Another toe in the water of blogs

Well, it's been almost a week since returning from the Motherland (the Philippines)...but the memories are still fresh. The trip was a whirl wind tour -- need for sleep limits the size of this post, so in the interest of getting some content out there to start the ball rolling, I'll keep it brief.

Day 1 - Theresa, Aimee, and I land in Manila. Lunch w/ Jojo and Fam (highlight of which was sising -- a hearty introduction to Filipino cuisine for Theresa), the start of a continuous week of being full. Then we headed over to Tita Issa's where we met the much taller Vinny and Bryan; and the same-size-as-before-but-even-still-cuter Q-Pie. A quick stop and then from there to the Encanto's where we ate dinner and wine from their vineyard before a low-key taste of the Manila nightlife at Eastwood.

Day 2 - A compact jet dropped us off in Surigao where we were met by the parents, Uncle Boboy, Lolo, and Lola. We ate lunch with the grandparents who surveyed us and threw questions at us. Aimee examined Lolo's carotid artery (etymology from Lola: Greek. karoun to stupefy, because compression causes loss of consciousness). Lolo introduced the thenceforth much repeated mantra, "Once you find her, never let her go!" in reference to his "prospective daughter-in-law" Theresa.

After lunch, Theresa and I took a stroll around Surigao City, through the square, in the market, and back to Uncle Boboy's. I snapped a bunch of photos -- all the children love the sight of a big camera and hammed it up. Several people in the market mistook me for a Japanese tourist.

We had another splendid meal, this time courtesy of Tita Lina. Lola, true to form, pushed food onto our plates.

Day 3/4 - We grabbed an early morning boat out to Siargao, a sprinkling of islands two hours away. Uncle Boboy arranged for ad-hoc seating atop the boat for himself, Theresa, and myself. Upon arrival, we ate one of many meals served to us in a lightly breezed gazebo overlooking the beach. I've never eaten that much ceviche. That night, we excursioned from one end of the island (Cloud 9) to the other end (a rather fancy Bali-styled resort) courtesy of 3 motorcycles, which the ladies enjoyed with varying degrees of fright. In the process the sky darkened with rain ladened clouds which soonafter unladened upon us. Fortunately, previous experiences riding bicycles in the rain (a.k.a. the moist ride in DC) made the wet ride a trivial matter of holding on to the person in front of you and retrieving sandals knocked off from the bumps.

Alas, a stomach virus, which had hitherto hampered Mom's eating, afflicted Aimee the following day. Fortunately, being only several months shy of M.D., she prescribed herself sleep and cheesy romance novels. So, it was Theresa, Dad, Uncle Boboy, and I that set off by chartered boat to Daco island to be awed by more shades of blue than a computer monitor can really give justice to. Dad and Uncle Boboy lounged while T and I explored the beach. Wow.

On the way back, we tarried at a small island where Uncle Boboy negotiated a flounder for dinner for 20 pesos ($0.40) which was subsequently discovered to be pregnant with caviar.

Day 5 - We returned back home. Uncle Lalo had just arrived from the south, so he joined us for lunch. I had a rather pleasant time, rapping about politics and life with him. That evening, we headed over to Tita Bembem's for yet another wonderful meal. I drank about a third of the wine that we brought over there, before retiring.

Day 6 - We ate a breakfast early at Uncle Boboy's before having another breakfast at the Grandparents'. Lola and Lolo spoke with us as Theresa and I pored over old photo albums. Lolo played "South Pacific" (the source of the "Once you find her..." quote) for us -- a lovely musical that nevertheless had overtones of somewhat unwholesome adult issues of colonialism, (un)virgin love, and conflicting loyalties.

We then caught a flight back to the village of Manila where we negotiated traffic ("we" meaning the driver) to get to the Intramuros where we received a competently narrated Tour of Rizal's memorial by Tita Georgie.

Later that evening, we met up with Mel and Paolo, her "friend" (to borrow from Tita G's lexicon) who took us to first, of course, eat at -- I believe the place was named Contact -- a Filipino/French fusion restaurant. We were joined by their friends Noel, Dave, and later, Kaie and Dino. We hit up a small club where the Miss Hawaian Tropical competition was just wrapping up. After making fun of the various gringos hitting on the participants got old we headed over to Tiannamen, a chill restaurant, where drink and pulutan (drinking food) are served on low tables and around which we lounge on futon-esque pillows (note to self: ideas for interior decoration). There, I regaled Dino with increasingly muddled insights as I worked my way through Filipino spirits (Tanduay, San Miguel Light, San Miguel Pilsner, Cerveza Negra, San Mig Strong Ice, ...).

Day 7 - We let T off onto the plane, and then fled to the country side -- Tagaytay -- for a brunch. I remarked how over here, we drive an hour into the city, while Filipinos, apparently, do the opposite. "Breakfast at Antonios" was the place -- a meticulously managed restaurant with everything painted white but the floor which was painted golf course green. Afterwards, we snapped some pictures of the Taal fog and headed back into town.

That night, we headed out to Aposento, another chill Manila music bar. I chatted more with Mel's buddies. Miko was an interesting fellow working the yuppie life. Very similar to the U.S. w/o the lifestyle monopolizing work hours. I got a laugh when I told them the pick-up line Mel taught me, "Sarap mo!".

Day 8 - Kaie treated me to the lively microcosm of Filipino society that is Quiapo -- the subject of her college video documentary thesis. Indeed it was bursting with religion, food, medicine, fortune, and lots of fake Nike products. Snapped a bunch of photos that will be online shortly. That night, we kept it pretty mellow -- opting for my low scores on the karoake machine (did you realize that MC Hammer says "You can't touch this" about 50 times in a row).

Day 9 - Joined by the parents and Aimee. Purchased some dubious software (which made it through customs with no problems, Mom, since you were worrying) and 2300 pesos worth of mangos and peanuts. In a last ditch effort to burn two week's worth of feed crammed into a week's time, Mel took us to the badmitton court where I proceed to wack a shuttlecock like a tennis ball (bad, bad). We then listened to parent music (Neil Diamond, Barbara Streisand, etc) covered by a young lady at the country club bar, while we ate taquitos.

I should have requested that song from South Pacific... "Once you find her..."