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9. Researches & Publications

gino510 — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 11:36:04 CST

Travela Hong Kong

gino510 — Sun, 08 Feb 2009 20:18:16 CST

Travel novela

hello from hong kong
13 November 2005 Sunday 08:10
Hong Kong International Airport

nice weather here in HKG since yesterday. i did not meet any acquaintance this time. but i met by chance ex-RP executive secretary ruben torres (FVR admi). magkasabay kami sa airport express. di ko maalala ang pangalan niya tapos tinanong ko. sabi ko kasi natatandaan ko ang mukha nya kasi napapanood ko sa teevee dati. nagpakilala naman siya. after a few pleasantries, with exchanges of business cards, of course, i was told that he will attend a business conference in beijing with FVR. he is not anymore active in RP politics. he is now the CEO and chair of unioil.

tinanong niya ako kung bakit ako nasa public health & research, eh wala naman daw kita sa linyang iyon. in RP scenario, i agreed with him. but i told him that while research may not be a lucrative practice in RP, it pays decent in advanced countries. they invest a lot in it which i hope RP will follow. nakanganga lang siya habang nilitanyahan ko hahaha

sa kowloon station ako bumaba at siya naman ay sa HKG station. mag-isa lang siya at walang super alalay. meron din kaming nakitang isang pinay na hindi rin matandaan ang pangalan niya. again, pics to follow.

masarap ang ka-tsibugan, syempre malapit sa panlasa natin ang pagkain nila. syempre nakatikim ulit ako ng lanzones. nga pala, di masarap ang mangga sa SL. isang tikim ko lang ay inayawan ko na. mas panalo pa rin ang RP mangga.

samu't saring pinoy ang nandito. ang daming nagtutulak (hindi droga ah) ng baby cribs.

so that concludes my 2-weeks journey. im waiting for my flight to sapporo 1.5hrs from now.

hello from hong kong 2
19 February 2006 Sunday
Novotel Hotel Hong Kong

hi. it's pretty chilly and cloudy here today . 12C and everybody's in thick jackets lolzzz i saw this pinoy-thai-indonesia outlet which sells products from respective countries. and of course, because it is sunday, all the chiminis are here and talking out loud hahaha

kakatuwa nga kasi merong datu puti, marca pina, tang, lady's choice, reno liver spread etc etc. di muna ako bumili kasi mabigat sa bagahe at dadaan pa naman muli ako rito pabalik sa sapporo. feeling OFW rin ako. pero ngayon, mga indonesian batch ng mga chimini muna. maya maya pa raw ang mga pinoy. napagkamalan ko nga silang noypi, at parang pinoy rin ang salita nila. yung take care ay ingatz din sa kanila.

humiwalay muna ako sa mga kasamang kong sakang para naman mas masaya. pero mas mahusay silang navigator kasi marunong magbasa ng mapa. di tulad ko na nagtatanong na lang hahahaha

will fly to colombo 5 hrs from now.

hello from hong kong 3
09 March 2006, Thursday
Hong Kong International Airport

im now in HKG intl airport on my way to the bat cave, sapporo, in 1.5hrs.

i had a glimpse of disney resort when the limousine bus passed by the area last night. the hotels seem fabulous.

i met one pinoy in a chinese restaurant who treated me for dinner. he came to HKG for his machine business transactions and will be back in las pinas today. we stayed in the same hotel.

this morning, i met another pinay from cebu on her way to rhode island for her presentation in marine biology. she will stay in the US for 2 weeks. isn't it a splendid surprise to see pinoys traveling around the globe for reasons other than being an OFW? cheers!

i notice that in this side of the world, there are many chinese who travel in big groups. it seems that there is a middle class boom and hunger to see so many places. and if you're in the right business, i think, travel agency or aircraft business will make millions. these mainland chinese reached their comfort zone to be traveling all over.

but be careful when you fall in line with them. one person may carry about 20 other passports and you will be in trouble if you're in a rush. hahaha

hello from hong kong 4
06 May 2006
Saturday, Novotel Hotel Hong Kong

haler. i arrived here last night at around 9pm local time. weather is warm at 26-28C and sort of humid. the hotel is five minutes away from the airport by limousine. a new hotel and the amenities are a little above my head. lolzzzz no need to call the operator for your bills, everything is on the boob tube. and since im a bit far from downtown i cant see much of the place.

took breakfast in a nearby mcdonald`s afterwhich the three of us, my prof, a post-doc and myself had coffee. i saw a pinay servidora from mindanao who had been here for 12 years already. had a photo taken together, of course. these japanese are so trivial that they asked the pinay about the population of HKG. of course, the pinay would have no idea about it, noh?

it`s good that this post-doc is like mcgyver. im able to use the wireless Internet from our hotel room. i hope we can do it too in SL. will leave for colombo 8hrs from now. i hope that the suicide bombers there will behave during my entire 3-weeks stay in Kandy. leche.

hello from hong kong 5
07 May 2006
Sunday, Novotel Hotel Hong Kong

well, katatapos lang namin mananghalian. bumili na lang kami ng peking duck, kanin, manga (double g ba yon?), lanzones, papaya, bayabas at kapamilya ng siniguelas pero di naman kasarapan. we ate like there`s no tomorrow lolzzzz ang sarap ng duck at ayaw paawat ang oilinezz. ang tamis ng manga. parang sa atin ata galing iyon? at panalo ang lanzones. mukhang di sa atin galing ang lanzones dahil hindi mapait ang buto. busog meals talaga. sa hotel room na lang namin kinain, nakatipid pa. baka sa eroplano mya2 pa mag konsiyerto itong mga kinain ko hahaha

hanga rin itong mga sakang sa kalinisan dito. sabi nila ay pareho raw sila, korean at mga chi-inese sa kalinisan sa paligid di raw tulad nating mga pinoy. waja tink?

isang oras na lang at check out time na kami. tulog muna ako ng kaunti bago umalis at mahaba haba pa ang byahe. gow!

hello from hong kong 6
27 May 2006
Saturday, Novotel Hotel Hong Kong

as always, HKG is my final destination before going home. it has been cloudy since my arrival yesterday, saturday 27 may. this morning is drizzling. since the hotel was full upon my arrival, they had to upgrade my accommodation to a better room for the same price. when you're lucky, you're in luck. hahaha

took my time sleeping to catch up and it feels good to be in a not-so-humid envi. i saw in discovery channel about the fire mummies of the philippines unearthed in the cordilleras. looks interesting, please check it out. videos to follow.

will fly back to sapporo in 2.5 hrs' time.

hello from hong kong 7
6 July 2008 Sunday
Disneyland HKG

i was in tokyo yesterday in transit to hong kong. at the airports in japan today and for the whole month of july, police are very visible due to G8 summit. this meeting of the 8 most powerful nations will gather in hokkaido to discuss political issues among others. they were particularly cautious about bomb scare, so, coin lockers were temporarily suspended. it was quite humid and very hot in tokyo. i met some friends and joined them in ginza, shinjuku, harajuku, roponggi and other famous places that make tokyo the most expensive place on the face of this planet.

today i arrived in hong kong to spend a week with mom and sis. yes, siya yung kapatid ko na nagsabi na lalong lumalabas ang mga dumi kapag naglilinis ng bahay hahaha

it is very humid and a bit rainy. i always have this funny feeling that most of the time especially when i visit disneyland, it always rains.

we are excited, of course. konting lakad pa lang kami, hinihingal na ang mother nature. we had to walk more slowly. our first ride was in tomorrow land's space mountain. this 5-minute roller coaster ride is serene in the first minute only to wreck your nerves with its turns, speed and all for the rest of the ride. it would be fun for me riding alone, but in the remainder of the ride, i felt afraid. i thought i might bring mom to the nearest ER. di nakayanan ang powers at medyo natutulala kaya nagtawanan na lang kami. pinanood na lang kami ng mickey's theatrical show. i enjoy this show every time i go to disney. medyo broadway ang dating.

my internet connection in the hotel room is not working. so, i have to use the PC in the business office. photos and videos to follow.

hello from hong kong 8
7 July 2008 Monday
Disneyland HKG

flat tired kami kagabi. hindi na nakaligo bago matulog ang sis. as in sleeping like cooking oil hahaha i tried to wake her up to ask for something but she is in a better disney world i guess hahaha
mom enjoyed the toilet facilities so much it took her more than an hour to shower. it was good that i spent time in the internet while waiting.

at 5:00AM, i was awakened by a noise of somebody. mom was having leg cramps. i think it will be a challenge today's disney adventure part 2. i might have to ask for a wheel chair for her. i should have done this 10 years ago when she was 52. but i was only 31 then and have not had a taste of being abroad also besides, i just started my private practice. mahirap na talaga magbyahe kapag thunder dome na. very challenging.

i am looking forward to a sunny weather today so that we could enjoy more. will have late breakfast at chef mickey and off we go again.

hello from hong kong 9
7 July 2008 Monday
Disneyland HKG

this is our final day in disney. after check-out tomorrow, we'll proceed to macau.
i was told that i snored terribly last night. mom and sis were awakened upon hearing me snore. she wonders if the rest of my brothers snore the same. they could not sleep so they chat from 12mn till 3 in the morning.

today's adventure is better than yesterday's. although it drizzled in the morning and early afternoon, it was dry soon after. no more wild rides hahaha so, we decided to see mickey's philharmagic show, a 3-D operatic show. kakatuwa mabasa ng mga effects. winnie d pooh ride, cinderella carousel hahaha jungle something etc. lion king show was fabulous also. i liked the dance and singing. basta, no wild rides hahaha

because of cooperative weather, the highlight of the day or evening is the 10 minute fire works. i wondered what would happen if there would be sudden power failure. lolzzz

parang isang buwan ata ang dalang damit ng mother earth. halos pumutok ang maleta sa dami ng mga dala.

hello from hong kong 10
8 July 2008 Monday
Disneyland HKG

i just checked out few minutes ago and soon we will leave for macau. it is raining cats and dogs now.

punung puno ng abubot ang bagahe ng mother earth dahil sa mga souvenir items na mula sa hotel. pati nga flat TV ay type nya iuwi hahaha sabi ko baka gusto nya ring iuwi ang bed sheet at photo frame ni mickey mouse. lolzzzz di ko makita ang complimentary toothbrush dahil sa naibaul na pala hahaha parang taga-SL din siya maglagay ng asukal sa kape. mahihiya ang dessert sa sobrang tamis.

i am always mistaken to be a local here. everyday, people would talk to me in cantonese hahaha just like in japan and SL. more to come later.

hello from hong kong 11
11 July 2008 Friday

we went back to hong kong around lunch time. as usual, it rained during the morning but afternoon was okay.

after checking in, we headed towards downtown kowloon as we chose a good place to eat peking duck. mother earth was adamant in eating immediately. mainit na ang ulo kasi gutom na hahaha so we settled to a nearby restaurant without the duck. we were delighted with the late lunch gastronomics nonetheless only to find out later on that few blocks away were chains of restaurants with better foods. we can go back to those places tomorrow.

shopping was a bit of a challenge, for me. medyo mahirap ata makipagtawaran si mother earth. parang magagalit ang mga tindera. hahaha at ang tagal bago makabili ng mga items. i just waited outside the mall and smoked my way around. pero nakatawad naman kahit paano.

early in the evening, i planned to karaoke. but mother earth was begging to call it a day much to our persuasion. kaya hinatid na lang namin sa bahay at lumabas ulit kami. on our way to karaoke, we didn't find the place to be as comfortable so, sis and i opted to have body massage. will send mother earth there tomorrow to strengthen those muscles hahaha

i find globe and smart international roaming to be charging exorbitantly compared to japan and SL. besides that, their roaming services are not user-friendly.

hello from hong kong 12
12 July 2008 Saturday

this is our final day in HKG inasmuch as mother earth and sis do not want to end the tour. time was so fast and enjoyable they said that they didn't miss home country as of yet.

today is a very nice day to travel especially in the afternoon, no rains. we savored on peking duck, noodles, and chahan. panalo ang oiliness talaga hahaha after late lunch, we had a short cruise in victoria. nothing unusual that i saw. we just enjoyed the sea.

we went to star avenue. mother earth was impressed with how people dressed themselves up. high heels, scarf, the works.

shopping was a challenge due to our differences in interests. we made it a routine to each his own during shopping, window or not. we parted ways for say an hour and meet later. so that we don't waste each other's time looking for one another.

mother earth enjoyed body massage, after which, we had our last dinner in HKG with peking duck again, steamed fish, veggies, and pork stew.

we are now packing our cases. we shall have early flights tomorrow. they will go back to manila while i continue my journey to south east asia (cambodia, viet nam and thailand) before going back home in japan.

hello from hong kong 14
20 July 2008 Sunday

yes, no number 13 again. i have some reservations over that number.

i arrived in HKG few hours ago and i'm waiting for my connecting flight to tokyo tomorrow morning. thanks to cathay pacific's business class flight, i am able to use shower facilities and lounge. ang lagkit ng pakiramdam ko na kasi at nanggigitata na naman. now i feel a bit more refreshed.

it was surprising to see HKG from the airplane on a clear night. HKG looked like a painting in canvas. the roads are very clear. you can see its contours and the overlap of the highways. truly amazing.

before leaving BKK, i replied to philippine star's invitation again for another write up about the philippines. ewan ko ba parang naabuso na sila ah. hahaha well, this time i did not simply give what they want to read. i gave them what they need to read hahaha you will surely won't miss it once published online or in paper. i don't know when. they made the correct timing of inviting me again just in the middle of my asian holidays. watch out for it.

hello from hong kong 15
8 January 2009 Thursday
Royal View Hotel

happy new year. i arrived at 21:00 after an uneventful flight from sapporo by cathay pacific. the weather is fine here in hong kong. it is cold and windy at 11-15C. the hotel is nice but is far away from down town, so i think i can't savor those juicy foods this time. today's forex is JPY10,000 to HKG$761.

will live this afternoon for sri lanka and stay there for 4 weeks to negotiate with some people. yesterday, on my way to chitose airport in sapporo, i left my back pack at the train. kaya pala ang gaan gaan ng feeling. yung maleta lang kasi ang dala ko. ngek hahaha. i was lucky that a crew member was immediately on sight and after a few struggle with my nihon go, she led me to the office and saw my back pack, opened for security. what a relief. had it happened anywhere else, it would have been a disaster.

hello from hong kong 16
4 february 2009 tuesday

it was a long journey from colombo to HKG. i was exhausted starting from the traffic jam out of colombo. military men with long guns were roaming the city and did nothing to ease the flow of traffic. it was the bystanders who did the job for them. road blockades were everywhere and people are not aware where to pass.

on the way to the airport, we unloaded the PCs to a nearby house otherwise, we will be led to a cargo station for lengthy inspections and interrogations by the military. and i could miss the plane. our passports were checked, i had to get off the car and take a short shuttle bus ride to the airport.

the new SL airport has made a lot of improvements. one is the availability of free and fast internet service. the airconditioning system has tremendously improved as well as the toilet facilities. they have running water and maintained dry cleanliness. it is very well lit too. mukha na talaga siyang airport.

our driver's friend where we unloaded the PCs temporarily were very hospitable, we were served tea and snacks. i requested for sugarless and milkless tea. they asked me 3 times if i were sure. i learned that for SLs, serving very sweet tea is a way of showing their hospitality. they were amused when i talked in my broken sinhalese. a lady who once worked with pinay nurses in saudi arabia proudly asked me kumusta ka? which i replied with hondai (good). she innocently followed up with walang utak and malaking puki hahaha i laughed my lungs out and, surrounded with 8 or more SLs, i could not translate the meaning to them. just the same i told them that we do not say it everyday. lolzzz kung anu-ano ata ang itinuturo ng mga kababayan natin sa mga ito ah

i arrived HKG in the afternoon. after checking few emails while in the hotel room, i headed to downtown, i enjoyed peking duck, hot chocolate drink, and some dimsum. busog meals talaga! the temp is warmer than 4 weeks ago. it is 23C now. although most people are in their winter apparel.

will go to the airport at 7AM tomorrow on my way back home in sapporo.

Travela Colombo

gino510 — Sun, 08 Feb 2009 20:13:53 CST

Travel novela

hello from colombo
23 April 2005
Saturday 13:34
Colombo, Sri Lanka

ano na? kadarating ko lang dito sa CMB, Sri Lanka kaninang AM3:00 local time. parang RP ang bansang ito. 3rd world din ang dating! tropical clime, 27C now, at very humid. syempre pawisan ako pati lahat ng butas ng katawan kasama na ang ...singit! hahahaha

maraming curry ang pagkain dito kaya pili lang ako ng mga prutas medyo neutral foods, yung cholesterol-rich ba? hahaha

pati sa dami ng slum areas ay parang RP din dito. maraming nanlilimos sa kalye, parang sa quiapo at mura ang mga bilihin. at user-friendly ang internet service dito, di tulad sa switzerland...ang keyboard nila ay walang exclamation point! hahaha!

dahil sunday ngayon,di gaanong ma-traffic. pero ma-traffic daw pag working days.
di rin masyadong polluted ang hangin sa lugar na ito tulad ng MNL. kasi sa atin ay amoy gasolina ang hangin, dito ay slight lang.

marami ring 2nd hand japanese vehicles dito tulad sa atin. syempre, ang mga 3rd world ay umaasa sa dole out nitong mga sakang noh?hahahaha

yun lang muna ang update mula dito sa colombo...12hrs pa lang naman ako mula kaninang pag dating ko eh. nga pala, sri lanka is 2 hrs behind RP time...

cheers! (btw, no equivalent word in sinhalese)

hello from colombo 2
26 April 2005
Tuesday 13:56
Colombo, Sri Lanka

haler. im in the hotel of my prof now writing this.e kaninang umaga nasa isang net cafe ako. ang haba na noong mail kotapos na disconnect ba bago opa man lang ma send! ngek

well, day 3 na ngayon. parang manila nga talaga dito. pero mas maraming puno ang buong colombo parang sa diliman qc. tsaka marami ring mga ibon, uwak ang marami tulad sa sapporo.

pakiramdam ko ay ang puti ko noh! ang batok, mga daliri sa kamay, palibot ng mata nitong mga sri lankans ay kasing puti ng pwet ng kawali hahaha paran may libag sa leeg hahaha pero mababait naman sila at friendly na rin.

yung hospital nilang 5 yrs old ay parang 25 yrs old na by 1st world standards. parang sa manila rin na medyo kulang sa maintenance ba? at ang halimuyak sa ospital nila ay parang yung amoy ng ospital sa mindoro,maasim asim ang dating at marumi.

ang mga bldgs ay iba ang ground floor sa first floor. yung 1st floor ay 2nd floor sa atin. right hand drive di dito. parang sa japan din na keep left sila comonwealth territory kasidati ito.

yung hotel ko ay may mural nirizal sa lobby. kasi 4 na beses nakarating dito si rizal. padalhan kita ng pic later.

maraming indian tourists dito. europeans chinese japanese at americans. ang mga business centers ay predomiantlysri lankan companies o indians o arab countries. peromay nakita akong mc donalds kanina.

maraming precious stones. at ibang alahas.

may nakita akong mga pinoy seamen dito kaya kainuman ko sila lagi hahaha

o yan lang muna ulit. thanks.

haler from colombo
12 August 2005
Friday 17:02
Colombo Plaza Hotel, Sri Lanka

hello,pagoda philippines dahil sa dami nang business meetings dito sa SL. kung sinu sino ang kinakausap para sa rabies control proj rito. ang siste ay parang RP ang dating. ang hirap kapag mapulitika ang lugar. magdo donate ka na nga, pahihirapan ka pa sa kung kanino dapat ibigay ang anda hahaha di bale, bansa naman nila ito eh. walang pinag iba sa bansa natin. puro personalities at walang katapusang lip service. pataasan din sila ng ihi at palawakan ng machination para sa political chu chu nila. leche flan!

yun nga, parang nangangarap na naman ako ng swiss govt. yung tipong di mo kilala ang govt leader dahil tahimik lang silang nagtatrabaho para sa bayan. kasing dami rin ng political posters dito tulad sa atin. di naman kainaman ang mga hilatsa hahahaha

anyway, im looking forward to good tropical sun (umaraw harinawa) in BKK next week and delicious thai cuisine. ill present 2 papers in http://www.wce2005.org/ if interested , pls visit that site.

pakiramdam ko ay ang puti ko na dito kahit umitim ako lalo. ang puputi kasi ng kutis ng mga SL noh. hahaha at ang mga kuko….wow sa linis. parang nagkamot ng malibag na leeg. ganon! hahaha

ngarag in colombo,

gino510

ps: no chance to buy ceylon tea due to job hazards. i hope to get some at the airport... at the end of the day, enjoy pa rin!

haler from colombo 2
14 August 2005
Sunday 19:27
Colombo Plaza Hotel, Sri Lanka

it was the foreign minister who was shot dead last night. LTTE ang hinala nila na pumatay. ewan ko lang kung ano yung grupo na iyon pero worldwide daw ang sakop nito at merong 45 offices kung saan saan. noong wednesday ay nakipag meeting kami sa health minister nila at hindi ko ininom ang tea with milk na inalok nya. pansin nya na hindi ko man lang tinikman. ngek kasuka noh? amoy pa lang ay bumabaligtad na ang sikmura ko. tapos, kinabukasan, itong health minister na ito ay ginawang leader ng lower house nila. chura!

gino510

PS1: will send you his pic and their food pic later. di kaya ng powers ko kaya sa safe at neutral foods lang ako. mga prutas!

