Lost in translation

Mr H & I are both trying to learn Spanish.  We are doing it quite differently.  I am using Duolingo and I am having weekly Spanish lessons.  Mr H is using another website (I clearly don't pay enough attention when he speaks to me, because I can't remember which one) and Google Translate.  He uses Google Translate to learn phrases whenever he needs to do something e.g. explain how he wants his hair cut, or change physiotherapy appointments.

A few weeks ago he needed to change a physiotherapy appointment.  He asked the receptionist if he could change his appointment because:

"Tengo que cumplir a mi esposa"

He thought that he was saying "I need to meet my wife."

It turned out, when he was relaying this tale to a friend of his, that he had been saying: "I need to satisfy my wife"!!!

The receptionist apparently had a great poker face.  I wonder what she said to her colleagues afterwards?

Sun, sand, sea and... snow!

If you look carefully, you can see snow on the mountains!

The last few months have passed in a bit of a blur, one of the reasons that there haven't been any blog updates from me.  I think about blogging often, but lots of other things end up taking priority.

Before we moved to the Costa del Sol, I wasn't completely sure what to expect in terms of weather.  Friends who had lived here previously, and who live here now, had told us that the weather was wonderful all year round; that it never really gets very cold.  I suppose I expected never to need a jacket or a scarf: that kind of 'it never really gets very cold'.  I have needed a jacket and a scarf.  Although, granted, not that often.  I wonder if my perceptions would have been different if we were moving here from the temperate UK climate vs. moving here from the tropical Filipino climate?

Whilst we have had some cold days, and some wet days, generally we have lots of sunny days.  The sunny days can feel cold when the wind is up.  But I don't mind, if it's sunny.

On these bright sunny days, we often have fabulous views of the Mediterranean sea on one side and the edge of the Sierra Nevada mountains on the other.  Over the last few weeks, as winter has arrived we have been able to see snow on the mountains, and the sun glinting off the sea.  How wonderfully surreal.

WHO's vaccinations?

Just before we left Manila Eilidh had her 4-month-vaccinations.  Our pediatrician noted that Eilidh's next round of vaccinations was due at the end of July, when she would be 6 months old.  At that point we would be in Spain.  Just.

So one of the first things I needed to do, when we arrived in Malága, was to find a pediatrician.  Admittedly I had been a bit lax on the research front before we arrived in Malága; I had wanted to enjoy our time in the Philippines as much as possible without thinking too much about the next move.  This meant that I had NO idea about how the vaccination schedule in Spain worked, nor indeed how the medical system worked.

In the Philippines, at one of the last check-ups before your baby is born, you are asked by your obstetrician to choose a pediatrician to be there at the baby's birth.  This was not something I had thought about.  I had just assumed that all the right people would be at our baby's birth, not that we would have to choose one.  But anyway, I asked around for some recommendations and chose one.  Our pediatrician then came to visit us every day in hospital, and she was the one we saw for Eilidh's check-ups and vaccinations.  So we were sorted.

How did it work in Spain?

I contacted a mutual friend, who had had her second baby here in Spain.  She told me that for some of the vaccinations you have to go to a chemist, buy the vaccination and then take it to your pediatrician to administer.  Unfortunately she didn't live in Malága itself, so couldn't recommend a specific pediatrician in the city.

I did a bit of Googling and found a pediatrician.  I phoned up, with my first question '¿Habla inglés por favor?'.  The secretary did, albeit broken.  I went ahead and made an appointment.

When I arrived at the appointment, the pediatrician did not speak English.  And I could not speak Spanish.  We tried to communicate, with Eilidh's list of vaccinations in front of us, in broken English and Spanish.  The Pediatrician was sweating from the strain, wiping his brow as he studied the vaccinations.  It didn't leave me with a good feeling.  He called in the secretary, who explained the same thing I had heard from my friend: you have to go out and buy some vaccinations.  She also said that some are free at your local health centre (Centro de Salud).

My mind was reeling.

I had a small window of opportunity to get Eilidh's vaccinations, and I was fast slipping out of it.  I didn't feel comfortable with the pediatrician I'd seen - his bedside manner with Eilidh wasn't good, and our communication difficulties were just too great.  I needed to find someone else.

