It's become clear I love experiencing different cultures, and I love it even more when things from different cultures catch me off guard. I have a fair few American friends here, so I often get to have American days with them. Today being the day of The Super Bowl I got to experience American football and why the Americans love it so! I've heard of American football of course, but that was about as far as my knowledge of it went until today.
The guys had paid for a package so we could watch it live...so whilst it was evening time in the States, it was pretty early in the morning for us. So we had an American brekkie whilst watching the game. Why have eggs on toast or pancakes, when you could have both...on the same plate. (And we wonder why there is an obesity problem?! Puzzling!) My friends explained the rules to me, I had previously assumed American football would be similar to England's rugby. Ohhhh, not so! I guess it has a few similarities but completely different. But it's really cool! I was surprised to see myself get pretty into it and rooting for the 49ers. As with all things American, everything was big and in your face, Beyonce performing at half time, with an insane amount of lighting and other such frills. (Way too much in my opinion.) Also the Americans make a massive effort in the commercials that are played in between the game, so every one is watching for the commercials almost as much as the game. That baffles me!
Whilst all the 'glitz and glam' doesn't appeal to me, at all, I do really like that something as simple as watching a football game can make you feel at home. (Not so much for me, but the Americans for sure.) When we were in Palawan there was a English football/soccer game on, and just seeing the short bit that I did, made me feel that England wasn't so far away. Though, I never really feel like England is far away, and I guess I have technology to thank for that. Sure there are certain things and ways of life I miss, but I've not really ever felt home sick. I don't know how all these fangled, technological gadgets work and have no interest in finding out how...but I do appreciate those who have and allow me to have small measures of home life, when in reality I'm over 6000 miles away! I think for the first time in life, I am finally appreciating technology...it's saved me a fortune on stamps at the very least! Though I still hold true to the notion that there is nothing quite like a good ol' handwritten letter! Signed Sealed and Delivered.
Tuneage...Beyonce - Halo. I previously wasn't overly fussed by big vocals...but after singing with 808 band, I have a new found appreciation. It's tough keeping vocals clean and big without drowning out behind a full band!
Showing posts with label music. Show all posts
Showing posts with label music. Show all posts
Monday, 4 February 2013
Tuesday, 29 January 2013
五個月 and Everything Else...
There is so much to see and do in Palawan, we just didn't have enough time to do all that we wanted. (So I'll just have to go back sometime...what a hardship!)
Near our hostel was a kareoke bar (just one of the ways you can tell you're in Asia, is the general love of kareoke.) So we went one evening...singing our little hearts out and ended up making friends with the locals. They were so cute and ended up coming and sitting with us and buying us a round of drinks. Then we went to a bar nearby where a cover band were playing. I was super excited as it's been such a long time since I've seen a band play. There is a lack of a music scene in Taiwan...or at least where I live. So it was great. So in a true Western fashion we danced like lunatics to their music. Which encouraged a few Pinoys to join us. And the next thing I know, Reign, the lead singer of 808 band, grabs my hand and pulls me up on stage to sing with them. So I then find myself singing Carly Rae Jepson - Call Me Maybe with 808! I'm still unsure how I managed that!!
After the set the band were so appreciative of us enjoying their music they asked us to hang out with them. So we had a meal backstage with them and just hung out. They taught us bits of Tagalog and just chatted with us, why we were in Palawan, why we all live in TW and such like. It's just so amazing to be welcomed by everyone in Philippines. From what I can understand of the culture, this stems from the close family bond. Families and extended families are very close in Filipino culture, as with most Asian cultures. The band members referred to each other as brother and sister, and they treat everyone like family. So we had become their extended family.
Many people have said 'oh you need to be careful in the Philippines, there is a lot of crime' etc. I can honestly say, I never felt unsafe anywhere in the Philippines, whether I was with the girls or on my own. Even in the big city of Manila. I would go so far as to say I feel safer there than in parts of London. In reality, there is crime wherever you go, but if you are sensible I see no reason why you wouldn't feel safe. There are areas of the Philippines I probably wouldn't choose to go, but there are areas in every place you probably would avoid.
