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dan jendela pun berbisik...
"Life is not about what you've gained, but what you've done" - Wong Ka Kui (1962 - 1993)
"I disapprove of what you say but I will defend to the death your right to say it" - The Friends of Voltaire, 1906
"A dirty mind is a terrible thing to waste" - Anonymous
"If you read, you will judge" - Kurt Cobain
last modified Mar 17, 2005 at 0:17
it's hard to believe that i had just spent 6 days in the philippines, well Davao City to be exact. i thought 6 days would give me ample time to explore the Samal island where i stayed for three days and perhaps the whole of davao city, but i was wrong.
well, what did i expect? it's a working trip after all. if friends want to know about the pearl farm resort and my chalet, i could describe the interior of my chalet and the business centre in details because thats where i spent most of my time, working on my power point presentation. i guess it's hard to please those big bosses. they drove me crazy.
as for the resort, it's so lovely. it was so peaceful, serene and absolutely beautiful. the open air restaurant overlooking the sea was so breathtaking. sadly though, i could only eat cereal and fruits because the rest of the food wasnt halal. i brought instant noodles and some biscuits but still how much noodle could one eat in a day. i was so happy when the officer from our consulate-general in davao told me that KFC in davao was halal. apparently davao city was located in the south near mindanao, there are lots of muslim community in the area.
the problem was it would take 45 minutes boat ride and another half an hour on land to reach the city. we had to go through all that just for a meal? no, thank you. every minute counts when you had deadline. besides, the sky turned dark as early as 5pm.
we managed to get a glimpse of davao after the presentation but even that wasnt enough. finally i got to eat KFC in the city. there were chicken rice with gravy, chicken rice in a bowl and a few odd menus but the chicken with rice and gravy that i tried was very nice. however, only Davao city has halal KFC, so dont go and eat KFC in Manila or other places in philippines. hahaha...
the filipinos drive like crazy, honking each other like nobody's business, driving haphazardly on the road and an inch apart from each other. seriously, i could shake hand with the passenger in the other car if i wanted to, we were that close tapi takde eksiden. tu yang heran tu.
davao city may be the largest city in the whole of philippines but it look like a pekan koboi to me, not much different from Mersing i think. hehehhe...but it's a very busy city. anyway, 100 peso is equivalent to our RM7, i felt rich, really. you can easily get original pearls for RM12 only. unfortunately, i wasnt interested in pearls but i did buy a pearl bracelet for my mom but im not too sure she would want to wear it. she's not really into jewelery and i must have gotten it from her. well, i do love ethnic bracelet though. i had lots of em, mostly bought in sarawak and several flea markets. hehehe...
anyway, to this day, i still dont know how to use pesos, too many zeros, i guess. im sure if i got the chance to explore davao or even manila, i would have love the place. i love the people already, they are so warmth, friendly and respectful. in davao, even small kids smile at you. oh! i just love them. everyone was so nice and helpful. and some of them thought i was a filipino too. they probably thought im from mindanao or even davao itself. when i speak in english, they gave me this look as if to say that im a snob for refusing to talk in tagalog with them.
since there was no direct flight from davao to kl, we were stranded at manila for 6 hours while waiting for the next flight to kl. we took the opportunity to explore makati. well, they do have high-end shopping complexes. but i wasnt really interested. check this out, they even have adult movie section at the mall. it was kind of a shock really to see em being sold openly like that. hahaha...
seriously, if you got extra money, go to philippines. forget about food, just go shopping and enjoy the language, culture and the islands. another thing, i love their satellite tv. i got to watch all kind of channel from all over the world, how cool is that?
when i was in makati, i couldnt find even a single billboard and signage in tagalog. everything is in english. how sad! even all their mainstream newspapers are in english, tagalog was only use for tabloids. sungguh bertuhankan amerika dia orang tu. sayang! oh! the word sayang sama makna dengan kita punya sayang.hehehe...
well, im sure i will visit the philippines again someday. last week's trip was just some sort of a recce, so to speak. in the mean time, i better concentrate on my holiday trip to .......???? in April. yes, in my calendar, feb and march do not exist. please April come quickly.
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