The German Club, Makati

Last night, I set foot at the German Club in Makati for the first time. I was among the friends of the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom (FNF) who was invited to the "WahlParty" or Elections Party. We watched the elections live.

The place is not very big but cool. Prices of food and drinks are expensive of course, but FNF paid for our limited orders.

I like these different wooden flags of the different states of Germany. I have visited that country twice, in 2003 after my 7 weeks agriculture seminar in Sweden, I visited my friend, the Beil family in Miesbach, Bavaria; then when I attended the IAF seminar in Gummersbach, near Cologne, then I visited again the Beil family after. I like Bavaria/Bayern.

An Octoberfest announcement at the bulletin board.

Our group of Filipino observers, friends and some staff of FNF Manila office. It was the biggest defeat for the FDP since post WW2.

A photo from the official website of the German Club.

Thanks to the FNF and its Country Director, Jules Maaten, for the invite last night.
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See also:

Denmark, Netherlands, Germany, Oct. 2003, November 21, 2005

Bavarian Mountain, Germany, March 07, 2012

Beil Family, Miesbach, Germany, December 25, 2012

Elle Marie and Bien Mary, Part 3

Our two girls are getting bigger and prettier. Photos below I took last month and this month.

Below, Bien at the Sacred Heart Church, in front of her pre-school within our barangay. She likes posing in front of flowers and Jesus.

At Mt. Carmel Church in Lipa, Batangas.

At the back of my pick up, the two girls like riding here and I allow them when we are inside a gated village, meaning no traffic, pollution or speeding vehicles. And if they see some low-hanging flowers, I stop so they can pick up the flowers.

Bien, again at the Sacred Heart.

At a playground with white sand. They like to play in the sand.

Watching a magician's show in one kiddie party they attended. Below, Elle Marie in her Saturday morning swimming class, with fellow Grade 1 batchmates.

See also:
Elle Marie and Bien Mary Oplas, August 14, 2012
Bien Mary Oplas, Part 2, May 27, 2013

Elle Marie Oplas, Part 2, May 28, 2013

Elle Marie and Bien Mary, Part 2, July 14, 2013

Filipino Hospitality vs. Service

Below are some frank but useful comments from a good friend, Bruce Hall, an American living in Iloilo with his Pinay academic wife teaching at UP Visayas. They have been living here for more than a decade now. Bruce is also a fellow Rotarian, he is the Immediate Past President of RC Iloilo West.

Bruce posted these in his facebook wall. Thanks for these useful observations Bruce.
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August 06, 2013 

Is there a difference between hospitality and service? Can you have good hospitality, so to speak, but terrible service?

Today I read about the Philippines' "world renowned hospitality". This is true, but service is not world-renowned. Service is very friendly and solicitous but inefficient and often inattentive. Sometimes I wish Philippine waiters would be ruder but more efficient, like the stereotype of the rude, crocherty diner waitress you see in Hollywood movies.

Most of the Westerners I know notice the same thing -- very friendly but frustratingly inefficient service. I remember I was at a Philippine Airlines office. Everyone was very friendly and hospitable but it still took me 30 minutes from the time I gave them my credit card to pay until the time I left, all because of the systems imposed upon the staff from higher-ups who don't put efficiency first.

If the Philippines wants to appeal to more foreign tourists, I think that the focus needs to be less on hospitality and more on inefficiency. When on vacation many care more about getting their food on time and hot then about how big the smile is when it comes. A smile does not make up for a delayed and warm beer.

Now, if the Philippines could somehow combine ruthless efficiency with its great hospitality, then it would really have a competitive advantage.

... I would argue that the Philippines works better and is more efficient than the average country. Unfortunately, being better than the most -- better than average -- is not enough if you want to be at or near the top. To gain a competitive advantage one must significantly better than the rest of humanity.

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CAAP sets ground time policy for airlinesBy Miguel R. Camus, Philippine Daily Inquirer
3:04 am | Thursday, July 18th, 2013 

 The country’s air safety regulator is now pushing for the industry-wide implementation of a minimum 45-minute scheduled ground time for domestic flights in three months—a move budget carriers said would be disadvantageous to their business model, which relies on speed and efficiency to bring down costs.  

John Andrews, deputy director general of the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP), on Wednesday said in an interview that the regulator would implement this policy by Oct. 1, the start of the so-called winter schedule.  

Last Tuesday, the CAAP announced that the 45-minute scheduled ground time, also known as the turnaround time policy, will start with Cebu Pacific Air on Aug. 1. The budget carrier of the Gokongwei group has a turnaround time policy of 30 minutes….

I welcome this. Every time I fly, the ground crews seem to be rushing around, trying to leave early. This is not professional. This is not being cool, calm and collected, in control. Instead of focusing on doing things properly, they seem to be focusing on the time, rushing to get through things and leave early.