The difference between Palawan and Manila was huge. In the traffic of Manila people are trying to earn a living selling things...it wasn't uncommon to see people selling all manor of random things, even little kids were there selling things. As it's a city it was obviously more built up. But the people were just as chilled and happy as we had experienced in Palawan.
Manila is home to the biggest malls in Asia. The Mall of Asia, Greenbelt and Glorietta. So some shopping was in order for us. It was sooooooo wonderful to see some familiar faces...Zara, Dorothy Perkins, Debenhams and even Marks and Spencer.
On our final night in Manila we went to the meeting. After the meeting some of the brothers and sisters took us out for dinner to a local place. Ahhhh again the Filipino food did not disappoint. Sisig, BBQ pork, seafood, rice and a traditional dessert, cassava cake. At first appearance, the cassava cake kinda looked like caramelized mash potato. So I wasn't sure what to expect. But it was delicious, really creamy. It tasted almost like custard. I love learning from the locals, you really do find out what the best foods and places to go are from them.
It was sad leaving the Philippines, as we flew out you could see the built up areas, the slums and the beaches. Considering the poverty within the country, I've never seen a happier bunch of people. They really do seem to make the most of the simple pleasures in life.
So the Philippines can be ticked off the Abacus atlas...but I am convinced it's not the last time I will find myself there. I really hope to go back and explore for longer.
For now it's back in TW for me. And I've reached the 五個月 mark. Which means...little over 4 weeks and I will be back in the England. Madness! I'm kinda nervous to come back...only because it means back to work and everything being expensive again. But I'm excited to come back too. But the lessons I've learnt in Taiwan and the Philippines are invaluable and ones I will remember for life.
Tune of the day is The Black Eyed Peas - The Apl Song.
Near our hostel was a kareoke bar (just one of the ways you can tell you're in Asia, is the general love of kareoke.) So we went one evening...singing our little hearts out and ended up making friends with the locals. They were so cute and ended up coming and sitting with us and buying us a round of drinks. Then we went to a bar nearby where a cover band were playing. I was super excited as it's been such a long time since I've seen a band play. There is a lack of a music scene in Taiwan...or at least where I live. So it was great. So in a true Western fashion we danced like lunatics to their music. Which encouraged a few Pinoys to join us. And the next thing I know, Reign, the lead singer of 808 band, grabs my hand and pulls me up on stage to sing with them. So I then find myself singing Carly Rae Jepson - Call Me Maybe with 808! I'm still unsure how I managed that!!
After the set the band were so appreciative of us enjoying their music they asked us to hang out with them. So we had a meal backstage with them and just hung out. They taught us bits of Tagalog and just chatted with us, why we were in Palawan, why we all live in TW and such like. It's just so amazing to be welcomed by everyone in Philippines. From what I can understand of the culture, this stems from the close family bond. Families and extended families are very close in Filipino culture, as with most Asian cultures. The band members referred to each other as brother and sister, and they treat everyone like family. So we had become their extended family.
Many people have said 'oh you need to be careful in the Philippines, there is a lot of crime' etc. I can honestly say, I never felt unsafe anywhere in the Philippines, whether I was with the girls or on my own. Even in the big city of Manila. I would go so far as to say I feel safer there than in parts of London. In reality, there is crime wherever you go, but if you are sensible I see no reason why you wouldn't feel safe. There are areas of the Philippines I probably wouldn't choose to go, but there are areas in every place you probably would avoid.
The difference between Palawan and Manila was huge. In the traffic of Manila people are trying to earn a living selling things...it wasn't uncommon to see people selling all manor of random things, even little kids were there selling things. As it's a city it was obviously more built up. But the people were just as chilled and happy as we had experienced in Palawan.
Manila is home to the biggest malls in Asia. The Mall of Asia, Greenbelt and Glorietta. So some shopping was in order for us. It was sooooooo wonderful to see some familiar faces...Zara, Dorothy Perkins, Debenhams and even Marks and Spencer.
On our final night in Manila we went to the meeting. After the meeting some of the brothers and sisters took us out for dinner to a local place. Ahhhh again the Filipino food did not disappoint. Sisig, BBQ pork, seafood, rice and a traditional dessert, cassava cake. At first appearance, the cassava cake kinda looked like caramelized mash potato. So I wasn't sure what to expect. But it was delicious, really creamy. It tasted almost like custard. I love learning from the locals, you really do find out what the best foods and places to go are from them.
