Mum arrived the first week in November shortly after Marc’s departure for the Bahamas. We hired a car to pick her up from the airport as we planned to take her to fireworks that evening at Nomads sports bar.
She ended up arriving 2 hours late as Qatar had changed the time of her flight without telling her. She had a terrible time in Doha with a longish stopover. She had been promised assistance which seemed to be lacking…won’t be rushing to fly with them again.
The girls and I made it over to Nomads which turned out to be a fun night. Bonfire complete with Guy Fawkes effigy much to Angelicas consternation. She was gravely concerned for the person on top of the bonfire. All the usual suspects were there and was a very jolly night. Gianna had a friend from CSA (her school) there as well as the kids from BSM (he British school) so she was well happy!
The next morning I got up at some unearthly hour to take part in a fundraising run at the fort. In the event I did the beauty walk with our good friend Sarah – however in the photos I did try to look like I had completed the 15km…. The following week I spent 3 days endurance trip to Samar which included getting up at 3.30am for the early flight to Tacloban then a 6 hour trip in van over terrible roads to Borongan. (Ate at rather good restaurant near the seafront but can’t remember name must add it later.)
Then back 3 hours over the same terrible roads to Giuaan. We stayed at Tanhay again which has great food and newly refurbished rooms. The Regional Director of VSO Asia was in town and I was accompanying the CD and PM on a short tour of the Samar projects and to carry out an Exit workshop for partners….needless to say by the time we were back in manila on Friday I was pretty whacked. I usually enjoy it when all the volunteers get together but from time to time there are the ones that moan so much and so needy for attention you do wonder how on earth they ever got thru the selection process.
Can’t complain too much as the day after I got back to Manila we flew to Boracay for the weekend which was rather nice. It’s the most developed beach in the Philippines’ and so different to anywhere else. It’s rather a shame that they get so many visitors who don’t go elsewhere in the Philippines as you would get a completely different impression of the place if that’s all you saw. It’s also very pricey compared to elsewhere. However I loved the buzz of the place and the huge choice of places to eat and drink – this makes a change from the usual one or two places on offer with limited food and drink options. The beach was lovely particularly so at station one where it is pristine and white white white. The sea is beautifully clean although there are very few fish compared to elsewhere. All in all I think it makes a great holiday for couples or singles especially if u can afford one of the fancy hotels near station 1. I think there are much better options (and cheaper) for family holidays …. I think Mum enjoyed it although she was a bit uncertain about the boats and tricycle rides on route…Its so easy to forget that scrambling in and out of boats and tricycles is not the normal for most people coming from Europe!
Last week work wise involved a trip to Cebu for work. I woke up and really had a hard time remembering which island I was on and what I was getting up for (a plane, a boat, a taxi) . Mum has been spending her time in Manila pottering around the Mall in the day daytime with Ate and Angelica and been to the pool too.
Friday was a big night out at the St Andrews Ball with Richard and Sarah our new friends from UK, well Uganda was their last posting. Took mum to Tony and Guy to get her hair done before off to R&S's house to get changed and a pre ball glass of wine. The night was fun even if the food was a bit naff – Mum was happy as every table got a bottle of scotch – I was happy as we could order as much wine as we wanted! And the pudding was good. The polo club was decked out with swords and shields and there were pipers and kilts galore. We even tried our hand at a Scottish reel or two.
Saturday was yet another day of endurance with an early start for Giannas sports day (after a late night at the ball) It was very Filipino – loud and chaotic but fun. It was a welcome relief at the end of the day to end up at Mayamaya with just the sound of the sea to go to sleep to. Yesterday was time to catch up on some rest lazing by the pool and in the spa before the trip back to Manila – under 2.5 hrs on a Sunday was almost a miracle but meant all the relaxation did not dissipate during 5 hours of traffic on way home.
Things not so cool at work – more for other staff as oppose to me- they have been told they will close March 2010 instead of October and there will be some redundancies in March 2009. VSO has been hit by the drop in pound badly and is expecting no inflation again next year from DFID. It was sort of inevitable when looking for savings that a programme already winding down would be a target for the cuts. Interestingly the news was delivered with a request for more KM work but not sure how/who is supposed to do this.
Meanwhile I have been applying for jobs…nothing much come up in Philippines but did apply for programme manager jobs in Cambodia and Samoa. I don’t expect to get far and not even sure I want them if offered but will cross that bridge if I come to it. I’m really trying to get a feel for how my CV looks to organizations.
I also trotted along to a KM event at the ADB in my ongoing quest to make friends and get a job there. Met some UK consultants doing basically the stuff I am introducing here with NGOS and LGUs…They of course probably getting my monthly salary per hour. Anyways took the opportunity to introduce myself and pick up some packaging tips which is basically what consultancy is all about.
The Global meltdown has started to hit here with some of the ex-pats working in engineering being laid off after Xmas. Michael (and Leona) are affected but plan to stay out here for while and try and ride the storm – going back to UK just soooo much more expensive – and they are already set up for their baby to be born here in February. Leona works at the Embassy and will get paid maternity leave so seems the best option.
Marc meanwhile has an interview this week for a head of sales job at a recruitment company. On the face of it seems to be a great opportunity although it will be a local salary and therefore won’t be enough for us to live on by itself. It will be great experience and will be good on marcs CV and more importantly will hopefully be something he can enjoy…anyways probably getting ahead of myself as not formally offered yet….
