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Well, in case anyone has missed the weekly novelette, we're still
alive and still in the Philippines. We've been laying low in Manila
for a few weeks to give you all time to finish reading our last email.
Monday we leave for home, so we thought we'd send you a recap of what
we've been doing lately.
We took the ferry from Bohol back to Cebu (this time the movie was the
comic book comedy "HellBoy") a few weeks ago and rode a bus up to the
very northern tip of Cebu Island. There, at the end of civilization,
is a little dock where boats leave every hour or so (whenever they're
full) for Malapascua, the latest on a long list of islands dubbed "the
next Boracay." We'd planned to spend two and a half weeks relaxing on
the white sand beach and staying in a picturesque little nipa hut at
fabulous off-season prices, in the very pinnacle of our vacation to
the Philippines. The awful truth began to dawn on us as Axa and Sarah
sat in the blistering heat that threatened rain and Tony inquired
about prices. We discovered that the island has electricity (and thus,
air conditioning, or even fans) for only about five hours a day. More
expensive resorts have their own generator, but they don't like to run
it. If you're the only customer staying and you want electricity, the
price of running the generator for the whole resort is effectively
added to your bill. So, bizzarely, during off-season (which is
off-season because you may be stuck in your room or delayed for five
days or swept of your tiny boat and drowned because of a monsoon)
rates are tripled or quadrupled. We settled down, rather unhappily, in
a little hut with two small beds enclosed in much-needed mosquito
nets. Even at one of the most expensive resort on the island, the
electricity went off for a few hours every day. Right behind our room was
a noisy disco that pumped out the same three chords and beat until two
in the morning, and was full of drunken Germans whose cigarette smoke
drifted into our window all night. Whenever we ventured out of our hut
(even just to sit on the front porch), we were assailed by a flock of
masseuses, desperate for off-season business. Tony took one up on the
offer, but was eaten alive by mosquitos as he received a very average
massage. As soon as she finished, the masseuse tried to schedule
another massage. Dismayed, we realized that we still had an entire
month left in the Philippines. Our reasearch was finished, and so was
any remaining desire to vacation. We combed the island for an
internet cafe so we could change our flight. Three phone calls
later, we realized the airline wouldn't do it, and we would have to
somehow survive another month. But we couldn't do that surviving on
Malapascua. We took the next boat in to the mainland, rode the
four-hour bus back to Cebu City, changed our superferry tickets, and
checked in to a pension house, where we almost cried when we turned on
the air conditioning.
After a good air-conditioned night's rest, we decided since we were
back in Cebu we would hit a few attractions. We turned up at one of
the best-preserved old Spanish houses in the Philippines around noon,
and were informed by the staff that it was closed for restoration and
fortification for the next few months. Tony spun a yarn (only slightly
exaggerated) about how the only thing we had come to the Philippines
to see were old Spanish houses, and we had already been to Vigan, and
Sarah speaks Spanish, and her mom went on a mission to Spain and we
gave our daughter a Spanish name, and we came all the way from
America, and dropped some names like the curator of the museum in
Baguio who is an expert on Ifugao mummification, and said we would be
so, so, so disappointed if we couldn't at least take a peak at the
house. The architect who was overseeing the renovation happened to be
there, and thought he had found some kindred spirits. He ended up
taking us upstairs (where everything was in fact covered in sheets and
disarranged) and telling us a little about the house, while we did
our best to remember everything we knew about Spanish architecture
(admittedly not much) and sound intelligent. It really was a beautiful
old house, and we were inspired to go home and learn more about period
architecture.
Rumor had it that the local university had a museum with a six-legged
carabao (water-buffalo). We perused a jumbled and dusty collection of
butterflies, old stone
coffins, pottery, seashells, and amateur taxidermy, but were unable to
locate the six-legged carabao. When we asked the curator, she informed
us that it was displayed at the other campus on the other side of the
city. Undaunted, we took an hour-long jeepney ride up to the second
campus to an even smaller and dingier museum run by a
formaldehyde-drunken student. Although photography was forbidden, Tony
felt he had earned the right to one photo. He sureptitiously captured
the six-legged carabao, and we include it here.
The next night Axa came down with a fever and Mommy and Daddy
panicked. Two X-Rays, several expensive cell phone calls to Grandpa
(Doctor) Bringhurst, and three visits to the hospital later (during
which Axa feigned contented smiley, healthy babyness to all the
medical personnel who examined her) the exhausted parents were finally
convinced that she was not at death's door. We all slept much better
the next few nights, and our Superferry ride back to Manila was
uneventful.
Back in Manila, we checked into the same pension house we'd stayed at
twice before (we chose them because they were the only ones whose
phone was not disconnected or manned by people who hung up when we
spoke English to them). But we do like it here at Pension Natividad.
They gave us a discount for staying three weeks and a table in our
room, so it almost feels like home. It's fun to see the guests come
and go. The days do kind of run together. Monsoon season has begun in
force, so we don't do much. Some days it rains continuously day and
night. Some days it stops for an hour or so before resuming. The
amount of flooding in various sections of Manila depends on their
respective infrastructures. We've included a picture of our
neighborhood after a rain. Mostly we just relax, eat at at cheap
nearby restaurants, and check our email. We had a sushi date the other
day, since the price of sushi will become suddenly prohibitive when we
return to the States. One day we went down to Baywalk and got tatoos
(henna, of course). Tony got so bored one day he shaved off his
goatee. The most interesting thing in our lives (besides reading the
latest on "Gloriagate" and the "Cha-Cha" (Filipino politics at its
best)) is watching the other guests at the pension house. Most stay a
few days and then move on from Manila. The only other long-term guest
at the pension house we dubbed Crazy Ralph, because we don't know his
real name. He's a very decrepit-looking Oregonian who shuffles around
with a brush and smells very earthy. We made his acquaintance one day
when he decided to tell us a very confusing story about a run-in with
muggers and security guards, in
which he claims he shot and killed two Filipinos. We don't know if
it's true, but we have seen representatives of the U.S. embassy
visiting him on two occasions and offering to fly him back to the
States for medical treatment (we don't know if it's physical or
psychological). He claims to be a general, so maybe that explains the
V.I.P. treatment.
Axa has been exploring the world in a more interactive way lately. She
loves reading. Her favorite book is Drummer Hoff, and she reads it
with Mommy, with Daddy, and by herself. She is sitting up and crawling
now, or at least scooting and tumbling. She looks forward to seeing
her Grandmas and Grandpas and family and friends in a few days, as do
Tony and Sarah.
For anyone who has already purchased a vacation package to the
Philippines based on our previous glowing reports, please understand.
We're not trying to discourage you. We're just vacationed out. We'll
try to psyche ourselves up enough to send you a synopsis of our
whirlwind tour of Hong Kong next week. We hope you're all well, and
we're excited to kiss the ground of America and see you all again.
Love,
Tony, Sarah and Axa
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who fired it off? |
bay walk day/night |
getting henna tatoos on bay walk |
sushi date |
Malapasqua |
a street flooded during monsoon season |
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