We're going home!

Flying home tomorrow! IBM pays for us to go home once a year. So tomorrow morning we get on a couple of plans for 22 hours to go back to Arlington, Texas. Four hours from Manila to Tokyo, four hours sitting in the airport (should be a thrill) and fourteen hours to DFW. I am planning on gaining at least 8 pounds through constant eating at Chick Fil A, On the Border, Abeulo's and Mama's Pizza. I am even wanting Sonic. Weird.

We get to stay for 2 1/2 weeks. Should be fun and should be cold. We are still in the upper 80s and lower 90s here in the Phillipines. I am ready to go! Been five months since we have seen my family and Terri's and lots of friends. I know my parents are very anxious.

Christmas for the poor

We gave each of our workers 2,000 pesos ($40) in gift cards to buy christmas presents. Both Eddie and Butch, our drivers, have little girls. They were so excited because they were able to buy them a simple church dress and shoes. That is all their kids are getting for Christmas. Apparently, most years they don't get anything. Christmas here is more about being together with family than it is about gifts. The top 10% here buy most of the gifts, so there is plenty of that. Like Terri said in another post. But the poor, obviously, don't.

I also found out that Santa Claus is not a big deal here. Most children don't believe in him since they don't get any gifts. Wow! A place where Christmas is about Jesus and family. What a concept!

Manny Pacquiao

Not sure if you know who this is. He is the Filipino boxer who defeated Oscar de la Hoya this last weekend in a pretty big bout. He was the underdog and still won. In the boxing world he is considered the best pound-for-pound boxer in the world right now. He has won four titles in four different weight divisions.

Reason I bring him up is how hugely popular he is here. In the US we are so used to having "superstars" that are globally known in many categories. So many to choose from and follow. Probably not too many Filipinos you can name off the top of your head except for Imelda Marcos and her shoe collection. So, in a smaller country who has someone who is the best in their field in the world, they become a national hero.

The entire country nearly shuts down when he fights. Most of the theaters turn into a pay per view event. You can see it at malls, churches, everywhere. The paper reported there was no crime in the entire country during the fight.

Certainly interesting to see the pride in the people I work with. Everyone has total faith in him even when he is a heavy underdog. Kind of cool.

We joined a country club

I have never been a member of a country club before. However, we are talking $150 per month for all four of us. Big drawback is this club does not have a golf course. So why join you ask. It has three restaurants (Japanese, Continental and American/Asian), a bakery, four swimming pools, tennis, badminton and squash courts, basketball gym, rock climbing wall, etc. It is really nice and fairly new.

We all play badminton 2-3 times per week. I hear the snickering. But after an hour I am totally soaked with sweat. I am too slow to play tennis anymore, but this has many of the same skills needed. Those that are really good at this hit slam after slam. So it is quite the workout. Of course, it is not air-conditioned. Maybe that has something to do with it.

Our Drivers

I can't believe I haven't introduced you to our drivers, Eddie and Butch.

That's Eddie on the left and Butch on the right. I purchased the Toyota Fortuner on the left and the Toyota Camry on the right from two other expats. These guys are amazing. You never know what you are going to get when you hire someone local that you have never met before. Eddie lives with us. He has a small room downstairs by the gym with a bathroom. Check out the pics of the house and you will see it. Butch lives 20 min away and has his own motorcycle. So I let him stay with his family. Both of them have wives and small children. They each get one day off a week, Eddie on Saturday and Butch on Sunday.

Expat drivers usually make twice what drivers from local people make. But they are well worth it. They speak broken english but are very nice. They alternate between me and Terri. One will take the boys to school and run errands with Terri and pick the boys up, while the other is stuck driving me to work all day. They take me to work and sit in the parking garage for the next 10-12 hours. There are other drivers down there, but it has to be mind-numbing sitting there all day.

Now the great part of this is that they handwash our car everyday. EVERYDAY!!! Actually after they drive one way, while they are waiting on us, they will take out a cloth and clean it inside and out. Crazy. But all drivers do this. They also take care of cleaning the gardens, garage, sidewalk, etc. They don't like to be bored so they will pick up every leaf on the ground.

So we aren't doing this because it is cheap to have them, driving is quite the adventure. We can now figure out how to get from Point A to Point B. The problem is if the road is blocked or closed we would be in trouble. And you never know when that will happen.

We are very fortunate and blessed that we have Eddie and Butch.

Christmas season begins in October-No Really..