At this point, I decided (sheepishly) to ask one of my Spanish friends to help me.  She was a godsend.  She found out about our local Centro de Salud, came with me to register Eilidh there, made an appointment with another pediatrician, came with me to that appointment, helped me buy the vaccinations and came back again for Eilidh's second vaccination appointment at the Centro de Salud.

It was made clear, at this second vaccination appointment, that we had not followed the Spanish schedule for vaccinations (obviously, as we had not been in Spain).  What baffled me was that the vaccination schedules around the world are so different.  When we had been in the Philippines our pediatrician told us that we were following the WHO recommended vaccination schedule.  I assumed (I'm learning slowly not to assume anything) that this would be the same around the world.  But it isn't.  I've spoken to friends in the UK and a friend from Holland and it seems that all 4 countries (Philippines, Spain, UK & Holland) all have slightly different schedules.

So I'm still undecided about the vaccinations that I haven't given Eilidh, we have moved again (out of Malága), which leaves us in the position of finding a new Centro de Salud, new pediatrician and figuring out whether to give her this 'missing' vaccination or not.

Let's not move again any time soon.

Feria de Malaga, 2014

"Oh, and during the fair.  It's going to be crazy."

One of the first things I heard from Santiago (the gentleman who picked us up from the airport when we arrived in Málaga, and has helped with various relocation-tasks) on the journey from Málaga airport into the city.  Mr H had heard the same thing, from more than one person.

A few weeks later, as Santiago was taking us to view some houses, he was shaking his head telling me how crazy it was going to be: "Imagine, people starting drinking at 12 o'clock, in this heat.  They are all drunk by 2pm!"

So what is this fair all about?

Every year, during the third week in August, the city of Málaga has it's annual fair, or feria.  Ostensibly, the purpose of the feria is to commemorate the re-conquering of Málaga by the Catholic monarchy of the time (Isabella & Ferdinand) from Muslim rule in 1487.  To me it seemed that the purpose was to get as drunk as possible by necking back as many tiny plastic cupfuls of Cartojal as you could.

The centre of Málaga, which had normally been quietly buzzing in the middle of the day became very busy and boisterous.  Doors which I'd thought were shut for good, would open onto rooms full of people partying.  Streets which are normally deserted between 2pm - 6pm were packed full of people.  Bars, some of which were normally void of any clientele, were standing room only.  Men in pink shirts were seen wheeling pink boxes of bottles of Cartojal to drinking establishments and convenience stores.  Temporary waste bins were set up every 20 metres on every street of the old town.  Ladies were seen sporting, mostly spotty, fancy dresses.  Men were still in their shorts.  Purple, green and white lanterns were hung above the main shopping street.  And a general sense of happiness and enthusiasm pervaded.

It was a little bit crazy.  But I really didn't mind.  I quite enjoyed wandering around, seeing everyone having such a good time.  We joined in with the Cartojal drinking.  But after Eilidh was in bed, in the comfort of our apartment.  Rock 'n roll we are not.

The Monday after the feria ended, the city was eerily quiet.  A week before, temporary bars and shade had been erected in the central square (Plaza de la Concepcion).  This week they were being taken down.  The sticky concrete was being washed and as many broken shards as possible of Cartojal cups were being swept up.  And from then onwards it was business as usual in the city.  Until next year.  

The day my husband got locked in a toilet

It was a Saturday afternoon.  Eilidh was asleep.  I was clearing up after my lunch.  My phone started ringing.  It was Mr H.  I thought he was phoning me to tell me that he was about to leave Estepona with our new (to us) car.

Nope.  He was phoning me to tell me that he was locked in a toilet at the cafe where he'd decided to have some lunch before driving back to Malaga.  He didn't know the name of the cafe.

The toilet had no windows.  And no gap under the door.

How were we going to get him out of there?  I knew where the cafe was - it was right next door to the garage where we'd bought the car.  I used Apple Maps to try to find the name of the cafe, so that I could find the phone number, but that was ineffectual.  Frankly, I think Apple Maps suck.  I decided to phone Denis.  Denis was the man who had sold us the car.  He was born in Germany to Spanish parents and speaks perfect English.

"Ah, Rebecca, yes, I know Simon is stuck in the toilet.  I'm on my way there now."

Mr H had clearly had the same idea.

20 minutes later, Simon was still stuck in the toilet.  The cafe owners had decided to send for the carpenter who had fitted the door in the first place.

10 minutes later, the carpenter still hadn't arrived.  Denis decided to take matters into his own hands.

