Shabu

With the growing movement to legalize cannabis in the United States (see November elections), its getting pretty easy to argue against the ridiculousness of making a plant illegal.  But how about so-called 'harder' drugs like heroin and methamphetamine?  Well, to paraphrase Dr. Carl Hart:  "... come out of the closet and say you used marijuana?  That sh*ts easy.  Say that you used other things as well.  And you have to do it in places where people are not friendly."  Alright, lets talk about shabu then!  If you don't already know, shabu is the drug of choice of many in the Philippines and it goes by many names:  methamphetamine, meth, crystal meth, and also Desoxyn, which is meth from Big Pharma.  Here's some quotes from three books I recently read regarding methamphetamine:  

"... most young people who become addicted to crystal meth are self-medicating other conditions:  most commonly attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), but also depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, or the effects of emotional and social dislocation.  ...[S]ome young street people who use crystal meth see it as a way of survival.  If the necessary physical, psychological, and social supports were provided, I believe it would not take long to diminish the appeal of methamphetamine and to wean the vast majority of stimulant addicts away from this harmful chemical." -- Dr. Gabor Mate, In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts

"When it comes to marijuana and the party drugs like ecstasy, up to and including cocaine, I think the harms caused by a small increase in use is plainly outweighed by the gains.  That's why I would sell them in regulated stores, like alcohol.  And with drugs like crack and meth?  I am inclined to the middle option -- allow safe regulated spaces where users can buy and take them, supervised by doctors."  -- Johann Hari, Chasing the Scream

"These medications [amphetamine (Adderall), methamphetamine (Desoxyn) and methylphenidate (Ritalin)] are often prescribed for attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), both in adults and in children.  They're also utilized for treating obesity and narcolepsy.  But although there are some cases of abuse, the vast majority of therapeutic users do not become addicted.  Indeed, there's some evidence that children given these drugs to treat attention problems are actually at lower risk of addiction later in life than those whose ADHD is not treated with medication. " -- Dr. Carl Hart, High Price 

Out of those three books, I would have to say that Chasing the Scream is my favorite.  It has so many tragic stories but also some inspiring ones.  After reading those 3 books, I needed a break from reading about drugs, so I'm now trying to finish Charles Dickens' David Copperfield.  Not as interesting.  I do have my eye on a few more books about drugs that look promising:  Maia Szalavitz's Unbroken Brain and Marc Lewis' The Biology of Desire.  So does this mean that I am addicted to books about drugs?

Trying to Understand Supporters of the War on Drugs

I recently made a comment on Boying Pimentel's article The rest of the world knows war on drugs doesn’t work, commending the author for a well-written article.  Little did I know that I would eventually engage in a "spirited" debate with a commenter named brightside.  Here it is:

Me:  Very well said, Mr. Pimentel.   

brightside:  What was well said? Are you just kidding or just like Boying? Out of touch with reality? What a waste of journalistic space.

Me:  Hello Mr. Brightside. Thanks for the comment. The reason why I said the article is well written because he presents his arguments well. He gives reasons why he thinks the war on drugs is a failure. These reasons include: 1) other countries such as Colombia have been fighting this war for 40+ years with little to show for it, 2) the drug war has created a black market for drugs that has only enriched drug lords, 3) mostly poor people are the ones being incarcerated (or killed) for low-level and non-violent drug offenses, 4) there are other more effective alternatives such as treatment, rehabilitation and even decriminalization of drug use and possession. So that's why I think its a well-written article. Of course, that's just my opinion.   

brightside :  Good you know it's just your opinion and Boying's too.

