Photos to and from work

Hi all,
I bothered to take my camera to and from work yesterday so here's some snaps of my Wednesday routine.
In the morning I catch a Jeepney to work. Costs me 7 pesos each way. They are nicely decked out with fog lights (which none work), catholic propaganda and stainless steel bits.
I work in my boss's house, as do a lot of people. He lives in a secure subdivision called Hensonville Plaza. It's a fenced compound where I have to give my ID ever morning at the gate. His house has two story high walls.
I walked back home at the end of the day. The people on the street often call my attention to get their photo taken. I stopped at Ray's pub on the way back. He has BBQ on Wednesday and it's good home-cooking. Nearly all the guys that go to Ray's work in the same place as me, but they do it from home.

Bye!

Saigon, Vung Tau, Mui Ne

Well, my dreams of diary keeping and interesting blogs got away from me. Having fun outweighing my desire to cram myself into a hot, sweaty internet café that crashes every 15 minutes.

Saigon has been great. We took a car and stayed over night in the old American R&R beach of Vung Tau. There we stayed in a hotel where the employees were as friendly as immigration staff and would probably kill themselves if they could be bothered moving. We then found out it was owned by the government, Ah. Public servants.

We found a great beachy bar next door, just like out of Cocktail. We played pool and drank nice beer; the unforgiving sounds of Saigon traffic replaced with consistent waves crashing. I feel asleep on a couch outside and woke at four in the moving, covered in sweat and insect bites.

The next day, I nursed my brain in the traffic jam home.

Our typical day here in Saigon starts with meeting for an iced coffee in the little café outside. Then lunch, or as we call it “breakfast”. Then we usually drink into the night at the place across the road. Cheap been, no English and smiley waiters.

On Saturday we took the van to Mui Ne. A beachy resort fishing village now filled with middle-aged couples. We were booked into a hotel by a friend which turned out to be straight out of a sit-com. The hot water was cold, the fridge was hot, the pool empty; door knobs fall off if you turn them enough, looked like abandon ruins. But had character in a camping sort of way.

The best night we had in Mui Ne was in a pub owned by an American. Outside on nice lawn, with grass mats and bean bags, sitting around drinking all night looking like hippies, being served by a boy who had a bar in the bar of a Kombi Van, until we racked up a million Dong worth of Tiger.

Coming back to Saigon again felt like home and we sunk into our old ways.

I miss Saigon

Touched down in Saigon yesterday. Great to be here again, this place always makes me feel good. We are staying out of the city a bit, in residentual are. It's great to have a few beers in the tourist strip then pop on our motorbikes and go home; quieter and more Vietnmesey. The food here is fantastic. Well, must be off.

Arrived at Thao's house, Saigon.

Vietnamese breakfast.

Morning cafe for coffee outside our hotel.

Thao's step father and dog.

Ice man.

One Night In Bedrock

Well, another epic night in the history books. Had a great healthy day so we treated our bodies to an abuse of beer and gin.
We were the first to arrive in Bedrock at eight o’clock. Bedrock has a Dinosaur mural, roots on the walls and tables made from crude trees.
There is two bands a night at Bedrock, both seven piece. They played some great classic rock songs, the beers kept flowing and we started to sink deep into our warn-out seats.
I request “Rock Lobster”, as I always do, and once again they don’t know it.
The second band starts and I invite the singer to join us. Ivy is a voluptuous lady, the face of a Diva, long permed hair and great singer. I mention I’m in a band and before I know it I’m on stage,
“What you play, guitar, drums?”
“Well I think I’m too drunk for guitar, so I’ll give drums ago.”
“OK, what you play?"
"know any Red Hot Chili Peppers?"
"No... How about Sweet Child O' Mine"
"I haven't played it before and I'm quiet drunk, OK."

Sweet Child O’ Mine starts and I stumble over an excruciating version of the drums. But they are very polite.
Before long we are dancing on the stage, trying to lose our self-consciousness, to no avail. A great time had by all. No chance on chiseling the smiles off our faces.

