Baguio City
I had a marvelous time up in the mountains in the City of Baguio. Of course the weather didn’t cooperate…the first week it clouded up and rained. I told Mike that I don’t go out in the rain at home & I’m not going anywhere in the rain here. The second week it was sorta sunny in the mornings & overcast in the afternoons. Since I’ve visited Baguio City twice before & seen lots of the attractions there…I wasn’t worried I was missing out on any thing. The few things that I checked out on line before going, was to see the woodcarvers…Mike told me that would be nice, but they see you as a visitor/traveler/sightseer & want to sell you their work. I nixed that right away same as going to see the women who weave…I went on a tight budget so I wasn’t looking to do much buying. Oh everyone keeps asking me what elevation was I at. I didn’t know so I finally looked it up & Baguio City elevation is listed at 5100 feet. I could feel a difference in my breathing and when I walked about it seemed that I was running out of breath. I was just happy to use my Advair discus twice a day & had my inhaler with me at all times.
To Visit or Not To visit The Native Village
The other thing was to go to a native village…recreated for tourism…but it wasn’t as close as I thought. Besides Mike nixed it…I wanted him and his girlfriend to dress in the native clothes when we got there. He said no way Ma!!! Do you know what the men wear? Well not much according to the pictures on the Internet. But since you live here & have gone native I thought you might do this for me. Mike said he was NOT putting on any loin cloth & g-string, not even for me. He also said, I don’t know who wore it before or if they washed it. He turned to his girlfriend & asked her…did you just hear what my mom wanted me to do & wear?
Botanical Gardens
I suggested the botanical gardens, but with the wet weather, I nixed that because I didn’t want to tramp around any gardens that were not pristine. There were 2 or 3 other places I wrote down…but it’s a good thing we didn’t. The last 2 or 3 days I told Mike I didn’t have any money left to pay for our supper. At first we were taking turns paying for it—until he ran out of money. Then I took over. Mike said WHAT??? So I pulled out about PHp (Philippine Pesos) 550. and our supper usually cost around 700. So I dug deeper into my purse…I stashed away $500.00 American for coming back…I had him change $300.00 into pesos & I kept the other $200.00 so I would have some traveling $$’s & money when I got back. So we didn’t have to starve.
Luv my Panda Hat
I had him buy me a panda hat. I saw street vendors selling animal hats. Well I like baseball & I think he’s with the San Francisco Giants & his playing nickname is the Panda. I would see fans in the bleachers wearing panda hats. I told Mike if the street vendor has one that’s a panda I want it. So the next day he showed up with one. Yea, I have my panda hat & now when he plays baseball I can put it on!!!
Honolulu Here I come!
I got to spend the night before arriving in Manila in Honolulu. I had a lot of fun. I took a quick rest after getting to the hotel & then went down to the lobby and asked about muumuus…and where I might find them to buy. Didn’t quite understand his directions but the gist of it was 7 or 8 blocks down the street. But first I crossed the street and placed myself on Waikiki Beach. I wanted to go wading, but alas, I didn’t. I was wearing my big orthotic shoes & foot & ankle brace since I was going to be walking. Plus I was using my fold up cane since I was on the sandy beach. So I told myself this is enough…I’m standing on Waikiki beach. I pulled my camera out of my pocket and took a picture or two & left. If I had more time I would have found a place on the wall and propped my self up just to enjoy the ambiance.
I crossed back to the hotel side of the street & proceed down the way. Eyes agog, my mind whirling away know that I was in Hawaii, a dream come true. I should have taken more picture, but good thing I didn’t because I took an extra card (can’t remember it name…the one got full & I had no way to download the picts off it)…but I didn’t bring extra batteries for it. I sure I could have found some, but I didn’t want to lay out the dough. I would walk so far and then take a rest on the cement planters by the side of the street. I sat with the rest of the natives…It
Sidewalk Vendors
All along the sidewalk people were selling their wares, sitting on these cement planters. I just squeezed myself in when I got tired. I did the same thing after shopping in the International Market, I didn’t do a lot of exploring in there because it was around 4 pm & I could see that it was growing darker. I saw that I walking, or following a green line painted on the ground. So I tried to get my bearing so I wouldn't get lost in there…it looked to be a pretty big market. I found my muumuus and followed my green line back to the sidewalk. I retraced my steps, joining those reposing on the cement sidewalk planters when needed. I sat down on one & there was about 77¢ laying there. Of course, my first impulse was to scoop it up. But I looked around & just left it…I figured as soon as I picked it up someone would say something. And my instincts were correct. This bag lady came by & looked at it, she was checking inside the planters for aluminum cans or whatever else she could find. She went down the street a bit, then when I got up to leave she cam back & scooped up the change. This guy came out of the store just opposite & asked her what was she doing….She got a scared look on her face, opened her hand and then he told her just to take the change that she could have it. She turned and took her bags with her & left. I knew it was a trap.
