[smartads] I was up and around at 0756 this morning. There was nothing particular for me to do today that I knew of, so I wasn’t really concerned about the time. I turned the computer on and went out to see what was going on with Lita. She was getting ready to go to JustMar. She ended up leaving about 0830, I was in the room still so I didn’t get an exact time. I know she had to buy some syrup and milk today. We are out of both. At 0145 the hits were 28308 and this morning, 6 hours later, they were 28463, so 155 hits, 25.8 per hour. The top blog was at 427 (28%) Personal and 2138 (32.6%) Overall. Both slight improvements from yesterday. Around 1000 there were a lot of people eating at the picnic table. It was on Titing’s time, so all the food they were eating was his, but all the drinks they were consuming was ours. Not sure what they were eating and I didn’t ask. When there are a lot of people eating there, I don’t go out much. Lita says that most people get embarrassed when I am there watching them eat, and I don’t want them to quit coming here to eat because of me. Whether she is right or not, it doesn’t really matter. I’d rather say in the house on the computer or watching TV anyway.
http://www.wayfaring.info/2008/03/15/manila-often-called-the-pearl-of-the-orient/
Lita had Lynn cleaning the rice today. She’d put some in a bamboo holder and flip the rice up to get out any loose, light pieces. Plus she had to take out any pieces that looked bad, like a brownish color. At least she didn’t have to do all that tedious work by herself, because she had an assistant. Her assistant was Precious. Lynn would get the bad pieces and push them over to Precious and tell her, there’s one. Precious would pick them up, sometimes it’d take her a few tries to get one. When she got it, she’d usually wait until she got another one, in the other hand, then threw them both away one at a time. I went to get the camera to take a picture, but by the time I got back out there, Precious was gone and only Lynn remained, so I just took a picture of her shifting through the rice. Of course after I returned the camera, Precious came back. Precious was looking for her ice candy today. When I asked for the peso, she tried to give me her roll instead. She had already taken several bites out of the roll already. I just told her, “No, you need a peso”. She’ll pat her pockets and shake her head, indicating that she does not have a peso. Whenever Precious starts to do something that she knows is wrong, she’ll get close to it, look at me and say, “Hindi” and shake her head No. I just repeat the same thing back to her, and she’ll pull her hand away and go about her business. Remember yesterday I was talking about I think I’m gaining weight? Well I forgot to mention that the day before yesterday, I had to take my wedding ring off because it was too tight on my finger. I don’t take my ring off very much. I try not to take it off at all, but sometimes it is just a necessity. I had to use lotion to get it off this time. When it is time to put it back on, I’ll have Lita put it back on for me, I have always done that the few times that I did have to take it off. I’m still feeling big around the mid-section by the way. Lita said that I did eat a little bit more recently than I have since we’ve been here, so she thinks I will be heavier tomorrow. I do too, but I hope not. If I am, I can start again, no problem. It’s not like in the military, so there really is nothing at stake, except me getting a body that is in shape. Mar, Ludy and Marianne should up this evening. They came to eat, but this time they were not paying for their grandkids also. Just them 3 were here. Mar was talking about a trip that they will be making to Cebu on the 27th of this month. He asked me if I wanted to go. I’m seriously considering it as long as I have some money to go. The plan is to stay 2 or 3 nights. He mentioned going to Ayala Mall. I believe that that is the biggest mall in Cebu. I’ve been there once before, but it has been awhile and I do not really remember it. This time around I’ll have my camera and I am now more aware of the Philippines, so I should remember it much longer after another trip. I do remember eating some pizza last time I was there. It was not very good though. I have seen on the internet that Ayala Mall has added a few new restaurants since my last visit. Actually I think that that is where the TGIF is, inside the mall. The prices at TGIF here are way too high though. http://www.fridays.com.ph/ . I still may try it though, if I have enough money. Don’t know if anyone else can afford it, or want to spend that much though. I probably will just go elsewhere, but it’s going to be tempting.
