The sadistic streak in the young steward of Starlite Pacific ferry boat must have been on overdrive during the Feb. 3 afternoon trip from Caticlan in Aklan to Roxas in Mindoro Oriental.
The sea was a little rough with the northeast monsoon wind and we, new RoRo (roll on –roll off) travelers, were trying hard to calm down our nervousness with silent prayers. We were glad when the television set was turned on for a movie. At least that would distract our attention from the tossing that the waves was subjecting the ferry boat, we told ourselves.
But our anticipation for a diversion was turned to dismay when we saw the familiar scenes of the movie “Titanic.”
I asked a crewmember to please change the movie. I saw him talk to the steward but “Titanic” continued unfolding on the screen. I called another crew members and begged him to “please be considerate of the feelings of your passengers.”
I saw him talk with the steward who gave out a sheepish smile. He changed the movie into “The Greatest Game Ever Played” , the inspiring story of golfer Francis Quimet. That was good.
After the “The Greatest Game Ever Played”, we had three more hours to go and the steward put on another DVD. It was “The Perfect Storm.”
As the waves tossed the Starlite ferry boat, the TV screen was showing George Clooney’s Andrea Gail being battered by the storm.
A nervous mother behind me was telling her daughters to close their eyes and sleep. I saw the steward and another crewmember laughing perhaps over our anxiety and helplessness.
The sadism was unbelievable in a business that offers public convenience. I can’t imagine an airline reminding passengers about the horrors of plane crashes with movies like “Fearless” or “Alive” for their in-flight entertainment.
We survived the five-hour boat trip but that was one needless disincentive for nautical highway travel the government is trying to promote. It does not detract, though, from the advantages of traveling by RoRo ships. Roro vessels, by the way, are designed to carry wheeled cargo such as buses, cars, trailers. They have built-in ramps which allow the cargo to be efficiently “rolled on” and “rolled off” the vessel when in port.
Tha nautical highway route offers cheaper travel. For me to go home to our place in Antique by air, I would have to go through Iloilo. The Manila-Iloilo regular fare is P4,000 plus, one way. I would still have to take a 3-hour bus ride from Iloilo to our barrio in Guisijan.Through the nautical highway, fare in an air-conditioned bus from Alabang to Antique is only P1,129.
However, while by plane I reach our place in Guisijan in Antique in five hours, travel by nautical highway from Alabang to near our house in Guisijan takes at least 20 hours. From Alabang, it’s two-and-half hours bus ride to Batangas port. From there, two- and- a- half hours ferry ride to Calapan, Mindoro Oriental. Then, three-hour bus ride to Roxas, Mindoro Oriental. A three- hour wait for the ferry boat to arrive, then five-hour by sea to Caticlan, Aklan. From Caticlan, three hours by bus to our place. The route is reversed back to Manila.
There are a number of bus companies that ply the nautical highway. I took “Dimple Star” because it has a terminal station in Alabang. When I bought my ticket, I was assigned a seat which was observed strictly from Alabang. On my return trip, however, it was first-come-best-seat practice.
Also, we had to step over sacks of rice that line the aisle every time we get off and get on the bus. Bus companies should accept baggage that can only fit their cargo compartment. It’s unfair to lump sacks of rice with passengers. Also, toilet facilities along the route should be improved.
Since there are long idle hours, books and MP3 player are good traveling companions. While waiting (for three hours) at Caticlan for the Starlite ferry, I was reading Carmen Guerrero Nakpil’s “Myself, Elsewhere.”
I found fascinating Mrs. Nakpil’s narrations of her childhood out-of-town family vacations to Antipolo: “We wore country clothes, balintawak, and camisa chino, cotton shirts with bright overskirts, transparent blouses and scarves for women, and the immemorial collarless baro with the printed scarf woven by the men. And bakya! I fussed over the adorable, red pair bought for me, but alas, I had been so urbanized that I could not walk in them and quickly lost every single pair struck in the clayey soil. Good! I could go barefoot.”
Just then MV Virgin Mary arrived and disgorged a group of city excursionists to Boracay. It was interesting to see the contrast between the nostalgic country scene described so beautifully by Mrs. Nakpil and denim -clad , sandal-shod teenagers in backpacks parading before me. Many of the girls wore spaghetti strapped blouses with batik scarves over their shoulders.
If only the Starlite Pacific ferry crew would be more considerate of the feelings of their passengers, travelling via the nautical highway can be an interesting experience.
Whew! “The Manila-Iloilo regular fare is P4,000 plus, one way.” That’s not cheap. A total of P8,OOO or US$160, am I right?
Airfare from Charleroi (outside Brussels) to Dublin will cost somewhere between 29 and 60 Euros or roughly US$40 to US$90.
Ellen, am laughing as I read the titles of the films those jerks were showing to the passengers – sorry, it’s sooo absurdly funny.
Tell you, I would have raised hell right there and then had I been on board and if that didn’t work, no lodging of formal complaint from me – would ask my SWAG friends to teach the captain a lesson or two.
a friend told me, Jay why don’t you wear colored shades so you see what happens in our country in a more baeutiful way?
Ellen, at least you have experienced world class travel, first world service by our countrymen, who acts differently when working overseas. They are afraid to be fired and sent home.
I am not surprised, that’s RO-RO (not gago) was a personal project in honor of a dear relative.
It’s that way because gloria’s project are sediments of corruption and a way to punish a stupid people.
Ellen
I know the waters of Tablas Channel, I used to cross that in big pumpboats with nothing but a basketball (for floating just in case) and black socks so sharks won’t be attracted by my white talampakan (don’t know the English word).
Ellen this is not a good time to travel by sea to Visayas or Mindanao.
sori ellen, slip of the mind, you are NOT
stupid. Only a few perhaps who to gloria don’t get it. Malabo pa rin. bahala ka na. Kinulang ang vocabulary ko.
Ellen,
Anne Marie Pamintuan enumerated the tourist takes of practically every country around the Philippines and was disgruntled to see that Pinas lags behind with something like 2.8 million tourists for 2006.
She asks, “Okay, we don’t have Angkor Wat and the constant endorsement of Angelina Jolie. But what other attractions do our neighbors have that we don’t?”
Poor Pamintuan, she’s out of her depth. Beautiful mountains, historical places, white-sand beaches, nice resorts, magnificent landscapes, etc are not enough to attract BONA-FIDE tourists who can’t go to those places because the country lacks the essentical infrastructure, good transport systems, hospitable airports, ports, tourism centers in each area of interest and most of all: world impression that there’s EXTREMELY BAD LAW & ORDER in Pinas.
My friends, my family and myself prefer to go to Langkawi, Cherating, Penang and even to Malacca than to Pinas because when you fly from Europe to spend the little time you have on a white sandy beach (for only a week or 10 days at most), you don’t want the hassle of getting bogged down in god-forsaken places because of lack of transport and more, at least in Malaysia, we are guaranteed that law and order in these places are ain’t as bad as law and order in Pinas, not at all!
Manila alone is a disaster. Traffic just go to a virtual stop on the Edsa-Ortigas junction for hours!
European tourists could be the best source of tourism dollars that Pinas needs because we have mandatory paid holidays here and in August, Europe is literally at a standstill because Europeans go away on holiday but they’d rather go anywhere else in Asia except in Pinas.
Like I said in the above, Europeans don’t have all the time in the world to spend getting bogged down in road traffic, airport jams, inhospitable airports and extremely poor sea ports, etc.
Quite an experience Ellen. I remember how I spent my summers going all over the islands. Maraming sites to see. Ilocos alone boasts of the most scenic sites I have ever seen. Batanes is an idyllic place to visit. Sulu is worth visiting, its actually peaceful. Boracay to me has been too commercialized. Palawan is the the place to be but boy, be ready to bust your wallet. There a multitude of sites for tourists to enjoy.
The problem is that some Filipinos have forgotten that we are a hospitable people. I cannot imagine those stewards mocking the paying passengers. Its good that the crowd was too busy thinking of surviving the trip than ganging up on these callous stewards and throwing them overboard.
