Greenhills shopping center, Manila

Today I went with a couple of other Concur folks to Greenhills shopping center.  As with most places around here, it's a big mall, only there is this whole other part in the middle where you can find knock-off purses and shoes.  There's also clothes, trinkets, gifty stuff, and home goods.  It reminded me a bit of shopping in Mexico, where they say a price, but can easily be talked down.  I found myself a small purse I can wear cross-body to reduce the chance of someone snagging my purse from me.  I don't think it's a knock off brand though... I paid PHP400, which is a little less than $10.

Here are a few shots from around the market.
Shoes!

Lanterns and such... I really liked some of these, but packing them in a suitcase would suck.

Asian style stuff-

It's a busy place.

With everything you wouldn't think of.  Dog statue anyone? 

There was a nice garden area within the maze of the place.  Lots of palms and such.  I'm going to go back and find some real plants for my place.

We were told that there would be guys around asking if you want to buy DVDs.  And they weren't kidding, those guys were relentless.  I spent a little too long looking at one guy's list that he snatched it from me and tried (and failed) to walk quickly away from the policeman that spotted us... We ended up following this other fellow to an alley (eek!) where they had tons of boxes of DVDs for sale - movies and TV series.  They swarmed us there!  It was a bit nerve-wracking but I didn't feel afraid, just claustrophobic.  I purchased seasons 1 and 2 of Sons of Anarchy.  I paid PHP300, or $7.00... ! That's all I have to say about that...

We had lunch at a nice little bistro - the dessert was so pretty, I had to take a pic :)

What's with me and taking pictures of food?!  (LOL, Shawna ;)

Japanese hot pot

I've been meaning to post about the Japanese Hot Pot meal I had last weekend.  Some of you foodies out there may already know about this, but I had never heard of it so I gave it a try and was pleasantly surprised!

Each table has a hot plate in it, and the idea is that you order your veggies and meat and cook it yourself - it's cooked by boiling.  I know what you're thinking - what's the point of eating out if you gotta cook the food yourself?!  I thought the same thing, but it's not like it's hard and it's a fun experience.  Having yet not seen much in the way of vegetables here, it was nice to have a big plate full!

Here are some pics - here is the warmer.

Then they bring out the big bowl with some seasoned water that you'll boil your food in. 

A nice variety of veggies - mushrooms, asparagus, cabbage, pumpkin and carrots along with the tofu

Cook it up!  It only takes a few minutes.  You can also see in the upper right corner of this photo the meat that you can order with this - it's very thin sliced beef (which of course was put in the water after my veggies were done ;)

What makes the meal is the dipping sauces - add in some hot pepper for heat - delish!

Hungry yet?

Movies, Farmers Markets and Chinese New Year in Manila

I had posted on Facebook that I saw the movie "We Bought a Zoo" the other day.  What I didn't mention is that for the movie ticket, a bottle of water and some gummy bears, the cost was right around $6.  Woohoo!  I'll be seeing lots of movies here I think.  The only thing is the smell in the theater - which I've noticed in a few other places.  Musty.  Ick.

Yesterday, thanks to a couple of new friends, I was finally able to explore outside of our little cocoon here in Rockwell!  Mel, our driver, took me about 9 miles north of here to Quezon City... It took us about 20 minutes, the traffic wasn't too bad.  Sundays definitely have less traffic.

I met up with a fellow ex-pat (that's ex-patriot, one who is from one country and working in another) who has been here for a couple of months and is familiar with some of the area.  We wandered around a farmers market, which is right by the infamous Araneta Coliseum where the third and final boxing match between Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier for the heavyweight championship in 1975 - known as the "Thrilla in Manila" -took place.

Here are a few shots from the Farmer's Market.  As most farmers markets go, everyone is basically selling the same thing:

There's a whole other area where they have the meat market.  But there's no way I was going to go check it out - for one, it STINKS - BAD.  Like death.  And for two... well if you know me, you know I have absolutely no interest in seeing a lot of dead animal flesh - I don't care if it's part of the "experience."

