Feeding Frenzy in Vietnam

I'm grateful that I'm able to pack up my bags and take short holidays at a moments notice. I was in Vietnam this week-end.

The idea for the trip came up because I wanted to eat authentic Vietnamese food. The idea became a plan when I came across several good deals - US$50+ tax for airfare, US$30 per night in a nice hotel in the backpackers' area.

As expected, food was good, plentiful and cheap. I spent an average of US$3 per meal. It would be impolite to ask me how many meals I had in a day.

On my last day, I went into a feeding frenzy. So little time, so much food to try.

Or - the food in Vietnam might run out, one never knows with this Socialist states - so I figured that I should take as much as I could while the going is still good.

I burned most of the calories by walking and walking under the hot sun.

I wasn't particularly after the exercise. There were ambulant food vendors every 100 meters or so and I didn't want to miss anything. My feet ached. I was sweaty and grimy. But I was a man with a mission.

In between eating, I took pictures. Check out my Flicker page for my complete Vietnam photo set by clicking here.

I stalked a monk.

Arnel Pineda on the CBS Sunday Morning Show

I'm a sucker for stories like Arnel Pineda's.

If I tried much harder, maybe it can happen to me too.

Hmm, no, I don't think so.

Filipinos Ive Met Abroad

I’ve noticed that living or working abroad brings out the best and worst in people. I suppose its because, having to survive on your own, you have to learn to rely on your instincts. And your instincts reveal your character and values at their barest and most real. I have met the kindest, most generous Filipinos in my travels. I’ve been fortunate to hear some of their stories – ones of sacrifice and courage and – often – success and good humor.

Unfortunately, I have also come across some of the worst Filipinos. More unfortunately, they make themselves so obvious with their loudness and crassness. No matter how much they try to re-invent themselves, one word out of them and you could immediately smell the squalid low class upbringing and fifth rate education they’re trying to hide with their artificially-accented and gramatically horrible English.

Ate Rosing and Ate Conching

Back in the day, when we were still living in Pagsanjan, Ate Rosing and Ate Conching were our neighbors and my Manang's barkada. Our family would invite them over for holiday dinners and other special occasions . I was especially fond of Ate Rosing. She must have been less than five feet tall but whenever she saw me, she would reach up to give me a buss on the cheek.

They had both retired from “ the service”. They had come to town many years before from various parts of the country to work as helpers for different households. Their employers had since migrated or died or gone away. Ate Conching and Ate Rosing stayed behind, eventually sharing a small rented room together. They had been away from their own families for so long that “going back” (wherever this was) might have been like returning to strangers.

The Ates lived on selling rice cakes and doing occasional jobs for families in the neighborhood. In their spare time, they were church-ladies - part of a small army of elderly women who kept house for the parish priest and attended all the church activities. Pagsanjan had become their home. Their neighbors and friends - their substitute family. Everbody knew them. They did not lack for invitations to join neighbornnod and housenhold social occassions. And whenever someone was sick or there was a death in the community - there were among the first to commisserate and offer whatever assistance they could .

I haven’t seem them for awhile but heard about them recently. Ate Rosing is weak and slowly losing her memory. Although she remains mostly lucid, it's difficult for her to take care of herself already. Ate Conching has terminal cancer. They have to rely on the kindness of neighbors. Somebody comes to give Ate Rosing a bath once a week. Another accompanies Ate Conching to her doctor’s appointments.

There is something both sad and uplifting about this story. It is sad that f0r various reasons - each of us has to leave our families behind at some point and venture into the world alone. It is comforting that we have the ability to move on and make families of our own.

Ate Rosing and Ate Conching are quiet, simple women. Most of their lives have been spent in the service of others. But, in their quiet simplicity, they have left a mark. They will not go unforgotten.

Coming Home

On the third week of an extended business trip, I’m homesick. But, I’m not sure if I can really call my pad back in Manila "home". Leaving an empty hotel room to go back to an empty house doesn’t seem like much of a homecoming . The comfort of being surrounded by one’s own familiar things doesnt seem much compared to the comfort and familiarity of returning to your family.

Flickering

In yet another attempt at mid-life self-expression, I've begun to dabble in photography. Check out my flicker page to view my stuff.

Following are some of the pictures from my recent travels to Egypt and Dubai.