Me: No, I don't claim to be an expert on drug policy. Like Mr. Pimentel, we just see what we see and make our own conclusions, like everybody. For a drug policy expert, I would suggest listening to experts like Dr. Gabor Mate or Dr. Carl hart, a medical professional/professor from Columbia University in the US, who has studied the issue for 20+ years. You can find Dr. Hart's talk on drug policy when he visited the Philippines on the internet.

brightside: Not because it did not work in some parts of the world, more specifically in Columbia, means it will not work somewhere else. No amount of effort will matter in Columbia, because illegal drugs and its accompanying corruption have reached the highest levels of their gov't, the police and the military. Efforts, especially in the past, and up to now are more of lip service, also Columbia and other countries alike have very few other products to export and sustained their economy. Not because someone from a US university studied the matter or said so, will be taken as universally true, a colonial mentality syndrome. . . is it? 

Me: It is not just Prof. Hart who calls for a different approach. There's Pastor Pat Robertson, former Mexican president Vicente Fox and former US president Jimmy Carter, former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan. And it is not just Colombia where a war on drugs has not worked. It hasn't worked in the US, Mexico or Europe. Drug prohibition just doesn't have a very good track record. In the US, they realized this and are now allowing states to legalize or decriminalize cannabis, for example. That takes away some of the power from the drug cartels. In Switzerland, they have done programs like harm reduction. In Portugal, they have decriminalized all drugs. In 2004, they tried the drug war in Thailand, pretty much what the Philippines is doing now. Initially, it decreased drug use, but then drug use went up again anyway. Drug use has gone down in those countries that have tried a different approach (ie Portugal, Switzerland and US states like Colorado). I agree with you, that yes, its possible, that a more militant approach to the drug problem could work in the Philippines. But history has shown otherwise.

What do you think?  Who made a more convincing argument?

Photo credit:  Republicans Against Marijuana Prohibition

Raising Free Range Chickens

I've now been in the Philippines for nearly a year. What have I been up to other than talk about drug policy reform?  Well, I have been raising chickens.  I bought them after watching Dr. Erwin Cruz's video on youtube regarding free range chicken farming.  Its been 6 months since I bought them as 1 day old chicks and they're now all grown up:

We used to raise caged chickens, so we just converted the cages into nestboxes by removing the door and adding some straw:

I also built three wooden nestboxes and sometimes they lay eggs in there, but they mostly lay eggs in the cages that were converted into nestboxes:

Although 90% of the time they lay eggs in the nestboxes, there's still that 10% where they lay eggs anywhere. So that's one of the challenges right now. We have been averaging about 25-30 eggs per day out of 55 hens, so I think that means the hens are doing well.

Discussing Drug Policy with People

Here's an interesting discussion about drug policy in the Philippines that I had with a person I respect highly.  

Me:  ____, are you a believer in the Philippines' current drug policy?

Person X:  Which policy? Sacking of the police, yes. Killings, no.  [Philippine Police Chief] Bato does not subscribe to the killings.

Me:  How about drug legalization or decriminalization?  For or against?

Person X: Against, except marijuana for medical reasons

Me:  There are those, such as myself, who believe that the anti-drug campaign has created the powerful drug lords we see now.  If we legalize or at least decriminalize drugs, then we take away that power from the drug lords.  They will have no reason to exist because there will be legal, safe dispensaries such as those in Colorado.  There's also the argument that arresting people for small amounts of drugs is a waste of police resources when the police could instead be out chasing real criminals like plunderers and murderers and rapists.  What do you think of these arguments?

Person X: We used that argument in campaigning for legal medical marijuana. But I will never agree to make shabu legal.

Me: Ok, at least we agree on marijuana.  hehe.  I am also somewhat hesitant about harder drugs like shabu.  However, the alternative is that the drug users will shoot up drugs no matter what.  They're addicted.  So what they end up doing is sharing needles which leads to high cases of HIV.  Drug policy should be dictated by health experts, not law enforcement.  That's my take.  

Pahabol.  hehe.  With shabu, perhaps what could be done is do what Portugal does -- decriminalize drug use.  The drug offender would be fined instead of jailed and he/she would undergo rehab.  Make it an administrative issue, not a criminal issue.  The jails are already filled to the brim with non-violent drug offenders, waiting years for their case.  That doesn't seem right.