PS2: isang oras mula ngayon, papunta na ako sa airport. next destination is thailand.

hello from colombo 3
05 November 2005
Saturday 10:00
Seaman’s Lounge, Colombo, Sri Lanka

yes, this is my 6th day in the island nation SL. intoxicating days have passed with the completion of our 3-days rabies workshop. it was indeed a challenging opportunity to work with them. it will test one's sanity and patience. i guess most bureaucrats are the same in developing countries.

mabuti na lang at may nakita akong pinoy na kainan dito. at least merong pang consuelo de bobo pag hapunan na. di talaga carry ng sikmura ko ang curry. the variety of which is endless. each one taste the same though. maski pagkain nila ng tinapay, isawsaw ba sa red hot chili paste? at meron pa iyong palamang sili. maliliit na sili at parang siopao ang filling. di ko ma imagine kung pano lunukin iyon. pati ang spaghetti sa italian restaurant ay ayaw paawat ng sili, sibuyas, bawang at kung anu ano pa. SL-inspired italian pasta ika nga.

at ang tea sa maliit na tasa? merong gatas at 2.5 teaspoonfuls of sugar. ok? gabundok ang asukal ng bawat isang kutsarita. mahihiya ang honey sa tamis.

syempre, hindi rin mawawala sa kultura nila ang nagkakamay sa pagkain kahit saan. very interesting.

maulan din dito ngayon kaya parang status quo lang ang kutis ko ngayon. hahaha
i look forward to an easy and pleasant time now before embarking it with who officials week next.

hello from colombo 4
06 November 2005
Sunday 10:35
Seaman’s Lounge, Colombo, Sri Lanka

i notice that Rx is relatively cheap in colombo. paubos na kasi ang meds stock ko kaya naisipan kong bumili kahapon. 20 caps-clarithromicin, 20 caps-erythromicin, 20-caps amoxicillin, and 20-caps cephalexin. everything costed about 2,000 rupees (PhP1,000). magkano ba sa atin lahat na iyan? karamihan ay gawa sa india ang mga gamot nila dito.

another thing nice here are the variety of precious stones. though they do not have endogenous diamonds, they have rubies down to moonstones and produce 45 kinds of these stones (sapphire, topaz, aquamarine, garnet etc). i went to a gem store an hour ago where ding velayo gets his. of course, i told them that i am a student so that i will get the price that i want hahaha so, with not-so-expensive budget i was able to purchase cat's eye set in silver. pinoy ata 'to...mahilig tumawad. hahaha

hello from colombo 5
06 November 2005
Sunday 13:10
Seaman’s Lounge, Colombo, Sri Lanka

sabi ko nga, naghapunan ako sa nag-iisang pinoy restaurant dito sa SL. mag volunteer bang sumama itong hapon kong prof. e syempre pinaunahan ko na siya na hindi mukhang restaurant iyon, kundi bahay lang. baka kasi ma-culture shock. lam mo naman itong mga sakang na ito, mas metikuloso pa sa akin sa lahat ng bagay. mula sa kalinisan hanggang sa time sked. lahat dapat ay nasa tamang ayos. kaya hayun pag dating namin doon ay ang daming pinoy, puro pinoy seamen. 21 barko kasi ang bagong salta kahapon kaya ang daming nag iinuman at karaoke sila. maingay nga e. pero sabi naman ng prof ko ay okay lang.

hintay hintay ng kalahating oras bago naihain ang tambakol na sinigang, piniritong tambakol at chicken adobo. mukhang weird at awkward nga mag kutsara at tinidor itong SL service driver namin kasi nga mas sanay sila mag kamay. e pano naman kaya kakain ng sinigang kung nagsu swimming ang kanin sa sabaw noh? hahaha

pero mukhang nasarapan naman sa ulam ang prof ko at balak pang maghapunan doon mamyang gabi. wagi!

….at mukhang na-type-an pa itong isang pinay OFW hahaha may asawa din at balak pang makipag date nitong prof koh hahaha he is such a flirt! lolzzz and his wife and 23-yr old son are my friends hahaha bahala siya hahaha

few hours from now i’ll have another relaxing moment by traditional SL massage cum aromatherapy.

hello from colombo 6
07 November 2005
Monday 11:57
Colombo Plaza Hotel, Sri Lanka

other interesting observations in SL: most men take domestic roles while women are not unusual outside home. women are common in the construction, agriculture and business sectors. they also do road asphalting, okay? men take care of the kids, laundry, food and other chores. they have lady prez, ne.

at one year old, children start to eat chili, curry and other spices. i wonder whether mother’s milk has it? hahaha

like their indian counterparts, young women have very attractive faces. no wonder indians make it in global competitions. wide and deep set eyes, high-bridged noses. but somewhat too-ornamented with that red-circle in the forehead, too many jewelries, national attire and the perfume which smothers me. pero mas marami pa ring pangit hahaha

isang beses sa isang lingo lang din maligo ang mga babae, tuwing huwebes lang. di ako sigurado kung dahil sa relihiyon iyon. pero nakalaylay ang mahahabang buhok nila pag araw na iyon. ibig sabihin ay hoy ang bangu bango ko noh hahaha kaya mas okay makipagkita sa kanila tuwing araw ng huwebes para hindi mahilo. ano kaya ang itsura ng panties nila pag dating ng miyerkules. baka matigas pa sa inalmirol na panty iyon? at amoy sili pa?

pag medyo nagkaka edad na, balacañang palace na sila. at ang mga pot-bellies ay ayaw na ring paawat. siguro nga kasi mahilig silang kumain tulad natin.

hello from colombo 7
08 November 2005
Tuesday 14:17
Colombo Plaza Hotel, Sri Lanka

im looking forward to having dinner with a pinay MD who is part of the WHO team who are visiting colombo at the same time due to the same reasons i came here for. we shall go, where else, to the pinoy resto. masarap talaga ang tsibug natin pati mag tagalog. pero mas madaling mag type sa english, ne? hahaha

last night i had dinner with a new SL friend. kumain kami ng chinese foods kasi sabi ko ay di nga ako nakain ng pagkain nila. okay lang daw. pagsubo ko, maanghang pa rin ang chinese nila. pero sa kanya ay bale wala lang. ngek. kailangan talaga ng industrial-strength deodorant, mouthwash at exhaust fan plzzzz

well, ang mura ng mga winter clothes dito. kanina ay may nakita na akong mga prospective winter attire na taj mahal ang presyo pag dating sa sapporo. pang bazar ang presyo. pero ang kenzo ay masyadong mabigat para sa akin kaya generic na lang hahaha

maraming french tourist ngayong araw na ito kaya na refresh na naman ng bonjour ko. parang nangangati ulit akong bumisita doon. hmmmm kelan kaya ulit?

bukas ay aakyat muli kami ng prof ko sa kandy (univ of peradeniya) para makipag partner sa research na balak naming gawin. sabi ko kasi sa kanya, ang hirap kausap kasi ng gobyerno. para parehong level naman ng discussion noh? ang hirap kasi pag sila ang ka-deal. walang kahahantungan ang usapan. panay pogi pointzzzz

hello from colombo 8
10 November 2005
Thursday 10:23
Colombo Plaza Hotel, Sri Lanka

kapagod ang byahe namin kahapon sa kandy. 130kms north off colombo, 3.5hrs traveling time one-way. 1000 meters above sea level. parang baguio ang lugar na iyon. naandoon din ang temple na kung saan makikita ang iniwang mga ngipin ni buddha. maganda rin ang mga zoo dito kasi bawal sa mga buddhists pumatay ng mga hayop kaya ang daming mga exotic animals sa kalsada. first time ko ring makakita ng porcupine. kadiri ang pork na iyon pero meron akong isang souvenire. parang pluma ang itsura, yung panulat ba ni rizal. pics to follow.

okay naman din ang usap namin sa mga univ professors. mukhang mabilis sila kumilos at magbigay ng kani kaniyang research proposals. hindi makupad. i hope to work with them more productively. a great contrast with people in public office.

noong pabalik na kami mula sa kandy ay panay discussions pa rin kami ng prof ko sa kotse. e hilung hilo na ako sa gutom. di nga kasi ako makakain kundi pinoy lang di ba? kaya oo lang ako ng oo. pero siya ay super mega excited sa project dito habang nai imagine ko na ang gusto kong kainin pag dating ng colombo. kaya tinawagan ko sa mobile yung pinay cook at pinahanda ang tinolang manok, lechong kawali at ginisang kang kong na paborito ng prof ko. akala niya noong una ay malansa ang adobong baboy pero noong nalasahan niya ay naparami ang kain niya hahaha gusto rin niya yung sinigang na isda kasi parang okinawan food nga, yung may miso ba. ganun. kaya nagyayaya siyang sumama sa akin sa pinoy restaurant.

pag dating naming sa kainan ay attack talaga ang ginawa ko pawisan pa noh hahaha tapos mukhang malungkot yung prof ko pero di ko siya pinapansin. binigay din niya yung buttered cake na regalo niya doon sa cook. pagkatapos kumain, biglang dumating yung type niyang pinay na si lilian. ting! biglang sumaya ang mukha niya at parang may nakita akong mga bituin at mga puso sa ere. usap usap, chikka chikka muna sila tapos ay iniwan ko sila para magkasarilinan ba. aba pag talikod ko ay nagpapalitan na sila ng mobile numbers hahaha pag tingin ko ulit sa prof ko ay nagmukhang high school siya hahaha true! ang bilis nga eh. talo pa koh hahaha pero umalis siya agad kasi maaga pa ang sked niya kinabukasan. pero pag dating niya sa hotel niya, tinawagan niya agad itong si lilian at huwag daw sabihin sa akin na tumawag siya. e siyempre andoon pa ako noon noh. pwede bang makalampas sa akin yon? sabi ko kay lilian ay sabihing niya na oo pero dapat ay alam ko noh hahaha mahiyain ata kasi itong mga sakang kaya ganoon. pero sana ay makapag date sila bago kami umalis bukas ng gabi. naku, mukhang mapapadalas pa ang pagpunta namin dito pag nagkataon.

nabili ko na rin yung winter collection na gusto ko. maluwag kasi ang sked ko sa araw na ito habang nakikipag meeting itong prof ko kung kani kanino. buti na lang at hindi niya ako sinama sa meeting na iyon kasi andoon yung asawa ng health minister nila na parating natawag sa akin at nangungulit kahit na nasa toilet ako para i-update yung pera na hinihingi ng gobyerno nila para sa rabies control program. eh wala naman sa akin noh. pati yung chimini nyang si visakha na mas maganda pa si angge, ay nakakayamot kausap. parang obligado yung kausap niya na pasayahin siya. the nerve!

i must admit that my prof has more patience than i have. it`s okay though. he does everything in front of the camera, while I do those behind the scenes. it`s more fulfilling.

baka ang susunod na email ko na ay pag nasa sapporo na ulit ako. paalis na kami bukas ng gabi at toxic kami buong araw bukas. tapos ay overnight ulit ako sa HKG. sino naman kaya ulit ang makikita ko doon?

hello from colombo 9
11 November 2005
Friday 15:28
Colombo Plaza Hotel, Sri Lanka

met up with WHO big wigs and SEARO member countries (SL, india, bhutan, nepal, n korea, mongolia, myanmar, and 2 other countries which i forgot) last night. WHO officials had the same impression of the government`s dedication, or the lack of it, in the project. they also encountered the same challenges relayed before.

it was my honor to have met up and discussed with dr sarah cleaveland, a british veterinary surgeon who has authored several papers in the same discipline. in the draft that i am writing right now, at least 6 of her papers were already cited.what an opportunity!

also met up with french dr francois x meslin, WHO rabies expert from geneva HQ office.

nakita ko na rin ng personal ang madam minister ng SL. magandang babae at very regal kumilos. buti na lang at hindi naman siya nangulit sa personal hahaha pero nakita ko na naman ulit si visakha. agresibong babae pag dating sa kadatungan. harinawang di na magkita ang aming landas hahaha

napansin ko rin na maraming chinese na karpintero dito sa hotel. nire renovate kasi. e bakit kaya hindi katutubo ang nagawa? e kasi naman pala, mas pulidong gumawa ang banyaga kaysa sa kanila. kaya kahit na maraming pwedeng gumawa sa kanila, kailangan pang mag import ng manpower. ibang case. pati sa mga garment factories dito, maraming pinoy na nagtatrabaho kahit kayang kaya nila ng mag supply ng mga tao. mainam kasi ang pinoy talent noh.

had to leave soon that reception dinner so that i may go with SL pinoys. angal din itong mga pinoy na ito makipagtrabaho sa kanila. kasi di nila ginagamit ang utak sa problem-solving. kung ano lang ang nakasalang sa harap nila, yun na iyon. di tulad nating mga noypi na maabilidad. cheers! pero sabi nga raw ng SL boss nila, kung di sila tanga, e nandito ba kayo ngayon? kaya ang dictum: hayaan na lang silang maging tanga hahaha

hello from colombo 10
28 February 2006, Tuesday
Colombo, Sri Lanka

just arrived here in colombo an hour ago from kandy. checked in the hotel already and parted from the japanese for a short time. nagsusumiksik na naman silang sumama sa philippine mama resto mamaya hahaha nagpaluto ako ng adobong baboy, sinigang na baboy, isda sa miso, ginisang kangkong. yun lang muna para sa hapunan maya maya. bukas bistek at lechong kawali naman ang nasa isip kong hapunan. ano ba yun? puro ata cardiac arrest ang kakainin ko lolzzzz

mahaba rin ang byahe namin kanina. umalis kami ng NE 6AM tapos 3PM na kami dumating rito sa colombo. pero okay lang at least, mas ok ang dot coms.

will be meeting with ex-JPN ambassador to SL tomorrow. dadalhin daw kami ng asawa niya bukas sa jewelry store, mahilig kasi yung hitad sa mga alahas. walang oras makabili ng mga abubot ngayon na-toxic kasi sa kandy at NE bukod sa walang mainam bilhin.

di rin masyadong makulay ang byahe ngayon kasi di pa nagkikita ang prof ko at ang luv interest niya hahaha

nag dinner nga pala kami noong isang gabi kasama ang dean ng vet med nila. at maganda yung restaurant nila kasi merong historic theme, ang daming mga memoirs at mga pics na mula 19th century colonial times. very interesting. meron din ba noon sa atin?

nagustuhan ng mga japanese ang ayuverdic massage nila dito (traditional massage). syempre, walang powder iyon at puro herbal oils chu chu lang. kaya panalo na rin. pero kailangang mag shampoo at magsabon maigi para maalis ang amoy. pero nakaka relax talaga.

abot din dito ang balita coup attempt (na naman) sa atin. buntong hininga na naman hahaha

hello from colombo 11
01 March 2006, Wednesday
Colombo, Sri Lanka

well, it's my final day today in SL. will be back here before april's end.

kahapon ay nagpunta kami sa isang jewelry store kasama ang ambassador at asawa niya na kung saan nakakita ako ng star sapphire na di ko carry ang presyo. 9000 USD kasi hahaha kaya yung kaya lang ng budget ko ang binili. blue sapphire this time. wala nga akong balak bumili pero di kinaya ng mga mata ang mga gems na iyon lolzzz meron din binigay na souvenir stones ang may ari. pink, white and yellow sapphire. mainam naman.

umalis na rin kagabi ang buong team namin. ako na lang ang naiwan dahil dadaan pa ako ng SIN mamayang gabi. kaya panalo. at least makakagawa ng sariling lakad.

di na nagkita ang mga luv birds dahil hectic ang prof ko kaya di na nakita ang luv interest niya. tsaka ma panalo kasi yung japonesa na kasama namin.

i met one pinoy MD here who works with jica and will have dinner with his family tonight before heading for the airport.

nagkita ulit kami ni madame minister at buti na lang kasi wala yung chimini niyang si visakha na mas maganda pa si angge.

hello from colombo 12
01 March 2006, Wednesday
Colombo, Sri Lanka

other interesting observations in SL:

nakakalito ang elevator. ang ground floor ay kaiba sa lobby, zero at first floor. kaya pinipindot ko lahat para hindi magkamali ng labas hahaha british influence, i think.

okay lang mag HHWW (holding hands while walking) ang mga lalaki. parang akbay ang equivalent sa atin.

mabaho para sa kanila ang amoy ng white flower chinese medicine.

matabang o bland daw ang lasa ng pagkaing pinoy ayon sa mga taga SL. gusto talaga nila ang maanghang. mas maanghang ang pagkain nila kaysa sa mga indians. at iba iba ang uri ng mga spices at curry ayon sa kanila.

nailing ang ulo nila sa pagsang-ayon pero iginagalaw ang ulo na parang indian way kapag hindi sigurado. kaiba noh?

hello from colombo 14
26 May 2006
Friday, Kandy, Sri Lanka

had dinner last night with a vet professor and her husband in a chinese restaurant. it is good that that place served good food. not at all hot. that's why i was pleased but i think my hosts were not. lolzzzz they can eat again in their home, noh. they were so accommodating and all. she is also instrumental in the success of our project. i hope that all will go well as the succeeding projects will ensue.

i arrived in colombo 3 hrs ago and had pinoy lunch already. i think i ate more than the usual. the 3.5hrs bus ride made me quite dizzy due to the road conditions on top of occassional rainshowers. very humid now in CMB and there is power interruption in philippine mama restaurant that is why i had to find some better place till the power resumes. reminiscent of intermittent power failures in RP. it's nice to meet some pinoys here and speak tagalog, of course.

i learned that due to the bad situation of SL economy now, most companies have had to streamline their employees. that is why, most foreign workers like pinoys may have to be unemployed and will have to find jobs elsewhere. some of them would even take jobs that would pay less than 50% of their present income. that they would rather do that abroad than to go back to RP where their chances would not be any better.

will go to HKG via SIN 9.5hrs from now.