Hahahahah! “Its good that the crowd was too busy thinking of surviving the trip than ganging up on these callous stewards and throwing them overboard.”
PV,
I would have done that. I’ve taken ships going around the country, I never met such personnel with total disregard for ts passengers.
yan ang isang sakit ng pinoy. walang malasakit kapag hindi niya kamag-anak o kakilala. sa kabilang banda, kung kakilala niya si ellen o sino man sa pasahero, siguradong first class ang trato.
——————————–
jay cynikho: “Ellen, at least you have experienced world class travel, first world service by our countrymen, who acts differently when working overseas. They are afraid to be fired and sent home”.
jay, sa palagay ko, hindi sila takot mapauwi. ang mga overseas workers ay masisipag kaya nga sila umalis ng pinas para umunlad ang sarili. kaya ang mga naiiwan sa pilipinas karamihan ay katulad ng naranasan ni ellen at katulad ng mga nakita ko noong umuwi ako last december 06. wala pa ring disiplina ang mga tao.
I believe you Schumey and the right thing to do too – if after an ultimatum guys still don’t see the danger, then they would deserve being thrown overboard.
PV,
It would have been fun seeing these stewards scared sh*tless. A dose of their own medicine.
Ellen,
Traders often use the bus to transport their goods as renting a truck would cost more. But still, its the bus company’s prerogative to refuse this cargo.
Ate Ellen
Some correction lang sa places you passed by. Calapan, which is now a city, is in Oriental Mindoro, not Occidental. Roxas is a town in Oriental Mindoro.
It’s a nice experience to be traveling, island hopping in our own country. In another thread, I wrote a travelogue in my recent travel to Bicolandia. People in the rural areas are mostly polite, always smiling to strangers and helpful. Kung may masamang paguugali ng ilang Pinoy, nababasa at napapanood din naman namin dito sa Pilipinas na there are also same kind abroad. I wonder why some are always quick in bashing the Filipinos and the Philippines, pinpoint what’s bad about us Filipinos and the Philippines.
Sea travel in rough weather with a sadistic steward is physical and mental torture! This is a travail of travel in the Philippines. I have experienced an equally horrifying case during calm weather when a ship designed to carry a couple of hundreds is stuffed with a couple of thousands from Iloilo to Zamboanga.
It was standing room only for almost 20 hours!
The ship’s stewards probably haven’t yet got a pirated DVD copy of Denzel Washington’s latest, Deja Vu, which has climax scenes right from a RORO ship. This hero-cop-versus-terrorist movie that later on turns sci-fi would likely take your mind on an endless merry-go-round ride long enough to keep you occupied for the rest of the trip to Alabang.
P4,000 to Iloilo one way? The budget airlines can take you to Singapore or Malaysia, ROUND TRIP(!), for about the same price. No frills flight (at least, you won’t watch “Fearless” in there), leg room that’s a little cramped, they accept only credit cards. You can buy tickets only from their website cuz they don’t have offices here yet. Oh yeah, you still have to go to Clark Airport (Ok, Diosdado Macapagal (pwe!) Airport, then!). All-in, it’s still a cheaper than flying to Sir Raul O. Gonzales’ province.
PhilVigil is right, while Gloria is already boasting of 2.6 million tourists (when Malaysia and Thailand annually receives 7M and 11M respectively) we are not attracting any Europeans into visiting our shores, except maybe the few pedophiles who lurk around Ermita and Antipolo waiting to catch prey. Hey, France had 76M visitors last year, wow!
Imagine, if we had the same number of tourists as Thailand, with each tourist spending a thousand dollars, it would be comparable to all the money our 8 Million OFWs sent home last year. No more need to pay the social cost for the Pinoy Exodus.
Instead of TOURISTS, however, this government is good in attracting, well, TERRORISTS!
Yep “Hey, France had 76M visitors last year, wow!” France still holds the destination with the biggest number of foreign tourists; the size half of California, France still managed to be third in terms of tourism earnings with the US ranking 1st.
And that 76 million tourists didn’t include holidaying visitors or campers from Shenghen who travelled to France by car – no borders, no passport control so I reckoned there should be more than 76m.
That tourism figure is almost the population of Pinas!
Even with the land half the size of California, France still managed to be third in tourism earning takes in the world…
“We were glad when the television set was opened for a movie”.
Correction please. Television set can not be OPENED.
It should be “…. TURNED ON….”.
Tell your kids to TURN ON the light not OPEN the light.
“It should be “…. TURNED ON….”.” Hmmm, horny TV eh!
I would like to think that Ate Ellen’s purpose in this thread is some for other people to see how it is to travel on a budget and away from the madding crowd. To let us know some places some of you may not have reached although most of you have circled the globe many times over. To let us know that a well known journalist like her had taken the travails of the travel to tell us what it is to be in the rural settings. It is not necessarily about the bad people she encountered along the way.
Ate Ellen’s would like us to know that inspite of our bad image being pictured abroad, patuloy pa ring nabubuhay ang Pinoy saan mang sulok ng ating bansa. At lalong mabubuhay nang maayos ang mga Pinoy kapag napalitan na ang kasalukuyang pamahalaan.
Titser, I have a tv set with shutters that need to be opened otherwise I won’t be able see the screen.
Correction:
“I have a tv set with shutters that need to be opened”
should be “….that NEEDS to be opened”.
TY Titser
titser,
Go to Encarta and you will find about a hundred different definitions of the word open. And find yourself a high paying job in an English Grammar school. Or an exams checker. Use your talents somewhere useful, please..
Slip of The Tongue: “All-in, it’s still a cheaper destination than flying to Sir Raul O. Gonzales’ province.
—-
I agree Schumey that Palawan is the place to be, but as PhilVigil pointed out, inferior infrastructure, if at all present, is taking Palawan out of the itinerary of many high-end tourists, maybe the backpacking ones, too. I’ve seen how one Gulfstream IV luxury jet got stuck in the clay-paved runway of Sandoval Airport in Taytay Island. The jet belonged to a famous Hollywood actor, we were told by the resort’s staff but the identity was kept secret. I just learned later that Brad Pitt and Tom Cruise was in Palawan around that time, so it was either.
The most famous (or infamous) is Dos Palmas, which had seen its peak prior to the much exposed hostage-taking by ASG bandits. I don’t think Dos Palmas ever recovered after that.
Amanpulo is one (very expensive) resort that has been visited silently by Hollywood biggies, supermodels, megabuck athletes and so on. Many come there with their own yacth or the package would take them in one of the Ayala’s own vessels (Ayala owns the place).
Around the north of Palawan are the world’s best dive spots and have been featured in many popular dive ‘zines. My personal favorites are Ten Knots’ in El Nido and Club Noah in Isabelle. There, you will bump into world-renowned divers, dive mag editors, enthusiasts, honeymooners who have nothing but praises for the much-publicized diversity of marine species. You may actually get the thrill of your life swimming amidst those millions of various schools of fish, including those nasty black-tip sharks, rays and the very rare and most expensive fish in the world, the Napoleon Wrasse (“Mameng” in Tagalog). One adult Mameng could fetch up to TWO THOUSAND DOLLARS in Hong Kong or Japan. Many Europeans spend what could be a fortune to most Pinoys just to take pictures of the fish. (Last year, a Chinese vessel was caught by the Navy with a shipload of Mamengs off the Tubbattaha Reef and it was a diplomatic nightmare coming, as it did, during the Daniel Smith “great Escape”.)
There are many others islands that I’m sure the Tourism people could exploit to invite the Eurotourists in. Ecotourism is one area than can provide the much needed jobs for our English-speaking workforce acting as guides, instructors and divemasters. It doesn’t even require much capital from the private sector compared to other industries. Club Noah, for example got a 25-year lease on the island for only P5 million!
Sadly, though, while eco-tourism would help boost the economy, everytime a vessel drops anchor, a small part of the ecology is destroyed. Later, the subject of the eco-tourism is eventually obliterated, leaving mother nature to rebuild itself for centuries to come.