The bright side of this debate is that a medical marijuana bill has been filed in the Philippine Congress, which I think is a step in the right direction.

Shout out to NoBox Transitions Foundation, Inc. for this graphic:  

Can I Talk About This?

Yes, I can! Although that could change if a certain politician were elected president. More on that below.

One of the advantages of no longer being a Peace Corps volunteer is that I can now talk about controversial topics like politics and drug legalization with the locals. As they say, "Be careful what you wish for." My newsfeed is now inundated with political news for the upcoming Philippine election everyday. It can be a little overwhelming. I long for the days when every third story in my newsfeed would be about Pia Wurtzbach, the reigning Miss Universe from the Philippines. Ah, the good old days. Anyway, here's some of my thoughts on two local issues:

1) The Duterte Phenomenon -- it doesn’t matter that he has a terrible human rights record, that he makes terrible jokes about rape, or that he seems to be hiding millions of pesos he didn’t declare. People still love him. I don’t get it. Even some human rights advocates are turning a blind eye to Duterte’s record, which allowed death squads to kill suspected criminals, some turning out to be minors or people mistaken for suspects or just innocent bystanders. With only a few days left before election, I am wary of his possible election because he’s basically the second coming of Ferdinand Marcos. Wait, some people actually want that, so maybe that explains part of his appeal. My only hope is that if he does become president, he does not use death squads (murder, after all, is against the law), gives suspects due process and also that he respect democracy (ie he does not declare martial law). Hey, call me an optimist.

2) Drug Legalization -- much of Duterte’s popularity stems from his supposed crackdown on drug trafficking in Davao, by, well, allowing the death squad to murder suspected traffickers. I think this is entirely the wrong approach when it comes to drugs. Let’s face it. Everyone knows that the drug war is a big failure. Take the case of marijuana, for example.  In the US, many states have now legalized marijuana for medical or recreational use. Even the ‘nerdy’ guy who hosts Rick Steves’ Europe, conveniently named Rick Steves, believes that legalizing marijuana is the right way to go. As Willie Nelson says, “Tax it. Regulate it. Legalize it.” Props to Cong. Chungalao of Ifugao province for realizing this hard truth 5 years ago when he introduced legislation calling for the legalization of medical marijuana. He was ahead of his time. Its not too late for the Philippines to realize this hard truth as well. This is the bandwagon they should join.

Forever(pa)more Observations

I've been in the Philippines for nearly six months, so naturally, my update is about a Pinoy soap opera called Forevermore.  I've been busy with farming/gardening as well as raising chickens and I also have some random observations about the Philippines since moving back, but maybe I'll post about those later.  In the meantime, here's some observations about a soap opera set in my hometown:

Disclaimer: I’ve only watched the first 30 episodes.

1) The truck owned by the Calay’s has an Igorotak sticker. Cool.

2) Cool also that they sometimes speak Ilokano.

3) More cool stuff: the two main characters did a native dance with what appears to be Ibaloi garb.

4) The show is pretty funny, e.g. lines from Mang Bangky.

5) ‘Mang Bubs’ sounds like ‘man boobs’.

6) The ethnic group of the farming family is ambiguous. It seems like they’re Ibaloi, but its unclear.  I wonder if that's intentional on the part of the producers. 

7) Its pretty funny that everytime someone is having a conversation in the show, there’s a 90% chance that someone will happen to overhear the conversation. Probably a standard soap technique.

8) Although occasionally corny and over the top (hey, its a soap), this show is pretty good. I was originally going to joke that it looks like that the verbal abuse of the director must’ve paid off. But then, it turns out the verbal abuse was only directed towards the extras.

9) The theme song sounds like Cat Stevens ‘The First Cut is the Deepest’.

10) The best thing about the show, of course -- it was shot in Baguio.

