Todos Los Santos - All Saints Day

November 1^st is Todos Los Santos (All Saints Day) a big holiday in the Philippines.  It is the day for families to remember those who have passed.  They do this by spending the day at their family mausoleum, cleaning and repainting it and decorating with candles, flowers, wreaths and photographs.  It is by no means a sad day.  It is spent eating and talking, visiting friends and extended family.  Although for me it was a little sad thinking off all the loss that those at the cemetery have suffered at some point at another, they do not see it this way.  They truly celebrate life.

Cemeteries in the Philippines are VERY different from the ones at home.  They do not consist of rows of tombstones, but rather are more like little villages of structures of varying intricacy to house the newly interred and later their bones.  The typical mausoleum is an airy concrete structure with a roof, and a wrought iron fence, the floors either made of pebbles, tiles or marble.  On the back wall there are marble nameplates that mark where bones are stored after they have fully decomposed and if there are plates on the ground there is someone new there.  This is very basic, some are even more basic, but others… this is where I got a huge shock… even if someone had tried to describe to me before hand, I certainly would not have believed it.  I quickly noticed many mausoleum had lights, some had restrooms!  Then other still had second floors!!! They were filled with tables and people having parties.  Others had beautiful sculptures, granite altars, electric fans, mosaic work, cube glass walls, some were as big and as richly appointed as houses I have seen.  It is really quite an enchanting effect to see mausoleum after another, each one a different shape and size and style. 

Most people spend the entire day, but since I was at the hospital the night before with my lola (grandmother) I went in the evening.  The road leading to the cemetery was closed to traffic except some motorcycles.  The barangay (neighbourhood) slowly transformed from homes to mausoleums and the street became absolutely packed with people.  Food vendors lined the street and the smoke and smell of squid balls and barbeque permeated the air.  Even Chow King, Jollybee and Greenwich, common fastfood establishments had stalls.  Children were also sporting charming light up devil horns and flashing toys… definitely a risk for epilepsy.  It was difficult to get proper pictures of it all because it was so dark and it would have been very inappropriate to set up my tripod in front of other people’s mausoleum, and there were so so so many people, even stopping was hard.  

There would be no way at all for me to find my family mausoleum on my own, but I realized people go every single year from childhood, so they know where to go.  I went around to see different people, and then I finally got to see my great grand parents, whom I was lucky enough to meet when they were alive. I was in the Philippines when my great grand father died, I was at that place almost 16 years ago, off by only 6 weeks. 

Near to my family mausoleum is a different section of tombs, affectionately known as ‘the apartments.’  This where bones go when there is no family mausoleum.  It is basically stacked concrete boxes.  It is quite beautiful. 

It was a really great experience, an important day on every Filipino calendar and I can’t wait until next year!

November was a busy month... no time for blogging... but coming soon: my trip to NEGROS!

Great-Lolo

Great-Lola

My First Typhoon...I Survived!!

It was bound to happen...

I was constantly woken up last night by sounds of howling wind, shaking corrugated tin roofs, terrified animals and pounding rain.  I thought, gee, it would be nice to get some sleep, and then, ooohhh, coudl this be what a typhoon is like?  Here in Imus we typically don't get hit too hard, but still, I was nervous to see what I would find in the morning...

Just a big mess of leaves and mud, big puddles, and no electricity.  Luckily the endless rains left the air cold, so I wasn't too worried that the buzz of my air con was gone.  But it also meant I had to shower the true Filipino way using a tabo.  Dumping super cold well water from a bucket all over myself using a smaller container was fun...

Tropical cyclone Santi, (International name Mirinae) swept in from the east over night, a twister apparently touched down in another part of my province, there were minor landslides, flooding and power outages around Manila and surrounding provinces, but luckily no serious damage, few casualties and no deaths.

I am SO happy I brought boots.

Happy Halloween everyone at home.

I want to see your costumes!!

I'm really craving bite sized chocolate right now... feel free to send me Coffee Crisps, Popeyes sticks and Kit Kat bars in the mail.

Side note: The river pictured below used to be pristine.  My grandmother and great grandmother used to wash clothes, swim and get cooking water from it.  Now it is a brown deluge of garbage.

 

Immigration, Intramuros, Incredibly long day

Gutted Church

Coconut Palm

Taking a Break

8 hours and P4000 later, I had my shiny new Alien Registration Card.

