Delicious Burdens |
Know what the first rule of flying is? |
-
Photo
3
Notes 2/1/2012
San Miguel beer
-
Photo
3
Notes 1/1/2012
Halo-halo
-
Photos
2
Notes 31/12/2011
University of Santo Tomas, Philippines
-
Photo
5
Notes 30/12/2011
Tricycle
-
Photos
28/12/2011
Street market and carnival, Mandaluyong City
-
Photos
19/12/2011
Manila — First impressions
I expect to be assailed by unsavoury smells as I walk out of the airport, yet although the air is humid it’s not unpleasant. Manila has improved significantly since my last visit in 1996.
The traffic, though chaotic and slow, manages to work itself out, and the dire warnings of expats are, I think, unfounded. This also applies to crowds in the shopping centres, kidnapping threats and food poisoning. Paranoia kills the holiday spirit.
Jeepneys are much more toned down, and there seem to be fewer of them around.
Registration plates are colour-coded. One day a week, you’re not allowed to drive your vehicle in the city.
Post no bill.
Street food is everywhere. You will never want for chicken barbeque.
Kids are bred tough here. Little ones chase huge trucks lumbering in the street and hop on at the back, hanging on to the door latch, for a quick lift around.
You can hear Sunday Mass in all the major shopping centres, and the chapel has more people than my local parish in Australia at Easter.
Public toilets in the city—at least in the shopping centres—have improved. Never underestimate the value of a flushing toilet and two-ply toilet paper on the psyche. My butt thanks you, Manila.
The ladies’ toilets is dominated by women applying make-up, brushing their teeth or combing their hair. They comb their hair a lot here. A lot.
Billboards here are ginormous—something to look at when stuck in traffic.
Manila’s weather is hotter than Sydney but nowhere near as oppressive. Then again, we’ve mostly been in air-conditioned vehicles and shopping centres. And yet people walk around in long-sleeved shirts and cardigans.
Unleaded petrol is a foreign concept, as are footpaths.
The Christmas lights aren’t as ornate and lavish as I remember, but the parol stalls are fantastic.
We pass by an open coffin surrounded by flowers—obviously a wake—by the side of a street. Nearby, a group of men play mahjongg. It’s the one time when unlicensed gambling is allowed, because it enables families to raise enough money for the burial of their loved ones.
So gambling buddies are always on the lookout for another dead person.
-
Photos
3
Notes 15/12/2011
Kuala Lumpur — Day 2
-
. . .
4
Notes 14/12/2011
On travelling with kidsOne of the problems when travelling with kids is that it becomes very difficult to discover the soul of whatever place you’re visiting. Children constrain movement, and every experience is prefixed with safety precautions and punctuated with ailments and emergencies ranging from the distasteful smell of the sewers to having to ‘do a great big poo’.
The first time we went for a walk outside, I heard a litany of comments on
the smell:‘What’s that smell?’
‘It smells bad!’
‘Hold your breath before stepping over the sewer grate.’So the first non-safety rule when travelling in Asia has become: We don’t
say anything about the smell. If we need to say anything, we say it quietly
and in private.But the smells of Kuala Lumpur have led to interesting conversations. The
smell of leaded petrol from motorcycles brings back childhood memories. The
smell of chilli or coconut makes the mouth water even when the stomach can
take no more. The air brings the smell of thunderstorms before the first
drop falls. The smell of hotel shampoo reminds me that we’re on holiday and
to make the most of our nights and days.I haven’t even come close to knowing what Kuala Lumpur’s soul is like. It’s
probably hot and humid, but not sticky. It’s filled with spices and a
multitude of colours. It wears a sari and a cheongsam and a batik sarong.
It takes refuge in air-conditioned mega-malls and has no respect for the
queue.Or maybe that’s just what a tourist sees. I know that I haven’t eaten as
much as I wanted to. I haven’t tasted a proper Malaysian laksa or chicken
rice. We visit Chinatown and the fruit looks delicious, but buying food off
the street feels somehow icky, so I buy nothing. Instead I buy souvenirs
and sarongs and all the time I wonder if I’m being ripped off. I order the
only laksa I can find at the food court and…it’s not the laksa I want.This place is foreign and it’s not comfortable and having kids around is both a
hindrance and a distraction. We walk through an alley teeming with locals
eating street food, but it looks too unhygienic so we walk on. One of my
kids chatters happily on about the ‘cat and mouse’ that she saw; I later
learn that the cat was actually a huge rat.One of the wonderful things about travelling with kids is the way they see
the world—with innocence, with honesty and with curiosity. And although
one of my kids drips sweat like a broken tap as we walk through the streets of
Kuala Lumpur, he asks me, with wonder in his eyes, if this is a dream come
true. -
Photos
2
Notes 13/12/2011
Kuala Lumpur — First impressions
-
Oh man. The Group needs to know about this game. And play it. Frequently.
omg...
-
tumblr is the Hotel California of websites
You can log out any time you like
BUT YOU CAN NEVER LEAVE.
*kickass guitar solo*
-
-
-
“I remember the color of music
and how forever
all the trembling bells of you
were mine.”— Anne Sexton, from “The Bells” -
Passing on the skill to a younger generation. (Taken with Instagram at Rose Garden Riverside (สวนสามพราน))
-
Anonymous asked: Hey, I just read your piece on the friend zone. I wanted to ask you about your use of the term "reverse-sexist." Couldn't you just have said sexist? The term can be applied to men just as it can women. I liked your post but as a guy I can't help but feel (as I do often) that the notion of sexism in 2012 has become entirely one-sided. Do you believe that women are capable of being sexist?
This is a tricky one, because it relates to questions of power, culture and privilege.
Sexism is both a cultural and institutional issue. As a...
-
-
