The children’s playground is the tomb where they hop from one tomb to the next. It is just a big concrete park to them. This is where they grow up and learn the names of the dead and help those like my friend find love ones after years of being away.
Wednesday, January 26, 2005
A place for the living?
In most big cemeteries in the Philippines they are not only occupied by the dead, but by also families that live there. Some are paid by the families to take of the tomb or mausoleums. And some are just squatter that claim a spot of land and set up their home. This spot of land is usually in a mausoleum or near it. During bad weather they take shelter inside the bigger enclosures.
Tomb hopping
Last weekend I had an interesting experience, A friend of mine wanted to go visit her father who has been buried in one of Manila’s best know cemeteries, North GreenHills.
From the Makati city to Mandaluyong City it took most of 90 minutes to traverse the Friday morning traffic. Upon arrival you are greeted with vendors selling everything from candles to flowers.
We eventually found the road that her father is supposed to be buried near. This is where it gets interesting.
Her father is in a tomb that is considered a condominium. In the Philippines space is at a premium so the dead are stacked on top of each other if you don’t have enough money to actually buy a plot of land.
To get to the tomb we had to walk a distance. This included something I and most westerners have never done, walk between tombs and if necessary on top of them to get to a stairway that allows you to get to the tombs that are stacked on top of each other.
From the Makati city to Mandaluyong City it took most of 90 minutes to traverse the Friday morning traffic. Upon arrival you are greeted with vendors selling everything from candles to flowers.
We eventually found the road that her father is supposed to be buried near. This is where it gets interesting.
Her father is in a tomb that is considered a condominium. In the Philippines space is at a premium so the dead are stacked on top of each other if you don’t have enough money to actually buy a plot of land.
To get to the tomb we had to walk a distance. This included something I and most westerners have never done, walk between tombs and if necessary on top of them to get to a stairway that allows you to get to the tombs that are stacked on top of each other.
Saturday, January 15, 2005
Leg room???
The truck is powered by a 3-cylinder engine and even has air conditioner. The legroom for us that are a little taller is not much. Not much head room either. the truck runs a total of $7K US. The dealer was happy to let me try it out. Even took pictures to show the general manager.
Not my size
To all my friends that know me, I am not a small guy. But this is definitely a one size does not fit all issue. This 2005 Yamaha made pickup truck was being showcased at one of the malls in Manila. I figured why not try it out.
Monday, January 10, 2005
Caddy and Umbrella girl
Being an avid golfer in the US I have never played where someone else carried my clubs or catered to me while I was on the course. But low and behold at every course here a caddy is a requirement. And because of the temperatures in the country a umbrella girl is a good idea. Meet Fernando and April. They are the people that help me navigate one of my favorite courses in Manila, Villamour GC. This is a course that is located on a Philippine air base and is open to the public. The sole reason for the umbrella girl to is to keep the sun off of you. Regardless of what time you tee off it is hot and humid, usually around 85 to 90 degrees with 65 to 80 percent humidity, more so as it gets to be around 10AM until dark. So if you want to experience the feeling of being on tour and having someone give you the yardage, knows every break in the greens as well as speed then you should make a trip here.
Sunday, January 09, 2005
Driving range ball boy
I am an avid golfer. I will play and practice every chance that I get. In the Philippines as in most Far East countries golf is considered a rich mans sport. As such every amenity is afforded to the player. This includes the driving range. At the range you arrive and a range boy comes over and gets your clubs. You choose your practice stall and then he will go and get the balls for you. In the US on the range you go get your own balls and place the bucket next to you and tee them up yourself. In the Philippines the range boy sits inside of your stall and tees the ball up for you. When I first encountered this he made me nervous the first couple of swings, because I kept thinking I was going to hit him. After a while you get used to his presence and continue on with your practice. Most practice facilities have clay as the base of the stall instead of a mat. This makes it difficult to work on shots that you are trying to shape or check your divot for as it pertains to your line up.
Ox Cart
The old and new make their way through traffic during the early morning hours of Metro Manila traffic. This Ox Cart carrying baskets ddn't seemed phased as he traversed an intersection among the Jeepneys who will go anywhere to try to get around the old mode of transportation.
Saturday, January 08, 2005
Garage cleaning
Imagine that your job everyday was to mop by hand the 8th floor parking garage. Well that is this gentlemens job in my office building. It takes him several hours to complete the task all the while cars are going in an out. Kind of hard to place a slippery when wet sign up while the building is in operation, which is 24x7.
Secured Entrance
Security is an everyday thing in this country. You can not enter a buidling or a parking garage without your person or vehicle checked. This is the entrance to the parking garage of my office building which at the time was a 40 story building. In the US we take security for granted. But I guess after 9/11 we have become more diligent knowing that you can be reached from anywhere in the world.