Hello from Colombo 15
27 Jan 2008 AM6:05

Again, we were delayed in coming to Colombo because of my boss’ golfing sked, traffic accident along the highway, road constructions that never get done, and the president’s visit to Kandy. There were numerous army guards ready to fire away with the slightest provocation.

The fight between the government and the LTTE is on going in the north and the peace talks have failed. Their resolution is to gun down all the rebels in a short time once and for all. I think that that is a better solution rather than dilly dallying with them just like the NPAs of RP. Make short decisive and effective moves. Amen.

Health status and services. I think I have mentioned before that Sri Lankans have longer life expectancy than Pinoys. Medical services here are available even in remote areas. Primary health care is very strong. They have no shortage MDs unlike in RP, we shall soon import Cuban physicians. Medicines are very cheap. I bought 10 tabs of Ventolin 2mg for SLR15 (equivalent to JPY15 or PhP30~).

Religion. Buddhism is deeply engrained among Sri Lankans. About 80% of the people are Buddhists. The rest are Hindus and Muslims. And still, a smaller percentage are Christians. When asked what their religion is, Japanese will hesitate for a moment and say that they are Buddhists. I think they are not. Their practice of the religion is different compared to other Buddhist countries. It is more like they are atheists. Has it anything to do with their old pagan practice of Taoism and Shintoism? I do not know. Even so, Japanese pray to their ancestors. My take on this is that people should be given the choice of religion until they reach a certain age when they can understand and have the freedom to choose with which faith to believe. Children should not be indoctrinated because doing so would leave them no choice. Agree?

Morning rush. I was told that like in any other countries, Sri Lankans are always in a hurry to go to office in the morning. They would not take a second’s delay. How come no one comes on time? Hahaha

Forex is very stable. It does not fluctuate as much as it is in RP. The exchange of JPY and SLR is almost 1:1. Money deposits will earn a staggering 19.5%!

I had a satisfying dinner with Philippine Mama. She is getting old now and is recovering from her heart ailment. Very strong woman, indeed. I love her pork adobo and sinigang. I went there without the Japanese. But they want to go there today for lunch.

I noticed that there are more barricades in Colombo than it was 2 years ago. With the bombing that happens every now and then, the security remains a challenge. Tourism is down. For hotel prices, what used to be USD90 is now USD60-70. The government should use taxpayers’ money more wisely than creating road blocks and military presence and check points. The scene looks scary.

While walking along the streets of Colombo, I was requested by the military for my passport. I told them that I am staying at the Cinnamon Grand Hotel and they set me free. The hotels’ name was more credible than my passport, I think. Hahaha

We shall go back to Kandy after lunch. We’ll meet with some local officials there. Tomorrow, we’ll go to our project site to train our volunteers.

hello from colombo 16
15 feb 2008 around AM8:00

within 45 mins, i shall soon fly to singapore. will stay for a few hours there and then head back home via kansai (osaka).

i had a relaxing moment yesterday in colombo because my time allowed me to. so i decided to have an SL haircut, as if it matters hahaha and my most awaited ayurvedic massage. wow! it now costs SLR7000 compared to its 2006 price of SLR4500. but in my experience, nothing beats thai massage, it's the best.

i had an italian lunch with a pinoy MD friend who is based in colombo. it was awesome to meet him again. of course, whenever i am in this capital city, i must not fail to visit philippine mama whose pork adobo is so special that my japanese colleagues always look forward to.

adrenaline rush. because i have an early flight to catch, i had early breakfast in the hotel and wanted to check-out early also. in the check-out counter, i waited for my cue for 30 mins or so. only 1 check-out personnel was there while there were so many guests. so, everybody was delayed and could see the dismay. one guest, indian national perhaps, was requested that his luggages be opened and visually inspected in the hotel lobby! it was an embarassing moment for him and for the rest of the passengers. it's okay at the airport but not in a hotel lobby. being SLs, of course, they give so many excuses again, this time there was computer system failure. hahaha opening up someone's baggage due to system failure? lolzzzz i told them that they must have contingency plans in such situations. all they could muster was to apologize and to wait.

at the end, i was delayed for almost 45mins, when i was done through all the procedures, i told the concierge a very respectable F**K YOU ALL! hahaha

hello from colombo 17
22 march 2008 AM8:01

it was a relaxing day. no schedule to follow and no dogs to go after. i just spent it freely, a rare moment.

i met some OFWs today. the pinays work in a garment factory while the pinoys work in road construction. two of these constru happened to be participants in our HIV survey last year. one is HIV positive. hair is vanishing. hahaha since it was a holiday, they just bummed around.

there are no traffic in the city so it was very nice to go around. i will go to the airport 2 hours from now. i hope that i won't have the same delaying tactic experience upon checking out from this hotel. will spend the night in singapore. happy easter!

hello from colombo 18
2 february 2009 monday

the 3 hours trip from kandy to colombo went uneventful. i slept intermittently. numerous uniformed men surround the capital city colombo in lieu of their independence day come 4 feb. although the peace negotitations with the rebels had been relatively sucessful, you can never can tell, sabi nga ni miss alma m. hahaha

i am sharing a hotel room with my bosses. a triple room. di kaya ng powers ko ang sobrang katahimikan namin dito. the extra bed for me looks like it came from a government hospital. the bed has chapped white paint and wheels. i think they already removed the side bars. i won't be surprised if a doctor will come to make his rounds. hahaha my boss ordered that my bed be placed on the farthest end of the room because of the noise i create when sleeping. ngek

it was a pleasure to meet my pinoy friend and his family despite short notice. i enjoyed the dinner and the conversation. somehow, i envy them because they have started their own company.

public hygiene. we were taught that pinoys are clean, however, from what i see here particularly in public areas, the stench of toilets is no different from ours. sometimes no water, the floors are wet made muddy from unasphalted roads. leaking pipes are not uncommon. toilet lids are a rarity.

korek, it is my nose that has a problem. my friend cannot smell them. hahaha

hello from colombo 19
3 february 2009 tuesday

today we bought the promised 6 PCs. the price tag is 300,000 rupees (300,000 yen~). in japan, only 1 or 2 PCs could be bought with such an amount. but of course, these are all generic PCs that work well with generic software programs. original softwares will not run properly with generic PCs. orig to orig, pirated to pirated, they go well.

living for more than 6 years in japan had made me acclimatized with motorist discipline and courtesy. i am scared of killer drivers here. it is annoying when they blow their horn at every whim. thus, bumperrrr to bumperrrr traffic jams.

independent but not quite. i was advised to go to the airport 6 hours prior to departure in anticipation of traffic congestion. because they will be celebrating independence day, all roads leading to the city will be closed from 6:00 am until 1:00 am. this means that all vehicles will not be allowed to enter the capital. people could walk in and out of the city but the check points could be tremendous. it is disappointing when people have come to accept that barricades, military men, traffic jams, and check points are the most natural things to do. hotel guests will have to check out at 4:00 am. very inconvenient.

Travela Kandy

gino510 — Sun, 08 Feb 2009 20:06:05 CST

Travel novela

hello from kandy
10 May 2006
Wednesday, University of Peradeniya, Kandy

haler. quite a busy day today. had to meet up with our volunteer student workers supposedly at 6.30am and as expected, they all arrived at 7am. third world attitude? or individual characteristics? at any rate, tardiness is not in my thesaurus.

it's good that we keep working here so that i won't feel the boredom. not much a do in this side of the world. hotel's Internet speed is at it's top speed of 38 kbps. wow! im lucky to be using this Univ www with 10 Mbps speed. lolzzzz

as usual, if you plan to loose weight, this is the place to go. cant eat much. these taste buds are screaming already hahaha

i have finished another sidney sheldon yesterday and its brokeback mountain starting last night. quite interesting, ne. i should have brought more books which i bought last time in SIN and HKG.

we watched a cultural dance show yesterday and im proud to say that tinikling and cariñosa are better. the JPNese slept during the show lolzzzz. will send videos later. so, that's just about it this time. more later.

hello from kandy 2
11 May 2006
Thursday, University of Peradeniya, Kandy

today`s work atmosphere is better than yesterday as i had expected. of course, the birth pains during the first days of a project is always a head ache. somehow we are able to manage and coordinate people and schedule. i am not really the type of person with charisma and all. i am more of a black & white type, no grays, no middles. north or south only which is quite the opposite of japanese style. at any rate, we are able to go along well with SLs. thanks to my mentors in hospital admi in RP lolzzzz

tomorrow is vesakh day, and it`s suppose to mean the birthday or death(?) of Buddha. so, it is a long weekend here.so, no alcohol for the rest of the week. i might climb up the mountainside tomorrow. see some elephants and monkeys. things im not really into. but hey, what you dont like, you get. quite odd.

pretty vesakh!

hello from kandy 3
12 May 2006
Friday, Kandy, Sri Lanka

my prof, a post-doc lab-mate, this tokyo-jin, and myself, went to sirigirya yesterday to see the ruins of the former kandyan king. it's like visiting the incas, aztecs, or whatever was left of the empires of greece and rome. it was a 2-hrs car ride from the hotel and another 3 hrs climb to the top of the stone castle.

because it is a weeklong visak celebration, the whole island is in festive mood, they refuse work this weekend. my persuasion to finish the work early did no good and maybe ill just have to adjust to them. not really bad.

what i saw in the castle were the throne, swimming pool, audience hall, paintings etc etc of the old kingdom which dates back to AD400. it's like watching, feeling and smelling national geographic in the flesh. literally in the flesh because with the vast amount of people who went there, mostly locals, i could smell the aroma coming out of the pores of their body. and it was 35C yesterday, very humid and all. my winter skin turned red during those 6hrs sun exposure. i was so thirsty during the entire climb that one liter of water was consumed within 2 hrs. ang hitman! so suffocating! hahaha

the king used to keep 500 concubines, according to our guide. and my prof asked why he kept 500 of them. i volunteered that the king can only count up to 500? lolzzzz and he asked what were his criteria for selection? i told myself, hey, that was 1600 years ago? maybe they lost the list of the inclusion criteria hahaha my prof was really adamant about it because he wanted to compare it with the lesotho king. whatever that was, it did not catch my fancy the time. lolzzzz

it is really very interesting to see the old world. history is one subject that was not in my favorite list during school but somehow i find interesting now. but disappointingly, these treasures are not well preserved here. of course the tropical clime is harsh and i just don't know how they will preserve the paintings, but for the next generations to see them, they have to be preserved nonetheless.

of course, there will be bystanders and fake tour guides who will try to take advantage, but being bathed in a system like this will be of no use. sorry for them. it was also quite disappointing that with the number of people who went there, we could have met an accident. because the climb was so steep, the police did nothing to improve the flow of human traffic. they were just there talking among themselves. something which reminds me of RP. another waste of people's money.

we were so tired after the climb that the elephant ride and dates with the monkeys which i initially planned were aborted.

well, i am left alone here in kandy since my prof went back to colombo already and the post doc left for JPN via HKG last night. will have to stay for the next 2 weeks until all our field works will have been completed by then.

hello from kandy 4
13 May 2006
Saturday, Kandy, Sri Lanka

went for joy walk around kandy lake. SLs enjoy this huge lake which has no ingress nor egress body of water. it is just an enormous basin of water on top of the mountain. this is still inhabited with many fishes and is a sanctuary of many birds, too. the locals, the haves or the have nots, are fond of picnic around this lake but they also like to throw garbages everywhere. so it is not uncommon to find so many ice cream wrappers anywhere.

i enjoyed 2 hrs ayuverdic traditional massage also afterwhich i smelled like herbs from head to toe that i had to shower right after. i still prefer thai massage. after the massage, i was placed in what i initially thought as steam bath. but it turned out to be a chamber which covered my entire body except for the head. and underneath was a stove with boiling water. ngek, i had that funny schizophrenic feeling that reminded me of water torture in old japan. scary! the one hour steam bath was cut short to 10 minutes only. cant stand the thought of being burned alive hahaha

not only is my tongue complaining now, the other end of the GI tract is yelling as well whenever i visit the toilet. my week stay here is enough to make my rear end scream! lolzzzz i think they really have a very high tolerance to spices that my requests for spiceless food is of no use. they still serve it hot & spicy. KFC plain chicken is hot here.

when asked what they feel when food is not hot and spicy, SLs say they are not happy, they need it. our driver, who worked in the middle east before, made the arabians and yemen people angry when he made them taste SL food. i think they also do not like hot foods. lolzzzz

i also notice that soil color here is brown to brick red. any relation to chili's color?

hello from kandy 5
17 May 2006
Wednesday, Kandy, Sri Lanka

it's day 6 of our field work. good thing that i have no difficult problems that i can't handle. it's quite a challenge to man people. most of the people that i work with are very supportive and enthusiastic of the project. they even had to go out of their way to avail food for us which i appreciate but would rather prefer that they attend to their routines and give me no special treatment. i know that they are busy also.

but there is this one associate who is a regular source of irregularities in our work. despite my constant reminders, he keeps on being a nuisance. so, i decided that i may have to call the attention of his boss because this team cannot run smoothly if one goes astray. today, he has behaved properly and im happier.

i had to take paracetamol the other day, can't figure the source of my headache whether it was the hot and humid weather, hunger pangs, you know that i can't eat much here, or something else. then i realized that it was tuesday yesterday. yes, tomorrow is the bathing time! hahaha im in constant exposure to air pollution lolzzzzz well, i have to wait till they bathe tomorrow, thursday hahaha ibang klase ang putok. talo pa yung jeepney driver sa quiapo noh hahaha ibang case!

i received an email from my prof who told me that he just arrived in HKG and there is a typhoon (tyhun in JPNese) approaching. i hope that he'll arrive safe in sapporo. ill go to HKG 26-27 may.
afer field work, i usually spend the rest of the afternoon swimming in the pool. finished with brokeback mountain and other stories, which is not necessarily a recommended book. other than BBM, the rest of the stories were hard for me to follow. i think im not inclined to cowboy or ranch life, besides, wyoming english sounds greek to me. what a ya say? lolzzzzz

i started victor hugo's les miserables last night. the first chapter is interesting, no wonder it's a big hit. im looking forward to finishing it soon.

dinner time is usually a candle light setting in the hotel. solitary dinner by candle light. exciting you think? hahaha

hello from kandy 6
18 May 2006
Thursday, Kandy, Sri Lanka

nothing exciting today. i wanted to end the day fast. hahaha www is super mega slow and i have had to share it with other staff. hey, im being unreasonable. this is not my territory. poor me lolzzzz. in a little over a week i'll soon fly back to the bat cave. cant wait now.

i think the people here haven't seen a pinoy yet. nor do they know from where we come from. i have always been asked whether im japanese or chi-inese? you see, i come from the philippines. is that so? so, do you also eat dogs and cobras? yez, that's my usual Q&A portion here. and i feel like saying mabuhay! not all pinoys eat those animals. hahaha come to think of it, we almost eat all things with four legs, right? will that include the tables? lolzzzzz and it is quite ironic since im doing rabies survey! ngek

i also feel like being in RP. they are also fond of leave of absences. and they just had long vacation. they also have half day leave, going home one hour before the time, being absent on this particular day because will attend wedding, or look for the fiance of a friend's friend, who was kidnapped by the bandits, ad nauseam. we're no different, aren't we? quite interesting. but it's not my cup of tea. i loathe it. hahaha

i remember when i was in RP, when hospital personnel will make their daily duty skeds, they will pay particular attention to their holidays instead of working days. how cool! ang buhay nga naman, pag walang trabaho, hinahanap. pag may trabaho naman, bakasyon naman ang nasa utak. cheers!

hello from kandy 7
20 May 2006
Saturday, Kandy, Sri Lanka

SL rainy season has started already, but according to the locals, it should have started 2 weeks ago. looks like something for the global warming. rains though are not as heavy as in RP. maybe june monsoon rains will be more harsh.

the months of may and june are popular among couples. it is not uncommon to see them in wedding attire having their lovely photos taken along the lake. of course, i ask their permission to take their pic as souvenir. it is not same as ours, as they have their own unique fashion. with their dark complexion, the brides would wear maroon wedding attire adorned with so much hepatitis. yes, hepatitis because of the glitter of the gold-plated jewelries from head to toe. all their fingers and toes have rings also. name it, they got it. the grooms would wear either the traditional attire or black suit with dark blue shirt and maroon neck tie. nazareno style is vogue here i guess. like in our setting, videos are in too. when i was in the pool yesterday, couldnt dip because i might be captured in their cam lolzzzz

due to the diversity of ethnic groups here, i saw what i think is an extremist Islam family. while the husband and son are enjoying swimming in the pool, the wife clad in black dress happily watching her family. only the eyes can be seen from her. and i think she is very beautiful inside. wide and deep eyes and high arched nose and very fair skin. hollywood beauties would envy her. well, that's their culture.

i also met back packers, like me. they look like those from the survivor series. young and ambitious. also met elderly caucasian tourists. i think most of them are from the nordic states. most of them are couples, enjoying the tropical clime. way to go! work and save while we're young and active, and spend them while the body can afford to. in other words, huwag maging alipin ng salapi. gow!

hello from kandy 8
24 May 2006
Wednesday, Kandy, Sri Lanka

this is my penultimate day in kandy during this trip for tomorrow will be my final working day afterwhich i will leave for colombo the day after tomorrow. it was an exciting moment working with people from SL academe, and i will bringing with me these learned experiences. panalo ba sa Q&A? hahaha

you're fired! yep, my favorite donald trump slogan was used yesterday to one of the people who worked with me in this project. as this person, who is a consistent source of errors, did not improve, upon the contemplation of his professors, and my recommendation, has to be relieved from his duties. of course, we have to set minimum standards among the people we work with and there is no reason to maintain somebody who will ruin the whole project. too bad for him because the salary is quite handsome.

im looking forward to seeing philippine mama cafeteria in colombo in 2 days' time. have to eat sinigang na baboy, lechon kawali and CPA (chicken pork adobo). mi corazon! lolzzzzz

my prof and i are quite happy with how our field investigation went along. the results of which, i shall process in due time.

hello from kandy 9
25 May 2006
Thursday, Kandy, Sri Lanka

we held a small party yesterday within the campus to give thanks to the 80 students and staff members who 'volunteered' in this project. they received a generous amount for their good works. though the field work has been finished, the data encoding may take another 2-3 weeks before i receive them completely and soon after will burn again the midnight oil for the analysis.

i was invited by one of the vets here to have some drinks and dinner in their home yesterday. i didn't know why i said yes before i realized that i might have gastronomic complications later on lolzzzz why did i say yes, anyway? i courteously told his wife that i am not really into spices and curry and told me that it will not be hot. it turned out to be that the food was terrific, however, it was still hot for me. i kept on eating anyway, but my oral cavity was burning hahaha we were both surprised at that. they cant understand how i can eat without spices. and i cant understand why they have to eat spices and all. very interesting differences in culture and taste buds. anyway, i was literally in a hot seat this morning in the toilet hahaha my poor cherries! hahaha

just few moments ago, while writing this, i have another dinner invitation tonight. hahaha i hope that it will be a chinese restaurant or any other place where the food will be acceptable to me. chinese foods here, btw, are also served with a tremendous amount of curries and chillis hahaha

hello from kandy 10
25 May 2006
Thursday, Kandy, Sri Lanka

it is a bit rainy today and i hope that the weather will be fine when i go to Colombo tomorrow morning. Sapporo weather will be nice upon my arrival on Sunday, but i do not know yet about HKG weather where i will stay for a day.

i received a SL souvenire from the students with whom i worked with and was pleased that they liked me more than i like myself hahaha they requested to pose with me on cam. i felt like from bollywood! lolzzzz yez, because of what i have been eating recently, i might be smelling like one of them. ang hitman! hahaha

i am almost 2/3 of the volume 1 of les mis, and the story is nice although a bit of an exaggeration of the good and bad. nonetheless, it is still a western classic. i am also entertaining the link between the priory and st benedictine, as is frequently mentioned in this book. forget it, i guess. i do not want to dwell on it. forever! lolzzzz

quite excited to go back home, get back to my little space in the Univ. and have a faster www and my own PC. videos and pics to follow.