Supper In The Hotel
It was a nice hotel, I went down to have supper in their dining room and this is the not so good part. I guess I’m not one for ambiance when dining. The lights were low & the only seating they had left was my open spaces where there should have been windows. It might be nice when it’s warm, but the evening breeze was very cool. I didn’t like it so when they brought my food I asked it there was some other seating…the server said he would alert my wait person and see what could be done. My wait person said the only other available seating was across the room at the other open-air seating. So I just asked him if he could put it in a take out box & I would take it to my room to eat. He apologized all over the place and said that all the other seating had been reserved…Even when I came down for breakfast the next morning they were still apologizing to me. I had one of their surfer breakfasts, eggs Benedict, bacon, toast, and I opted for the fresh fruit cup. I hate to say this but the Philippines have better fresh fruit platters than Hawaii. The mango was passable, the papaya was okay, but the best in their was their pineapple. It was outstanding & very sweet, tasty, and I would have been satisfied to just have had pineapple. I think they sprinkled blue berries over it for contrast. The blueberries were not as good as what our farmers can grow here.
Meeting Mike’s Fiancée
I’m not sure what else there is to say, I enjoyed meeting Mike’s girlfriend, Alex. She’s a very pretty, polite young woman. She tried hard to communicate with me in her broken English. I tell anyone who has their own spoken language plus trying to communicate in English that they are way ahead of me. I only know English, and sometime I wonder about my ability to string to sentences together that make sense. So I told her just relax that she’s doing fine. I got to meet her mother, Olive. She came in about 3 days & visited with me & we all had dinner together. It was really great. I mean we made memories together. Good memories that will last forever. It was good to hear my son expound about his ideals. Ma, I’ve gone green, but blah, blah, blah….If this country wants to clear cut their rain forest, then that should be their purgatory. Don’t have other countries or organizations try to step in and tell them they can’t do this. Learn from our mistakes. Don’t tell the country what they can or cannot do with their own resources. But yes, they shouldn’t clear cut without reforestation. Nobody, no country, should clear cut without reforestation. And blah, blah, blah….It was really good to see this-grown up-side of him and know what he believed in. Yes, I think I raised a good boy, not to just take what people, organizations, or politicians say and parrot it back, but to think, reason, and make up his own mind. He a good man this son of mine…I think he’s a keeper.
Harold, My Son, My Son
It was also good to have dinner with Mikes friend Harold. He happened to be Baguio City one day so he joined us in my room. Good conversation, lots of laughter, lots of love in that room. I could just cry remembering that evening. It was so much fun. Out conversation turned to the fake products one could buy in the Philippines. I was astounded…Harold had a fake iPhone…made in China….supposed to last a year, there abouts. But Harold said he’s dropped a lot of time, the back comes off, looks like an iPhone, but it’s a fake. And more than this, I had it several years. So I feel good that my fake phone still works. My son was wearing a fake basketball jersey…It was made in Korea…he said the Koreans are very good with their fake clothing, they get it right down to the last detail of what they are copying. Then I read in the Business Week, which was delivered to my room each morning, about the fake medicine the Filipinos could buy. I tell you I was astounded at this information and to be sitting in this country where it was okay to buy fakes and you knew it was a fake…and not act you didn’t know it was a fake. Harold, by the way has been a good friend with my son for years. I’m happy that he’s still around. Harold was picked my Baguio City to work in their City Electrical System. He just happened to be their fixing something up so he called Mike & the rest is all history. Harold says, Mom, it’s so good to see you again. And I’m Harold, my son, my son…Here I go again always wanting to adopt some nice young men to be my other sons.
