02.29.08
Posted in Health-related--Natural Alternative Treatments, Uncategorized at 11:42 am by Administrator
This morning I received an email from Patti with a link to a YouTube video. I thought the video might be good to share as a short rebuttal to Michael Moore’s Sicko movie. Thanks, Patti! 
Moore’s movie Sicko and this short YouTube video called A Short Course on Brain Surgery appear to be on the opposite sides of the spectrum. Personally, I think there should be a medium, or middle of the road. For instance, I was a bit surprised at the comment from the Brain Surgery video that “private medical practice is illegal” in Canada. I think people should at least have the choice whether to see a private doc or a government doc. And while I do see the point made in the Brain Surgery video about the slow services provided for certain medical situations in Canada, sometimes medical procedures are too quickly forced upon us here in the U.S. Plus, I don’t think the couple in the Brain Surgery video should now be trying to get their government to pay the medical bills that they accrued while in the U.S. Although I do think there is something to be said about the wife’s comment that “they would mortgage their home” for treatment. And that’s exactly the situation our medical system here ends up doing to U.S. citizens. Definitely down sides to both systems. Anyway, here’s the link to the video http://www.freemarketcure.com/brainsurgery.php
Marlakins
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02.26.08
Posted in History, Uncategorized at 11:07 pm by Administrator
I found another moment to play around with our vacation pictures. So, continuing on, I’ll share a few pictures from a little of Manila, mainly of Ft Santiago in the Intramuros area. Before we got there, we drove through the college and university area. Here’s a pic of us in front of UST (University of Santo Tomas). In the Philippines, this university is like one of the Ivy League colleges here in the U.S. A few of my cousins went there. During WWII, this college was used for prisoners of war.
While neither of my parents went to UST to study, the UST hospital is where my sisters and I were born. This is what the front of the hospital looks like today.
After we drove around taking pictures of all the schools, including my dad’s high school, Mapa High, and my mom’s college, University of the East, we headed over to the Intramuros area. The Intramuros is a walled off area, which was built by the Spanish when they occupied the Philippines. Within that walled off area remains Spanish-style buildings which are still in use today. Not only is Ft. Santiago within those walls, but so is the college where my father taught electrical engineering before he left the Philippines for the United States. Here’s a picture where he taught before I was born. It’s called Mapua Institute of Technology.
There was a small fee to enter Ft. Santiago. Gee, I don’t remember exactly how much it was, but it was little. Something like 200P or 500P for all five of us. The fort is located at the tip of the delta where the Pasig River meets the Manila Bay. Fort Santiago is named in honor of Spain’s patron saint James, Slayer of Moors (Santiago Matamoros).
Fort Santiago served as the military headquarters of the Spanish, British, American and Japanese regimes. During WWII, hundreds of men and women were jailed, tortured and executed by the Japanese military police, the Kempeitai.
I hope this plaque is readable for most browsers. It comes out fine on Firefox, anyway. . .
Before entering Ft. Santiago, there are other structures such as the Baluarte De San Francisco Javier. They’ve actually converted part of the area into a golf course. I should have taken a picture of parts of the course, but I didn’t. . . But I did get a shot on the roof of the Reducto De San Francisco Javier where one can look down and see parts of the golf course. Here’s my mom and me.
Down below is the courtyard leading to the entrance of Ft. Santiago. This is what it looks like just in front of the moat. The arch in the background is the entrance.
Inside the Fort remains of the old walls still stand. I found it interesting to see the contrast of the old walls and the newer buildings towering in the background.
Just to the right of this picture is a continuation of the courtyard walls and cells. The cell pictured below is located near the end of the structure and was the cell where Dr. Jose Rizal spent his last night on earth. The footprints mounted on the floor show the path where he left his prison cell to exit the Fort where he was taken to be executed. Rizal was one of Philippine’s national heroes as he was a key figure who incited the Filipinos to rise up against the Spanish occupation. The statue behind the bars represents Rizal.
Proceeding westerly from Rizal’s cell, is the Memorial Cross. This Memorial Cross marks the common grave of approximately 600 bodies of guerillas and civilians found inside the powder magazine of Baluarte De Santa Barbara after WWII.
Hmm. Looks like my photography skills took a dive. Don’t know why I chopped off the top of the cross, but I think I got distracted with the markings on the floor.
Anyway, moving right along, I’m skipping quite a few of the dungeon pics here, but got a bit distracted by the slums that could be seen right from the end of the Fort. I doubt that’s what the view was 50 years ago, but that’s what’s there now. I tried to zoom up, but I think it’s still hard to see in this pic. We saw lots of slums in the Philippines. This is a small example of what some of them looked like.
Here’s a pic of me off to the side of the end of the Fort with the city buildings in the background just off to the right of the slums. Off to the right my oldest son, Andrew, is taking a little video footage of the area.
And finally, this is the view leaving the Fort standing just before the moat.
One of the horse-drawn carriages can be seen off in the distance. That one is actually a bit large. Most of them pull a small carriage that usually only seats two behind the driver. In the Philippines they’re called calesas.
