Here's a recap of what you've missed so far:
First off, I'm not Filipina and don't speak a lick of Tagalog, despite what even the locals here may think. Thank goodness that tan from Tahiti is still working for me! So to my advantage, I do fit in pretty well in Subic..until I open my mouth. And for all of you who are wondering where in the world is Subic Bay? Well, it's on the west coast region of the Luzon island of the Philippines, around 62 miles NW of Manila Bay.
Day 1, Sat June 14 - Arrival into the Philippines
I arrived safely to the Philippines on Saturday at the scheduled arrival time of 4 AM. It was pretty shocking that we actually arrived on-time considering our flight on Philippine Airlines didn't take-off until midnight with a scheduled departure of 10:35 PM. Why were we on the runway at SFO for 2 hours you may ask? Because everyone and their mom was checking in loads and loads of boxes and suitcases, probably filled with electronics, clothes and goods from the US to bring back to their family in the Philippines. So it took TSA THAT much longer to sort through it all. Luckily my company was flying me in Business and I was able to skip the ridiculous economy line and enjoy a glass of red wine in the Mabuhay Business Class Lounge, which might I add, was basically a room with just enough seats for those flying business class on this one flight. Needless to say, once I boarded, I passed out for an hour or so on the plane before we even took off, only to realize when I woke up that we were still on the ground! In any case, I was so exhausted from the cleaning, packing and preparation for this trip that I passed the heck out on the flight for the next 9 hours. Keep in mind here, I'm not one to ever sleep on planes, so I must've been pretty damn tired, or it was the Merlot. Yay for procrastination!
Obstacle #1 - Sophia vs. The Driver in Hiding
Upon arrival into the Philippines, the customs process and getting my luggage was pretty seamless. Now, if only I could find my driver who was supposed to take me from Manila to Subic Bay (2.5 hour drive away). Finding this driver, whose name was Mark, felt a lot like trying to spot Waldo amongst 1000 other Waldo-lookalikes, except they were all Filipino. And I was pretty sure I didn't see any sign with the word "HUYNH" on it, to my dismay.
Ok Sophia, think quickly, how are you going to find the driver? After asking the security guards for some help, I realized I had written down Mark's number on a post-it. Ok great! I can call him now with a...wait, I don't have cell phone service. The guard pointed me to some pay phones, only to realize that I don't have any local currency (pesos) on me. So I go to exchange dollars for pesos and make sure I get some coins to make the call, picked up the pay phone (flashback to the 1990s) and finally got a hold of him. It's crazy how dependent we are these days with our cell phones and how a simple task of making a phone call on a pay phone seems so archaic. Finally I tag up with Mark and we're on our way to Subic. Obstacle averted!
I heard that the traffic in Manila can get pretty hectic, though another obstacle averted since not many people are even awake at 4 AM on a Saturday. So it was a peaceful 2 hour drive to Subic Bay, my home for the next 7 weeks. Mark took me directly to my hotel and was supposed to hook me up with a rental car. He asked me how I liked the car we drove into Subic with and I said, yah sure, it's fine. Then he was like, ok great, it's yours. Apparently the company who provided the driver also runs the car rental agency out here. Go figure. Now it was time to check-in and tag up with Dustin, the other SSL person out here. We have a one week overlap before Dustin goes home and I'm running this show solo. We tag up and Dustin sets me up with a burner phone to use while I'm here. Hello T9 texting! He also gives me a brief driving tour of Subic Bay and of Olongapo, the nearby small town.
Obstacle #2 - Sophia vs. Subic's Corrupt Police
So for the remainder of the day, I explored the town by car. So both Dustin and another coworker of mine had warned me about the cops/police out here being corrupt. Well, I got my introduction to this corruption REAL fast. As I was heading to the Harbor Point mall to grab some lunch, I get pulled over by a cop standing in the intersection.
He directed me to pull over and told me to give him my license. Of course, this was a California license, not one issued in the Philippines. In any case, he gave me some spiel about pedestrians having the right of way, yata yata yata. I was like, officer, I literally just got into the Philippines today. I'm a good driver, I swear! I don't know what the rules are here, please tell me. It's nice to be able to play the damsel in distress card when needed. He told me he would either have to collect a fine or confiscate my license. After some charming pleading and white lies, I convinced the officer that the rental car was paid for by my coworker and that I had no money on me since I had just arrived to the Philippines. I told him I was actually on my way to the mall, so that I could get some local currency from the bank. Thank goodness I was warned of these shenanigans by Dustin only a a few hours before this happened. Alas, I was on my way to food!
My first meal in the Philippines consisted of a can of coke (no ice) and Laksa, a noodle soup dish from Malaysia/Singapore. The first time I tried Laksa was with my cousin Erica in Melbourne, Australia actually, where the Malay/Singaporean influence is a lot more prevalent. Apparently this place's signature dish is their pad thai, which I will definitely be coming back for to try.
Obstacle #3 - Sophia vs. Jet Lag Going East
After dinner, I knocked out for 3 hours since I was obviously still jet-lagged. I probably could've slept for another good 3-4 hours, but knew the only way to fight jet lag is to stay up late the first few days and exhaust yourself till your forced to sleep. So out of bed I went, and ended up going out to Paddy's Irish Pub to meet up with Dustin and a few of the locals. I was told to become very familiar with this bar since it'll be my go-to place during my time in Subic. I was introduced to some Filipina locals as well as Simona, the owner of Paddy's, aka bad influence. Simona is an Eastern European female in her mid-30s who runs this bar with her older Japanese husband. Now there's a combination I didn't expect to see in the Philippines! On the contrary, the scene at Paddy's was a combination of older expats, Americans who work on the submarines in Subic, and young local Filipinia women, which was totally expected. I suddenly had a flashback to my time Bangkok 6 months ago where I would see 18 year-old girls paired with 60-year old men. I'm pretty sure that's a pairing I will never get used to or accept.
So my first day in the Philippines came to an end and I successfully stayed awake till midnight, after traveling a good 20+ hours previously. I'm happy to say I was able to kick jet lag in the butt and hopefully won't have another battle until I return to the states. If you thought this blog entry was long, think about how it felt real-time!
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