Day 53
The flight back to Portland started with a fiasco. First, it was pouring rain. Then, we started walking toward downtown to what we thought was the closest bus stop in that direction. However, the roads split up and we apparently took the wrong street and could not find a bus stop, and ended up walking all the way to the BART station.
Several people told us that taking BART was the best way to go to the Oakland Airport. We were aghast to find the station locked. We asked someone waiting nearby what was going on. He said he thought that BART opened at 8:00! So we flagged down a bus whose driver confirmed that fact. No one had warned us of this! The bus driver took us to the cross bay terminal and it appeared there were no buses headed towards Oakland so we ended up taking a taxi. Fare: $50!
Then, at the airport, the express check-in did not work so we entered the normal ticket counter and discovered that the attendant could not find our reservation. He kept checking different dates and other variations and finally came up with the solution: our name had been entered backwards. So finally we were on our way, feet and outer layer of clothes soaked.
Once back in Portland we made our way home without a hitch. Maitri had a shower and we were off to the Easter dinner at Phil and Pat’s.
Sunday, April 16, 2006
Saturday, April 15, 2006
Day 52
Today Ole was up early to catch up on internetting. We breakfasted at the hostel and went downtown and then to the Haight Ashbury area for a walk, including Buena Vista Park and a walk to a demonstration community garden at 7th and Lawton where we met the garden manager. Then we caught a cross town bus to Fisherman’s wharf and then proceeded back to the hostel via Chinatown. There we had a nap, then dined on our Chinese leftovers and risotto pasta.
Today Ole was up early to catch up on internetting. We breakfasted at the hostel and went downtown and then to the Haight Ashbury area for a walk, including Buena Vista Park and a walk to a demonstration community garden at 7th and Lawton where we met the garden manager. Then we caught a cross town bus to Fisherman’s wharf and then proceeded back to the hostel via Chinatown. There we had a nap, then dined on our Chinese leftovers and risotto pasta.
Friday, April 14, 2006
Day 51
I woke up early about 6 am to skype with Krishna as he was trying to finish his income tax return. (He always waits for the last minute.) After breakfast, we both felt tired still, so we took a long, long nap. I did not wake up until 4:30 pm! We went out for a walk and the weather has changed. Yesterday was really sunny and warm. Today was cold, windy and drizzly. We headed out to Goodwill and bought warm coats. Then we headed towards China town and walked around for a while before returning to the hostel for a free dinner of shepherd’s pie, green salad and French bread. The rest of the night was spent reading.
I woke up early about 6 am to skype with Krishna as he was trying to finish his income tax return. (He always waits for the last minute.) After breakfast, we both felt tired still, so we took a long, long nap. I did not wake up until 4:30 pm! We went out for a walk and the weather has changed. Yesterday was really sunny and warm. Today was cold, windy and drizzly. We headed out to Goodwill and bought warm coats. Then we headed towards China town and walked around for a while before returning to the hostel for a free dinner of shepherd’s pie, green salad and French bread. The rest of the night was spent reading.
Thursday, April 13, 2006
Day 50
We got hold of Debbie (Pete) as she was just leaving to pick up her mom, Gladys, who is in Palo Alto. Debbie was driving to SF from San Jose to pick up her craft wares from a gallery in SF. We had lunch at a Chinese restaurant, then later drove to Palo Alto, Gladys’ place. We harvested and pruned her orange tree. The oranges were the best. I’ve never eaten freshly picked oranges and these were very delicious. She gave us 2 bags and some lemons to take home. Ole also cleaned her gutters. Later Debbie came back to Gladys’ place and brought Pete along. We had dinner of fried tofu with chives, boiled freshly-picked chard from Debbie’s garden, rice and leftovers from lunch. Afterwards Gladys’ served strawberry cream pie. We also met her sister and brother-in-law Bob.
We took the Caltrain back to SF and arrived almost midnight. Ole went to bed feeling sick and bruised from climbing and pruning the orange tree. Earlier, he fell when he stepped onto the street and miscalculated the height of the curb, which was pretty high actually. Luckily, he was not hurt.
Today is Shanti’s 20th birthday! Her friends are throwing her a party tomorrow.
