Philippines update #4

Itinerary for GAT

GAT; Great Adventure Tour

GK; Gawad Kalinga (This is the name of the entire organization)

ANCOP; ANswering the Cry Of the Poor

YFC; Youth For Christ

SHOUT; Summer HOUse Training

Total of 14 days, beginning Monday July 27

Activities will be divided into 3 categories:

1) Strength/Self

2) Love/Society/Others

3) Self-control/Family

July 27 (CFC Center, Ortigas) - YFC Coordination Meeting, Mass, Welcome Party

Strength/Self

July 28 (Manila) - Amazing Race Manila

July 29-31 (Tagaytay) - SHOUT, Adventure camp, Silent retreat

Love/Society/Others

August 1 (Manila) - YFC Program Immersion

August 2&3 (Bataan & Zambales) - Love Road Trip

Self-Control/Family

August 4-6 (Nueva Ecija) - GK Immersion (this is the build)

August 7 (Pangasinan) - Visiting Our Lady of Manaoag

August 8&9 (Hundred Islands, literally a hundred tiny islands in Pangasinan) - Rest and Recreation

August 10 (Manila) - Shopping & Closing Party

 

Philippines update #3

Just got back from Boracay with Martina. Beautiful island. I shouldn't even try to describe it because I wouldn't do it justice.

Picture this...

Ocean, beach, $10 massage, Jonah's Shake (Pineapple/Mango), and my favourite song Cruisin' playing on the iPod
Can you say woooooooooooooooooooooow
haha

It's Wednesday at around 530PM and GAT starts on Monday at 3 but meetup is at 8am that morning. GAT is the Great Adventure Tour, which is the main reason I'm in the Philippines.

I got to ride a tricycle (not the kind you're imaging, like the ones with training wheels for kids haha). Here they just call it a tric (pronounced trike). It's basically a motorcycle connected to another compartment with seats so people can sit in it. They're used here like taxis basically. I got to ride it twice in Boracay, but they say it's much more dangerous here in Manila since they're more careless.

Stuff is so cheap here, but then again pay is so much less too. My cousin Martina and I were discussing minimum wage differences between the Philippines and Canada. Speaking in terms of Pesos, people here earn about 300-400 pesos minimum wage per DAY, while people in Canada earn $9/hr which is 360 pesos per HOUR. Crazy.

Our dog here is bella. She's great. Fat. Cute. We would say she is "ma lambing", which means she's very sweet and cuddly. She's sitting beside me as I type.


I'm brushing up on my Tagalog woohoo. I've been trying to use it as much as I can in public.

In Boracay I met a friend of my cousin named MARIA ISABEL. They call her Isa, which is the obvious choice. Why my parents chose to add a "Y" to the end of my name is still a mystery. I guess because it sounds more native filipino, like the names people had a long while back. This girl is so independent; she's a PR Manager at the Shangrila Hotel in Boracay, 28 years old, pretty, smart, lives in the Hotel with a BEAUTIFUL room facing the beach and ocean. Too bad she's quitting after only a couple weeks working there.

I'm dark. Hella dark. And it's only been a week.
Okay maybe i'm exaggerating a bit but I feel like i'm roasting in the heat sometimes.
I've been doing a lot of walking and portion sizes aren't huge here like they are in Canada, and you know what they say, "it's all about portion control". Sooo sorry to disappoint some of you, but I probably won't be a giant dark balloon when I get back. Probably just dark. haha

Til next time =)
DEUCES!

Philippines update #2

I don't think people will recognize me when I come back, I'll be darker and fatter. haha I had chicken joy (or is it chick n' joy?) from Jollibee. I have Chow King and Lapids left to try. All the other places I can pass on.

It's been a few days and I'm still not used to the HEAT! It's so humid, no wonder people take two showers a day.

In one day I witnessed 3 accidents. With that said however, people believe that "If you can drive in Manila, you can drive anywhere". I think it's true, they're hella good drivers here! Some Jeepney drivers are careless but for a place where road rules almost don't exist (Wearing seatbelts, staying in the lanes, etc.) people do very well. Traffic is an everyday occurance but I like it here, don't ask me why.

It's really sad to have it be 'normal' here for little kids to beg for food or money. It's not even like how people beg for money in Toronto on the sidewalks. These kids are 3, 4, 5 years old walking in between cars on the road tapping your glass (and usually being ignored). It's really sad.

