In the Philippine barrios on New Years Eve
I escaped the Baclaran area of Manila by boarding a bus south to Batangas. I then took a small bamboo banca boat to the Island of Mindoro and the resort of Sabang. I lived with a local family and spent Xmas day eating coconut rice sticks wrapped in banana leaves. I did a lot of partying here before heading into the Philippine countryside. I went via jeepney to Calapan and then Victoria before reaching the tiny barrio of Murangan. Here you wash in a communal outside concrete bath type thing wearing shorts. There are no tourist in these parts so you stick out a bit here. You collect and eat a special kind of grass that I have never seen before. I ate whole BBQd small Mia birds including head bones - well everything, even some locals wouldnt eat this since it is the national bird of the Philippines! I went collecting oranges and grass on a jungle foraging expedition. I walked through the rice paddies and had a ride on a water buffalo cart. I cooked fresh squid and watched as a guy hunted 3 snakes for his dinner. When the electricity did work the light ’switch’ was two bare wires that had to be physically connected and jammed into a nail in the wooden wall. Talk about primitive. This was a risky operation as it had to be done using candle light so I got that job and had to dice with the possibility of being electrocuted everyday. Aah well such is life in the barrios.
After eating a breakfast of rice, dried whole fish and grass the traditional way with my hands, I jeepneyed back to Calapan and took a ferry to Batangas and another series of bizzare forms of transportation to Santa Cruz in Laguna province. Here I am staying in another family barrio bamboo hut getting wrecked on coconut wine at 16 peso a bag and smashing coconuts with a big knife. I had the honour of killing a hen here with my bare hands. A weird experience that! I have been sleeping mainly on the floors of peoples houses and washing out of a bucket. I think I am becoming native as I have even been drinking the same water as the locals do - this is a big no no when travelling!
Today is New Years Eve and the locals are going crazy with the celebrations. It is weird having Xmas and New Year in the tropics. You are surrounded by banana and coconut trees in searing heat. It doesn’t really feel like the festive season as you know it at home.
I have just booked a flight back to Taiwan for Thursday 3rd Jan 2008. I am heading to Tainan again where I intend to enrol with a school and practice more Chinese.
Happy hunting
Some Tagalog:
Isa, Dalawat, Tatlo, Apat, Lima, Anim, Bito, Walo, Sham, Sambo (1-10)
Magkano (How much), O O (Yes), Hinde (No)
etc etc
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