I am staying in a small Barangay called Biasong. A Barangay is, from what I can work out, a small suburb or village. From here it only a few mninutes walk into the main city centre.
I live in an apartment block of four. They are very simple units which compsrise of two bedrooms, a kitchen diner, a shower room which contains a toilet and a landry room. There is also a roof terrace which we use to hang our clothes on to dry.
My neighbours are very nice. My first neighbour has an English boyfriend, who only recently visited here, and gave me someone to talk to in English. She is also about to give birth. Living with her is her ladyboy cousin who helps out with the housework and her four year old daughter. They are very friendly to me and the little girl often comes in to entertain me.
Just a word about ladyboys. I think there is somethng very uniquly Asian about them. They do come in alll shapes and sizes, I saw one yesterday who was very tall and had a rather large belly hanging from under his/her shirt. I think I am more feminine. Many here tend to be very thin with with over accentuated feminine qualities. I wont even attempt to understand the culture of the ladyboy. My neighbour though is very nice and quite shy. He/she does like to sing karaoke quite alot, which is entertaining at the right time of the day.
My next neighbours are missionaries from the Church of the Latter Day Saints. Apparently the female missionaries are called sisters and the male are called elders. I questioned why the men are given names of a higher standing but my friend just laughed. I wonder why a country as religous as the Philippines needs missionaries.
I attend a Catholic Church here every Sunday morning. I am not religous but I am curious about the whole experience. The local priest who holds service certainly earns his money. There are six or seven services every Sunday and unlike in England, the turnout is quite huge. I would estimate around 500 people every service I have been to, including one at an open air church in near-by Gulayon, on New Years Eve.
My last neighbours are a large family, I think four children and a mother and father. While I exchange pleasantries with the mother, we don't really talk to each other, but again she seems pleasant. I believe she runs a salon in the city somewhere. They also employ a hosekeeper, a gay man, from what I can see, who often is seen at the front of the apartment washing clothes.
Most washing here is done by hand and using a washing machine can be rather problematic. Alhough there is no shortage of water here, it rains very often, there does seem to be problems with the water pressure at peak times. So it could take hours to fill a washing machine.
On either side of the apartment block, there are small shops. One shop seems to sell chicken and other small conveince type of items. I usally buy my beer,rum,coke or chips from there. These types of shops are set up from peoples houses and are small huts at the front. You will get them to come out with a simple "Ayoo!"
One litre of beer will cost 65 pesos, about £1.00. A 250ml bottle of rum will cost 30 pesos (less than 50p), and a litre of coke will cost 26 pesos.
At the front of many of these shops you can find a karaoke machine,which seemed to be limitless at the times they can be played, and you will usually find men drinking beer or rum at the front and quite often they will give you a drink. It seems imnpoloite to say no.
If you want to come here for peace and quiet this is definately the wrong place. No matter what the time of day there is always noise. During the day the sound of motorcycle englines rattling up and down the street or building works. In the evening the sound of karaoke blaring away and at night time the many dogs barking, cats fighting and roosters crowing.
Having said that there is a certain peaceful easygoing feel about the place which makes it very pleasant.
Well that is all for now. See you next time for a further installment.
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