We have now been in the Philippines as a family for a week!  With traveling there are the pros and cons, so here is my attempt capture our first week of the good and bad.

CONS:

-Living in temporary housing.  This isn’t that bad since they are serviced apartments with a yummy breakfast buffet, nice fitness center, 2 pools and hot tub.  But, it does mean that we have to move again in a few weeks once our furniture arrives.

-Not having our things.  We traveled with 6 suitcases and 3 carry-ons…I guess we could have brought 2 more suitcases, but really we didn’t have room in the cars for more suitcases and I didn’t want to try to maneuver more suitcases either.

-Arriving on a Holiday Week.  The International school was out for the whole week, so Kalani wasn’t able to start school and make friends right away.  Many people were  gone from church traveling and stores were closed for “All Saint’s Day” as well.

 -Jet-lag.  I was told that it takes about one day for every hour difference from your “host” country to over come jet-lag.  And that seems to be the case since everyone tells us that it took them about 2 weeks to overcome their jet-lag. (The Philippines is 13 hours ahead of Texas during day-light savings)

PROS:

-Having our driver on-call 24/7. We got picked up from the airport  by our driver in a new Toyota Fortuner.   It is a company policy for us NOT to drive in the country.  And really we don’t want to drive here since we would most likely be in an accident or cause accidents daily if we did drive.

-Having “Help”.  We hired the help from the family we replaced and they are FABULOUS!  We have a maid/cook and nanny. I came to the realization yesterday that they are another Tia, and I am getting use to it quickly.

-Church Members.  I think that if you want to travel and/or live overseas you should be Mormon since there are members all over the world and you automatically become included into the local network of Mormons at the new location.  Our branch here has nearly 200 members with 98% active!  We have also been invited over for dinner 3 (edit: make that 4!) times during our first week.  A thoughtful co-worker also invited us to lunch and a movie on Saturday.

-New Adventures.  We love to get out and try new things.

-Friendliness of locals.  Super nice and friendly people everywhere we go.

-Spending time together as a family.

Highlights of the week:

Halloween party for the kids at our temporary serviced  apartments

Mason found a dinosaur at the Mind Museum

Kids rode on these animals in the mall…kind of like bumper cars

We dropped the kids off at a play place for an hour where there were toys, slides, computers, etc

Snorkeling with black tip sharks

We are looking forward to more adventures during the next 2-3 years while we live here.  And REALLY looking forward to having our furniture and belongings with us so it will feel more like home.  And REALLY REALLY looking forward to friends and family visiting us!

Earlier this year I had the pleasure of visiting the Philippines for the first time and wrote a short blog post about it here.  Luckily, I was able to return for a second business trip the last two weeks of September.

This second trip was long enough to permit a weekend with my brother Drew, who is serving a two year LDS mission in the Cagayan Valley (a one hour flight from Manila).  It was great to spend some quality time with my brother after not having seen him for nearly two years.  It was also fun to see him as a missionary, participate in missionary activities, and hear him speak Tagalog fluently.  He finishes his mission in December 2011 and will then attend university at BYU Hawaii.

Similar to the last trip, I was taken yet again by the kindness and warmth of the Filipino culture.  I guess you could call it culture shock, but with a positive connotation.  This alluring contrast was even more pronounced in the small city of Tuguegarao where Drew lived.  Over the weekend he taught me a few phrases in Tagalog which served me well throughout the trip (‘How’s it going?’ ‘Thank you sir’ ‘Yes sir’ ..etc..)  Most of these attempts at Tagalog were received with a very surprised smile and a bit of laughter.

The photos below illustrate some of the highlights of the trip, and the rest can be found here.

This map shows where Drew is serving his mission (Tuguegarao), and where Tia's grandparents are from (near Cebu).

The Peninsula Hotel is almost too good. It's hard to leave and come back to reality.

Security "bomb dogs" sniff any baggage coming in and out of major buildings (hotels, offices, etc).

This monument at RCBC Plaza is to commemorate Phillipine independence (July 4, 1946)

Drew's apartment in Tuguegarao. Most of his neighbors are college students.

Tuguegarao City. The green building is the mall / market.

These taxi tricycles are the main method of transportation. They can pack in 5-8 Filipinos.

A traditional bamboo house and a traditional shoulder ride.

Maybe I'm bias because our kids are part Filipino, but the kids over there seem a lot cuter than the ones in the states.

A Saturday morning service project (weeding / clearing land). I'm holding a traditional local dish -- hot chocolate made straight from the bean. It was a sweaty 95' degrees and we are drinking hot chocolate and they are wearing jackets (apparently trying to avoid a tan, light skin is more attractive in their culture).

Dinner with a nice family from Church. The second boy from the left is named "Fourteenio" because he's the 14th kid in the family, and born on November 14th, 1994. (I was also born on Nov 14!)

It wasn’t quite the Thrilla in Manila, but I was fortunate enough to visit the Philippines on a week-long business trip. My younger brother Drew has been over there for 18 months as an LDS Missionary and has shared some great stories in his letters.  Also, my father in-law Jeff is Hawaiian Filipino, which means Kalani and Mason have a dash of Filipino in them.

