Let Downs & Hold Ups

It's not been a good week. It seems that every supplier has let us down and this is so frustrating - our plans just fall to pieces. Even our contingency and back up suppliers have been equally useless and the client is all over us to get started.

It's something that's difficult coming to terms with and to understand when you're an expat working in the 3rd world. Honouring agreements, the understanding that time is of the essence and being direct is something that is alien to these cultures. Although having said that, the UK is rapidly becoming the same way. Hopefully the current recession will change that.

The most difficult part of a Project Manager's role overseas is dealing with your staff and employees. By far the expats are the worst and can be highly petulant and demanding. Honestly, it's like dealing with kids at times.

This week Mad Dave has been complaining about receiving text messages from a one-night-stand complaining about abusive text messages she's been recieving from another of Dave's conquests. As it turns out this is not the case. The abusive text messages were coming from the proprietor of the guest house we've been staying in.

Apparently, our landlady was peeved that Dave came home with a loose woman (not my sister) and knocked her out of bed at 2:00am to let them in. Dave in a hissy fit packs his bags and leaves but according to the landlady he pissed on the bed before leaving. And I'm expected to smooth all this over and keep everyone happy.

The good news is I've found a place to stay so I can disassociate myself from all this nonsense. The place isn't ideal but it's the best I've seen so far. I was hoping for a place on the beach or overlooking the sea but as you'd imagine, places like that are rare and difficult to find. I've also noticed that the build quality of every house I've seen to date has been pretty shoddy. I'd have thought that there would have been a few shining examples. The taps in the guest house where I'm currently staying are all live and it's 240v so it's not ideal standing in a pool of water, shampooing your hair (or what's left of it) next to tap that's likely to electrocute you. I've reported it but no one else seems to care.

I made a couple of trips to Cebu last week, principally to visit the bank. Instead of taking the usual route back to Toledo we took the old road over the mountains. It wasn't spectacular scenery but it was pretty impressive. Due to the cooler air it's principally used for growing flowers and vegetable and the green hills, orderly terraces and lines of flowers make for a refreshing change. I tried to capture this on some photos but they were disappointing (as usual).

Mangoes wrapped on the tree to protect them from insect damage (so I'm told)

The sun sets over the island of Negros

First Weekend

I managed to get out at the weekend. I use the term weekend very loosely because the company I work for only gives us the Sunday off. Shouldn't there be another word to describe this other than weekend.

On Sunday morning I actually went to the site because that is the only place I have internet access (and even there it's tempermental and intermitant). Mad Dave the steeplejack came along too to check e-mails and to read the UK papers.

During my weekend visit I'd back in April I'd spent some time looking at potential accommodation to rent. I visited a guest house that was owned by a British expat, Stan, who is married to a Filipino.

The accommodation was basic, although functional and would have only been okay for a short stay. What really appealed to me was the fact it backed on to the beach. From here you could see the neighbouring island, Negros, and Mt. Kanlaon, its 2500m high volcano.

Stan pointed out to me a tiny island that was really a just a sand bar and which was only visible by the single storey observation post that had been erected on it.

I suggested to Dave that we go and take a look so we took the works bus to Stan's house. Stan wasn't around (although his belligerent dogs were) as he was in the "city" (Toledo) so we wandered through his grounds to the beach. Once on the rather dirty beach we were looking for a willing boatman to take us to the island. There was a guy asleep on a bench who was woken up

by his dog that was asleep under the bench and in very poor sign language indicated that the two of us wanted to go to the island. The guy took a while to pull himself together and then came over and started talking to in his own language. Of course I didn't have clue what he was talking about but he pointed to a canoe with bamboo outriggers and said "motor" and "gasoline" so I gave him Php150 as a contribution towards his fuel, not knowing if this was remotely enough or too much money.

He wandered off and came back with his family and a plastic bottle of petrol which he poured into the outboard. The boys from the family then pushed the beached craft into the sea, with Dave and I assisting. Once afloat, the motor was started and off we went.

The island is about 1.3 miles from the beach so the journey took about 10 - 15 mins. There was a group of young Filipinos already there, relaxing, having a drink and swimming. The island is approximately 50yds long and shaped like the letter P.

I wasn't sure if the boat owner was going to leave us there and come back later but he moored the boat and seem to be enjoying the trip also.

There wasn't really much to do and walking around took no time at all. I'd not bought my trunks or my snorkelling kit so I couldn't go swimming and so just took a few snaps and chatted with the locals.

At around 4:30pm we headed back just as a crowd of locals turned up on a overcrowed boats. They appeared to be staying for the night as they were carrying lanterns.

On the way back, Dave asked me if the boat would fall over if it didn't have the bamboo outriggers so I told him they were only there for beginners, rather like the stabilisers you have on your bike as a kiddie . . . . . .

First Week

It's been a week now since I arrived in the Philippines. I always knew it was going to be hard to adjust to this place after 2 years in the relative comfort of Singapore but in the current economic climate, beggars can't be choosers.

I came to Cebu in the Middle of April for a weekend to have a preview of what the place was like and I supposed I could have backed out then, but as I'd already made a commitment to run the project I felt duty bound to see it through. I'd done some research via the Internet, principally on Google Earth so I had an idea from the images I'd seen that it was going to be pretty basic but coming here for the weekend I was hoping for the best. Whilst I wasn't exactly disappointed I was rather hoping it was going to be better than what it actually is.

If you haven't been to the Philippines, and I don't mean the tourist traps, I mean the real Philippines, you perhaps won't know how incredibly poor it is. I remember when I spent 2 months working in Manila 2 years ago how I was shocked at the abject poverty. Bear in mind this is not my first "hardship" posting, having worked in Africa, Iraq, Falkland Islands and rural Malaysia so I have an idea of how poor poor is.

Staying in Makati City in Manila to an extent shields you from the true level of deprevation but during the several trips I made to Cavite I was able to see and was shocked at the sight of the slums that lined the side of the road and seeing how people live.

However, I'm not in Manila but Toledo City on the island of Cebu. Toledo is located on the opposite side of the island from Cebu City. I'm not sure what qualifies Toledo to be called a city as it's a very, very small town and not particularly well equipped. Basic needs are catered for but that is about all.