When I fly from Iloilo to Cebu, regularly the flights will leave 30 minutes early, arriving in Cebu just after the time scheduled departure time from Iloilo.

On one flight, already significantly delayed, the pilots and crews were so rushed that they pushed back from the gate even before I had a chance to put away my bags and sit down, violating all sorts of safety rules.

Regularly staff are announcing "final boarding" and calling out passengers' names while there is still a long line on the air bridge waiting to board, and well before the 15 minute prior cut-off.

Once when going through security at Terminal 3, 25 minutes before the scheduled departure, a ground staffer ran up to us, asked us our name and then hurried us to the gate. He was even running through the terminal! We had 25 minutes to go, 10 until the cut-off time. Why the rush?

Philippine airlines need to stop rushing and be more professional and do things properly.

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Deregulation of the airline industry in the Philippines has created a big boost to air travel, driving down costs and unifying the nation. Deregulation of telecommunications has led to the transformative cell phone industry. In the U.S.,deregulation of rail freight has created the world's best rail system for freight, built by private money.

Deregulation of shipping in the Philippines will have the dual effects of making this country richer AND more unified. We need more farm-to-market roads, but in this case our "roads" are the seas and our jeepneys, buses and airplanes float on water

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March 30, 2013

Airlines and their websites can be so inexplicable. I made a discovery today while booking flights all on Air Phil Express -- er PAL Express -- from CDO to Cebu and onto Iloilo.

First it is cheaper to buy the legs separately then together (2 purchases instead of 1).

Second, despite both flights being on Air Phil Express, one leg was cheaper on Philippines Airlines' website.

So by making two purchases on two different websites to fly one airline, I saved 436p, or more than the minimum daily wage in the Philippines.

Ilongo ka gid Kon...

After posting Ilongo Expressions and Fun in the facebook group, Cadizmycitymyhome, it attracted more funny comments. I just re-arranged them to some themes, added photos. Enjoy.

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10 Common Expressions sg TRUE BLOODED ILONGGO,  super ugot ugot nga iloy  

1. Ka ulugtasan, kanami huyapan.

2. Ka salawayon sa imo, lusiooon ko gid na karon imo igot-igutan.

3. Baw ka tonto, kanami gd paliwatan.

4. Ka batinggilan sa imo, ibagnos ta ka da karon sa pader.

5.Ga biga'-biga' ka na? Inusnos ta ka da karon sa salug.

6. Liwata pa gid bla, kay ibakol ko gd sa imo ang paklang nga akon gina uyatan.

7. Masabat ka pa, kumuson ko na karon imo ba'ba'.

8. Indi ka mag pati? Ipa timo' ko na karon sa imo ang imo gina uyatan.

9. Sigeha p da kay malintian ka gid karon sa akon.

10. Ah mabato' kna sa akon? Pag layaaaaaaaas!!!!

Quotes sa Pamigado/poverty:

"wala nako d ekoy" (kwarta)

“pre kmo lng to ah kay PAKOY gd q subong"

 “pigado gd, wala gid watot"

pamuraot gid...iwat pangwaon...

 "BINGKONG", wala wala na gd

“yogs...sugid sugid, wala ka man gali ibuga" or “wala k man gali ikasarang” 

kn wala kmo kwarta...kadto lng kmo sa NEGROS.ky ang KWARTA didto GINA PIKO kg GINA PALA

Some vocabularies:

barko- BAPOR;  Canal, Kalog...

nabulasot-nabulaog;   lusbot kg buslot

tikalon-hambog;  “Balbal”, X rated.

alabuton-tiriringon;  buang-lagtok

ermat-erpat...wanggo-wangga

lango lango – labutaw

anak- LUMAT;  Bata- Liwat, ano ka dako imo liwat?

Passengers’ corner:

Popular stop-over sng CERES PASSENGER . ...."BANGGA RUBY Lang da a"

Popular Stop-over sng CERES DRIVER... "BANGGA-BUNGGO!! " 

"Nong, pundo lng da sa BANGGA SEGUNDO DIEZ a"; sa Henglish, "Just Stop me at Crossing 10 SECONDS'

Kon mag para, 'sa LUGAR lang nong'

pasahero sa kondoktor 'may LUGAR p nong? may ara pa..sabaka lg ang bata pra mk larga na'

Ilongo games:

ginatumba ang patis...tumba patis ta

TUBIGANAY, KURIT AMO

Ang taya' sa lagsanay, tumba patis,tubiganay,panaguay etc is "ASUWANG" 

shatong, tubig2 kag taguan;  mataksi ta...lg ma plas pitiw.

