Thursday 12 January 2012
Monday 9 January 2012
Homeward Bound
Homeward Bound
We left Siquijor on the 5th January and returned to Manila. It is good to be a little less hectic; being in a gated community shields you from the reality of city life. Here in our bubble, the pool is sublime, complete with club house, small kids play park and restaurant. The lawn and boarder beds beds around the car park are tended to by fleet of gardeners, the grass swept within an inch of its life, the small fallen leaves gathered by hand.
Despite this luxury, I find myself missing green spaces (Dyl's lawn is for looking only), which are very scarce in this city, the WW2 American cemetery being the only one in this vicinity. Perhaps the pollution puts people off relaxing outdoors. I suppose when bringing the indoor temperature down to 30 degrees becomes a struggle, one can see why a fresh, air conditioned mall becomes an attractive prospect.
I'm looking forward to home now. Seeing Tom and going on some wet, wintery walks, all wrapped up and cosy with gloves and scarves. Followed by a pub lunch; Jacket spud, cheese and beans. Oh I've missed baked beans. I did find a tin which promised to be baked beans in the mall, but they were sweet and brown. Filipinos have a sweet tooth and bread, milk, yogurt are all very sugary. The main overseas culinary influence, apart from other Asian countries, is American, so portions are big, things are sweet and healthy eating is not a great concern.
We fly the day after tomorrow. Had a thai foot massage today while Theo slept in his pushchair. I always feel a little uncomfortable having someone massage me in this kind of situation (the privileged westerner relaxing while a poorly paid local masseurs spoils them just a little more - one of my revelations about ex-pats here is this: they become thoroughly spoilt. This accounts for their behaviour). I did eventually have a massage - thinking Theo really had put me through the mill so I did, in fact, deserve it. And Wow, my feet felt as if they had liquified, it was wonderful. I treated Mum to a full aromatherapy body massage. She came out feeling revitalised and refreshed. 'Why are you black, Ma'am?' the masseuse had asked her. Mum admired her directness.
This was followed by shopping, pizza, ice cream and a walk around the 'high street' ; a consumerist playground for manila's wealthy; fountains, sculptures, continental shops and cafes line a landscaped boulevard built to resemble a street in a smart European city- it is, undoubtedly, the poshest part of Manila. I must say, as we strolled along licking italian ice cream, it did feel like a real holiday.
The Flooding
The Flooding
The effects of the recent flood tragedy continues to reverberate throughout the islands. Everywhere there are donation boxes and clothes banks. People endlessly discuss friends or relatives affected by the devastating typhoon.
You can see the outline of the island of Mindanao, the site of the tragedy that claimed so many thousands of lives, from Siquijor. Considered to be the most dangerous island to visit in the Philippines, Mindanao suffers from a bad reputation due to its politically volatility. There have been a series of politically motivated kidnappings over the years, with some tourist victims, which have at times ended in the captives murder. A predominately Islamic island, Mindanao is home to number of political groups fighting for a separate and independent system of governance.
The American embassy advises against travel to Mindanao, but the locals in Siquijor rebuff any warnings, describing it as a incredibly beautiful and very friendly island, with only a few dangerous areas worth avoiding.
According to locals I spoke to in Siquijor, one of the main causes of the floods was illegal logging. Large sections of the forests that carpet the mountainous areas of Mindanao had been destroyed by this activity. Without the trees to absorb water and hold the soil in place, when the flash floods swept down from the mountains during the night, as families slept in their houses, there was nothing to impede the force of the raging torrent.
Added to the fact that the island is outside of the typhoon belt, and December is not in typhoon season, when the weather warnings came people did not expect or prepare for a serious storm.
We travelled to Siquijor from the island of Negros, which had also seen some flood damage. Half a mile from the port a huge passenger ferry lay half submerged in the ocean, like a child's toy boat capsized in the bath, sunk by the typhoon that lashed the coast. A surreal and chilling sight.
There were few vegetables available in Siquijor as Mindanao is th main source of agricultural produce for the surrounding islands, and much of the land now lies in ruin. As you look across to the shadowy outline of Mindanao, the sense of distancing one experiences through media reportage falls away, and the suffering and sadness becomes palpable.
Friday 6 January 2012
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