La Conclusión

A more-or-less English translation of this post is here.  

Bueno.  Ahora, estoy en Berkeley, California, menos de una semana antes de salir del país para ir a las Filipinas.  Quiero empezar a trabajar allá acerca del ambiente.  Intentaré lo que yo aprendí durante mis tres años en El Cuerpo de Paz.  Vamos a ver!  Pero que estaba haciendo yo antes?

1)  Viajando a Través de los Estados Unidos -- Después del fin de mi servicio en Panamá, yo viajaba a través de los EE.UU. solo por la tierra (el bus, tren, o carro), sin volando.  Entonces, comenzando en Washington, D.C., yo viajaba a través de los estados unidos por casi tres semanas.  Además de Washington, D.C., yo visité mis amigos (y un primo) en Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Michigan, New Mexico, Arizona y California.  Fue muy divertido de hablar de nuevo cara a cara con ellos después de mucho tiempo. 

2)  Foto del Servicio -- Mi foto más favorito:

Durante un evento ambiental en el pueblo cercano de Las Minas

3)  La Canción del Día

Los Wilburys Viajando -- La Final de la Línea

4)  Las Noticias de Camerún -- es una noticia interesante sobre la bolsa plástica en Camerún, haciendo un mercado negro de ellos.  Parece como un artículo de Onion, pero es verdad.

5)  Lo Único Tienda de Cero Basura en Los Estados Unidos --  ¿Sabe que hay solo una tienda de Cero Basura en los estados unidos? Está en Texas, de todos los lugares.  Si yo sabría durante mis viajes, yo lo visitaría. 

6)  Eso es un poco embarazoso -- recientemente, yo envié aparentemente los solicitudes de amistad por Facebook, pero yo no sabía como.  Entonces, lo siento a las personas que los recibieron.  Pienso que yo lo hice cuando yo no estaba acostumbrando con mi teléfono inteligente. ¿Qué?  ¿Tengo un teléfono inteligente?

7)  Ahora tengo telefono inteligente -- yo decía mucho que yo no prefiera tener un teléfono inteligente.  Pero yo veo que es una buena herramienta, porque lo veo como un computador.  Antes, yo no lo querría por que necesito cargarlo casi cada día.  Pero es lo mismo con el computador.  Ahora yo uso el computador menos que antes.  El teléfono inteligente ha remplazado mi computador.  Es bueno también durante mis viajes.  No necesito sacar mi computadora solo para usar el Wifi para comunicar con mis amigos por e-mail o cualquier cosa. 

8)  No lo sabía -- en la ciudad de Baguio, se produce 360 a 370 toneladas de basura cada día.  También, hay grupos allá que hacen lo mismo proyectos como Panamá.  Finalmente, SM, el gran centro comercial, hizo una relación publico acerca del ambiente. 

¡Ya!

1)  Craigslist Baguio -- There is no craigslist Baguio, which makes me wonder what website the locals use to sell their stuff, find jobs, etc.

2)  Things I Didn't Know -- "If it is a permanent body of water (such as a lake or pond), it is much less likely to be a source of mosquitoes than if it were a temporary body of water such as a puddle."  

3)  Coin Bag

The one on the left I bought in Mexico, the one on the right I made by using plastic grocery bags.

4)  Brindis -- a sad day at the office as we said goodbye to our student interns, who are now headed to university:

Good luck to them all!

5)  News Articles Recommended By Me -- I can't decide which story is more incredible: the one about the lady who produced zero trash in 2 years or the guy who survived falling 11 stories from a building.  Ok, probably the guy surviving the fall is more incredible, but the story about the zero-waste lady is still pretty cool. 

¡Alla La Vida!

1)  Spanish Subtitles -- Lately I've been watching TV shows or movies without Spanish subtitles.  Its time for me to stop relying on subtitles.  There's no subtitles in real life.  Either I understand it or I don't.  I need to figure it out for myself. 