This is where gov’t comes in. Building small piers or something to keep the ships from wandering into the sea, concrete airport runways that could handle bigger aircraft, well-paved access roads from airport/pier to resort, micro-credit to finance home based industries in the souvenir market, many, many more. Pretty soon, you’ll have the provincianos returning to their hometowns from the slums of the big cities, spurring their own commerce, putting incomes into pockets that never saw any.
That IS long-term economics, not these porfolio-based investments that convert back to cash then leave at the first sign of trouble. Not this “jobless growth” which translates in English simply as “bigger profits” of the few. Not this brain-drain encouraged by The Great Econo-missed to make the country’s bottom line look good even if hollow.
vic,
As you’ve suggested, I “went” to Encarta and found this:
open
– not closed or locked: allowing people or things to pass through freely
– allowing access to inside: with the lid, cork, or other device removed or in a position that allows access to the inside
– not sealed: not sealed, fastened, or wrapped
– apart or wide: with a part of the body widened or apart
open (adj)
ajar, wide open, unlocked, gaping, exposed, uncluttered, sweeping, undeveloped, unspoilt, approachable, friendly, amenable, receptive, amicable,…
open (adv, asunder)
apart, open, in pieces, in bits, in halves, in two, in twain
open (v)
unlock, unbolt, undo, unfasten, release, untie, unwrap, unseal, begin, start, commence, initiate, launch, set off, kick off
http://www.encarta.msn.com/encnet/refpages/search.aspx?q=open
Don’t get me wrong. I have my own shortcomings too.
But, as one of my teachers said, everyday is a day of learning. I am sorry if I offended you. We should learn from each other.
Titser:
I might be impolite to your comment,but are you here to correct our English Grammar and our vocabulary?If so,I guess a carabao English is not permitted.
Titser, thanks for the correction. I’ll change it.
Joeseg, thanks also for the correction on Calapan. I’ll make the correction.
The P4,000 plane fare, Manila – Iloilo is the regular rate. But they have promotional rates during certain months of the year. Like right now up to March 15, it’s P1,600 plus. I’ll probably take advantage of that and go home before March 15.
But at the time I went home last week of January, there was no airline promo yet and I couldn’t wait because I need to be back in Manila first week of February.
Also, I really wanted to experience travel by RoRo. As I said in the article, okay naman except for the movie choices of the steward which was a needless aggravation.
Titser,
Gawa ka na lang ng sarili mong blog, tapos gawin mong exclusive para sa mga magaling mag-ingles. Dito kasi, may topic na pinag-uusapan, sana mag-comment ka tungkol sa topic hindi sa grammar. ‘Sensya na Ellen, ‘di ko kasi alam na grammar pala ang topic mo ngayon. Akala ko kasi tungkol sa experience mo nung umuwi ka sa inyo.
As usual Gloria Arroyo takes full credit for this nautical highway project. It was started by FVR.
hi ellen,
the filipino hostages in nigeria have just been featured in cnn. they look well, but undoubtedly feel abandoned. why has there not been a more thorough coverage of this crisis?
what has the government been doing? these filipinos ply a trade outside the safety of our comfort zone to bring their families the essentials of a better life. they risk their lives in the middle of other people’s wars. you have featured a story by a “supermaid” just recently. save for the nature of their work, the filipino hostages, the supermaids, and all other OFW are all putting their safety and dignity on the line for the almighty dollars that our economy direly needs. couldnt we at least get the stories of these men as well?
i have not encountered any in depth coverage of their plight. but if there are, kindly point them out to me so as i can better appreciate what they do.
Ellen:
What is a Ro-ro?I am just curious to know.
Thanks for the correction about Adel,I thought she is a woman.I like him,his description fit the arena.
Ellen Says:
February 9th, 2007 at 7:47 am
Titser, thanks for the correction. I’ll change it.
Joeseg, thanks also for the correction on Calapan. I’ll make the correction.
Ellen,
You earned my respect.
Cocoy, in the second paragraph of the article, the word RoRo is highlighted. Click to that. You will get the background on Roro.
For that matter, a highlight on a word or phrase means a background on the word.
Ellen:I copy.I don’t pay attention too much on a highlighted bold red letter.Thank you much I learn again.Now,I know what is red.
Titser;–—-Maybe you might find an interest to correct my English, it is written like this based on my skills—- It is not necessary for any person to speak fluent English to convey the message and paint them as vividly as any picture with splashes of character and dialogue. English has so many words that has the same meaning and that’s the beauty of it. Californian speaks different English with different races. Latino-English, Chinese-English, Korean-English, Japanese-English, Filipino-English, Ghetto English, Caucasian-English and so on, It doesn’t matter if it is a carabao English as long as they can comprehend and converse. At work they only talk in simple English, Any English will do as long as they understand, People don’t have time to dig the dictionary a words you said, make it simple because you are not writing a novel. Don’t use a long paragraph and a thousand words if you only want to emphasis a simple meaning on the subject.
This is the problem with us Filipino, we want to flatter ourselves with deep diction and instead of using a simple word, we still want our listeners to spend time digging the dictionary to find the meaning of a single word that came from our mouth. English my friend is only our borrowed language, don’t vague too much in our tongue, for sure, no one understand, then we have a communication gap, because we want to impress too much how to speak this language.–Actually, I don’t understand what you have just said.—
Schumey, nasabi mo.
Sa totoo lang, dahil ako’y promdi, medyo asiwa na rin ako minsang mag-post, baka pinagtatawanan ang grammar natin.
Ate Ellen mentioned Caticlan, Aklan.
Doon sa hindi pamilyar sa nasabing lugar, I would like to make singit that Caticlan is the place where you get a 30 minute- ride in a motorized banca going to island resort of Boracay. Caticlan is a barangay of Malay, Aklan.
Ok lang yan Joeseg and Schumey. What is important is we are able to express ourselves. If there’s a need for us to be corrected, then let’s welcome it. We gain from it.
Thanks Joeseg for the info on Caticlan.
Cocoy,
I have shortcomings too, believe me. I can see your point but with regards to the english word ‘OPEN’, it’s totally different. ONLY us Filipinos use it the wrong way. I myself is guilty of it. But that was long ago. An incident forced me to correct myself for good.
Yes, Macshock, it’s sad that the hostaging of Filipinos in Nigeria is not being played up by media. Everybody is busy with political campaign.
The DFA controls all info and they want it played down.
Pareng Cocoy
I’m so impressed w/ur ur englization. U 4got 2 enclod taglish at txt mgs lingo.
Your question about RORO is a project initiated during the time Pres. Ramos, continued by Erap and gma is now taking the credit that its hers.
Ang RORO ay isang programa para sa mahirap na hindi maka-afford ng mahal na pamasahe sa eroplano, luxury ships o speedboats. From Manila, you can go to anywhere in the Philippines with connecting transport kung hindi pwedeng daanan ng RORO. Kung may dala kang sariling sasakyan, mas ok dahil kasama mo sa barko. Dapat talaga umuwi ka sa Pinas at maranasan ang pagiikot sa ating byutipol islas para masabi mong, wow Philippines!
Cocoy, try clicking on the highlighted “Titanic” and “Perfect Storm”. Complete with sounds pa yan ha.
That’s the beauty of blogging. Links widen our network and access to information.
Roro travel is relatively new in the Philippines. I hope authorities concerned welcome feedbacks like this and improve the system.
yeah mang joeseg i agree with you.
