Trip Bits

Some final thoughts on our trip to the Philippines:

:: I mentioned one of our favorite meriendas below: Halo-halo (crushed ice mixed with sweet bean, fruit pieces, ice cream and sometimes -- if you're lucky -- a piece of leche flan); Maria and I have every intention of hitting the Chowking (a Filipino/Chinese fast food joint found everywhere in the Philippines; locations here can be found in the San Fernando Valley (Panorama City), as well as Carson and West Covina) soon to get their version, which is tasty and cheap!

But I also really got into taho, a warm and creamy tofu custard served with a sweet syrup and tapioca balls (sago). The best can be found via traveling street vendors, who carry around buckets -- one for the tofu custard, the other side with the sweet syrup. Maria says you can go up to the vendors with your own mug -- but if you don't have a drinking vessel, the vendors will supply you with a cup. (By the way, Chowking sells taho as well.)

:: I love my Silver Honda CRV. But here in L.A., not a day goes by where I don't spot at least three or four other Silver Honda CRVs on the road. Maybe I should have gotten a blue one.
So I go to the Philippines, and what's by far the most common car on the road? That's right. Silver Honda CRVs. Everywhere. As a matter of fact, Maria's friend Rosanna has one -- so I actually spent a good part of the time traveling around Manila in a Silver Honda CRV. Felt right at home.

:: You think Valentine's Day is a big, Hallmark-fueled holiday here? In the Philippines, Valentine's Day is practically a national holiday. People on the street and security guards wished us a happy Valentine's Day all weekend long. This year, Manila even threw a huge party near Manila Bay, where over 5,000 married couples gathered at midnight and kissed for ten seconds. The Closeup toothpaste-sponsored event, "Luvapalooza," was thrown to break the Guinness record (just set in Chile a month before) of most couples kissing in one place at once. Manila won the record. I tried to convince Maria to go down and take a part in the festivities, but the traffic would have been impossible to bear.

U.S. musical acts have picked up on the fact that Valentine's Day is huge -- and nothing is bigger in the Philippines than the Valentine's Day concert. We passed on them all in order to celebrate with friends at the aforementioned Rosanna's family's beautiful home. But performing in Manila that weekend were Boyz II Men and Brian McKnight; James Ingram and Patti Austin; the revived Abba (featuring two original members) and Toto.

Toto?! You know. "Africa." "Rosanna." Toto was appearing all over the Philippines while we were there; they also had a show lined up at Clark.

Which brings me to my other point: There's also the phenomenon of American acts, completely unknown in the U.S., hitting it big in the Philippines.

:: Manila, especially Makati, boasts some tremendous shopping malls and shopping centers. Huge. But just as huge is the security. Department stores will frequently have men and women pass through different doors, in order for security guards to use their x-ray wand or pat down certain people. Unlike in the U.S., security guards carry guns in the Philippines (even at the Starbucks!). You don't wanna mess with them.

:: Unfortunately, we weren't able to talk our way into the housing division in Greenhills where Maria once lived. Apparently action movie hero and now presidential candidate Fernando Poe Jr. lives in the neighborhood, so security may be taking extra precaution.

:: Talk about a vibrant press. Manila has at least seven English-language daily newspapers, with a few more in Tagalog. The big three are the Philippine Daily Inquirer, the Philippine Star, the Manila Bulletin; after that, there's the Manila Times, Today, the Manila Standard... and I'm sure I'm forgetting a few.

:: Maria wrote below about how quickly we adjusted to the near-universal addiction to text messaging via cell phone. (A trend that has hit virtually everywhere but the U.S.) Other trends include the popularity of acoustic music, and acoustic versions of hit songs. Huge right now in the Philippines.

:: People ask me what my favorite moment was, and I've gotta say, as you've read in my lengthy dispatches below, getting to see what was once Clark Air Base -- where I lived during my elementary school years -- for the first time in 20 years. It was amazing and amazingly surreal at the same time. Beyond that, seeing my high school pal Anthony get married to a cool girl -- and to be able to witness it so far away from home -- was pretty cool.

But what really made the trip great was getting to know and being surrounded by Maria's friends from her schooldays. They made me feel right at home.