He'd seen his father (who owns the garage) wielding a circular saw that morning.  (What you need a circular saw for, as an owner of a second hand car garage, I'm not sure.  But that's an aside.)  He went in search of the saw, found it, and sawed the lock from the door.

Mr H was free.

Thank you Denis!

Our temporary apartment

Whilst we find somewhere more permanent to live in the Málaga area we are living in an apartment in the centre of the city of Málaga.  This is a mixed blessing.

It's fantastic to have the old town of Málaga right on our doorstep; there are plenty of opportunities for exploring.  Perfect if you have a 6 month old baby who enjoys being out in her pram.

But it's also pretty noisy in the city centre.  And I think there are a few students living in our block who tend to go out when I am already asleep (waking me up) and arrive back when I've probably already been up to feed Eilidh (waking me up again).  But that's ok, I've been a student too.

Here are some photos.  I'll let them do the rest of the talking.  Suffice it to say that we're looking forward to finding some more permanent accommodation.

The front door

Our street

The dining area

The lounge

The kitchen

The main bedroom

The second bedroom

The balcony (!!!)

Washing line

A little bit of blue sky

The neighbours

Finding our wheels in Andalucia

Neither Simon nor I speak much Spanish.  In fact, we're in the positively elementary stages of learning it.

But we're living in Spain.  And we need to buy a car.

We ventured out last weekend to try to do just that.  We had a few phrases of Spanish to hand, but we hoped that all we would need was "¿Hablas español?".  Unfortunately that wasn't the case.  The car salesman we met didn't speak much English.

He was however, very resourceful.  Typically, on every car salesman's desk, along with a calculator, is a computer.  And generally these computers are connected to the internet.  He sat down at his computer, beckoned us over and started typing sentences, in Spanish, into Google Translate.  Genius.  We took over the keyboard when we wanted to reply or ask him a question.  It was in this way that we managed to discuss our car-searching requirements.

Unfortunately, we didn't find the car that we wanted on that occasion.

Other than the language barrier, there are some other obstacles in buying cars in Spain.  The first being that car garages seem to be closed for more time than they are open, especially in August.  During the week they observe the siesta, like a lot of businesses do.  At weekends they are only open from 10am - 2pm on a Saturday.  During the Malaga Feria they don't open at all.

Secondly, it's difficult to buy a car without having a car.  The garages are geographically spread out, and they don't tend to be within walking distance of the city centre.  Taxi fares aren't as cheap as they were in the Philippines.

And then there are the websites you scour to find cars... don't get me started on them.  Suffice it to say that it's just better to pay half our annual salary to get taxis to find cars in physical garages.

Will we find our feet or our wheels first?

Getting to Malaga

I am still figuring out what to do with my blog.  I do have some readers (believe it or not) who are interested in what we're up to, so I'll carry on with stories of our moving about for now.  We have been in Malaga for 4 weeks, so I've got some catching up to do.

Eilidh and I flew from Edinburgh to Malaga on Jet2 (Mr H had left a week earlier, via Bucharest to catch up with some friends).  The plane was full of people off on their holidays.  How different to getting on a plane to Manila!  Most people are returning home to the Philippines or are going there for work.

It was the first time I was flying with Eilidh on my own - she behaved very well on the flight.  It was still an interesting challenge, though, getting from the security checks at Edinburgh to the arrivals hall in Malaga without an additional pair of hands.  At check-in I was told that my hand baggage was too big to take as hand baggage and would need to be checked in.  That was a blessing in disguise.  It meant I had less to carry through the airport, onto the plane and off the other side.  I still had a pram, a baby, her change bag and another sneaky bag with my laptop and purse in.

The first challenge was getting through security itself.  In the Philippines I'd been able to wheel the pram, with Eilidh in it, round the security checkpoints, go through the metal detector and pick her up at the other side.  It seems things aren't as relaxed in the UK.  I was asked to fold her pram so that it could go through the X-ray.  I said that it was quite a big effort to do that, so they let me wheel it through whole, but without Eilidh.  I then noticed that Eilidh's change bag was on the table that indicated it needed a further search.  Luckily all they needed to do was re-scan my iPad as I'd forgotten to take it out the bag.