She ended up arriving 2 hours late as Qatar had changed the time of her flight without telling her. She had a terrible time in Doha with a longish stopover. She had been promised assistance which seemed to be lacking…won’t be rushing to fly with them again.
The girls and I made it over to Nomads which turned out to be a fun night. Bonfire complete with Guy Fawkes effigy much to Angelicas consternation. She was gravely concerned for the person on top of the bonfire. All the usual suspects were there and was a very jolly night. Gianna had a friend from CSA (her school) there as well as the kids from BSM (he British school) so she was well happy!
The next morning I got up at some unearthly hour to take part in a fundraising run at the fort. In the event I did the beauty walk with our good friend Sarah – however in the photos I did try to look like I had completed the 15km…. The following week I spent 3 days endurance trip to Samar which included getting up at 3.30am for the early flight to Tacloban then a 6 hour trip in van over terrible roads to Borongan. (Ate at rather good restaurant near the seafront but can’t remember name must add it later.)
Then back 3 hours over the same terrible roads to Giuaan. We stayed at Tanhay again which has great food and newly refurbished rooms. The Regional Director of VSO Asia was in town and I was accompanying the CD and PM on a short tour of the Samar projects and to carry out an Exit workshop for partners….needless to say by the time we were back in manila on Friday I was pretty whacked. I usually enjoy it when all the volunteers get together but from time to time there are the ones that moan so much and so needy for attention you do wonder how on earth they ever got thru the selection process.
Can’t complain too much as the day after I got back to Manila we flew to Boracay for the weekend which was rather nice. It’s the most developed beach in the Philippines’ and so different to anywhere else. It’s rather a shame that they get so many visitors who don’t go elsewhere in the Philippines as you would get a completely different impression of the place if that’s all you saw. It’s also very pricey compared to elsewhere. However I loved the buzz of the place and the huge choice of places to eat and drink – this makes a change from the usual one or two places on offer with limited food and drink options. The beach was lovely particularly so at station one where it is pristine and white white white. The sea is beautifully clean although there are very few fish compared to elsewhere. All in all I think it makes a great holiday for couples or singles especially if u can afford one of the fancy hotels near station 1. I think there are much better options (and cheaper) for family holidays …. I think Mum enjoyed it although she was a bit uncertain about the boats and tricycle rides on route…Its so easy to forget that scrambling in and out of boats and tricycles is not the normal for most people coming from Europe!
Last week work wise involved a trip to Cebu for work. I woke up and really had a hard time remembering which island I was on and what I was getting up for (a plane, a boat, a taxi) . Mum has been spending her time in Manila pottering around the Mall in the day daytime with Ate and Angelica and been to the pool too.
Friday was a big night out at the St Andrews Ball with Richard and Sarah our new friends from UK, well Uganda was their last posting. Took mum to Tony and Guy to get her hair done before off to R&S's house to get changed and a pre ball glass of wine. The night was fun even if the food was a bit naff – Mum was happy as every table got a bottle of scotch – I was happy as we could order as much wine as we wanted! And the pudding was good. The polo club was decked out with swords and shields and there were pipers and kilts galore. We even tried our hand at a Scottish reel or two.
Saturday was yet another day of endurance with an early start for Giannas sports day (after a late night at the ball) It was very Filipino – loud and chaotic but fun. It was a welcome relief at the end of the day to end up at Mayamaya with just the sound of the sea to go to sleep to. Yesterday was time to catch up on some rest lazing by the pool and in the spa before the trip back to Manila – under 2.5 hrs on a Sunday was almost a miracle but meant all the relaxation did not dissipate during 5 hours of traffic on way home.
Things not so cool at work – more for other staff as oppose to me- they have been told they will close March 2010 instead of October and there will be some redundancies in March 2009. VSO has been hit by the drop in pound badly and is expecting no inflation again next year from DFID. It was sort of inevitable when looking for savings that a programme already winding down would be a target for the cuts. Interestingly the news was delivered with a request for more KM work but not sure how/who is supposed to do this.
Meanwhile I have been applying for jobs…nothing much come up in Philippines but did apply for programme manager jobs in Cambodia and Samoa. I don’t expect to get far and not even sure I want them if offered but will cross that bridge if I come to it. I’m really trying to get a feel for how my CV looks to organizations.
I also trotted along to a KM event at the ADB in my ongoing quest to make friends and get a job there. Met some UK consultants doing basically the stuff I am introducing here with NGOS and LGUs…They of course probably getting my monthly salary per hour. Anyways took the opportunity to introduce myself and pick up some packaging tips which is basically what consultancy is all about.
The Global meltdown has started to hit here with some of the ex-pats working in engineering being laid off after Xmas. Michael (and Leona) are affected but plan to stay out here for while and try and ride the storm – going back to UK just soooo much more expensive – and they are already set up for their baby to be born here in February. Leona works at the Embassy and will get paid maternity leave so seems the best option.
Marc meanwhile has an interview this week for a head of sales job at a recruitment company. On the face of it seems to be a great opportunity although it will be a local salary and therefore won’t be enough for us to live on by itself. It will be great experience and will be good on marcs CV and more importantly will hopefully be something he can enjoy…anyways probably getting ahead of myself as not formally offered yet….
