Lancelot
Full time employment: Posting here.
"Hey Joe, good morning!" chirped the street urchin in his musical english. I let my eyes drift upwards to the full moon to confirm that it was indeed a balmy night on the hot and humid island of Bohol in the cetral Philippines.
But I digress...
I arrived at the old Clark Air Base in central Luzon on August 10, via Kuala Lumpur on Air Asia, the upstart Malaysian budget airlines that is enabling the masses to fly.
I booked online and scored a one-way e-ticket from Bangkok to Clark for $125 USD, including taxes and fuel. The seven hour layover in the KL "Low Cost Terminal" was a bit dragy, but I found solace in the ever present symbol of Yankee imperialism, McDonalds.
Fueled on McD's strong black coffee, I bounded across the tarmac and cleared immigration, receiving the free 21 day visa on arrival. Out the door, and down to the main road, I walked until the straps of my backpack ground uncomfortably into my shoulders and the tropical sun rendered all moisture from my body. Then I did the only sensible thing and hailed a jeepney, that ingeneous conversion of an "abandonded" US Army jeep into a small but efficient passenger bus. The Philipino passengers grinned as I wrestled my gear aboard and obligingly forwared my fare to the driver, who made change, then my money was returned under the watchful eyes of my fellow travelers.
"Main Gate!" announced the driver and we all emerged from the jeepney to bustling Field Avenue. I asked around for lodging and eventually took a room at Central Park for 1,500 Pesos, about $30 USD @ P50/$USD.
The next day I relocated to the "Perimiter area and cut my lodging over half to P700 / night, complete with air con and CATV. The best part was the fly infested, open air little Philippino canteen opposite my hotel serving German and Philippino food and German food. They have daily specials, such as Weinerschnitzel, salat and potatos -fried or mashed- for P140-160. I can chow down and refresh myself with P20 San Miguels for about $4.50 to $5.00 USD. It's Lance's kind of place.
The little canteen is a hoot: the Filipina waitresses conduct them selves in the vein of "You haven't been here long enough to earn my contempt yet", but despite them selves, they sometimes flash a smile that would melt even the heart of old Scroodge himself. I finally got smart and paid up, treating the three girl staff to a P12 bag of chips each. Now Im in like Flynn... My fellow dinners are a motly crew, by their own admissions: one retired Australian Special Forces commando, one Swiss soldier of fortune, one merchant seaman, one US helicopter pilot, Dennis Rodman's father (Only repeating what I was told) and yours truly, Lance. These guys are world class, er, uhm "story tellers" so mostly I just listen. Besides Marcelena has decided that I am just another harmles, if simple minded, "Kano" (short for Americano) and she has made it her short term goal to teach me tagalog, the main Filippino dialect. My progress is slow, but I seem to keep the staff entertained, so all is well.
The prices here are quite reasonableand things are even cheaper in the provinces. Manila, like all major cities is a bit more expensive. Some average prices:
Jeepney Ride - $0.15
San Miguel at 7-11, 330 ml $0.40
Hair cut - $1.20
Big Mac, fries & coke - $2.20
Internet, one hour - $0.40
One whole BBQ chicken - $2.40
Hamburger at sidewalk cafe - $0.50
One litre bottled water $0.35
One gallon regular gasoline - $3.34
Happy Hour Beer in go go bar - $0.70
Beer at Lance's favorite canteen - $0.40
After three weeks at Angeles City, I decided I needed a break from my tagalog lessons, so I booked a flight online with Cebu Pacific Air, to Davao City in Mindanao (~$46.00) Davao was a nice place to decompress after the hustle bussle of Clark (Angeles City.) The mayor at Davao city is quite a character and has taken a hard line on petty crime and drugs. They solve the problem permanently with "neighborhood patrols." The bad guys are never heard from again. All I know is that I wandered all over the city and no one ever bothered me. I dined at an all you can eat, $1.80 buffet, featuring grilled chicken, pork, salmon, steamed fish and an aray of stews, vegetables and the everpresent steamed white rice. Beer was optional at $0.60 a bottle. Haircuts were even cheaper at $0.60 and delicious garlic roasted peanuts from street vendors were only $0.10 per serving (about one heaping shot glass.)
I met Melva, a lady that works at city hall and she told me a lot about the local situation (terrorists) politics and life in Mindanao. Basically Davao city is quite safe, western Mindanao is a bit dicy and the Sulu Islands are a no go area for foreigners, if not Christian Filippinos. For the most part, the bad guys stay out of Davao, the mayor doesn't put up with any crap. Despite the reputation of a no nonsense place, I rarely say any police and only a few military patrols. Private uniformed security guards armed with nasty, lethal looking sawed of shot guns are everywhere: outside banks, ATMs, even McDonalds and the mall, but I see that everwhere in the Philippines. Maybe Davao's "security" services are more undercover, but I just didn't see large numbers of police. But then I never witnessed violence or crimes in progress.