“Kung may masamang paguugali ng ilang Pinoy, nababasa at napapanood din naman namin dito sa Pilipinas na there are also same kind abroad. I wonder why some are always quick in bashing the Filipinos and the Philippines, pinpoint what’s bad about us Filipinos and the Philippines.”
but not totally.
because there is i think a fundamental problem when it comes to work especially the tindera’s, dept stores attendant etc, or in general the way we regard our work.
sometimes we dont take pride in our line of work, lalo na kung menial work yun like being a tindera or being a lowly employee, nawawala yung malasakit ng empleyado dun sa client ng company, in other countries, ang number 1 selling point is yung service, minsan di na pinakiki alaman ng cutomer ang mismong produkto, what is most important is how he is treated when buying/asking for the company’s product or services. but it’s another story if yung may ari ang makatapat mo sa tindahan, the owner is very polite in the philippines lalo na yung mga chinese, they really treat you as their life blood of the buss, sana yung mga empleyado magkaroon ng malasakit din sa clients kahit inis or galit sila sa may ari ng company, dapat yung malasakit nila nndun sa clients. yun lang po ang nakikita kong malaking difference natin as a nation na hindi maka attract ng local consumers, kasi kapag puti, hapon or whatever foreign speaking national ang kausap ng tindera, aba, nag-iiba ang timpla… tsk tsk tsk… very colonial thingking di ba?
forgot to add…
it applies also to govt employees and officials.
kapag pinoy, hahayaan lang na nahihirapan sa pila, worst kokotongan pa! pero kapag foreigner… ang bilis ng service!
Tongue, you are right with “I agree Schumey that Palawan is the place to be, but as PhilVigil pointed out, inferior infrastructure.”
My friends and I are fond of going to beaches (even if we are not good swimmers) and we have plenty of horror stories on provincial travel. Inferior infrastructure, that’s the main problem. Lack of clean toilets is really a problem.
But compared to 10 years ago, there have been improvements. Like in Luzon, the policy of requiring gasoline stations to provide clean public toilets (credit to gemma Cruz Araneta during her term as tourism secretary) is commendable. Total Gas (this is a french company. right, PV?) really pay attention to their toilets.
Ate Ellen
Because I come from Southern Luzon, I could say na mas maganda na ngayon maglakbay from Manila to Bicol. Of course, mas nauna pinaganda ang going to the north. Doon sa matagal nang hindi nakakauwi ng Pilipinas, the SLEX (South Luzon Expressway) is already dotted with gasoline stations with clean restrooms (public toilet). Mayroon nang Jollibee, Mcdo, KFC, all kinds and even Starbucks. It is now gasoline stations cum mini-grocery/eatery along Maharlika Highway from Batangas, Laguna, Quezon, Camarines Norte, Camarines Sur, Albay and Sorsogon. They will not have customers if there’s no announcement, a kilometer or two before, that they have clean restrooms.
Schumey: It would have been fun seeing these stewards scared sh*tless. A dose of their own medicine.
*****
Despite the showy hospitality, Schumey, I find a lot of them insincere. “Mabait lang ‘pag may kailangan” is what it seems to be all about.
As for the crew of the ship Ellen was on, I am not surprised. I have met a lot of them Filipino crew of PAL for instance who laugh at non-speaking Japanese just because they cannot and they think that they are smarter because they can speak English even with their terrible accents.
I thought it was very rude, and all the more reason that I would often pretend to not understand any Tagalog! Grabe!
Once I asked for a glass of milk, they refused, but I saw one stewardess packing up boxes of milk in her bag before landing, and that was that! I promised myself never to get on any PAL plane to/from the Philippines, especially after Erap gave Lucio Tan full control of it.
I would like to add that my Tsinoy friend, an architect who is in fact ethnically pure Chinese, has vowed never to use PAL, too, when going to the Philippines.
Anyway, just curious, Ellen, who owns the boat you were on? Sorry, but the only ones I know are owned by the bosom friend of the Burots!
I don’t know Yuko. There’s a link to Starlite Ferry in the article. I plan to send them this piece with the hope that they will improve their service.
Titser;
Okey lang,That’s how we welcome a newcomer. Tinitisting muna,kung baga sa bibinili ng bagong kotse,That’s what we call it test drive, if the engine has power, abs brakes are working and the tires has good traction in cornering maneuver. You fit the quality, I suggest you keep on driving, the racing oval is yours and watch those barriers on the track. Welcome to Ellen’s 500 oval laps. Re start your engine.
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) – It’s never too late for toilet training. Some Malaysian colleges may soon offer courses on how to keep public restrooms clean, the national news agency reported Thursday.
The effort is meant to help Malaysia’s public lavatories become as hygienic as those in countries such as Britain and Singapore, Deputy Housing and Local Government Minister Robert Lau was quoted as saying by Bernama news agency.
“Clean toilets cannot merely be judged by the eyes,” Lau was quoted as saying. “This matter also involves the use of cleaning equipment, soap, fragrances and proper tissues.”
Courses would involve managing washrooms by the highest standards in design and sanitation technology, said Lau.
Malaysia’s government recently said it wanted to start a “toilet revolution” in a country where public restrooms have long nauseated citizens and tourists with their lack of basic items such as toilet paper, soap and sometimes even toilet seats.
Lau said his ministry plans to soon introduce a system for the public to lodge complaints about filthy toilets via cell phone text messages.
Other recent measures have included setting up modern self-cleaning toilets in popular shopping districts of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia’s largest city, and scrapping the business licenses of restaurants found to have foul lavatories.
Whew! Napagod ako sa biyahe papunta sa Guisijan, Antique. Ang layo na ang mahal pa! Buti na lang at beautiful ang garden ni Ellen. :).
Maganda talaga kahit anong sulok ng Pilipinas, si Glueria at Fartso lang ang pangit. Kung mawawala ang mag-soulmate na ito ay gaganda na rin marahil ang serbisyo sa RoRo at mga buses.
Pareng Joeseg:
Huwag ka ng magtaka sa English ko,mas gusto ko pa ng tagalog,kasi lahat ng mga kapitbahay ko dito,kung di hapon,tsinoy,koreano,at puti,Wala akong kapitbahay na itim at pinoy.Kaya’t madalas ako sa pinoy store nakikipagkuwentuhan sa mga pensionadong matatanda at mga WWII veterans.
Pag itim ang nagsalita ng English,out of 10 words in a sentence 6 ay profanity.Kaya bihira akong makipag-usap sa kanila.
tamang-tama si ystakei sa pag-tumbok ng sakit ng pinoy.
mabait lang pag may kailangan.
mabait lang kung kakilala ka.
mabait lang kung my pera ka.
Titser, transportation,tourism and local officials should read this news item.
The fact that Malaysian authorities recognize the problem is a major step in the right direction. In our case, we are not yet there. Because sadly many Filipinos feel that it’s a given that toilets are dirty.Especially public toilets.
Ellen,
Can you teach us how to ‘label’ (shorten) links?
Here’s another news article about Malaysia’s plan:
“Good, clean toilets are associated with good health, good manners, good upbringing, good housekeeping and civilisation. That is why the Government feels this must be a national effort.”
Apart from unpleasant smells and dirt, and the absence of toilet paper and soap, the problem stems from the transition from the traditional Asian squat toilet to Western-style seats. Tourists sometimes complain of finding footprints on the seats, where previous users have stood. The same problem occurs in other parts of Asia. Until a few years ago, Western-style toilets in Japan bore diagrams illustrating their correct use.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/article1355824.ece
Titser, the link that you provided is okay.
That’s the thing to do when sharing here relevant articles from other publications. Just put the first one or two paragraphs, then provide the online address.
Tnx.
titser,
I was not offended at all. I was just thinking you barging in just to point some grammar errors, but I was mistaken of your intention, so I owe you an apology.
But anyways, I checked back the dictionary, and no.17 has this to say about the word open.
17. U.S. turned on: switched on and ready to use
an open microphone.
sometimes in different country, a word has some different usage. again, no offense to anyone..
hindinapinoy Says:
February 9th, 2007 at 10:25 am
tamang-tama si ystakei sa pag-tumbok ng sakit ng pinoy.
mabait lang pag may kailangan.
mabait lang kung kakilala ka.
mabait lang kung my pera ka.
Kanino ba ba naman manggagaling ang ganyang mga pangungusap, siempre sa hindi na mga pinoy. Dito pa ninyo pa ninyo ipinamumukha yan, eh pinoy ang may-ari ng blog na ito. Baka nakakalimutan ninyo. Sinasaktan ninyong lubha ang aming damdamin.