2)  Cardio for the day -- planting plantains with some students:

3)  Songs to air drum to -- Rancid's Journey to the End of the East Bay, Smashing Pumpkin's Cherub Rock, U2's All I Want is You (the live version), The Police's Every Little Thing She Does is Magic.  I need to meet a drum teacher in town.  Supposedly, there's one who plays at church. 

4)  Three News Articles -- A short history of the media and the Washington team, the D-bag (former) tour guide, and an eco-friendly wedding.  Also, the headline (Reuse, Recycle, Romance) couldn't be any better. 

5)  Possible careers in the Philippines -- start a recycling business, teach people how to make recycled crafts, sell recycled crafts, teach (Latin American) Spanish or French (with a Cameroonian accent), teach English to Koreans (or other foreigners), and of course, Peace Corps. 

Sabado Cinco

1)  PC cars -- I had blogged a while back about how PC vehicles should be more environmentally friendly and lo and behold, PC is starting to recruit applicants with a Smart car.  Its a start, I suppose. 

2)  Question of the Day -- How do you find a job in the Philippines (let alone a job in one's field), a country that is known more for exporting human labor than for creating jobs? 

3)  Béisbol -- hehey.  Giants are back in the World Series.  They must be doing something right.  I generally root for the A's, because of their underdog story, with Moneyball being one of my favorite books.  But the A's always falter in the playoffs.  So my 2nd favorite team will have to be the Giants.  Why not?  The Bay Area has been kind of a 2nd home for me. 

4)  Recycled Laptop Case -- my counterpart can make coin purses out of candy wrappers/potato chip bags, but I wanted to make a laptop case using the same material.  I searched online and, of course, its already been done.  But what the heck, I want one, so I'll just make my own with the help of my counterpart:

A few more days (and a bunch more potato chip bags) and it should be done.

5)  Salud!

As Robin Hood once said with a US accent: 
 "We have much to celebrate."

Siete

1)  Quote of the day -- "The NFL has had an inappropriate language penalty in its rule book, and this year is having officials enforce it with an emphasis on eliminating racial slurs."   Unless of course when the racial slur is also the name of an NFL team. 

2)  Currently reading -- the Spanish version of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (La Cámara Secreta).  Vocab that I learned in the book that I'll probably never use in real life:  pergamino, which means parchment. 

3)  Advantage of a dumb phone -- my dumb phone has this really cool app, where I only need to charge my phone once and it lasts for 3-4 days.  Its pretty cool. 

4)  Floyd Mayweather -- I watched a Mayweather fight for the first time several weeks ago.  The one against Maidano.  Man, that was a boring fight.  I can see now how Mayweather has had such a long career.  Then again, if it wasn't boring, then somebody was probably getting their head bashed in.  Ah, boxing. 

5)  A Day at the Office

Come Visit Me. Yes.  Here.  In Panama.

 6)  Cameroonian English -- I was wearing a shirt from Cameroon that said "Join us improve the environment" and a counterpart was reading it out loud, trying to learn English.  I told him its probably not a good idea to learn English from that shirt. 

7)  Just Like Lebron -- Talked to my mom last night.  Looks like I'll be moving back to the Philippines next year after I finish my service in Panama.  Not sure how useful a TEFL certificate would be over there.  Probably not very. 

The PI and Cameroon

Just got back from the Philippines where I saw many similarities with Cameroon.

1)  They both sell a lot of things in small, plastic packets in small boutiques (or sari sari stores).  Everything is apparently the opposite of buying in bulk -- whether its coffee, flavoring mixes (maggi cubes in Cameroon or sinigang mixes in the PI), detergent, etc.  Every ten feet, there's one of these boutiques.  Now if the PI would just get their heads together and sell hard liquor in small plastic packets…

 2)  They both have great hikes to mountains -- Mt. Cameroon and Mt. Pulag.  The difference is that Mt. Pulag seems better maintained and not as trashed.  It may have something to do with more conscientious hikers.  We had to watch an orientation video at the visitor center before our hike, advising us not to trash the mountain.  I'm not saying that was the reason Mt. Pulag seemed better maintained, but it may have helped. 

