[smartads] Today I wasn’t in a hurry, as usual these days, so I ambled out of bed at 0800. Could have been a minute earlier, but I waited until 0800 to make it exact. The brownout started at 0620 this morning. It finally ended at 5:30pm. It wasn’t too bad today, because it wasn’t super hot outside. We didn’t even start the generator today. Usually we will start it around noon or 1pm so we can use the a/c, fans and lights. Oh and to keep the ice and ice candy from melting. We did pretty good on ice candy today. Sold at least 100 of them, probably a little more, and the day isn’t over yet. It’s 5:55pm right now.
Arnel was here today to start on the little bar-b-q area. He is putting up a door that opens on top, but not the bottom. Just so they can send the food through. He is also fixing our trash bin. Lita had one put outside and it is broken somehow. You should hear her scream at this people around here when she finds trash on the floor of the bin. Usually the trash bags thrown away here are very small. There are nails on the inside of the bin to hang those. If it is something a little bigger, there is a bag on the other side to put that in. When she finds things on the floor, her and Vicky have to clean it up. That’s when she tears loose into everyone for not appreciating what she had built for them. Before, they were just putting the trash in a bag on the ground. The dogs, cats and rats would get into that and spread it all over. This way, only the rats can get in. Can’t keep those suckers out. Maybe if she gets one of those cats fat enough, it will decide it is able to catch the rat. Rats here are not bigger than the cats, but they look healthier, because I’m sure they are eating better.
It is already dark outside, but Arnel is suppose to come back at 7:00pm to figure out why our a/c is leaking. Wait, he is here now. He thinks he already knows what is wrong, he is going to drill a hole in the bottom of the a/c to drain out the water. Yesterday we had water running down the wall in the bedroom and getting under my rug. Good thing the rug is rubber. He is finished with that now, hopefully that is the solution. Before he goes home he is going to put up another piece of plywood over the opening he made today, to keep out one of the neighborhood dogs that likes to get in here at night and scrounge around. There are 3 or 4 of the dogs around here, but just this one is very persistent about getting in here. Arnel will be back tomorrow to do some more work on the store. I did get a picture of Arnel while he was here, and I learned that I have been spelling his name correctly. I had just been guessing to this point. I think I hear Mar and Ludy outside, I better go check. Hang on.
Yeah, it was them. Not sure of what they wanted, except to just visit. That’s a common occurrence here, people like to visit, eat and just chit chat. Marlou was with them along with his wife/girlfriend (not sure which), Chique (Chicky). I like that name. Chique is Neneng’s niece. Chique seems very shy and reserved. She doesn’t talk much, except to Marlou. As you can see from the picture, she is very beautiful. I don’t think they are married, but they have plans to do so soon. Marlou wanted to borrow the memory card from my camera so he could download all the pictures from Hindag-an Falls and Forest Park. I’m sure he’ll download whatever other pictures he sees on there that he wants too. It’s cool though, no top secret stuff on there.
I finally got a picture of Chatty. Not a really good one though. I’m going to post one of the 3 I was able to sneak, but please remember she looks much better than the picture. She is also very sweet and nice. She’s Neneng sister, so it figures.
Tagalog word of the day: Ano? – means What? (only used when saying like “What did you say”?
Sorry, no stories from Poppa today. I haven’t been there. Mar suggested I keep those stories separate from the normal posts. You know have their own little space. Think I’ll start a poll and see what y’all think. I tried to do a poll before, but I’m not sure it worked because I never saw it on the blog. I’ll try again now that I know my way around a little bit. I got the text and page to work, maybe I’ll get lucky with the poll too.
Mmmm…iced tea. Love the stuff. Plain, no sugar, no lemon, no nothing, just the tea with ice. Just got myself a bottle of it. When I say bottle I mean a Gatorade bottle. Vicky and/or Lita make Lipton iced tea, put it in the empty Gatorade bottles, and put it in the refrigerator. Even though it is cold, and I could drink it that way without ice, I still prefer to have the ice. We make our ice with mineral water, because we don’t drink the local water. We use it to cook and bathe with, but that’s basically it. When we drink water we have bottled water we order from Titing. I like the Premier water the best, so, of course that is what we order. I’ve tried several other ones, but Premier suits my taste best.