Welp, I think that’s about it with show and tell tonight. Will continue later.
Marlakins 
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02.25.08
Posted in Uncategorized at 1:34 am by Administrator
It’s past my bedtime, but before I give in to the sand man, I wanted to put in a plug for a movie that I want to watch that is due to be released this spring. It’s called Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed. The trailer can be viewed from their website.
The trailer looked good to me. I hope the movie will be good, too.
Night, night!
Marlakins
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02.20.08
Posted in Uncategorized at 5:29 pm by Administrator
While I’m waiting for my cookies to come out of the oven, I think I’ll continue my post for Sonya’s Garden. As I mentioned previously, she had nice little walkways and places to sit and recline and just plain relax there. 
Among the plants were a few of these.
Anybody know what this plant is? I don’t think I’ve ever seen these before. They don’t quite look like summer squash. I wish I had asked there what that plant was.
Anyway, I want to go back to our little visit to Sonya’s Restaurant. When we first got there, there was a lady who met us near the parking lot and took us to the restaurant. She even seated us. After we sat down, and I ran around admiring the restrooms, we wondered when the menus were gonna come. Instead of menus, we were served water, and then some orange juice, and then some salad with several condiments arrived at our table. Hmmm. Okay, we’ll this is interesting, let’s just dig in. And we did. After we polished off our plates, there was still no menu to be seen. We started looking around and it looked like most people were already eating. Then more food started to show up. This time is was pasta and another round of condiments, sauces, garnishes, etc. Oh, okay, so in we dig, mixing up our own choices of sauces and condiments. The pasta was actually very good! The condiments consisted of Italian-style dishes with lots of herbs with a few condiments with a Filipino flare like fried salmon strips.
Okay, so now we’re starting to get the hint that there is just one menu in the restaurant, and everyone is eating the same thing. A du jour type thing. The odd thing was that we didn’t know it was going to be du Jour. We didn’t see any signs when we arrived what the du jour was. When the lady seated us, we had no idea how much the meal would cost. . . So jokes started to run along our table. My dad starts teasing and chuckling and asking us how much money we had on us cuz who knew how much this was going to be, ha! We were wondering if the pasta was just an appetizer or the main meal. I didn’t know whether to pig out on the pasta or leave some room. The next thing that came out was a cup of hot water with a “sprig” in it. We all looked at each other and started asking, is this tea? Or what? My dad said that maybe we could wash our hands in it, ha ha ha! And then what, I said? Drink it? Ha ha ha! Then we decided that the “cup” was too small for hand washing, it must be tea. So we drank it and it was good! I started looking around to see what else was on other people’s tables, and my dad told me, “Marla, just relax. When the bill comes, you’ll know it’s over.” Ha ha ha! Well, the bill didn’t come out just yet. The next thing that arrived was a very nice chocolate cake. Why I didn’t take pictures of the food, I’ll never know. I wish now that I did. The cake was moist and yummy. I figured that must be it, but no, the Filipino touch came out–fried wrapped bananas and baked sweet potatoes. Yummm. What a nice topper. Finally, I wondered “who is Sonya?” I hope she’s not some foreigner making a killing on Filipino stuff. And just as luck would have it, a Filipino woman came out asking if all was all right. I asked her, “Are you Sonya?” She replied, “Yes, I am.” “Oooohhh!” Came the response from the rest of us at the table. We had a nice chat with her. She told us a bit about her bed and breakfast. Invited us to walk around her garden. She was a lovely lady. I had to ask her if it was okay to take a picture with her. Here she is next to me with her hand in her right pocket.
I don’t know what I did with the flyer she gave us which explained all the services and fees for her bed and breakfast, but it looked like a nice place to come back to. They even gave various types of massages. This is actually the first place I saw Tuina massage offered. Also, much of the food that is served at her place is grown fresh right on her property. A view of part of her nursery could be seen just outside the window of the bathroom lounge. This is part of what can be seen.
By the way, her lettuce tasted sweet and could easily be eaten without salad dressing. Also, since we had the opportunity to speak with Sonya, I asked what the sprigs were in our tea. It was tarragon. Ah! I’m gonna have to look for fresh tarragon now and make that tea here. I liked it. I had not thought to make tarragon tea. Aside from that, there was also a popular Filipino singer dining there while we were. We didn’t know who he was, but our driver knew. Plus there were media people interviewing him, so we figured he must be someone. And that was it. After lunch we bought some goodies at her bakery and strolled through her garden, then headed home. So we missed Taal, but we made it to Sonya’s Garden.
Well that’s about it for that, and my cookies are done now!
Toodles!
Marlakins
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02.18.08
Posted in Uncategorized at 12:23 am by Administrator
The recent bathroom comments on Spin Off From Steele’s Chronicles fits right in with my travel log continuation. I think there are certain things we take for granted here in the U.S. like nice bathrooms with hot and cold water, strong water pressure, and an actual toilet. . . Years ago when I visited the Philippines, no one prepared me for what I was going to have to deal with in regards to the restroom. While there may have been an actual toilet there, it did not always flush with the flip of a lever. Instead, to flush the toilet, one had to fill up a bucket with water and pour it in. The showers were similar, and there is even a “name” for a common way of showering there called, “tabo, tabo.” What that means is you shower by filling a bucket of water, then scooping water out with a cup or bowl, and just pouring it over your body. There are even plastic containers especially used for that which has a long handle. From time to time, one might even find a gecko in the restroom, which would give me the willies even more!