The next challenge was trying to buy a snack for my journey in WHSmith.  I was flying on a July morning, peak holiday season and it was busy.  There isn't much room for manoeuver in the aisles at the best of times, never mind when there are hoards of people choosing which bag of crisps to buy.  There isn't much room in the self-service checkout area either.  Luckily when it was my turn, a manned checkout was available.

Initially the boarding gate had been really close to all the shops.  But it moved.  To the furthest possible point in the airport.  And then of course, Eilidh decided to go to the toilet.  I won't go into too  many details, but I needed to change her outfit too.  The boarding time was getting closer and closer.  The baby changing facilities at Edinburgh airport are excellent.  The only thing missing (they had a play pen, changing tables, a comfy chair to breastfeed in) was a loo for the mum or dad to use.  This meant I needed to find a loo for me, which was big enough to take the pram into.  Phew, a disabled one was free.  I don't know how I would have managed to go to the toilet in a plane, with a baby.

As I arrived at the gate, the Jet2 staff recognised me and helped me down to the plane.  One person carried the pram, another carried my bags and I carried Eilidh in her baby carrier.  The Jet2 staff were extremely friendly and helpful throughout my whole interaction.

Once on board, I started making myself comfortable.  Not easy on a tiny seat, with a baby.  And the flight was full, so no way of stretching out onto other seats.  Another challenge was going to be eating the snack I had bought from WHSmith.  I hadn't had any breakfast, so I really needed to eat this snack.  It's amazing how dexterous you become when you have a baby.  I just managed to eat the sandwich, only making a small amount of mess.  I kept the crisps until later.  And I'm glad to report that my pre-flight toilet break kept me going until we reached our apartment in Malaga.

Eilidh ate a little, slept a little and sucked her toes, a lot, on the flight (sort of like in the picture to the left, but this wasn't taken on the plane!).  This caused much amusement for the passengers around us.  She also found the dangly bits on the lady-next-to-us' Louis Vuitton bag very entertaining.  Luckily the lady was charmed enough by Eilidh at this point, to let her play with the dangly bits.  She may have been less amenable had Eilidh started to chew them.

We had checked in 6 pieces of luggage in Edinburgh: a travel cot, car seat, pram (in 2 pieces), a 30kg bag and a 17kg bag.  How was I going to get these off the baggage belt, whilst holding a baby?  I strapped Eilidh into her baby carrier, positioned myself at one end of the baggage belt and hoped for the best.  Standing next to me was a friendly looking couple, with a strong looking man.  As I saw my 30kg bag approaching I casually asked if he wouldn't mind getting it for me.  I didn't tell him how much it weighed.  He obliged and I managed to get the rest myself.  Typically the pram was last, so it all had to be done with Eilidh in her pouch on my front.  She seemed to enjoy it.

I then had to wheel the overflowing luggage cart, with the car seat precariously balanced atop it, to the arrivals hall whilst towing the pram behind me.  I don't think it's ever taken me so long to get out of an airport.  But we did it.  And had someone to meet us in the arrivals hall, thankfully.

From there, the next part of our adventure could begin.  Living in Malaga.  We arrived to typical summer holiday weather - clear blue skies, bright sunshine.  It felt (and still feels, 4 weeks on) like we were on holiday.  But this is where we're going to live.

More next time.

Leaving Manila

Almost 18 months after we deplaned (a word I first encountered in the Philippines) our Cathay Pacific flight from London, via Hong Kong, to Manila, we boarded our Philippine Airlines flight direct to London.  With a one-way ticket.

Our time in the Philippines had come to an end.

When we arrived in Manila, it was a balmy January evening.  It was dark and everything was new and strange to us.  We ventured out on that first evening to get some dinner at the local mall and were somewhat surprised at a sign in the entrance of the mall: Please deposit your firearms with the guard.  We found a restaurant which was open, and were presented with a bowl of ice with sticks of orange and white vegetables protruding out of it.  Apart from wondering what the white sticks were, we were thinking 'is ice safe here?'.  I think it's fair to say we were both a little shell shocked.

On our first day in Manila, we did some exploring.  We explored our immediate area, which wasn't too interesting - a shopping mall and some fancy apartment blocks.  We decided to go and see where Mr H was going to work.  We jumped in a taxi to 'RCBC'.  RCBC, we were later to discover, is the home of the UN in Manila as well as various embassies.  This would explain why there were sniffer dogs, metal detectors and guards to examine your bags and frisk you as you entered the building.  At the time though, it further alarmed us that we had moved to a very dangerous city indeed.  As we walked the streets from RCBC to Greenbelt (a mall we had read about in the Lonely Planet), we were a little cautious.  We were trying not to stick out as tourists with our little folded, black & white print out of a Google Map of the area.  We found the first cafe we could (Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf, Greenbelt 5) and ordered a restorative.