When Marlou was here he reminded me about Justin.tv. It is suppose to be a place on the internet that I can watch the NFL games live. Of course the games do not start for another 4 hours from now (not counting the Thursday night game). I took a couple of naps today, because I was bored with nothing to do, because of the brown out, so I’m going to make an attempt to watch a game or two tonight. They should start at 0100, but I know my Cowboys don’t play until Sunday night. I might just watch 1 game at 0100, then get some sleep, then try to watch the Cowboy/Redskin game around 0800. I’ll check for it on TV first though. In fact, before I watch a game at 0100, I’ll check the TV first. I doubt they’ll be a game on, but I’m sure going look…at every station on the TV. We’ve got about 40 channels.
This spell check on here doesn’t work properly, so I hope I don’t have any misspelled words or messed up sentences. I’ll proofread it before I send it, I’ll just have to do it slow and be extra careful. But that won’t be a guarantee of no errors.
I’m going to do the poll now, and add some pictures. I’ll be back again tomorrow if my computer will allow it and God has no objections.
Salamat, Paalam
Well Tagalog will get you communicating anywhere in the country since it’s taught in elementary grades, so you’re on the right track.
I tried the video when I came across it a couple of days ago but it took a while to do anything and I was in a rush, so I didn’t bother waiting. I’ll try it again in a bit. Should be fun to see you jump. 🙂
Re my invitation for you and Lita to use the beach shack to rest should you happen to be driving through. I should have added that family members in your travelling party are welcome, too. It’s a residence, not a resort so don’t think there’s a charge. Just plain Filipino hospitality.
How are you with texting? Next to breathing, it’s the most used device in PI. The only way to communicate really, with the one peso per message charge. In the ‘olden’ days one would send a telegraph to tell family you’re arriving from another province, etc., and get there before your wire!
I didn’t forget about your invitation. I need to mention it to the cousins though. I’m pretty sure we went through that town or at least by it. I know I show the name. I think my wife’s friend has a sister that lives there, and we stopped for a little while to give her some money from the sister. Pretty darn sure that was the place. I’ll find out later and let you know about that and the staying there. Maybe they won’t want to stay the night, but resting for awhile on the beach doesn’t sound like a bad way to spend the day.
UJ
finally, i read you’re blog… yes it will be interesting if you write lolo’s experience during the war separately…. nice blog uj… hahahaha…..
Hi John,
You’re being taught Tagalog, the Filipino national language. But if I’m not mistaken, Waray is the regional language that the province of Samar speaks. The province of Leyte also uses it. Southern Leyte, however, is Visayan or Bisayan. Cebuano is spoken there – along with Boholano which is just a variation of it. “Ayaw” <don't) in Cebuano is "ajaw" in Boholano, the "j" pronounced as in "John."
Asawa, which is 'spouse' in Tagalog, is "wife" in the Visayas, ang "bana" is husband. More gender-specific. Between your friends and relatives in Calbayog and readers like me, we'll get you 'multi-Filipino-lingual' yet. 🙂 Hahaha.
I grew up in Cebu City so I feel at home in both places. I also spent a year at the Little Flower Academy in Tacloban run by the Irish Sisters of Mercy at that time. So I perfectly understand and speak a bit of "Waray-waray" as well as Tagalog and Visayan with a sprinkling of the other Visayan variations.
Home in Southern Leyte for me is a little town on the Pacific side of the island [the same side as Tacloban] called Hinundayan. It's 2-to 2-and-a-half hours drive one way to and from Tacloban. I looked up Tambis and the map shows it's close to Cabalian/St. John. So while you pass St. Bernard to get there, your party didn'tget to the town I still call home. Next time your trip takes you farther around the bend, let me know. You may want to rest there overnight. You and Lita are welcome to stay in the beach shack that was my personal project in 2008. Yes, it's right ON the beach. So even if I'm not there I can let the caretaker who lives there 24/7 know. Seriously.
Boy, the number on this site's counter is sure climbing fast! And not too long ago you wrote there were only 41 hits! 🙂
Well, husto la anay ini (Waray). Dinhi osa [Cebuano]. Dito lang muna [Tagalog]. Roughly translated, this'll have to do for now.
Best regards.
Yes Waray is the language here and I’m not really being taught Tagalog. These are just words I am picking up. I’d like to learn Tagalog, but no one seems to have the time it will take to teach someone that will have a hard time learning it (me). I try to listen and pick things up, but they speak Tagalog and 2 or 3 other dialects here, and I’m not sure which is which, so I don’t know when they are speaking Tagalog, and I should be listening the most.
On another note…can u get the video to work? I’ve had complaints that it doesn’t work, but it works fine for me.