It was pretty hot, so we found refuge in yet another mall.  This one isn't nearly as fancy as the Power Plant mall, but there is a supermarket and it's got a train station attached to it.  We had a late lunch at a Thai Restaurant where I had some yummy tofu vegetable curry.  The malls are all decked out for the Chinese New Year - here is where you could find your Chinese animal symbol and read your horoscope for the year.

You can only walk around a mall for so long, so we stepped back outside to wander around and people watch.  Actually, I should say, to BE people watched.  I'm still getting used to the stares I get here - a white girl in a swarm of Filipinos is apparently an unusual site.  There was one little boy who was so in awe, he didn't take his eyes off me for several minutes.  Adorbz :)

Here are a few pictures to give you an idea what the area is like.  If it seems a bit dreary, well... that's because it is.  The buildings are all dirty and with the gray evening sky... it seems intensified.

Not sure what's up with all the scooters in one place, but I had to get a picture of it-

I bid ado to my new ex-pat friend, and headed off to meet another new friend - Ramon (a local Filipino dude) at a mall called Greenbelt.  Ramon took me to an Indian restaurant (Kashmir I think it's called) outside the mall area and we had a lively conversation about our cultural differences. Then we wandered back to the mall - which is BIG, so they divide it up into Greenbelt 1, 2 ..up to 5.  Since it was dark, I didn't take any pictures - but I will definitely go back because I really liked it.  It's much cleaner, has a lot of outdoor eating areas, and I saw many other ex-pats there.

I had a hard time getting to sleep last night on account of the Chinese New Year celebrations - fireworks!  I stood out on my balcony for a while watching.  Then this morning around 9am, I heard this odd drum beat that kept getting louder.  At first I just thought it was noise from the building going up across the street.  Nope - it was a little parade - if you want to call it that - for the Chinese New Year!  They walked around for a while like this.  Check it out -

I snapped this pic, then I grabbed my phone for a video.  Sorry for turning it sideways, I thought it would flip over for me when I uploaded it...

Getting a haircut in the Philippines

Ok, well I had a wax and haircut today at Emphasis Salon here in Rockwell.  I'm not very excited about the haircut, it's shorter than I would have liked, but I think I can work with it.  It's just different and I really could use the change, so I hope I'll come around to liking it... For those of you interested in the price difference - I paid $65 total for both services, which for me isn't much different than what I paid in the US.

My stylist was a handsome, soft spoken Lebanese man (with an awesome beard *swoon*) named Moussa.  What was a little different for me was that they seem to work in teams.  Moussa cut and styled my hair, and the other person washed my hair and assisted Moussa by sweeping the hair off of me periodically and handing Moussa tools like a brush or clip.  Another difference is that they don't have those chairs that can be raised or lowered.  Moussa is tall, so he sat in a stool for some of the cut. 

I'm off to explore outside of Rockwell, I really need some work clothes.  Since I was working at home, I didn't need much for work wear so I hope I can find a few things because I'm already bored with the options I brought. 

My haircut:

Making friends and encountering traffic in Manila

Today was a good day!  We got down to business with training at work, and I believe the people we hired all have promise.  Time will tell! 

After work I headed to the mall in search of either a hair dryer or a transformer so I can use the one I brought without blowing up the motor.  I opted for a blow dryer because it was a lot less expensive (the tiny blow dryer was $15 - versus the transformer at $70).  Then I checked out the health food store in the mall - and that was like coming home :)  I recognized all the brands (Braggs for example) and they even have a (very small) bulk section.  Prices are steep, but that doesn't surprise or sway me.  I'm munching on some delicious pistachios right now.  Nom nom nom...

On my way back from the mall, I saw a man walking a shih tzu, so of course I asked the guy if I could pet his dog.  We got to talking and then walked back to Joya together.  We both got off on the seventh floor and it turned out his niece lives two doors down from me!  They invited me in and she had a whole bunch of family there, so I met them all.  I love meeting my neighbors (I miss you guys!) and I'm hoping I've made a new friend as she looks to be around my age. 

I took a photo and some video of the traffic on the way home from work today - which really wasn't bad.  Check out the guy on the motorcycle in the video, this is very common to see... these people have balls of steel on the road!

