Chilling in the Philippines-- Guards and recap...

March 29, 2015

Hi everyone, happy new year!  It has been a long time.  After enough people bugging me about it

Suzy and I are back in the US. It was a great almost two years in the Philippines. I will use this blog to recap the last couple months and talk about one of my most favorite memories, the guards.  Lets start with the guards.

In Eastwood City, Security is a constant presence. They are everywhere. Armed security checkpoints, roving patrols with automatic weapons, metal detectors to get into the mall and most restaurants and stores have a guard present at the front door.  Banks always seem to have at least 2 armed guards and they lock the door before and after each person arrives/leaves.

The condo we were in, Eastwood Park Residences, had at least a couple guards at all times. They took great care of us always, and I am proud to call them my friends.  Each and everyone took a personal interest in Suzy and I and we appreciated that. They are great. I was proud that they invited me to their staff Christmas Party.

Outside Eastwood, my first guard experience was with the security at the Wells Fargo office in McKinley Hill. To enter, it was like going to a sporting event, with metal detectors. One guard took time to chat with me, his name is Avellino. I do not know if he is still there, but I hope so.  He was great. I went to that building a few times, trying to get cleared to work there.  He was always there and talked to me. I appreciated that, especially since I was knew to the country.  His name was easy to remember, it reminded me of former Bears QB Bob Avellini. 

I had plenty of time at Eastwood, so I got to make friends with the different guards...

At the taxi stand, sir Mark.  He was great.  I appreciated how he always greeted me as I waited for taxis. I was in line nightly for Suzy and Melissa and sir mark made that time much more enjoyable. 

I didn't go to a popular bar, The Distillery, a lot... but when I did I always made time for a guard I called Tiger. I never knew his name. He was a big, muscular fella that was bald. I knew it was smart to be on his good side.  Occasionally, Id slip him 100 pesos... He always took care of me. Even if I was just walking by... He would always wave or salute.

Spirit Fingers.  My favorite guard at the mall was a fella who would greet me with a huge smile and then give "spirit fingers"... I did not know his name either... But Spirit fingers fits, and those who have been to the mall and run into him, know exactly who I am talking about.

I plan to return to the Philippines as a visitor in 2016. I sure hope my favorite guards are still there.

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Recap time!

Manny Pacquiao fights Floyd May 2. I sure wish I was going to be in the PH for that, but I will go to a friends who has the fight.  I have a flag of the Philippines ready as I will cheer on Manny.  I have always been a Pac Man fan, and it was a dream come true that I got to meet manny at TGI Fridays.  My man, Zeke, called me one Sunday morning and said, "MANNY PACQUIAO IS AT FRIDAYS, GET DOWN HERE."

So I did. Manny had a quiet dinner  with his family and entourage and then the crowds started showing up. He is the People's champ.  I was honored that he took a moment to have a selfie with me.  

Flying home from the Philippines... I got so sick. and I mean SO sick... First flight is 4 hours from Manila to Tokyo.  Then 12 hours or so from Tokyo to Minneapolis. Final flight is 1 hour from MSP to Des Moines. We checked in like 6 bags--- carry on 4. Vinny was a carry on and that was Suzy's responsibility. Mine was her HEAVY carryon. My Heavy Carryon. and my backpack with our laptops.  The aisles in the planes are tighter than scrooge. Its not like I am tiny-- and I have 3 bags-- I am sorry to all the people I bumped-- sounded like Bugs bunny every time, "excuse me, pardon me, sorry, excuse me..."  Well all those heavy bags and up down tweaked my back. I had bad back spasms on the long flight. Couple that with a terrible stomach ache... oh and the worst turbulence from Tokyo to Minnesota.

One saving grace-- The guy I sat next to, a guy from Kansas City named Jason Flowers, was a drinker.  He kept me laughing. He had at least 15 bottles of Rum.  They cut him off after 4 or 5, but a couple hours later decided to turn him lose. He was fine, until the plane landed-- then it hit him... But it was a joy and he did put up with me getting up every hour.

The staff was great on the flight-- they made me a hot water bottle for my back.  they also gave me some pain reliever.  About halfway through though-- I started getting sick... That did not stop until a day later in Iowa.  The last time I was that vomitous, was in 1992 after the Dairy Queen Hot dog incident.  SIDE BAR-- So in 1992 I was real hungry and Dairy Queen had a $1 hot dog special.  I got 3 hot dogs (the lady working happened to be a classmate of mine from High school). whatever happened, I got so sick. I went to work the next day at the Newton Daily News and we had our standard breakfast at midtown Cafe.  While leaving, I vomited all over the floor there.  The owner came over to me with a mop, and said something to the effect of, "clean it up." so I did.  That was the last time I was that ill.

Back to the story at hand... I do not recommend vomiting in an airplane bathroom.  That was the worst. When we got to our hotel in Ankeny, I christened the parking lot.  Yuck.  48 hours later I was fine. Jet Lagged (takes about 2 weeks for me to get over that), but at least I wasnt sick.

The thing I miss most about the Philippines? My friends, of course and the staff of TGI Fridays.  Being 13 hours behind, I have a tough window. a couple hours in the morning and evening is about it to chat with them.  Fridays staff is changing, which makes me sad. One good friend has moved on and I suspect others will too. It will make my visit next year challenging to see everyone if they are all scattered.

Second thing I miss about the Philippines? Project Pie and their staff.  Granted, one of my favorite managers just got transferred to a different location, but that happens. I miss their pizza. I miss the crew. The corporate office tweeted me some pictures of their pizza.  Thanks...  I can't wait to visit the Project Pies in Denver. at least I  can enjoy the great pizza there.