Hello from Kandy 11
23 Jan 2008 PM7:15

We arrived in Colombo at AM8:30. Met some government people and Japanese counterparts for our projects. It was a hot and humid day. Due to the terrible Hokkaido winter, my skin became super dry. After a few hours stay in tropical clime it’s hello oiliness again hahaha.

We initially planned on dining with Philippine Mama but due to short notice, she could not prepare for 5 people immediately. I took my lunch in a Chinese restaurant while my bosses ate at KFC. They complained that the chicken was too salty.

What would normally take 3 hours trip from Colombo to Kandy became 5 hours due to traffic. I felt nauseated inside the van because of the poor airconditioning system but managed to sleep from time to time.

It is a welcome surprise that our department rented 2 houses. Very economical indeed when we have to come here too often. I could rent 2 houses in Sri Lanka with what I am paying for a small room in Sapporo! Foreign exchange is JPY10,000=SLR9,800.

Again, it was Chinese cuisine for dinner. I did not volunteer for my preferred food anymore since the 4 Japanese I am with ordered high-fiber diet already. The internet connection is not doing well at this time. I had to save this mail first in word document until such time I could have the connection working.

Ang daming dalang pagkain nitong asst prof namin. Bigas, sandok, sampayan ng labahan, ramen, etc etc ay dinala, ibang case. Pati toyo ay dinala rin. Dapat pala nagdala rin ako hahaha

Bilib din ako sa kanya dahil siya ang mahusay sa pagbubutinting. Para siyang McGyver, Nihonjin edition sa abilidad, hindi sa itsura.

Ang aga naman mag sign off ng mga tao rito. At nine in the evening, all the streets were deserted. Parang may martial law. Lolzzzz It is odd that ladies do not ride the bicycle, however, they drive motorcycles. I do not see the reason, if any.

Hello from Kandy 12
24 Jan 2008 AM6:05

Good morning. I just got up from bed. Had a good sleep. I must have sounded badly during sleep since my throat is sore upon waking up lolzzzz I was so exhausted last night. Napaka rural ng lugar na ito. Naririnig ko pa ang mga uwak, kuliglig at mga kokak ng mga palaka. Parang katulad sa atin.

Our wireless internet connection is not yet working. I hope to send this and check emails soon.

The 2 houses that our department has, is quite big but everything has to be re-arranged. Everybody is too busy to fix and clean. Hahaha

In about 2 hours we will proceed to the place where we shall conduct our survey. It will take 1.5 hours to get there by car. We shall meet local officials and make ocular inspection. Among the 3 contact persons, only one is capable of speaking English. We can manage perhaps.

Hello from Kandy 14
24 Jan 2008 PM9:18

We visited our target areas today. In the morning, we talked with local officials who were very cooperative and kind. And then during the afternoon, we went to the University to talk with our counterparts. It seems that they have to sharpen the translation of my works to be able to convey our original message to the people. They have to translate it to two major languages, Sinhalese and Tamil.

We shall train our interviewers on Monday, have all the printing materials ready and all systems must go next week. Wala nang urungan. We want to finish this within 2 weeks. After which, all data must be encoded in to the computer for analysis. That is basically what I do during the past years.

After work, our team went to the grocery store. My boss was excited to cook dinner for us. He volunteered himself to be the chef. We had tomato-based pasta. All the ingredients were there except for meat. Yes, it turned out to be vegetable pasta. How boring it was hahaha. It tasted good nonetheless.

Because I could not contribute to cooking, it is a dull thing to do, I became the dish washer instead lolzzzz So from now on, it looks like I will be the official chimini of this team. Hahaha I made a major fix in this kitchen. It was so messy and unsightly, to me at least. Since I am in the company of academic people, we love to spend more time in front of the PC than clean the kitchen, wow!

At last, at last! We finally had www connection. Everybody’s happy. Thanks to our asst prof who made this a reality. His PhD in Physics is something. As I am writing this, the four of us are in front of our own notebooks hahaha Looks like we are kids from Recto days.

We’ll meet government officials tomorrow.

Hello from Kandy 15
25 Jan 2008 PM11:31

Some locations and peoples’ names in SL are tongue twisters for my boss, he has mental block pronouncing the following: rikillegaskada; matale vs matara; gunawardena vs gunesekera; et al.

Clumsy: naku, malapit sa sakuna itong aming ikalawang pinuno. Nariyang mahiwa niya ang sarili sa pagbubukas ng wine; mauntog sa ilaw ng sasakyan habang pababa; sa sobrang pagtawa niya, baliin ba ang paa ng plastic na upuan? Hayan tuloy nahulog siya sa sahig. Pero ang hindi ko mapapatawad ay sa paglakad-lakad niya dito sa aming working area, merong kung anong natapakan siya at biglang nawala ang internet connection. Pati sa lab naming ay ganoon din. Sa tuwing uuwi siya, nawawala ang internet ko, yun pala pinapatay niya ang power source ko. Hay buhay!

I feel so tired today. Maybe due to shortened sleeping hours. In every office and house that we visited, we were served tea. I like it when they serve it unadulterated, unsweetened and very dilute. But some hosts would serve it the Sri Lankan style, that is, very sweet, mixed with lotsa milk and very hot. The after taste I still have till an hour later.

We were invited for dinner at the house of the dean of medicine. His house was so august. It was a mixture of old and new. Built in 1988, it cost USD100,000 the time. Now, it would cost about USD400,000. The food was surprisingly palatable. No curries, but there was this very spicy chicken. I indulged on the veggies, hard boiled egg and ice cream.

We plan to spend the weekend in Colombo and I made an appointment with Philippine Mama. It has been almost 2 years since we last met.

What I have been expecting all along was confirmed. True friendship is based on trust, honesty and sincere generosity of our hearts.

Hello from Kandy 16
26 Jan 2008 AM8:04

It is Saturday. This house has everything that we need. From computers, to color printers, scanners, washing machine, ref and all. But we have to have a maid. Hahaha katamad kasi maglinis. I just finished washing clothes. Hiwalay kung hiwalay. Ihiwalay ang puti sa de color. Lolzzzz Sometimes it is not nice to get used as to how things are going. The washing machine is manual type. The washing machines in Japan, you just have to put all inside and then presto! It is semi-dry already. You can go back to whatever you are doing.

We are waiting for my boss. He woke up early to play golf. At AM11:00, we shall proceed to Colombo to spend the weekend.

Hello from Kandy 17
27 Jan 2008 PM8:07

I was stunned that these Japanese who I am with bought pirated copies of computer soft wares! It is unheard among them. Why buy an original when good repros are affordable, ne? They also bought oribu oiru (katakana for olive oil) hahaha

I met some Pinoys along the way. One is a civil engineer who is spending some time in Colombo. He is working in Maldives. A beautiful tropical and tiny group of islands, Maldives is about 45 minute’s flight away from Colombo. He says that the income is good. He even encouraged me to try it there. Well, I might consider it, who knows? During the tsunami incident in 2004, it was miraculous that it was hardly hit considering its geographic location right in the heart of the Indian Ocean.

Two Pinays in a mall. I don’t know, the mere sight of these ladies made me think that we have the same blood. They are working in Colombo in the garment factory and have been staying here for 4 years already. This reminds me of one Pinay I met in Narita Airport on my way to Singapore. She is working as a ground stewardess. Waiting for my cue, I thought she was Pinay, alright. But when I heard her speak to clients, her Japanese was so native-speaker sounding that I thought she was Japanese. When it was my turn, I confirmed that she was Filipina. Amazing how she spoke the language.

We came back to Kandy at PM5:00. The trip was okay with no hussles, Sunday it was.

Shortly after, we had an hour meeting with a local official and discussed the logistics of our project. I composed the minutes of our meeting and then sent it to my boss who is now in Singapore. No excuses for missing up some details. Working with him, I became more obsessive-compulsive. The details, the details! Giving close attention to details will pay.

Early tomorrow morning, will meet up with a high government official, a very fine lady. We plan to join their team in March for their project. I hope that she will approve. Then we’ll proceed to our project site to meet 20 volunteer workers and train them.

Our research assistant was adamant that ‘we’ proofread the forms that will be used in our project. He means ‘we’ as in ‘we’? The forms are in Sinhalese, my gass! Hahaha I can’t even perfect my Japanese.

Our asst prof is the official chef. Kawawa naman, kahit pagod na kami, masipag pa rin magluto ng pasta, ramen at kung anu-ano pa. Buti na lang at alam nilang di ako marunong magluto. Katamad kasi hahaha Taga hugas ng lang ng kinainan. Lolzzz

Hello from Kandy 18
28 Jan 2008 PM8:45

We managed to accomplish so many things today especially our boss is back to home base. We were able to get the nod of a high government health official to join their team in March, trained our volunteers, finalize our project materials among others.

We met 17 of our 20 volunteers, majority of them were female. Nobody speaks English so whatever I say, somebody translates it to local language. It’s like a Q&A portion hahaha.

In the afternoon, we talked with key university professors to assist us further in the details of our project. Now, I am preparing the required materials that are to be submitted to the univ. Nakaka toxic.

Since our boss was not around, we decided to eat Chinese again. This time, I ordered for our group. We had fish ball soup, spare ribs in sweet & sour sauce, beef in oyster sauce, sautéed kang kong, fried rice and local beer. My asst prof and graduate school Japanese student said that the foods were so delicious and not spicy at all. I told them that this is the way we cook back home. Yan kasi, ayaw nila maniwalang mas masarap mamatay ng maaga na busog kaysa mabuhay ng mahaba na walang lasa ang pagkain hahaha

What highlighted the day was the disappointing attitude of our SL research asst. The Japanese were disappointed as well. Since people could be the greatest asset or liability in any project, corporate or business, we have to streamline frequently those who create more problems than bring solutions. Sayang lang ang sweldo niya kapag natsugi siya, malaki pa naman para bansang ito.

Hello from Kandy 19
29 Jan 2008 PM10:33

No field works today but desk works. I prepared the papers that are to be submitted to the univ. So the 3 of us stayed at home doing our respective tasks just like how we do it in the lab.

During day time, the internet connection is super slow at 12 Mbps. I could not watch online movies! Hahaha In the afternoon, I met with the SL research asst to check our project materials. I was not happy with the way it turned out. I decided that I should do it instead. Quality work is what I seek always.

Being in a developing country takes me back home. Everything should be conserved. From PET bottles, canisters, disposable glasses, chopsticks, everything has to be re-used. In Japan, most items go to trash and must be recycled. I don’t know, there are pluses and minuses on both sides. It depends on which side of the ocean a person prefers. I like the land of plenty, for sure. Hahaha

It’s been a week since we came. I feel I lost a few kilos already and became more tanned but still fairer by SL standards. Lolzzzz This country has limited to offer in terms of mouth-watering foods. We had dinner in a new fast food center. Choices are restricted to Sri Lankan, Indian, Indonesian, Pakistani, and the ever reliable Chinese. San ka pa? They leave us no choice. Hahaha

Learn something new every day. The disease called rabies is known as kyoukenbyou in Nihongo. In Sinhalese, it is called jalabeethika. Impressive noh? They have their own terminology. How about in Tagalog or in any RP dialect?

Hello from Kandy 20
31 Jan 2008 PM9:07

Pagoda Philippines este Sri Lanka pala. Yesterday, today and probably tomorrow will be tough. The labor pains of our project have started. The preparations, travels, meeting with many people… and the smell! Really something.

May ginawa akong kapalpakan. In my haste, I ordered the printing of 300 pamphlets worth SLR45,000 (JPY45,000 of PhP20,000~). hahaha My asst prof frowned and told me that the cost was too much. Much to my desire to produce high quality output, I think I have to weigh the budgetary limits also. Point well taken. Thank you and gomen nasai.

We held the training of our volunteer workers and we were not very happy with the initial outcome. We repeated the same training today with better results. We went out in the field with them to do the survey and it was like going to 4th class municipalities of RP. Something like the survivor series hahaha Walking 5 kms in the mountains plus the heat of the sun, I really had to endure.

The terrible heat and humidity especially in the afternoon makes their body really smell. I could smell curry! Di ko keri talaga. Whenever I go to toilets, my gass! The pungent smell of curry will surely knock me down. hahaha

There was a heated argument between asst prof and research asst. All I can say is that it is not advisable to argue with people from where we get our livelihood. Hahaha I learned early on that working with Japanese, we just have to do as they say. In the end, it will be beneficial to us. No need to fight all battles because of its futility.

Sa tinagal tagal ng pakikipagtrabaho ko sa mga taga SL, pansin ko na mahilig silang magpalusot. They have a thousand and one of excuses to be absent at work. The most commonly used reason is that they will attend a wedding ceremony. And they will be absent for at least 2 days! Wow. Hindi naman sila ang ikakasal. Lolzzzz It is their culture of indolence, I believe.

Hello from Kandy 21
1 Feb 2008 PM9:00

For the past 2 days, we did not eat breakfast, lunch and dinner. Not that we are on diet or something but we were so toxic that our chef asst prof was too tired to cook. Besides, there were too few places to eat decently. I do not know how we survived drinking only water. Hahaha At least today we had Chinese dinner. Our first and only acceptable meal for the day.

We continued our field works, my complexion is darker but the Japanese have sunburn hahaha The ‘volunteer’ workers were not really volunteer because we pay them on a daily basis. Buti pa sila may bayad hahaha I could not find an alternative label for a hired/paid volunteer worker. Or should I simply omit volunteer? Lolzzz We made an ocular inspection of another study location because we have covered our target population in area 1. We also work during the weekends. The area is more remote and the nearest neighbor is about 200 meters away. But surprisingly, they have cell site hahaha and their health organization is complete from midwives, nurses, doctors, veterinarians and public health inspectors, wow.

We met 9 vet students who were hired to be our data encoders. They will have to input our collected data to the computer for statistical analysis later. Starting their work next week, they made a request of working 7 hours a day instead of 8 hours. I cannot understand this country. You give them a break and pay handsomely alright. And they want vacation. Unbelievable!

Research asst saga. We encountered another challenge from our impeccable research asst. hahaha He made a huge mistake not to my colleagues this time, but to me lolzzzz He hanged up the phone while I was still talking and demanded that we meet him at once. Earlier on, he self-declared a weekend holiday for a wedding ceremony while we are out on the fields. Hahaha Remaining composed and in control, after we have endorsed completely, I reminded him what his roles and responsibilities are, and our expectations from him on this project. I told him that he is an intelligent and educated man, notwithstanding the predominance of estrogen in his bloodstream, and he must know how to place himself within a team. I told him that it is impolite to give missed calls, give a galaxy of flimsy reasons for tardiness and complain with the slightest provocation. At nihirit na naman. Ngek I told him that our team was generous enough to him. Although he realized his short comings, I am not sure if he will resign tomorrow hahaha I gave him the choice whether to take the job or leave it. Asst prof and Japanese graduate student said that I became like a volcano hahaha but remained calm and authoritative during the ‘trial’ hahaha There are things that we are forced to do. I simply could not stand working with people who are not dedicated to the tasks assigned to them.

Hello from Kandy 22
2 Feb 2008 PM10:54

Word salad. We were in a school supplies shop when I observed how varied people call things that we use everyday. We wanted to buy staple wires (mine), asst prof called it staple pins, SLs called it needles. Astonished? Dig this: I ordered a pentel pen, asst prof said pen pen, SLs said it was marker pen. Hahaha I purchased ball pens, asst prof said it was sign pens, SLs called it ballpoint pens. Hahaha We went to a grocery store: okra is called ladies’ fingers while talong or egg plants are called brinjals. Of course, ampalaya are bitter gourd. There is another species they call ribbed gourd.

Lifestyle of the rich. Our house is located in one of the posh villages in Kandy. The village is not rich-looking like ours back home and that of Japan’s but it is by SL standards. Lolzzz Hindi halatang pang mayaman. Hindi talaga. Hahaha

Flora and fauna. What I admire in this country is their forest. They conserve trees everywhere. When we are out in the fields, the volunteer workers asked me if I love SL. To be polite, of course I said yes, I love your country. The natural beauty is there really. I saw for the first time a mongoose. I do not know how it looks like until today. Also, there are many squirrels in our lawn. Monkeys have colonies and probably I would see Tarzan one of these days. Lolzzz Many wild animals are commonly found everywhere. The Buddhist and Hindu religions prohibit killing of animals and nature. I think Christians, like us, should follow as well.

Today is not as physically exhausting as before. We spent half-day working in the field. However, we shall also work on Sunday. Next week will be another challenge. I’ll be using the public transportation carrying all our heavy project materials.