After seven days of wandering around Davao, I booked a Cebu Pacific Flight to Cebu Island...
But I digress...
I arrived at the old Clark Air Base in central Luzon on August 10, via Kuala Lumpur on Air Asia, the upstart Malaysian budget airlines that is enabling the masses to fly.
I booked online and scored a one-way e-ticket from Bangkok to Clark for $125 USD, including taxes and fuel. The seven hour layover in the KL "Low Cost Terminal" was a bit dragy, but I found solace in the ever present symbol of Yankee imperialism, McDonalds.
Fueled on McD's strong black coffee, I bounded across the tarmac and cleared immigration, receiving the free 21 day visa on arrival. Out the door, and down to the main road, I walked until the straps of my backpack ground uncomfortably into my shoulders and the tropical sun rendered all moisture from my body. Then I did the only sensible thing and hailed a jeepney, that ingeneous conversion of an "abandonded" US Army jeep into a small but efficient passenger bus. The Philipino passengers grinned as I wrestled my gear aboard and obligingly forwared my fare to the driver, who made change, then my money was returned under the watchful eyes of my fellow travelers.
"Main Gate!" announced the driver and we all emerged from the jeepney to bustling Field Avenue. I asked around for lodging and eventually took a room at Central Park for 1,500 Pesos, about $30 USD @ P50/$USD.
The next day I relocated to the "Perimiter area and cut my lodging over half to P700 / night, complete with air con and CATV. The best part was the fly infested, open air little Philippino canteen opposite my hotel serving German and Philippino food and German food. They have daily specials, such as Weinerschnitzel, salat and potatos -fried or mashed- for P140-160. I can chow down and refresh myself with P20 San Miguels for about $4.50 to $5.00 USD. It's Lance's kind of place.
The little canteen is a hoot: the Filipina waitresses conduct them selves in the vein of "You haven't been here long enough to earn my contempt yet", but despite them selves, they sometimes flash a smile that would melt even the heart of old Scroodge himself. I finally got smart and paid up, treating the three girl staff to a P12 bag of chips each. Now Im in like Flynn... My fellow dinners are a motly crew, by their own admissions: one retired Australian Special Forces commando, one Swiss soldier of fortune, one merchant seaman, one US helicopter pilot, Dennis Rodman's father (Only repeating what I was told) and yours truly, Lance. These guys are world class, er, uhm "story tellers" so mostly I just listen. Besides Marcelena has decided that I am just another harmles, if simple minded, "Kano" (short for Americano) and she has made it her short term goal to teach me tagalog, the main Filippino dialect. My progress is slow, but I seem to keep the staff entertained, so all is well.
The prices here are quite reasonableand things are even cheaper in the provinces. Manila, like all major cities is a bit more expensive. Some average prices:
Jeepney Ride - $0.15
San Miguel at 7-11, 330 ml $0.40
Hair cut - $1.20
Big Mac, fries & coke - $2.20
Internet, one hour - $0.40
One whole BBQ chicken - $2.40
Hamburger at sidewalk cafe - $0.50
One litre bottled water $0.35
One gallon regular gasoline - $3.34
Happy Hour Beer in go go bar - $0.70
Beer at Lance's favorite canteen - $0.40
After three weeks at Angeles City, I decided I needed a break from my tagalog lessons, so I booked a flight online with Cebu Pacific Air, to Davao City in Mindanao (~$46.00) Davao was a nice place to decompress after the hustle bussle of Clark (Angeles City.) The mayor at Davao city is quite a character and has taken a hard line on petty crime and drugs. They solve the problem permanently with "neighborhood patrols." The bad guys are never heard from again. All I know is that I wandered all over the city and no one ever bothered me. I dined at an all you can eat, $1.80 buffet, featuring grilled chicken, pork, salmon, steamed fish and an aray of stews, vegetables and the everpresent steamed white rice. Beer was optional at $0.60 a bottle. Haircuts were even cheaper at $0.60 and delicious garlic roasted peanuts from street vendors were only $0.10 per serving (about one heaping shot glass.)
I met Melva, a lady that works at city hall and she told me a lot about the local situation (terrorists) politics and life in Mindanao. Basically Davao city is quite safe, western Mindanao is a bit dicy and the Sulu Islands are a no go area for foreigners, if not Christian Filippinos. For the most part, the bad guys stay out of Davao, the mayor doesn't put up with any crap. Despite the reputation of a no nonsense place, I rarely say any police and only a few military patrols. Private uniformed security guards armed with nasty, lethal looking sawed of shot guns are everywhere: outside banks, ATMs, even McDonalds and the mall, but I see that everwhere in the Philippines. Maybe Davao's "security" services are more undercover, but I just didn't see large numbers of police. But then I never witnessed violence or crimes in progress.
After seven days of wandering around Davao, I booked a Cebu Pacific Flight to Cebu Island...
At sa 'yo rin, IHateCNBC, unless it's night-time where you are.
