Spy Pinay

IPhone 3GS - My new toy

mixxy — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 14:07:19 +0000

I broke my reliable, 1+ year old Ericsson W960i phone last January during our Boracay trip. I forgot that it was in my pocket when I boarded a banca (boat) and waded in the waste deep water. Stupid me! Anyways, that’s the price of being careless.

After a few days of using my old phones I decided that it’s time to get me a new phone. For the past 6 months or so, I’ve been noticing and considering the IPhone after seeing it in action when I visited my sister’s place. It was indeed the Gadget of the Year. First of all, it stands out from all the rest due to the large amount of applications (free and cheap) available in the App Store. It was indeed a toy with a phone feature. It is essentially the same as the IPod Touch but the latter has no possibility of 3G internet and phone of course. IPod touch is half the price but knowing myself, I didn’t want to carry (and be responsible for) more than 1 gadget.

I visited a Globe Telecom store in Greenhills and was told that they are out of stock and I would need to be signed up in a queue. She said it would take not days but months to even get one! Sheesh. Frustrating.

For days, I tried to find out ways how I could get one.. I can buy one from the US or Canada but those would be locked. The HongKong online Apple store seemed perfect: it sold factory unlocked phones but I had no idea how to ship it here. There’s also some online stores such as the KIM Multiply store. My hubby did not think it was wise to buy from those online stores so I scrapped the idea. I did call them up though. I found out their store was located in Tayuman.

And so how did I end up having one? While browsing computer shops in Megamall I ran across two stores that sell factory unlocked phones. These are obviously gray market stuff. I was not so sure if I would trust these stores. One managed to show a demo unit for me. Everything seemed to be ok and authentic. The price was a bit more than Globe’s (3,000 more) but not that high. In the end, I decided to go home first and research more about it before I make a final decision. Also, I have to make sure I am getting the real thing and to know that I have to know the product a bit more.

After a few days, I knew I was ready to go back to the store. To my surprise, the sales guy wasn’t there and it was another person who seemed not to remember me from last weekend. She told me they had no more stocks of the 16GB but only the 32GB. So I went home quite disappointed. At least I was able to get the phone number of the other store.

That weekend, I first called that other store and found out that they had it. A few hours later I was there. I brought my laptop so we could activate the phone right there using my ITunes account. Fortunately, I had been a US ITunes User for several years already. No need to create one. I was able to download apps with no problems. While I was there, the guy from the other store found me and was so regretful seeing me buy the phone there. I told him he wasn’t there when I came back a few days later and that they had no stock then. So I went here instead.

Since I had my phone, I have already downloaded so many apps.. I even bought one: Plants and Zombies which was the best selling app during that time. There’s so much cool stuff one can play with I can’t even begin to enumerate. Maybe the next few posts I will talk about IPhone-related stuff. Stay tuned. Gosh! I love my IPhone!

HDTV Shopping Part 3

mixxy — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 13:15:12 +0000

This post is long overdue but hey, it’s Christmas time and last week was quite busy. Nevertheless here is the conclusion of my HDTV shopping adventure.

I came back Sunday last week and could not believe my eyes when I saw that the LG 32LH70YR was not anymore on display. I asked the saleslady and she told me everything was sold out — including the one on display! And that happened within 2 days! Darn! Anyways, one of them told me they would have new stock by Monday.

The next day, I tried calling them about twice and later that afternoon they told me it would be Tuesday. I tried calling other stores but either their listed phone numbers are not in service or they don’t have that model on sale. The following day, I had appointments the whole day so I wasn’t able to visit the store. Wednesday, I immediately called them first thing in the morning and to my delight they said they had 3 in stock. By the time, I got to the store, I found out the one I just bought was second to the last they have. I guess this model is really popular. The price was still 30,000 for cash buyers. I also bought a Pioneer DV420 which upscales DVD movies to Full HD and has an HDMI cable for free all for around 5,000.

So far, after one week of owning it I am not disappointed. I’ve watched only TV and DVD though. One day, we will get a blueray player but we just thought this is isn’t the right time yet. But we’ll see. We even used it as a monitor for playing games and the resolution goes up to 1920 x 1080.

HDTV Shopping Part 2

mixxy — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 01:41:09 +0000

I visited two stores last night. First, is the Western appliance store. I went there because I found out that they had the Sony KLV 32W400 in stock. When I got there, they were 30 minutes from closing. I was also glad that the unit was on display, although it was on a higher spot and mounted. Therefore I could not checkout the back. First thing I asked them was to demo it by showing a movie. It was quite disappointing that all they had was a pirated disk which will never do justice to any TV set they are selling. I tried it nevertheless. It was an action movie. Nothing spectacular but everything was fine. Next, I found the other model which was the Samsung 32B530 also on display and standing at a much nicer level than the Sony. They played another so-so pirated movie and I wasn’t so impressed by it. They told me that it’s probably the player that makes a difference. I doubt if they are telling the truth. I have learned not to believe any sales person when it comes to giving technical advice in retail store such as this.