18 months later, on the weekend before we left Manila, we visited that cafe again (we had also visited it numerous times inbetween as it had become one of our local cafes).  We reminisced about our time in the Philippines.  And about how we felt to be leaving the Philippines.

What surprised us most was the number of times we questioned our decision to leave, during that conversation and at other times.  It surprised us because there had been lots of reasons to leave Manila when we'd first made the decision to leave.  But as our departure date drew closer, we needed to check that we were doing the right thing!  We had grown to call Manila home.

Walking down the airbridge to board our flight away from Manila I had a tear in my eye.  We had carved out a life for ourselves in this sometimes-crazy city.  We were privileged and fortunate enough to live in a fantastic condo complex, with all the amenities we could want right on our doorstep.  We had tropical fruit (the best mangoes you will taste ever.  Fact.) and vegetables on tap.  We were able to explore paradise-like beaches and islands at the drop of a hat.  We lived in the Philippines with some of the most friendly people in the world.  We could get massages for less than £5.  We had affordable part-time house help.  The healthcare was second to none.  And we had made so many really good friendships.

Why were we leaving?

I suppose, quite simply, we were leaving because we had arrived as a 2 and were now a 3.  It seemed to make more sense to be in Europe closer to friends and family, now that we are a bigger family.

We are in Malaga, in the South of Spain now.  I haven't decided what to do about this blog, but I may keep it going on some level.  There are still some experiences in the Philippines I would like to write about, and perhaps some of my readers might still be interested to read about our adventures in a new country.

For now, adiós.

The love of texting in the Philippines

I've heard people say that the Philippines is the 'texting capital of the world'.  I'm not sure of the latest stats on this, but anecdotal evidence does point very much in this direction.  There are a number of reasons for this:

1. Texts are very cheap to send - 1 Peso (about 1 pence) each; about a tenth of the cost of a voice call
2. Filipinos are very sociable and will communicate in any way possible
3. Texting is less invasive than calling
4. And probably a lot more which I haven't thought of...

When interviewing for my position at a local telecommunications company I was made aware of a slightly unusual (to me, anyway) behaviour which takes place in the Philippines.  In order to make new friends, some Filipinos will just text random numbers and see who responds.  An interesting application of texting!  That aside, I've been surprised at some of the other (not that I've had random people texting me!) transactions and interactions that I've had via text message during my time in the Philippines.


1) Being asked to attend a job interview
For one of the jobs I applied to I was asked to attend the interview by text.  There was no other communication, it was only by text.  Initially asking me to attend at a certain time, me replying, and then confirmation of the interview.  Granted, it was for a telecommunications company, but I was still surprised.

2) Signing up for broadband and phone
When we moved into our apartment, we wanted to sign up to get broadband internet.  Other than filling in an application form (I can't actually remember doing this, but I'm sure I must have), the whole interaction was handled by text.  This became a bit of an issue when I wanted to end our contract and was told that we were locked in for 2 years.  I had no record of ever being told this (I still don't think I was told this).  As an aside, when I told the broadband-service-provider that I didn't want to pay the early cancellation fee, she asked why, and I told her (because I don't remember ever being told that I was locked into a 2 year contract), so she told me just to write a note of why I didn't want to pay and we'd see what happened.  I still don't know the end result.

3) Booking accommodation
We went away to Palawan in August 2013.  As usual, we left the booking of our accommodation until the last minute.  I was doing some research via TripAdvisor and found a B&B which looked great.  I searched for the B&B online to see if they had a website, but they didn't.  One of the reviews on TripAdvisor included a mobile number for the owner of the B&B, so I just texted the number.  I did try to call the number too, but no answer.  Miraculously our accommodation was reserved!

4) The persistence of some Filipinos
If someone texts you, they expect an immediate answer.  If you don't answer, they will just keep texting you until you do answer.  Sometimes, they will go further and try to contact you in other ways (email, Facebook), just to make sure they get an answer.  And this will be in the space of less than an hour sometimes.