3)  Speaking of trash, they both burn their trash.  They both, however, reuse their beer/soda bottles, so I suppose that's something.  I did see some locations in the PI that separated their trash into recyclables, trash, organics, etc.  I didn't see any recycling facilities however. 

4)  They both have merchants who walk the streets selling their goods.

5)  They were both colonized by European countries white people -- Cameroon by the French, English and Germans and the PI by Spain and the US. Colonial mentality is still alive and well in the Philippines as evidenced by its skin whitener billboards. 

This post was written in honor of my blogging buddies, Marj and Bill:

Photo right before the hike to Mt. Pulag. 

Vegetarian Food Trip

According to Lonely Planet's latest travel guide for the Philippines, vegetarians will have a hard time in "meat-mad Philippines". I've found that to be generally true. There are some places though where one can find vegetarian food. One such place is Greens, where I had lunch with Bill and his friend Gina Dizon:
Located on Scout Castor Road in Quezon City, Green's is a vegetarian restaurant that has all the typical Filipino dishes. Instead of using meat, however, they use meat-substitutes. For instance, I ordered their sisig dish which was made from tofu, I believe:
It was actually pretty good. Meanwhile, Bill ordered this appetizer of chicharon made from wheat:
Overall, the food at this restaurant was pretty good. I might try it again if I'm ever back in QC.

Another restaurant I tried was Ziggurat located on Makati Ave in Makati. Ziggurat isn't strictly vegetarian but they do have some vegetarian dishes. I figured I oughta check this place out since Lonely Planet recommended it. Another reason to check it out? It was right next to the place where I was staying. hehe. Ziggurat serves Middle Eastern, African, Mediterranean and Indian food. Although they have an impressive looking menu with a big selection, not all the dishes listed are necessarily available. For instance, I was going to try the vegetarian moussaka but all they had was the regular moussaka which had beef. Since I've never had moussaka before, I figured I'd give it a try. The dish wasn't bad. The place also had vegetarian shawarma which was ok. The onions were a bit too raw for me.

Overall, the food at Ziggurat was just ok. The location leaves much to be desired especially with a laundromat located nearby that seemed to be spilling some of its water onto the street creating a not-so-aromatic scent. One dish I probably won't try again is their Vegetarian Gluten Curry. My stomach didnt' agree with it shortly after I ate it. I decided to drink green tea to calm my stomach and it seemed to do the trick. Not sure if it was the tea that calmed my stomach, but I wanted to drink a mango shake and I'm sure that the tea was a better option in this case. hehe

Technorati tags: vegetarian food, Philippines

Ilocano Lesson via Meme

I am half-Kankanay, an ethno-linguistic group that has roots in Sagada, Bontoc and Mountain Province. However, my Kankanay language skills are very poor. So to get in touch with my Kankanay side, I am trying to learn the language. Nevermind that I can't even speak "proper" Tagalog. Some may say I should master one language first before working on another. But I think there's nothing wrong with being mediocre in both languages. hehehe. ;) Anyway, since Kankanay is related to Ilocano as shown in the following chart from the book Ilocano Dictionary and Grammar by Carl Rubino, I figure that I will try to learn a little Ilocano:

I figure that learning Ilocano will help me in eventually learning Kankanay. Thus, I will answer a "middle-names meme" from Major Tom by using Ilocano words.

The rules:

1. State your middle name. If it’s too long or not sounding so good, then think about the name you wish you had as a middle name. And use that, of course.

2. For each letter of the middle name stated in Rule #1, write a specific trait or characteristic of your person and elaborate reasonably.