Tama na ang mga pang-iinsulto ninyo sa mga Pinoy. Sobrang ang galing ninyo. I am out of the blog. This is my last post. Thank you, Ma’m Ellen for accommodating for sometime.
Walang kahihiyan ang mga iba rito sa blog. Kindly don’t erase this para mabasa naman nila.
Sleeplessinmontreal;
nararamdaman ko ang hinanakit mo,kakampi mo ako’t nagmamalasakit ako sa pinoy at hindi ko sila iniinsulto,nasasaktan nga ako pag ina-api ang mga pinoy dito sa lugar ko.Kaibigan ko silang lahat at wala akong naka-away kahit na isa sa mga nakakusap ko dito.Hinahanap nila ako pag di nila ako nakita.Kapwa tayo pinoy kahit malayo tayo sa bansa natin nagmamalasakit tayo.
Hayaan mo na iyan,siguro di na Pilipino ang puso nila.Ang pagka-pilipino ay nasa diwa at gawa at hindi sa magagandang pananalita.
Sleeplessinmontreal:
Mag post ka na lang uli,huwag kang umalis.Magaganda naman ang mga sinusulat mo at binabasa ko lahat.Beautiful ka pa naman.
Walang malisya,ha!mahigit 49 na ako pero guapo pa rin.Para na rin siguro kitang anak.May kasabihan nga ang pikon ay talo,huwag kang patatalo,lumaban ka.Hindi ka naman pinapakain ng mga ito.Who cares! shame on you,shame on me na lang!Iyan ang tatandaan mo.Sino ba sila?
Ellen:
Just wondering of when you’ll extend an invitation to all the bloggers to visit your paradise home in Antique? Perhaps, we can have a cookout or something? I’ll try to save some traveling fund for whatever the cost to get to your shangrila. It must been a wonderful place to come home to, it make me jealous of your Utopia. Is it a must visit place for city folks with clean fresh air, no shanty home or squatters, uncrowded street, clean rivers, etc.?
As for your RORO with Leonardo DiCarpio, I can only sympathize to your personal experience. Of course, I’m not surprise at all, it can be expected since after all this is Philippines and in Philippines waterway. It’s not about the comfort and the safety of the passengers, just the money they can collect from each passengers with little to offer in return, along with tormenting the passengers to have fun at the passengers expense. It’s not the ship owner’s to blame, but the Philippines govt itself, I suppose. They could’ve request to show the “Hello Garci Tapes, One Million Dagdag/Bawas”, starring Virgilio Garcillano and Co-Star Mutineer Gloria Arroyo, it would’ve been an enjoyable and educational trip.
Titanic? Now you know how Leonardo must have felt in the final hour. Next time take a private helicopter. If you ask mutineer Gloria Arroyo, she might just accomodate you, only if you print something favorable for mutineer Gloria. Just kidding, Ellen. I hope, you’ve a great sense of humor. Just can’t resist the opportunity.
Thanks for sharing your unforgettable Ocean Voyage.
Correction laang din po. Amanpulo isn’t owned by the Ayalas. It’s the Sorianos who owned the place, the same family who previously owned the San Miguel Corp. before Macoy gave the said company to Danding.
Titser,
marami pa kayong dapat malaman sa salitang open. Isa rin yang pandaraya as in ‘open’ a bank account abroad.Sa Hypovereins ba? Magical nga sa katunayan ang salitang ‘open’.Pag walang ‘open’ ay hindi na mabubuksan ang tagong yaman ni Ali Baba sa malacanang and the forty thieves.
Sasabihin lang nyang ‘open’ sesame,open kurakutan na.
Dito sa blog na ito,imaginative ang mga tao dito.Minsan nakaka-pikon pero kailangan open- minded ka.
Ms. Ellen, “The fact that Malaysian authorities recognize the problem is a major step in the right direction. In our case, we are not yet there. Because sadly many Filipinos feel that it’s a given that toilets are dirty.Especially public toilets.”
Maybe the island of Bohol can be excluded from this “bad image”. Starting with the domestic airport in Tagbilaran City to the most famous Chololate Hills, the public toilets are commendable. Napakalinis – mahihiya ang taga-Maynila!
Right you are arthur, anyways, they’re relatives. I always thought Zobels and Ayalas and Sorianos were the same and exchaged one for the other. Enzo (Don Enrique Zobel) himself once owned large chunks of SMC stocks. Thanks for clarifying.
Pamalican Island used to house Andres III’s hideaway villa before they leased it out to Aman Hotels, owners of Amankila in Bali which consistently rated as Asia’s best. Amanpulo’s price ranges from $800 for cottages to $4000 for the villa, per night for two (Wow!) during peak season. That doesn’t even include plane transfers of about P15K per head! Back to my post, I repeat, imagine if we had the same number of tourists as that of Thailand, spending THIS kind of money!
—–
I guess it’s my turn to make a correction Ellen, the RORO thing was actually started during Makoy’s rule. The first one being the ferry ride between Sorsogon and Samar a few years after the San Juanico Bridge was completed. I guess it was Makoy’s gift to the Madam, who could now travel by land all the way from Manila to Leyte. I remember back in the 80’s was the first time I saw buses in Pasay that had “SAMAR” and “LEYTE” in their signboards, it was Marcos’ time.
Enough of corrections already lest we start renaming this thread “Touch and Go”, heheh.
Last but not least correction, Tongue but concerns Titser – hope he wouldn’t mind my correcting his line here (an error we Pinoys often make):
” I myself is guilty of it.”
Should be “I myself AM guilty of it.”
Ellen,
“I’ll probably take advantage of that and go home before March 15.”
Wow! After seeing your pittoresque oasis in that part of the world, I can only agree with you – once a month would be ideal, don’t you think?
Meanwhile, now that you’ve announced your next holiday, I hope your blog won’t be infested by human viruses.
Ellen, thanks for this topic on Nautical Highway. My husband and I love to travel around whenever our schedules would allow us. We went around almost all European countries. We drove around ll states of USA in 42 days the first time we went there and visited another 7 states for 35 days, the second time around.
In Europe, I would say, France is the only country that gives importance to public toilets. You’ll know that you’re entering France even if you don’t look at the signs in French, because of the restroom sights every 10 kilometers. Inside, you’ll find yourself squatting instead of sitting! And don’t get shock because it flashes automatic! There’s also that roaring sound (which made me ran away so fast because I thought somebody poured a drum of water over me,the first time I used it)! Am not surprised at all if France had the most number of tourists every year kasi they pay attention to details!
Anyway, Ill try to convince my hubby to go and see the Philippines around once we decide to visit this year! And maybe try to go with the Nautical highway, too!
Emilio,
Re Chocolate Hills in Bohol
Will definitely visit Bohol this year thanks to you.
Oops, this should read, “As for the crew of the ship Ellen was on, I am not surprised. I have met a lot of them Filipino crew of PAL for instance who laugh at non-ENGLISH speaking Japanese just because they cannot and they think that they are smarter because they can speak English even with their terrible accents.
PV: ““It should be “…. TURNED ON….”.” Hmmm, horny TV eh!
******
Ikaw talaga PV, kukurutin kita sa singit! 🙂 Isn’t “switch on” better to use than “turn on” then? Is that where they got the expression for someone getting horny? HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
Btw, Tongue, you mentioned the expression “touch and go” – it’s an old naval expression (British) and alluding to it after Ellen’s experience is quite funny.
Yuko,
Heh! Now you mentioned it, America’s biggest baby boom generation explosion happened during that time when they had a black out…didn’t it?
Hindinapinoy, don’t put words into my mouth. You give opinions, I don’t care but don’t misquote me! ID!!!
Speaking of Palawan: I LOVE PALAWAN.
I used to love my little village in Calatagan but when the Ayalas started putting up plastic sheds and awful looking cottages beside my own property, not in keeping with the environment, I decided to move out of Calatagan. Edong Ermita also paved the roads leading to our village with cemented roads but without proper drainage systems – complete madness. I used to love going to Lipa market to buy meat and just to go around the colorful, pittoresque market.