Okay, so all the bathroom talk was not how I intended to plug for Sonya’s Garden. . . BUT, Sonya did have lovely bathrooms as well as good food and nice gardens! I’m not sure how she got started, but her garden and restaurant has evolved into a bed and breakfast.
Sonya’s Garden was tucked away in a side road just outside of Tagaytay. Luckily we found it because is sure took away the disappointment of not being able to take a boat out to the Taal Volcano.
We didn’t know what to expect from Sonya’s Garden. Our cousins just told us that when we go to Tagaytay, visit Sonya’s Garden. Thank God we did! Here’s a view of the inside of the garden from the restroom lounge area (my dad is walking back to our table, heheh).
Now I’m gonna devote a bit of time to Sonya’s restrooms. . . That’s why I thought the previous bathroom discussions fit right in with this part of our travels. Anyone who has traveled to different countries knows that restrooms can be a scary place to visit. . . Years ago in France, we had to stop off and use “squat toilets.” I know they have regular toilets, too, but they also had squat toilets. Even in Turkey a couple stop areas still had squat toilets, although they were very clean. But consider tropical climates, and the bathrooms become a bit more hairy. Think mold, algae, geckos, low water pressure, cold water, erp! So when we got to Sonya’s Garden, this was a lovely sight to see. . . a beautiful bathroom. . . even the “stalls” were little “rooms” that were clean and even pleasant to be in. The stalls are just on the opposite side of the sinks. This is what they looked like.
And this is inside a stall. . .
Clean and nothing scary! Trust me, I’m sure this is something any woman who travels appreciates! Thank you, Sonya!!!!! Even outside in her garden, she had lovely restrooms. Here’s a shot of a couple of them from outside.
Her restrooms were so tastefully arranged and even lovely to look at that I had to take all these pictures. There was always a outer area and the stalls were always a separate room that wasn’t so small that you bang your head on the door, ha! 
Here’s another shot just looking into one of the restrooms from the garden. There is a little vanity table and chair. The partitions and doors have the traditional capice squares. The lower portions were painted white, plenty of lighting, and no sign of mold anywhere. This is something any female can appreciate.
But wait, this place is not called Sonya’s Bathrooms. . . but rather, Sonya’s Garden. So I must share a few pics of her garden. There were walkways through her garden. Along the way there were benches, places to sit, and even beds in the garden with canopies to shield out the sun if it were a bit too bright. Here’s one such seating area.
And here’s one of her bench areas.
Okay, so I think my blog is starting to do quirky things with all these pictures. I’m gonna have to split up my Sonya’s Garden post by continuing with a part 2. Besides, it’s late and bed just looks so inviting. . . So toodles for now!
Marlakins
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02.15.08
Posted in Uncategorized at 6:28 pm by Administrator
To continue on with my travelog, one of the sites we tried to hit was the Taal Volcano in Tagaytay. This is a picture of the Taal Volcano, which is the mound off to the right of the picture with the crater in it.
I say “tried” because we didn’t quite make it there. While we didn’t quite make it to Taal, we were able to view it from a distance. We got to Tagaytay, all right, but in order to get to Taal, one needs to take a boat ride from Tagaytay to Taal. So here’s the story. . .
We all have family quirks, right? Well one of our family “things” is that my mom tends to be on the nervous side. Very spunky, but very nervous. One thing that makes her nervous is big bodies of water because she doesn’t know how to swim. She’s okay with “big” boats like cruise liners, but not small boats like the ones that take tourists from Tagaytay to Taal. You actually see water on both sides of you while on those boats. My dad, being the nice guy that he is, tried to soothe her by telling her that she’d like the trip and just take a look at the boats. He felt that once she saw the boats, she might feel safe enough to ride one. So off we went, out of the city.
After two toll roads, winding through roads lined with vendors, and about an hour later we got to Tagaytay. Hmm. Which side road do we take to get to the “boats?” We turned down this way and that. The locals looked friendly enough, so we asked, “Where are the boats? The ones that take you to Taal?” “Huh? I don’t understand. . ., was some of the replies” with their confused looks. “The ‘boats’,” we asked, “banka.” “Oh!, banka,” they said, “Go down further.” Okay, so off we go. Are we going the right way? So again we stop and ask, and again the reply is, “a little further.” Further still but still no signs of the “banka” to Taal. So we pull over and ask again, and low and behold, this time we hit pay dirt. They ALL knew about the “boats!” People swarmed around our car telling us to just follow them and they’ll give us a boat ride to Taal. Oh boy, oh boy were they excited to see us! A car full of “tourists” looking for a boat ride! These guys would not let us go no matter how nice my dad spoke to them. This started to get my already scared-of-water mother nervous. Thoughts of getting kidnapped and tied up and thrown into the lake started swimming around in her head, ha! While I wasn’t as nervous as she was, I did find the situation a bit unnerving, too. So slowly we creeped off to get them to stop hanging in our window. . .
