friends and family
I wish I had more time to update, it's so difficult getting any solid time on the internet when your relatives are taking you sightseeing. But at the moment I've got some computer time at my mom's cousin's place here in San Fernando. San Fernando is in the province of La Union, which is about 6 hours north of Manila. It's a beautiful area, quite different from Manila and the Visayas (the group of islands where Boracay is situated), but it has it's own charm. It's still pretty lush and tropical, but the beaches are less white sand than black sand. By the way, don't walk barefoot on black sand. I'll let you guess why.
Brief overview of our stay in Manila:
We ended up staying with our friend Trudy and her son Gerome. Funny thing is, we didn't even know who they were untl we first arrived here in the Philippines. They're not even related to us; they're friends of my mom's cousin Basion. Basion and Trudy met while they were travelling in California, where Trudy is from. Trudy came with Basion and her family to meet us at the airport, and next thing we know we get back from Boracay and I receive a text from them inviting us to stay at their condo in Makati! So we were there for the last three days. Gerome would take my brother and I sightseeing, including our trip to Cupcakes which was sooooo amazing I can't sleep at night without seeing cupcakes floating around me. Gerome also took us clubbing in the Malate area, where they have tons of bars lined up in a row, with everything from dancing to karaoke to the laid-back drinking atmosphere while listening to live acoustic bands play. Just a slice of the city life in Manila, which is much more vibrant than that of Vancouver. It was a nice departure from the ordinary.
I have to say that the contrast between the poor areas and the affluent areas is quite extreme. You will go from seeing people in tin and cardboard shacks and no clean water to amazingly high-tech malls and condos that are nicer and more sophisticated than what you see in most areas back home. All the malls tend to house high-end designer labels; you wouldn't think that they would have a market for it here considering that the majority of the population is well below the poverty line, and the middle-class citizens at the moment consider themselves to be less well-off than they were in the previous decade. But apparently the rich are disgustingly rich, and they buy to their heart's content. It's rather disconcerting.
As for San Fernando, Basion and her husband Rene were not there to pick us up last night as they were helping my cousin and her family with the wedding preparations in Baguio. So they sent Basion's brother Filising and his wife Norma to pick us up. I stayed with Tito Filising and Tita Norma for a few days when I was last in San Fernando, so it was great to see them again. And their brother Randy came with them as well, another face that I recognized from my last visit. It was so wonderful to see my mom excited and alive; these are cousins of hers that she hasn't seen for almost 30 years, so it's not surprising.
And today? We will be taking care of some little errands, such as laundry, buying a new cell phone (grrrrr...), and getting massages and facials. Okay, the last one is optional, but for CAD$5, who wouldn't get a massage??
More to come later :) Love!
Brief overview of our stay in Manila:
We ended up staying with our friend Trudy and her son Gerome. Funny thing is, we didn't even know who they were untl we first arrived here in the Philippines. They're not even related to us; they're friends of my mom's cousin Basion. Basion and Trudy met while they were travelling in California, where Trudy is from. Trudy came with Basion and her family to meet us at the airport, and next thing we know we get back from Boracay and I receive a text from them inviting us to stay at their condo in Makati! So we were there for the last three days. Gerome would take my brother and I sightseeing, including our trip to Cupcakes which was sooooo amazing I can't sleep at night without seeing cupcakes floating around me. Gerome also took us clubbing in the Malate area, where they have tons of bars lined up in a row, with everything from dancing to karaoke to the laid-back drinking atmosphere while listening to live acoustic bands play. Just a slice of the city life in Manila, which is much more vibrant than that of Vancouver. It was a nice departure from the ordinary.
I have to say that the contrast between the poor areas and the affluent areas is quite extreme. You will go from seeing people in tin and cardboard shacks and no clean water to amazingly high-tech malls and condos that are nicer and more sophisticated than what you see in most areas back home. All the malls tend to house high-end designer labels; you wouldn't think that they would have a market for it here considering that the majority of the population is well below the poverty line, and the middle-class citizens at the moment consider themselves to be less well-off than they were in the previous decade. But apparently the rich are disgustingly rich, and they buy to their heart's content. It's rather disconcerting.
As for San Fernando, Basion and her husband Rene were not there to pick us up last night as they were helping my cousin and her family with the wedding preparations in Baguio. So they sent Basion's brother Filising and his wife Norma to pick us up. I stayed with Tito Filising and Tita Norma for a few days when I was last in San Fernando, so it was great to see them again. And their brother Randy came with them as well, another face that I recognized from my last visit. It was so wonderful to see my mom excited and alive; these are cousins of hers that she hasn't seen for almost 30 years, so it's not surprising.
And today? We will be taking care of some little errands, such as laundry, buying a new cell phone (grrrrr...), and getting massages and facials. Okay, the last one is optional, but for CAD$5, who wouldn't get a massage??
More to come later :) Love!