Back to the Philippines

The last time I was here was in 2002. We finally arrived here in the Philippines.We were fortunate to have an easy time at the airport. First we tried to withdraw money from the airport ATM and we spent a bit of time worrying about a completed transaction without any money coming out.

We tried it on two cash machines and both transactions did not give us any money! Fortunately, using my other bank account it worked and so we had money to pay for taxi. However, during paying time, the bill was too large I had to run to a Starbucks nearby to break the bill by buying a frapuccino drink. The bill was 235 from the airport to Makati but the taxi driver said he had no change, even after 300 so I just decided to just give in.

After settling down a bit on our condo we were picked up by my ever-generous cousin who let her stay in her condo and she decided to bring us to the Rockwell Powerplant mall. It is my first time to see this mall. We ate at the Chinese restaurant called GloriaMaris. We had birthday noodles, Patatim, fried rice, and dimsum. I ordered the watermelon shake. For dessert we had taho. MrC ordered his own bowl of braised beef noodle soup. He is not yet that familiar with the Filipino-style sharing of dishes. In the Netherlands, everyone usually orders a meal for himself. Chinese food is sub par if not terrible back home. The same goes in the US. Only in Toronto I find Chinese food as good as this. The Chinese food here is as I expected but not as salty as I expected it to be. But nevertheless I was satisfied, especially with the service. Little things like being served water before you are asked is very much appreciated since we never get this kind of treatment in the Netherlands. Service staff is much more scarce there that’s probably the reason for bad service. But maybe then, the attitude is different (much much better) here of course when it comes to customer service. I noticed that Powerplant mall has a bit more upscale feel, and less crowded. I also immediately noticed the presence of maids, yayas and drivers. The atmosphere of privilege and entitlement is pretty obvious here in this side of the world.
Living abroad makes one forget about this ultimately. I am sure whenever an overseas Filipino visits home, it is always hard to leave this sort of life but the main thing that keeps you from staying is the thought that you have no idea how you would earn the same amount of money you do abroad here. I believe this is a good subject to discuss in future postings. I think most kababayans abroad are always dreaming of having a good life here and leaving their overworked mortgage-driven life abroad but have no clue as to how to actually reside here and lose all their savings. I believe it is possible to do that through entrepreneurship. That is how people get prosperous here – not from finding a job from big corporations or so it seems.

At 4AM, I woke up only to see Makati offices still lit up and business still ongoing. Many Filipinos work as call center agents in Makati and their shifts are mainly during during the night since the clients are on other time zones. I am so impressed really that Makati is now open 24 hours! It’s like what you say about New York, the city that never sleeps but not because of partying but because people are working hard. That says a lot about our countrymen indeed.

• My changing point of view
• Ayala, Glorietta and Manila Bay
• August 2008 Visit to the Philippines