Whew, that was wild! But wait! Look behind us! Those guys are following us in a car! Well there is only one road, so maybe they’re just going down the same path. Down we went, winding, and winding, until finally we got to where more guys were waiting for boat ride takers. The guys behind us pull in front of us and start motioning for us to follow them. Oh crap, mom is starting to get nervous. Dad tells the driver not to follow them. Let’s look for another boat ride service. So off we go past those guys. We turn around and there they are following us again! Mom is going bananas now. We turn off another road but it is too steep. Our driver tells us that our car can’t go down that. Those guys are right on our tail still yelling to take their boat. Mom has now passed bananas and is frantic now, ack! Finally my dad tells our driver, “I think you’d better take us back up before my Misses has a heart attack. . . ” So our driver turned us around, and that was the end of Taal for us, ha ha ha!
But was that the end of those guys? NO! They followed us up the winding road until we saw a landing where there were some people advertising to sell property there. We stopped, and so did those boat men! Sitting there waiting for us. I could hear my mom speaking loudly to the vendors that those guys following us are scaring her to death. And there they sat! My sister, Andrew and I decided to get out and take pictures because the scenery really was rather nice. We could get shots of the Taal volcano from where we were (and that is the landing where I got the above picture). One of the guys asks my mom if Andrew is a foreigner. Just to scare him (since she was already scared of him), she told him, “Yes, he’s half middle-eastern.” Ha ha ha! What a nutty thing to say, but boy did we laugh about it later. My dad told her how nutty that was, too, ha ha ha!
So imagine the above scenario going on as pictures like this one was taken.
Driving down the winding roads were lots of towns’ people moving about, including lots of little kids. They were adorable. There’s something about the way God made kids. It doesn’t matter what nationality they are, they’re all so cute.
The soil looked very fertile. It looked dark and typical of what I had imagined volcanic soil to look like. It appeared that one of the biggest crops they grew in this area were pineapples. There were several fields of pineapples along the way.
This brings me to the issue of the exchange rate. While we were in the Philippines, the exchange rate was $1 to 40P. From one of the vendors, my mom bought 16 pineapples for 500P. That would be equivalent to about $12.50, U.S. currency. Here’s what one of those stands looked like.
We also stopped at a coconut stand on the way back from Bataan. There were lots of coconuts in that area. Now as a health conscious person, searching along several of the health forums, I have experimented with coconuts. Lots of coconuts. You know the “miracles of coconut” stuffs, ha ha! Well, it was easy for me to do because I just love them. Especially the “young” coconuts. And this is what I was looking forward to when visiting the Philippines. What I did not think of was the “price” difference. There were times when one coconut here could cost about $3.00. One young coconut. Well out in the Philippines they had coconuts everywhere! We stopped off at this one stand with these lovelies. . .
So while back in the states I could buy a coconut for $3.00, here in the Philippines we bought 20 coconuts for 200P. That’s equivalent to 20 coconuts for $5.00. . . And yes, I drank them all up while there!
Here’s the nice woman who cut some open for us.
After you finish drinking the coconut water, then they split the coconut open for you and make a little spoon out of the husk so that you can scoop out the coconut meat. This is young coconut, which is my favorite way of eating coconut. The matured coconuts are only good for macaroons and other toppings for desserts like bibinka (Filipino sweet rice).
I just had to share this picture of my dad eating his coconut. I think he looks so cute here! Ha! I can just imagine him as one of those little boys going to school. . .
Here I am very happy with my first coconut of the trip. . .
After we drank up and ate the young coconut meat, we hit the road again. When we got back, my aunt opened up all the coconuts and shaved the meat and put it in a nice large pitcher for me. I guess no one likes coconuts as much as I did because they let me drink all of it! Ha! That is one thing I miss now that I’m home, and I hate to buy coconuts here even though right now they are only $2.00 per young coconut. . . I’ll probably break down and buy one eventually, but for now I’m on strike! But, I suppose business is business. In the country, the coconuts were 10P each, while in the city they were 20P. Still much cheaper than here, but consider what the average wage is there. I was told that it is a common wage to earn about 300P a day. While some things are cheap there, not everything is. Anyway, we also saw coconuts being transported. . . These guys looked happy. Check it out, ha!
The guy in the white waved, but too bad it didn’t get caught on film!
While we didn’t get to go to Taal, Tagaytay was nice. Luckily we found a lovely spot just outside of Tagaytay that made up for it! It’s called, Sonya’s Garden. I’ll make my next post about her place because if anyone ends up in Tagaytay, Sonya’s Garden is definitely worth visiting!