Photo:

Video:

Getting around, the office, and PHP

This time change business is killing me.  I don't know how people who travel all the time do it.  I'm looking forward to a full night's sleep because so far, it hasn't happened.  It's really starting to affect my mood... And I'll have to readjust again in a month or so when we switch back to working nights.  *sigh*

Anyway, I have been wanting to blog about the office here.  First thing is getting there- we have a driver since driving here is a lot different than it is in the U.S.  He picks us up in a van with dark windows.  It kind of makes me feel like we are celebrities or politicians. 

The office is in a big building where the first 3 (?) floors are more of a mall - there's restaurants and shopping.  Concur is on the 7th floor, and security is tight.  There's a security person who stands guard at each entrance, but they seem to be more like doormen (or women) because they always get the door for you.  It's quite nice :)  There are the typical office rooms - a conference room, training rooms and then the production floor where there are tons of little cubicles.  What is odd is that there are sleeping quarters with a couple of bunk beds.  What's that for??  Last I knew, sleeping on the job is frowned upon!  At this point though, I really could use a nap around 3pm.  Do I dare sneak one in?  Haha!

The other odd thing is the restrooms.  Here they are called comfort rooms, or CR for short.  For some reason, toilet paper is not standard in restrooms, there isn't a toilet paper dispenser in any of the stalls for the men's or women's bathroom.  Also, there are signs on the inside of the stalls advising people not to stand on the toilet rim... hmmm...

Also, there is a pool table in the breakroom.  Fun!

Monday is a Filipino holiday for the Chinese New Year.  This is just one of many holidays this country has.  I'm told that since I'm a US employee that I really should still work.  I'll work from home, but what will I do on my lunch if I can't walk my dogs?  :-(  I miss them so much!

That's all I've got today.  I had a pedicure today for PHP350, which is about $8.50.  I could get used to that and the $15 massages, that's for sure!

Speaking of money, here is what the paper money looks like.  I think this was about 1720 Philippine pesos, which is around $40 US.

A video of traffic in Rockwell, Makati

Here's a little video of the traffic in front of my building.  They'll do u-turns anywhere!  This is nothing, the highway is much different...

Getting settled in Rockwell, Makati, Manila, Philippines

Alright so I'm getting settled in here and learning my way around the Rockwell area.  I've explored the mall across the street and found that the clothing and shoe prices aren't much different than they are in the US, particularly for the name brand stuff.  It's also pretty difficult to find anything in my size, I guess since the majority of the people who shop here are smaller than the average American.  Guess that's good motivation to eat less and move more!

I also had my first grocery shopping experience at a store called Rustan's in the lower level of the mall.  I was pleasantly surprised, there are a lot of American brands imported so it wasn't a guessing game on what I'm buying.  What really struck me was that things are available in much smaller sizes than you see in the US.  And you can get things as a single rather than a pack of however many.  For example, you can buy one bottle of beer - and it's not a 40 oz!  In fact, they didn't even HAVE six packs - you just make your own.  Another example: I was able to get a little jar of mayo instead of a big gigantic one that would go bad before I could use it up.  Then, when I was all done shopping, the kid that bagged my items also walked with me to my condo so I didn't have to lug the groceries here myself.  Nice!

I had a massage this morning at the spa that is a couple blocks away.  The spa is nice, but it's quiet, there isn't any of that nice soothing music that a massage room should have.  My massage therapist was a tiny little woman who actually straddled me when she was doing the middle of my back and shoulders when I was on my stomach.  It was purely professional, I didn't feel her actually sit on me, but I could tell she was up there because I could feel her legs on each side of me.  *shrug*  Weird!  Also, she did some of those karate chop type moves and some other techniques that I thought were totally useless.  I suspect that they are all trained the same way, but I'll try someone different next time to see if it's a different experience.

Back to work tomorrow.  We're working daytime this week, then switching to nights the next week.  Not looking forward to that transition!

Here are some photos of my condo and the view.  It's so very FLAT here!
Here's a view looking left and down at the street.  (I have no idea what direction it is)

 I can't get these pictures in any kind of order that makes sense, sorry about that.  If you know how to do that, could you let me know?

Bathroom, and yes, that is a spray nozzle next to the toilet!  Hehe

 

Here is the vanity area of the bathroom.  The laundry is also in this room.

