Mabuhay!

Hi everyone!

I am currently in my last country, Australia, but I will be writing about my time in the Philippines today to catch up.

Before I relay some of the details of my trip, let me begin by saying that if you ever come across someone (though it is my opinion that this is highly unlikely) who tries to convince you that the Filipino people are not amongst the most hospitable in the world, they have probably never actually been to the Philippines. I was treated so incredibly well there. The people in EDC were wonderfully friendly, accommodating, helpful, and extremely generous. I was greeted everywhere with smiles and enthusiasm. Perhaps their greatest virtue is the ability to genuinely laugh at themselves. As they always say themselves, Filipinos are constantly doing two things: laughing and eating. It was such a pleasure to do both with the people at EDC.

I arrived in Manila and got to my hotel a bit late, as my flight from Hong Kong was delayed due to bad weather. Like Japan, the Philippines was experiencing its rainy season. I showered immediately (because humidity in the Philippines is absolutely unlike anything I've ever experienced) and then gratefully fell asleep in the comfort of my air conditioned room.

First thing the next morning, I was driven to the headquarters of the Energy Development Corporation (EDC), which is the company that set up all my arrangements for me. It was a pleasure to finally meet Marie, my contact person. As soon as I arrived, I got to meet the company president, Mr. Tontoco. I had a series of meetings in EDC, including technical briefings on various parts of the production process and discussions about project finance.

My first site visit was to the Palinpinon production site, located in the city of Dumaguete. Let me begin by saying, that the people in Dumaguete were perhaps the friendliest and most joyful people I have ever had the pleasure of meeting. I was accompanied by Naureen and Pacifica, as well as our driver, Bert, practically everywhere I went. I was toured around Pal 1 and 2, the generation facilities, as well as the production fields and headquarters. I had a lovely dinner with the staff and was put in a quaint hotel next to the ocean. The next day Pacifica toured me around the city a little bit, and I got to see one of the Universities, a botanical garden/wildlife reserve (where I got to see the famous spotted deer, crocodiles, and enormous BATS that were as big if not bigger than my face), as well as shop a bit for some local goodies. I was then sent off by practically all the women at EDC and the manager, Dwight, with a delicious lunch and dessert. Sitting with all of them felt so much like being back home in Hawaii, with aunties and uncles laughing and talking over food. It was really a great feeling.

From Dumaguete I traveled back to Manila. Marie took me on a tour of Intramuros, the historic area of Old Manila. Her long-time friend is a tour guide, so she gave us a free guided tour of the area, including Fort Santiago. It was very hot walking around, but it was very interesting to learn about all the history in the Philippines, which is actually very long and complicated.

After a brief stay in Manila, I had my next site visit out in Leyte, which is near the city of Ormoc, and is the largest of the production fields. In Leyte I was accompanied by Liza and my driver, Benjie. The hotel I stayed at was very nice. The first night I got in, I had dinner with Liza and Benjie at a local barbeque court. It was really good! Filipino barbeque is a little different than American bbq. It's extremely full of flavor and there are lots of sauces to dip in as well. The rice came in little packets made of leaves (it kind of looked like money leaf). It was really really good, and I was excited to try some local food. Early the next day I was driven to the EDC office for a meeting with the site manager. Throughout the day I was given tours of several generation facilities, as well as driven around the production fields. I also met with people in the environmental and asset management departments. Dinner that evening was with several staff members at a pavilion-type outdoor restaurant. Liza had Benjie go buy balut for me to try. If you're from the mainland and have no idea what balut is, take a look:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balut_(egg). Luckily, it was a very very very young egg, so the chick wasn't formed yet. It was more just like a boiled egg with 90% yolk and the egg white was very hard. It wasn't actually as bad as I thought it would be (probably because I had the whimpy version). The next day I spent touring around Tacloban, the city that I flew into. I visited a house turned museum that was essentially a tribute to Imelda Marcos the former first lady, and the Marcos family. We had lunch with a few people from the Department of Land and Natural Resources. All you cant buffet for only 250 pesos (about $6)! I tried lechon, roast pig, which is a speciality of the area. I also got to see the San Juanico bridge, which connects the islands of Leyte and Samar. It is the longest bridge in the Philippines at a whopping 2 km.

Then it was back to Manila for my last few days in the Philippines. On my last day, I had a meeting with the Department of Energy. A familiar face, Chie, who I had met during my previous meetings at EDC for discussions about project financing, accompanied me to the DOE for my meeting.

That just about wrapped up my time in the Philippines. I had about 4 hours to kill before my flight, so Boy, my driver dropped me off at a mall in Makati to get some lunch. I had a quick bite and then decided to see a movie. In the Philippines, movies are about the equivalent of $4. Despite the fact that I consistently tease one of my best friends for being a Twilight fanatic, the movies are rather entertaining. And if you have 3 hours to kill in a mall, with neither the funds or necessity to shop (though as a girl, believe me there was plenty inclination), why not spend that time watching Robert Pattinson and Taylor Lautner brood on a huge screen? By the time the movie was over I had just about 20 minutes to kill until I needed to meet Boy. I grabbed an iced tea and sat down to read for a bit.

Then it was off to the airport.

Well, that's it for recounting my time in the Philippines. I think tomorrow I will offer a bit of reflection on the many things I saw and did there, before moving on to my chronicling of Australia. As this is the last leg of my trip, I have slowly become a bit more introspective, and thus I have a lot to talk about. But as I have two meetings tomorrow and am quite tired, I will retire for the evening. I hope that all is well back in the states!