Out and About in Bulacan

Monday 14th April 2014

Tita May, Me & Tita Ine at Shakey's Pizza Pullilan.

In the morning we went to the SM Baliuag Mall for a bit of shopping. I bought 2 pairs of shorts, socks and thongs (tsinelas). The weather here is so hot that the shorts and thongs will definitely come in handy. Afterwards we ventured over to the restaurant chain, Chow King and had some Halo Halo. Halo Halo is a Filipino favourite and definitely a must on these hot summer days.

Halo Halo at Chow King

I had a bit of a nap when we returned home and then got ready to go out with my dad's sister, Tita Ine, and her best friend, Tita May.

Tita May drives a car, a big one at that, which is surprising because you hardly see any female drivers in the Philippines. We drove to the Pullilan Waltermart mall where Tita May bought an air conditioning unit for her elderly mother. Tita May comes from a wealthy family so I didn't expect her to bargain with the sales rep but she did and she managed to achieve some sort of discount. It got me thinking that maybe this is how the rich think and I should start being this way lol.

Afterwards we had a late lunch at the Shakey's Pizza parlour. The food was good and I had a good time chatting to the two titas. Soon after we headed to the Greenery back in town just to walk around and chill. Tita May's sister owns it and it's practically one of the nicest places in Bulacan that there is.

The day was still young so we went back out after visiting The Greenery to this garden coffee place. It was quite quaint and I liked the atmosphere. It was hidden behind another building on the main road so it'd be easily missed if you don't know about it. Luckily Tita May knew about it. The place was made from an old house that has been given modern flair while maintaining it's heritage, but most of the seating areas were outside in the garden.  They played jazz music from the speakers and the trees and plants were adorned with fairy lights. You could tell this was a great hang out place for college aged students. We were the oldest ones there! Still it was beautiful and I had a good night.

Oberservations:

- The Philippines is full of contrasts. A lot of the times when you are indoors at places you don't feel like you're in a 3rd world country at all and things feel very much western. It is only when you're out in the streets or pass by residential houses that you are reminded you are in the Philippines.

Holy Week in the Philippines: Palm Sunday

Sunday 13th April 2014

I awoke early to see the Palm Sunday celebrations, or Linggo ng Palaspás as we say in Tagalog. Palm Sunday commemorates the entry of Jesus Christ into Jerusalem. Typically we'd bring our palms (palaspás) to church where it is blessed by the priest, but it seems that the priest makes rounds in the neighbourhoods and blesses the palms people have adorned their yards or gates with.

The night before we had decorated the front of our house with the palms and set up a mic and speaker so the priest would stop by. He did stop by, along with a congregation of church goers. I don't fully understand the ritual or even the prayers that were said (as they were all in Tagalog) but in the end he blessed our palms with holy water.

Father Bobby Mariano

Mum and Dad

At 8am I accompanied niece Nicole to the Palm Sunday mass at Mt Carmel church which is a short walk from where we live. Again it was in Tagalog so I didn't understand too much.

In the afternoon we went over to San Roque where my dad's sister (Tita Nita) lives and had dinner over there.

Philippines 2014: Mabuhay!

Saturday 12th April 2014

I wanted to go the Philippines this year to spend some time with my dad before his big surgery in an environment where he is stress free and happy, and secondly to experience the Filipino holy week.

12th April 2014

 I had a relatively easy and uneventful flight. I got through check in and customs real fast in Sydney and also got through immigration and customs quickly when I arrived in Manila. I attribute this to Philippine Airlines having their own airport in Manila which means less flights and less passengers passing through it each day so there are hardly any queues at the airport.

On my flight over I was fortunate enough to be upgraded to the "emergency exit" seat (or "choice seat" as the airline puts it), which basically meant I had more leg room in front of me but the added responsibility of the one who has to open the exit door in case something happens to the air hostess in the event of an emergency.

The crap thing about the flight though was that I got no sleep because seats in economy class are always uncomfortable AND I virtually had no in flight entertainment because it was one of those older, smaller planes with few centralized TV monitors in the cabin rather than one each in front of you, and I didn't feel like watching any of the random movies they showed. I pretty much spent the majority of the 8 hour flight bored out of my mind.

When I arrived at the airport I was surprised that I was not only met by my parents (they had arrived 2 weeks earlier) and cousin Tutz (who is the driver) but also by my 2 aunts and their daughters.

It took maybe a little over 2 hours to drive back to our home in Baliuag. We did stop by this outdoor BBQ house type eatery (I can't remember the name!) for some dinner and it was delicious!

When we got home my parents and relatives started decorating the joint with palms and palm fronds in preparation for Palm Sunday the next day.

Some observations:

- We drove through a lot of squatter areas on the way back from the airport which made me feel so sorry for the kids. I saw one having a bath in some sort of tub/plastic barrel, dipping his body and head in and out. So many kids walking through dirty places and looking for things to pick up from the rubbish piles.

-In our area there are were so many children, toddlers even, just playing or milling around in the streets and it's in the middle of the night!

- the air is smokey and a little polluted which gave me concern because I get allergies.

 

I got me a fiance!

On Friday, 2nd May 2014, Nathan officially proposed and we got engaged! He really did get down on one knee too! Or was it both knees? I can't remember hah!

I'll be honest I am not looking forward to planning a wedding or even having a wedding but I can't wait for married life to begin!

For good measure here is the bling!