I also miss the Philippines weather. I land here and things I had forgotten about came back. Chapped lips. Yuck. Dry skin? yuck.  Never had to worry about that.  I also miss cheap movies, living above a mall and bars that are open all night.  Restaurants like Fridays and Agave across the street was nice, too. I miss bowling.  I got bowl a couple times with PBA player Kelly Williams. He was great. Much better bowler than I. 

One thing that never got blogged about, but was mentioned at length by me on twitter, facebook and instagram... walking stairs.  I walked on average 60-100 flights of stairs 6 days a week. Helped me drop about 50 pounds. Nice to come home to clothes I had not worn in years.

Best wishes to my man Al Thornton, a former NBA player who was down in the PBA. His team lost last night to Meralco in the Play-offs. I met him at Fridays and saw him many times around Eastwood. He always had time for me. I hope his future plans go well and wish him the best.

My team, Purefoods, is still in the play-offs. I am happy for that. If anyone hasn't seen it, I recommend googling the blindfolded dunk attempt from my friend Justin Melton in the dunk contest this year.  He shared victory last year. This year not as fortunate, but tried a blindfold dunk. It's worth seeing. I also know that he handled that experience with dignity and class, which he has plenty of both to spare.

I am sure there is more to talk about-- but for now I will go.  I have two good stories from this week I will blog about later on next week.

I join the workforce again tomorrow... nice to be back.

Take care of yourselves everyone,

Chuck

Chilling in the Philippines-- McDonald's

"It's More Fun In The Philippines!"  That is one of the main slogans here.  A lot of times it is muttered by me when I am trying to get through day by day.  Smog, never ending traffic, unscrupulous taxi drivers, etc. etc... It is more fun here. 

I have really decided to just try to put a smile on everything.  Most of this is never going to be under my control. So time to smile it off. I just got a haircut so I cannot pull my hair as a stress reliever; I might as well just smile.

I have mentioned in the blog and on Facebook before... the McDonald's here is pretty solid.  Compared to the McD's back home... Big Ron's Steakhouse here makes few mistakes and the workers are very polite.  The food isn't bad, and I love their McSpaghetti.  In addition, there is McDelivery, which is glorious. It only costs 40 Pesos (less than a $1) and they are usually quite prompt.

Now McDonald's back home I have a long history with-- I have even blogged about it back in the day.  You can check out my blog from May 25, 2012.

So, today I find out that McDonald's has a special item for "Drive Thru" Customers. By a value meal... then spend 45 pesos and get a fry holder for your car.  a Fry holder? What a great idea... Definitely one of those "Why didn't I think of that moments."  I had thought once that a harmonica holder like the Blues Traveler guy uses would work, but this is nice. Hands free holding of fries is great.  Suzy said it will make eating with milkshakes easier.  

Tonight I walk with Suzy to the Taxi stand, which is right next to the McDonald's.  All of this is just accross the street from the condo. Monday, generally, is one of the few nights there is no line for a taxi. It was easy, said goodbye to Suzy, said hi to my favorite Taxi Guard, Mark, (we have our own handshake and fist bump... I will talk more about him in an upcoming blog) and then it was off to get a fry holder.  Ironically, we won't be able to use the fry holder immediately (It's not like we have a car), but I had never seen something like this in the US.  

No matter the time of day, McDonald's is always busy here. 3 lines at least 3 deep... always.  No worries.  Now I had told Suzy there may be issues getting this fry holder as the fine print said for "Drive Thru" Customers. Nothing is ever real easy.  I get in line and the waiting game begins.  To expedite orders, they have a guy walking through the crowd taking orders. He gets to me and I explain my wish. "Sorry, sir... Drive thru only."

"I understand", I said with a smile, "But, I have no car. Can I please just take advantage anyway?"

"Sorry Sir. you must drive thru."

Right now thoughts are going thru my head, do I go back and have Mark the Guard get me a taxi and I just take that through the Drive thru? That will cost like a whole 60 pesos, not a big deal. Instead I tried again, with a bigger smile and a head tilt.

"Again, I totally understand. I just do not have a car, but would love to buy these. I will be happy to pay."

"Sir, talk to manager."

"Great."

I get to the front of the line and I ask for the manager.  The crew member apprised him in Tagalog  of what I wanted. I then said, "yes exactly."  I know a lot more Tagalog than I lead on because I am not an expert by any means, but I like playing dumb and bluffing a little.  Once they realized I looked like I knew what they were saying, it was all English from then on out of them. The guy then took me to a separate register and said, "To avail the special, they are 45 pesos after buying a value meal for each."

I smiled even more. "Great, so I just buy a value meal. and can get one for 45 PHP?"

"Yes sir."

We had McDonald's today, so I didn't want food, but I also saw my window. Time to order and not worry about it. I ordered a McSpaghetti Meal and some other items, smiling all the way. I then paid and got my food.  Then, as they handed me my nice fry holders, I thought to myself..."This was easy, I didn't even have to get banned from value meals."

I left McDonalds with 4 bags (no drink holders, they just put them in bags) and I thanked the crew member in Tagalog. As I left, I decided to see if Mark the Taxi guard wanted a fry. He usually has a little bag of rice he eats for dinner, so why not have some fries?  He initially said, no, but I explained I had extra and would be happy if he had them. He then relented and said with gusto, "Yeahhhhhhhhh." He took a fry and a container of ketchup and I am sure had a happier night.  

So what a great night. I smiled, Suzy got a fry holder, Mark got some fries, and the staff at McDonald's, well they at least made it happen today.

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Earlier today, Suzy signed an addendum to our lease. We will be here one more year. I estimate our return to the US permanently will be around late August or mid-September, 2015.

Take care of yourselves, everybody

Chuck