5) Not answering my calls, but answering my texts
There have been a few instances where I've called someone, but they won't answer.  I then send them a text message immediately, and I often get an immediate response!

Some of these transactions have been great - it's often easier to send a quick text than make a phone call, for example whilst at work.  It may be something I have to reverse-adjust to when I move back to Europe.  I don't think that texting is as widely accepted for some interactions in the UK.

What if it rains?

You park your car.  You pay your fee to park your car.  You go and do whatever it is that you need to do.  You're a bit longer than you thought you would be.  You go back to where your car was parked.  And there is no car.  All there is, is a note on the pavement, in white chalk with your registration plate number and 'Claim at Amorsolo St'.  But what if it rains?  The chalk would get washed away, and then how do you find your car?

The benefits of a lack of organisation

This may just be my perception, but generally things in the Philippines don't seem very organised.  For example, a number of the doctors that I've seen don't work by appointment - you just turn up and wait your turn.  I don't *think* there bus timetables - you just show up at the station and wait for the next one to your destination.  In restaurants it's common for one diner to have finished their meal before another has even received theirs.

But sometimes this lack of organisation works in our favour.  Take the example of the gas canister running out.  Whilst I was sterilising various baby-feeding-paraphernalia on a Sunday I noticed that the gas was low.  Very low.  About to run out low.  First thing Monday morning I phoned the concierge in our building to order a new canister.  Within less than an hour someone had turned up with the new canister and fitted it. 

We're cooking with gas again. 

I'm not sure that that would happen so fast in a more 'organised' country where there are schedules to stick to, which are organised days in advance.

Easter in the Philippines

Easter, or Holy Week, is a big thing in the Philippines.  So big that even all the shops and most restaurants close.  For 2 whole days.

Greenbelt is a big mall near to where we live.  It is a mixture of buildings and green space, with a large semi-open-air chapel in the middle of it.  On Ash Wednesday the chapel is so full that people have to stand outside to be part of the service.

It's a long time since I went to Sunday School, so my memory is a little rusty regarding the significance of the various days around Easter, but I do remember that Lent takes place between Ash Wednesday and Easter Sunday.  During Lent here in the Philippines, a number of restaurants offer special 'Lenten menus'.  A great way of commercialising the occasion and something I've never seen anywhere else.

For Easter itself, the holidays are slightly different to those we celebrate in the UK.  In the Philippines, it's called 'Holy Week' and the holidays are Maundy Thursday, Good Friday and Black Saturday.  The Philippines is a predominantly Roman Catholic country, so Christmas is celebrated too.  But at Christmas all the shops and restaurants remain open.  On Maundy Thursday and Good Friday all the shops and most of the restaurants are closed.  It's quite eery wandering around the normally thronged Greenbelt.  I captured some photos of the occasion.

Enjoying the brrrr in Baguio

Eilidh in her car seat

The weekend before Easter we ventured out on our first family holiday.  We hired a car and a driver from Viajero Rent-A-Car and set off on our adventure to Baguio.

Baguio is about 240km North of Manila.  The drive, with about 1.5 hours break, took roughly 7 hours.  For the first hour, we were hostage to Manila traffic but after that we flew along the various tollways (NLEX, SCTEX, TPLEX) at a decent speed.  The last hour or so was a windy climb up the mountain road to Baguio.

Everyone I met who had been to Baguio only had positive things to say about it: Baguio's so lovely, the taxi drivers are so honest, the air's so fresh, it's cooler than Manila...  But other than that I didn't really know what to expect.  I was surprised when we first entered Baguio - it's very hilly, and very built up.  But not built up in a Manila-skyscraper kind of way.  Built up in the sense that all the hills seem to have buildings clinging to them.  But there are lots of pine trees and lots of parks too, so it didn't feel stifling (other than in the very busy city centre).  The air is much fresher than in Manila, and it was definitely cooler than Manila is.

View from Chalet Baguio Hotel

We stayed in the Chalet Baguio Hotel, located on Upper Military Cutoff Road.  Another building built into the side of a hill, you enter effectively on the 4th level and a lot of the rooms are on 'Lower Ground' levels.  The best views were from the rooms on the 4th level - below that, whilst you still have windows looking outside you can't see much.  The lower rooms are also loud as the karaoke room (de rigeur for hotels in the Philippines) is on the lowest level.  On our first night we were slap bang right above the karaoke room.  Luckily it didn't go on until 2am, even though it could have done as that was closing time.

