On my way to Nepal

December 26

Honestly, I feel like I am in a dream, and I’m afraid that my alarm at home will wake me up at any second. I have never been so spontaneous which probably contributes to that feeling. Take this side trip to Nepal as an example. About two weeks ago I was planning to spend the New Year in Hong Kong. I then spoke to my classmate Miton about my plans. It just so happens that he will be visiting family in Nepal at that time and invited me to come visit. How often do I get the chance to visit Kathmandu and have my own tour guide/friend along for the ride? This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, so I booked a flight the day before I left the US. I’m flying to Nepal via India, where I have an 8 hour layover. I learned today that Bollywood movies are great for long flights! Not surprisingly, the food on the flight was Indian. Many of you know that I have a very low spice tolerance, so you can imagine how thrilled I was when I saw that they provided a large tub of yogurt to go with the chicken curry. Unfortunately I can’t leave the airport because I didn’t have enough time to pick up a visa before I left the US. I would actually know people here, if I could leave. (Sorry Kanishk and Aayush's friend!) The airport is quite nice because they recently renovated it for the Commonwealth Games. It reminds me of a smaller version of Heathrow in that you have shops and a waiting area and then you go to your gate once just before you board the flight. I walked around the food court, and it was interesting to see a McDonald’s menu without a BigMac or Quarter Pounder. There’s a thick fog, so you can't see anything outside. Hopefully it doesn’t delay my flight!

Hong Kong…for about a day

December 25/26

As soon as I get comfortable with the way of life in Manila, I have to leave. My friend Tony picked me up from the airport in Hong Kong and showed me around before leaving for Nepal. He was in my Master’s program in England, and we haven’t had a chance to catch up since I left England. Thankfully we have been able to stay in touch with Facebook. Given my short stay, Tony, his friend Andrew, and I walked around a couple places in the city including a wet seafood market and a street where you could buy pets including fish, turtles, cats, and rabbits. (Katherine, I immediately thought of you when I saw the bunnies.) We also walked around the Ladies’ Market which has pretty much anything you can think of to buy. We also stopped at a temple and had dim sum for lunch. Transportation is very efficient because it is very expensive to have a car. Tony and Andrew have both spent lots of time in England, and it was fun listening to the English accent. It’s been a while since I heard words like “cheeky” and “loo.” Tony and I also reminisced about our time at the University of Warwick. We chatted about a range of topics. Similar to the Philippines, basketball is the big sport here. However, playing sports as a kid is not encouraged here. It makes sense when you learn that professional athletes here don’t have as high of an income as in the US. Instead, parents are motivated to help their kids stand out, so kids learn how to play a musical instrument. I also learned that fortune telling is a big industry there. They have professionals that study the methods in Taiwan. I saw a woman shaking a box of sticks. Once one of the sticks jumps out of the stack, she takes it to a fortune teller to get her fortune. Tony, thank you for being such a great host!

No Reservation (Part 3)

Many people have mentioned that they enjoy reading about food, so I am adding another post about food from Manila. I noticed that knives are not very common here. Instead, people eat with a fork and spoon. The spoon has many uses, from spooning out soup to cutting through food. For example, they don’t use their hands when they peel/eat shrimp. They cut the head, then the tail and then maneuver the silverware to peel the rest of the shrimp. I wish there was a way to label each of the photos. I tried the following dishes on Christmas:

Sisig – Made of parts of the pig’s head and liver, as well as onion and a little pepper for spice. They don’t like to waste parts of the pig, so the bones will be used to make broth and use the left over parts in this dish.

Dalandan shake – Juice made out of a local fruit. Delicious!

Lumpiang ubod – Spring roll with hearts of palm, topped with a peanut sauce.

Fried Pla Pla – The fish.

Gising-Gising – Usually this dish is served with lots of hot spice, but they tamed it for me. The menu said that you would need to use a fire extinguisher!

Pork binagoonan and morcon – One of the dishes was quite salty.

Thank you to the Santos family for showing me (and readers of the blog) the cuisine from the area!

Merry Christmas! Maligayang Pasko!

There are many Christmas parties that lead up to the actual holiday. Here you traditionally spend Christmas Eve with one side of the family and then Christmas day with the other side. Yesterday I met the entire Santos family. (They even Skyped with family from New Jersey who couldn’t able to make it to Manila.) I’m usually the youngest person during the holidays, so it was so much fun last night to be surrounded by so many young kids. Carlo is the eldest of all the grandchildren. I enjoyed last night, and everyone was so friendly and kind. However, it is especially hard to be away from home during this holidays. This morning we are opening gifts and going to mass. Normally you open them on Christmas Eve, but we were all too tired by the time we got home. I hope you have a wonderful holiday!

Surrounded by water

Even though the temperature is in the 80's, the thought of going to the beach right now seems ridiculous to people here. It's too cold. Everyone tells me that I must go to the beaches in March, which is the beginning of their summer. I'm trying to imagine just how hot it gets in March.

Since the Philippines is made up of 7,107 islands, it made sense to visit the Ocean Park in Manila (www.manilaoceanpark.com) to learn about the sea life. My favorite part was the jellyfish exhibit because I still remember researching the Portuguese Man-of-War for a project when I was younger. I also saw live shark eggs and a sea lion show. The park includes a spa where you put your feet in a little pool and fish come up to eat the dead skin on your feet. Apparently it only tickles, but I didn't feel like trying it.

