Life in the Philippines

So it is still Saturday in the US where most of my friends and family are but here in the Philippines it is Sunday morning and a lazy one at that. I intended to sleep in this morning but I have a tough time doing that. Although I did make it to 7:30 instead of 5 AM so I guess it was late for me.  Not doing much today, laying around, watching TV and drinking coffee.  Later we need to go to the grocery store, not much left in meat and veggies so we will stock up a bit.  We are at Hard Rock Cafe on Friday night and had lunch at TGIFridays yesterday so we’ll probably eat here are home today.  More pictures as the week goes on next week. Just a bit tired and have not gotten them off the camera yet.

Most seafood here is very low in cost and many choices of people to buy from. During a recent trip to a seafood market on Roxas Blvd, we saw one vendor with lobster. But there was only one vendor.  Either lobster is very hard to find around here or perhaps it doesn’t come from the immediate area.  Maybe it is just a supply and demand thing or maybe it is not the right season for it (is there a lobster season?) Regardless, even Johnnie, who will pay more for some things than I am willing to, decided we would not be eating lobster that day. The cost per lobster was 2500 pesos, or around $50. Sorry, I’m not really a lobster fan and for $50 it would have to feed us all for more than one day!

I did a topic like this shortly after we arrived here so I thought I would update the list.  Of course I miss family and friends, that goes without saying. This is just about the materialistic side of what I miss. Of course I still miss readily available hot water in the kitchen and I definitely miss having a sprayer at the sink and a dishwasher. But you do adapt to things over time.  So what is on my list of things I miss in the Philippines now?

1. Cheese - I just refuse to pay the price of shredded cheese here. I can’t even begin to fathom paying $20 for cheese, I will just do without.  That’s tough considering I am a huge cheese lover. I did pay the equivalent of about $6 the other day for a pack of Kraft sliced cheese.  Hard to make a good casserole though without shredded cheese.

2. Sour Cream -  I can buy something called sour cream. And the taste is even close. But the texture is no where close to what we are used to. Sour Cream is something I am used to pushing off the spoon because of its thickness and creaminess. Here it about the consistancy of whipping cream, maybe thinner:

3. Sugar Free Drinks:  I can buy Coke zero but I am not a soda drinker.  I would like to be able to buy sugar free koolaid or Crystal Light. I can’t even order it through Amazon or the Commissary for some reason. Very odd.  And yes I have offers to have it sent to me, I just have not broke down and agreed to it yet.  I am still determined to stick to my adapt to the situation resolution!

4. Toilet paper and seats in the public bathrooms: This one is worthy of a topic all to its own one of these days! We’ll just leave it at the point of saying it would be nice to have those things!

And the thing I miss the most in the Philippines?

A Second Vehicle!  Gosh, after all these years of being able to go where I wanted when I wanted, it is definitely tough trying to figure out sharing a vehicle. Sure I could take him to work every day and pick him up every afternoon but there are times he needs to go places for work that are not scheduled ahead of time. And I am truly not so fond of the traffic. I could call a taxi or I could walk (remember the 95 degree temp though) but neither option appeals to me most of the time so I just stay home.  Of course I do work, so I have things to do, but it is tough if you just want to get out.

I’ll quit whining now. There is nothing earth shattering on the list, and there are ways around each of them…well maybe not the sour cream but hey with no cheese I am not making much that I want sour cream for anyhow! See, I can adapt!

You may be saying, “but it is only Feb!” And you would be right. Who would have thought that Feb would mean sunburn and AC days but it does.  The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (the weather people I guess!) are saying that summer has arrived.  They are saying the northeast monsoon has quit blowing cold air and that means summer is here. It normally provides the cool air through some time in March so this is an early summer. They are predicting temps up to 37 degrees Centigrade this summer, possibly for extended periods.  Last week the temp hit 35 degrees.  I still have my Fahrenheit brain in gear so I had to look it up. 35 equals 95…yikes, 95 degrees in mid February.  It’s gonna be a long hot summer I think.  The kids of course are thrilled to have the pool as an option.  I think I will stick with the AC!

The good news on this subject up until today was that the phone line was holding steady. Even though it is Vonage through the internet access I have been able to get a phone connection most days. Today I lost connection three or four times, not a good sign. Then there is the continual error saying the ISP cant determine the IP of the site I am trying to visit. OK what’s the problem? It gives you an admin address to send your issue to, but they never answer. Still can’t access the school portal at ISM and still can’t get regular access to the forums I used to visit daily. Oddly enough I can get to this blog and my to a couple of forums I sign into. But for some reason, the one at PensacolaBeachtoday.com, the ones at About.com and occassionally a couple of private message boards I read at just will not connect on a regular basis. And if I do connect, it is a snails pace movement of screens. Odd considering that mostly they are no different than any other place I visit. But all I can do is keep trying. Some days I have the patience for it, others I just throw my hands up and go watch TV…which is a whole nuther story for another day. Just sum it up today by saying thank goodness for DVD releases of TV shows!