Asst prof and another Japanese economics student who is attending the Univ here cooked our dinner. As usual the topic is how unpleasant the local cuisine is here. Hahaha Like me, they revolt eating curry 3 times a day.

The graduate school of the Univ here is quite strong. It has many international connections and exchanges of students form the US, Japan, and other Asian countries. Many foreigners come here to study Sinhalese and Tamil languages.

Bomb scare. I was told that few hours ago, in an area close to our project site, at least 20 people died due to bombing. I think it is connected with the government vs. rebels fighting. Dapat umabsent na lang sila pag dumaan kami. Um-attend sila ng kasal, ganon. Huwag nila kami istorbohin sa project namin. Leche flan! Hahaha

Hello from Kandy 23
3 Feb 2008 PM10:00

We went to Area 2 today with our volunteer workers. We thought before that their definition of high-density population area (80 houses per sq km) was already a jungle by our standards until we saw today what medium-density population means. The houses are very wide apart probably only 40 houses per sq km. We had to climb hills and mountains, cross dry river beds, walk along small rice terraces and all. We are lucky that it is not rainy season otherwise it will be more difficult to go from one house to another. Earlier during the day, I was disappointed when the returns of our survey yielded smaller results the day before. Now I understand the reasons why. Our volunteers had difficulty in the location.

Footloose. It is not unusual to see local people walking barefooted. Kahit na mainit ang kalye, bale wala lang sa kanila.

I was told that not all houses have electricity. Sources of water are also a challenge. Some people dig wells, others fetch their daily water needs in a communal well. In the city, we still are lucky to have all these basic necessities and yet we complain when gas prices, electric bills phone bills are on hike. Try living in the jungle and see how they manage. Hahaha

Deprived of all the modern amenities, I think the people here are happier than those in the city. A very rich natural beauty of the mountains greets them everyday. The ecological balance and the smell of green plus the sounds of birds cannot be replaced by downloadable ring tones of the most modern mobile phone. Hahaha

Tomorrow, Monday, our 20 volunteer workers requested a day off. It is a national holiday in SL, their 60th Independence Day celebration from UK rule. Proud and loud, most houses, vehicles and establishments hang their national flag to show their patriotism. It does not mean that our team shall go on a holiday too. We still work, though not in the fields. I’ll train and supervise 10 data encoders on this day.

Our internet connection today is really terrific. I had no connection and Internet speed is best at 1 Mbps! I was told that it may be due to the bomb blast in two areas recently, a high-risk situation. They want to bar possible leftist communications. Major roads in capital city Colombo are closed also.

Asst prof left Kandy and will go back to Sapporo. I am left alone in the house and took late lunch at KFC. For dinner, I had fried pork sausage, which I cooked. Not bad for a lazy chef like me. Lolzzz

Try it! Masarap pala ang combination ng vanilla ice cream at coffee liquor. Japanese anko and vanilla ice cream in bread is a winner.

Hello from Kandy 24
5 Feb 2008 PM7:35

We stayed home yesterday, at last no field work. Today, our volunteer workers went to Area 3, a low density-area, where there are only 15 to 20 houses per sq km! To reach the area, one has to do it on foot. We decided not to go with them to preserve ourselves. Hahaha

Data encoding went out fine. The vet students could easily pick up what we expect from them. Research asst is now more cooperative and no more missed calls. That is a big progress, I think.

Magluto ba? Nasunog ang pork sausage na niluto ko kahapon. Hahaha Di lang makaangal itong kasama kong Hapon kasi hindi rin siya marunong magluto. He was too kind to tell me not to cook anymore. I don’t like what I cooked also. Lolzzz Matino naman ang hapunan namin dahil hindi ako ang nagluto kundi yung Hapon. Dish washer na lang talaga ako.

Pero ngayong araw na ito, KFC zinger ang tanghalian namin at…ako ang nagluto ng hapunan. Ayos naman at mukhang nagustuhan nitong Hapon ang ginisang corned beef at mackerel sardines hahaha Pinoy style syempre. At tinuruan ko siyang sabayan ng senoritang saging para lalong sumarap. Ang dami niyang nakain ah, in fairness.

I was told that when our Bangladeshi graduate student had the opportunity to visit this country last year, he was so delighted with the food. Wow! He was so happy that he even went to the kitchen and talked to the chef of Cinnamon Grand Hotel where they stayed and requested for more food. Magkakapatid nga sila sa panlasa at amoy. Hahaha

Azar talaga ang Internet. Disconnected na naman. Heto nagpi pinball na lang pampalipas oras. Top score is 3.1 million.

At last, hindi kami nagbus ngayon. Natakot ang mga Hapon sa mga pagsabog dito kaya private car muli pagpunta sa bundok. When they went to Colombo yesterday, all major roads were closed. It took 1 hour or so to cross 500 meters distance. They had to call the hotel personnel to accompany them to the hotel from the car. For every 10 meters walk, the army asked where they are headed for. Parang martial rule. Kaya ayun, may car service ulit kami. Di sila sanay sa magulong lugar.

SL’s innuendo. Vehicle drivers have odd working attitude. Ang cause of delay namin na 30 minuto ay ang aming bossing na driver. Bukod doon, nagpagasolina pa, pwede naman niya gawin iyon bago kami sinundo. Mahilig rin silang gawin ang unofficial business nila habang nasa trabaho. Kaya kami naman, naghihintay sa kanila. Kahit bus drivers, walang pakialam na ihinto ang bus kahit puno ng tao, basta may dadaanan sila na kung anuman iyon. Cute ba? Hahaha

Hello from Kandy 25
6 Feb 2008 PM8:20

Don’t get angry, get even. So they say. Yesterday, we told the driver to come at AM6:30 for the following day. We usually leave the house at AM7:00. Inasmuch as he caused us a little delay, we might us well be prepared. He arrived today at AM6:30, but we left at AM7:00. Fair, right?

Kinakarir ko na talaga ang pagluluto. Ang dinner namin ay pritong talong na di kasarapan ang sawsawang toyo, suka at konting asukal, binateng itlog na may kamatis, bawang at sibuyas, at yung natirang sardines kagabi. Sabi ng Japanese, the food is still better than the best curry. Hahaha Now, I might consider taking cooking lessons for reals! Lolzzzz

Our project is going along well except for the erratic internet connection, which cuts off all our ties with the rest of the world. I am glad that many people became worried when I miss a day or two without an email. Hahaha Nakakailag pa naman po sa mga bala ng rebels. Lolzzzz

I am counting the days when I will leave this place. In 10 days’ time I shall go back to Sapporo. I missed this year’s snowfestival. Upon arrival, I will only stay there for a week because I will go to Nagasaki for a week to attend training from WHO. In early March, I might come back again to SL to conduct a follow up study of this project.

Hello from Kandy 26
7 Feb 2008 PM7:16

Kung hei fat choi. Rats!

It was a very intoxicating day again. We went to a mountainous place that is 3 hours away from home. At 3,500 feet above sea level, it was a bit chilly up there. The mist or should I say the clouds were all around us. The roads were more terrible this time because we had to unload from the car every time there is a deep road crater on our path otherwise the tires might go flat. And we can’t go back to civilization. No cell site up there, btw. The place reminds me of Lubang Island in Mindoro Occidental. Meron pa palang inhabitants sa ganoong uri ng mga lugar? Hahaha

We had tea in a local store. They served it with lots of milk. Kakasuka. We were also served bread and local hot hot hot dishes. Here is the catch. The tissue papers were bus tickets. Yes, bus tickets. Lolzzzz Newspapers are used to wrap foods. In rural RP, I use newspapers to clean my rear end. Hahaha In most SL restaurants, even in major cities, I observed that hygiene is not much practiced. The utensils are oily, served wet and I could still see some black materials from within. Jologs.

We observed how the local veterinarians performed dog sterilization. Dog owners would bring their pet dogs while dog catchers bring strays so that they could be castrated and avoid overpopulation. I could sense that the dogs were all nervous. Only a few were able to bark. They were evasive and cautious as people approach them. First, they were injected some form of mild sedative. After a few minutes, they will feel groggy. In that point in time, they will be administered a deeper form of anesthetic. And then, they will go under the knife. The entire procedure would only last for 15 minutes. Upon recovery, they will be brought back to their original place. They could mate again and again but can’t multiply themselves, just the multiple OOOOOOO’s. hahaha

There were government health workers who were impressed with our project and requested us to provide them copies of our work. I politely told them that since we are working jointly with the local Univ, I have to ask the permission from both Universities first. They agreed to wait.

No cooking for me tonight. I had a very tiring day. We had Chinese dinner. Internet, as usual, is not working properly. I was informed that one of our research papers was accepted for international publication.

Hello from Kandy 27
8 Feb 2008 PM5:31

Maulan dito kaya di ako makapaglaba. Baka hindi maganda ang amoy kapag di natuyo sa araw. This is what I like in a tropical country. The laundry smells so fresh when sun-dried. And I don’t have to pay for the drier. Hahaha

This is a nice day because I am not physically exhausted. Internet connection is back and hopefully, no more interruptions.

I get a good deal of emails from my boss. More work has been done already and yet more has to be done. That is fine with me, to keep me from boredom.

Medyo okay ang niluto ko ngayon. Panay prito. Lolzzzz Sabi ng Japanese ay confident na raw ako sa pagluluto. Bukas siya naman daw. Hahaha

Please visit Kandy 2008 to view newly uploaded photos.

Hello from Kandy 28
11 Feb 2008 PM4:20

It was an uneventful weekend for me. The first half of our project ended last Saturday. I decided that we have already covered our target and congratulated and thanked our volunteer workers who actively participated. The remaining thing to do is to finish data entry. I did some tasks from my boss and thanked the heavens because we did not experience www interruptions.

Cooking it up. My Japanese colleague and I take turns in cooking for dinner. The other night he cooked what we call nilagang manok. He did not know that it is one of our dishes. He told me that he knew about it through the Internet when he ran out of LPG and searched for foods that can be cooked using rice cooker. That must have been really fun. It tasted like our nilaga except that there was too much pepper. I must admit that he cooks better than me. Amen.

Last night, it was my turn. I served fried chicken marinated in soy sauce, sprite and lemon. Parang nasunog ang itsura niya. At parang pilit na ngiti na naman ang itsura ni Japanese colleague. Hahaha Pero siyempre, may side dish na ladies’ fingers at yung natirang nilaga. Kaya kahit pano ay nabusog siya. Lolzzzz Tonight it’s his turn again. He said that he will create something out of brinjals (egg plants, remember?) hahaha

Another one rides the bus. I went to our project site alone today by public bus. It was an ordeal for me since I had to leave the house an hour earlier than before. So, I left at AM6:00 and arrived at the site 2.5hrs later. The morning ride was okay for I can barely smell them maybe because they are fresh from shower. But the afternoon journey was quite a challenge. I can smell the aroma of curry and the spices they ate. Hahaha Opening up the windows helped me from throwing up.

I formally closed the project and gave the volunteers their certificates. They made a small thanksgiving party and are excited to do the second half come March. They served many local dishes, which I can’t eat. Lolzzzz I helped myself with bananas, of course. I think that they got used to doing their task and want to do more. I felt like a celebrity because they asked for my signature, photos and all. Hahaha

Before leaving the project site, I visited a medical clinic to give the salary for the MD. This time I had to ride a motorcycle. Hahaha I was a mere passenger. They lent me a sweaty helmet and I had no choice. I had to wear it. I can wait for a good bath after. Lolzzz Again, the roads were terrific, 30 kms of zig zags, uphills, downhills, rocky roads, ravines and what have you? It’s good that I came back home in a single piece but very tired.

Hello from Kandy 29
12 Feb 2008 PM3:19

I started the day going to the Univ. I pitched the ideas of our succeeding projects to the Dean of the faculty and she gave us, in principle, her approval to go ahead with our plans and advised to go through the usual formalities so as to avoid future questions. Fine.

I went there through the bus again, and although most PUBs are jurassic, this bus caught my attention because the ticketing system is digital. Yes, the bus conductor has this small gadget which automatically releases the tickets. Impressive!

The morning smell of people going to the offices is the Indian perfume. Too strong for my nose.

In RP, we give seat reservations to disabled people. In Japan, seats are reserved not only for disabled people but also for pregnant women, elderly and those carrying babies. In SL, they have reserved seats for the clergy. The monks are given special treatment such that men and women have to give up their seats for them. But I think RP policemen are more special because these heaven-sent creatures need not pay the regular fare unlike the holy monks. Hahaha

Be careful when you make appointments with SLs. When they say they want to meet in the evening, it means that evening may start from PM3:00 onwards. That is 3:00 in the evening. Hahaha That explains why the streets are deserted at PM7:00. It could mean 7:00 midnight. Lolzzz

For dinner, I plan to make beef omelet and boiled stringed beans for tonight.

What a relief that I need not go to the mountains today till my departure. When I go to Colombo this weekend, I look forward to a relaxing Ayurvedic massage. Parang nabugbog ang katawan ko sa katoxican. I’ll spend few hours in Singapore and head back to Sapporo. When I reach home, I want to go to the onsen. Parang sobrang lagkit at parang panay libag na ata ako. Hahaha

Hello from Kandy 30
14 Feb 2008 PM2:00

Maligayang araw ng mga puson este puso. Valentine’s day is not observed here. No one has greeted me yet among the locals. I guess it’s a Christian affair.

Naubusan kami ng LPG kagabi. Mabuti na lang at natapos ko yung isang recipe na tortang giniling na manok. Hindi umabot yung pritong talongges. Beef, chicken and mutton (lamb) are common here but not pork. Like Thailand, three-wheeler vehicles called tuk tuk, are common here. No taxis are found.

What’s in a name? They have very very very loooooong names. As if someone will steal it, it is not uncommon to find a name with at least 50 letters. So, for prospective employers, you must know how many boxes to provide for the names of your applicants, okay? For instance, GAMAGEDARA MAHAMUDIYANSELAGE GANGA SAMANGEDAGEGARA KUMARI. That has 53 letters in it. Hahaha Male or female? I don’t know. Lolzzzz

And if that were not enough, the spelling changes every day! No one can really decide on it. Today’s spelling might be different from tomorrow’s and the day after. Hahaha Even themselves, they cannot seem to make up their minds. Another example, DISSANAYAKA MUDIYANSELAGA WARUNI GETHEKA is the same as DISSANAYAKE MUDIYANSELAGE WARUNI GEETHIKA. See? We must scrutinize closely. We have to be vigilant. Kaya nasakit ang ulo ko dahil bahagi ng trabaho ito. Hahaha

Mag-iimpake na ako maya-maya at nang makauwi na. Can’t wait!

Hello from Kandy 31
6 Mar 2008 PM10:19

It was a long flight from Sapporo Chitose to Tokyo Narita to Singapore and finally to the capital city Colombo, Sri Lanka. The total duration of our journey was nearly 30 hours including stop over SIN. My feet are too tight in my shoes already. Economy class syndrome? Upon arrival in Colombo, we met few people and went straight to Kandy. Maulan dito at maalinsangan. Temp upon arrival was in the range of 24-30C. Kaya nanggigitata muli.

I prepared dinner for the 4 of us. Wow ba? Puro prito nga eh. Pritong manok, talong, at itlog na binate. Wala kasing magkusang magluto dahil sa pagod at gutom na ako kaya hayun nabiktima sila sa aking di kainamang master pieces. hahaha

I have to prepare for tomorrow's activities. First, I must grill a lot of people. Hahaha Number one on my list is our dear research asst who accused me of making him a slave. Pwes, totohanin ko na lolzzzz All instructions he should translate exactly as I say. It is vital that our volunteers follow directions carefully otherwise the results of this study will be useless. Plus, during the Q&A he must relay to our team directly and none he could answer on his own volition. Second, our beloved 20 volunteer interviewers who up to now are still undecided as to the spelling of their names. I will call the attention of HARANKAHA KOTUWE GEDARA RENUKA KUMARI PIYATHISSA and her sister HARANKAHA KOTUWE GEDARA RAMMIYA KUMARI PIYATHISSA. Same person? Check again. Hahaha Third, during interviewer re-training, I think I will just use name coding to them in order to avoid spelling confusion. I don't want to waste my time and sanity correcting them. Fourth, in the afternoon, we shall meet with the dean of the arts faculty. Fifth, we shall interview a new research asst who will be hired for another study, which will be conducted simultaneously with this current survey. The former research asst can't seem to handle more than one study at a time. I pity his brains, if any. Hahaha

Mamumundok na naman kami.

Hello from Kandy 32

10 Mar 2008 PM4:15

It has been raining since we arrived 4 days ago. Though not as frequent by RP standards, it was enough to make the mountain roads more difficult to climb. Feeling survivor series na naman ako. It was even more difficult for our volunteer workers to go house hopping for the project.

Research asst complained that the volunteer workers made the same mistakes all the time. I told him that I feel the same about him and his predecessor and that it seems to be a national attitude. Hahaha For more impact, I told him that never had I given an instruction that have to be repeated in order for him to comply with, be it verbal or written instructions. Wala lang, parang hindi pa rin ako naintindihan. Lolzzz I dedicate to him Einstein¡Çs quote found way below this email.

Our prof missed his plane in Singapore . Though he arrived on time, he spent it at the airport lounge and did not notice the announcement of his flight. He will be delayed for 24 hours.

When I was taking a bath last night, I heard one of our Japanese colleagues calling for help. I thought something went wrong with one of our team mates since he is suffering from bronchitis. I imagined myself performing CPR or bringing him to the ER. When I came out, I saw the two of them so frightened and could not go out of the room because of a cockroach! Hahaha Yes, a freaking cockroach is right in front of their door. They looked so helpless and all I could do in that emergency situation was to step on it. Hahaha I saw a sigh of relief later. But I warned them that it could just be tip of the iceberg. Hahaha Takutin ba?

The following morning, today that is, as I was busy preparing to go to the mountains, I saw a strange look again with my colleagues. That famous helpless look on her face made me think of something strange must be going on again. As she pointed towards the window, I saw a big spider clinging on to the curtain. Hahaha I showed her a technique how to attack the enemy. I got hold of my shoes and smashed it with squeezing motion. They can¡Çt believe what they had witnessed. Hahaha Sometimes it pays to come from a tropical country.

Hello from Kandy 33

11 Mar 2008 PM8:00

Today is a specially challenging day. We started the day with our driver arriving 45 minutes late. It means that our arrival on the project site will be delayed also. And which further means that our volunteer workers will start on their tasks late.

Next on the list is that our 3 dog catchers did not show up for some reasons. There were some miscommunications on who was supposed to contact them. They are supposed to catch and put collar to the dogs in order for us to distinguish pets and strays during the capture-recapture survey. We did an alternate method using photo/video capture. So, we need not hire dog catcher anymore.

