Just say NO!!!!

Culture is a funny thing sometimes.  In some ways, living in Manilla is not so different to anywhere else we've lived (other than the permanent tropical summer of course!).  In other ways, it's vastly different.  One thing that is hard to get used to is that nobody says no .... ever!

I went to the grocery store the other day and asked if they carried Pepperidge Farm's Goldfish crackers.  "Yes Mam" came the reply.  Oh good!  Where can I find them? The man helpfully pointed to the aisle and off I went.  Did I find Goldfish?  Nope.  Could I find the guy who helped me? Nope.  Ok, no problem.  I asked someone else.  "Yes Mam" came the reply .... off I went again and still no goldfish.  The important thing that I had forgotten is that nobody ever says no.  "Yes Mam" does not actually mean what it says.  It means "I have no idea what you are talking about".  The Filipinos are very lovely people and really don't like to say no, so they just say yes.  They also don't like confrontation ... smart people! ... so the first guy I asked was probably just hiding from me.  I've learned that you have to watch the enthusiasm that the "yes" is given with to judge if it really does mean yes!  If they had just said no, I would have saved alot of time!

Life is all about learning, and learning is what I'm doing :o)

MANILA, PHILIPPINES

Manila, we've arrived!!


So we have finally arrived at the latest destination of our travels.  18 months in the Philippines :)  The last three weeks have been pretty crazy, getting the kids adjusted to the time zone (it's 12 hours ahead of New York, so they were completely topsy turvy).  The kids are finally settled in their new school, CPC (Creative Play Corner) and loving it, and enjoying the afternoons at the hotel pool.  Life is good!

Random thoughts ......

* It's hot hot hot here!!!  The Philippines have two seasons.  Hot and Hot & Wet.  We are currently in the hot and wet season, so we've had a thunderstorm pretty much every day.  They only last an hour or so though, so swimming has not really been impacted.  The storms here are very impressive.

* Jeepneys are the local form of transport.  They are were initially made from the old WWII jeeps brightly decorated.  Now that the originals are no longer available, they are made from scratch keeping the original designs.  They are brightly decorated, usually with a reference to God somewhere on them.  They have no windows and no back door, so when you follow one, you can see everyone scrunched up on the two bench seats along the sides. I always worry that someone will fall out and land on our car!


The cost to ride is about 3 pesos (roughly 6 cents).  They are one of the main modes of transportation for the locals, although I've not yet seen an expat on one.  If there is no room on the jeepney, no worries!! Just hang on the back, or hop on top!!!



(photos courtesy of bing.com)

* Poverty is all around us.  It's sometimes hard to see.  Every morning, we leave our lovely air conditioned hotel, after having a lovely buffet breakfast in their restaurant.  We are met by our driver downstairs, who drives us to Fort Bonafacio to the kids school.  Along the way we see houses that are missing walls, roofs, floors, yet are fully occupied with families all huddling together.  A man sleeps on his tricycle (a motorbike with a covered sidecar, another mode of transportation for the locals). How he does not fall off the seat is a mystery to me.  Most mornings, we see a man and his son, sitting on the central divide of the road.  The son looks to be about M's age, and is completely naked with a protruding belly.  He just squats down and plays with the small rocks on the divide.  Every morning we drive past, every morning I just want to take him home with us and feed him.  It breaks my heart.  We are so lucky, yet alot of the time, we don't realize it.

* Men with guns!  Security is another thing to get used to here.  Every entrance to the mall involves going through a metal detectors and sometimes the guard (with a gun in his holster) will wave his wand over our bags.  Our car is checked every time we enter the underground parking to the hotel.  A sniffer dog is routinely waiting in the lobby.  Banks are guarded with men with machine guns ... don't know about you, but I feel pretty safe!

* Mam.  Yup, that's my new name!  I send Willie, our driver, a text to let him know we are on our way down.  He replies GUD MRNING MAM. THNX MAM ... he calls me Mam all the time. Ken is Sir Ken!  When I take the kids to school, there are loads of yayas there (the filipino carers who look after the kids ... kinda like a nanny).  They all sit in the entryway of the school and as I walk past, they all chorus "morning Mam!" Will anyone ever call me Priscille again!?!?

