It was a looooong day. The day started off with tapa & garlic rice for breakfast in the cafe. Mmm. I caught a bit of the Dallas vs. Miami game. Blah. I want the Heat to lose. It was so weird to hear the commentators speaking in Tagalog!
Then we took a taxi over to the Mall of Asia. It's freakin' huuge! There's a big globe in the front with which I took a picture that I will upload later. (= There's a skating rink inside, which I thought was really weird because it's not even in an enclosed area; the sun shines down on part of the rink.
The first store my family went to was Hyper____ (sorry, I forgot the name). It was basically a huuuge department store with food, clothing, home stuff, and virgin coconut oil. haha. Then my sister and I looked at Bench and a bunch of stores that they have in the states, but we didn't really find anything. T=
We ate lunch at Greenwich. Sorry to Mark & Teo, but we didn't LOVE it. Still good & crazy cheap, though: a double garlic mozzerella cheese pizza, garlic stix, spaghetti, and a coke for P169 (I think)! That comes out to a little more than $3!!! O=
I bought some CDs at Astro-something...
- Regine Duets: songs by Regine Velasquez and the likes of Jose Mari Chan, Gary V., and yes, even David Hassellhoff! It came with a 2nd CD of minus 1 tracks, too! w00t!
- Akustik Love: acoustic (or so they came) versions of some awesome songs like "Bakit Pa Ba?", "Say That You Love Me", and "Buttercup"
- Ogie Alcasid's Greatest Hits: the O.G. version of "Bakit Ngayon Ka Lang" & a bunch of songs I have yet to learn. Oh yeah. It came with a VCD of his music videos, too. lol.
My sister and I met up w/ my parents; they got ice cream, my dad bought a barong for $13, and then we went all over the place trying to unlock my sister's cell phone.
We went back to the hotel and then walked around a looot. We got halo halo at Max's Restaurant for craaazy cheap. Then we failed to find a taxi to take us to the folk art theater so we ended up walking the 2 miles (or whatever it was).
The show was freakin' awesome!!!! A dance troupe showcased different dances from the different suites, but it was awesome how everything was worked in together. For example, for the Kalinga tribe, they started off with a short fight between guys in bahags, then actually reinacted a peace pact, a courting period, the wedding, and the celebration afterward! They pretty much did that for all 5 suites. Some dances were long and had me drifting off to sleep, but that was probably just cuz I was tired from lack of sleep. But yeah... They were so professional; their costumes were great, the music was live (of course), and the dancers were reeeeeally into it!
Dances performed:
- Kalinga Suite (Cordillera/Mountain people)
- Chalijok
- Salip
- Tachok
- Principalia Suite (Maria Clara/Spanish)
- Jota Rizal
- Jota Gumaquena
- Tacon Y Punta Danza
- Polkabal
- Sama Di Laut (Samals/Muslim "sea gypsies")
- Tangungguh
- Igal Tabawan
- Tariray
- Leppa
- Lumad (Indigenous people of Mindanao)
- Dugso
- Siring
- Ki-Lawan
- Basal Banal
- Kadal Onuk
- Sout
- Khinlesung
- Barrio (Rural)
- Pandanggo Sambalilo
- Sakuting
- Sayaw Ed Tapew Na Bangko
- Binasuan
- Tinikling
When that was over, we rode a Jeepney! It was only for a short distance though, down Ocampo street. We got off at Roxas boulevard. Hahah. Yeeeah! I tried to take a picture of it for Geoff [Ocampo] and Fallon [Roxas], but it didn't come out to well. But yeah... that was cool. Then we ended up walking far again and stopped at Max's again. Mmm. Chicken. Then we walked back to Hostel 1632 and I knocked out for a while.
Japanese moments:
from Saturday, June 17, 2006
Today, Saturday, June 17, we're going to Pasay SDA Church and then we're gonna spend the rest of the day with family. I hope we get to visit the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP) or the Metro Museam of Manila. eeeeek!
Tomorrow, we're gonna check out of this nice hotel we're in and travel to Zambales, where my mom's from. She didn't actually grow up, there, though, because they moved to Quezon City when she was still young. Growing up, though, she went back to visit her Lola at the beaches and what not. Joy [Empeno]'s uncle is the major of Kandelarya in Zambales. Too bad we won't be in the PI at the same time...
After that, we're gonna be in Mindoro. That's the real rural area: absolutely no electricity. Aaack! Wish me luck... As much as I'm dreading the lack of electricity, I'm so excited to find out how the real provinces are! Aaaah!
Luckily, we're only there for a couple nights, I think. Then we're checking into a different hotel in Pasay. I don't think it'll be as nice as the hotel we're in right now, but that's okay. Heheh. I wonder if I can come back here and use their free Internet. d=
Anyway, I gotta get ready for church. Happy Sabbath!
from Sunday, June 18, 2006
Happy Dad's Day! Yesterday was freakin' awesome! After church (next to the Manila Adventist Medical Center), we (me, my sister, my mom, my dad, Ate Bing, my nephew Justin, uncle Ben, and auntie Ellen) went to my cousin Ephteen & her husband Richard's studio apartment. I knocked out (I only had about 2 hours of sleep) and then we ate. Mmm! Filipino spaghetti!!!
Everyone talked for a looong time about work and different countries. Ate Beng travels a lot; she's involved with public health. Ephteen's sister, Sunddie, travels a lot, too, cuz she's with the Madrigal Singers. She's actually gonna come back from their European tour on the 20th. All my cousins are pretty much either in music, medicine, or teaching. ...and here I am in business. hahah.
After chilling at teh cousin's for a couple of hours, we headed to Makati. We went to the Ayala Museum. It was freakin' awesome! They have dioramas of pretty much all of the history of the Philippines!!! It was a lot of info to take it, but it was awesome to get some sort of a visual of it. I got a booklet w/ extra info in it, too. khee!
They also had a temporary exhibit on the paintings and photography of the Zobels (uncle and nephew). My relatives (especially my dad) were saying they didn't really understand the whole thing and were trying to find descriptions of the paintings and stuff. Looking at the art totally made me wanna go to a museum with an art freak. hahah. Then they could explain things to me. (Touch it; it's really bumpy.)
Then we walked a little ways down to Greenbelt. Damn. There are some reeeeally nice malls here. The stores are pricey shtuff, though (Louis Vuitton, Prada, Burberry). The atmosphere's great, though. I would totally hang out there all the time. It would be a nice date place, too.
We ate at a restaurant called Soul Food. hahahah. Yeah, I was totally expecting like jumbalaya or something. It was Asian Fusion stuff. I ended up having South Beach Grilled Chicken Espanol. Good stuff. We had a mango vasherin (whatever the hell that is).
Then we walked around for a little bit more. There's a section with a bunch of coffee places: Seattle's Best, Starbucks, Cafe Havana; a little ways down there's also a Coffee Bean. So much freakin' coffee! Anyhoo. We left, went back to the room, watched a little bit of SNL (hilarious!), and knocked out.
Now, I am utilizing what little Internet time I have left.