Next stop was Sights and Sounds in Shangri-La. I took the elevator straight to the 4th Floor. After walking for sometime, I doubted if it was in the right direction. Before I finally gave up finding it, I tried walking further and there it was finally! The store was about to close also in a few minutes. Right in the middle of their store was the the LG Scarlet LH70!! People were also comparing it with the Samsung 32B530 at that time. They were playing “BlueRay quality” Batman playing from a very expensive harddrive player. Samsung seemed to be too washed out. LG had deeper blacks. It was already getting obvious that LG shows a more lifelike effect. I don’t know how it does it. This same lifelike effect can also be seen in the more expensive units in their place. At this point I have already decided to purchase the LG. However, they were about to close and I still have to withdraw from an ATM. I decided to spend a little bit of the remaining time to demo their Pioneer DVD player.

Today, even though I am feeling a bit sick with a fever and still planning to revisit the stores again but this time I will bring a DVD I own and play it again on both TV sets.

Shopping for an HDTV

mixxy — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 09:05:39 +0000

We are now in the market for a new LCD TV. After doing a bit of research about the merits of 1080p, HD Ready, and Full HD I have come up with my top 3. We chose to shop for one with the a native resolution of 1920×1080. We wanted to purchase something that would take advantage of blueray technology and the latest in gaming consoles and would not be obsolete too soon. As you would probably notice I am a total newbie when it comes to HD technology and even home theaters in general. I have not shopped for anything like this since I bought myself a DVD player in 2005 or something. Also, our budget of 40,000 pesos was able to give us more choices in the 32 inch category. As far as I know prices of LCD has continued to be slashed down lately, also in time for the holidays. Buying during the holidays may or or may not be good though as most people are probably thinking of buying one. So maybe, we might have trouble finding stocks. And so, after reading forums and googling. Here’s my top 3 choices and bullet points of their features and specs:

SONY BRAVIA KLV32W400

Street Price (Western)40000 PHP,

24P True Cinema™ (24 frames per second), NTSC 3.58, PAL, SECAM, NTSC 4.43 (AV In), PAL 60 (AV In)
HDMI inputs = 3
PC inputs = 1
Headphone input= 1
PIP 1 TUNER
3000:1
178/178

According to Sights and Sound (a retailer), KLV32W400 received a 5 star award competition and the best LCD TVs from What HIFI magazine review. Also, this model was the previous top of the line for this category. Prices was slashed big time because it was already phased out. Some stores of Western do not even have this. The one in Greenhills claimed to have one. I am visiting them tonight.

LG LH70

Street Price (Sights and Sound) : 30000 PHP

24P
Bluetooth
CONTRAST 100,000:1
VIEWING ANGLE 178/178
RESP TIME 2.4MS
HDMI = 3
PC = 1
USB = available but was locked (some said it could be hacked though)

SIMPLINK - through infrared other LG with Simplink active can connect to each other wirelessly

DIVX - can play divx recorded videos directly

headphone=using bluetooth

SMART ENERGY SAVING - it has a self adjusting backlight sensor

TruMotion 120Hz

SAMSUNG LN32B530
Street Price: 31000 PHP (Sight and Sounds)

CONTRAST 70000:1
HDMI = 2
24P
PC=1
HEADPHONE=1

We actually do not have a DVD player now. It’s one of those things that we had to lose while moving from place to place. It is good to know that DVD players now offer 1080p upscaling which means your can view your old DVD’s in a new light (or quality so to speak).

Here are some DVD players with 1080p upscaling:

PHILIPS DVD DVP-3360K ( HDMI )
PhP 4,490.00 (Abensons)

PIONEER DV-410V-K BLK (HDMI)Multi-Format DVD Player Featuring HDMI®,1080p Upscaling, USB, and DivX®/WMV Playback PhP 4,990.0 (Abensons)

In my opinion.. first I will take a look at the screens but eventually..i think LG is ok since we still want to spend on an upscaling DVD player such as the Pioneer dv-410. But why LG over Sony? Of course, $$$ $peaks louder but eventually my eyes will decide. Is saving an additional 10k important to us?
As far as I can see, both the Sony and the LG have practically same features on paper.
LG uses bluetooth and that seems nice plus the writeups/reviews with photos were impressive for LG
So I guess the demo will be the dealbreaker. Hubby has let me decide which to buy among the two whether paying 10k extra for a slightly older Generation but reputable Sony Bravia is worth the extra bucks. That model used to be very expensive.

Samsung is quite behind on features but if it’s there of course I will take a look at it and compare it with the other two.

With regards to contrast only my eye can judge i think and with proper calibration.
On another note I was surprised that the TV’s in the US are even internet capable now
They can even stream content from Netflix, Amazon Video On Demand, and even YouTube.

Tomorrow I will share with you my visit to Western Appliances and Sights and Sounds.

Here are some helpful links about HDTV:

HDTV: Everything You Need to Know

Understanding Resolution

Tuhog Tuhog: My Street Food Memories

mixxy — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 06:11:44 +0000

After visiting the Salcedo Market last week, memories of street food came flooding back.

Here’s a chronicle of my street food experiences:
Early Childhood (Province)

I lived in the province up until I was 8 and hangout at the marketplace at my grandparents store after school. So imagine how much exposure to street food I get everyday.