* The kids are stars!  Every member of staff in the hotel knows R & M.  If I dare walk through the lobby without them, I'm inundated with people asking where they are .. needless to say, the kids are loving the attention.

* The service here is amazing but takes getting used to.  The filipinos seem to have an amazing memory. I went to Rustans, a local grocery store, with Ken.  We did some shopping, Ken told the bagger we were at the Ascott and the bagger proceeded to push our groceries all the way back to the hotel.  I went to Rustans myself a few times and carried my groceries back myself (I'm independent!!  That and it never occurs to me to ask them!).  Well the last time, the bagger must have recognized me, because he bagged my groceries and while I was paying, he walked off with them!!!  Of course, I was flustered and thought he was running off with my groceries (enough people warn you about theft and you start to get paranoid). I caught up with him and he just smiled and said "Ascott Mam?" ... ummmm, yes, sure, why not!  Of course, now I'm wondering about tip .. I didn't pay attention to how much Ken had tipped last time.  I had a quick look in my wallet and saw two 20 peso notes, so I pulled them out and handed them to him.  He looked ever so grateful and off he went.  I hustled upstairs, checked my converter and was mortified that I'd tipped him less than a dollar, actually, less than 50 cents!  Well, I later learned that I had OVER tipped him!  I gave the guy an hours wages!  Well, I'm just going to keep on over tipping then, because if that's all the poor fella gets paid, then he needs the money.  I'll also have to remember to ask for them to push my groceries to the hotel!!!

* Massage is very big over here.  For a mere $6, you can have an hour massage, and they actually come to you.  Nice!!  Of course, they are not nearly as body conscious here as us Westerners.  Here, they are not shy and don't wait for you to discreetly get onto the table/bed.  They just stand there and yank your robe away while you dive face first onto the bed, as fast as humanly possible, while hoping they didn't see too much!!  First massage I had, I got a big shock when they massaged my bum!!!  My bum needed a massage? Really?  This is going to take some getting used to ... come to think of it, i've been sitting for awhile, better go get a massage ;o)

* Food is a tough one to get used to.  While they have some great mangos, everything else is taking getting used to.  At first glance, the grocery store looks quite familiar, like A&P or Stop & Shop, but then you realize that you can't understand the labels and have no idea what you are buying.  Ok, so off to the fish department.  Fish is fish right?  Shocked to find the fish department is actually swimming!!  People stand next to the fish tank with nets, you tell them what you want and they catch it for you ... ok, skip that one.  Go around another corner and walk into a giant sized bucket full of legs, wings, thighs, heads, feet ... thankfully no feathers ... ok, maybe vegetarian is the way to go ... found a jar of peanut butter and some bread ... ok, we won't starve!

Ok, so that was a little drastic, we can find some food that we recognize.  There is a european section and a small US section that we find food, and some food is pretty similar to ours.  I mean, I'm pretty sure it's spaghetti R was twirling around her fork earlier .....

Well that's all for now.  Gotta get some sleep .... will post some real pics soon .. just working up the courage to whip out my camera in public .. till the next time ....

Singapore

At the end of our trip in Oz, we popped over to Singapore for a couple of days.  First impressions?  Hot, hot hot and really really clean!  The public restrooms were the cleanest I've ever seen and they were all extremely kid friendly.

A great way to see Singapore, if you are only there for a short time, is the Singapore Flyer.  A huge big wheel that gives you views of Singapore.  Malaysia and Indonesia can also be seen in the distance.  The kids loved being able to run around the huge big cabin that we were in on the Flyer.  If we ever have the opportunity to go back, Singapore is a county I would love to explore further.  2 days just wasn't enough!