Sunflowers in Baguio Botanic Gardens

Whilst in Baguio we explored the Botanic Gardens, Camp John Hay, Wright Park and The Mansion.  It was great to be able to walk around in green open space.  The Botanic Gardens are small, but have lots of pretty plants and flowers.  They are not the most manicured Botanic Gardens I've been to, but people were very happy wandering around.  The terrain is pretty rough, even the paths.  Luckily our buggy has big wheels, and Eilidh seemed to enjoy the 4x4 bumpy ride by going to sleep.

Camp John Hay was a former US Military base, and now has lots of open space, hotels and some shops & restaurants.  We only had a small wander around there as it started bucketing with rain.  We did discover a great restaurant inside Le Monet Hotel where we had lunch on both days we were there.  The seats were more like sofas so Eilidh could lie on the seat between us, which she enjoyed, meaning we could have a relaxing lunch.

The water feature in Wright Park

Wright park is very small, with a long body of water, and at one end, over a main road, there is The Mansion.  The Mansion is the official summer residence for the President of the Philippines.  Maybe they were trying to recreate the Taj Mahal effect of having the building reflecting in the water of Wright Park?  Anyway, it sort of works.  But the water was a very rusty brown colour.  I had someone ask me why it was that colour.  I thought he was going to tell me, but it turns out he didn't know either.  Rust?  Dust?

So it was a good trip, even though the journey there and back was long.  It was refreshing to get out of Manila and great to see another part of the Philippines.


Travel information

We hired a car with driver from Viajero Rent-A-Car:
+63 918 948 21 91
+63 905 288 21 56
+632 836 79 97 / +632 890 01 68
Rm 401-B 4/F RCI Building
Rada Street, Brgy. San Lorenzo
Legaspi Village
Makati City, Philippines
reservations@viajerorentacar.ph
www.viajerorentacar.com
https://www.facebook.com/viajero.carrental

The route from Manila took us on the North Luzon Express Way (NLEX), and then onto the SCTEX (Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway), then onto TPLEX (Tarlac-Pangasinan-La Union Expressway), and then the MacArthur Highway onto Kennon Road.  Baguio is well signposted.

We stayed at the Chalet Baguio Hotel (http://www.chaletbaguiohotel.com/)

e-nesting

Whilst I was pregnant, I read a lot of pregnancy related information.  Probably too much.  But then there is a lot of information out there.  One of the phenomena I read about was the 'nesting instinct'.  Apparently, as labour approaches, many women get this instinct.  It can cause strange behaviour like cleaning your home from top to toe with a toothbrush.  This didn't happen to me; I thought that labour would never come.

But something else happened.

Just a day or 2 before I went into labour, I started furiously organising the music files on my computer - removing duplicates, making sure that they were correctly organised by band, album etc.  Is this e-nesting?  Did the phenomena happen to me after all?!

I still haven't finished this organisation by the way... maybe it'll never get done.

Where does the time go?

It's been a while since I posted on my blog. But I've been a little busy with something else. Our daughter, Eilidh, arrived on 31 January. There should be little excuse in the weeks leading up to Eilidh's birth as I did have some maternity leave... But somehow those days were busy too. I was still working 2 days a week and was trying to fit in as many chores, pamper sessions and social engagements as I could.

Eilidh is now 5 weeks old and it's difficult to remember what life was like before she came along. Life now is taken up with feeding and nurturing Eilidh along with the daily household chores that build up. Making lists of 10 things to do in a day (ha!) now seems a completely alien concept. I'm sure it won't be like this forever, so I'm trying to enjoy every minute that I'm completely focused on Eilidh. 

So the blog will suffer. I used to aim for a post every week, but perhaps every fortnight or month is now more realistic! So I will still write, but not quite as often. Until next time, adieu. 

A year in the Philippines... and some other adventures

Christmas in Manila

Enterprise Center's Christmas tree

When we first arrived in Manila, back in the first week of January 2013, we noticed that there were still some Christmas trees up around where we lived.  2 thoughts crossed my mind; either Filipinos love Christmas, or it's like I've seen in other Asian countries where the Christmas decorations just stay up all year round.

It turns out that Filipinos love Christmas.  In fact, it appears that whenever there is an event to celebrate (Valentines, Easter, Summer, Halloween), Filipinos really go to town for the celebrations.