Dirty Ice Cream (Sorbetes). Back then, I was forbidden to buy from the street ice cream vendor. They say it was dirty, that’s probably why it is popularly called Dirty Ice Cream. But it was extremely tempting for me as a 5 or 6 year old! I don’t remember how I got hold of money back then but one day after school, we were dismissed earlier than usual. The person picking me up was also a bit late so I grabbed the once in a lifetime chance to taste this so called dirty ice cream and bought myself a huge ice cream sandwich! I ate it as fast as I could. I didn’t want to get caught. I was glad I didn’t choke but I could still remember that my mouth was still full as I was on my way home in a tricycle. I have no idea if he noticed it

Tuhog Tuhog, Sapin Sapin and other rice cakes. I remember there was a lady who came by everyday selling these in a bilao or bamboo tray. I remember that my favorite at that time was called “tuhog tuhog” but today I found out that it is called karioka or carioca. I can still remember such exotic names of rice cakes and snacks such as nilubyan, suman sa lihia, biko, tupig and maja blanca.

Puff Rice (pronounced Pap-Rais). Ok, at that time, it was so common and cheap it is impossible not to have a taste of it. Sometimes you get it as a present from the old lady across the street who is lola’s bestfriend or something, other times, I just asked for money to buy it. It’s simply crispy sweet rice in packaged in rectangular blocks.

Samalamig. I think it is called something else back then but I can’t remember what it is. This is also one of those forbidden drinks that kids like me salivate over. Anyway, this is a cold drink, usually white or pinkish colored and in a large plastic jar and is scooped and poured to a glass by a big round spoon. The most common flavor is the Buco or Young coconut. Sometimes, there are little bits of coconut in it. I think what makes it good is that they put vanilla, condensed milk and lots of sugar in it. Just be careful about where you buy this because you don’t know how clean the water or ice that they used to make this. Another flavor is Sago / Gulaman, usually brownish in color.

Hotdog/Barbecue on a stick. With hotdog, I don’t know why one would still buy one in the street considering you could buy one yourself from the supermarket but maybe for some this is the only way they can afford one. I think one reason maybe is that the taste of the hotdog or barbecue from the streets is unique in itself, having additional aroma and flavor from smoke and dust from the streets.

Banana Q. Just heard from Spoon that Richard Gomez’ favorite snack is the Bananacue. I wouldn’t be surprised. This dessert / snack is simple, crunchy, sweet and yummy just like my childhood favorite tuhog tuhog. To make this, boil the Saba bananas and then fry and coat with brown sugar.

Binusang Mais (Cornick) and Adobong Mani. When I was young old folks called this binusang mais. Later on, they modernized the name to Cornick. It is fried corn morsels flavored in garlic, pepper and salt. Usually, you can buy this along with the garlic peanuts (adobong mani) on the same stand. It is best when freshly cooked! The smallest is the 50 gram brown bag and the biggest is probaly 200 grams. Oh I could still remember it was only 25 cents for the 50 gram bag.

Early to Late Teens (Metro Manila). Growing up and going to school, later in the suburbs of Metro Manila exposed me to other kinds of street foods. But this time, I was given pocket money allowance so that means freedom. However, I still remember that the nuns forbade us to buy from outside. But no one really listened to them ;-).

Fish Ball I think this was the first time I ever tasted fish ball. Fish ball is fried breaded fish that is eaten right after frying. Frying only takes a few minutes. After that you are given a stick and you can pick the balls yourself and later dip it into one of the 3 kinds of sauces: sweet (sweet brown gravy), spicy (hot brown gravy) and sour (vinegar and soy sauce mix). They said that you can get all sorts of nasty diseases from eating this. I admit I was infected with Amoeba disease once during this time. It was treated easily though.

Balut sa Puti and Penoy. I remember eating a lot of baluts or penoy one New Year’s eve (more than 5). I was only 10. Anyways, that didn’t happen again. I wouldn’t risk my health eating too much of these. Besides, I can’t stand eating the kiti or unborn chick! I only like to drink the soup from the egg and the yolk.

Scramble. This is a semi-forgettable Shaved Ice drink which I would later find common in the US and it is called Water Ice.

Ice Candy from Neighbors. Well, I said from Neighbors because I wouldn’t probably buy ice candy from a vendor just like that. I just don’t know but I felt scared buying it. It’s basically frozen juice in a elongated plastic tube that you seal by tying up on one end. Even 7 year old kids can make this themselves. Thus, most of the time you don’t even need to buy this from a vendor.

Ice Buko / Ice Drop. This one, I found outside of my school. It is a popsicle that has unique Filipino flavors such as Buco and Mung Beans (monggo) or Red Beans. Eating Red Bean Ice Cream from Asian Restaurants abroad (usually Japanese) kind of reminded me of this.

Taho. It’s soft tofu sweetened with caramelized corn syrup. Everyone says It’s nutritious because of the soya protein but what about all the sugar in it?

Shingaling. When i found out the name of those crunchy salty sticks sold on the streets I couldn’t help but giggle. I am really amazed at the sense of humor of people who named this snack.