Christmas in the Philippines is huge! There are really no guidelines as to when the season begins, and since there is no Thanksgiving holiday holding back the celebration, it actually starts creeping up on you in September. That is when I heard the first Christmas music, and by mid October, many of the decorations are beginning to go up in the stores, and malls.

It felt kind of funny to be serenaded by Karen Carpenters' "Merry Christmas Darling", as I searched through the Halloween candy for jelly eyeballs.

What is really funny is that when we went to Singapore Oct. 31st, their country was even further ahead! They already had decorations up at the airport and the street lights and sidewalks were already beautifully made up for the holiday season.

I never realized that while we were all making pumpkin pies and looking for the recipe for Grandma's Cornbread Dressing, the whole continent of Asia had started the party without us!

Christmas in a tropical climate is a dramatic change from what we are used to. I like seeing Palm trees decorated with snow flakes, but it is difficult to weave the Christmas lights around the Hibiscus plants without breaking off the flowers!

Since we will be in the states for Christmas, I had not planned to decorate, but after seeing the neighbors go all out, I am feeling the pressure to buy a tree, or at least some yard art. After all, who wants to be the Kranks?

Hangin' with the Ambassador

No, we are not that special. Once a year, the ambassador opens her home to all new US expats. So Terri and I got dressed up like we were going to prom. We got there a little late...probably 100 people there. Unfortunately, it was the same day that the UN Secretary General came to town. So she wasn't even there as she had to leave to meet him.

Well, we got to hang out at the house which was huge with very nice gardens. It was a old house, as every ambassador that is sent here moves in to the same house. And with Obama in office, she is probably on her way home and we will get a new one. Not a thrilling evening, but I can check off "hangin' at the ambassador's house" off my list. Here is proof.

Our house is famous

PG-13 WARNING!!!

As many of you know, our house was home to a teenage Filipino TV star, model and champion race car driver. Obviously, he ran in show business circles. As a result, a local girl band, the Kitty Girls, make a video in our house. Here it is on You Tube. Kind of weird to say the least. This video runs on the local MTV channel.

They are all over the house. After the initial sequence, one of the girls starts out in Brennan's bed, then the guest bed, our kitchen, TV room, swimming pool, living room and even the workout room downstairs with the heavy bag and the mirrors.

I gave the warning up at the beginning. The girls are very pretty and not covered up too well. Actually, that is an under statement. My boys were allowed to see it once.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tfJ-JjUZ5HU

Food Combinations

I have told you about interesting restaurants and foods that we have encountered. Here is another one we found in Singapore. It is just a donut shop, but we found this pretty funny. I know there motto will get you hungry.

Donut and bean made fresh!

Singaporean Custom

Forgot to tell you this. I found it quite intriguing. If anyone hands something to you, they always use both hands. This includes change when buying things at a store, a room key at the hotel, a business card, tickets at the zoo. Anything we were handed they would always present with both hands, no matter how small. Even change from the cab drivers.

I have heard that they do this in other Asian countries, but this is the first time we experienced it. They are very polite.

Singapore Zoo

What's up, everyone? The Singapore Zoo was our last stop. It was purty cool. There were lots animals there. I saw my first Polar Bear ever. We got caught in the White Tiger place because of a "flood", it rained so hard. Oh, and check out the giraffe picture! We saw lions, and tigers, and bears (oh my). We also saw a capuchin (or "Dexter" if u watched Night At The Mueseum) that was sitting on a stump. There is a pic of him somewhere in this. He was pretty funny.

Oh yeah, there was a monitor lizard just walking on the sidewalk. Dad says they are native. So the Singapore Zoo is pretty cool.

Dad, here. This was unlike any zoo I have ever been to. Including San Diego and the National Zoo in DC. The paths are narrow through the rainforest. Covered with trees and flowers. Really nice.

Night Safari

Hi, it's Brennan. We all really enjoyed our trip to Singapore. Our first night there, Halloween, we decided to go to the Night Safari. What happens is you sit in a tram and a tour guide takes you around, in the dark, showing you all of the animals. Our tour guide was Asian, but she had a British accent. Every few minutes, she felt she had to say that this is the only Night Safari in the "wuld".

They have a stop about half way through where you can get off and go on trails to look at the animals. But, since it was Halloween, there were people in costumes jumping out of the bushes, and it is very late. The picture on top is of some tribal fire-dancers show. The problem was there were so many people that we couldn't get very close. We got to see quite a few animals, but some of them, mainly the lions, were asleep!

There was also a huge tunnel you could go through filled with bats! Landon seemed uncomfortable so I, of course, gently but quickly brushed my hand on the top of his head and he really got scared. So that was a lot of fun.

