March 24, 2024

9 thoughts on “Sunday – 26 Sep

  1. I lost two posts in this Comment section, so am a bit leery that this one might disappear as well.

    Having a Kano in town is a big thing. Our little town had a gangly American, Bob, who stayed after WWII married to Nang Trining (forgot her surname). The staring must have been worse then because it drove him into a hermit-like existence. He stayed inside their bahay kubo and very rarely went out, which made him even whiter. The only time I actually heard him was when I fell off a caimito tree which grew at the corner of the town plaza, not too far from where their house stood. He yelled when he saw it happen. 🙂 I wonder if he ever learned any Visayan words… He must’ve been very young when he joined the army.

    You would definitely be an asset at your store, JJ. Sales will skyrocket if you stayed there a lot. :-X

    Sent you an email last week, did that go through I wonder. I’ll copy this and send it via email as well in case this one does the vanishing act again.

    Well, ingat ka.

    1. Well this one made it through. I’ve been wondering where you were. Was having a hard time doing without my daily comments from you. I don’t think having a Kano in town is as big as deal as it use to be, except to the batas. Some of the locals seem embarrassed to show up at the BBQ if I’m sitting by the road, so I try to stay away, either back on the table or in the house. Ice candy, well that’s another story. That’s mostly batas and they are just as curious as can be. Every time you post a comment here, I get an e-mail also. I have not received ANYTHING from you in the past 3 or 4 days. Glad you are back though. Did you see my new venture that I’ll be getting into, the tourist business? I think that it’s going to start out with a bang, not too many problems, unlike a lot of businesses starting out.

      1. Glad that one did go through. Phew. Didn’t want to make the comments too long in case it didn’t make the cybertravel. 🙂

        Yes, I did find your new venture interesting. Make sure you include in your “contract” that you retain the right to cancel if the group falls under a certain number (the minimum that you must have for any one tour to be profitable). What kind of insurance coverage can you get in case one of your clients decide to sue for any reason (falling of the van, etc.) Hopefully nothing of that sort will happen. Are you going to be affiliated with a travel agency who will be recommending your business to their clients. Another money-making area is selling travel insurance to your clients for the PI portion of their trip with you. If you can make a deal with a PI-based insurance company, that is. Then you can offer it to your clients as an option on their land tour. The travel agencies make up to 40% of what they sell. Worth looking into.

        Maybe your buddies in Texas can get a group to come tour the Visayas. You can meet them at Mactan international and take it from there, that’s what you had in mind am sure.

        Good luck, JJ and keep us posted on this venture.

  2. I liked your story about the batas coming by for the ice candy and whether they understand you or just like to hear your voice or look at the kano. I find the same thing whenever I am in San Joaquin. At times, I feel like the pied piper when I am walking down the street. I can look behind me and there is a stream of little ones following. I talk to lots of batas when I am there and they always giggle but I don’t think they understand me. Nobody is speaking English at their homes and they probably aren’t watching any English language programs on tv (if they even have a tv). I don’t know when they start teaching English in the schools. Lita might know that.

    1. When you are an American, and a big American, then you will probably get stares forever, even if you live here for years. Yes it’s usually the little batas that are the most curious. Sometimes they ask for money, but usually not. I believe they start teaching in elementary sometime. Lita is sleeping right now, so I can’t ask. If they have a TV, then they probably watch English shows very rarely. They do listen to English music though. Lots of the batas around here listen to it. When they follow me done the road, sometimes, when I’m in a really good mood, I’ll give them a little jig. That just makes them giggle more, especially the little girls. It embarrasses Lita though. I don’t care, I like being me and that’s me.

      1. Cowboys win and I have 96 packs of lemonade which was all the store had. I accomplished a lot today. 😉
        I have not had any of the little ones ask me for money in SJ. The only time I have experienced it in Calbayog was outside of Jollibees. I do the jig sometimes also and it embarrasses Jen but that is part of the fun!

        1. Yes Cowboys did win. And Atl won in a thrilling OT. (Over NO). I got to see most of it on my computer. I’m sure we’ll be able to get by on the 96 packs, the 100 of only an estimate. Embarrasses your wife IS part of the fun, it would still be worth it if they wasn’t embarrassed, but not near as fun. It’s part of a husband job criteria to embarrass the wife, especially a Filipina wife.

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