Famous/cute places:

popular purok name...PUROK BARIKOTOT

popular na Barangay sa cadiz na wla barangay captain.. BARANGAY SNG BIRHEN

sa sicaba an ya PUROK HAMILI kg PUROK MATINATAPON 

BARANGAY SICABA kay damo kono SICAD kg TALABA 

guro pinka peaceful na Purok, PUROK MATAWHAY

pinka optimistc na purok sa cadiz, PUROK PAG-LAUM sa brg Luna

may ara p gid purok kasadyahan pero ginhimo nla maligaya sir rolan.gintawag ini sya nga purok kasadyahan or maligaya tungod oras sg fiesta sa sicaba kg kn magsugod n gani ang liga sg basketball...ini nga purok bisan sudlon sg kawatan ila mga balay wala my mkahibalo ky tanan nga mga tawo ato n nag cheer sa ila mga players my bitbit p nga mga laton;kaldero;kg kaserola para ipatikpatik kn maka shoot ila mga players.pinakasadya kg pinakabakod mga basketball team sg brgy.sicaba ang purok maligaya 

Elle Marie and Bien Mary, Part 2

This the continuation of my previous post, Elle Marie and Bien Mary Oplas (August 14, 2012). The dates not arranged chronologically as I just post when time allows, and there are so many photos of the two girls in my laptop. I will slowly upload them here.

Below, Bien was still a baby here, her Ate (elder sister) Elle Marie was very happy, though there were many times that she would be jealous of Bien too.

Bien was one year old here, October 2011 various days. Her eyes were very clear and focused then, at just one year old.

August 2012. Bien would sometimes join her Ate in her ballet class at the CCP, which is just about 6 kilometers from our house.

That day, around mid-August 2012, I brought the two girls to SM Hypermart Makati after Elle's ballet class. The girls were engrossed watching some cartoon programs at the tv displays of SM.

Various places, various poses.

At Elle's "Linggo ng Wika" program at St. Scholastica's Manila. Elle's classmates found Bien cute, they briefly swarmed around her.

The two girls and an alien :-)

Sometime in October 2012, the two girls were prepared to go to Elle's ballet class. But there was a strong flood at Mayapis st., near the train railway next to SLEX in Makati. I turned around and since they did not want to go back home, my wife suggested that we go to Powerplant Mall, Rockwell, Makati. So the two girls went malling in ballet attire, catching the attention and smiles of many people at the mall.

Various months, various places.

Bien and Elle will turn 3 and 7 years old this coming October. I grow older each day, but it does not bother me much. I am happy to see the two girls getting bigger, taller and prettier with each passing day. Love you girls.
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See also:
Bien Mary Oplas, Part 2, May 27, 2013

Elle Marie Oplas, Part 2, May 28, 2013

Ilongo Expressions and Fun

I was born in Cadiz City, Negros Occidental, grew up and studied there until high school. My parents and two siblings are still there, only me and my elder sister are in Manila. My wife is from Iloilo City.

It's fun being an Ilongo or a native of Negros Occidental, Iloilo and other Ilongo-speaking provinces in Western Visayas (region 6). Ilongo is also spoken in portions of General Santos City and Sarangani province in Mindanao.

Got this today in the facebook group, Basta Ilongo Da Best Ka, funny, for those who can understand Ilongo. Enjoy. (Photos below I got from the web).

YOU ARE A TRUE BLOODED ILONGGO IF:

1. Your one peso is pisos.

2. You take a bath using a kabo, which you call Caltex. The same Caltex is also often used as a unit of measurement (i.e. isa ka caltex nga pasayan, isa ka caltex nga hipon, isa ka caltex nga asin).

3. Your bathroom has at least one lugod.

4. Your nanay used to make you drink Mirinda or Royal Tru Orange and give you Saltine when you have a fever, which is supposed to make you feel better.

5. Sinamak is a staple in your dining table.

6. Your toyo is patis and your patis is toyo.

7. You call brown sugar red (kalamay nga pula).

8. You use atsuete for your adobo and pinamarhan.

9. Your daily meal will likely include laswa, KBL, ginat-an nga tambo with tugabang and okra, ginat-an nga munggo, linutik, apan-apan, etc.

10. November 1 means eating ibus, suman, suman latik, kalamay-hati, bayi-bayi, valenciana or other native delicacies with glutinous rice and coconut milk.

11. You call those you love palangga, pangga, langga or 'ga.

12. You call your siblings or cousins inday, nonoy or toto.

13. You call those who are older than you manang or manong.

14. You catch the attention of sales attendants by calling them 'day or 'to.

15. Your childhood games include tumba patis, taksi, panagu-ay, balay-balay, ins, tin-tin bika, etc.

16. You used to be (or still are) scared to go out at night lest you meet the aswang, tik-tik, tayhu, kapre, kama-kama, morto, etc.