Marlakins
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02.12.08
Posted in Health-related--Natural Alternative Treatments, Uncategorized at 3:54 pm by Administrator
The other night I watched Michael Moore’s movie “Sicko.” While I have never been much in favor of socialized medicine, and I knew that Moore’s film was pro socialized medicine, I still wanted to watch it because I was interested to know what arguments he raised. I found that he featured many of the common arguments, and while I don’t feel confident that he portrayed each side equally and completely, I do feel he did a good job presenting his points. I found his movie thought-provoking, and exposed a good case against the common fears of the anti-socialized medicine camp. That is, the concern that with socialized medicine quality medical care will decline and taxes will increase. Moore exposes the fact that our current, so-called, non-socialized medical system already compromises quality medical treatment, and it is already very costly, at times usurping the life-savings of those finally able to retire.
One point that Moore made, and seems to be used as one of the more common arguments for socialized medicine is that access to medical care increases health and longevity. I think that is a flawed argument. People develop diseases such as cancer and other life-threatening illnesses apart from how many doctors and hospitals are available to us. The lack of doctors isn’t the cause of disease no more than unlimited money can cure asbestoses and the many other diseases with no known cures. The frailty that comes with aging is not halted by the best doctors or medical facilities man has to offer. Improved sanitation may have made a significant improvement, but that is a separate matter from medical resources. So when Moore and others equate socialized medicine with improved health and longer life, I think it is misleading and misses the mark. People have good health when they take care of it and they can live in a healthful environment free of (or at least with a minimal amount of) toxins.
Included in Moore’s film is a small section on how much a general physician earns in the UK. My feeling is that Moore includes this segment to show that even in a socialized setting, doctors can make a very good living. And it is true from what he presents. However, what he didn’t present is what does a doctor in a non-socialized environment earn? Is it many times more? My guess is yes, but that is not revealed in his movie. So that brings me to another aspect to consider–greed. Are the fees paid to doctors here in the U.S. for their services really worth those exorbitant amounts? Why do bone marrow transplants run up bills large enough to pay for houses? Why do many drugs cost thousands of dollars here in the U.S. while in countries with socialized medicine cost only 6 Euros no matter the number of pills? Do the pharmaceutical companies get paid more from non-socialized medical systems or does the government pay the equivalent amounts to pharmaceutical companies that non-socialized people pay? For the most part, my feeling was the greed of big pharma has place a strangle-hold on non-socialized medicine. I generally felt that medical doctors were merely pawns of the pharmaceutical companies because the pharma companies are generally the ones who fund and support medical schools and medical research, including training up coming doctors and practicing doctors how to use their pharmaceuticals. But now I think that there is a greed aspect involved with doctors as well. I wonder, and I think that it may be likely, that doctors don’t go to school to just earn a comfortable living. I think many go to earn a lavish living. While I don’t think there is anything wrong with lavish living, I do think it is wrong to do it at the expense of desperately ill people to the point of relieving them of their life-savings.
Another problem with non-socialized medicine is the involvement of the medical insurance companies. Fortunately, I have not had much aggravation with medical insurance largely because I try not to use medical services much, if at all even when I was transfusion dependent. However, from those I know who use medical services, Moore’s assessment does have some truth to it. Basically, even if you are fortunate enough to be able to afford good medical insurance, if you are hit with a terminal illness, medical insurance will likely not save you from the poorhouse. Or a large portion of your savings will be drained, and many elderly have to continue working just to keep up with their medical bills. In that case, why bother with medical insurance?
In cases of basic medical assistance such as a broken leg or lacerated appendages, it seems that socialized services can be reasonable solutions. It is disease care that becomes a totally different ball game, and the differences between those types of care is not addressed or emphasized in Moore’s movie.
Finally, what I have not heard addressed from either the non-socialized medical group and the socialized medical group camp is that of “general hospitals” already in operation here in the U.S. Isn’t that a form of socialized medicine? Aren’t those free and available to anyone in need? Moore made another good point that here in the U.S. we already have other socialized services that seem to work rather well. Namely, the fire department, libraries, the police force, etc. Is socialized medicine really that evil? My feeling is that both socialized and non-socialized medicine has their problems and good points. But my feeling is that in order to bring about any meaningful reform, we need to understand health and well-being better. People need to learn to become less dependent upon drugs and doctors regarding their health. Companies who pollute our environment and our foods need to be reformed. People in general need to learn to take more responsibility for themselves, than expect the government to protect them. But there will always be greed and those lobbying for ways to make more money. There will always be the disrespect for the poor and destitute by some. For the time being, those who want better health will have to work for it themselves. I think that’s the way it always has been, and should be.
I know there are other angles to examine regarding the topic, but those are just my initial 2 cents. I’m glad I watched Michael Moore’s Sicko movie, and I do think it has caused me to re-examine my beliefs on socialized medicine. While it’s not a perfect system, it does appear to have some value.
Marlakins
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02.09.08
Posted in History, Uncategorized at 5:14 pm by Administrator
One dead giveaway that one is in the Philippines is this sight:
It’s been a long time since the last time I was in the Philippines (25 years ago!) Many things have changed, but many things have not. One thing that has remained the same is the crazy driving and the incredible numbers of Jeepneys barreling down the roads. Here’s another view of a Jeepney below.