Trip begun - Manila

Adriatico Street, Koko's nest bar

(now changed name to something else, can't remember)

First leg of our journey has begun. After thirty hours of travelling we finally arrived to the little outside bar next to our hotel in Manila.
Over night in Melbourne was boring but necessary. Staying at an airport hotel we got up at six o'clock and sat on a plane until it somehow took us to The Philippines.
The feeling of our first beer after throwing our bags inside was euphoric. We couldn't drink them fast enough, resulting in a painful next day, one which we shall not repeat.
The Matrix is a popular bar in Makati, the only viable spot to sit being outside, inside was many used for staff to get the drinks and food. Spider webs, witchy paraphernalia, pumpkins and devil horns litter the city as they follow the tradition of Halloween, resulting in a great festive atmosphere.
There we sat with big grins and wide blood shot eyes, watching the busy street go about it's business. Beggars, homeless children, prostitutes, ladyboys, a few expatriate Americans and one crazy lady who was in the same spot doing the same things two years ago. She wears the same clothes, draws shapes on the street with chalk, and interacts with characters only she can see. We wonder what her story is.
The next day I wake with a lack of water, sleep and vitamin B, check-out at exactly noon and join Mark for a coffee downstairs. We see the Saudi men we met the night before. Warm guys who enjoy coming to Manila. "In Saudi Arabia you cannot have beer and girls, this San Minguel Light would take me to gaol. In the evenings we sit by the road or cafe, smoke our Shashees, drink coffee and tea, play cards and talk while the women shop or do their duties".
We arraign a fare to our next spot, Malate. Malate is brighter and cheaper than Makati. Short buildings with many cafes, pubs, hotels, a casino and a large centre circle with children playing and men resting.
We go to the hotel we stayed before - Rainbow Pacific. Nice and clean and well priced. Apparently it is gay friendly as expressed in the title and the bright cheery colour scheme, and in the hopeful smiles of the reception staff. I wonder if gay people have problems checking in to hotels, I also hope they are straight friendly.
Across the road from the hotel is a great little bar, made from old palettes and grass; cheap, small and nice atmosphere. We eat at Adriatico cafe on the corner, a classic classy cafe with interesting pictures and the feel of a timeless establishment.
On our last legs we sit and stare, every now and then saying something short to each other. Happy and drained, I finish my Gin and Tonic and we pop into Bedrock, a dark groovy bar with bands every night. Seven piece band, decked out in alternating Halloween costumes. We force down two beers and watch the band play Jealous Guy, Smooth Criminal, and Heartbreak Hotel; I always have a soft spot for an Asian Elvis impersonator.
This morning I wake to the unmistakable feeling of no hangover, bright and (relatively) early we sit at Adriatico Cafe and sit our coffee and fake cream.

Makati City, Manila.

Philippines: Malate, Makati, Angeles and Laguna.

Sent Tue 10/10/2006 7:39 PM

Hi all,
I've arrived in Manila. Seems cool. Yesterday was our last day in Jakarta. Bit emotional but good to move on. We went to the pub until about 1:30am, home to finish packing and then to the airport at 3.30am. Now I'm in Manila. I've popped into this cafe while I wait for Mark and Ellen to "catch up". Then We go eat! And drink! It's been a few hours since I drank.

I've got my guitar and my backpack so I'm a bit more of a "traveller" now. Not that there's anything wrong with that.

Well off for now. CHOW!

Waiting at the airport in Manila. Either us, or our lift went to the wrong terminal. We were excited about the Philippines. Hoping at the end of the country, we’d be able to say, “I hated the Philippines”. Thanks to the quote we liked by Ringo talking about The Beatles’ concert there. “We just watched our selves not arriving”. But we did love it.



Picture of Annie in Starbucks. Annie was quiet but not shy, and a very nice person. She was the sexiest dancer I’ve seen. She couldn’t help but dance on the chairs when we were in the girly bars. All the girls working would stare at her when she danced and soon be mimicking her movements.

