Dorland St.

May 27 – Arrived at NAIA at 10 a.m. Lunch at Market Market (a place called Josefina’s), namely inihaw na tanigue and sugpo (sweet at sarap!), arorosep salsa (consisting of arorosep, shredded green mango, tomato, and onion), Bess ordered gata (with meat), Rich ordered inihaw na tuna, washed down with Coke Zero (wala ng Coke Light), then Razon’s halu-halo (carabao milk, yum!), and Rich had some fruit salad Filipino style. Tour of mall adjoining Market Market, and drove by The Fort. It was Rich’s and my first time there. Lakad along new mall near Serendra. Dropped off Bess in front of her office, while Joey drove Rich and me to Malate Pensionne. Checked in and got room on 3rd floor. Pahinga, then took dirty laundry to laundromat a couple of blocks going to Ermita. Internet Cafe stop, then back to hotel. For dinner, took cab to Mall of Asia where Bess and John joined us at Gerry’s Grill. Ordered sisig, sugba kilaw, crispy pata, and one more dish that I forgot, and I ordered dalandan shake. Bess got sundo; met Cons who hanged out with Rich; John and I had dessert at Magnolia, where I ordered mango and ube ice cream, while John had their classic banana split. Hanged out by seawall where there was live music and people just hanging around. Fell asleep in John’s car, while he stopped at one point to buy bananas. Antok na antok na ako. Rich met a Cebuano (also guest at the pensionne); his name was Val Tomol. They were chatting at bangko outside our hotel room when I got back.

May 28 – Good morning Manila–sort of our second day considering we arrived yesterday after 10 a.m. Breakfast at our usual Figaro. I had two cups of coffee (Barako) and asado roll. We checked out Roxas Blvd. (hirap tumawid) lamenting the removal of Baywalk by the new mayor. Still so much basura floating in the bay. Realized how dated the CCP complex was, but the area was alive with restaurants just the same. Took shower, then Rich and I walked to Robinsons. Browsed on and bought books; did clothes shopping at the new Collezione upstairs (shirts with imprinted map of the Philippines). Sumptuous lunch at the recently renovated (at least since the last time we were there in Feb 2007) Mangan: lumpiang bangus (heaven), lengua caldereta, and some fruit shake that I forgot, or maybe I had iced tea. Rich and I split, and I explored the new addition to the mall, but there was power outage that they did not have aircon and escalators were not working (lights were on though, pero init-init pa rin). Brief respite in hotel, then picked up laundry. Took another shower, then Rich saw me off as I took taxi to Quezon City to meet Ogie at Dulcinea for dinner. Had papalit at Mercury Drug for taxi driver. By the way, it was my first time to Quezon City since I left in 1982: nandoon pa rin ang Santo Domingo Church, Clinica Tamesis, and Ma Mon Luk! I ordered green mango shake, then Ogie and I had paella valenciana, pitcher of some fruit concoction (no alcohol), delicious “onion” soup, Caesar’s salad (kuno, Philippine style, just iceberg lettuce or litsugas Baguio), and churros con chocolate for dessert (yum!). We were there for more than three hours. Took cab back to Malate. This time, route was through Gilmore, Aurora Blvd, Santa Mesa, and Nagtahan Bridge. Goethe Institut (German Cultural Center) still there. Rich hanged out with Byabya, then with Cons, but got back early in hotel.

May 29 – Rich and I had two breakfasts: first, because Robinson’s did not open till 10 (wanted to go to Delifrance, which was inside the mall), had coffee and almuchow (bansilog) at Chow King on Taft Ave., then to Delifrance, where we each had a cup of (better) coffee and “chocolate lava” (my expression), i.e., flambeed chocolate cake with oozacious chocolate filling. Rich and I split; stayed on reading newspaper, then explored market and department store, then back to the hotel. After shower, Rich and I had lunch at The Aristocrat. Ordered bbq chicken with java rice, and dinuguan, of course. I think I ordered buko pandan juice (sarap). Took cab (Rich texted Aron, who texted back) to Greenbelt. Intention was Ayala Museum, but Val Tomol invited us to join them at “Sex and the City” at Glorietta. Rich appalled by chick-flickiness, but I think he enjoyed the movie. I liked it. Val and friend had to take off to airport back to Cebu so they left ahead of us. Merienda at Red Ribbon in Glorietta (ube cake and coffee). Bought Pinoy CDs at Landmark. Met Cons and Bess in Powerhouse Books. We had dinner at the new Greenbelt 5 (Fish Out of Water). Ordered garlic-encrusted hito, fried talakitok (fish) with pureed taro, and a dish with meat. Forgot what beverage I ordered. Then we had dessert at Classic Confections downstairs (Bess’ treat). Had fancy pastry and hot tea. Cons gave us a ride back to Malate. Rich hanged out with bading who was selling the future condo high-rise next door (this bading helped me get a taxi yesterday for my ride to QC).