As Mar, Ludy and Marianne were getting ready to leave, Judith showed up in LolyKat, J driving. Since she got there, everyone decided to stay a little bit longer. Judith was just there to pick up some guava for Poppa anyway. Our 3rd day in Tambis was not too eventful, but it did have it’s moments. We went to the river in Catmon on that day. This is the same river where Lita use to swim, when she was usually suppose to be washing clothes. The river used to be much deeper than it is this days. In fact, now it is barely worth going there, but it is still better than going to the river in Tambis, in my opinion. While we were at the river, I met Neneng’s, Anna Pearl’s and Chatty’s mother. She was a really nice lady. At least I didn’t see any faults with her. I found out that this woman had 14 children in her life time. Only 13 of them that are still alive. I also met 2 of the younger sisters too. I don’t remember their names because they didn’t talk much, not only not to me, but to anyone. Just a quick note that is related to this situation, when we got back to Calbayog, I asked Neneng what her sister’s name was, and she didn’t know. She said that there are so many of them, that she forgets sometimes. She asked Anna Pearl and she had to think for a second too, but remembered. I forgot again though. Back to Day 3. I made an early mistake on this day, I didn’t eat breakfast. In fact I hadn’t eaten anything since breakfast the previous morning (the oatmeal), except for 1 bag of chips. That’s all fine and good, except for when the Red Horse showed up. In case you don’t know, don’t drink in excess on an empty stomach. After only about 2 liters, I was really woozy. Last time I did the drinking, it took 4 liters to get my feeling the same way. So, we’re in Catmon at the river and I’m feeling like I’m getting too drunk, but still able to distinguish my surroundings. Some where along the way I remember giving Neneng’s mother a hug. Just the arm behind the neck hug, not a full blown hug. Remember I mentioned yesterday that I wanted to shave, but there were no mirrors? Well Titing decided that he wanted to shave me, there at the river. I said okay. I guess he used my razor, I didn’t really think about it until now. Anyway, for someone that is not use to shaving that much facial hair, he did a good job. Not one cut anywhere.
Tagalog word of the day: serbesa (ser-bes-a) means beer.
When it was time to go home, I rode in the front of the truck, by the window. Good thing too, because somewhere along the way, I emptied some of the little bit of food I had in my stomach. I guess that’s a polite enough way to put it. Poor Leo, I know he was the one that had to clean that up. At least it was all on the outside of the truck, I think. I’m not real clear on things after that until I was back at Bebie’s house and up in the room. I remember wiping something off my arm, yeah that’s what it was. Next thing I remember I was waking up to go to the CR and everyone else was sleeping. I guess things were improving because I did walk all the way downstairs and back up, without incident. One thing I’m really confused on is the shirt I was wearing when I woke up. It wasn’t the same shirt I had on when I went to bed. I could ask Lita, but she wasn’t too happy with that day, so I try not to bring it up. Maybe in a couple of weeks, I’ll make an attempt. That’s about it for tonight. Hope it was interesting enough to keep y’all around. I will be talking about what little happen on our return trip tomorrow. We left early and to put it plainly…I thought I was going to die.
Philippine Trivia
- Calamian Deer – Calamian Islands, north of Palawan province, keep a species of deer that cannot be found elsewhere. Scientists referred to the hog deer in the islands as Calamian deer in order to distinguish them from other hog deer in the world. An ordinary Calamian deer measures 105 to 115 centimeters in length and 60 to 65 centimeters high at the shoulder and weighs about 36 to 50 kilograms. It is said to have longer and darker legs, compared with other hog deer.
- World’s Smallest Hoofed Mammal – South of Palawan, lies the Balabac Island, home of the world’s smallest hoofed mammal – the Philippine mouse deer. Locally known as Pilandok (Tragalus nigricans), this ruminant stands only about 40 centimeters at the shoulder level.
- Flying Lemur – One of the most distinct creatures on Earth lives in the Philippines. It doesn’t have wings but it can glide across 100 meters of space in a single leap. Like the lemurs of Asia, it moves around at night. Its head resembles that of a dog while its body has similarities with the flying squirrel of Canada. In Mindanao, people call it “kagwang”. Around the world, it is known as colugo or the flying lemur.
- Did you know that the first four cities of Metropolitan Manila are: Manila, Quezon, Pasay and Caloocan
- The flagpole located in Rizal Park, is where the starts of 0 kilometer reading in measuring all distances from Manila.
- Quezon City is the second biggest city in the Philippines.
- The Bonifacio Monument in Monumento, Caloocan City was designed by a noted Filipino sculptor Guillermo Tolentino
- In 1916, in the Philippines, an offensive style of passing the ball in a high trajectory to be struck by another player (the set and spike) were introduced. The Filipinos developed the “bomba” or kill, and called the hitter a “bomberino”. (source: http://volleyball.org/history.html)
- The PHILIPPINE EAGLE is the 2nd largest bird on the planet (next only to the American Condor)
Salamat, Palaam