They even had a Ben & Jerry's!

Bye, Brennan

Chinatown

Singapore is known for shopping, which happens to be a personal favorite, and though most of the shops are very high-end (Gucci, Prada & Bvlgari to name a few), Chinatown was very unique and fun. We spent a day just walking the streets, looking at the old Temples and going through the stalls and wares that were being sold in the market. You can find many native handmade items, such as jewelry, bags, toys and clothing, along with some not so great things like coin purses made of frogs, and other oddities.
I didn't find the shop keepers as over-anxious as they are here in Manila, so it was much easier to browse and look for bargins. We also found that electronics are not as expensive there, and Steve managed to find a new toy, buying an HD video-camera, that also works as a still camera. He was in heaven with such a great opportunity to try it out!
Here are some pics of the temples. Brennan won't be happy about this picture, but too bad.

Sentosa

We spent one whole day at Sentosa. It is a small island just south of downtown Singapore. We took alot of video, so only Grandma and Grandpa get to see that. Which is probably fine with the rest of you.

Sentosa is the amusement area of Singapore. We started the day taking a cable car ride across the water to the island. The day included lots of little things to do. First, was the Aquarium. Smaller than most, but the bottom floor is a tunnel with fish swimming all around you. You just stand on a moving walkway. One thing we noticed is that we saw sea animals that we have never seen before. Something called a Sea Angel was amazing. Go google it, really neat.

There were two 4D shows. The ones that have 3D glasses and the chairs move around and water drops on you. Not bad and at least air conditioned. (Singapore is 85 miles north of the equator, so always hot and sticky). We also rode down one of the hills there on a luge. It is a small sled with wheels. A race to get to the bottom and then a ski lift back up. Terri loved wearing the mandatory helmet. Also, they have a huge Merlion. This is the symbol of Singapore. Half lion, half mermaid.

It was a fun day. The most interesting thing was the wild monkeys that live on the island. So at the food areas they are walking around and scrounging crumbs. This was a first for us.

Philippine Airlines

Singapore Airlines is considered one of the best carriers in the world. Unfortunately, they cost twice as much as Philippine Airlines does. And, since I am paying for this trip, we flew Philippine Airlines.

Couple of interesting notes. The flight was a little of three hours. Now, here in Asia, that is considered a short flight. Being an American, that is a pretty long flight in our opinion. Anyway, I have to admit, it wasn't bad at all. The plane was clean, the food was fine (even though not the boys favorite) and it felt very safe. There was one big, big problem though. Brennan is now almost as tall as me. And since I was paying....we are flying in coach. Take a look at this.

There is no room. Actually, it was painful. Brennan is in a middle seat, I had the aisle. But even in the aisle seat, I couldn't move my legs to move them into the aisle. Once you fold yourself into the seat, you aren't going anywhere.

I called after we landed and begged for bulkhead or exit rows. They put us all in bulkhead on the return and it was fine. Which is the only row we can sit in if we fly them again.

Vacation #1 - Singapore

This place is beautiful. Singapore is a very advanced, first-world country. The entire island/country is home to 4 million people and it is immaculate. The entire country is manicured. It is clean, organized, pollution-free, very safe and quite western. We visited the Zoo, Night Safari, Sentosa Island and Chinatown. Each of us will blog on one of them.

Currently, we are at the airport ready to go back home. This is without a doubt the nicest airport I have ever been in. Per Singaporean standards it is immaculate and organized. The baggage screening is done at each gate. So no long lines up front...just go to your gate and check in there. Also, I am on a computer at the gate with free internet.

More to come....and plenty of pics.

Slingbox

If you aren't familiar with the Slingbox, let me describe the greatness of this technology. It allows us to watch TV in the US. My good friend, Jim Yarrish, has graciously agreed to hook it up to a TV at his home. With this box, we can control the TV over the internet like we were there. We also have access to his DVR (which doesn't exist in the Philippines) and record whatever we want since the time difference only lets us watch middle of the night live TV.

Of course, all I have used it for to this point is to watch Dallas Cowboy and Baylor football games. While I expect Baylor to continue to struggle, watching the Cowboys this year is sickening. I get up early Monday morning so I can watch the game before work. I avoid all internet and news so I don't know the score. And what I get to see in these games is not the team I was expecting. I hope Coach Cupcake gets them in gear.

Our First Vacation!!

We are leaving for Singapore this Friday. We plan on exploring Asia as much as we can on our assignment here. First stop will be Singapore. I am very anxious to see something new.