It was sad leaving the Philippines, as we flew out you could see the built up areas, the slums and the beaches. Considering the poverty within the country, I've never seen a happier bunch of people. They really do seem to make the most of the simple pleasures in life.
So the Philippines can be ticked off the Abacus atlas...but I am convinced it's not the last time I will find myself there. I really hope to go back and explore for longer.
For now it's back in TW for me. And I've reached the 五個月 mark. Which means...little over 4 weeks and I will be back in the England. Madness! I'm kinda nervous to come back...only because it means back to work and everything being expensive again. But I'm excited to come back too. But the lessons I've learnt in Taiwan and the Philippines are invaluable and ones I will remember for life.
Tune of the day is The Black Eyed Peas - The Apl Song.
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| paalam Pilipinas... |
Monday, 28 January 2013
Pinoys...
There were a lot of reasons why I fell in love with the Pinoys and Pinays. A smile certainly is infectious, when someone smiles at you, you can't help but smile yourself. And because everyone in the Philippines smiles at you, you end up walking around with a big grin on your face all day long.
One of my favourite things about the Pinoys is that they sing and dance to themselves. We had a manicure one day and whilst they were painting our toenails, they were singing to themselves. The security guards will randomly burst out into song at any given moment. People walking down the street are just bopping along and singing to themselves. I think we all know, I have a tendency to randomly sing to myself...so it was great to be surrounded by that kind of attitude and not have anyone stare at you and think you crazy for it!
One thing to be aware of in the Philippines, when asking for directions...don't expect a clear set of instructions. You will generally get a nod or experience the Pinoy pointing with the lips. Often someone would gesture in one direction, then someone else gesture in another direction. But eventually you get where your planning to go. The pointing with the lips is a funny thing to witness. They'll nod their head in the general direction and then do a little pout in attempts of pointing in the direction to go. So due to vague directions your often late to places. But that's ok because Pinoys aren't exactly known for their time keeping.
One of the very cute quirks I enjoyed from the Pinoys is the eyebrow raise. Often people would raise their eyebrows at you to say Hello. Or they would use the eyebrow raise to if they hadn't heard what you had said or didn't understand. A kinda of way of asking What?! Pardon?! I find myself raising my eyebrows myself now!
A lot of Filipino food mainly consists of meat, fish or seafood and rice and often egg too. Not an awful lot of vegetables. After a couple days of being extremely carnivorous fruit and veg is craved, which is easy enough to come by at the markets. Oh the fresh, local fruit is wonderful. It's quite fun when you go to a fruit stall and see new fruits you've never seen before! So we took the opportunity to try these new wonderful fruits. Rambutan, which I can only describe as fuzzy lychee, are wonderfully refreshing. Kinda like skinless grapes. And my new favourite fruit the mangosteen! Ah it's sooooooooooo yummy! A purple outer skin you rip open to get to the sweet, white flesh inside! Mmmmmmm! Soooo gooood!
The kids of the Philippines are the cutest ever. They will come and play with you at any given opportunity. At the beach these three little boys came over and played with us, sand fights were had. They took great delight in finding shells and telling us what they were and teaching us little bits of Tagalog. One of them rapped to us a Tagalog song...so cute! The Philippines is a great place to go for a little ego boost, when you get a few high fives from the cutest kids and people smile at you and raise their eyebrows at you all day long, you know you're having a good day. And with the sun shining radiantly, I find impossible to be in a bad mood in the Philippines. And if you are you just sing and dance your cares away...anywhere you like!
One of the tunes of the vacation was The Black Eyed Peas - Bebot. Apl De Ap from BEP is a proud Pinoy, and the Pinoys seem to be super proud of him in return.
One of my favourite things about the Pinoys is that they sing and dance to themselves. We had a manicure one day and whilst they were painting our toenails, they were singing to themselves. The security guards will randomly burst out into song at any given moment. People walking down the street are just bopping along and singing to themselves. I think we all know, I have a tendency to randomly sing to myself...so it was great to be surrounded by that kind of attitude and not have anyone stare at you and think you crazy for it!