3. If you had five letters in such name, tag the same number of bloggers. Like if that name has seven letters, then seven other bloggers. If such name has one letter, then tag that one single blogger. Now wait, I don’t think that middle names—or any name for that matter—could probably have one single letter on it. But who knows, some names might just be like that, like Mr.X, or Mr.Y. We got a lot of names like that back in my accounting subjects in college, Mr. M owes this much, Mrs. Q earns this much, and so on and so forth.

4. There is no Rule #4 so might as well go on.

Instead of using English words, I will use Ilocano words for the initials to describe myself. Another thing though is that I don't really like my middle name. Fortunately, the rules say I can choose a middle name if I don't like my given middle name. Thus, I choose "Danger" since "danger" is my middle name. haha. That joke is from the movie Austin Powers, of course. hehehe. So here's the Ilocano words that describe a little bit about myself from the initials of my chosen middle name:

Dayaw - with the root word "dayaw" meaning honor or glory, the word "manangdaydayaw" means respectful. I try to be respectful of other people even if we don't agree on certain things. That should be a given, no? ;)

Álus - used, second hand. I rarely shop for clothes, but when I do, I usually buy them at thrift or second-hand stores.

Nadalimpako - wavy or curly hair. As I stated in a prior post, I once had wavy hair. I still do. Just not as many. ;)

Gadang - with the root word "gádang" meaning either wading, short pants or shallow, the word "magadang" means shallow, water not reaching the waist. Although I can swim, I don't like swimming in the ocean if its deep. In fact, I've never swam in deep ocean water. I prefer swimming in the ocean if it's shallow.

Étika - This is actually borrowed from the Spanish word for ethics. Most of the words in my Ilocano dictionary that start with 'e' are derived from Spanish words. Anyway, I choose this word because although I have my inner struggles like everyone else, I still try to lead an ethical life.

Raém - polite. Another given. Example from the book: Raementayo kuma ti pammatida a kas met ti panagraemda ti pammatitayo. Translation: We should respect their beliefs as they respect ours.

Now how to use the other 5 Ilocano words in an actual Ilocano sentence is another story. hehe. So there you have it. An attempt to learn Ilocano via a meme. I just need to do this meme several hundred more times with different Ilocano words and I should be a fluent Ilocano speaker in no time. hehe. Now, according to the rules, I now have to tag 6 bloggers, the same number of letters in the middle name. Thus, I'm tagging the first 6 commenters of this post who have yet to be tagged by this meme. If you don't have a blog, then just reply to this post with your middle-name meme. ;)

Technorati tags: meme, Ilocano

Final Thoughts on my Vacation

I've pretty much posted the highlights of my Philippine vacation. Now for some random thoughts about my trip:

1) The Philippines is still obsessed with looking white (i.e. skin whiteners). Here's some billboards I saw in Manila :

Is this colonial mentality or what? Although I have to point out that I only saw these ads in Manila, not in any other city I visited. So I don't know if I can attribute this "wanting to look like a white person" phenomenon to the entire Philippines.

2) Discrimination is still rampant. Here's an example of a typical job ad from a Baguio newspaper with height, age, and of course, the "pleasing personality" requirement:


Do you really need an age or height requirement when working the front desk? C'mon, just have them sit or stand on a couple of books if they're short. :D Meanwhile, at this Manila establishment, they don't mince words:

What's an unattractive person to do? hehe. Can you imagine being rejected for this job? "Miss, you've got all the qualifications, but unfortunately.... well, you're not easy on the eyes." hahaha. Well, at least the restaurant didn't require the waitress to have a "pleasing personality." :D

3) Fireworks....annoying fireworks. I became annoyed at all the people setting firecrackers near our house in Baguio and leaving their trash everywhere.

I suppose this graphic poster of severed fingers they had posted at the sari-sari stores wasn't enough to deter the revelers from playing with fireworks:

I'm not trying to be KJ, as they say in the Philippines, but some of these fireworks ARE illegal and dangerous. I did see a headline the next day that there were 600 fireworks-related injuries. So much for that graphic poster.