The reason we are going now is the boys are off Friday, Monday and Tuesday. The local holiday is All Saints Day. Which is a big holiday everywhere in the world except in the US. Lots of people will travel this weekend to visit the cemeteries of family members. We are going on vacation.

Check back next week to get a full report and see some pictures.

Taal Volcano

Click on picture and then select slideshow in upper right corner

Photobucket Album

Well, we finally went out of the city to do something. This is a small, but active, volcano just south of us by an hour or so. It is certainly not an attraction you would see in the states. So many things about the process is totally different. But we did enjoy the adventure. Scenery was beautiful, the horse ride was extremely uncomfortable (saddles not made for 200 lb people), attacked by people selling pepsi/gatorade and sombrero type hats for the sun, and nothing really to tell you what you are seeing or where you are. But there is smoke coming out of the ground and a sulfur lake in the middle. Two weeks ago there were 10 minor earthquakes. I was hoping for some rumbling (Terri wasn't), but no such luck.

Something else new is you have to negotiate with everyone - the boat guide, the horse guide and the vendors. I am sure I was taken advantage of, but instead on paying $1, I paid a $1.50. I think we can handle that.

It was a fun day and I plan on never doing it again. But it is marked off our list.

Hallelujah!!!

You don't realize how much you miss things when you can't easily go to them. When I heard there was a Taco Bell in the city, I knew we had to go. It took us over an hour to drive there, but it was well worth it. I had some very happy boys when they heard about it. It was exactly the same food and flavor. While there are only 15 or so menu choices, it was exactly what we needed.

There are basically no drive thru fast food places here. It is so crowded that they don't have room for it. Most don't have a parking lot at all. You have to find a garage somewhere and walk, take public transportation or, for us, you have a driver who drops you off.

This Taco Bell is in a mall. You would not believe the size of the food courts here. Most have 20-30 restaurants in them. Here is one that had an interesting name.

College Football

There are some things that I really miss. Watching sports while plopped on the couch all day is at the top of the list. I have three sports channels: ESPN Global, Star Sports and Balls. About 95% of the time I can watch soccer, Formula One racing, Asian Golf tour, random tennis tournaments or billiards. Honestly, that is about it. Over and over and over again. Plus, no scroll bar at the bottom with scores.

On Balls, they will show a random college football game 5 or so times each week. One week I got North Carolina vs. Rutgers. I have also seen Colorado vs. Colorado State and Oklahoma vs. TCU. So desperate I am for football, I will watch them more than once.

However, I got to see Oklahoma vs. Baylor today. Amazing!! For those that don't know, I went to Baylor. Of course Oklahoma is #1 in the polls right now, so we got slaughtered. But you know what, doesn't matter. I actually got to see my team play. Probably will watch us get killed 3 or 4 more times.

Fun with Weather

We have had 7 typhoons hit parts of the Philippines in the last two months. Fortunately, none have really come near us. We just get alot of rain. But we have one coming in the next 48 hours, typhoon Higos. It isn't very strong, but will go right over where we live. I haven't really been in hurricane since I was 6 or 7 (feel free to ask my Mother about what happened in that one). Anyway, being a guy, I am excited about it.

UPDATE: Unfortunately, it died down and all we got was a ton of rain. No wind at all. Very disappointing. Maybe next time.

Instructions

There are signs everywhere that explain what to do. Some are helpful, some are "well duh". This is one of our favorites. At least the male contingent part of this family. It is not located in all restrooms, but quite a few. So in case you didn't know what you were supposed to do, here you go.........

Isn't this guy a little off center? I don't think he is following the second guideline correctly. Also, I will avoid addressing the stains on this sign.

Live Dangerously

So, I had admit it, I "tried" to use one of these things. We have them in all of our bathrooms. Three thoughts popped into my head. Well they're not exactly thoughts, but guidelines to using one. So, before you use one of these things keep these in mind.
1. Make sure you aim the nozzle. The nozzle moves up and down and left and right.
2. It doesn't really do what it is supposed to do.
3. Don't, DO NOT, use cold water only.
Follow those simple rules and you should be safe and maybe, clean.

Shopping.........the national sport

If you like shopping this is the place for you. Unfortunately, Terri has us three guys who can tolerate no more than an hour a week. Three of the world's largest malls are in the Philippines. The Mall of America, if you have ever been, is number 17 on the list.


So, last week we went to the Mall of Asia. Four and a half million square feet of retail space. For those back home, I think the Parks Mall has a little over a million. It is right on Manila Bay. Not a bad view.
There are so many stores it is overwhelming. Most of the stores in these malls are very very small. Some are no more than 15 feet across and maybe 25-30 feet deep. Of course, there are some department stores. With this many stores, they obviously run out of names for them.