I should also mention that Singapore airport, Changi, is also a great place to stop over!  They have koi ponds, mediation rooms, game rooms and even a small cinema.  A nice place to relax before heading on the next part of your trip :o)

The Outback

No trip to Oz is complete without a visit to the Outback.  Of course, I was expecting to land in the Outback and discover Crocodile Dundee sitting on the nearest rock!  It was not at all what I expected.  For one, there was alot more green, and the ground was very red.  The distances driven were huge, and for hours we could drive and not see a single car.  It makes you realize that you need to be prepared, as if you break down, you can't count on someone driving past to help you out.  We had a momentary heart stopping moment, when our car got stuck in the mud (a wee bit of rain and your dirt road becomes a mud road).  Thankfully hubs was able to work the 4 wheel drive and get us out, but even so, my heart didn't stop banging for the the next hour!

We decided, for our trip, that we would fly into Mildura, on the outskirts of the Outback, and then drive up to Broken Hill.  Next to Broken Hill is a town called Silverton, although it's more like a ghost town now.  Although the name is not well known, the town is, as it's the town most widely used for movies set in the Outback.  It's also used in many Australian commercials.   The Silverton hotel, a bar, is still open and has the car from Mad Max II parked in front of it.  

Just past the town of Silverton, you can drive to the lookout that oversees the Mundi Mundi Plains. From here you can see multiple days drives, on a clear day, it's awe inspiring the distance you can see.  

What started off as a day trip was our drive to White Cliffs.  Our intention was to drive there (3.5 hours) and then drive back to Broken Hill in the afternoon.  With all the wildlife, it's not advisable to drive after dusk.  Getting hit by a kangaroo is not fun!  With rain clouds in sight (a drop of rain can close the one and only road) I was a little nervous, however once we arrived in White Cliffs and did a tour of PJ's Underground B&B, we decided to stay there for the night.  White Cliffs is an opal mining town, whose temps rarely get below 40C (104F).  To counteract the sometimes unbearable heat, the residents mainly live underground in the used mines, where the temp remains at a pretty constant 22C (71F).  PJ's is a B&B, but also an active mine.  Access to the mine is either through the 'roof' or through one of the bedrooms!  It was definately exciting to stay in an underground B&B, but when they had a power outage in the middle of the night, it was very dark and hard to get around.  Thankfully the iPhone has an app for that!! Hubby's flashlight app came in very handy.  

Our last stop was Mungo National Park.  Lake Mungo is an important site, as it's where the remains of Mungo Man (oldest human found in Oz) and Mungo Lady (oldest person in the world to be ritually cremated) were found.  The lake itself dried up over 15,000 years ago, leaving it's dried up banks, known as the Walls of China.  The lake is home to a lot of wildlife that has no qualms about crossing the road in front of your car.  Definately have to keep your eyes open while driving here!  

Note the 'big red' who was giving us the eye as we drove past.  Wouldn't want to cross him!  

On our trip we also stopped by to visit the home of the Royal Flying Doctors.  I thought it was just a TV show!  These amazing doctors bring medical aid to the entire Outback, often flying and landing in some pretty unusual conditions.  Nothing like a kangaroo bouncing down the runway!  

Another fun thing about the Outback ... locust swarms!!!  Not just something that happens in the bible! Driving down the road listening to splat, splat, splat as the locusts fly into our windshield.  Leaves quite a mess and can even cause your car to overheat ... too many bodies in the radiator!  That's definately something I won't miss. 

Alas it's time to return home as our adventures in Oz have come to an end.  Who knows where the Roaming Richmans will end up next!

Tasmania

Before leaving Oz, we really wanted to see more, so we headed to Tasmania for a quick visit.  Tassie is a beautiful, green, laid back island that really deserves more time to explore.  Alas we only had 4 days, but we packed in as much as we could.  Definately the most beautiful part was Cradle Mountain with an ice blue Dove Lake in view, but the rest of Tassie was pretty awesome too, (especially the fact that they serve normal sized coffees!).

After Cradle Mountain we drove to the beautiful Wine Glass Bay.  As we had the little'uns with us, we decided to only hike up as far as the look out ... although that in itself is an hour and a half hike.  Our peanut amazed us all and did the whole hike herself, while the little guy rode in style on daddy's shoulders.  Lucky him!!  