After a bumpy, squished, exhaust fume filled, stop and go trip from Imus to Baclaran at 6:30 in the morning, we scrambled off our Jeepney and hailed an air conditioned SUV to the Bureau of Immigration building in the heart of the historic Intramuros district of Manila. (At one point I think there were 9 passengers and the driver in the vehicle, it is totally true that you can shove more Filipinos in a given space than any other race)

Long story short, I filled out forms, had a an absolutely horrific photo taken, got finger printed with ink, went from window to window asking what to do next, paid P200 for a less than legit notarized letter and then waited 3 hours for my card to be released, surrounded by a continuous stream of foreigners from all over the world trying to do the exact same thing. 

I don't usually waste time criticizing The Man, that is totally redundant, however, I will say that the level of disorganization, corruption, confusion, inefficiency and all together ridiculousness of the process was up there with the US presidential elections. 

Period Costumed Monument Guard in Intramuros

Statues of Missionaries

Queen Isabel II

Putting that all behind me, refreshed with the knowledge that I would now be able to get my ATM card, we set out to explore Intramuros.

The Ciudad Murada, (Walled City) is named thus because it is surrounded by nearly 3 miles of walls and fortifications, much of which you can still walk on and see the city.

Built in the mid 1500s, it was Manila until 1898 when the Spanish left.  

It was largely destroyed in 1945 when the Americans and Japanese made Manila their war playground.  There is still a lot of restoration to be done, but, it does create a really neat effect, walking cobble stone streets, Spanish style architecture, monuments and statues and the horse drawn carriages that give tours around the walled city.  

The Pasig River

Cory Aquino

Rooftops

I did not spend much time in Intramuros, just enough to take some lovely pictures, and know that I will definitely spend many more hours there.  There are so many European touches and so much history, I look forward to all the museums and tours that exist there.

My favourite part was the war memorial we passed while already on a pedicab on our way to get a bus home.  It was in a little corner park, deserted in the impending rain, but I jumped out of the tricycle and took some pictures.  I was really touched by the inscription:

      This memorial is dedicated to all those innocent victims of war.  Many of whom went nameless and unknown to a common grave, or never even knew a grave at all, their bodies having been consumed by fire or crushed to dust beneath the rubble of ruins.

Let this monument be the gravestone for each and every one of the over 100,000 men women, children and infants killed in Manila during its battle of liberation, February 3 - March 3, 1945.  We have not forgotten them, nor shall we ever forget.

May they rest in peace as part now of the sacred ground of this city: The Manila of our Affections

Sunday is Todos Los Santos!

All Saints Day, can't wait.

Carlos IV

Trees taking over a burnt out building

Memorial for the Battle of Manila 1945

Blood, Guts & Markets

 

manila bay

 

Greenbelt 5

 

Hibiscus

 

 Ayala Avenue

7:00 am.  This is the time I had to wake up to go to the market.  Some of you may ask, "well, why would you get up so early just to go the market?" 

Through my groggy, sleep filled eyes I saw a different world... totally worth getting up for. 

Stall upon stall fill 4 large roofed areas of the Imus palenke.  There is a section for meat, fish, fruits & vegetables, bread, and a plethora of other items for sale.  Of course, the most interesting areas are also where you will see the most blood and guts, so in the words of beloved R.L. Stein, reader beware, you're in for a scare!

I was absolutely amazed to see all the types of fish.  Some already filleted, other obediently laying about with their brothers and cousins, only sometimes on ice, then there are ones that aren't dead yet and are flopping around on their trays.  There are bright red fish with yellow stripes, tiny see-through ones, but my favourite was the rainbow fish with blue, pink, green, yellow and orange stripes and scales.  You can have your fish scaled and gutted, this I witness, and nearly got all over me... 

The meat section, smells like raw meat... everywhere pieces of cow, pork, chicken in various stages of recognition of their original form.  At one point, a whole pig was slung onto a counter beside where I was standing and then its legs were labouriously chopped off, it was slightly horrific. Its face peaceful, eyes closed, thankfully oblivious to the huge opening in its belly. At least there wasn't any more blood.

In the street, more pigs were being hauled off trucks.  I don't like to be squirmish about animals, but I realized I competely prefer it on my plate, skipping the gruesome aquisition.  

Imagine we're being interrupted by one of army of salt sellers in the market.  They carry around a bucket full of coarse salt, and have a smaller little can where they have an amount ready to pour into a little bag when someone needs them. During the two visits I've made to the market, I've not seen one person buy salt, so I have no idea how even one of these people could make a living.  Never mind a hundred.  Regardless, the only thing to do is politely decline, what am I going to do with 50 kilos of salt a week??