Our new church

We have been attending the Union Church here. It is a non-denominational church that many expats attend. Filipinos are still the vast majority of the church. We have enjoyed it. Here is a picure of the sanctuary from the balcony. We enjoy the sermons. The pastor is young, but knowledgable and enjoyable to listen to.

There are some new things for us. Because they are non-denominational they do a little bit of everything so everyone feels at home. Since the Philippines is 90% catholic, they are new things there that is new to us. We recite the Lord's Prayer and we have communion every Sunday. Our first time we all walked foward, just following everyone else, and were given a piece of bread and a small glass of grape juice. What Landon and I didn't know was that the glasses in the middle of the tray were real wine and the ones on the outside were grape juice. That was an interesting surprise.

I Have a Garden

Now that I have a have a garden, I also have a gardener. His name is Jun (sounds like gun.) He is a very good gardener, which is good, because I have no idea how to take care of the trees and plants growing there.

Here is a picture of Jun mowing the lawn.



Yes, those are gardening shears he is using, and yes they do really cut the grass with them!

Hurts my back just to watch him!



Here are pictures of some of the things growing in my garden.



I am not sure what this is called, because I can't understand Jun when he tells me.
He did say that it taste somewhat like a Kalamansi, which is a cross between a lemon and a lime. Wonder how to tell when it is ready to be picked?

Here is another fruit that is growing just behind the pool. I have no clue what it is, or when it will be ripe. Any ideas?



Now even I know this one. Everyone has a coconut tree in the backyard don't they? What I don't know is how to get them down from there. They certainly don't look anything like the ones that Gilligan got hit in the head with!

Me Llamo Landon!!

Hola amigos! Me llamo Landon. Muy Bien, Igualmete estoy bien es tu? Mi paro loco. Estoy bien A Si?. Bien.(not translation) Hey guys I wanted you to know, IM TAKING SPANISH!!!!:) Now I can say Cononona Conosco, without anyone understanding me! well check back soon. Hasta luego ADIOS!

Nicknames

Filipinos love their nicknames. I work with a Pow, Ice, Girlie, Nuj, Kissy, Love-Love, Lovey, Rocky (female), Butch, MM, Cajugs, Ge, Bon, Bong, etc. In most cases, their nicknames have nothing to do with their real first name. Not really a problem, however, IBM uses their real names for their email address book. So you have to know their nicknames and their real names if you need to email them.

One of the big actors here is a guy named Dingdong Dantes. He isn't a comedian, he is the George Clooney of the Philippines. And he selected Dingdong for his nickname.

I didn't know I had a problem.....

I have discovered something new, I like Buko shakes. Buko is the juice inside small coconuts. They throw some ice in and some coconut and blend it into a shake. They are really good...very sweet. What I found funny is the selling point they put on the cup.

Sorry it is blurry. It says "One buko a day keeps the urologist away". Now, you can quickly dismiss this as a very weird selling point. However, for me it begs the following questions:

1) What is in there that keeps the urologist away?

2) Does this slogan actually raise sales?

3) What marketing research was done to determine this is the best slogan?

4) What slogans were rejected? (might be scary)

5) I have never been to a urologist. Is there something I should be going there for? Is this a problem only for Filipinos? Do I need to go so I can determine if something is getting better?

6) Are the urologists losing business because of this?

There are probably some more. But I laugh everytime I see this.

I am surrounded by Australians

Hi everyone,

I am having a wonderful time at Brent and I am doing very well in my classes. But at Brent, I have an Australian math teacher, Mr Whalley, who supports Notre Dame and the Texas Aggies, dont know why, an Australian art teacher, Mrs. Pereria, who is very nice and lets us talk and even play music in class, and I have an Australian friend, Mitch Hilton, who supports the Cowboys and Mavericks, and has told, not asked, me to play basketball. But they are all very nice and I love to sit and listen to the way they talk.

Bye, Brennan

Brent The Giant School Wonderland

This place is ridiculous.............. ok there is a link on our blog on the top right so you can see some pics of it. But if you have some disability to click on blog links then type this in: http://www.brent.edu.ph/ ok. Oh what's cool is we get Ninoy Aquino day for holiday next week. WHAT IS NINOY AQUINO DAY???????? Tell me that! If you click on the media center link. This is our giant libraries. Look around on the site. How did you like the grass jelly????? Oh well Comment plz

Things you should know before before moving to Manila

For those of you out there who might be considering moving to Manila or anywhere in the Philippines for that matter, here are a few things that you might need to know.