During the photo/video capture, we traveled 2 hours on foot to the mountains. It was not only like the survivor series experience but more of extreme sports. Hahaha We had to climb steep roads with sharp and muddy curves. My legs and back are sore. Plus the dogs are all around us, jalabeethika scare, which reminds me that whatever I don¡Çt like I get. Rains, dogs, and curries! Lolzzz

When nature calls, again. For lunch, we took bread in a nearby cafeteria. Most of the bread was spicy. I took the tasteless kind. Our team was so exhausted that everybody slept in the van coming back to Kandy . It was raining cats and dogs as we headed back home. Upon return, we were surprised that our house no. 2 was flooded! The flash flood came from the faulty drainage system of the toilet. All the 5 PCs that we use for data entry became wet and soiled. It was good that our hard files were previously placed in a high place otherwise we would have to throw all the precious data away. It reminded me of the so often experiences in RP. But my Japanese colleagues were somewhat shocked and stunned. It was their first time. Thanks to RP experience?

We had to mop up and clean the entire house. The mud and dirt were such as mess. It took us 3 hours to clean up and we have not completed it yet. The hunger pangs were there and we imagined having dinner in our favorite and only decent Chinese restaurant. We were excited.

Worst case scenario. Our boss arrived from Colombo and was surprised that we looked like refugees! Hahaha Of course he said ottsukaresamadeshita to all of us. We thought that he would pity us for the unfortunate situation and will go to the restaurant right away. When we were about to go, he gave signs that we will have to cook instead. Hahaha We just laughed out our disappointment. We are too tired to cook and wash the dishes. He cooked pasta and my favorite luncheon meat.

The worst in Asia ? My jetsetter Prof visited Manila and Bangkok 2 weeks ago. He told me that, and I will use his term, he was astonished with what the capital city is now. The charm is all gone. The airport tells a lot about a country. It was dark, very little duty free shops, and very small. Some airport personnel ask for grease money. The old airport of Sri Lanka and Nigeria are even better according to him. There are many beggars around the city.

The social structure is even worse. The politics play a big role in changing the mentality of the people. RP used to be at par with neighboring countries like Thailand and Vietnam , but now, they are 20 years ahead. RP slid 20 years back. He said that what is happening to Manila , and I suppose the entire country as well, happened to Japan about 50-60 years ago.

Bangkok is better. He was very much impressed with the leading educational institution in Bangkok called Mahidol University . He said that it was even more advanced in terms of international collaboration than Hokkaido Univ and that he intends to replicate what he saw there. Among other things that impressed him was the hotel which is managed entirely by univ students. Wow, that is something so unique!

So, what to do with an ailing society? Do we ignore it, get angry, deny, justify or accept and do something about it? If we cannot solve the problem, we are part of the problem.

Hello from Kandy 34

13 Mar 2008 PM9:59

Traffic jam. For unexplained reasons, there was heavy traffic today. Traveling around Kandy Lake took nearly 2 hours.

Survey 1 is still going on, however, due to heavy rains every afternoon, the returns of the day are less than expected. We decided to extend the survey period for 5 more days. Survey 2 is quite a challenge. I thought counting dogs in one area was easy. It is physically-exhausting. Maraming askal dito. Mahilig sila mag-alaga ng aso pero pinapabayaan nilang gumala kaya ang jalabeethika ay mahirap sugpuin. Ganoon din kaya sa atin? Marahil ang dapat turuan ay ang may ari ng aso. Survey 3 was a disappointment initially because there were few participants who showed up for the focus group discussion. We shall hold another round of discussion tomorrow.

Name game. Now I have a better understanding why SLs¡Ç name spelling change every so often. I was told that there are many sounds that are difficult to convert to roman letters. For example, the syllable /ka/ could be pronounced in 5 different ways in Sinhalese. Amazing! This is the same in Japanese where, for example, the name OHYAMA. The first syllable /OH/ should be prolonged, as in OOO. But still, it does not explain the order in which SLs write their names. Puso ng saging is called plantain heart.

My boss visited his friend Madame Minister in the hospital who suffered from broken heart este mild heart attack. It could be TIA, transient ischemic attack. He cooks dinner for us. Today he served rosemary chicken. Ang tigas ng karneng baka niya kahapon ah. Di ko tuloy na-enjoy ang nilaga niya. I suggested that the meat should have been pressurized. I noticed that in Japanese culture, I must always say that the food is delicious to be polite. We had SL curd, for dessert. Di ko ito gusto. Lasang plastic.

It was a relief that our PCs are still in good working condition despite the flood. We were able to resume data encoding.

To avoid the traffic, we shall go to the jungle again at AM6:00 tomorrow.

Hello from Kandy 35

16 Mar 2008 PM3:46

It was a good idea to go to the jungle very early in the morning to avoid the city traffic. This way we can come back at lunch time to perform other duties in the city.

Prof, asst prof and master student went back to Japan today. Only 2 of us remain in Kandy to complete our projects. It saddens us to be left alone but we look forward to go back to Sapporo this weekend. Will go to Colombo on Friday.

Today is a very relaxing day. Because I feel so battered during the past week due to our mountaineering galore, I decided to go for ayurvedic massage. I just finished it few moments ago. I splurged myself for 2 hours with all the herbal oils from head to toes. This ancient Indian and Sri Lankan massage pampered me today. May nilagay pa na parang mud pack ata iyon sa mukha, di ko nakita pero parang ang gaspang niya at amoy saging na lakatan. Pagkatapos ganoon pa rin naman ang resulta. Lolzzz Makatapos takpan ang mga mata ng pipino, may pinatulong mainit na langis sa ulo ko sa loob ng 10 minuto. Painit ng painit. Noong sobrang init na, humiyaw na ako. Hahaha Tapos pinapasok ako sa chamber steam bath. Ngek, bigla ko na naman naalala ang old Japan boiling water torture. No way José, di pwede. Ayokong maluto ng buhay. Kaya special bath na lang. Naligo ako sa bath tub na puno ng kung anu anong dahon. Pero di katulad sa pictures na sariwang sariwa at nalutang ang mga bulaklak. Yung sa akin ay parang bilasa ang mga dahon. Hahaha Parang sinigang na maraming beses na pinakuluan ang gulay, ganoon. Pero kulay pula ang tubig at mainit masyado kaya dinagdagan ko ng tubig na malamig. Okay na.

I was told by our Japanese colleagues that there is some resentment among them with foreign graduate students. That is, the Japanese government gives more educational grants to foreigners than to Japanese themselves. And that it is more difficult for them to obtain grants than foreigners. In the graduate school, they have to pay for their matriculation fees while foreign scholars’ fees are borne by the government. Kind of unfair, right? I agree and empathize with them. Their argument is valid and correct.

Kaya nga dapat ay magsumikap kapag scholar sa bansang Hapon para wala silang masabi. The grants come from the generosity of Japanese tax payers and it is but correct to show them that we make good use of their money. Scholars owe them that rare privilege. Kasi naman naririnig ko silang masama ang loob sa Nigerian, SL, Bangladeshi, Iranian at Chi-inese na lab mates namin. Pano naman kase, ang tatamad daw nila. Walang outputs at puro sweldo lamang daw ang inaatupag. Yan ang mahirap kapag medyo nakakaintindi na ng salita nila, nakakasagap tuloy ng impormasyon. Hahaha Di ko lang alam kung ano ang sinasabi nila sa inyong abang lingkod. Lolzzz Were 4 published papers during my graduate school years bad? My seniors only had 1 during the entire 4 years. During my first year as post-doc fellow, another 3 papers were published internationally with good impact factor while 2 more are under review. None among my PhD seniors graduated within 4 years. I was told that I am the first to complete on time, my small claim to fame. Were 19 paper presentations in both local and international scenes still bad? Other graduate students presented a maximum of 4 papers, most had 1 only or none. Kaya kung may masasabi ang aking mga colleagues, I’ll surely break my neck. Lolzzz The important thing is that I enjoy what I am doing except smelling and eating curries. Hahaha

Hello from Kandy 36
18 Mar 2008 PM5:05

I was amused by Ken Lee video and her come back with improved English http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cT18LZItBLA. It's amazing how Bulgarians and the whole youtube viewers treated her. She is now a superstar in her own right. And her version has become major hit filling up the airwaves. Wow! Some great discoveries are made by mistake. Agree? To my amusement, I kept on singing the tune while in the jungles. My Japanese colleague and research assts were amused with me. SLs are not aware of the American idol craze. They have little ties with the Americans. The major influence comes from Europe, specifically the UK. I don't know with the Japanese, I showed them the video but I was half disappointed that they did not giggle as much as a Pinoy would. Hahaha

Medyo nato toxic ako dahil kay bossing. May pinapa edit na 50 pages manuscript. He wants me to submit it within 24 hours. The manuscript is technically dirty. It contains 48 tables, ideas are written in redundancy and looks like written by a college student. But in reality it was written by professors here. I can't believe it. Madaliin ba? I told my boss that I could give him a half baked paper, if he wants. Besides, it would be hard to edit while in the mountains. Hahaha He is in sort of a rush because he will submit it to our administration office before the fiscal year ends this month. Ang sa akin lang, if they want quality output, magbigay naman ng sapat na oras para maganda lumabas ang resulta. Teka muna, tama na ang daldal. I have to rush my work.

Hello from Kandy 37
20 Mar 2008 PM1:55
Today is public holiday in SL because they are observing the birthday of Prophet Mohammad. It coincides with our Lenten season. As mentioned before, this is a predominantly Buddhist country, however, SLs also celebrate Christmas and festivities of Muslims and other religions. Tomorrow will be holiday also because it is full moon. Yes, they celebrate it too. A long weekend, indeed. On top of that, they also have national holidays. How many holidays do they have? How about in RP and Japan?

I remember during this time last year, I was in RP for a short visit. It was hot hot hot. Terrible. Our team is not anymore physically spent. I think we have adjusted to the rigors of mountaineering. Hahaha How odd that as a health worker I am not physically fit. Lolzzz Katamad kasi ang mga ehersisyong pinagpapawisan.

Last week, we were attacked by huge bats in front of our house. I thought Batman will show up. I could not get out because I might be bitten, and the result? Jalabeethika. Hahaha I wondered why, all of a dozen, they attacked. I tried to connect the relationship among rainy days and nights, moths and bats. I was told that bats eat moths. That was it.

What's in a name, again. Hindi ko talaga tinantanan ang pangalan nitong mga ito. I learned that despite their lengthy names, only their surname and own names are considered their names. This is similar to the Japanese system where the mother's surname is not reflected. No traces of the poor mom. Surname is written first and followed by their personal names, no comma in between.

Today is our last working day. We had a small thanksgiving party with our volunteer workers. Pirma rito pirma roon. Kodakan. Hahaha We thanked them for having been so cooperative and all. They gave us small memoirs. I received a Buddha statue and something else which I have not yet opened. I also bid farewell to our study areas. They made my legs sore. Lolzzz Why is it that Buddha is very fat in China and very slim in SL?

We completed data entry also which I shall bring along with me for further analysis in my desk in Sapporo.

My Japanese colleague and I will proceed to Colombo tomorrow morning and spend a day there. On Saturday, he will go to HK while I proceed to Singapore. In capsule, this series of trips has been quite challenging to me physically. I also learned some managerial and organizational skills, especially on how to deal effectively with difficult people. Time and timing are very important. Kung pasaway sila, mas pasaway ako. Hahaha

PS: Parang hindi na sila ang hitman sa pang-amoy ko. Nasanay na ba ang aking ilong o pare-pareho na kami ng amoy? Lolzzzz

Hello from Kandy 38
9 January 2009 Friday

after a long flight from HKG, i made it to sri lanka. i met 2 pinay stewardesses one of whom i met in 2005 on my way back to sapporo. she still remembers me. we stopped by in bangkok for about 2 hours and for the first time since i have been travelling to SL since 2005, we had to get out of the aircraft, board again, and pass the checks. taihen desu ne.

due to increased airport security one SL passenger was at the top of his voice saying "that is expensive, that is expensive!" goodbye to his banned material. he was also carrying an ordinary looking doll, probably for his kid. he could buy it in SL, can't he? well, travelling has been more of a punishment than leisure these days. what's with too many checks, scanners, and all? the US campaign against terrorism has made travellers lives only miserable. thank you.

upon arrival at the immigration at about 12 midnight, we were on cueue for more than half an hour, and again, the SLs were complaining with their signature head bobbing and hand motions. i told the immigration officer that i plan to stay for 28 days long. he gave me 30 short days instead. hahaha

i met our service driver immediately once i had all my belongings with me, very careful this time and headed for kandy. the backpack contained laptop, passport, bankbooks, airtickets, IDs, among other things. no big deal. hahaha the trip from colombo to kandy took 2.5 hours. i slept all the way. when i woke, i was already in front of our house. settled up. it is raining now.

Hello from Kandy 39
16 January 2009 Friday

it was a very slow working week. nothing much has been accomplished with the bureaucrats since my arrival. plus they already had 2 holidays since the start of the year. what i could accomplish in japan within one hour, i could do the same here in a week's or a month's time. maybe it is one among the many reasons why it is too easy to remain poor.

the 1.5hrs meeting today with one of health ministry's officials produced little results which would otherwise been accomplished through an email. they would rarely reply by email and if they do, it is non-commital or off-tangent. it's like you ask them how many fingers? and they will tell you it's an orange. hahaha

common to them, this official would make your life difficult unless some form of personal reward is at stake. as i was listening to him, i directly asked him "what exactly is it that you want?" and with a momentary hesitation, it turned out that he was adamant about the personal computers that my boss promised him few years back. this promise i was not directly aware of. and i promised him that his concerns will be brought to the attention of my university.

also, as they have been trying to combat rabies for more than 3 decades in vain, i suggested that in addition to their current failing methods, why not try changing people's behavior, as proven by rabies-free countries? and his reply was a straight forward no. hahaha

well, i think i am facing another form of education this time. i learned quickly not to take them too seriously and to expect nothing. and that most people has a price tag over his head. admit it or not.

Hello from Kandy 40
17 January 2009 Saturday

i had an interesting dinner experience here in kandy, sri lanka few minutes ago. after requesting for a helping of beef shawarma and emphasizing SNS, strictly no spices that is, the waiter said okay. fine. the first few bites were tasteful until i slowly felt the burning sensation from my tongue down to my pharynx. it always pays to have milk shake standing by. somehow it dilutes the effects of chillis, onions, and all. i managed to consume 3/5 of the whole thing.

none of the 8 waiters immediately came when i called up for my bill. finally i was approached by 2 of them. i told the original waiter that the food was too hot to handle. i did not have any intention to complain and all. it was probably that the chef thought that the level of hotness was internationally palatable. the 2 waiters simultaneously went to the cashier for whatever odd reason and i was left in the table unattended. impatient that i was, i brought the payment to the cashier myself. and they there were looking at me strangely. i was asked what the probem was and i said nothing. i was waiting for my change. they then offered another helping for free. but i told them that it would not be necessary. i have already said my piece and it was for them to do something about it. i just added that since i might be staying here for quite some time and be a regular customer, we might as well come into terms. that they train their men what real good service is.

now here comes the duty manager and i was surrounded by 4 men trying convince me not to pay. but i insisted. i told the manager that i know sri lankans love spices but not all people like it. again, in japan, after 2 or 3 times that i come to a restaurant, they already know my idiosyncracies. like i would prefer spoon and fork for fried rice. or prabably i should be the one to adjust? it seems that my reputation came ahead of me again hahaha i left the 4 of them in their signature head bobbing motion. i don't know whether it was for approval or not.

the other night, as i had dinner with an SL friend, i was assured that the sauced chicken with fried rice was not a time bomb. after a few spoonfuls i felt the urge to call the fire department. a local beer helped put out the fire in my mouth. amazing sri lankans. you should check out their aroma by mid-afternoon.

Hello from Kandy 41
19 January 2009 Monday

sunday today, i decided to see the outskirts. i visited the church and attended the mass in sinhala language. so, i found no pinoys around. i hope to meet some one day. SLs still wear veils like the japanese. do pinays still wear them in our country? i failed to attend the english mass in the afternoon.

next i visited tea factory and saw how they manufacture this famous drink. when i was in RP, tea drinking is only good during an illness. here it is a social event much like coffee for me. to them, coffee sprinkled with lemon is a cure for everyday illnesses like diarrhea, headache, toothache etc. how interesting.

i also made a short visit to a batik store. they have more variety of styles than found in RP and thailand. images of buddha's tooth relic and elephants are common. the store sells at very high price so i only bought a small item.

i enjoyed a 30 minute elephant ride. kappuru, a 20 year old elephant is one of the younger mammals in this park. i was told that they weigh about 64 kgs upon birth, could consume 250 kgs of grass daily, passes out 160 kgs of dung per day, whew! which could be used for making paper. ang lalaki ng ebs nila. ang bigat siguro. hahaha these vegetarian animals are very intelligent and could understand as much as 24 words. of the 12 elephants in this park, the oldest is 78 years old.

unlike in thailand where there is a passengers' seat strapped in their body, in SL, only a thin mat covers the elephant's back. this makes it a more natural ride and avoids breathing difficulties for the elephants. medyo matalas ang buhok nila, ang kapal ng balat, at dapat kekembot din habang naglalakad na. reminding me of the carabao ride in RP where i fell hahaha it was a bit uncomfortable and my rear was sore after the ride. i saw their skeleton and their teeth was amazing. it weighs about 7 kgs. wow!

the last destination was spice garden where i saw SL herbal medicine. so many kinds topical agents. from hair remover, hair grower, skin whitening, sex stimulants, etc. i hope that they will concoct perfume next time hahaha i also enjoyed ayuverdic massage in the outdoors. really great!

before coming home, i had a delicious meal at a chinese restaurant with sweet and sour pork with fried rice. they make home deliveries. now, my next dinner should be something to look forward.

i learned some sinhalese words:

ayubowan: good morning

kommada: hello

hari: okay

hondai: good

pola: market

daha: move on

stuti: thank you

amatta ukanda: PI mo

videos to follow, to see photos click links below.

Kandy 2009 Hong Kong 2009

Hello from Kandy 42
20 January 2009 Tuesday

i was productive since yesterday. i immediately got the nod of education officials from the provincial level to divisional and district levels. it looks like that people in the academe have the same wavelength. but i still have to see some more how to meet the challenges ahead. i shall visit primary schools tomorrow for our advocacy projects. it seems that the negotiation part is not as easy as i thought. nonetheless, deadma lang. as our meeting came to conclusion, i was invited for a snack. the tea milk was not very sweet. i enjoyed their sweet rice cake. it was good (hondai). i like it (kamatty).

so tomorrow, i will visit the very outskirts for school selection. talk with school principals, teachers and all. we have to train and teach them first before they could teach the children about rabies (jalabeethika).

my boss is quite happy with the development. as my fellowship comes to a close by the end of this quarter, i received an email from him to work with them for some more time. for some reasons, i haven't replied yet.