Anyway, Palawan is BEAUTIFUL – anywhere you go, you see these fire trees blooming in the middle of a prairie.
Puerto Princesa is CLEAN. The stalls and restaurants are great, colorful (hate those air conditioners – just complete waste of energy besides which afterwards, you catch pneumonia) and airy.
Problem is from Puerto Princesa to Nara – some 3 hours of bumpy ride because of potholes, etc. but never mind, best thing is to use a motor boat (also bumpy but faster) from Puerto Princesa to Nara.
Hagedorn is a good mayor for Puerto Princesa and I like his modus operandi re squatters: “You don’t have a building permit? I demolish your shanties!”
Climb Mount Salakot – wonderful view and glorious air.
Been to Amampulo and Nido too except when we were last there 96, the generator broke down for a few hours at night, that was tough – no electric fan. That’s where you commune with nature. Very similar to the Datai on the Andaman Sea in Malaysia, as expensive but worth every penny.
Please,Yuko, HNP, ayaw ko ng away. Napapagod ako sa kaka-referee.
Kapag maliliit na bagay, pabayaan nyo na.
Re Emilio’s comment:
I have heard great things about Bohol.I haven’t been there yet.
Yuko, Re PAL
I wouldn’t mind taking PAL at all and matter of fact did for several years running when they still had flights from either Paris or Frankfurt.
Problem is that international PAL flights are almost always late on schedule. True too that some of their cabin attendants can be rude but as always, there ARE cabin attendants who can be extremely rude on other Western airlines too.
Thing I do when that happens is I just send them running on errands endlessly, all with a toothy smile, i.e., juice spilling over, need hot towel, don’t like smell of blanket, wrong dish and another wrong dish, iced water a no no (get me another one please), oh, this dvd player ain’t working, oops, it is now; sparkling water, don’t like that, etc., etc., etc.
Once in HK, I decide had had enough of lateness, so I said, I’m not staying on the aircraft and left – hah – demanded that they take out my luggage which they did, must have cost PAL loads of money and on top of which, they lost their slot in the quieu.
Believe me, they become real nice after a while of doing that. Heheheh (doesn’t matter an iota to me if ever they feel like throwing me out of the aircraft in flight for as long as they don’t say it to my face.)
The difference with their counterpart in the US is they aren’t ROBOTIC… Gosh, there’s nothing worse than being attended to by a robot-like attendant.
Oh one thing I can say is that when I used to take international PAL flights, they had the UGLIEST BROWN crap looking uniform I’ve ever seen, a hybrid of security guard and girl-scout thinggy sort of uniform.
Just absolutely unfetching, horrible cut too, and looking so neglected on the girls.
Don’t know if they’ve changed uniforms.
Titser and Vic
Ako’y Pinoy sa puso at diwa, kaya kahit saan makarating Kitamo, kitako: Open the lights, closed the lights (thanks God it’s not kill the lights). Open the water, close the water,
Open the TV, close the TV. I can’t hear it, make it strong. It’s too loud, make it weak. And that’s only the tip of the ice cream.
It’s not so bad because others say: Climb down the stairs. And when you want to pay for the food in a restaurant you say: I got it, I got it. While a Pinoy will say me already, (ako na) me already. FUN ISN’T IT?
Ellen, why go by Iloilo to reach your place as the other alternative? What’s wrong with its San Jose airport with one flight weekly in 1960? Aren’t there PAL, Cebu Pacific flights after 46 years? Your town is probably closer to the boundaries of Aklan or Capiz, are there no transport connections from these provinces yet. You find this infrastraucture deficiency in the Transparency International list of most corrupt countries. We’re tops in that list.
Are the Antiquenos still treated as Sacadas by the National Government? Is Antique, a truly mini Philippines, beautiful, neglected and abused? It’s okay Ellen not to spend so much time telling us the reasons behind these inconveniences in Antique. Like Negros Occ who have sired a Moises Padilla, Antique have an Evelio Javier, monuments of shame to our kind of politics. People surmise and know. Unlike Alan Peter (that’s stretched and abused analogy) Antique is not alone. There is one in every Philippines region, in Bicol, Cagayan, Samar, Ilocos, etc. but you find them as many as chocolate hills in the island of Mindanao. The point is, in Antique as in the whole Philippines: Good is alone, while evil is a multitude. (Hmmmnn! that’s not statistical or about numbers.)
I hope your Governor, and the members of all illustrious families of Antique have answers to these questions?
We have an airport but no more commercial flights.
Asian Spirit has stopped fights to Antique last year after about three years of operation. Not enough passengers for them to have a viable operation there.
PAL has stopped servicing Antique for the past 30 years.
From Kalibo, our town is about the same distance from Iloilo. But there is no regular bus service from Kalibo. Unlike in Iloilo where there are many buses going to Antique.
Tony, Blacknight and to everybody in this blog,
If you happen to be in our area in Antique, let me know (ellentordesillas@gmail.com). If I’m there, you are welcome to drop by. Just don’t expect much.
Ellen, THANK YOU VERY VERY MUCH!
I’m prepared to bring my own tent and my cooking utensils and all other paraphernalia, just need a well to take water from and my family and I WILL BE FINE.
Yeehaaaaa!
Your property fronts a beach right, Ellen?
Not exactly beach front. Just a short walking distance through the rice fields. You know how to walk through the “pilapil”?
Ellen, Pinas needs more adverts but a much better version of the Wow Philippines thinggy of Gordon’s.
It is quite disappointing when friends visit travel websites, there’s little by way of adverts on Phil.
Europeans shop for their holidays mainly on websites.
Our tourism attachés have to lift their backsides and start doing their jobs seriously.
Oh yeah! Ellen, LOVE WALKING THROUGH PILAPILS…
Geez, that’s living your holiday to the fullest!
You know evedrytime I go to any place in Pinas, I rent a fleet of tricycles (preferably non-motored but difficult to find now) and whole family with friends we go on a convoy visiting places.
In Makati, I walk from one place to the other – no car thinggy for me or the kids, car is just on stand by at the hotel, but the dust is killing! Friends go crazy when we do that but heck, that’s how we holiday.
Good for the muscles too.
We did that last time we went to Malacca too with French friends. Fantastic way – enviromentally friendly too.
Sige, PV, let’s plan a holiday in our barrio.
Yeeeeeeehaw! Will take you on Ellen!
We don’t bring clothes when we travel coz we buy local stuff and dress up with our local purchase; we bring medicine though.
My daughter loves going to Manila – she loves the colorful items they sell and she goes home stuffed with local jeans, etc. to give away to friends.
When I am in Malaysia I wear sarongs even in the streets of KL… hehe!
PV,
I suppose with the coming of El Niño, there will e less storms entering RP. You’ll definitely have a grand time when you visit.
Ellen,
dito sa east coast, $200 mo nakapag cruise ka na ng one night….
PV,
There are lots of non-motored tricycles around the metro. They’re popularly called “padyak” as in pedal power. Of course you wouldn’t mind Soliel and I inviting to a cup of coffee, yung barako ha, hindi Starbucks.
That’s EXACTLY what I reckoned Schumey!
I’m preparing for next summer’s holiday already and thought Pinas would be a good bet coz of that; anyway, storms or typhoons never really bothered us except for Tsunamis, heheh!
If the locals can live with that, heck why can’t we enjoy the excitement of a storm here and there.
Kumpleto yan breakfast, lunch , dinner, na one to sawa,may pool , casino, theatre,boutique at disco dancing all night, not mentioning naka cabin ka pa.
We went to Perhentian islands once and our motor boat bogged down in the middle of the sea. Beautiful clear blue depth, marvel of natures – we all just went snorkling, diving and swimming for something like 4 or 5 hours till we were rescued from the marvels.
We enjoyed it and loved it (All the Europeans thoroughly enjoyed it but not the locals and understanbly so – they have it all year round.) But kids chased big turtles underwater, took pics and are hankering to go back – heheh!