We got hold of Debbie (Pete) as she was just leaving to pick up her mom, Gladys, who is in Palo Alto. Debbie was driving to SF from San Jose to pick up her craft wares from a gallery in SF. We had lunch at a Chinese restaurant, then later drove to Palo Alto, Gladys’ place. We harvested and pruned her orange tree. The oranges were the best. I’ve never eaten freshly picked oranges and these were very delicious. She gave us 2 bags and some lemons to take home. Ole also cleaned her gutters. Later Debbie came back to Gladys’ place and brought Pete along. We had dinner of fried tofu with chives, boiled freshly-picked chard from Debbie’s garden, rice and leftovers from lunch. Afterwards Gladys’ served strawberry cream pie. We also met her sister and brother-in-law Bob.
We took the Caltrain back to SF and arrived almost midnight. Ole went to bed feeling sick and bruised from climbing and pruning the orange tree. Earlier, he fell when he stepped onto the street and miscalculated the height of the curb, which was pretty high actually. Luckily, he was not hurt.
Today is Shanti’s 20th birthday! Her friends are throwing her a party tomorrow.
Wednesday, April 12, 2006
Day 49
We really slept in. It was so quiet and cool inside the room that we took advantage of it and just took our time waking up. We did not get out of our room until 11:30 am.
We checked out, had a glass of soymilk and iced tea, read the papers, checked email and then headed out for our last fling in Manila. We took a jeepney to China town and had lunch at one of the several Chinese veg restaurants. Then we took a jeepney to the city hall area and walked to SM mall for a soy, banana, and chocolate smoothie. Then we went in to see Venom and Final Destination 3 (both mediocre). Afterwards, we had dinner at Bodhi.
Finally, we went back to the pension to collect our bags and took 2 jeepney rides to the airport, terminal 2. Our flight was delayed for 2 hours and finally took off around midnight. Many passengers were dismayed when the delay was announced. They handed out snacks, but nothing vegetarian, not even plain bread. The officer said, “I’m sorry we don’t have anything vegetarian. So what would you like – hamburger or hotdog?” So, I explained why those are not options for me. Later they told me that they had someone make something for us—tuna sandwiches! I explained again to her that tuna is fish and not vegetarian. She said that another passenger was also vegetarian, but tuna sandwich was all right for him. I said, “Then he is not vegetarian.”
The airport situation continued to be quite dysfunctional. For example, the foreign exchange was closed in the boarding area. All passengers are forced into a cordoned off area next to the window while awaiting boarding. This means you must check out and back in if you need to use the facilities, each time going thru an additional security check involving body search. Also, the initial security screen results in confiscation of things like nail clippers, razors, and potato peelers. Instead of a single long queue at the ticket counter, each counter has its own line, which results in uneven waiting times for different passengers.
The flight was 11.5 hours. There were several good movies shown (Chronicles of Narnia, Harry Potter, etc), but the sound system in our seats were not working. We had only radio, no tv sound. Food was okay—2 meals. Unfortunately, I accidentally left Ole’s%
We really slept in. It was so quiet and cool inside the room that we took advantage of it and just took our time waking up. We did not get out of our room until 11:30 am.
We checked out, had a glass of soymilk and iced tea, read the papers, checked email and then headed out for our last fling in Manila. We took a jeepney to China town and had lunch at one of the several Chinese veg restaurants. Then we took a jeepney to the city hall area and walked to SM mall for a soy, banana, and chocolate smoothie. Then we went in to see Venom and Final Destination 3 (both mediocre). Afterwards, we had dinner at Bodhi.
Finally, we went back to the pension to collect our bags and took 2 jeepney rides to the airport, terminal 2. Our flight was delayed for 2 hours and finally took off around midnight. Many passengers were dismayed when the delay was announced. They handed out snacks, but nothing vegetarian, not even plain bread. The officer said, “I’m sorry we don’t have anything vegetarian. So what would you like – hamburger or hotdog?” So, I explained why those are not options for me. Later they told me that they had someone make something for us—tuna sandwiches! I explained again to her that tuna is fish and not vegetarian. She said that another passenger was also vegetarian, but tuna sandwich was all right for him. I said, “Then he is not vegetarian.”
The airport situation continued to be quite dysfunctional. For example, the foreign exchange was closed in the boarding area. All passengers are forced into a cordoned off area next to the window while awaiting boarding. This means you must check out and back in if you need to use the facilities, each time going thru an additional security check involving body search. Also, the initial security screen results in confiscation of things like nail clippers, razors, and potato peelers. Instead of a single long queue at the ticket counter, each counter has its own line, which results in uneven waiting times for different passengers.