Continuing on... The truly most amazing thing I saw, and this ranks in my whole life, which may or may not be really sad, is the HUGENORMOUS tuna that got wheeled to my ninang's favourite fish stall last Thursday.  It was over a meter long, its circumference probably another meter, its mouth could have eaten my face and it was just generally larger, and heavier than most of the children I know here.  I couldn't believe this thing was in front of me.  I must have looked slow because I had the biggest most amazed smile on my face... Oh, there's that tourist again gaping at the big tuna, don't they have fish in Canada?... but then, the inevitable, the cart pusher proceeded to chop its tail and head off, again, right in front of me, and this time I was afraid there would be blood, Kill Bill style, so I continued on our way.  

You are probably wondering, where are the pictures?!? The market is tight, packed with people, and I don't want to try to spy cam pictures, so I've decided I will keep going back so people recognize me, then I can take proper pictures of all there is to see, without people getting angry and waving machetes or liver or crabs at me.  Plus, at 7 am, I haven't felt adequately prepared to ward off camera snatchers.

 

MoA Esplanade

 

Rice Paddies

 

Fast Food

On the theme of shopping, I visited two major shopping centres.  First stop Makati, a metropolitan city, filled with malls, high end condos, lots of domestic and international businesses; a cool, polished cousin to Manila.  

The shopping centre starts at an overpass at a seemingly random spot on the EDSA highway.  My cousin Cecille and I disembark our air conditioned bus (which cost about 60¢ each to ride) and took an over pass which led into the MRT system (the public rail system that connects the Grater Manila Area) and into SM Makati (SM - ShoeMart is a chain of department stores that anchors most of the countries malls) which leads into Glorietta, the famed mall of 5 huge sections, bombed by terrorists 2 years ago and still undergoing massive renovations, then after that is Landmark department store which is bargain basement merchandise which leads to.... sigh... Greenbelt.  The high end and Luxury shopping destination which simultaneously made me drool, cry, want to leave immediately yet, never be apart from it.  

The first stores I saw were Louis Vuitton, Prada, Salvatore Ferragamo, Gucci and a brand new Hermès in progress.  I also visited Marc Jacobs, Marc by Marc, Paul Smith, Fred Perry, Zara, Mango, and a lovely design store selling Artemide lamps and Philippe Starck Louis Ghost Chairs.  The next day, the Rolex store was held up by armed bandits, or pirates, and one was killed.  

After hopelessly window shopping, Cecile and I headed to a sale put on by the Street style contingent of Manila and Makati's young people.  I met some local designers, bought some hand made necklaces, and gave out my card.  It was held on the roofdeck of a building on Ayala Avenue, the main street in Makati and I got to watch a lovely sunset.  

Greenbelt 5

 

Mall of Asia

Red Curtain Vines

If Makati wasn't enough for shopping, and if you know me, obviously nothing is ever enough when it comes to shopping...a week later, Cecille and I, accompanied by two bodyguards were cruising down coastal highway on our way to the ridiculous engineering... triumph? of MALL OF ASIA!

4th largest mall in the world, its pretty big.  Wikipedia says it covers 42 hectares, has 600 stores and 150 dining establishments and sees an average daily food traffic of 200,000 people! Part of the stores surround the outside of the mall in an open air concept, which is nice when its breezy and cool, but it's generally not like that in the Philippines during the day, so my make up melted off my face, quite unattractively.  

Despite all the hoopla, caterwauling and hubbub, it wasn't actually all that impressive.  Maybe I'm getting to be jaded, or I'm loosing my touch... but a mall, is a mall, is a mall... unless its Greenbelt 5.

The nicest part of my visit was the water front festivities as MoA faces Manila Bay.  It was there we sat, on the concrete barricade, supposedly to separate one from the Ocean, but no fence, and watched the sunset.  I enjoyed a Starbucks wrap and some non-Starbucks squidballs as the ocean wind seemed to exfoliate my face and when it was finally dark there was a lovely fireworks display.

Oh, and yes, those are children in those big plastic balls. 

 

Bayan Luma

 

MoA

 

Makati Sunset

Other happenings:

I went to a wake for a father and son (22 years old) who were killed in a hold up... while their mother watched from here hiding place.

A cargo plane crashed in Las Piñas into a warehouse and surrounding homes.

The news here is horrible to watch, they are always showing dead and maimed bodies. 

Alcohol is ridiculously cheap... hypothetically, I could buy 2 bottles of Gin and Vodka for $3.50...

Also, a can of Heineken is 72 pesos, but so is a pack of Wrigley's.

The End.

ps. from now on I won't neglect to blog more frequently so I don't have such looooong entries... hopefully you all made it this far eventually.