Gone trekking with European friends through the forests of Lagawe in the Ifugao region, discovered streams and little waterfalls there. Slept in the Igorot huts (they took the ladders every evening); ate their boiled chicken with all the innards (ugh that was tough) and met loads of nice people met some guys who claimed they were from the head hunting tribe.
Difference though traveling there, I carried an armalite.
Schumey,
Hah! You’re on “Soliel and I inviting to a cup of coffee, yung barako ha, hindi Starbucks.”
But in Manila, safer to walk in the streets than to take tricylce coz the busses there are lethal! Hah!
(Oh Schumey, I don’t usually drink coffee but would be happy to taste barako – Batanga ba? with you and Soleil – heh!)
# BOB Says:
February 9th, 2007 at 9:15 pm
Ellen,
dito sa east coast, $200 mo nakapag cruise ka na ng one night….
***
Bob, lumalagapak na P10T pesos din ‘yan. Mahal pa rin sa akin ang halaga na ganyan, kaya namumundok na lang ako! Heheh!
Sorry, Ellen, I’m just straightening up things. I don’t want people to be misquoting me and putting malice to everything I say. I’m ready to do battle as a matter of fact but I’m keeping my cool out of respect for you.
It is not a matter of being pikon, but a matter of propriety and discipline. And yes, toeing the line!!!
PV,
Batangas of course. Only the best. Iba ang Pinoy. May Chocolate-h naman. From Batangas din.
Talaga? Wowie! Hah! Cool!
Do you know that you can make a kind of tea or some healing infusion with the bark of a banana tree?
That’s a Batangas find.
Speaking of banana trees, once I had a very nasty cut coz I was trying to use a bolo to hack the branches of a tree, I think it was star apple but instead cut my hand, heheheh!.
Mang Pepe, our barrio captain who was visiting along with his rooster (my house there was like the tambayan of the entire village – heheheh), took out some fine strip of the banana bark and chewed it then took it out of his mouth (I was stunned) and placed the THING on the wound – gosh, by that time my eyes were bulging out of their sockets and were ready to pop out, all sort of thoughts were playing on my mind, tetanus, virus, etc. – but in a couple of minutes, no more blood and the next day, it was healing.
T’was miraculous!
Tongue,
Thanks about the info on RORO’s origin. So, inangkin na naman pala ni Glue ang RORO program from Apo Lakay?!
go and see the innocence of antique?
that’s a great idea only after the fall of gloria. lahat ng ellen bloggers let’s bring our own tent or makitulog sa taga barrio. let’s all travel to Antique. Young or old, sharp activist or erudite pacifist, let’s have barbecue in the beach, walk-sway the pilapils, and look up to heaven with thanks sing asin songs, recites patriotic poems. We will give ystakei the privelege to slap anybody who had bad mouth her in this blog. Let Anna orate her vitriols. And I will tell you a big fish story of a nobody. We can probably charter a small ferry from Batangas. If we go late in May or early June, we will see the Tablas strait, or the sea west of Mindoro to be smooth as silk, as calm as motor oil, with nary a breeze to encourage the flying fishes and the lumba lumba trailing ships.
Ooops.
Bakit ba isinasama ko ang sarili ko sa plano ng barkada ninyo when you don’t even know me. Well, I thought love of one’s country should create the strongest fraternal bond.
God, I got compass confused, forgot my map reading, going south or going north it should always be East (Oriental) of Mindoro. Sorry.
Guys,
I don’t like Starbucks, ha! There was a time when I took with me here from Pinas a ‘salop’ of barako coffee direct from a grinder in Batangas. The best coffee pa rin, tunay na kape!
PV,
Kung mawawala si Tandang Edong sa Palasyo ng mga engkanto, mas sasarap ang kapeng barako. heheh!
Schumey, while you’re at it, why don’t you ask PV to drink Tagaytay’s Alamid Coffee – connoisseurs claim it’s the world’s finest. A cup in NY’s Grand Central would go for about $15 a cup! Just don’t bother asking how it’s made…heheh.
BTW, Ellen, does Antique have any insurgency problems?
Hi Tongue,
Heh! That’s a super expensive coffee! Hope they put some aphrodisiac in it to make worth the price. Hah!
Wondering why they called the province Antiqué. Something to do with the aniquities? Or antique objects?
Coffee?
Over at Vic’s zone it’s medium, double double and you will likely get the coffee of the Prime Minister.
Great Spellers, can you spell coffee without using any letter in the word coffee? Let’s see who could be as wise as the dumb football player?
Ate Chi, mas gusto ko ang Tim Horton. Mas masarap iyan kung pumapasyal ako sa Canada. Alam mo ba na lumilipad ako sa Canada para lang mag kape? Pero sa tutoo lang iba na ang kape natin. Kulay kape naman tayo. Para sa akin, walang tatalo sa Chinese Tea.
Nawala lang ako ng sandali at maraming bagong pangalan na naman ang lumitaw tulad nitong Jay at Philippine Vigil. Ate Ellen, uli-uli kailangan dumaan muna sa akin ang mga gustong pumasok ha? Sige ka, magtatampo na naman ako.
PV, it may actually have aphrodisiac effects. The Alamid is a rare feline that feeds on the fruits of coffee plants. It craps the undigested coffee which is then carefully cleaned manually then dried out under the sun before grinding. Presto! The alamid’s digestive system produces enzymes and chemicals that enhance the excreted coffee’s distinct flavor and aroma. It can’t be duplicated and mass-produced. That’s why it’s very expensive. The first time I drank one, I didn’t get a single wink of sleep. (Must’ve been my imagination, not the caffeine!)
The next time you hear a New Yorker say “This shit tastes friggin’ good”, better believe him.
Mang Tongue, maaaring tama ang sinabi mo. Narinig mo na ba ang Soup No.5? Iyan ang madalas kong iniinom. Nakaka-apat ako kung minsan (hoy, apat na tasa hindi iyong iniisip niyo!).
Marami niyan dito sa Pasay, Artsee. Sa Plaza ng Malibay, may mga nagtitinda ng “walastik” – lugaw na may mga “litid-litid” ng baka. Yung Harlem restaurant sa Libertad, merong “gising-gising” – parang hototay na may sabaw, gulay at mga “litid” pero maanghang. Sa Cartimar may nagtitinda ng Soup #5, di ko malulon dahil kitangkita sa hugis kung ano.
Ang mahilig diyan yung Lolo kong German. Sa edad na 85 nakaka-dalawa pa…Isa sa tag-init, isa sa tag-ulan!
Artsee,Tongue-T:
Ang sarap naman ng sabaw na iyan,sargo ang aking laway.Wala pa ba sa packet niyan at i microwave na lang.Si Pechay #5,tapos soup#5 na naman ang usapan,Ano kaya ang ibig sabihin niyan?Lahat 5,kita mo iyong lolo mo 85,Si Artsee magbibigay ng $5 million.5 na naman.Baka nga 5 lang ang mabubuong kandidato sa pagkasenador ng malakanyang.Si Sotto,Oreta,Defensor,Angara at Villar.
Thanks Tongue for info on Alamid Coffee. This is the first time I heard about that. I’m wondering if Antonio’s in Tagaytay serve that. Where in Tagaytay can you get that?
Jay, there’s no such thing as hindi kasali sa barkada.
Tongue, there may be still remnans of NPA’s in the mountains of Panay. But not in our place. Our barrio is along the main road.That’s a disincentive for them as a refuge.
Anna, the word “Antique” came from the word “hamtick” black ants that abound in the area.
Legend has it that when datu Sumakwell and his men inspected a village where they landed (from Brunei), they found a huge colony of ants, They all shouted, “hamtik, hamtik.” from then on they referred to the place as Hamtic.
The Agustinian missionaries who later came wrote the name as “Hantique”, in the French manner but since the Spaniards could not pronounce the letter “h”, the name later evolved into Antique.
Grabe naman ang oposisyon. Meron na naman silang gwapong kakampi…si Adel Tamano.