One thing to be aware of in the Philippines, when asking for directions...don't expect a clear set of instructions. You will generally get a nod or experience the Pinoy pointing with the lips. Often someone would gesture in one direction, then someone else gesture in another direction. But eventually you get where your planning to go. The pointing with the lips is a funny thing to witness. They'll nod their head in the general direction and then do a little pout in attempts of pointing in the direction to go. So due to vague directions your often late to places. But that's ok because Pinoys aren't exactly known for their time keeping.
One of the very cute quirks I enjoyed from the Pinoys is the eyebrow raise. Often people would raise their eyebrows at you to say Hello. Or they would use the eyebrow raise to if they hadn't heard what you had said or didn't understand. A kinda of way of asking What?! Pardon?! I find myself raising my eyebrows myself now!
A lot of Filipino food mainly consists of meat, fish or seafood and rice and often egg too. Not an awful lot of vegetables. After a couple days of being extremely carnivorous fruit and veg is craved, which is easy enough to come by at the markets. Oh the fresh, local fruit is wonderful. It's quite fun when you go to a fruit stall and see new fruits you've never seen before! So we took the opportunity to try these new wonderful fruits. Rambutan, which I can only describe as fuzzy lychee, are wonderfully refreshing. Kinda like skinless grapes. And my new favourite fruit the mangosteen! Ah it's sooooooooooo yummy! A purple outer skin you rip open to get to the sweet, white flesh inside! Mmmmmmm! Soooo gooood!
The kids of the Philippines are the cutest ever. They will come and play with you at any given opportunity. At the beach these three little boys came over and played with us, sand fights were had. They took great delight in finding shells and telling us what they were and teaching us little bits of Tagalog. One of them rapped to us a Tagalog song...so cute! The Philippines is a great place to go for a little ego boost, when you get a few high fives from the cutest kids and people smile at you and raise their eyebrows at you all day long, you know you're having a good day. And with the sun shining radiantly, I find impossible to be in a bad mood in the Philippines. And if you are you just sing and dance your cares away...anywhere you like!
One of the tunes of the vacation was The Black Eyed Peas - Bebot. Apl De Ap from BEP is a proud Pinoy, and the Pinoys seem to be super proud of him in return.
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| bustling streets of Puerto Princesa |
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| the little makeshift stores along the streets |
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| our new little friends |
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| as the sun sets... |
Saturday, 15 September 2012
Small victories and Bugs!
I'm now learning that we must take great joy in the small victories we achieve. I will not be able to speak Mandarin fluently overnight. But today I managed to have a little conversation with a friend who doesn't speak English. It was nothing amazing, but it's something I couldn't do two weeks ago! Partly due to the lack of confidence. So HURRAY!
I always thought that when one visits another country, one should get completely involved in the culture. I always thought that if I were to live a Western life in an Eastern country, then this is cheating and you're not experiencing culture. Whilst I still think this is true to a point, I'm realising that it is sooooo important to have some sort of 'normality' in your home life, but still enjoy the culture and live in and amongst it. For some people, their constant thing they need is home food, for others home tv...for me it's music! I realised that if I can't get by in British life without music as my constant...how on earth could I manage in another country without my constant?!
The bugs are bugging me now! There are ants everywhere! It's like when you go out on a picnic and then end up having a battle with an army of ants, except it's constantly! Then we have the jumping spiders, they're pretty small so no big deal, but you go to swat them and then they outwit you and jump away. I'm pretty sure I saw a cockroach the other day, but it scuttled off and I don't know where it went (a little perturbing!) But I did see a very interesting gecko looking lizardy thing the other day, that was pretty cool. And oh the mosquitos...the first week they left me alone, not a single bite...now they've decided I taste good. Though I'm doing pretty well compared to a lot of my friends, I only have a few bites. So I can't complain. I am happy to report I have not seen any silver fish...they were my nemesis back home, so I am glad they don't seem to be around over here!
The Paper Kites - Drifting. Seems kinda fitting for the thoughts here. I spent the day listening to this on repeat...I love the lyric 'there's no way of showing if we, ended up where we planned' Genius!
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| no i'm not off to play tennis today. just gonna smash those mosquitos! this is an amazing device, very satisfying when you see the fizz from catching a mosquito. |
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