Yuppy Age

At this age, most of us have will have our first taste of independence. After all, we are above 21 and we are working and hopefully no longer dependent on our parents allowance. Some of us at this age live apart from our immediate family and strike out on our own or even start our own little family. At this time, I thought I was brave and old enough to try the stuff I was scared of trying when I was younger.

Chicharon Bituka and Bulaklak. Crunchy fried intestines of chicken and pigs. It smells weird, and it looks aweful. Yeah it is an acquired taste. But for me it tastes yummy.

Squid balls. It’s fish balls for grown ups with yuppy prices of course. You see the vendors suddenly appear at around 3-5 pm in front of your office building. Who would not give in to the tempation? Forget about amoeba, dysentery or hepa!

Currently, tried Tukneneng/Kwek kwek but not from a food cart. I think that doesn’t count as street food anymore huh?

These I Never Tried:

Betamax (blood cubes), Isaw, Chicken Feet (Adidas) Who knows one of these days I just might try them

Kariton

mixxy — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 02:53:28 +0000

http://www.flickr.com/photos/ericouano/ / CC BY-NC-ND 2.0" class="thickbox" rel="singlepic433" >
Photo Credits:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/ericouano/ / CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

I had the pleasure of visiting someone special from my past last weekend. She is now 70 years old but still relatively strong for her age. She lives now with her nephew’s family and younger sister and helps run a small carinderia (diner) in front of her home. Who is she? She is actually my cousin of 3rd degree. Thanks to my paternal grandmother, we actually know even distant relatives. Why is she special? She took care of me and my sister when I was around 3 to 6 years old. She showed up for parent-teacher meetings. She was there for our school performances and pin medals when we were in the honor roll. Some of our classmates even thought she was our Mom. She said my sister just smiled and kept quiet whenever someone asked about it. It was kind of strange looking back at that time. At that time, my Mom and Dad were busy finishing both their master’s degree in Manila and they left us to the care of our grandparents in Nueva Ecija. My earliest childhood memories happened here and they were mostly happy and fun minus the times when I had to cry so much whenever my mom had to go back to the city. But first, I asked how she ended up living at my grandparents house. This is how it started:
After the war, as most people were, my grandparents were obviously penniless and broke. Everyone was starting over. She told me that at the beginning they started selling stuff using a kariton (see photo above), just like Mr. Henry Sy of Shoe Mart fame. They sold food, and dry goods. Later on, they had enough to rent and then purchase commercial spaces in the public market. This was the reason my grandmother asked her mother to move to San Jose City, Nueva Ecija. She was to be the storekeeper of our memorable dry goods store at the San Jose Public market. I could still remember the things she sold at the store: guitars and other stringed instruments from Cebu, umbrellas and luggages from Zamboanga, children’s clothes, men’s underwear, etc. The only thing we didn’t sell was food. About a few steps across the street was my Grandpa’s rice and farming supplies store. He stayed there the whole day. I believe the store did not have a name (but maybe it’s because I still couldn’t read then). I remember we stayed there after school. We had fun playing with the other storekeepers kids and reading rented comic books. To say the least, she was not bad as a guardian. She disciplined us and looked after us but she also gave us freedom to have fun as children. She also took us some nights at the movies to see movies of Nino Muhlach or Nora Aunor. Then we would buy hotdogs before we go home from that old fat guy down the street.

The title of this post is Kariton because I just wanted to inspire everyone to dream big and be enterprising. Big things start small, at least most of the time. My grandparents wouldn’t have guessed that in 50 years their children and grandchildren would be a Justice, VP of an International Bank, entrepreneurs, radio announcer, Consultant to the World Bank, Software Developer, lawyer, surgeon just to name a few: all living across the globe!

How I got a Job in the US

mixxy — Fri, 29 May 2009 05:34:10 +0000

Even before I was a Computer Science student at DLSU I’ve always been hearing and seeing people travel abroad such as US and Australia. When I was around 8 or 9, my Dad would travel occasionally on consulting assignments in Europe, Asia and the US. When I was around 12, cousins and aunts on both sides of the family migrated to the US. Since then, I was kind of dreaming that someday I, too would have a chance to go abroad, even go to the US and see my relatives again. When I was in my 20’s even my sister left for Canada! So you could imagine how much I wanted to be there as well. On my first job, I started as a Programmer Trainee for three months. During this time, I would always hear about our more senior staff getting hired and leaving for the US. It even got to the point where the President of our company gathered everyone for a meeting to talk about it. He basically told us that he also lived and worked there himself. He then told us what are the pros and cons of living in another country. Nevertheless no one really took his warnings seriously. In short, all the senior programmers and analysts left eventually. On the meantime, our current batch was already starting to wonder how we could also land a job ourselves. Pretty soon we found out we didn’t really need to look further. Every now and then someone would spread the word that Mr. so and so would be at this certain hotel having a talk and of course would be collecting resumes. This happened quite regularly, some recruiters came from Singapore but most of them were from the US.

