Manila bound

[S/V Elusive]

Some one should tell those nice folk displaying the American flag, that the stars in field of blue go to the top LEFT

[Knottygirlz]

Originally Posted by sbuff

I was priviledged to be able to share the photos with my grandmother's hubby within a year of his death, as he was in the Philippines when they fell, and then was part of the occupation forces after WWII ended.

The tour we were on had about 120 people and we were devided into 5 buses, 1 for the Japanese and 4 of the rest of us. Our non-Japanese group were mostly younger, westerners. The Japanese group were much older, though. Many of them in wheelchairs. I was in awe seeing 2 sides of the history observing it at the same time.....Anyhow, one of my lasting memories of this trip will be the older lady in a wheelchair struggling to get up and falling to the ground outside of the tunnel to light inscence as a sign of respect to those who died serving their country.

Originally Posted by sbuff

If I may, the food in the PI is fine. I ate it for 10 months, every day, drank the water, never had a problem. And remember, all those folks suggesting the rum? If you drink rum "neat", that's one thing. If you drink it like most people, with Coke or some other mixer, you will get it with ice. What is ice? Frozen local water. Emphasis on local. Don't be too afraid of the water, unless out in the Barrios, or where there are no commercial establishments.

I agree! I have been here 3 weeks wthout any problems from the food or drink. Many of the group I am with will not drink fountain drinks or even juice or coffee from our hotel because it may be made with water! A little bit of common sense goes a long way. Fast food restaurants (Mcdonalds, Burger King, Pizza Hut) are very common here, but the flavour is different. This frustrates them. The only thing that I really miss is relish on my hamburger!

This is my last full wekend in the Philippines. Tonight we have an office celebration to attend and tomorrow we will spend the day about 3 hours south of Manila at a park. Tuesday we are visiting a volcano and then back to Work on Wednesday. I will leave next Saturday knowing that I have only seen a very small part of the beauty of the Philippines, but hope to come back some day to see much more!

Lori

[Canibul]

my experience has been that people who travel around a lot tend not to get nearly as many intestinal problems from food and water as people who spend their whole lives in one area and then make The Big Trip to someplace foreign. Their systems dont develop whatever it is that kills the bugs.

I picked up a tapeworm in Brazil, had it for about 6 months before I found some MDs in the US who knew how to handle it ( San Diego). It actually wasnt a bad pet, I lost several pounds while I had it. Nice and quiet, goes where you go, eats what you eat...doesnt annoy the neighbors...
I wont go into the details of getting rid of it, but it was worse than having it, almost.

[delmarrey]

Lori and all,

I was only mildly hit twice eating out there and once was from the Pizza Hut. What it does come down to is the water that is use to clean, cook and make ice. A bacterium grows real fast in the tropics. The slightest little bit can develop into a batch in no time at all.

The routine in our family household is to dip the dishes and utensils in boiling water just before a meal. And all water that is consumed comes from bottled sources (coffee, tea and other food items). Brushing the teeth is even done with bottled water.

Every time one puts something in their mouth or even rubs their eyes they have to think about where it came from. Once one lives there for a while one can build up immunities to most of the bacteria's.

My wife is Filipina and she is still fighting a rash she picked up while there. "Awareness" is the key factor in staying healthy in a Petri dish.

Originally Posted by S/V Elusive

Some one should tell those nice folk displaying the American flag, that the stars in field of blue go to the top LEFT

I noticed the flag as well. But I've come to realize that the Filipino's do everything opposite of us. I guess it's being so close to the equator


Even the vowels are pronounced different then ours (a,e,i,o,u). That's why their English is so EZ to define as Philippine. They even use "k" in place of a "c".

And the Tagalog language is more memorization of phrases then the assembly of words, like the English language. In English one can mix up the words and it still makes some since. But mix up the words in Tagalog and it means something completely different.

So when my wife tells me something I can pretty much assume she means the opposite
.................................................. ............._/)

The Manila Yacht Club

[Knottygirlz]

After 3 flights and some 27 hours, I arrived home last night. Although i am very happy to be home again, I have to admit the beauty of the Philippines and the people there will stay with me for a very long time.

This trip has also put that side of the world back on our cruising radar for our retirement. If I get to go back for business I hope that I can bring Rick with me, even if it is only for a couple of weeks......I only saw a small amount of what the country has to offer in the 4 weeks I was there and I know he would enjoy and appreciate the country as much as I did.

Lori

[S/V Elusive]

Welcome back Lori! Thank you for the mini-tours and descriptions.

[delmarrey]

Welcome back to this cooollllllllllll place. ..............._/)

Welcome back Lori. Glad the trip was so enjoyable.

[Alan Wheeler]

Welcome Home Lori. And not a moment too soon may I add. Your man has been through his own wars the last couple of days and needs something more than just a hugg. ;-)

[Knottygirlz]

Thanks for te welcome back's....The <much> cooler temperatures felt pretty good when I first arrived back...now I'm not so sure! Jet lag is near killing me and I spent most of yesterday either sleeping or lounging. I did manage to make a home-cooked meal, (spaghetti and meatballs) and even the cat enjoyed that! Rick did an excellent job getting the house ship-shape for my return and has been getting the appropriate amount of spoiling since I got home. I'm not sure how much he likes the spoiling that happens at 3:00 am when I can't sleep, but what can he do??

I was appraised of the situation here on the way home from the airport. The timing of events was bad in that things could not be discussed before action was taken. Shadow is rather bad at giving another perspective. In any case what is done is done. I now need to reflect on my own participation on this board as I would definitely be considered 'fluff' with no professional attributes related to cruising and definitely few real knowledgeable things to write about. I see this forum as a community, though and one that I really enjoy being a part of.

On the bright side, Rick delayed pulling the boat so that we could have one last cruise together. We will do that this afternoon, then pull the boat for the season. Out afternoon on the water will make most everything stressful slip away with the wind. That will do both of us a world of good.

Lori

[Alan Wheeler]

I for one am glad you participate Lori. I think we need more "fluff" here if that is what you want to call it. There is no where near enough females participating, especially the ones that are new and no nothing of sailing/boating. I mean, how are we guy's supposed to look important and knowledgable if we have no one to spout off our experiance too. It affects our ego's you know. Then next thing you know, two blokes end up in an argument and and an eye gets poked out and..... :-)

Lori, You aren't getting away that easy