The flight was 11.5 hours. There were several good movies shown (Chronicles of Narnia, Harry Potter, etc), but the sound system in our seats were not working. We had only radio, no tv sound. Food was okay—2 meals. Unfortunately, I accidentally left Ole’s%
Tuesday, April 11, 2006
Day 48
After breakfasting on fruit at the pension, we walked about 10 blocks to the San Andres market. The walk was the first area we have seen in Manila that resembles the rest of the country with its many bread shops, back alleys with people bathing in the open air, and other usual sights. We were astounded at the prices of some fruits compared to what we have been used to. For example, guayabano was P100 per kilo. We have never paid more than P30 in the past.
We decided to take the LRT to the end of the line to get an overhead glimpse of Manila and saw many Chinese temples and the famous Chinese cemetery north of the Pasig River. We then returned to the city center of Tondo and Binondo with their large Chinatown. Here we encountered three vegetarian Buddhist restaurants on just one street and enjoyed their 4 course (two vegetarian dishes, rice, and a drink) “budget meal” for P45. Another place we heard had vegetarian eateries is the food court of one of the chain malls so we visited the SM superstore next to city hall. This is an enormous air conditioned 5 level complex with hundreds of stores. The upper level is a ten theater cinema and we decided to see a US first run movie, “Eight Below”. (P90 each) Most of the ground floor is a huge food court and we did encounter Bodhi’s, a vegetarian and health food outlet with branches in most of the SM malls. They have a similar 4 course budget meal for P70. But we did not partake since we had already visited three other veggie restaurants earlier. We also came across a soy smoothie stall and got some more photos of these outlets for the article we plan on vegetarian eating in the Philippines.
We returned to the pension to get our things and enjoy some of the snacks we had purchased at the ve-G restaurants that morning (lumpia, veggie burger, and samosa) and the rest of our fruits. During this time we met two more pension residents at the table and passed on our guide book to one of them just before leaving for the airport. This pension is very popular among the expatriate crowd and includes many Peace Corps and other NGO visitors.
We had gotten instructions that morning on how to go to the airport via public transportation which requires two jeepneys as it can be difficult to get a taxi who won’t overcharge. We thought we had good instructions but ended up walking a fair amount to reach what we thought was our destination. However, we mistakenly went to the wrong terminal. The airport has no shuttle between terminals and this fact is exploited by the taxi services who charge many times the normal fare. We ended up simply walking to the second terminal, about 15 minutes away. Later we learned there are jeepneys that do this trip.
There we were informed that the flight was overbooked and they were soliciting volunteers to give up their seats. We accepted the deal, which gave us both free round trip tickets USA-Manila good for one year, confirmed booking on a flight twenty-four hours later, and $200 cash to pay for hotels and other expenses. We then returned to the pension where we checked back in, this time into a very quiet air-con room where we both had a very restful night. Coming back by jeepney also involved a modicum of walking as the jeepneys do not stop at the same place, probably because of ongoing road repairs. We both were lamenting the fact that the airport transportation issue is so dysfunctional in Manila and can create a poor first impression of the country. The ideal solution would be to simply extend the LRT to all the airport terminals which now stop a couple km short in Baclaran! We suspect this occurred to protect the interests of the taxi and jeepney drivers.
After breakfasting on fruit at the pension, we walked about 10 blocks to the San Andres market. The walk was the first area we have seen in Manila that resembles the rest of the country with its many bread shops, back alleys with people bathing in the open air, and other usual sights. We were astounded at the prices of some fruits compared to what we have been used to. For example, guayabano was P100 per kilo. We have never paid more than P30 in the past.