17. You used to listen (or still listens) to Sin-o Ang May Sala, Lain Siya Sa Iban, Mundo Mystico and Toyang Ermitanya.

18. You know the lyrics of Ili-Ili, Dandansoy, Turagsoy and Provincial Jail.

19. Your grandparents read Yuhum or Hiligaynon magazine.

20. You call a person, thing, place and event "kwan" when you forget it (si kwan, ang kwan, sa kwan).

21. You used to sleep in an aboy-aboy made of patadyong when you were a baby.

22. You understand that “Particulars Keep Out” sign means outsiders keep out (believe me, this sign may look and sound English but only us Ilonggos use it).

23. You use words such as “ahay” (expression of pity, grief, empathy), “yuga” (expression of disbelief, surprise), “ambot ah” (you don’t know, expression of impatience) and “teh man... gaba!” (na karma sya)

24. You often start your sentence with “ti”.

25. You say goodbye by saying “halong”.

-burdigol

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And I add these:

26. You call toothpaste “Colgate”, and you call slippers "smagol".

27. Your other favorite expressions are “Yodepugah” or “Linti bah” (expression of admiration, or disbelief), “Palagpat” (when someone is telling uncertain stories), “Belat ibay ya” (expression of disappointment).

- nonoy

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These were added by fellow Cadiznons from the fb group, Cadizmycitymyhome:

28. You call Coke "Coks", Judge or Huwes "wes"

29. You call water "tubi"; ubos = "urot";

30. Other expressions and sentences "lihog putsa sa poyo";

"kasamok sa imo abi pagpahimuyong...

"nugay dalagan ma momo ka gani...

"pabakal colgate nga close-up ; palmolive nga sunsilk toinkz!

"mahampang ta piko;sudsud;tumba patis;tubiganay kg bagols.

 "dali d anay ka hingutuhan taka… atutulihan pa gid.
"makaon ta anay."

31. To take pictures, "TO, KODAKI kmi anay bi";
blade for shaving is "gilyet": ”bakal to anay gilyet” (gillette)

33. Other expressions:
"manghingutoanay ta kay daw damo na guid kuto ulo ko...

"mapa manicure ko sg kuko ko sa tiil..

"cgeha da bala kapasaway kay lusiiiion, kurinaton q gd karon hita mo

34. maski elevated ang siudad, "ma DULHOG kmi da karun sa SYUDAD a"

35. Expressions of blaming: "Ahay ah wala k gd bla naga halong."

"Nan! kay ka tangadal sa imo." "Teh mirisi! Maliwat ka pa?"

36. ang tawag sa kaon kis a DAPAL "Hala wala untat dapal mo ka sud an ba."

(Special thanks to my former classmates in high school, Judith Gelle and Reginaldo Real. Also to Rolan Espinosa, Agnes Lovingco, Jesu Pasamanero, other contributors.)

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See also:

Cadiz City, Negros Occidental, May 27, 2012

Cadiz City, Part 2,  May 28, 2012

Elle Marie in Negros Occ., August 20, 2012

Funny Filipino Shop Names

Inventing wacky shop names is among the talent of many Filipinos, below are some of them. All photos I got from the web, not one of which came from my camera. Enjoy!

Famous chicken house spoofed, or Middle Earth chicken food shop :-)

Storebucks, Carbucks, Fishballbucks...

Foot long (burger) becomes Put long... the famous Dollibee, and a bake shop by Bread Pitt...

We repiar, we cannot ripair... An old cigarette brand in the 60s (bottom right).

Finally, Boracay in Porac, Pampanga... Cantu... what? The famous Taal Lake....

Happy weekend.

Yummy Korean Food

As I posted previously, I went to S. Korea last May 28 to June 01, 2013. Here are some food that I tasted there, all yummy.

May 28 I was in Seoul, I visited a good friend, Dr. Chung-ho Kim, an Economics Professor at Yonsei University. He treated me to lunch in one canteen at his university. This meal is only Won 5,000, roughly US$5. Student price indeed, and still delicious.

May 29, we moved from Seoul to Jeju, an island south of Korea mainland. These are some of our buffet lunch food at Haevichi Hotel & Resort, the venue of the Jeju Forum for Peace and Prosperity. I like the food.

Another set of food at the lunch buffet table.

The three red meat meals below were for our three dinners at the Grand Ballroom of the hotel. The burger meal, lower left, I think it was our lunch at a restaurant at Jeju airport upon landing from Gimpo airport in Seoul.

June 01, departure day. My Malaysian friend, Wan Saiful Wan Jan, treated me to lunch at a small restaurant outside the hotel. Our last meal in Jeju before we flew back to Incheon airport, for our respective flights to Manila and Kuala Lumpur. It is a homy resto.

We were not able to finish our food as more viands came.

Thanks for the lunch treat, Wan. And thanks of course to EFN Asia for bringing us to Jeju for the conference.