One year later, we thought of testing the waters by sending our CV’s to one of those job fairs held in a posh hotel in Makati. To our surprise, all of us were called for an interview. It was even a group interview. The recruiters usually would ask us all the same question one by one and then take a Polaroid photo of each of us (digital cameras were not yet common back then). It seemed quite uneasy to actually sell yourself in front of your peers whom you work with everyday but hey, back then, there was still no American Idol but our experience was somehow very similar to that of a contestant auditioning in front of Simon Cowell. One time, another recruiter even had each one of us videotaped for goodness sake!

Two years past and then we knew we were ripe for the picking so to speak. We knew that one of these days we will eventually get picked somehow. One day, I received a surprise envelope in the mail. It was from a company in the US which I do not really recognize. They were not one of those who came here and held job fairs in the posh hotels. Even worse, when I read the letter I was shocked to find out that I was already offered a job! It was a formal job offer, salary and all, and very specific information that I was already being petitioned for a working visa. Talk about fast!

Before I totally celebrate, the next day I asked my colleagues if they had heard about this employer or if they received a letter as well. Pretty soon I found out that most of the people from our company did receive a job offer. Investigating further, I found out that about a while ago someone actually collected our resumes. I have no recall of such time at all but hey I have a solid job offer from a real company, there’s really nothing wrong with having a job offer. And I heard that the company was quite okay — there were people that were already there working for them and I heard that they are well taken cared of. At that time we were also interviewed by another company who also gave us offers. The first company is from Pennsylvania (Philadelphia area) while the second one is a Manhattan based company. The Manhattan based company’s annual salary offer was $10,000 more than the other one but I figured that if you factored in the cost of living in New York, the other one’s probably just as good. Besides, I’ve already heard that good reports from former colleagues who were already there in Pennsylvania.

I accepted both offers and thought that whoever gives me the working visa first will be the one I would go with. Five months later, I got a call from their manpower agency here who is taking care of the visa processing. They told me that my visa is ready for pickup! Before I went to the embassy I made sure I was ready with my IT training certificates, diplomas and CV and of prepared myself to go through an interrogation process. During the interview, I remember that it wasn’t as difficult as I thought it would be. They only asked me what my degree was and I used Cobol. I told them I had a BS in Computer Science and that I never used Cobol at work but it is another programming language mainly used with mainframe computers. I can’t remember the rest of what I told them. After a few days I was back again to pickup my passport, now stamped with a US H1B Visa.

At that time, I wasn’t even sure what to say when the Agency asked me what date I preferred to leave. I asked them for a few weeks for me to think it over. I have been waiting for this (my whole life) but now that it’s there it felt like it was all too soon for me. I remember also at this time, I subscribed to an Internet Service Provider for the very first time in my life and with it my own personal email address. I corresponded with the HR lady in Pennsylvania about my flight details. I thought, January is winter time, I better go during a more pleasant season. I asked for May 26, but tried to request for a one week layover in San Francisco so that I could see my relatives there. It was a nice that they did approve it. My flight was on May 19, 2006 going to San Francisco and seven days later to Philadelphia. It was Memorial Day when I arrived in Philadelphia.

Spy Pinay Goes to Kyoto

mixxy — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 03:15:22 +0000

For the past few weeks I was searching for a nice getaway for my birthday. It was a Sunday when I bought a Manila Bulletin newspaper and there it was the advertisement for a promotional fare from Cebu Pacific Air to Osaka. That made the decision easier and so I booked the ticket through the website. However, after submitting everything, I did not get a confirmation message immediately. Instead I saw a message saying that the credit card I used was still being checked and so the booking was still pending. The credit card I used was a foreign card so I wasn’t surprised. I immediately called their customer service and after a long long time of waiting I finally got an answer : they said I just needed to wait one more hour. I also called my credit card company and found out that they already did approve the transaction. Two days after, it was still pending and I frantically called the customer service of Cebu Pacific Air. This time they told me that they will prioritize my issue. Later on, I was about to give up. I still did not receive any confirmation e-mail. But then when I retrieved my booking I was surprised that my booking was finally confirmed!

The next thing I did was to search for a place to stay and interesting places to visit within the area of the Kansai Airport. First I looked around Osaka. I was particularly interested in staying in a traditional Japanese inn (ryokan). However, I had trouble finding something that fits my budget and there were no special places that really interested me there. While looking around, I found out that Kyoto was actually just a few minutes away. Travel from Kansai to Kyoto was 70 minutes while Osaka was 50 minutes by train. After making a quick search of interesting places and available inns in Kyoto the decision was made. We were going to Kyoto.

After reading a lot of reviews I found a budget hostel in Kyoto and emailed them to book a room. In a few hours I got a very apologetic reply that all their rooms have been booked. The good thing though is that they recommended another place within the area called the Tour Club. I booked a double Japanese style room and hoped that they would respond back the next day. The next day I got a response from them saying that the only private room with private bathroom left is the triple room. The price was okay so I took it.

