Chippygeoff
Established Member
I thought it was about time I mentioned that I have returned from my trip to the Philippines. The first thing that hit me after landing in Manila was the heat and the humidity, apparently I went at the coolest time of the year but the temperatures were still round the 40 mark but most buildings have air con so not so bad. Never saw anything made on a scroll saw despite visiting lots of wood working places. In the pic is a good example of the craftsmanship I came across and the most common wood is called iron wood and as the name suggest, it is very heavy for it's size. I saw many wood working machines, most held together with duct tape and bits of string, a safety officers nightmare. I brought back several samples of items, mainly for presents for family and friends, some I will copy to sell at the craft fairs.
I saddened me at the depth of poverty there. I was told never give to the children, for if I gave to one they would tell their friends and if I did not give to them I could end up with a knife in me. However, there was one day when I could not help feeling for a groupof kids who were obviously starving, about 20 of them so I treated them to all the food they could eat. The driving is the worst I have ever seen, we travelled mainly by jeepney, a type of small coach in lots of sizes from carrying just a handful of people to about 30, windscreens almost completely covered with adverts, driven with one leg hanging out of the door and many a time I had my heart in my mouth as we had many near misses.
Karaoke seems to be the national pass time played at full blast and even in the stores music blares out at an alarming level, it is just constant noise in the cities. We were given the loan of a house at one place we stayed for just over a week and the house next door had a super duper karaoke machine and all the kids in the neighbourhood would queue up and for 5 pesos (about 2p) could sing to a song and this went on from morning until late at night. On top of that we had dogs barking all the time, cockerels crowing, pigs squealing and as it became known that an Englishman was staying at the house beggers banging on the door with a note they had got someone to write in English. Apart from all of that I quite enjoyed myself.
I saddened me at the depth of poverty there. I was told never give to the children, for if I gave to one they would tell their friends and if I did not give to them I could end up with a knife in me. However, there was one day when I could not help feeling for a groupof kids who were obviously starving, about 20 of them so I treated them to all the food they could eat. The driving is the worst I have ever seen, we travelled mainly by jeepney, a type of small coach in lots of sizes from carrying just a handful of people to about 30, windscreens almost completely covered with adverts, driven with one leg hanging out of the door and many a time I had my heart in my mouth as we had many near misses.
Karaoke seems to be the national pass time played at full blast and even in the stores music blares out at an alarming level, it is just constant noise in the cities. We were given the loan of a house at one place we stayed for just over a week and the house next door had a super duper karaoke machine and all the kids in the neighbourhood would queue up and for 5 pesos (about 2p) could sing to a song and this went on from morning until late at night. On top of that we had dogs barking all the time, cockerels crowing, pigs squealing and as it became known that an Englishman was staying at the house beggers banging on the door with a note they had got someone to write in English. Apart from all of that I quite enjoyed myself.
