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The Ambarish

Monday, March 29, 2010

Discovery of 31 items in Philippines

Discovery of 31 items in Philippines

Waiting at Manila Airport (Philippines) for Boarding on Flight SQ 417 to Singapore….I was assessing last 2 weeks I spent in Republic of the Philippines and thought lets write on 31 interesting/new items observed/did/found/tried out during my stay in Philippines –
1. Forgot my Camera in the car, I realized it after final security check. I met Mumbai Airport Security chief, understood the process and got back the camera without reversing security stamp, immigration stamp and boarding pass.
2. Saw 9 Episodes of “Agle Janam Mohe Bitiya hi Kijo” on ZeeTV (Hindi) which was one of the two known channels.
3. Religiously watched “pravachan” of a Punjabi Baba every morning at 6.00am on Doordarshan while getting ready for the office and “Taara” on Doordarshan Delhi.
4. Patiently tolerated recently USA returned Ms. Imee Benjamin’s echo statement “Very Very American… I am telling you, they are Very Very American”.5. Watched live taping of ABS-CBN (local channel) teleserye “Kung Tayo’y Magkakalayo” – super-Action daily soaps in the hotel lobby. Also tried unsuccessfully to get role as a passerby in the tape. Hero was stud like Rohan Datar. Actress was also stud like ... I dont know.
6. Any person wearing a Tie or a blazer is pre-fixed with “Sir” in Philippines.
7. Heard IPL Cricket Highlights (only) at Doordarshan National News at 9.00pm.
8. Watched Cycling, Arrow Shooting, Sky Jumping etc. sports on Euro Sports channel and also a Japanese Sumo match on NHK sports channel, then a recorded Tennis doubles match between Sampras-Fedrer vs. Agasi-Nadal on ESPN.
9. Lunched ONLY SALADS for 10 days.
10. Out of internet connection/bad internet connection during most of the stay.
11. Heard continuous bombarding of anti-America on Russian Times (RT) news channel.
12. Saw a daily soap in Filipino language for 4 days and tried to digest it.
13. Ate “Spiciest” Chinese noodles at Chow King, which was below children level compared to India.
14. Dined vegetable sandwich at Olivier’s Super Sandwich after walking for 1 hour. Worth taste.
15. Met a beautiful skin specialist doctor for my facial skin infection….she cured me 7 days (do not interpret it Indian context).
16. Watched a special report on illegal detentions by FBI in USA on RT News channel.
17. Unsuccessfully tried to boil milk in Microwave Oven Toaster!
18. Lived without breakfast for 5 days and thereafter only Cornflakes with milk. Filipinos eat meat even at breakfast :( .
19. Messed in road crossing due to reverse driving rules (American) and heavy traffic in Manila.
20. Watched a movie where the Hero dies after 20 minutes and becomes a Dog….then he observes his family and his best friend.
21. Tried out Fruit Salad at Star Megamall….but unknown fruits and hence strange taste.
22. Peacefully Observed a wild Friday party at a Disco Pub in Metro Manila.
23. Restless and begged/implored for Tea/Coffee for first 11 days, but then accepted.
24. Hated smell of Philippines made cigarettes smoked on roads by people.
25. Visited manufacturing company as a customer after 8 years. In my opinion, all manufacturing companies in the world have same style of premises, mind-set and cultures.
26. Philippines have built their economy on their own. Food and Malls (trading) appears to be major players in the economy. Filippinos are nice people, very very hard-worker.
27. Explained how cricket is played to 2 Filipino friends. Trust me... it is not easy.
28. Thought that Philippines Government never counted its population….or may be it has countless population.
29. A 6 years old girl was smoking cigarette on the street with utmost ease.
30. Shamshu Lakhdir became my friend on FaceBook!
31. Successfully claimed for damaged baggage for third time in past 2 years. But now feels that fault is with my bag quality and not with Airline’s handling/loading.
Disclaimer: The writer of the blog do not intend to insult any person, country, religion, caste. Please read the blog post with humor flavour. The opinions expressed in the blog post are writer's personal opinions/judgments and may not constitute unbiased thoughts. Any action taken on the basis of any line of the blog post will be the sole responsibility of the reader.

2 comments:

  1. I could relate to most of your points because I went through same situation in saudi. I usee to watch some godforsaken serial on Star Utsav as that was the only Indian channel available. I have tasted the meat that ppl eat for breakfast, and some of it is good. But, I am now a vegetarian till my next trip abroad...(I hope that doesn't happen soon!) You should have taken and posted here a photo of your skin specialist. Then only would one know how to interpret the treatment.... ;)

    But,no tea/coffee? That's strange!

    - Amol Limaye

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  2. Nice post...I look forward to reading more, and getting a more active part in the talks here, whilst picking up some knowledge as well..

    Pass Box manufacturers

    ReplyDelete