First and most important in my mind- there are no York Peppermint Patties anywhere in this country. That's right, you heard it here 1st-no York Peppermint Patties. If nothing else, this experience has taught me not only how spoiled I was (still am actually) and how much I take for granted. I guess the taste of mint and chocolate doesn't appeal to people here, but then agin, nothing beats the taste of "purple yam and cheese" ice cream when you have a sweet tooth!

Secondly, blowing the car horn is the most important part of driving in Manila. You blow the horn if a car starts to come into your lane (what am I saying, there are no lanes here), you blow the horn if you wish to change lanes. You blow the horn if you are turning, going through an intersection, if someone near you starts backing-up, if someone near you looks like they might start backing up, if you think someone is thinking about backing-up...if you get the picture just blow the horn.

Pedestrians are a nuisance that need to be put in their place. Cross walks mean nothing, and if you are forced to stop for one, make sure you get the car as close to them as possible, and just sit their staring at them until they get out of your way!

If you want to be left alone to browse a shop in peace and quiet, go to another country! In a country where you must have a college degree to apply for a job in a fast food resturant, and the minimum wage converts to about $1 an hour, there are always more workers than you. I have learned that if you say I would like to look "for a while" they are more apt to let you look, the bad thing is you have to say it over and over because there are so many workers!

The term "for a while" is used in many different contexts, and for many different situations. If you are speaking to a business on the phone and they say "for a while" they are probably asking you to hold. If you ask to speak to someone and they say they are not available "for a while" it means they either are tied up and can't come to the phone, or they are not there and the speaker doesn 't know when they will be back. If you go into a store and ask someone where the milk is, you can assume they don't know, and will ask you to wait "for a while". They will probably go ask someone else who does not know, and then look around till they actually find it, and return to lead you there. Sometimes they tell you there is no milk "for a while", which means, they are out of stock and don't know when they will get more. If you call the cable repair man and he says he cannot come out "for a while", that means you will probably not have cable for at least a week, maybe more!

Yes, does not always mean yes. If for example, you asked an electrician if they could put a new electrical outlet on the wall to hang a tv tomorrow, and he says "yes", it could have several different meanings. He may be saying yes, I can put a new electrical outlet on the wall, or he may be saying that he is able to hang a tv on the wall, or he may be saying yes, I could come out tomorrow, or he may even be saying yes, I will come out and look tomorrow to see if I can put a new outlet on the wall and then I will give you an approximate day that I will come out to do it. You must always ask each question separately, and clarify each part of your request, and then if he still says yes, you can assume that he will come out tomorrow and put in a new outlet and hang the tv. That is your indication that he plans to come out, but then you must call him again the next morning to see if his plans have changed. If he still says yes, you then ask "what time", to which he will usually respond- "either before lunch, or after lunch. Plan to be there the whole day and hopefully you will have an outlet on the wall and a tv hung before the day is through!

For those that know me too well....

Finally settling in at work. I work in a section of Manila called Eastwood City. Which is in Libis, which is in Quezon City, which is part of Manila. Lots of town, communities and villages within Manila proper. It is a very nice building, maybe a year old. We share it with Dell.

There are condos all around, a small mall across the street. Including: McDonald's, Pizza Hut, KFC, Fazoli's, Subway, Starbucks and a Dairy Queen (of all things). So a very nice new area of town.

The only issue I have is what is sitting three feet behind my chair, against the wall. Now I know I am 43 years old and I should be able to handle most things that come my way. But this still, after all these years, gives me the creeps.

Moving Day

Friday will be moving day, when we move out of Fraser Place into our house in Alabang. I have placed a link on our page, so you can get an idea of the house. It is 2 yrs old, around 6000 sq ft, with a small back yard, and an even smaller pool. The owner is leaving most of the furniture, so we will only need to get a master bed, a desk, and a couple of couches.

Last weekend, Steve and I went to the local SM department store to purchase the basics- towels, sheets and comforters & I don't think that I have been more stressed out in my life! By the time we left there, minus some $50,000 pesos, I could have cried! Besides the fact that they have you out-numbered 5-1 in employees (all under the age of 25 I might add), they pressure you to buy what they have in stock, whether or not you want them, and try to get you to buy in large quantities. In this instance, knowing they had fresh meat on their hands, they brought out 4 chairs, and placed them in the middle of the floor for us to sit in. Then they showed us our options and colors, different thread counts, and all the while consulting with each other about whether or not they were in stock, and if they could be ordered. The "General" of the sales people, made sure we saw all of their wares, while she sent her minions to the store room to bring out samples. Best of all there was a 250 watt light right above our heads, and after the first 5 minutes of grilling, I was dripping sweat all over her 500ct bed sheets! Needless to say, I agreed with everything Steve suggested, and ran for the cover of the cash register as quickly as I could. Even though I did recieve a free bucket and bowl, it was not a positive experience for me! Since our driver Eddie was off that day, we had to call the Fraser Place for a car, and since a van was $1500 Pesos, and a car was $300 Pesos, we ordered 2 cars, and drove away with our purchases, leaving everyone staring in our wake.