On a complete opposite note, I'm also not used to having help around...maids. I leave my room and later come back with my room and bed fixed. I go to the kitchen, sit down, and have every meal prepared for me, never having to get up. I can be in one room, call the maids with the phone and ask them to bring me something. Instead of getting Jollibee delivery (since they apparently prioritize walk-ins over delivery service, so your food comes with disclaimers like; "Disclaimer: your food may be in a different condition" or "Disclaimer: your ice cream may be melted") so we send the maids out to get the food instead. It's a nice feeling, and it's good that they're not treated poorly because the help we get is amazing.

In a couple hours my cousin Martina and I leave for Boracay. It's a big tourist spot. We're staying at my Tito Kim's hotel (he's Kuya Kim for those of you who know him, he has a show and I call him the Filipino version of The Crocodile Hunter). He won't be there, but he booked us a room facing the beach! My parents have never been there so I'm lucky I have the chance and means to visit. The only downside is that the airport we're going to is 2 hours away from where we're staying because the usual airport that people use in Boracay is closed.

Anyway it's 4:30am (12 hour time difference b/w here and Toronto so I'm still a bit jetlagged)

Laaater!

Philippines '09 - Day 1

So far i've been to Greenbelt 3 and 4 

driven in foot-deep "flooded" roads

applied bug spray once...so far

eaten tons of food...already

spent 100...pesos ($2.50)

learned that the conversion rate is about 1 canadian dollar to 40 pesos

sweated off a gallon 

And it's been less than 24 hours

later days!

Now Playing: ♪ Cruisin - Gwyneth Paltrow & Huey Lewis

This is my favourite song. =)

"You're gonna fly away...
Glad you're going my way...
I love it when we're cruisin together
Music is played for love
Cruisin is made for love
I love it when we're cruisin together"

Just bought a bunch of stuff at Dollarama
Thanks to those who donated =)
The kids will really appreciate it.

Candy, chocolate, toothbrushes, playdoh, pencils, fun hair ties and others...

My life doesn't feel complete.
However, in actuality it is. It's just about how you choose to view your life.
It's my hopes that after seeing that many kids, with a one-room cement floored place called home, can view their life as complete, that I'll be able to come back home and realize that my life is complete too.

Life is too short...
too short to have no goals
too short to work TOO much
too short to complain
too short to be in a state of discontent with who you are and what you have.

Til...the next time I have internet...haha
Later days =)

♪ Now Playing: I Need A Girl - Trey Songz

I've never traveled alone
but I do love planes!

Itinerary:
Toronto to Detroit (1 hour 14 minutes)
Detroit to Japan (12 hours 45 minutes)
Japan to Philippines (4 hours 25 minutes)

Going there single
Coming back engaged...
haha YOU guys already knooow
<3 R.C.

I don't know what to get people; plastic balloon, candy, t-shirts, more candy?
Plastic bag coke, dirty ice cream?
Dried mango?

Really now, I think most of the stuff I bring back will be food haha
Filipinos do it best!

Til Wednesday! Later days...

WOW.
That's all I can say

7-5 (Roddick)
7-6 (Federer)
7-6 (Federer)
6-3 (Roddick)
16-14 (FEDERER!)

After 4.5 hours of play...damn
Get a load of that 5th set...best i've ever seen
29 serves UNBROKEN

♪ Now Playing: Do For Love - Tupac

I've never been a closed book...
and I've never been one to remain a mystery...
But there are just some things...some things that I would rather keep from even myself
People really have no idea

On another note,
I'm always surprised by how many assholes really exist in the world...pardon my choice of words.
It's actually quite disappointing, especially because I've always been the "dig deep for the better in everyone" type.
Then again, I've also always been the "never give up on them" type, too.
Please don't make me regret giving you the benefit of the doubt.

On yet another other note,
choosing courses in a few days
Final stretch then it's game over at UofT...unless I decide to torture myself by applying to the same school for graduate studies.
This time next year hopefully I'll be in a fun place, or a beautiful place, or a kick-my-feet-back-and-relax kind of place...soaking in the rays and basking in all my glory before going out into the real world and looking for a ...dare I say it...JOB =\

Reality's coming fast, and head-on, but I'm ready
...I thiiink (said with lots of faith, but still slight hesitation)

-isay