Makati City skyline at 8AM
From the 28th floor of my office the Makati City skyline is very pretty. You can see a long ways as long as the smog has cleared. There always seems to be construction happening everywhere as more tall skyscrapers are being built. Most of the money comes from offshore companies.
Friday, January 07, 2005
Morning traffic
More on traffic and laws. One day when leaving work the driver decided to try a short cut. This street is not a one-way street although it looks that way in the picture. Driver decide that all lanes need to go a certain way regardless if they are on the wrong side of the street. My driver waited almost 20 minutes while traffic cleared to go up this street. He could have easily turned around and taken a different way back to the hotel, but I was not one that was going to tell him. Back seat driving is ignored here. Better to just go with the flow.
Jeepney Cab - Morning work
The main mode of transportation in this country is Jeepney. The army jeeps left by the United States after the Second World War inspired the making of these vehicles. Artworks of painstaking detail are often seen on the shining chrome bodies of these vehicles, which, as earlier said, are copies of army jeeps, resized and remodeled to accommodate commuting passengers numbering from 20 to 30 all in all. You will see more of these vehicles later as I have started a series on these very colorful vehicles. It cost a minimum of 5 pesos to ride one of these, (Exchange rate is 56 pesos to the dollar) so basically 9 cents.
McDonalds Kiosks outside Green Hills Mall
I have seen plenty of kiosks in my time, but this is the first time I have seen a McDonalds outside of the a mall. This particular place served yogurt and ice cream, and anything that didn’t need a fryer. 2 people always manned the booth. Oh yes if you are wondering 40% of the country is Muslim. This place was located in a town call San Juan outside of a mall called Green Hills. This particular mall is a favorite among those that frequent this country. We also call the “Black Market†mall. More on why later.
Traffic around the hotel
Traffic is always an issue when you live on an island. Even though most of the people in the country cant afford a car, you will take notice that most of the cars are brand new. These mostly belong to those that have relatives in the states or who work 6 months a year abroad and come home with cash to burn. The other thing about traffic here is that all traffic laws are suggestions not laws. The horn and the signal are key to surviving this. It is not uncommon for your driver to make a U-Turn from the far right lane and cut across 4 lanes of traffic. Road rage is not an issue here as this type of driving is expected.
Greg Teaderman clowning with the Jolibee mascot
My friend and co-worker Greg Teaderman has fun with the Jollibee Mascot.
Greg with Jollibee Mascot
Jollibees is a big fast food chain in this part of the country. It rivals McDonalds in the US. Outside of every restaurant there is a statue of the Jollibee, Being a tourist at this time my friends and I decided to have fun with it. Since it was outside we were a hit with patrons eating inside.
Glorietta Mall - Makati City
This is the inside of the mall that sits below the Oakwood. It is 6 stories tall. The 2nd floor is strictly a food court. The mall is shaped like an octagon. On any given day it is always packed. The middle area as held everything from a super hero day to actually concerts. Most Filipino come to the malls not to spend money but to have a family outing as it is air-conditioned. You say why would they do that. Most of the homes on the islands have no air-conditioning. Most that visit the mall can not even afford to shop there.
Thursday, January 06, 2005
Security checkpoint Makati
In the Philippines, especially Makati City, the business district of Manila, security is very tight. All cars are searched before entering the parking garage beneath the hotel. This is a common practice at any building where cars park.
Oakwood Premiere - The left tower 30 floors tall
Here a link to the hotel. www.oakwood.com/action/oakwood/profile/propertyOverview
It is infamous place was we found out. In August of 2003 it was taken over by a military coup and wrapped in C4 (plastic explosives), from then on it was just called Oakwood.
It is infamous place was we found out. In August of 2003 it was taken over by a military coup and wrapped in C4 (plastic explosives), from then on it was just called Oakwood.
Oakwood Premiere - The right tower 30 floors tall
This hotel is very spacious inside. The lobby is located on the 6th floor. All the other floors below that belong to the very big mall the hotel sits on called Glorietta.
Oakwood Premiere - Makati City
A 5 star extended stay hotel in Makati. This is where the team stayed for 2.5 months while we trained the Filipinos workers on how to fix Apple computers using the internet.
Wednesday, January 05, 2005
'King of the world' - Makati skyline...
This is the start how life makes me feel when I am traveling.In January of 2004 my company, a major ISP decided that it would outsource all of the customer service and technical support jobs to various companies. One of the companies was based in Manila, Philippines. Being the adventurous type I volunteered to help train the new employees in technical support for the Macintosh. This trip was only supposed to last from February 2004 until April 2004. Well I was recruited to run a contact center in another city in the Philippines, in a placed called Cebu. This island is located about 500 miles south of Manila. I have now been in the country for over 11 months with about 6 months left. This is an on going story of my journey.
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