Next trip, we get to buy the dishes and silverware, and just wait until we go looking at furniture!

We did not drop off the face of the earth

I am pleased to report that they have some of the same concerts here. Over the next month Daughtry, Avril Lavingne, Alicia Keyes, Earth Wind & Fire (more my speed), Sonic Flood, Panic at the Disco (don't know what that means) and for those over 40 (maybe 60) The Letterman and the incomparable Petula Clark will be performing here in Manila. Even Rudy Giuliani was here last week speaking. Unfortunately, there isn't anyone I really want to see, including last week's run of High School Musical on Ice tour. But maybe some day there will be someone here that will get me off the couch.

" In Your Local Grocer's Freezer."

Very appetizing huh? If you can't read the paper on the (stuff), it says........... Octopus Ball. Yes, they took a big hunk of octopus, rolled it up into a ball, and served it. Beautiful isn't it? That is a beautiful work of art. Unfortunately, it won't be leaving my memory any time soon. It give me willies looking at that picture. Yes, I'm saying random things just to get more room to put another picture. So, I'll just talk more about this picture. We took this picture at SM another local grocery store. I think I was wearing a blue shirt that day. Ok I'll just hit space a bunch.

Alright, I'm only going to say this once..... Fish Lip.

Moving on.

Grass Jelly

I Don't Know.

Grass Jelly Why?

Grass Jelly

Ok let's do some more.

They don't even have paper on them. I dared my dad to touch them. But, dares don't work.

Look at them. That is just nasty. Some people are just like that.

I don't know why.

Fish have feelings too!

Thanks for reading. Please comment and check back all the time for new posts!

My new school's house system

Hi everybody,

It's Brennan, I thought I would tell you about our new school's house system. Kinda like in Harry Potter they have school houses, like Gryffindor or Ravenclaw, there are three houses: Emerald, Gold, and Azure(Blue). Landon and I were sorted into Emerald house. Once in a while there are pep rallies for each house. Also you can earn house points,but I'm not sure how yet. Whichever house has the most points at the end of the year wins the House Cup. I'll post again soon to let you know how we are doing.

My First Purchase

We went to the mall to purchase a curling iron, since my 1st one burned up, after I plugged it into the 220 outlet.

The mall is huge, with a lot of small stores and very limited options, but since none of them had curling irons, my very smart and cute neighbor, Treasure, took us to Rustan's, which is kind of like a high end Wal Mart. The 1st sales person we asked conferred with a co-worker and decided we should try the 2nd floor. The 2nd sales person also conferred with another, and was pretty sure we needed to be in cosmetics on the 1st floor. After searching cosmetics and speaking with a 3rd sales person- yes she conferred as well- told us that curling irons are sold in the electronics dept on the 3rd floor!

The electronics section of the store is a self contained store within the store, and they have about 25 people working in an area the size of a Jack-In-The-Box. We finally located the curling irons, which are kept behind the counter, in a glass case along with the hair dryers. I found the one with the largest barrel, and asked to see it. The man behind the counter found the correct person with the keys for the door, and proceeded to hand me the most expensive curling iron, not the one I asked to see. I decide on the cheapest one, at a mere 2,350p or $53.40 U.S. and asked to purchase it. I was then asked to give my full name and address, phone number and all this information was taken down by one sales person to be entered into the computer, while the original salesperson proceeded to remove the curling iron from the box, set up an electrical outlet, plug it in and let it heat up, so that I could confirm that- yes indeed it did work.

He then returned the outlet extension, repackaged the iron (with great care, taking time not to rush it) and gave me a carbon of the original information, and told me to claim it at the register.

I proceeded to the register where apparently several of the workers were trying to decide whether or not a person with only a temporary address and no personal phone number was allowed to make this purchase, even though I would be paying with cash. After assuring them that they would be able to contact me at The Fraser Place for the next 2 weeks, if they decided that they wanted the curling iron back, they printed out an offical receipt and took my money.