Crazy looking things, aren’t they? Not only do they “look” crazy, but they drive crazy, too! Don’t try to cross the street in front of one as if the pedestrian has the right-of-way. That rule doesn’t seem to apply in the Philippines!
These Jeepneys are basically the local “buses.” People hop onto them from the rear, and the way to choose which Jeepney to ride is by the markings on the sides, which indicate which areas they cover. One might wonder who designed these flamboyant contraptions? Well, Jeepneys were actually developed after WWII. After the war, lots of military equipment was left behind by the U.S. that were either given or sold to the Philippines. The ordinary military jeeps were cut open and extended to allow for a larger seating capacity. Apparently, each Jeepney owner decorates his own jeepney whichever way he wants. The newer designs that I did not see many years ago are now airbrushed with cartoon characters or even movie characters. I didn’t have to ride on one during this trip because my uncle was gracious enough to provide us with a personal driver, so I don’t know what the current fee is for a Jeepney ride. But while the drivers are still pretty crazy, and the pedestrians are likewise erratically and dangerously crossing and roads, at least the roads have improved a bit since my last visit. That is, there are less dirt roads to get muddy during the intermittent rains, and thus less potholes to look out for. I remember one of the experiences I had during my previous trip to the Philippines was riding in a private jeep on a dirt road in the country when we got stuck in a mud hole. We all had to get out and push. Lots of fun in the rain and mud! Ha!
Even though Jeepneys seem universal in the Philippines, there are other vehicles which share the roads. In the Pampanga area we found a large number of “tricycles” zipping all over the place. Pampanga is actually the province where my mother is from, so that was a treat to see (not to mention my mom was excited to see her province again after many years). This was my first trip through Pampanga. We passed through it to get to Bataan, where we were headed to visit the Bataan Memorial. Here’s a shot of some of the tricycles.
Here is a pic of part of the countryside with the Bataan Memorial far off in the distance on the top on a small mountain. The Memorial is a cross on the top of the mountain on the mountain peak closest to the center of the picture. It looks like a tiny stick in this shot.
We passed quite a few rice fields on the way along with many roadside stands selling mostly food stuffs like coconuts and other fruits and snacks. There is a bit of a winding road to get up to the Memorial with a small entrance fee of about 150P per person. Just for a little perspective, the current exchange rate while we were there was 40P to $1. The U.S. dollar is losing value, so I’m not sure what it is now. At the entrance we were asked if we were all local for some reason. . ., but since my parents and aunt and uncle are fluent and native Filipinos, they said, “Yes, we’re all local.” My sister, my son, and I all smiled quietly and shook our heads in agreement, ha! No need to let them hear our English accents. I think that’s part of how they determine the fee, yikes! Once at the memorial, the cross is actually quite large. It was too big to fit in one shot from my vantage point, so I just took the top portion in this shot. There are reliefs all around the bottom of the cross depicting parts of Philippine war history. Here’s an shot of one side of the cross below with part of the relief. Notice the Muslim buildings, which depicts the Muslim influence in Philippine history. 
While much of the Philippines is currently Catholic, other portions of the islands like Mindinao and Palawan still have strong Muslim influence.
For those not familiar with Bataan, in military history, it was famous for the Bataan Death March in WWII. Basically, about 60,000 Filipino soldiers, 1,000 Chinese-Filipino soldiers, and about 12,000 American soldiers were taken over by the Japanese and forced to march 60 miles on foot in the tropical heat without food or drink. Many men died as a result of that and the reported brutalities inflicted upon them by their captors. More about that can be read here and just another example of the many atrocities of war.
I have since found that there is a Bataan Memorial in New Mexico. It’s called the Bataan Memorial Military Museum and Library. There is even a Bataan “March” scheduled this March 30, 2008 in the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico which offers two routes, one being 26.2 miles and the other being 15.2 miles. I also found a website of a Bataan “survivor.” For anyone interested in reading more about that, here’s the link.
From the base of the Memorial, there is a nice view of Bataan. Here’s one shot looking over the horizon.
Here’s another pic of my sister and me putting in a little time to help the groundskeepers keep the Memorial tidy. . . And yes, those “brooms” did work pretty well as rakes!
After visiting the Memorial, we drove down to Mariveles, which is the beach front from where the Bataan march is believed to have begun. Along the way we found markers which would indicate how many kilometers away it was from the starting point of the march. Standing here I could just imagine the beach full of thousands of soldiers, hungry, tired, and injured being forced to start marching. I look at my son, now 19 years old, and think that those soldiers were thousands of boys like him forced to endure such hardship. This is only one of many, many wars in times past and times to come.
Just before we left, I took another shot of the tricycles there in Mariveles, Bataan.
These actually looked safer than what I saw in Manila. In Manila, not only did the tricycles have the side passenger compartment, but also a side “bench” behind the driver. So many things I saw go on on the roads in the Philippines I know would just not fly here in the states, or at least here in California. You’d get pulled over so fast! Ha! Not only did some of the vehicles look unsafe with passengers precariously perched on the vehicles without safety restraints, a couple times I even saw “dogs” on the roofs of the tricycles while they drove down the street, ha ha ha! Oye. . .