Until now isa pa rin lang ang iboboto kong senador. Tago UNO at gwapo.
PV,
Congratulations! You passed the test!
” I myself is guilty of it.”
Should be “I myself AM guilty of it.”
Ellen,
I’ve learned something today from you:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antique_%28province%29
Here’s the link:
http://www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antique_%28province%29
PV: Last but not least correction, Tongue but concerns Titser – hope he wouldn’t mind my correcting his line here (an error we Pinoys often make):
” I myself is guilty of it.”
Should be “I myself AM guilty of it.”
*****
Only shows, PV, that no matter what most Filipinos say, English can never be their mother tongue! It’s a totally different language, gramatically and otherwise.
Puede pa siguro sabihin nila, especially if they are from Manila, that theirs is “Taglish” not English with grammar based more on Filipino grammar and syntax.
As I told my mother, she should not be ashamed of her English. Even the Britons I met in London, if they have not gone to higher education, are guilty of committing grammatical mistakes with their peculiar accents. Di bale sila, iyong lang ang wika nila. Pero itong si Bansot, pa-ingles-ingles, ang sama naman ng accent at pronunciation! Nagpapanggap pang elite e mukha namang tinderang nagtitinda ng malansang isda.
“Ang hindi magmahal sa sariling wika ay masahol pa sa malansang isda!” Remember?
Tongue T:
I did a translation of interviews with the manufacturers of this Alamid Coffee that is being advertised here in Japan as the coffee that comes from “fun” (tae) of monkeys!
Actually, they are coffee beans that the monkeys eat and pass out with their poops, and farmers collect them in the morning to see to traders like the makers of this alamid coffee.
I don’t drink coffee so I may not have a taste of this coffee. But according to the TV crew that went there to interview the traders, masarap daw!
Kaso mo, iba naman beans ang ibebenta ni Madame Burot! Kidney beans daw!
This should read, “Actually, they are coffee beans that the monkeys eat and pass out with their poops, and farmers collect them in the morning to SELL to traders like the makers of this alamid coffee.
cocoy,
soup number5? Go to any mexican restaurant and ask for it.Marami na ring Mexican ang gumagawa ng soup no.5.The main ingredient are the bull nuts (bayag)which they salvage from a bullfight.There’s actually a good joke on it.
One frequent customer complained that the bull nuts in his soup are smaller than usual.The waiter said; I’m sorry senor, the matador lost today…
mga kasama, nasaan na kayo,
ang ating sumpaan ba’y nalimot na ninyo
bihira na kayong mapasyal doon sa isyu
itong lubid bang iyo’y papatirin nang totoo?
anumang inyong kagustuha’y aking igagalang
sa pagbabalik ninyo ako’y laging maghihintay
abutin man ng gabi’t lubugan ako ng araw
walang sawang aasang lungga’y inyong babalikan.
Apoy:
Senior,I like your bullfight jokes.Ha!ha!ha!
But, do you remember that finger in the hot chili soup? The perpetrator is spending time in jail.
She want to swindle the franchise for a big bucks.
Napapagusapan din lang grammar, mga translations at kung anong mga anik-anik, iposte ko na itong English Movies at ang Tagalog translations:
1. I know what you did last summer – uyy… aminin!
2. Love, actually – sa totoo lang, pag-ibig
3. Million dollar baby – 50 million pisong sanggol (it depends on the exchange rate of the country)
4. Mary poppins – si mariang may putok
5. Snakes on a plane – nag-ahasan sa ere
6. The postman always rings twice – ang kartero kapag dumutdot laging dalawang beses
7. Sum of all fears – takot mo, takot ko, takot nating lahat
8. Swordfish – talakitok
9. Pretty woman – ganda ng lola mo
10. Robin hood, men in tights – si robin hood at ang mga felix bakat
11. Four weddings and a funeral – kahit 4 na beses ka pang magpakasal, mamamatay ka rin
12. Te good, the bad and the ugly – ako, ikaw, kayong lahat
13. Harry potter and the sorcerer’s stone – adik si harry, tumira ng shabu
14. Click – isang pindot ka lang
15. Brokeback mountain – may nawasak sa likod ng bundok ng tralala /bumigay sa bundok
16. The day of the dead – ayaw tumayo (ng mga patay)
17. Wterworld – basang-basa
18. There’s something about mary – may kwan sa ano ni maria
19. Employee of the month – ang sipsip
20. Resident evil – ang biyenan
21. Kill bill – kilitiin sa bilbil
22. The grudge – lintik lang ang walang ganti
23. Nightmare before christmas – binangungot sa noche buena
24. Never been kissed – pangit kasi
25. Gone in 60 seconds – unang round, tulog
26. The fast and the furious – ang bitin, galit
27. Too fast, too furious – kapag sobrang bitin, sobrang galit
28. Dude, where’s my car – dong, anong level ulit tayo nag-park?
29. Beauty and the beast – ang asawa ko at ang nanay nya
30. The lord of the rings – ang alahero
joeseg Says:
29. Beauty and the beast – ang asawa ko at ang nanay nya
he he heh! galit sa biyenan.
Buhay pa rin ang thread about Adel, at nagkabaklaan pa!
Yuko, titser, I remember back in the 70’s when the Phils. witnessed the first-ever mini-series that was based on a novel, “Roots”, an adaptation of the Bestseller by Alex Haley, the lead character Kunta Kinte (I’m not sure of the spelling) in the climax declared, “We is free!” and everyone else afterwards shouted the same thing. “We is free”. I remember that phrase because we were all laughing in school the next day.
Of course, during those times the verb was probably acceptable for both singular and plural use. Not today. What I’m trying to say is, in language, even rules are not permanent. Especially across many countries, there are no hard rules that haven’t been broken. Yet the most important part is conveying the right message and getting understood.
Is we agreed?
Ellen, I don’t know exactly where in Tagaytay but the brand is Coffee Alamid. It costs P7000/kg or P7/gram! The alamid is the local civet (relative of the mongoose – the king cobra’s nemesis) also known as bearcat or musang which is carnivorous but loves eating coffee cherries.
The folks at the Malarayat mountain range collect these “partially digested” coffee beans wash, dry then sell them to traders. It is more expensive than the so-called Rolls Royce of brewed coffees – the Jamaican Blue Mountain and annual production in the Philippines reaches only about half a metric ton. Indonesia and Vietnam likewise export their own civet coffee.
Thanks, Tongue.
Maam Ellen,
Not too long ago, the alamid coffee and soup #5 was featured on Balitang K. I am very sure Maam Korina your fellow journalist should be able to expound the subject for you.
from Mrivera’s #29 29. Beauty and the beast – ang asawa ko at ang nanay nya
he he heh! galit sa biyenan.
Natatandaan nyo ba ang mga artistang sumuporta kay GMA noong 2004?
Mrivera: tinutukoy mo ba si Dado(Ruel Vernal) sa pelikulang INSIANG?
O itong “Ina ka ng Anak mo” ni Lino Brocka?
Pwede bang magbanggit ka ng pelikula dito ni Ishmael Bernal?
Napanood nyo na rin ba ang Palabra de Honor ni Danny Zialcita?
nelbar, tanong natin kay joeseg.
Came across your article whilst attempting to find info on the nautical highway to get my car from Subic to Bohol. Prior to this was talking to a friend of mine who had done this trip in the past so thought I would google it and see what came up…..
Well……….., forget the Philippine Governement website……, the links dont “link”!!!! As another friend of mine continuously reminds me, I should remember where I am. Interesting though is the other link that take you to the almighty Gloria’s achievements, these work with absolute ease!!! Go figure, what is the priority of this president? She could not be oblivious to the plight of her countrymen – she must at least watch the local TV even if she cannot see through the tinted windows of her VIP vehicle. How can she ignore the poverty, the lack of opportunity and why does she need so many soldiers “guarding” the palace? Sorry – got off the subject a bit……… Here is link anyway that didnt work http://www.gov.ph/cat_transportation/default.asp