May 30 – Our last full day in Manila (could not believe it!). Breakfast at Figaro; this time I ordered Spanish omelette, which was substantial and got free refill of coffee. Brief stop at Internet Cafe, then shower, then Boysie picked us up after 11 in front of hotel. Lunch at Dampa, one of the concept restaurants where you buy seafood at the market and have the restaurant across the street cook it any way you want. Had sugpo, half in sinigang and other half in sweet-sour sauce, lapu-lapu (steamed with scallions, ginger, and garlic), and delicious, sweet, and juicy crab claws, cooked steamed (to die for). Had little rice so as not to feel so busog. Had iced tea to wash everything down. Took pics with badings who worked in the area. Had our dessert at Greenheights with Boysie, Dedeth, and Mama Purita. Had yellow and green mango, siniguelas, and cassava pie, and Coke. Took pics, then stopped at Cathy Cruz-Borja’s place to see her newborn son (born barely 3 weeks earlier) Benjamin. Two other sons, Calvin and Stephen, were home, but not Reggie, who I never met. After taking pics, Boysie gave us a ride to Greenbelt (in front of Landmark). Bought one more CD, then we met Bess at Bo’s Coffee. Rich and I had our second merienda there. Bought mug. We checked out the Serendra condo models, then Rich took cab to Malate to see Byabya. Eric drove Bess and me to Market Market. Last chance for shopping food items to take to the U.S. Then we went to the Mall and had dinner at Chicken Bacolod. I ordered batchoy with noodles and chicken inasal. Bess had molo. It was a pretty good last dinner (for now) in the Philippines. John was waiting in his car outside the mall. Said goodbye to Bess and Eric. Met John’s friend at Greenbelt; we both rode in John’s car to Malate; too late to hang out with John and friend because I had to organize and pack a lot of stuff and we have an early morning flight tomorrow, so babu for now. Rich was in bed early–he tried to put stuff in my luggage but the organization was not up to my standards, so I spent an hour and a half doing the empake.

May 31 – Cons gave us a ride at 6 to the airport. Checked in by past 7, had time for coffee and siopao asado and buying stuff like ube ensaymada and ube hopia and a souvenir and CD to give away, then 9 AM Japan Airlines flight to Narita. Met Chinoy who lives and works in Chicago but was still very much Pinoy than Americanized. United Airlines from Narita to Chicago (second time to be detained, but about 10 minutes shorter than last year; same officer took care of my passport and assured that after the second time, it won’t happen again), then Chicago to Boston. Got home before dark and by midnight we have put away most of our stuff.

It seemed like it was going to be a beautiful day in much of Taiwan as we flew out of Taoyuan International Airport in a fully packed but comfortable China Airlines at 9 a.m. Just when I thought there was nothing visible from my window seat but sea and clouds or monolithic sky, the plane traversed the island and cut across its dramatic mountainous spine. It is the stupendousness of this mountainous terrain that will leave an indelible mark in my memory.

The Philippines may have its archipelagic peculiarity (see last year’s blog)–as a few other countries have, especially Indonesia–but Taiwan in my mind holds the true geographic mark of the enfante terrible. The island is smaller than Mindanao and comparable in size as Sri Lanka, but the size and scale of its mountains suggests that only a continental landmass can support such breadth. The scale of the mountains that belies the size of the island is emphasized by their sheer verticality. It did not come as a surprise, therefore, to know that the mountains are still growing from the relentless subduction of the Philippine plate beneath the immense Eurasian plate. That volcanism alone cannot explain much of Taiwanese topography all the more underscores the tremendous power of tectonic forces.

The Taiwanese people, especially the environmentally conscious and geographically curious, are fortunate to live in an island nation that has struck a balance between economic development, catapulting it into material prosperity, and ecological preservation, leaving a legacy of verdant and seemingly virgin forests blanketing much of anything that is at least 100 feet above sea level. Call it amazing foresight or careful geopolitical planning, the nation has managed to build a megalopolis from north and south stringed with small towns and interspersed with farms while keeping the mountains virtually undeveloped. Like Japan, the price to pay for keeping the forests intact is to import lumber from nations that have less environmentally sound policies that allow exploitation. Does someone else always have to pay the price to make other nations win accolades for their sound environmental policy?

By contrast, the highest point in the Philippines, Mt. Apo in Mindanao, is 3,000 feet shy of Taiwan’s Yushan Mountain. The Philippines has its share of rugged mountain topography–true to its nature of being nestled on the same subduction zone as Taiwan albeit having more volcanic activity. Perhaps partly because of the accessibility of the mountains given their less steep topography compared to Taiwan’s, the forests of the Philippines have been trammeled by logging and slash-and-burn agriculture. Tracks of virgin forest have become more discontinuous and are less obvious as we flew into Northern Luzon. Enforcing sound environmental policies to maintain virgin tracts of forest is complicated by economics and cultural mindsets, not to mention population growth. Landslides and flooding that beset many rural villages attest to daunting environmental challenges. The damage can be undone, but not without marshaling a nationwide change in environmental perspective.