The Flight
The flight over and back, by the way I went by Hawaiian Air, was very turbulent. The captain informed us on the way over to Hawaii that we were in for a bumpy ride. He would be battling 5o mile an hour head winds. Didn’t make me feel any better when the flight attendants gave us the spiel about emergency exit locations, life vest locations and yes, in case of a water landing we have two (2) rubber rafts located by the emergency exits at the wings. Oh Yeah!!! I’m sure in case of an emergency water landing two (2) rubber rafts are going to hold all of us passengers. Hey, women & children first. And looky me, I’m a woman & I’m going first into that rubber raft even if I have to beat off everyone else with my cane…so just get out of my way!!! I don’t think we had 50 mile an hour winds coming back but it was still a very bumpy ride. This captain informed us that he kept getting permission to go to a lower altitude to see if he could get us a less bumpy flight, but it didn’t do any good. All we ever heard was the ding, ding, ding & please fasten your seat belts, don’t leave your seats unless absolutely necessary. Even the flight attendants on the way back were given orders by the captain not to serve the hot coffee because of the turbulence. Then got to serve it about 30 -40 minutes later when we got a bit of smooth flight. My ears were all plug up when I got back to Sea-Tac Airport. I felt like my ears were roaring like the airplane engine…and this is the first time this has ever happened to me. I don’t know what the difference was. But I’ve always gone Japan Airways.
Getting Picked-Up
Well when we landed in Sea-Tac Airport, the two guys sitting across from me stopped me & the one asked me if when I was in Hawaii, did I get mistaken for being Hawaiian. I told him yes, & he said so did he. I noticed them when they got on the plane in Hawaii—they were probably around my sons age…38. He one doing the talking said he got up to use the rest room on the plane & on the way back to his seat, this woman touched his arm and asked him if she could get two more blankets. He said just because I’m wearing a Hawaiian shirt doesn’t make me a flight attendant, so he just told her, sure, I’ll see to that for you. Hope she’s still not waiting for those blankets. Then the funniest thing happened. They must have heard me talking to the woman beside me, she asked if Seattle was my final destination or did I have more traveling to do. I said no, I have more traveling to do, that I was from Port Hadlock. Well she never heard of that, and she was from Everett WA. So I said Port Townsend & she said yes, I know of Port Townsend. Anyways the two guys asked me if I wanted to ride with them. He said they have their car in the parking lot and are going my way, and going to get such and such ferry and it was no problem just to take me home. Well I tried to smile, probably came out a grimace, but I thanked them for the offer & said I was staying over night in a hotel that has been reserve for 3-4 weeks, and I have a bus coming in the morning to bring me from the hotel to home, also reserved for 3-4 weeks and unless I gave them 24 hour notice I lose my money. So I’m in no position to lose money so I’ll just go with the plans made by my travel agent, and again thank you for the offer.
I’m Young Again?
Oh and in the Philippine National Airport, the young man who came to help me with my luggage asked me how old I was, 57 or 58. God bless that young man. I told him no, no way… I’ll be 70 years old in July. He was the one then, no way. So it was nice to be thought of being young again, but I’ve earned every memory, every line in my face, every experience & I’ll keep my age thank you. There’s no way I want to do those 17 years all over again. . Oh, and I have to remark here that you have to pay PPh 750 or $17.00 American to leave the country. Each time I’ve been there I always get a kick out of this. Pay to leave their country….yup, I’m going, I’m leaving, I’ve had a good time, may come back to visit again, but yup, I’m leaving, here’s my leaving money. Nice to have visited your country. Don’t be facetious Fostine, each country has the right to it’s own rules & regulations concerning coming & goings of visitors.
Well my kitties, my luvs, I’ll leave you to stew over this long posting about my trip to Baguio City and my visit with my son. I need to get my picts downloaded off my camera. I didn’t take many, but I did take a few. Betty requested a new picture of Mike, so she’ll be happy that I accommodated her request.
—glory-oskie Zero, I wish today were tomorrow, luv Fostine.