The people and more on transportation

I’ve spent time with Carlo’s friends and family, and all have shown me such amazing hospitality!!! Based on conversations and observations, it’s clear that family is incredibly important in this culture. For example, on New Year’s Eve, it's expected that you start the night with your family and then later join your friends.

I’ve heard that the Philippines is currently the number one place for call centers. If you know the history, this makes sense. When the Americans occupied the Philippines, they introduced public education to the country. English is taught in schools, and as a result the people here have more of an American accent. That makes companies in America very interested in locating call centers here.

There are three main train lines in the city of Manila. The trains are called the LRT (Light Rail Transit). For areas not covered by these trains, people can take the jeepney (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeepney). These are brightly colored former US military jeeps. You hop in and out from the back. These vehicles are everywhere, and Carlo made sure that I rode in one. It's similar a bus in that it makes stops along a general route. Though the owners decorate their jeepneys with bright colors, logos, images, and words, it's interesting to note that there is no advertising painted on the side. It looks like prime real estate!

No Reservation (Part 2)

Yesterday Carlo, his friend Mike, and I explored one of the farmer's markets in Cubao. Here you can go to the “wet” market to pick out what food you want, and then they cook it for you in another part of the market. There is no doubt that this food is fresh! I've tried to show you before and after photos. We ordered salt and pepper crab, and it was delicious when I dipped it in a vinegar sauce. We also had garlic butter shrimp. I was surprised by the traditional tamarind soup (sinigang sa miso) with fish (Tanigue – a Spanish mackerel). It looks like it would be a salty broth, but it had a tangy flavor that was quite refreshing.

No Reservation (Part 1)

I said that I would be open to trying new experiences, and that includes food. I feel like I’m walking in the footsteps of Anthony Bourdain. I’ve tried almost everything that has been offered to me. Carlo’s family has been impressed by my willingness to be adventurous. Though I think I disappointed his father when I didn’t have the guts to try Balut (boiled, fertilized egg).

Here is just a sample of the type of food that I have tasted.

We went to Tender Bob’s which is an old restaurant chain in the Visayas region.

I had a version of fruit punch which was juice with pieces of watermelon and pieces and coconut. Chicken, pork and beef are prepared in many different ways. For example, I tried Kare Kare, which is a stew that you eat with a fish paste. For dessert I tried Brazo de Mercedes, a dessert made of the egg.

I really enjoyed their breakfast pastry, Ensaïmada. I also tried their version of chorizo sausage called longainiza which you eat with rice and egg, but I don’t have a photo.

The Pearl of the Orient

This morning Carlo and I went on a walking tour in Manila. Traffic to and from the tour was awful because everyone is getting ready for Christmas. It’s worse than traffic in places like Chicago or LA because there are basically no lanes and the ones that are labeled don’t really matter. I'm so impressed that Carlo maneuvers in this traffic with such ease. I’ve tried to show you traffic with a couple of photos taken within seconds of each other. I hope you can see the sign that says “Accident Prone Area”.

The tour itself provided a great summary of the history of Manila. For those of you visiting Carlo in a few months, I highly recommend you go on the same tour. I learned to what extent the culture has been heavily influenced by the Vatican, China, Japan, US and Spain (and not in that order). Part of the tour included a ride, so I attached a photo of that as well.

One note about the flight

The flight was like any other long flight, but there was one difference. For a snack they served ramen noodles with chopsticks. We had to peel back the cover and the flight attendants brought hot water. It brought me back to college. The flight from Tokyo to Manila was pretty uneventful so my next post will talk about Manila, and I'll try to attach a couple of photos.

And so it begins….

(Note there will be some delay with my posts.)

December 19th

I’m on a flight to Tokyo that takes over 12 hours. Now is a perfect time for me to set the scene since you are going to see Asia through my eyes.

To say that I love to travel is a huge understatement. Travel in my blood. I would like to thank my parents for instilling a hunger to see the world in my brother and me at a very young age. I know they are worried about me right now because they are parents. However, they are also extremely excited about the opportunities I will experience.

This is not my first time living abroad… and it’s not my second. I’ve had the good fortune of studying in Australia for a year in college and earning a Masters in Creative and Media Enterprises in England. When I studied in Australia, I wanted to observe the little ways that our cultures differed because everyone assumes they are so similar. England gave me the opportunity to learn about the creative industries around the world. This time I am eager to learn about business in Asia, as well see life from a new perspective. Even though I’ve traveled to different parts of the world, this all feels so new and exciting.

Someone said to me the other day that this experience is going to change my life. I honestly don’t know how it will change, but I can promise you that will keep my eye, ears, and heart open as I travel from one place to the next.

Thank you for joining me on this journey. I will try to make it entertaining and informative. I truly hope this blog is not a one-way conversation with all of you. Think of it more as an extended facebook status. Please share your thoughts/reactions. (Thanks Guy and Steve for starting the trend with my last post. I will try to update the blog when I'm there. And thanks Mom too.)

Welcome to my blog

I am studying abroad in Asia for a few months, and these are my stories. Enjoy!

I'm currently finishing up some last minute things and spending time with my best friends Haleema and Ali, as well as my mom. I can't believe that I leave for Manila tomorrow!