Our hotel: The Peninsula

As a family we’ve visited Hawaii several times and do a decent job of exposing the kids to the Hawaiian culture, but we haven’t done so much on the Filipino side.  The trip turned out to be very rewarding, both culturally and from a business perspective.  Below are some of the thoughts and impressions I’ve brought home to share with the family:

A culture of kindness — the never ending smiles, customer service, genuine desire to please, thoughtful respect, happiness without regard for material possessions:

• Everywhere we went, we were greeted with a glowing smile accompanied by a “Hello Sir!”.   Everyone seemed eager to interact, help, answer questions, or assist in any way possible. Contrast this with our recent trip to Europe and it’s a night and day comparison.  Often times in Europe, you feel like you’re ruining someone’s day by asking them a question.  It was quite refreshing to have the opposite experience in Asia.
• One evening a hotel employee knocked on my door asking if I’d like him to prepare the room for sleeping (change the pillows, etc).  I wanted to decline, but I could not say no to the eager anticipation on his face.  His body language seemed to imply that it would have been a major let down if I had told him no.  After prepping the room he ended with a big smile and “Please sir, is there anything I can do to further assist you?!”
• I was often asked if I’m rooting for Miami or Dallas in the NBA Playoffs.  Not only did they want to make conversation, but they love basketball in the Philippines.  Everyone plays it, courts are ubiquitous.  One waitress gave me a laughing smile and high five when I told her she was getting no tip because she was rooting against my team (Miami).
• When the airplane was pulling off the runway, the entire ground crew assembled in formation to provide an animated farewell wave to the passengers on the plane.  (Could you ever see that happening in the states?)
• When shopping or dining, the staff was always quick to assist, but never too pushy or rude.
• Just to reiterate how pleasant these people are: A janitor at a cafe one evening had the biggest grin while cleaning the restrooms and simultaneously dancing to the music being played outside.

We sometimes hear of the positive effect laughter can have on health, stress, and mood.  I would venture to say that a similar phenomena exists when exchanging smiles.  When someone smiles at me I can almost feel a small boost of energy, enthusiasm, and stress relief. When everyone around me is smiling, like in the Philippines, I can tangibly feel it lifting my spirits.

Other Thoughts / Activities / Stories

Greenhills Mall - Pearl Shopping

• One evening while shuttling from the office back to our hotel, a convey of police and SUVs followed has up to the hotel doorstep.   Security guards kept us at bay while the President of the Philippines made his way into the hotel (for a meeting?).  About an hour later on our way out to dinner the President made his exit and walked by us at only an arm’s length or so (he still had an entourage with him).
• Security is much higher in the Philippines than it is back home.  I’m not sure if this is merely a scare tactic to keep crime in check, or if there is enough crime to warrant the extra security (or some combination of the two?).  Upon entry to the hotel or the office, we are stopped and inspected by bomb sniffing dogs and metal detectors.  Each floor in the office high-rise has its own security guard. Additionally, most retail stores have their own security guard.  Someone asked if I felt insecure while out and about due to all the security, but it actually had the opposite effect.  I felt quite secure thanks to all the guards.
• We spent a day touring our geothermal operations.  This renewable source of energy is fascinating to learn about, and even more interesting to see in person.
• A local co-worker invited me to come play basketball with some other employees one evening.  I anxiously took him up on his offer and had a great time.  The court was a high quality roofed / open-air court in Forbes Park, Makati (one of the nicest parts of town).  It’s kind of neat to think that I’ve now played basketball in four countries:  USA, France, Scotland, Philippines.
• Pearl shopping is a common tourist attraction thanks to the near-market low prices found in Manila.  A couple co-workers took us to a large bazaar of sorts and helped negotiate good prices on South Sea and Freshwater Pearls for our spouses.  It doesn’t sound too exciting writing it here, but it was actually one of the more entertaining cultural experiences we had.  (the sheer size of the shopping area was astounding)
• When watching Filipino TV, you’ll notice that the dialog switches mid-sentence between English and Tagalog.  There doesn’t appear to be a rhyme or reason as to when the switch between the two languages should occur.  This back and forth is apparently called “Taglish” and is a common form of communication.  When pulling money from an ATM, it prompted me to pick from two languages: English or Taglish.  It was also interesting to watch the NBA Finals on TV being called by local announcers switching between English and Tagalog.
• When I asked why Filipinos speak such good English and have great accents, I was told it’s due to all the American TV they watch (in addition to their adoration of American pop culture).
• Piracy is the norm without any social stigmas.  In our airline lounge on the way home, they were showing a bootleg copy of the movie Thor, which was still in theaters back home.
• There doesn’t seem to be any adherence to traffic lanes when the streets get congested.  Nor is there any concept of a fluid merger (most people are cut off with only inches to spare).  Luckily, there isn’t much road rage and we always have an assigned company chauffeur.
• The weather was similar to Houston, Texas, with a bit more humidity.
• It wasn’t too surprising that we were stared at wherever we went, but one of the more memorable occasions was when a local girl exclaimed “Maximooooo!!!!” as our 6’7″ Scottish co-worker passed by.  (We then named our 5′-something English co-worker “Minimo”)

Overall the trip was very educational, fun, and productive.  Due to the travel distance I was not able to go visit Drew up north in Cauayan, but there may be other opportunities to do so in the near future.  If nothing else, he will be able to share the Filipino culture with our family as the kids get older and want to learn more about their heritage.

Jeepneys are a very common form of transportation

Makati City is one of the nicer parts of Manila