On our day of departure, we took a taxi from our condominium. We were 5th in line for the taxi. At least after around twenty minutes of waiting our turn came. We arrived at Terminal 3 more than two hours from our boarding time. We found out that soon that we could proceed immediately to the check-in desk. There was already two lines. The lines were not that long but it was moving very slowly. When it was our turn, we found out that we could not hand carry our luggage because they were over the limit of 7kgs. each. And so we ended up just checking them in. We arrived at the gates quite early and with no hassle. Around five hours later, we were at the Kansai Airport and lining up at immigration. It was quite a typical port of entry exercise except that they also collected our left and right pointer fingerprints using an ultra high tech modern finger print capturing device and also took a facial photograph. And that was it!

After that we went down to the baggage area and almost immediately we saw our two bags. The next thing we did was to find our shuttle guy. I have reserved with MK Shuttle for 3,500 yen per person. Someone was already there holding a placard with our name on it. We spotted him easily. I approached him and asked him to wait a little bit since we needed to get some cash. Overall, I had money just enough to pay for the hostel and the shuttle — which was a big mistake. Looking back I should have withdrawn enough for the whole stay since it wasn’t that easy to find an ATM or cash machine which had English translation and accepted our card. Anyways, at least we were able to arrive in time before the hostel closed and luckily our room was still held for us. Whew! It was already 8:15 when we arrived at the Tour Club.

The guy in the reception spoke perfectly good English and directed us to our room which was on the second floor. He gave us a small tour and presented the house rules. The common areas close at around 11pm but there is another door that is always open and gives access to the rooms. The size of our room was almost the same as our bedroom back in Mandaluyong.

The private toilet was small but extremely well designed and efficient. It had a bathtub which was just half the size of normal tubs but still fits one adult. It had both hot and cold water, a shower with strong water pressure. It was also able to fit a toilet bowl and a sink as well! One thing that really impressed me is that the owners of this hostel had thought over every possible thing that a traveler would need. It has a big bottle of soap and a big bottle of shampoo.
Inside the room there was a small pantry with lots of cups and a kettle. We left our shoes before we stepped on the platform. The floor was covered with Tatami Mats, a traditional mat made of woven soft rush straw. The huge ball of light and the futon added to the coziness of the room. However, that night I didn’t have a good sleep. In fact, I had a nightmare. The next few nights I would either find it hard to fall asleep or have nightmares. This makes us suspect that the room is haunted. The room is equipped with a small LCD tv and an airconditioner/heater. We also found out later that free highspeed wireless internet was also provided for us. They also provided a blue binder that includes everything you need to know about the hotel, food, sightseeing, etc. They even provided a 3-day and 4-day plan plus a rainy day plan! The rainy day plan includes sites that look wonderful in and after the rain or indoor areas. For our dinner, they gave us a small area map of the surroundings. The map includes dining POI’s (points of interests) that include Ramen (chinese mami), Donburi (rice toppings), yakitori (grilled/skewered meat), and sushi/sashimi. There was one problem though. We only had around 2000 yen left! So we had to make sure we find a restaurant that accepts credit cards or find a cash machine along the way. Along the way towards the JR Kyoto train station we found lots of interesting eateries but either those did not have English menus posted or they seem to only accept cash. This is one thing I learned now when going to Japan. Cash is indeed king and you better have enough ready all the time. We ended up in a charming and cozy Japanese restaurant with good ambience and food models displayed in front. We also confirmed that they accepted credit cards. It was indeed an upper-middle class restaurant judging from the prizes and the type of clientele. However, a lot of the food we ordered were not familiar so some were not really what we expected such as the Duck Stew. The Duck Stew was actually a duck soup instead. And it was pretty bland. The rest of the food was nothing special. But at least we’re so glad we had a good meal and great and ultra-fast service. That night, we decided to try our luck with getting a volunteer tour guide. We sent an e-mail to the Good Samaritan club.

The next day, we woke up quite late (around 10:30) so missed a whole morning of sightseeing. We first stopped by a fast food called Sukiya which would later become my favorite. They served rice toppings and they did it well at the right price. Our total bill was less than 1000 yen. That was the only cash left in our wallet. Next step was to find an ATM and some sightseeing information. Just one block away was the central station with an underground area called the Porta. There we found an information desk with a nice lady that could understand us. First, we inquired about the Raku (sightseeing bus). According to her, we could use the day ticket for that bus and all the other city buses. I guess that is what we wanted then! The only thing left is to find the ATM machine. After a few gestures we were able to get our answer from her. The cash machine was located at the Post Office. We also found some atm’s where we are but those did not accept our debit card. At the ground level, we found the Central Post office and next to it was the bank and a bunch of cash machines. And there we were able refill our wallets.

Right next to the Central Post Office, about two minutes of walking we found the Raku bus stops. There’s the Raku 100, 101 and 102. We took the 100 first. It would have been nice if it wasn’t raining that day. So then, we decided to just stay in the bus and watch the city from our seats. Only thing we didn’t anticipate was that the waiting time to connect to another bus took so much time. We also found a covered/hidden outdoor shopping street and had a great time looking around.