Only then was I allowed to show the receipt to the security guard, who was standing 4 ft away at the door, and had been watching the entire process, to exit the store. All in all it only took a little over 20 minutes to make a purchase that would have taken about 5 back home, and that's only if I had to stand in line.!

Our First Movie Experience

Since some of the male members of the Weintraub household were tired of shopping everyday.....we decided we would take in a movie. There are cinemas everywhere here. We selected Journey to the Center of the Earth as our movie. Of course, this required us to go to a mall. The ticket counter is out in the mall, not in the theater itself. Tickets are only $2.50 each. Loved that! Also, you actually get to purchase your seat. All the seats are numbered and assigned and there are ushers to take you to it. Because the ticket counter is outside, there are food vendors everywhere to choose from with a wide variety of choices. The biggest one had many flavors of popcorn....sour cream and onion, Texas BBQ (?), Strawberry and Wasabi to name a few. I stuck with "Natural". Popcorn is a dollar bag!

The movie starts at the assigned time. Meaning that previews are before the time on your ticket. We walked in about 20 minutes before it started and the previews were already going. We must have sat through 10-12 previews. They show everything. Downside is the previews they show are not tied to the rating of the movie you are seeing. So we had to sit through numerous R rated ones.

Other than that, it is just like watching a movie at home, only much cheaper.

Confusion In The Tokyo Airport.

Well this was a big help.

So, we arrive at Tokyo.

My Dad was right when he told me this place was weird.

When you see things like this in a convenience store, you know you're not at home.

eeew, this scares me.

Anyway we hung out for a while at a nice area in the airport, where you can hook up to the Internet and eat and other stuff. Although, I did see some type of toilet object, in the restroom there no idea what that was.

I have many other gross photos, but I'll save them for when I get back this winter.

As I heard some American lady say at the IBM building,

Ciao!

Shakey's Pizza

We decided last night to order pizza instead of going out. I haven't been to a Shakey's Pizza since 1974 when I lived in Baltimore. Wasn't sure what we were going to get in the way of quality. Surprisingly, the pizza was quite good. We each ordered a regular size expecting leftovers. No such luck. A regular is slightly bigger than an individual size would be in the US. Shakey's also offers a "solo" size. Can't imagine how small that would be. The most interesting piece to this dinner was the condiments they delivered with it. Usually, you would expect some parmesan or pepper for your pizza. Nope. We received over 10 packets of hot sauce with our order. We opened them up and it was regular hot sauce. Different tastes.

Fun with the Makati Police

Here is something that I have never experienced. We were driving through the business district of Makati and were asked to pull over with other vans and trucks. When he approached, he informed our driver that he and his team was conducting an "emissions check". Just like in the US, vehicles have to have their emissions checked and they receive a certificate if they pass. Of course, this is ridiculous as the pollution coming out of trucks is heavy with lots of black smoke coming out the back. Anyways, our driver gave him the certificate. After a few minutes, our driver got out and spoke to the policeman and came back to inform us that he would let us leave for 300 pesos (about $6). Paid to the policeman of course, not the city. We were informed that this is how the system works and the policeman just needed money for lunch. Not sure how often this will happen, but very fascinating.

16 Bags

I will not bore you with every detail of all the things we are doing each day. I will try and only provide you with things that have occurred that you might find interesting.

All 16 of our bags arrived with us on time. Amazing! The fun of course was loading them all on one huge cart and wheeling it through the airport to the van that will take us to our temporary living apartment. The van they brought out was huge. One of those people movers with 6 rows of seats, all of which were filled up with our suitcases.

Still learning about tipping. Not sure who to tip or how much. The going rate for anything is 50 - 100 pesos ($1 to $2). So with 5 people handling my bags, everyone gets a tip. So far it doesn't look like anything happens here without multiple people getting involved to provide a service. Of course, I feel like I am walking around with Monopoly money so it doesn't seem painful. I need to give over that quick.

The Flight Over

Sunday was an exciting and emotional day for all of us. It was more difficult than I thought it would be. So many families go through this, but it is tough when it is you and your family doing it. We had some very nice parties beforehand. I had many of my Baylor friends and their families in town last weekend. We also had a going away party at the church. Saying goodbye to family was the toughest, but everyone stayed strong and no one cratered. Or at least they haven't told me about it.

I surprised the boys at the airport when I informed them that we were flying first class. I was able to use my upgrades to do it. Helpful when you are on flights that last over 20 hours. The flight attendants were very interested in what we were doing and offered endless amounts of advice on how to make it easier and successful.

Once I understand how to upload pictures, I will add them.