Bedroom.  There are full length windows behind me in this photo.  Also there is a big wardrobe/dressing area with a full length mirror in the area between the bathroom and bedroom.

Dining area and entry way-

Kitchen.  Lookit how tiny the stove is!  Also, the counters are a bit lower than they are in the US

View looking left.  I miss mountains :)

View looking right.  They are building another big complex there.  Will be interesting to see this progress while I'm here.

View looking up.  This looks really cool at night when the buildings are lit up.

First full day in Manila

My flight from HNL to MNL was uneventful.  I was seated next to a fellow vegetarian (vegan actually) who was kind enough to share some of his food with me - how nice!

Upon landing in Manila, immigration and customs was a breeze - I was a little worried, but really didn't need to be.  Amazingly enough, all 6 of my checked bags arrived with my flight - awesome!  Only bad thing was that someone stole one of my purses from an outside pocket of a suitcase.  Rat bastards.  Oh well, guess that gives me an excuse to get a new one!

My company (Concur) set up a ride for me from the airport to where I'm staying - the Joya (pronounced "hoya") Lofts and Towers in a gated community called Rockwell.  Since it was dark when I arrived, I couldn't see a whole lot in the way of what it's like outside my little world in Rockwell, but I'm definitely "not in Kansas anymore."  The way they drive here is crazy!  They use their horns a LOT more than we do in the US and there are all these open air buses.  Actually I think I would be ok driving here... ;-)

I'm on the seventh floor and the condo is actually really nice!  High ceilings, modern furniture, cable, internet and hot water, but only in the bathroom right now.  Apparently you have to request a hot water heater for the bathroom and kitchen separately, it's not like in the US where you have a water heater for the entire unit.  Instead, there are electric water heaters installed in a cabinet for each sink/shower.  The bed is kind of hard, but so far that's been ok...  I haven't been able to get a good sleep yet though.

There is a mall right across the street, it's basically my view.  It's called the Power Plant mall, and it has a lot of high end familiar stores and also includes a grocery store, bank(s) and a True Value.  There is also a cinema, and it seems like they are a little behind on what's showing because Sherlock Holmes is advertised.

I had an orientation of the building and surrounding area where I was introduced to the spa.  I'll definitely be spoiled there - it's about $16 for a massage.  YES!!  Back to once a week massages for this girl!  There is also a salon, but after reviewing the price list, I found the cost to get my hair done is around the same as it is at the salon I go to in California.

The internet here is a little iffy, I tried using Hot Spot shield so that I can watch US streaming TV, but it reeeeally slowed down the internet and I haven't been able to watch any of my shows.  Bummer.  I browsed through the cable channels though and I don't think I'll have a problem finding something to watch.  Yesterday I was watching a game show channel and they advertised last season's Survivor - so I'm guessing they are at least a season behind on most shows...?  There's always the Spanish novellas!  lol

Something I've noticed - the looks I get.  I mean, I'm used to being looked at, but they really stare.  Men and women, but especially the men.  I guess I must look exotic to them.

Day One

Welcome to my new blog!  This is where you can keep up with my adventures while I'm here in Manila, Philippines.  I've never done this before so I hope I don't suck at it!

It's my second morning here.  I should be sleeping since it's 4am, but I'm wide awake...

I think I'll start with my little adventure that was my connection in Honolulu.  Hawaii is beautiful, I would love to go back for a vacation!  Travel tip: if you are traveling with more bags than you can manage, I do not recommend a connection longer than 4 hours as you will need to collect your bags and then re-check them for your connecting flight.  That was a pain in the ass!

I stayed at the Doubletree Waikiki, which suited me just fine as it is within walking distance to the beach, was well appointed and comfortable.

I met up with an old high school friend, Justin, and his family.  I think it's been at least 10 years since I last saw him (at Freedom in Hudson), so it was really nice to see him and meet his wife and kids.  As most of you know, I'm not much for kids, but Johnny Danger won me over!  Also, Jen is awesome.  :)

I took some pictures on my walk to the beach.  Enjoy!

Aloha!

 

Beautiful beach

Diamondhead (volcano)

The beach is combed

View from my hotel balcony

Some common birds.  Anyone know what they are?

Koi pond

A perfect tree

Army Museum