But Christmas is the big one.  Christmas in the Philippines starts in September.  September, October, November & December are referred to as the 'Ber' months.  Can you see why?  Anyhow, if you're in a 'Ber' month it must mean that you're ready to celebrate Christmas.  Back in September Christmas trees and decorations started popping up in shops, Christmas music started playing in the malls and shops... Christmas really was on its way.

For someone like me, who can be a bit Scrooge-like about Christmas, I really tried to ignore it.  But as time went on, it became impossible.  Every office block has at least 1 Christmas tree in its lobby, and probably exterior decorations too.  Some of these trees and decorations are very impressive and very beautiful.  Poinsettias started appearing in outdoor spaces - lining staircases or replacing whatever greenery had been in plant pots before.  And the music became louder and more pervasive.  Christmas street lights were put up on the main road through Makati.  The upmarket department stores switched to beautiful Christmas window displays.  For some, it was beginning to feel a lot like Christmas.

Gift giving is a big thing over Christmas.  Every employee at the company I work for was given a huge Christmas package filled with food and 4, yes 4, hams.  Gifts are given to people who have helped you throughout the year (household staff, condominium staff), to your boss, to your staff if you have staff and of course to friends and family.  As it was our first Christmas I was a bit stumped as to what gifts were appropriate for whom.  I went for homemade gifts (delicious chocolate brownies, if I do say so myself.  In fact the receivers seconded this) for colleagues, a food hamper for our part-time cleaner and a small gift of M&S biscuits for each of the 30 or so staff in the condominium block where we live.

The 'Christmas Package' given to all employees where I work

The big day in the Philippines is Christmas Eve rather than Christmas Day.  The feast families share together is called Noche Buena, eaten at around midnight on Christmas Eve.  I believe some families will also have a meal together on Christmas Day.

The Christmas tree in our condo lobby

Our Christmas Day meal was taken at the New World Hotel, right next door to where we live.  It was an international buffet and the food was pretty good.  We gathered with a fairly international crowd to enjoy our meal - a Spaniard, a Swede and a Chinese guy.  It was very different from the traditional Christmas meal we have at home, but there weren't the hours of preparation, nor the dishes to do afterwards!  It was also a glorious, sunny day.

Boxing Day was not a holiday in 2013, so sadly it was straight back to work after Christmas.  Still, it was an interesting experience to have Christmas in the Philippines and it probably meant that I ate less than is sometimes the case!

Bringing in 2014, Manila style

We are led to believe that, most years, there is a big fireworks display in Makati to mark the end of one year and the start of another.  This year it was cancelled, and the money saved was being donated to victims of Typhoon Haiyan.  We weren't sure, then, what to expect in terms of NYE celebrations.

Mr H and I didn't have big plans for New Year's Eve, but I'd read that the 50th floor Sky Deck on our neighbouring apartment block would be open for the evening.  But before that, we decided to go and see if there was any action in the bars in Greenbelt (the shopping mall area right next to where we live), but it was decidedly quiet.  A number of restaurants were closed too.  I guess lots of people spend the evening at private parties with friends and family.  So we came back to the apartment and rode the lift to the Sky Deck.

En route, we met a Filipina lady and her Australian partner.  They had been out celebrating the early part of New Year's Eve with their daughter in Alabang, but were persuaded to come up to the Sky Deck too.  They brought wine later which went down very well with Mr H!

It was one of those nights, where you don't expect much, but end up being wowed.  Fireworks had been going off around the city since it got dark.  It didn't seem that there were many organised displays; these were families who put on their own shows.  There is a custom, passed down from the many Chinese families in the Philippines, that the more noise the better for chasing away evil spirits at the start of a new year.  There was certainly a lot of noise as the fireworks wheezed and banged.  The fireworks continued throughout the evening reaching their crescendo around midnight.

I say 'around midnight'.  I came across an article recently in which the Filipino government urged Filipinos to sync their watches for the start of the New Year.  Being on time is not a national strength.

We had a fantastic view, being so high up.  There were fireworks going off every which way you turned - bright colours and loud bangs.  It was like nothing we'd ever seen before.  Sadly, my still photos didn't catch the fireworks and for some reason I couldn't upload the videos.  Anyhow, some great views of the Metro...

Looking towards Manila Bay

Looking towards Rockwell

A great way to see in 2014.  Happy New Year everyone!