Hello from Kandy 43
28 January 2009 Wednesday

it has been a so-so week past. the outskirts that i went were not quite . they were very outskirts. if my approximations were correct, they were like fifth class municipalities by RP standards. Similar to previous experiences, i went to rugged terrains, hills, and areas that won't become rich. why? because my mobile phone had no signal, and therefore, cannot be reached. hahaha

corny as it sounds, the good news is that there were no rains to spoil my search for primary schools. together with 2 RAs and a tuk tuk (3-wheeled or tricycle) driver, we went to 6 different schools. the roads were quite tough reminiscent of lubang islands of mindoro. i did not realize that primary schools and life there could exist! where do they get their water supply? probably in some deep wells? food could easily be harvested because of the rich forest. and i did not see any pola (market). despite the very rural location, electrical power supply is present at, hold your sweet breath, 250 volts. hahaha be very careful!

during my visit to the schools, the children swarmed upon me. they were saying something like sudda sudda or white man white man. wow! me a white man? hahaha but probably i am for them. these kids may not have seen people of other races. they would be lucky if they will ever go to the city. most of them will probably end like their parents who till the earth. nonetheless, their very natural reaction, giggles, and innocence are like those of kids from more affluent society. i felt like a celebrity as i waved and laughed with them, shook their hands, patted their shoulders, and
disarranged their hair, etc. i could see their eyes widen as i showed them their snap shots from my digital camera.

yesterday, i conducted a workshop for 18 primary school teachers. they were very receptive about the proposed project. if all goes as planned, we could start by the middle of february. i was so exhausted upon return that i immediately slept in the afternoon. work still continued upon waking up as i had to finish some paper works.

culinary preference. i met an SL guy who worked in saudi arabia and had a pinay nurse as gf. he said that pinays are beautiful, however, he could not tolerate patis. hahaha he abhors my favorite patis as i loathe his curry and turmeric powder. he would not go to RP because of the food. he decided to marry his own kind. let's call it quits. hahaha

building vertigo. when i visited the health ministry office, i asked the receptionist for a particular person. she pointed upwards to the first floor. confused, memory immediately reminded me that i was at zero floor. hahaha in another occasion, i was in the first floor (it was second floor if you were in RP). the employee pointed up to show me where the second floor is (third floor equivalent for RP). confused? here's more. i could not understand what lobby, ground floor, and zero floors are. hahaha good luck!

dog bites. i'm afraid that one day i'll get a dog bite not in the streets but in my own yard. the owners of the house have a black dog who hates me. hahaha probably roxie does not like a sweet smelling fellow. i was unsuccessfully attacked several times and really gave me gooseflesh. s/he has that killer look that makes me avoid even looking at her/him. i talked to the owners about the issue. i did not remind them their legal responsibility in case of a successful attack, for they should know as responsible owners. now, as long as i stay here, the dog remains caged. sometimes they allow him to roam in the other side of the yard. it looks like that i will be a victim of the disease i am trying to prevent. hahaha

in few hours time, my boss will arrive. i won't be alone finally. 6 days to go and i'll go back home in sapporo .

new sinhalese words:

tika-tika: a little

kamatty: I like it

o: yes

nae: no

malli: younger brother

ayi: elder brother

soorya: sun

Hello from Kandy 44
30 January 2009 Friday

my boss was so relaxed since his arrival. the labor pains and ground works of our new project has been laid out neatly already. in addition, the weather in kandy is almost perfect. soft winds, mild sun, and no rain. he complained that the week prior to his arrival, he was toxic due to the manuscripts of the 4 graduating japanese students of our department (3 masters, 1 doctorate) that he reviewed and revised. that's why he took advantage of this trip to kandy. thank heavens they were not in english, otherwise it would have been me. hahaha

we re-visited the officials and professors that i met weeks before. i briefed him on our progress and all. he was so impressed with the 2 female RAs who are working with me. contrary to our previous experiences and recommendation of the veterinary faculty, these new RAs are quite exceptional and intelligent. they also have the initiative and could easily understand my instructions. so, i need not worry this time.

i remember our veterinarian RA last year and our SL, chinese, bangladeshi, iranian, and nigerian post-graduate students in my lab. they have this peculiar character. whenever they submit to me a manuscript for review, it would take me hours to understand the contents of their abstracts or full thesis. not to mention the writing styles, clarity of ideas, typos, and flawlessness of delivery. a college student in RP would far excel their writing abilities. sometimes, i had to take a tablet of paracetamol for headache relief. hahaha and the audacity they project, fantastic! bonggang bongga (bobo na tanga pa)!

yesterday, we dined in a chinese restaurant SL-style. my boss and i were quite happy. at least i could eat something acceptable. SLs found it strange that i could survive with monkey bananas in a day. i asked them in return how they would feel going to a foreign country that hates curries, onions and chillies? it is exactly how i feel here. and they understood hahaha nasa mood magluto si boss. so, i think we'll have yakisoba and steamed vaggies tonight. as usual, i expect tons of dishes to wash later. hahaha

pissed off. dismayed was my boss with our asst prof who do not communicate anything to him. i found it unusual since they are both japanese, they should communicate better among themselves. he gave quite a few complaints and all. i wonder what he says to others about me hahaha then i overheard one time that i sometimes i pissed him off because i could not understand the punchlines in his jokes hahaha ang corny naman kase. to me, for a joke to be effective, it has to be delivered within a span of 8 seconds. beyond that, i loose my patience. hahaha

nociceptor variations. so important i asked my boss whether he could smell the odor of SLs. what he thinks about it and all? i was surprised that he does not find their odor offensive! is it my nose whose got a problem or what? please visit this country to find out for yourselves hahaha

4 na tulog na lang at pabalik na ako. we'll be going to the capital city colombo on sunday afternoon. i shall leave the country on tuesday evening only to come back 10 days later.

Hello from Kandy 45
1 February 2009 Sunday

golf versus gulp. it was an awesome day yesterday. i went with my boss to victoria, a beautiful place 35 kilometers away from kandy. he played golf while i played gulp gulp. hahaha i had two bottles of lion lager beer, 625 mL each.

indeed, most golf courses are places to relax and enjoy. places where most business deals are closed or not. i did not play the game for reasons i do not know. or probably i should have had? i tried reading a novel but my mind was not on it, i decided to call quite a few people in japan and RP instead. i told boss that i really do not mind conducting my projects in beautiful spots such as this. surely, it would be more exciting. hahaha

mango king. boss' cooking is something. after the game, he decided that he should cook again. we enjoyed pasta for dinner. i demanded that he add more meat on it. hahaha he is immensely enjoying mangoes here which, to me, have more inferior quality than RP's. parang piko na malaki. maraming balahibo at hindi mabango. my boss believes that okinawan mangoes are the best. he has not yet tried RP mangoes in RP. his image of our mangoes are not good because the ones available in japan are very expensive and of the lowest quality. my prescription to him was that he should visit RP to taste our mouth-watering mangoes. we almost debated who's got the best mangoes hahaha i told him that we hold the crown for it. but i was wrong because when i google searched, i was surprised to learn that india's sindh mangoes are considered to be the world's best! that should be one for experience. i look forward to it. india and china are the world's top mango producers.

we shall go to colombo early in the afternoon. i have a dinner meeting with my pinoy MD friend on monday.

Hong Kong

gino510 — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 22:12:58 CDT

Winter 2008

gino510 — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 03:04:00 CDT

10. Before & After

gino510 — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 03:02:28 CDT

There is no abstract available for this page revision.

Travela Singapore

gino510 — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 01:37:27 CDT

Travel novela

hello from singapore
02 March 2006, Thursday
Hangout Hotel @ Mt. Emily, Singapore

day 1 today and this is also my first time in this beautiful and clean place. warm at 26C and humid though. dahil di ako marunong sumunod sa mga direksiyong iyan, lumampas ako tuloy ng train station at kailangang bumalik pa hahaha well, nobody's perfect. tanong dito tanong doon. kailangan ko iyan kasi kahit na mayroong mapa sa bawat sulok ng mga kalye, wakaranaindesu kedo. lolzzz

just checked in few minutes ago in this hostel which is pretty cool. will have to discover more things later on.

naku, ang mahal naman pala ng tobacco tax dito. hahaha ito lamang ang airport na may ganitong tax na nakita ko. hahaha had to pay S$56 ngek

may nakita akong pinay OFW sa airport na hindi umabot sa byahe nya pabalik sa atin. 5 minutes lang daw siya nahuli pero ganyan talaga. bibili na lang siya ulit ng ticket.

teka, magsa shower muna ako. pawisan pa. plane landed at 7am.

hello from singapore 2
02 March 2006, Thursday
Hangout Hotel @ Mt. Emily, Singapore

haler. this is an impressive country. no natural resources to speak of but this place is tremendous. very wealthy!

i went to the night safari where i saw animals of different sorts. deers, buffalos, bats, hayenas, tigers, lions, tarsiers, crocodiles, etc etc. but sad to say, cant take flash fotography as i might get the animals excited and all and be bitten hahaha

food. hmmmm very deli! chinese plzzzzz.

they have 4 major languages here. english, chinese, malay and tamil from india. RP may not be a major english-speaking country in this side of the world after all. singapore would be a close rival if not better. everybody speaks english, with brit accent, ok?

i also see so many people of the following decent: indians, malays and chinese. pinoys are famous for being DH but many are also in white collar jobs. hard labor employment are for bangladeshi.

it's good that i tried this hostel were i mingle with some people, mostly from europe. at least to keep me entertained and get some infos on where to go. and it is safe to walk at all times of the day. i don't think i have seen a police man yet.

taxis are advanced, too. the cab driver didn't know the location of my hostel and with the aid of virtual reality we need not ask anybody where it is. and they give receipts, ok?

the train system is very clean and land transportation is very comprehensive. the streets are also clean, it can rival JPN. no bubble gum stains lolzzzz

it's pretty expensive though compared to thailand. death penalty for drug traffickers, and they mean it.

i told my singaporean-chinese friend that i wish we can do the same to RP. he said that we can do it if we just refrain from trying to ouster our leaders every 2 years. and that if discipline will be shared by each people. he usually goes to RP twice a year to meet with ADB and govt officials. oh well, maybe there is no real job security in our homeland not even for the RP prez hahaha the reason why i didn't dream of being one lolzzz

hello from singapore 3
03 March 2006, Friday
Internet Café, Singapore

i started the day a bit late because i ended up late at 3am chatting with other guests from scotland, ireland, and england. i'm still confused whether to call them collectively as british since they are as confused as i am hahaha they can't even figure out the difference between UK and GB lolzzz i've had very informative exchanges with them and they travel quite a lot. very interesting.

as usual, had brunch in a chinese outdoor restaurant. accidentally met a pinoy family whose dad works here while the entire family is on vacation. as expected, they were as impressed as i am with the place. pintas dito pintas doon sa ating inang bayan. kawawang bansa.

i saw the national library of singapore which showcases mostly literary arts and history. with its 200 years of established reputation, the library houses pieces since the crown rule. i saw original letters and communiques dating back from the 19th century.

my friend told me that the library will blow my mind. yes it did. i saw a kids' book in its archive copyrighted 1977! a camera from the good old 70's! and typewriters (olivetti and remington)! whew! didn't i use them to make reports during high schools days? hahaha can't stomach something in a museum which is younger than myself hahaha pics to follow.

i visited the singapore arts museum. this place shows master pieces from SEA masters. i saw the geniuses of vicente manasala, ang kiukok and other pinoy sculptors whose names i forgot. the art pieces are very nice and interprets mostly the hard life in RP. other notable pinoy pieces include those in the religious and mythology section! imagine? catholicism is considered as mythology here? ngek! though not as extensive as those in the louvre museum, it is one of the places to see if you are interested in the arts.

hello from singapore 4
04 March 2006, Saturday
Hangout Hotel @ Mt. Emily, Singapore

it seems that i am staying up late all the time and waking up late also. no sked to follow and doing everything at the spur of the moment. a little drift from daily routine. great.

this island country is so small, there are no major traffic jams that can reach to as much as 6hrs! you can travel to the farthest destination within 2hrs. nice? hear this. out of town, which is very usual to us, may not be applicable to them. for their usual destination is thailand. i guess town here is everywhere and they have little, if any, countryside to speak of. hahaha

if you regularly get naked even within the confines of your own home and your peeping neighbor happens to see you and get fotos or video, you'll be in big trouble. sisikat ka. your sexy figure will be on national teevee and you will be fined. of course, first offense is okay. the subsequent ones will bear graver punishment from the judge. and they do it immediately. no sense in delaying the verdict. sometimes the fines will include 7 lashes. the lash master will make sure that each whipping will fall exactly on the same spot in your butt. if it falls on a different spot, that will be counted as 2 or more. i think they put some chemicals in the belt or whatever material they use. don't worry, there will always be a doctor to make sure you will be okay and heal faster ngek

i was a bit appalled upon hearing that and they opine that is it okay for you to let children see you that way? they deem that people should be responsible for their neighbors too. sounds good, ne? discipline here, it seems, is very much observed.

at last i saw some police last night. during day time the police are in their offices. they are in patrol especially late at night during the weekends. their police look like fresh-from-school-kids hahaha but these singaporeans are proud of them. they respect, follow, trust and think highly of them. they highly regard their ex-PM lee kwan yew. he really made this country. now, his son is their leader.

they are also proud of being singaporeans themselves. they used to be bullied and threatened by malaysians for their water source. but now they say that they can make their own water and not rely on them. it will take malaysia 20 years to catch up with them, economically. wow! per capita income is in the vicinity of USD26K or same as with the swiss.

since singapore was once a malaysian territory i wonder why they have dollars, like other commonwealth countries, and not pounds? they cannot explain it also. hahaha

small island nation, big productivity. their government have made plans on how to cope up with this challenge in the long term since their output may not be contained in such a small land surface area. probably land-reclamation is on way. what about if they make RP as their province? hahaha

due to government surpluses, each citizen will receive S$400~1000 cash in the days to come. and this is not bonus, ok? that is because they have an honest tax collection system, tax payment, transparent auditing and all that they themselves enjoy the benefits of good governance. the financially-challenged will receive more, of course.

with a total population of roughly 4M (3-M locals and 1-M foreigners), plateuing population growth, declining fertility rate, they welcome able professionals from outside the country.

permanent visa. even if you have stayed here for only a year, you may apply for it. they have a point system to classify whether an applicant is worthy of being a citizen. like education, skill, crime record inter alia. if not, S$1-M (~USD700K) bank account will be necessary to ensure approval.

they do not need to get visa anywhere they go, according to them. that includes china, russia, north america, and europe.

will check out sentosa island.

hello from singapore 5
05 March 2006, Sunday
Hangout Hotel @ Mt. Emily, Singapore

after having lunch, i decided to go to little india train station heading to sentosa island. guess what? i lost my way a bit and found myself in the middle of indian town. hahaha amoy india-SL combined! at siyempre indian country iyon kaya parang balik-SL muli ako lolzzz ang daming restaurants, gem stores, tindahan ng mga CDs nila na nakakatulilig ang kanta hahaha buti na lang narating ko agad ang istasyon ng tren.

i notice that people here do not yield to outgoing train passengers first before boarding the train like how japanese do.

met many pinoys on tour to sentosa. most of them are working here while some of them are on a weekend get-away package tour that costs PhP19K. their conversations are like music to my ears hahaha pero di ko pinapahalata na naiintindihan ko. wala lang. gusto ko lang makinig ng tsismisan nila. pero yung ibang pinoy ay nakikipagkilala naman ako.

mukhang nasa kultura nga natin ang super-extended family. buong barangay ang kasama ng mga pinoy magliwaliw. auntie-auntie, kuya, ate, in-laws, si nanay, si tatay, mga anak, si bayaw, si bespren etc etc. one thing in common among them...ang tataba! hahaha naghihirap nga ba ang bansa?

sentosa is a small island on the south of this country. the attractions here are the equivalent of disneyland and univ studios. this island, however, is smaller than the areas of disney and univ studios. i went to selected attractions like the underwater world, cinemania, sky tower, dolphin show and the magical fountain. as you would probably have known, the underwater world showcases marine life hahaha while cinemania is their own version of 3D cinema, it needs a little more spice to be more interesting, ne? the sky tower is a 7-minute ride about 190m high to oversee the rest of the island. the dolphin show was okay. these blue dolphins turn pink when they mature. parang litmus paper? what pleased me most was the magical fountain show. it was a lot better than disneyland's fountain show. you have to see it.

this small country is a mixture of both modern technology and nature, but both are man-made. they created their forests in the theme parks, okay? syempre, di ko rin pinatawad ang merlion. this is the symbol of singapore, the mermaid-lion. it spits water instead of fire. strange? well, according to the geomancer, water among others will bring more prosperity to this nation. agree?

just finished very heavy dinner in china town. busog meals talaga noh. as in, parang bawal na kumain bukas. pagkatapos ng konting lakad-lakad, may nakita akong indonesian tindahan ng mga kakanin. e pareho ng luto sa atin, pano na yan? puto, pandan-flavored kutsinta, at biko. ang sarap sarap! may nakilala rin akong mga pinoy doon. bumili rin hahaha

ito na ata ang pinakamalinis na china town na nakita ko. pwede kang mahiga sa gitna ng kalye. the paved road is very clean and dry. impressive noh?

hello from singapore 6
05 March 2006, Sunday
Lucky Plaza, Singapore

im now in a place called lucky plaza. i feel lucky to come here. it is the pinoy land. parang nasa RP na rin. nakabili tuloy ng mga abubot. ang mga chiminis ay nagre relax ba. bili sila ng kung anu ano. phone cards, tsitsirya, pabango etc etc. nagkukwentuhan tungkol sa buhay nila. katuwa nga makinig sa kanila eh.

meron din nagre recruit para sumapi kay bro ellie soriano (ang dating daan) hahaha mag picnic ba ang mga chimini na kung saan may nakapaskil na no picknicking around? hahaha basta gow sila sa pag upo kahit saan, walang pakialam. yung iba merong bf na indians na karay karay nila.

yung ibang mga lalaking pinoy naman, nag iinuman ng johnny walker sa bandang labas na alley ng mall. parang sa atin rin. tubig ang chaser ok? at frito lays ang pulutan. yung mga pinay naman, cabernet sauvignon ang nilalagok hahaha

ang daming tindahang pinoy pati. yung isang restaurant, ang pangalan ay fook kee restaurant. oh laban ka?

meron ding mga salon na pang pinoy lang. gupit, kulot, facial.

syempre, dahil maraming bagong bayani rito, mawawala ba ang pera-padala. bawat sulok ay mayroong remittance centers.

kumain ako sa isang pinoy restaurant, hindi kay fook kee. syempre top of the line (sa cardiac arrest) ang kinain ko. crispy pata! pig trotter pala iyon sa ingles. makalipas ang mahigit 3 taon, ngayon lang ulit ako nakakain noon. ang sarap, ang lutong niya. at nadikit pa ng konti sa ngipin ang mga litid. panalo talaga!

pansin ko na ang mahilig na drinks nating pinoy ay coke, tubig o...iced tea! at uso pa rin ang take home pag hindi naubos ang inorder hahaha

itong katabi kong pinay ngayon sa interent cafe ay nagpapaturo mag email sa bf niyang puti. ang gusto niyang email address ay bhabes999...carry moh? ano raw ba ang password?

