showed off their Jeeps and the ever-popular 300 series, likely popular here due to its bold styling and presence in Bree's driveway on Desperate Housewives, which is as popular here as in the states.

There were also a handful of manufacturers from Korea and China I'd never heard of before showing products I'd never seen, even here.

Mercedes, Toyota, Nissan and Mazda had pretty ho-hum exhibits consisting of little more than the cars themselves. Honda had a continuously-running video countdown of every innovation the company has ever made, played at a volume loud enough for you to hear it wherever you were on that side of the center.

Nearby was a single guy overseeing a trio of motorcycles situated around a giant sign advertising what I presume to be the Filipino equivalent of Discovery Channel'sAmerican Chopper.

What was most interesting at the show wasn't what was in the main room, though. It was what was in the temporary annex outside. (The annex, I must note, is about half the size of the main building. Although its tent-like construction makes it look quite temporary, I can only assume by its appearance that it has been, and will continue to be, around for quite some time.)

Real cars. Boy, was I surprised to see these here!

Cars made out of lots of things like metal, instead of "composite materials".

Cars from when you could feel and hear the horsepower (and there was lots of it!).

Cars from a time before seat belts (you know, like school bus or a jeepney).

Cars you wouldn't dare drive around in today's traffic-snarled streets of inconsiderate idiots.