A nice little day trip is a visit to Bruny Island.  It's only accessible via boat (that carries cars too) and takes about 20 mins to get too.  It's a very small island, or technically two islands, North and South, connected by a thin strip of land.  It has a population of 600 but I think that the tourist industry is starting to suffer there.  It is, however, still a beautiful, quiet place to visit.  

I love that Oz has pies like back home in the UK.  Most pies are some form of beef (beef and bacon, beef and onion etc), although I generally have the vegetable one.  Hubby eats the meat ones and I like to have a bite.  I should have been suspicious when he didn't tell me what kind of meat pie he was eating, but I tried it anyway.  Then he flipped over the bag to show me what I was eating .. Wallaby!!!  Oh no!! At least he got me an apple pie too :o)  

Although our time in Tassie was short, we managed to squeeze in a trip to the Salamanca Market in Hobart and a drive up to Mt Washington to admire the views.  On our last day we stopped in at Port Arthur to see where all the convicts were taken, before we headed off to the airport.  Another great trip over :o(

The Gold Coast and FNQ

At the end of March, we were lucky to have Nana and Pop Pop come and visit us.  We decided that a trip was in order!  We set off for the Gold Coast spending a few days at Seaworld.  The kids loved it!  We stayed at the Seaworld Resort and were able to walk to the park.  Very handy when you have little ones.  There was a great section especially for the young'uns called Sesame Beach.  Much fun was had by all.

Then we jetted further North to Port Douglas for a visit to the Daintree Rainforest and the Great Barrier Reef.  I should have known that a tropical rainforest would be wet and steamy, but of course I was not prepared ... a raincoat would have been handy!

At the rainforest, we took a gondola ride over the tree tops to the village of Kuranda.  A quaint little town with plenty of gift shops to browse through, and a great market to find some local wares.  The highlight for me was finally getting to hold a koala.  Princess was the most docile koala ever and I just wanted to keep cuddling her forever <3  Alas I had to put her down, but not until everyone in the family had a chance to get a photo!  

Our last stop, even though it was a wet drizzly day, was the Great Barrier Reef.  The only way to reach the reef is via boat, so we took the Quicksilver boat out to one of the pontoons that floats on the Reef.  Armed with our underwater camera, we snorkeled out to see what we could see.  If the weather had been better, the Reef would have been a lot more colorful, but even if it was not super colorful, the shapes and beautiful designs of the coral was clearly evident.  

The blue wet suit is not the most flattering thing to wear!!

Our peanut surprised us all by suiting up, donning her mask and snorkel and diving into the ocean.  Clearly not phased by size of it!  We obviously have a little fish on our hands :o)

This was definately a great trip, one we would all love to do again one day.  Hopefully next time, we will get to the Reef on a nice sunny day. 

So much to do, so little time

As our adventure in Oz draws to a close, we are racing around trying to see as much as we possibly can before we leave.  It's been a whirlwind of a month!  Nana and Pop Pop came to visit end of March, and we jetted off to Queensland.  A quick 3 day stop on the Gold Coast to visit Seaworld, Movie world and a pit-stop in Brisbane, followed by quick flight up to the Far North to hug a koala and snorkel on the Great Barrier Reef before Nana and Pop Pop fly home.

Last week we hopped over to Tasmania for a quick visit.  Stopped at the Cataract Gorge, Cradle Mountain, Wineglass bay, Hobart, Salamanca Market, Bruny Island, Mt Wellington and finally Port Arthur before flying home, unpacking, repacking and heading to the Outback .. phew!  Tired?  I am!

So now we are in Broken Hill, NSW, having driven almost 300k through locust swarms surrounded by red dirt and nothingness.  A stark contrast to the lush greenness and rolling hills of Tassie. Today brought a quick visit to the Royal Flying Doctors of Australia ... wow!  Very humbling and inspiring to see what these people do, on a daily basis, to ensure that EVERYONE in the Outback, no matter who they are or where they are, can get free medical aid.

So you can see why my little blog has fallen by the wayside these past few weeks ... updates will be posted, along with photos very soon .. promise!!
xoxo