katuwa rito. naiintindihan ko kasi ang mga salita hahaha maya maya ay babalikan ko ang halu halo.

hello from singapore 7
06 March 2006, Monday
Hangout Hotel @ Mt. Emily, Singapore

kina-career ko na talagang maging backpacker. medyo masakit na ang binti ko kakalakad para makita ang dapat makita. at dahil mainit ang panahon, malakas uminom ng tubig. kailangang may baon na 1500mL na tubig noh. pahinga muna ngayong gabi. i have to regain extra energy for tomorrow's chapter.

i decided to extend my accommodation in this hostel to get more value for my money. the ymca hostel does not offer free 24h online services unlike this one where i am staying.

buti na lang at umalis na yung isang kasama ko sa kwarto na di ko maintindihan ang cara. i think he is japanese or chi-inese or korean. he always stay in the room from sun up till sun down. i dont think i have seen him get out. he reads very interesting books like... organic chemistry! hahaha and one morning when i woke up, i greeted him good morning, and received no reply. thinking that i may have greeted in low decibel, i repeated it. no reply again. oh well, either he is autistic or something? lolzzz

which reminds me, when i was in sentosa yesterday, i felt nostalgic that i saw the good morning towels made famous by our jeepney drivers. the pinoy tourists there hanged them around their necks. made me recall my tropical brand sandos. hahaha

as usual, i bought a lot of books here and HKG. my luggage will really be heavy.

hello from singapore 8
06 March 2006, Monday
Hangout Hotel @ Mt. Emily, Singapore

back to SIN.

before going to malaysia, i had late lunch at the lucky plaza again. there are few pinoys today because it is monday and everyone's at work but there are still some pinoys around. had mechadong dila ng baboy this time. the taste was less than i expected. nonetheless, i had a second helping of steamed rice. nakakahiyang umorder ng kalahati kasi hahaha

i asked the pinay waitresses how to get to malaysia. and like me, they were dumbfounded how to get there. they called up another pinay who is now a citizen and taught me how to get there. friendliness ok? they wanted to go with me but they still had to work.

hey, i am learning the ins and outs of the train system here. it takes a while for me to get accustomed and i notice that i have what i call 180 degrees spatial disorientation. meaning, when reading maps, most of the time i mistake the right from the left and vice versa. that is why i always ask around just to check if im heading the right way. maybe i have to seek the advise of bro eli soriano hahaha

in malaysia, i was forewarned to be extra careful as there are many challenges ahead. that's why the back pack became front pack lolzzzz just like how i did in RP. this record-breaking ultra-short visit was nonetheless uneventful and was able to get back to SIN safely.

in the malaysian immigration office, i met some pinays going back to SIN also. it is their day off today and crossed the border also to shop around.

back in SIN, they have very nice buildings here, inside and out. how come that their bldgs look brand new though they are old? maintenance perhaps? re-painting? compared to HKG, SIN seem to have better city-planning and people are more organized. the buses and trains come on time. in SL, a 1-year old building looks like more than a 5-year old one.

SIN and SL also have one thing in common. business names always bear the private limited thing. for instance acme pvt ltd (spelled that way in SL) and acme pte ltd (SIN's version). what's with being private and being limited? if all businesses were private, why make it redundant? it may save printing space and ink to delete them, ok? of course, i want an unlimited amount of service for business~ hahaha

in most places in SIN, cameras abound for security reasons. you will find them in highways, public places like parks, malls, trains, hotels, etc. could the bathrooms be...? oh no lolzzz

pag pasok ko kanina sa kuwarto namin natakot ako. akala ko may mumu. yung bagong room mate ko kasi kamukha ni palito. e mukhang namamahay at di siya makatulog, nakabalot yung ulo niya na parang sa patay. at nakakumot pa. tapos nakabuka pa yung mga mata na gumagalaw galaw pa. hahaha napailing na lang ako. di ko pa kinakausap. malay ko ba? baka pinoy pala iyon. si lolo talaga oo. hahaha

PS: ang sarap ng choc nut!

hello from singapore 9
06 March 2006, Monday
Hangout Hotel @ Mt. Emily, Singapore

gd am. just woke up few mins ago. its laundry time now and im killing the time by surfing the net.

was awakened with palito & co all in rush. they have to go to an art show this morning. tomorrow will be the inauguration of their art exhibit. wow! these 3 cambodians are national artists and showed me some of their works and write-ups. they will exhibit their paintings tomorrow which i want to attend but could not because it will be my departure time. i saw some sample paintings about khmer rouge regime and all. truly impressive. i couldn't believe i'm sharing a room with them. of course, we exchanged business cards and requested fotos from them. they look like those from myanmar. i was told that there are many pinoy english teachers in their country.

today's sked will be a bit relaxed, i hope, since it is my last lakwatsa day. the day zoo will be it.

hello from singapore 10
07 March 2006, Tuesday
Hangout Hotel @ Mt. Emily, Singapore

this is my last night in SIN. what a splendid time i had. on hind thought, i should have split the entire length of stay between malaysia-SIN so that i could have also learned more with these countries.

today i went to the zoo. apart from seeing the animal kingdom, i was impressed how they treat, train, feed, and care for these beings. the animals are not caged at all except for the ultra-dangerous snakes. how lucky these animals are, they are fed healthy. their present environment is quite close to their natural habitat.

the elephants are big and well-fed, the lions and tigers can still run fast, the mammals are in good health. the aquatic animals can swim freely. ad infinitum. beyond the zoo, the people care for these animals. i see well-trained dogs here like in JPN and europe. i don't think i have seen strays?

nearing the day's end, i had my last pinoy meal, where else? in lucky plaza. today's special is lechong kawali with 2 rice. mang tomas sarsa ng lechon is better than the malaysian-made maggi chili sauce. banana split for dessert (ube, chocolate, and strawberry ice cream). the servedoras invited me for drinking session but declined because i still have to pack, and is very sleepy. i will surely miss lucky plaza. made me muse and smile at myself upon hearing tagalog in unison. pinoy cuisine, a very delicious poison, is surely the best way to die fast. but i'd rather die on a full stomach than go hungry and die slowly. agree?

an english room mate moved to the next room because he wasn't able to sleep well last night due snoring of 2 people. well, i was sleeping alright. guilty as accused. that's what u get in a hostel dorm. go and find a single room for yourself. kaya pala masakit ang lalamunan ko pag gising kanina hahaha

RP is famous in SIN for the following: there is a road called manila street near the national library. there is magnolia ice cream but the logo is different. jollibee yumburger is a cafe serving soya drinks and other stuffs and is called jollibean, jolly-b box is a courier service most probably pinoy-owned. pics to follow. i met 2 singaporeans who are fans of the 70's hit song anak. wow! they can still remember that song so much to tell me. the english and chinese versions were the hits, of course.

the buses do not spend so much time picking up passengers in the bus stops. i observed that the bus drivers will wait for a maximum of 1 minute then gow. though they have a lot of road constructions for the new wings of MRT, they have no real traffic jams. so the bus always comes and go on time. either a passenger pays his fare electronically or gives an exact amount. drivers give no change. no fare collector nor bus crier needed. have we been left somewhere?

as one t-shirt says: no smoking, no chewing gum, no vandals, no durian, no photos, no over-speeding, monitoring cameras on queue. indeed, SIN is a fine country.

hello from singapore 11
08 March 2006, Wednesday
Hangout Hotel @ Mt. Emily, Singapore

i thought i was sleepy. but can't get to bed early. i had a short conversation with the 3 cambodian artists. they are an interesting lot. the SIN government and private companies sponsored their art show here. having a 50-50 share from the sales of their works will be a pretty good deal for them since their national government do not support their craft. they can travel when there are sponsors to bear the burden of their expenses.

they gave me an invitation for tomorrow's affair which will be attended by ambassadors, govt officials, art afficionados, ad nauseam. much that i would like to go but i have a plane to catch.

these guys are truly geniuses and they gave me some of their works. became a bit shy because i could not give anything from RP. and we do not have time to go to lucky plaza for dinner. i really feel honored to have met these treasures!

many of their oil paintings are now in the post cards of cambodia. they have previously made art shows in the art capital of the world, paris. they can barely speak english but one of them is very fluent in french.

they are kind of low-key people and feel flattered and honored to be wearing a suit for tomorrow's event. before retiring, i saw them praying to Buddha.

it is quite a disappointment that 3rd world govts do not realize the value of these kind of people. that is why developed nations tap them and get the share of credits. are we any different?

hello from singapore 12
08 March 2006, Wednesday
Hangout Hotel @ Mt. Emily, Singapore

more about palito and co. aside from paris, they told me that they exhibited their works in the US and most parts of europe like norway, sweden, germany etc. they said that it was good for them for they can feed their families with the sales. again, they showed me the suit that they will wear tonight. hahaha one of them even designed his own and it looks very interesting. they seem to be highly-esteemed to be wearing it. but in tropical clime? it will be a great ordeal for me to wear lolzzz

it seems that these british or UK nationals travel a lot. i notice that they come and go in this hostel. i think they are a majority in this dorm and according to them, after college, most of them go in most parts of the world. btw, why didn't they stay so long in RP during colonial times? only 2 years crown rule in RP? hahaha

i have checked out already and just reading out emails before i finally go to the airport. will go to my next destination HKG in 5hrs time.

hello from singapore 15
22 jan 2008

the dinner in chinese restaurant was fab. i kept on looking over our neighbors' foods. they had what seemed like lechon kawali and deep-fried bituka. hahaha my bosses rejected my suggestions of cardiac arrest delights. they preferred to eat healthy with veggies. pakiramdam ko tuloy, isa akong kambing lolzzzz i want cholestrerol!

at the lobby of our hotel is a ballroom disco and there were pinoy band singers who performed the disco version of leron leron sinta. amazing!

i was advised by my boss to think about my future employment. he plans to do early retirement and is toying with the idea of running for mayor in okinawa. plus, my educational grant will finish in a year's time. quite challenging when i have to re-route my cheese again. i have to keep my nociceptors sensitive for better cheese.

in 3 hours, we'll fly to colombo. we are going to meet several people, japanese and sri lankans who are involved in our numerous projects.

hello from singapore 17
22 march 2008 PM9:57

i left the cinnamon grand hotel without unnecessay delay. that was good. arrived at the airport early too.

the trip to singapore from colombo was flawless except for 10 min air traffic due to aircraft congestion. like SL, it has been raining here also. upon checking in, i proceeded to my favorite pinoy hang out, the lucky plaza. yes, naghapunan na naman ako rito. hahaha at ang ulam ay lechon kawali. it was not an easy decision to make against adobong baboy. lolzzzz busog meals ulet. i know that meat is prohibited these days but i guess i have been fasting more than necessary whenever i am in SL. hahaha

after dinner, i bought a book about by bill gates, some personnal effects etc. will search for new books by donald trump and american idol's simon cowell. will leave early tomorrow morning sunday for osaka.

Thailand

gino510 — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 00:45:37 CDT

Pattaya 2005

Jetski in Pattaya

Watawat 2005

Travela Thailand

gino510 — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 00:29:27 CDT

Travel novela

hello from bangkok
01 May 2005
Sunday 15:28
Bangkok, Thailand

its my day 2 here in bangkok. quite an exciting city to check out! who was it who said that RP is only 5 years behind thailand? i kindly disagree. in my estimate we are at least 20 yrs behind them. well built roads, and subway. very clean city, and polite people. they have more advanced infrastructure than us.

sad to say that pinoys have the potential to be better like them but we dont make use of them back home.

it is also humid here like manila. their traffic is not as bad as edsa's but surely this is one exciting city. no wonder they have more visitors than we have.
prices are reasonable too.

haler from bangkok
August 2005
Bangkok, Thailand

nakikain ako sa isang pinay na na meet ko dito last time. ang sarap ng sinigang na baboy, ginisang munggo at lanzones. busog meals! may take home pa. parang sa isang na araw na ulit ako kakain. hahaha

i think ill just check out the hotel pool tonight. masyado akong napagod sa pagpunta na bahay nya noh. ang layo e.

busog sa mangkok este bangkok.

hello from bangkok 2
17 July 2008 Thursday

i arrived in bangkok via bangkok airways. the aircraft, like dragon air, is spacious, serves good food, the crew is friendly and pretty cool unlike singapore airways, the economy class is so small with no leg room and very arrogant crew members.

this is my third time in bangkok since 2005 and 2006. i am very impressed with their new airport which started operation late in 2006. this airport can rival the best airport in the world, in hong kong. very spacious, bright, and modern. the service is fast and you feel safe. i met no bystanders outside the airport. the road from the airport to the city is very wide and with no traffic congestion. their train system is under construction and will start operating 2 years from now, i was told. forex is 30,000JPY = 9,369THB.

opening salvo. after checking in in this hip hostel, i immediately made a dental appointment. hahaha good bye nicotine stains. oral prophylaxis is worth 850THB. not bad i think. i enjoyed late lunch in siam paragon. wow ang sarap ng dessert na malagkit na kanin sa gata na may saging na saba. kakain ulit ako bukas doon.

Travela Saigon

gino510 — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 23:56:12 CDT

hello from saigon
14 July 2008 Monday

i arrived in saigon, viet nam few hours ago. this city, now called ho chi minh city, is about 6 hours away by bus from phnom penh. again, there is this funny feeling to cross borders.

like p penh, tons of motorcycles greeted me along the way. it is quite a challenge to cross the roads. they would not stop. but anyway, pedestrians have to cross, at their own risk.

i changed 20,000 japanese yen for 3,015,000 viet nam dongs. 2 nights hotel accommodation is worth 1.25 million VND, my combo meals lunch was worth 66,000 VND. hahaha yes, i could easily pass to be a super millionaire if not a billionaire here lolzzz geez!

no rains here also. that is very good for the miss universe pageant. viet nam, cambodia and RP share the same time. wireless internet connection is free in my hotel room! what a bargain.

yesterday, back in phnom penh, i am sure that mother earth would have been mesmerized had she seen the russian market. it is like shopping in divisoria. branded items for very cheap prices. but the intense heat will really dehydrate you. no need for dryer for my laundry. hahaha will see more of the HCMC.

hello from Saigon 2
15 July 2008 Tuesday

today i joined city tour with other guests from australia, canada and china. we went to china town and bought some stuffs. we also saw a chinese temple. as expected, the chinese were not impressed.

nakakikilabot. next we visited the war remnants museum. like what i felt in the war museum of nagasaki, this museum in saigon tells their horrible experience during the US-Viet Nam war. i saw the fighter B52s, helicopters, bombs of the US. very impressive US fighting machines. as i went along, i saw pictures of the horrifying nightmares of this country. the viets were tortured, killed, and massacred by hundreds and thousands. american supremacy in terrorism is once again showcased in the photos of several people, with broken limbs, congenital anomalies, persons being dropped from fighter planes just like a bomb and all because they would not talk. it was not unusual to see people being tied from the rear of a vehicle and dragged till death, water torture, rape and everything bad you can imagine. their own brand of democracy. no wonder it was a big blow that the US was defeated in that war. how come hollywood films like rambo defeated viets? in the end, high technology could not beat brains. the bright viets created 200 kms of tunnels, their winning tactic against their aggressors. what made it more scary is that it happened in modern day history.

we also went to a handicapped handicrafts store. the very artistic handicaps may not be handicaps at all. they made beautiful souvenir items. don't you think they are wronglfully labelled? lastly, we went to notre dame cathedral and post-office.

it was a whole day event and we were exhausted from the heat of the sun. i went back to the hotel at around

take a closer look at the Saigon 2008 photos and videos. i hope that you will get to feel what i felt in the war remnants museum.

will go back to phnom penh tomorrow morning, wednesday 16 july.

6. Travels

gino510 — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 22:24:04 CDT

Viet Nam

gino510 — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 22:22:39 CDT

Travela Phnom Penh

gino510 — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 22:19:24 CDT

hello from phnom penh
13 July 2008 Sunday

china days are over. heavy rains greeted us at 5:00AM while going to HKG intl airport. mother earth's liquid beauty products were confiscated at the airport. despite repeated reminders to place these forbidden materials in check-in luggage. due to inexplicable reasons, she decided to put them in hand carry luggage. kaya hayun, nakapanghihinayang. bye bye lotion etc.

Cambodia

gino510 — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 21:56:41 CDT

Travela Macau

gino510 — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 21:40:24 CDT

hello from macau
9 July 2008 Wednesday

we arrived in macau after an hour of ferry boat ride from hong kong. pati pala bagahe rito ay may pamasahe. i was charged HK$20 per baggage in the ferry and HK$3 per baggage in taxi. wow. marami ring mahilig managa sa labas ng ferry terminal. but i was forewarned in lonely planet about these cases.
i am so happy to be able to connect to internet. at least we can get to hear RP radios. kins are complaining of hearing chi-inese radio stations only everywhere hahaha

one observation among disney theme parks. although i have language difficulties in disney tokyo than that in HKG, i think, tokyo's is more organized, larger, and with more attractions. that is not to say that HKG's is not good. most probably it was designed in such a way to fit the region that it caters. there are more english shows in HKG than in tokyo.

i saw some casinos in macau, it's plus factor. what i am interested is the life here. i saw shanties interspersed between high rise buildings. currencies in circulation are both HKGS$ and macau patacas. it means that you can pay using both currencies and you receive change with the same. HKG$, though, look and smell better. hahaha

we had early dinner between 4 and 5PM. we savored on chinese cuisine, of course. mother goose called it a day afterwards. she decided to sleep for the rest of the day while we roamed around. i think she has sore feet and legs most probably due to her ill-fitting rubber shoes.

globe and smart roaming services are very high-priced. incoming calls and balance inquires are charged exorbitantly. it was good that i am able to re-charge kins' mobile phones using brastel. will see more of the city tomorrow.

hello from macau 2
10 July 2008 Thursday

there was heavy downpour early in the morning. it was so nice to extend sleep. after breakfast, we almost decided to stay indoors the entire day. it was good that the weather cooperated, so we were able to see some sights later during the day.

i noticed that among the 10 countries that i have been so far in my lifetime, and with the exception of RP, macau, in my estimate, would be among the top in terms of having the highest density of pinoy. it is almost impossible not to see a kababayan in a day unless you stay within the confines of your home. they work in hotels, casinos etc.

macau is truly amazing. the buildings are huge. i mean really huge. the architectural style is also far from what i usually see anywhere else. although a small island, even smaller than singapore, its massive construction and infrastructure per square area could be more than what we have in RP. the interiors of the buildings are better than the best i have seen back home.

Macau

gino510 — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 21:24:09 CDT

7. Essays

gino510 — Sun, 04 May 2008 19:33:33 CDT

There is no abstract available for this page revision.

In the news

gino510 — Sun, 04 May 2008 19:31:26 CDT

There is no abstract available for this page revision.

France	Hong Kong
Japan	Malaysia
Singapore	Sri Lanka
Switzerland	Thailand
UK	Philippines
Macau	Cambodia
Viet Nam