Well, that’s probably enough for one post. More to follow later. . .
Marlakins
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02.06.08
Posted in History, Uncategorized at 12:30 am by Administrator
I took hundreds of pictures while in the Philippines, thanks to digital cameras! But alas there’s just too many to put up on my blog. Instead, I’ll share some, which I think will help to give an idea of the things one might see while visiting the Philippines.
We (Andrew and I) really enjoyed this trip. Part of the fun was how different things were, which really helped in regards to amusement. But I think I’ll write about that at another time. For now, I want to write about the first site we visited, Corregidor.
Corregidor is a small island off of Manila Bay. It took a one hour and 15 minute boat ride to get there from Manila. The entire tour took approximately 5 hours long. The main reason Corregidor is a popular tourist spot is because of it’s history during WWII. This small island was the headquarters of the Allied Forces during WWII, and was also the seat of the Philippine Commonwealth Government. Thus there were fierce battles on Corregidor between the Filipinos and Americans against the Japanese. A quick google online shows that there were 23 batteries installed on Corregidor, but I seem to recall the tour guide stating a higher number like 35 batteries. . . hmmmm. At any rate, each battery consisted of about 4 guns. And I mean “GUNS.” 
Here’s a pic of me standing next to one of the “smaller” guns in one battery, Battery Way. They had larger guns with longer barrels as part of other batteries like Battery Hearn and Battery Crocket. But the larger, longer barrels wore out faster, thus were only able to fire about 350 rounds, as opposed to the smaller guns like I’m standing next to of about 1,500 rounds. The reason for this is because the longer barrels, although they can reach a farther distance, wears out faster with each discharge. That is, each time the gun is fired, the riveting gets worn down a little until there’s not enough riveting to put a spin on the projectile. The rounds have to have a spin so they can travel in a straight, forward direction. When the riveting is worn down, it no longer gives the projectile a spin and, the barrels have to be replaced with another barrel with fresh riveting. The gun in the above picture was capable of firing shells to a distance of 14,610 yards, or approximately just over 8 miles. The larger guns could fire to approx 16 or 17 miles. Now this was in the 1930s and 40s. Compare that to now. . . Here in 2008 there are rail guns which are placed on battleships which are electromagnetic and fire at a distance of 200 miles! Holy mackerel! The older guns needed more knowledge in trigonometry to project trajectory, but now, I think the guns are likely programed for trajectory. My, have times changed!
Below is a picture of what remains of General MacArthur’s headquarters on Topside. From what I’ve heard, the story goes that they knew that there was a “leak” or an “informant” in their midst, so MacArthur evacuated in time before his headquarter was bombed. Apparently they made a direct hit. Beyond the rubble is parts of Mile-Long-Barracks on Topside.
There are many more ruins such.
Since it wasn’t raining, and the roads weren’t muddy, our tour guide gave us a little bonus ride to see the hospital. He was a funny tour guide, typical of a Filipino because we love to laugh. He said that the hospital was built in the shape of a cross viewed from the air. That way the pilots would know they were not to bomb this building. Well, our tour guide said that regardless of it’s markings, the hospital was bombed every day, ha! Or every other day. One day they’d drop a bomb on the hospital, then the next day they would apologize for bombing the hospital, then the next day they would drop another bomb, then the following day another apology, and on and on, ha ha! Okay, I shouldn’t laugh at that, but now that it’s in the past, it’s easier to poke fun. I was on the wrong side of the tram, so this shot isn’t the greatest and only shows a glimpse of the hospital.
Here’s a view or Corregidor from the top of the lighthouse.
I’m always amazed at beautiful, peaceful scenes like this when I think that once upon a time there was the roar of battle going on on this very spot with hundreds of lives lost. I had that same feeling touring at Lone Pine in Gallipoli, Turkey and Gettysberg in Pennsylvania.
Here’s a pic of Andrew, my mom, and me at the War Memorial statue of an American GI helping a Filipino soldier. I wasn’t sure if we were allowed to “touch” the statues, but our tour guide told me, “Sure, go and hug the soldier’s leg. He won’t harm you.” Ha ha ha! The gray building off to the left of the picture is a small museum with other war artifacts.
Here’s a picture of the entrance to the Pacific War Memorial. Beyond us, the white structure is in the design of a military helmet. Underneath that is an alter which is fully lit one time in the year through a hole at the top of the helmet. Beyond that is a pathway to the eternal fire sculpture overlooking the water. Along the pathway are stone plaques with the various wars that took place in the Pacific and dates carved in them.
As part of this tour, we also visited the Malinta Tunnel. This tunnel was located below 400ft of solid rock. This tunnel protected many soldiers because the bombs just could not penetrate the tunnel that far below ground, although I’m sure the soldiers could hear and feel the bombs dropping all around them as the earth quaked from the force of explosions. The dust made it hard to breathe. It was hard to get a good shot inside the tunnel because it was so dark, but this is what part of the tunnel looked like. It branched off to the sides as well, and I believe the tunnels covered about 3 miles.