25 Random Things - More Useless Information About Me

1. Apparently, I sleep-eat. It’s either that, or someone regularly breaks into my house in the middle of the night to raid the ref while I’m in bed Sometimes when I wake up in the mornings, there are empty food containers in the sink and crumbs on the floor that I don’t remember putting there.

2. When I was 6 or 7, I tried to kill a stray cat that my father took in. I was never good about sharing attention. One day, when no one was looking, I took the cat by the tail and tried to drown it in a tub of water. The cat didn’t die but it never came back again. And, no, I never physically hurt my sisters.

3. I took in 1 year of Japanese language lessons and was accelerated to the next level on my 4th month. Was the Teacher’s pet. I reached Level 2 of the French Language course at Alliance Francais. Was the teacher’s pet. I enrolled in singing lessons. Was not the Teacher’s pet.

4. I have Amy Winehouse, Ben Folds, Housemartins, RiverMaya and Eraserheads currently on active rotation in my iPod.

5. I’ll be spending 1 week in Egypt next month then 3 weeks in Dubai for work. The countries I want to visit next as a tourist are Italy, France, Spain, and Greece.

6. I watch out for and keep tabs on old people traveling alone in an airplane. I actually walk up the aisles just to see if they’ve eaten or are still alive.

7. My favorite things to do when in a foreign country are walking around , eating street food and watching the locals go about.

8. I enjoy buying/trying out cleaning chemical products. Among my favorite stores in the US are Walgreens, Longs and CVS. I go straight to the household section to check out what’s new.

9. I was in a major car accident 9 years ago. I miscalculated a turn on an incline. My car turned-turtle and ended up upside-down on a 45 degree angle a few feet away from a ravine and a sign that said "Jesus Saves". I had to crawl out of the car. I wasn’t wearing a seat-belt. I had no cuts, bruises or broken bones.

10. My house is cleanest when I can’t sleep. It’s not unusual for me to be scrubbing the bathroom walls or kitchen floor at 2 am.

11. I was the undisputed Oratorical Champion of Region 1 until I retired at 17 when I got 2nd place in a completion.

12. I think I might have made a good actor if I pursued that interest. I had leading roles in a few college theater productions and there were 1 or 2 standing ovations that I can recall. I enjoyed the process of getting into character and being someone else for a time.

13. This may sound contradictory but –. I’m actually very shy and insecure. It’s always a conscious and deliberate struggle to fight my natural inclination to just stand in a corner and wait for someone to approach me.

14. I enjoy buying books (going to a bookstore, leafing through the pages, smelling the books) as much as I enjoy reading them. I do most of my reading in the bathroom where the lighting is best in my house. The ones I’ve read that I like – I like giving away or sharing with friends.

15. I’ve been wanting to do volunteer/NGO work for the longest time. I wonder how my abilities and good intentions will fair under difficult conditions.

16. I think I’m a better writer than I am a speaker. I want to be very exact in what I say and writing gives me the opportunity to think through my thoughts before articulating them. Thinking aloud on the spot makes me stutter.

17. Whenever I have a public speaking engagement, I try to script everything out in advance and I rehearse to sound like it’s all natural. I also prepare an outline and write down my key points to prepare. At some point, I'm able to get my bearings and relax and then I drop the notes and just wing it.

18. I have a hard time remembering figures and formulas but I remember what I ate or what somebody wore or smelled like 20 years ago.

19. I appreciate thank-you notes. More people should do it.

20. I partially paid for my high school tuition fees by selling Readers’ Digest subscriptions. I made extra money in college by selling rice cakes door to door. I had a food catering business with friends. I had a laundry stop in partnership with another friends. The businesses failed. Most of the friendships survived.

21. I’m more generous when I volunteer something rather than when it’s asked for or demanded.

22. I’ve decided to stop buying Christmas gifts in bulk. No more candles, potpourris or key chains from me. I’d rather give you something that I’ll know you like in February or August.

23. I wonder where my best friends from freshman year in college – Eric Mole, Wrani San Juan and Abet Santos – are.

24. I can spend days in my house without going out.

25. It takes me forever to get my ass to the gym (although I live right across mine) but I actually have a good time after I get through the difficult 1st 15 minutes on the treadmill.