When the day cleared, we decided to actually go and see something — to see Nijo Castle. It was already too late. The castle closed at 16:00 and the current time was already 17:00. After this, we went to the Gion District. This area reminded us so much of London or the Avenue des Champs-Élysées. It is a long street filled with shops, department stores, teahouses, restaurants, and entertainment places like a Kabuki theater. It was where all things happened. if you are lucky you could even find Geisha here. At the end of this street lie the Yasaka shrine.
While there, we saw a huge march of protesters. Lots of people marched it took around 30 minutes or more and we still didn’t see the tail end of the march. At that side of the street, it took us sometime to find a place to eat. Just when we were about to give up we found a mysterious but charming small traditional restaurant with low tables. We chose to eat traditional style. At that time, I was quite tired and a bit on the sentimental side. We spent a few hours talking seriously about our life. It was good that the place was very quiet. After that, we went home.

At the hostel, we were so delighted to see a reply from the Good Samaritan Club when we checked our e-mail. It was from a law student. He agreed to meet us at 9AM at the Nijo Castle.

The next day, we were in a hurry to get to the Nijo Castle that we didn’t have time for breakfast. When we got there, we were a bit early. Luckily I spotted a 7-Eleven close by and so I asked MrC to pick up something to eat while I wait for our tour guide. At exactly 9, our tour guide arrived. I introduced myself to him. I found out he lived quite close by and that he volunteers about twice a month in order to practice his English. Overall I found his English quite good, although at times I had to ask him to repeat some words.

We paid the entrance fee for us and the tour guide and went inside the Castle.
The tour guide proved very useful in giving us bits of historical information while touring the Castle. For instance, we found out that the floors were designed to squeak so as to prevent assassins from sneaking in to kill the shogun. The heights of the platforms also are a political statement in itself, so the higher you are seated reflects your political position. Things like that. He also showed us where the apricot trees are. Those were the only trees that already had blossoms. Cherry blossoms show up early April I think. It was an awesome place indeed.

That day, we decided to save a lot of time by using the taxi instead. We had our guide to speak to the taxi driver anyways so that won’t be a problem. Another nice place we visited was the Golden Temple, otherwise known as Kinkakuji Temple. It was interesting to note that it was built to look like it was floating. There we bought some lucky thingies as gifts and amonth of March lucky souvenir for me.

When the tour guide asked where we preferred to eat lunch I broke the silence by saying: “I would like ramen or rice bowl please” :-).

Armed with a tourbook he browsed his map and found a couple of places. He said it was a few minutes walk. Later on, he realized it was too far so we took a bus. There we found our Ramen Noodle house. It was indeed the real thing. We sat on the bar and after looking a bit confused asked our guide to help us. We ended up ordering all the same thing: a huge bowl of pork roast noodle soup. There we found out how this Ramen noodle soup which we just call mami back home is being eaten. To say the least, the noodle is slurped in a rhythmical fashion, like a slurp every second. It was quite fun to see and hear but I tried to hide my sense of awe so as not to make him conscious. It didn’t matter that the soup was steaming hot. He was able to slurp them just the same. Meanwhile, I did it my way: slowly and with a bit stolen little blows here and there ;-). And yes, the soup was really that good!

After this, we decided to go to the Romantic Scenic Train Ride in Sagano. We took a taxi to the train station which was only a few minutes away from where we were but the area seemed to be out of the city. The train is indeed an old style train, mostly wooden. And yes, the ride was quite scenic and romantic.

And a bit chilly too. Midway in the ride we went to the front which was open air. We were able to see the cliffs, mountains, valleys, rivers because the train was literally at the edge of the mountains.We also passed through the Arashiyama bamboo tree forest. At the terminal, we took a little toilet break and had a hot cup of cocoa to warm us up. After this we took a 10 minute stroll right next to rice fields towards the Metro/Subway station where we took a train to Kyoto Central. I was quite tired and a bit sleepy.

At the Kyoto Station, I tried to look for a toilet — found one but it was the traditional kind. You have to squat and do you deed. Wearing pants and not physically fit I found it impossible and inconvenient to actually use this. With the help of our reliable tour guide we found out that handicap toilets are guaranteed to have the modern toilet style. This is what I am really surprised with Japan. There is no arguing that they are high-tech in many aspects but on the other side they do cling heavily towards their traditions. One of which is this kind of toilet. I am sorry but this is really not very merciful towards us women. I found out that most of the other toilets, were indeed modern. In fact ultra-modern that these even have advanced features like two types of bidet sprays, heated seats, butt dryer and even a fake flushing sound! I took note of the brand: Toto.

The latter part of the day was spent walking around the Gion District shopping for crafts, souvenirs and whatnots. At half past 5 our tour guide left us after having dessert. He said that he will be watching his girlfriend perform on stage so we said goodbye and thanked him for everything. After this, we went shopping and walking around a bit more until we got tired. Just about this time, we found a Pachinko place and decided to try it. It was very very noisy my stomach was churning inside while we played a Little Mermaid themed pachinko slot game. I only understood half of what’s going on after about half an hour of watching balls falling into buckets. One hour later a man watching our game told us we were just one step away from the jackpot and talked to my husband and urged him not to give up yet. We followed his advice but kept our losses to only one bucket of balls. After emptying one bucket and having 2 buckets left we decided to call it a day. We had no idea what our prize was. My hubby was given a few pieces of candies and two plastic cards which was later redeemed on another place next door. There we got our little surprise. Wow! we got the equivalent of 90 euros for the 5 euros we spent! We had a late dinner at our favorite corner diner called Sukiya which was right next to a mini convenience store called Lawson’s.