**

The Matrix was the only pub on the street that didn’t pose dancing girls, and therefore the only place to have a coffee. The street was a dancing girl bar district, the best place to have your bachelor party. We had a ball here. This was the more expensive girly bar district in The Philippines. We’d walk into a bar and there’d be ten – twenty girls sitting around or dancing or with customers. Wearing sexy clothes. Though they weren’t naked, which we found to be more fun. None of the bars had windows. Soon after arriving you’d be asked to buy a girl a drink, for 300 pesos. She’d get 70 pesos commission and she’d hang out with you for a cuddle or a chat or more. We didn’t get that much attention when we went to these bars with Ellen and Annie.

I think the first place we’ll go back to is Manila, then Vietnam. I’ve been to Vietnam a couple of times, but I’ve only been to Manila a couple of times.


Wed 11/10/2006 5:28 PM

Morning.
First day in Manila was good. I like it here. Cleaner and clearer than Jakarta. After my last message I went back to the hotel. Then Ellen and Mark and I caught a cab to some big expensive mall. Had a double espresso to fight the no sleep-ness with good natural drugs. Had some soup in a Vietnamese restaurant, then back to the hotel area. Our hotel is in a sort of red light district. We wondered down the street looking for a bar that had windows, but couldn’t find one. So Ellen liked the sound of a place called "WOW WOW WOW", we popped into enjoy the small dark bar with lots of un-enthusiastic girls dancing. We got very pissed and I was happy that the girls there genuinely said I was "handsome man". Staggered home to get our sleep.



**

Mark warning all of us that the coffee we are about to enjoy is extremely hot. However the cup did not inform us that life, and the world, is dangerous and we should also be “careful” of it.



The array of Korean pickled side dishes served up in a nice Korean restaurant in Malate.

Thu 12/10/2006 5:59 PM


Hi all,
Day three in Manila and much the same. Hung over. Too much beer, not enough sleep and food and water and money. Still having a ball though. We'll stay here until Saturday then pop down to Ellen’s province in Laguna.
Bie!







We finally get to ride in one of those jeep bus things we see everywhere. We are off to a place called Laguna. Ellen’s home. It’s a beautiful mountain foresty province, and the people are even nicer. A real National Geographic kind of feel. Right is the view from the jeep.


After the second day the local kids warm to me and clamber onto a path side motor bike tipping it over but having a jolly good time with the white tourist person.

Spying on the local kids from the balcony of Ellen's sister's house.







Mark sips his morning coffee and breathes in the Laguna air. The children outside the house we stayed in. The pics on the right is what Mark is looking at.

It was a great village. I can imagine people back home thinking they are all poor because they are all wearing hand-me-downs. It really isn’t the case. Once you live in a place for a bit it becomes completely normal and you get to see that life is different without being “poorer”. I spent the worst night ever here. The electricity had been out for the past three weeks due to hurricane so the fan didn’t go which meant is was stinking hot and the fan was also used to keep mosquitoes away. It was a constant balance between sealing myself under the sheet to block the swarm or put up with mozzies and be slightly less stinking hot. The bed was Ellen’s sister’s daughter and smelt of piss.



Ellen’s sister was great. We
stayed at her house and we were treated like kings. Always smiling. The lower photo looks like it’s her first time on a bike even, but she owned it.

Sent: Wed 18/10/2006 10:07 PM

From: Michael

To: Josh, Kylie, Keith, Robyn, Linda, Tonia, Scott, Grant and Steve, Michael, Ching.

Subject: Laguna

Philippines is great.

We are having a ball. It is allot more Latin American here than you'd expect. Because of the big American influence as well as Spanish, due to history. A bugger load of franchise restaurants. Hard to find a nice cafe. Groovy Jeep bus things that belong in the fifties. The currency is Peso.

We arrived about a week ago and spent four nights in Makati, Manila. A street with allot of character and girly bars. We have become nocturnal and now have to ask security guards what day it is. It is a friendly place here but we wonder why places like McDonalds and other Scottish restaurants have friendly guards with pump-action rifles. Maybe to avoid future coups.