We decided to take the LRT to the end of the line to get an overhead glimpse of Manila and saw many Chinese temples and the famous Chinese cemetery north of the Pasig River. We then returned to the city center of Tondo and Binondo with their large Chinatown. Here we encountered three vegetarian Buddhist restaurants on just one street and enjoyed their 4 course (two vegetarian dishes, rice, and a drink) “budget meal” for P45. Another place we heard had vegetarian eateries is the food court of one of the chain malls so we visited the SM superstore next to city hall. This is an enormous air conditioned 5 level complex with hundreds of stores. The upper level is a ten theater cinema and we decided to see a US first run movie, “Eight Below”. (P90 each) Most of the ground floor is a huge food court and we did encounter Bodhi’s, a vegetarian and health food outlet with branches in most of the SM malls. They have a similar 4 course budget meal for P70. But we did not partake since we had already visited three other veggie restaurants earlier. We also came across a soy smoothie stall and got some more photos of these outlets for the article we plan on vegetarian eating in the Philippines.
We returned to the pension to get our things and enjoy some of the snacks we had purchased at the ve-G restaurants that morning (lumpia, veggie burger, and samosa) and the rest of our fruits. During this time we met two more pension residents at the table and passed on our guide book to one of them just before leaving for the airport. This pension is very popular among the expatriate crowd and includes many Peace Corps and other NGO visitors.
We had gotten instructions that morning on how to go to the airport via public transportation which requires two jeepneys as it can be difficult to get a taxi who won’t overcharge. We thought we had good instructions but ended up walking a fair amount to reach what we thought was our destination. However, we mistakenly went to the wrong terminal. The airport has no shuttle between terminals and this fact is exploited by the taxi services who charge many times the normal fare. We ended up simply walking to the second terminal, about 15 minutes away. Later we learned there are jeepneys that do this trip.
There we were informed that the flight was overbooked and they were soliciting volunteers to give up their seats. We accepted the deal, which gave us both free round trip tickets USA-Manila good for one year, confirmed booking on a flight twenty-four hours later, and $200 cash to pay for hotels and other expenses. We then returned to the pension where we checked back in, this time into a very quiet air-con room where we both had a very restful night. Coming back by jeepney also involved a modicum of walking as the jeepneys do not stop at the same place, probably because of ongoing road repairs. We both were lamenting the fact that the airport transportation issue is so dysfunctional in Manila and can create a poor first impression of the country. The ideal solution would be to simply extend the LRT to all the airport terminals which now stop a couple km short in Baclaran! We suspect this occurred to protect the interests of the taxi and jeepney drivers.
Monday, April 10, 2006
Day 47
We breakfasted on fruit then took one jeepney to Baclaran market to look for warm jackets for San Francisco. This is an area well known for garments and shoes, and its flea markets. The abundant array of goods available and their rock bottom prices were astounding. Very nice clothing items like elegant dresses and blouses are available here starting at about one dollar apiece, sometimes even less! However, the selection of warm items was very limited since this is a tropical locale. We could only find lightweight rain and denim jackets which did not really fit the SF weather.
We then took the elevated light rail known as the LRT to the Sanitarium for lunch, then jeepneyed back to the pension for a much needed rest.
The afternoon was spent walking to and around Rizal Park. We encountered many old landmarks such as the two acre or so concrete relief map of the Philippines, the small but always busy chess area, the many statues of Filipino heros, some with guards stationed, the orchidarium, Japanese and Chinese gardens, and arboretum. Since it was Monday some of the venues were closed. Others were in a very sad state of repair. For example, the relief map concrete was cracked and peeling in many places and the normal pool of water was drained. Then we walked past the American Embassy to the waterfront in time for sunset.
We breakfasted on fruit then took one jeepney to Baclaran market to look for warm jackets for San Francisco. This is an area well known for garments and shoes, and its flea markets. The abundant array of goods available and their rock bottom prices were astounding. Very nice clothing items like elegant dresses and blouses are available here starting at about one dollar apiece, sometimes even less! However, the selection of warm items was very limited since this is a tropical locale. We could only find lightweight rain and denim jackets which did not really fit the SF weather.
We then took the elevated light rail known as the LRT to the Sanitarium for lunch, then jeepneyed back to the pension for a much needed rest.
The afternoon was spent walking to and around Rizal Park. We encountered many old landmarks such as the two acre or so concrete relief map of the Philippines, the small but always busy chess area, the many statues of Filipino heros, some with guards stationed, the orchidarium, Japanese and Chinese gardens, and arboretum. Since it was Monday some of the venues were closed. Others were in a very sad state of repair. For example, the relief map concrete was cracked and peeling in many places and the normal pool of water was drained. Then we walked past the American Embassy to the waterfront in time for sunset.
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