On Sunday, we had to checkout at 10:30am but luckily we could leave our luggage at the hostel. We first had breakfast at our favorite Sukiya and then went to the Porta at the JR Kyoto station. Later we went on towards the BIC Electronic stores. This store was surprisingly huge and had many floors. We bought a remote shutter for my Canon DSLR, and a lens hood for one of the lenses. The shop attendants were very helpful and knew which products we needed and where to find it.

We then took a taxi back to the hostel only to find out too late that hubby wanted to have a coffee first. However, our schedule is tight and in like half an hour our shuttle will be there to pick us up. When we arrived at the hostel, we found it so quiet and empty. We were not able to hangout at the common living room because they were currently housecleaning. We spent the last few minutes sitting next to the computers. Soon our shuttle arrived. We found out later that we were the only ones inside the shuttle on this trip. The cost of the trip was 3,300 yen per person. We arrived early enough to not have to hurry and not too early to get too bored. We had an early dinner right at the airport on their semi-secret foodcourt right at the 2nd Level. It was just wonderful food to end our trip!

Here’s a list of Volunteer Tour guides or Groups in Japan:

Ice Cream Flavors that are Uniquely Filipino

mixxy — Sun, 08 Feb 2009 04:01:23 +0000

One time, MrC went to the local small grocery. Before he left he asked me if I wanted anything. I asked for any kind of Filipino ice cream: any ice cream which he finds exotic-sounding. While in there he called up my mobile and told me he only found one flavor: the Selecta Quezo Real. I said, “sure please get it!”

Up to now, I still find it surprising that Cheese Ice Cream is classified among the weirdest and more alternative type of ice cream flavors. To us Filipinos, it is just a regular ice cream because we grew up eating this flavor. When I lived in the US I was kind of disappointed to only find ice cream flavors that are mostly in variants of chocolate, vanilla, coffee, and strawberry!

Here in the Philippines, one can find the following ice cream flavors:

Halo-halo: based on the local favorite cold dessert which means Mixed up. It includes fruit bits such as langka, bananas, and coconut meat products, mixed with yam, flan, beans, topped with crushed ice and milk.

Ube: This is a purple colored ice cream which is based from sweetened purple yams which is called halaya in Tagalog.

Sweet Corn: This yummy flavored ice cream tastes like, you guessed it, corn, with real corn bits. It is also based probably on the local cold dessert called mais con yelo (corn on ice) which is a mixture of corn, milk, sugar and crushed ice.

Macapuno: I have always remembered this as my grandmother’s favorite. I think this flavor has a long history indeed. Macapuno is simply sweetened shredded coconut meat. The ice cream is plain white like vanilla but has that creamy coconut taste and bits of the sweetened shredded coconut meat. Simply unforgettable!

Nangkasoy: jackfruit and cashew ice cream. I haven’t really tasted this for years but I remember this was also one of my childhood favorites.

Durian: I believe this is a new flavor which I have yet to try. This is based on a fruit that is abundant in the city of Davao.

Tsokonut (or Chocnut): this is based on a unique Filipino candy that is like coconut and chocolate flavored and a bit powdery but for some reason stays solid.. anyway, you can compare it to an American candy called Reese’s.

Things I am Looking Forward to in the Philippines

mixxy — Sun, 16 Nov 2008 18:09:00 +0000

In response to the last post of what I would miss in the Netherlands (and US for that matter), here is what I look forward to upon going back to the Philippines:

Netherlands: Colorful trees in Autumn and Blossoming in Spring

Philippines: Being able to grow plants and veggies all year round, Coconut trees, Tropical flowers and green trees all year round

Netherlands: Mashed potatoes with rookworst and andives/Rookworst sausage from HEMA

Philippines: Purefoods hotdog, or langgonisa with tomatoes for breakfast, dried fish, tapsilog, barbecue, salted eggs, singangag (garlic fried rice)

Netherlands: WYSIWYG and brutally honest people

Philippines: Friendly, easy to get along with people with great sense of humor

Netherlands: delectable Indonesian takeout food

Philippines: you can find almost everything else there: Thai, Vietnamese, Indian, you name it, and all for less.

Netherlands: visiting exotic European cities and people watching, grandiose architecture and other man-made structures

Philippines: Boracay, Palawan Ilocos, rice terraces, Mayon volcano, Batanes and all the neighboring Asian cities for less than the price of a ticket to London

Netherlands: working with people from various cultural backgrounds

Philippines: getting into the exciting world of IT outsourcing and developing a new business venture

Netherlands: cool, but comfortable spring weather and fresh air

Philippines: ok, ok, airconditioning never beats fresh air

Netherlands: late sunsets in the summer

Philippines: bustling night life, seeing a lot of people walking around even late at night, Christmas lights and lanterns (parol) during the “Ber months”

Netherlands: good strong, coffee

Philippines: Starbucks?

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