After Makati we went to Ellen's home town. Laguna. It is about 3 hours from Manila. A foresty, mountainy city. We stayed at her Sister's house. There is a perfect setting for a National Geographic article. Little huts and kids with no shoes and dogs with un-amused looks on their faces. Teenagers look angry as they sit near the road apparently doing nothing but, sitting. The kids there were allot of fun and I got some good snaps of them. We stayed in a hotel there as well. Ellen's eleven siblings came with their football team of children and we ate Pinoy food and drank Red Horse beer, red horse - extra strong beer, extra strong hangover. They are a great family. The Pinoy's are the closest to Aussie in Asia we have found. Really easy to hang with at a BBQ. It's a relief after 4 months of Muslims and their no-pork ways. Mark and I paid them back by having an Aussie BBQ. We went to the market and bought parts of a pig, made sausages, kebabs, salad, prawns and Milk fish. They seemed to like it, asking for my recipes. But I didn't even know what they were. Just make it up. I put one chilli into 2 kilos of pork meat for the sausage and they could hardly handle the heat. I was sadly surprised. But we had a great time and paid them back.

The other selected delicacy is some death liquid called "coconut wine", or “Lambanog”. We all take in turns taking shots until somebody dies. It was fun and we had fun doing Steve Erwin impersonations for Ellen's mother who's a fan. We later found out that the Wine was around %90 alcohol. Time to leave we said good bye, walked past some guys who offered us shots of brandy, and the brandy has never been easier to take than after a night on coconut wine.

Now we are in a town called Malate. Great looking place with a shit load of bars without windows. We have a few more days here then a place called Angeles.

Until next time.

On our way to Angeles. We stopped at a petrol station for some petrol. I soon found some kids who wanted to be photographed.


We got a taxi from Manila to Angeles then hopped in this Jeep to find a hotel. We gave them a generous fair but they got greedy and tried to double it. Philippines has the worst taxi drivers I’ve experienced, you’ll be lucky to find one that is prepared to use their meter. They all have these government stickers on their windows, “meter tested and sealed”, meaning it’s not tampered with and we’ve sealed it so the bastard driver doesn’t rip you off. So the driver simply doesn't use them. Many don’t accept your trip if you tell them to use their meter. We spent many times telling the driver to turn on their meter, “no is cheaper”, we wouldn’t argue: “stop the car”, we’d slam the door and try find another one, or walk. We asked about seven taxis to take us to the airport until one agreed. But when we arrived he switched it off and tried to make up his own fair.


Date: Sat, 21 Oct 2006 17:19:48 +1000 (EST)
From: Michael Jennings

To: Keith, Linda, Parents, Grant and Steve, Ching.

Subject: Angeles

IN Angeles now. We took a taxi to get here. Drove past San Simon, San Francisco, Mexico and then arrived in Angeles. Yet another groovy place. A lot of ex-Marine American dudes here. A few good bars, but the dancing girls are a bit mingy. The streets have good food for the stagger home. Hotdogs for 15 Pesos, fertilised duck eggs, Mango and nuts.



The View from my hotel window in Angeles called Europhil. Angeles was hot, dusty & crowded, yet had such a pleasant view from the other side of the building. Angeles was hot, dusty and crowded yet still kept a country, separate from the rest of the world feel.




Some dudes down the street; lady boy or boy lady.


**

Walking down the main drag, past the market. Such a colourful place. A lot of character.


Young thing no doubt from or to work at one of the many girly bars. The bars were cheaper than Manila but the girls less attractive, although they did all have great asses.

______________________________________________________________

Date: Fri, 22 Sep 2006 19:10:16 +1000 (EST)
From: Michael Jennings
Subject: Issues in Jakarta
To: grant

This is an email issue.
We are having trouble getting a visa for Viet Nam. The Vietnamese embassy here in Jakarta is giving us issues. They aren't allowing holiday visas for the period 14 October - 30 November 2006 for Viet Nam! We reckon it’s cause they don't want Muslims going there and are politely turning everyone away. It’s fucking up other things too, airline tickets we need to book, have booked, and visas for other countries as we have to show our departure ticket for the Philippines which is going to Ho Chi Minh but now that’s an issue. No issue though, we'll get there. Mark has a friend from Vietnam who may be able to help us as you can get one if you are "invited", but the most likely thing we'll do is get a visa in another country, like Philippines or Cambodia or Singapore. We'll be there on the 30th for ya! Even if we have to crawl through the mine fields over the boarder to get there.
Did you have any visa issues?
See ya!