The tunnel was basically the end of the tour, so we headed back to Manila. From Corregidor, one can see a view of Bataan, where the famous Bataan Death March took place. A few days later we visited Bataan and the memorial that was erected for that part of WWII history.
Welp, best get to bed. Have an early start tomorrow morning. . .
Marlakins
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02.03.08
Posted in Uncategorized at 1:48 am by Administrator
Time flies when you’re having fun. Especially if you only have two weeks. . . But regardless, we arrived yesterday, jet-lagged, but with a bunch of pictures by which to remember our travels. Now that I’m still suffering jet-lag, I might as well blog.
The Philippines is sure different from when I last visited many years ago. When I get all my pictures sorted out, I’ll share some on the blog, but for now, I want to give a plug for Eva Air.
Eva Air is a relatively new airline, and this was my first time flying with them. We flew on their B-777 on the first long (14 hours 40 minutes from LA to Taipei, Taiwan) leg of the trip and then on a B-747 on the short (two hour) leg of the trip from Taiwan to the Philippines. I was impressed with their service and would definitely consider flying with them again if I do travel again internationally. The biggest thing that impressed me was their new class, economy deluxe, which is a step above economy class. While not having to pay for business class or first class seating for more room, the deluxe economy class has just enough extra room to make flying 15 hours economy much more comfortable. Not only does the back seat recline, there is also a foot rest that can be raised (I did not see that on British Airways when we flew to Turkey, and their economy class was tight, though I did like their movies and appreciated the GPS system for the passengers). Each seat has it’s own TV monitor with several selections from which to choose. Not only did they have movies, music, GPS, TV programs, air phone and email capability (although email was like $8.00 per email, ha!), they also had video games! That was first for me. Bejeweled kept me occupied for a good length of time. Not to mention I watched Into the Wild, War, Atonement, and a few other TV specials.
Since I’m a bit camera happy, I took some shots of the TV monitors. Each passenger had one. For a little more historical trivia, years ago when I was a kid, movies were pretty much only shown on international flights. There was basically just one big screen at the head of each cabin compartment, and if you wanted “sound,” then there was an extra charge of about $5 for a pair of headsets. Now, not only do the headsets come free of charge for each passenger, each passenger has several choices of movies to watch. Eva Air’s monitors were even “touch” controlled from instructions from the screen so that fiddling around with the remote was unnecessary.
Speaking of “remote controls,” here’s a shot of Eva Air’s remote. One side is the TV and game controls, and the other side is an airphone. Andrew has his remote showing the remote side, and I have my remote flipped over to show the phone side.
Originally I took these pictures for my middle son, Matthew, because he likes these kinds of gadgets. Personally, I’m a bit behind the times with these gadgets as I don’t even own a cell phone, nor do I want one. The Philippines is loaded with people using cell phones! Oye! It seemed everywhere I went I saw signs to “load here.” I had no idea what that was, ha! Until my sister, Miss cell phone junkie, arrived. I accompanied her to purchase her Global cards several times and watched her install them and transfer info onto them. Very interesting, and crazy how far technology has come. My aunts were even telling me that the hired help all have cell phones even though they are not exactly cheap. It amazes me that there is so much poverty in the Philippines, but yet it seems cell phones and shopping malls abound (Mall of Asia is in the Philippines and is the largest mall in the world). My aunts say that priorities are a bit mixed up in the Philippines where owning gadgets and things are higher up in priority than food, yikes! I have some pictures that I can share later of the shanties we saw, but I still have yet to sort out all my pictures. That’s another story there because it doesn’t take much to see shanties, then a short distance away expensive high rises and condominium dwellings. Anyway, back to Eva Air. . . Here’s a picture of one of the GPS pages. It’s a bit blurry, but maybe just clear enough to see the position of the plane during the shot from Taiwan to Los Angeles.
I have to admit that this is a feature that really helps people like me with the “are we there, yet?” syndrome. But that’s not all, there are a few other pages which share the flight speed, time, number of hours left, outside temp, etc. Below is one such page (excuse the glare).
I took quite a few pictures from the air, but this one below is one of the better shots. We’re just above Taiwan here.
I didn’t take any shots of the video games, but I did take a shot of one of the movie selection pages. This is only the first page. There were two pages.
I did end up watching Atonement. While the movie was “okay,” it was not my kind of movie. I think I actually appreciated the movie, Into the Wild more. It’s actually based on a true story of a guy who gets rid of all his money, breaks his ties with his family, and goes into the wild to live. Unfortunately he ends up dying of starvation after eating some poisonous plants, but at least he did not die without learning some valuable lessons. Namely, that life is not worth living if there are no people to share it with. He starts out with the attitude that of hope, love, money, etc., etc., most of all he wanted “truth.” Personally I would disagree right there because as a Christian, the greatest gift is love. With love, I think all the other good things will follow, including truth. It was a bit of a strange movie, but I felt it had more meaning or content for my taste than Atonement or War (the other movie I watched).
Okay, well maybe I should force myself to get some sleep so that I can get back to LA time. Toodles for now. . .
Marlakins
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