4) Nothing beats relaxing around a bonfire with a few drinks. Here's one where I drank hard liquor around a bonfire, but didn't get drunk. The liquor was only 65 proof. :D
We had to move the hard liquor b/c it was a little too close to the fire. ;)

6) The export of human labor continues. Yet another relative has left to work overseas as a nurse. I have another relative studying nursing. I think she already has a degree in another field. Is the Philippines always going to be an exporter of human labor? Will there ever be a time when people will consider the Philippines as the one with "greener pastures"?

7) Tough jobs....there's a lot of them in the Philippines. Some of these tough jobs include vendors (whether it's chicharon or peanuts or sweets,etc.) on buses or those prawn vendors along the highway who advertise their product by holding up the prawn as you whiz by them on the highway. Other jobs are unofficial. For example, kids will flag taxis for you but expect some sort of tip. Probably one of the toughest jobs I saw was the restroom or comfort room (CR) attendees at bus stops who collect 1 or 2 pesos from riders who use the bathroom. If I had that job, I wouldn't even touch the coins. I'd just tell them to put it in a box or something. And if they ask for change, I would just let them use the CR for free. ;)

Well, I guess that's all I have to say about my trip. Looks like I can get rid of this sim card I bought in Manila... won't be needing it anymore:
I had a blast. As Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz once said, "There's no place like home." Too bad I won't be back for a while. Yan ang buhay ng Fil-Am .... or Amboy, as someone once called me. ;)

Technorati tags: Baguio, Philippines, skin whitener, discrimination, firecrackers

Pinoy Show Biz

A few months back, my cousin told me about this game show in the Philippines called Starstruck, an American Idol knock-off. Anyway, there was some controversy when a contestant made some derogatory comments about a fellow contestant, who was an Igorot. The guy eventually apologized, probably b/c he was swamped with complaints by all the Igorots from around the world. Strange how people still make ignorant comments about ethnic groups they don't know anything about. Anyway, when I heard about this, I looked it up on the internet and found another Pinoy in Show biz who also made derogatory comments about Igorots. This one involved Lucy Torres, a very European-looking Pinoy. I didn't find much info on the controversy involving her though b/c, as my cousin later told me, it occurred back sometime in 1999. Seems like there's no shortage of Pinoys in show biz making ignorant comments about Igorots. I'm half-Igorot myself so I would probably be offended if I heard those comments, but I'm over in the states and perhaps the only friction b/w Pinoys here is maybe the one b/w American-born Pinoys versus the FOBS, of which I'm a member. As Rodney King once said, "Can't we just all get along?" Sorry, Mr. King, no such luck. ;)

Anyway, while I was looking up info on Ms. Torres, I stumbled upon a Korean girl working in Pinoy show business. Her name is Sandara Park and her story fascinates me. She moved to the Philippines when she was 8 and became famous during her teen years after an appearance on a Pinoy reality TV show. What's weird is that South Korea obviously has a better economy than the Philippines and yet it looks like she prefers to work in the Philippines, probably b/c she's in the limelight and practically spent her formative years there. There's a switch: an overseas non-Filipino worker in the Philippines. Who'd have thunk? Well, I guess since the Philippines is exporting all their human labor overseas, the Philippines should at least get one foreigner who wants to work in the Philippines. After all, the Philippines does have a shortage of Show Biz entertainers. haha.

Fun with Taglish

Taglish, aka Tagalog plus English, always cracks me up. Here's some funny Taglish sentences I've heard lately. If you're the one who said the following, don't get offended. Jino joke ko lang...hehe.....

1) Ginugood time mo lang ako.
Translation: You're just having a good time with me.
2) Sinesend ko ang letter.
Translation: I'm sending the letter.
3) Jina judge namin.
Translation: We're judging it.

For more about Taglish, check out this link from Wikipedia.