Day 3 – Philippine Trip

Did I mention it’s so hot here? By the time I get outside the hotel, smoldering heat hits me like a jagged knife. No matter, it’s a way to lose weight, hehehe! In fact, I think I might have lost a pound or two already.

Anyway, I was able to get my cell phone activated here without even tampering with Cingular’s programming. Good thing for SIM cards! Now, I’ve been sending text messages like crazy around here. It’s so popular, almost every store in the mall sell cell phones and pre-paid subscriptions. It’s almost to the point of ridiculous, but then I’m glad that it’s readily available.

Luci and I also walked around yesterday and went grocery shopping for essentials we needed at the suite. We were so wiped out later on, we conked out at 6:30pm and woke up at 2:30am! And now, I’m still wide awake. I wish we could’ve slept longer so we don’t get too tired early. We’ll try to hold off on sleeping early if we can.

Things I forgot about this place: you have to provide your own toilet paper in the public restrooms (the seats are filthy, too – ugh – and your have to sometimes pay to go in there), there are malls almost all over the place, there are a lot of food stalls around the area, soliciting can be done but discreetly in different establishments, there is no such thing as free refills (there may be some, but just ONE free refill), Internet cafes are all over the place, and the list goes on and on. Ah, I miss it. ROFL! Also, my siblings keep saying that we should play badminton sometime as it’s all the rage here lately.

It’s also sad that I am sometimes having trouble finding some Tagalog phrases I used to know way back when. And, the different street slangs! I had to keep asking my sister what each word meant.

I ate some squid balls yesterday. I missed them so much, but not like the barbecue they have in the street corners that sell cut-up pig intestines. I know it sounds a little gross, but they are certainly good. :) I still haven’t eaten all of the food I want to eat, but there’s still time. We are also making sure we don’t drink the tap water here or we’ll get sick with diarrhea. Luckily, there’s a grocery store just across the street, so we can refill our water bottles if need be.

That’s it for now, I guess. Till then! :)