filipino life
08/09/2006
I’ve been trying to find a photo that would sum up life in the Philippines, and this was the best I could do.
Well. We completed our last assignment last night, and will be leaving PH in the day. It’s been a fruitful trip work-wise, because we now realise how wrong our assumptions have been. It’s always a good thing, and that in itself has paid for the trip.
I could start on the whole, as a Singaporean we take our way of life for granted bit. But it’s been done.
After our FGD tonight, Sharks and I ordered some in-room dining (we were starving! our eating schedule is seriously out of whack), and the guys joined us with some cake. It was a pleasant surprise, I was a little too zonked to really think about doing anything. So thanks, guys. It was really sweet.
Other than that, I am glad to be going home tomorrow. The Philippines reminds me a little of the Jakarta I visited in 1990. It’s a little painful to see the disparity in the lives the different stratas lead.
The people are also a conundrum, and while their hopes and dreams lie outside the Philippines, they still hang on to their roots and hearts in the hinterland. Their sense of community is overwhelming.
I can’t profess to know them inside out now, but some things are clear. Like I don’t think I can survive in the Philippines, because I’m a wuss. The jeepneys are cute, but hard to catch a good photo of. The malls are nice, and when a fire breaks out no one panics. Their supermarket prices are like ours. The mangoes I had were a little sour.
Will be home on Friday evening. In the meantime, birthday greetings go out to: Sid Caesar, Peter Sellers, Martin Freeman, Antonin Dvorak and Patsy Cline. I’d say they make pretty good company.
