Looking for Work in the Dark

The company I'm working for is bidding for two other projects in The Philippines.  One is to the west of Manila, across the bay and the other is in kidnap central, Mindanao.  I find it amazing that the directors of this organisation believe that they can price these projects without ever actually having visited the locations to determine what the actual site conditions are.  No two projects are the same and here in The Philippines the conditions, either geographically, economically, with regard to the access or security,  may vary considerably, which if not accounted for will leave the project floundering and running out of cash.  And you can't always see everything from Google Earth.

I pointed this out and the light bulb of thought suddenly lit up in the heads of the learned directors.  As a consequence I was asked to go and take a look at the project in Mindanao at a place called Taganito (it was too late to visit the one near Manila).

The nearest airport is in Surigao, on the northern tip of Mindanao.  There are no direct flights from Iloilo so we had to fly via Cebu, nearly not making it at all as the flight from Cebu to Surigao had been overbooked, and we had to wait whilst Cebu Pacific tried to bribe other passenger off the flight so we could go.

The airport at Surigao, and I use the term "airport" loosely as it's more like a landing strip, is tiny with over-grown edges to the runway and a large shed that serves as the terminal building.

On arrival at the airport we immediately headed to Taganito.  Mindanao doesn't seem to be suffering from the drought quite like Panay is.  It was generally very green  and the hilly landscape covered in palms and trees had a pleasing look to it.  During the 90 minute drive to Taganito, following the coastline, the surrounding sea was dotted with emerald islands with white sandy beaches so I could see there was potential for good quality R&R should we find ourselves undertaking the project. 

However, any ideas I may have had of an idyllic lifestyle were soon wiped out by cloud of red dust.   Taganito is essentially a huge mine where the earth is being stripped away to extract nickel.  High grade material is sent to Japan for refining but there are plans to refine the low grade materials on site and hence a power plant is required to allow this to happen.  Unfortunately, there seems to be very little environmental controls in place.  The small fishing village of Taganito is covered in red dust from the earth being extracted.  The mine doesn't seem to have any erosion controls in place so during rainfall the soil washes into the river, which in turn flows into the sea turning it red and and has consequently covered the the beaches.  This seems to be compounded by the spillages that occur during loading of the barges for shipping the material to Japan.

I read that part of the reason that there was a rebellion and uprising in Mindanao was due to the mineral exploitation with out any tangible benefit to the local population and this place certainly seemed to support that.  We were told that the expats, principally Japanese and Koreans, all travelled with armed guards as a precaution against potential kidnapping.   There wasn't any accommodation within easy travel distance and so the mine had a labour camp on site.  Having lived on labour camps in other parts of the world I don't think our staff would relish the thought of having the spend 6 months on this one and especially in place as grim as this.

Surigao Bay Early Morning

Having garnered as much information as we could we headed back to Surigao where we were to spend the night as there were no flights back to Cebu/Iloilo the same day.  The hotel we stayed in (Hotel Tavern) overlooked the bay which was great view and I spent the early evening wandering along the promenade.

View from the Hotel Window

The next morning we flew back to Iloilo.  The tiny terminal at Surigao was chaotic and struggled to contain all those wanting to check in.  Iloilo isn't great but I was glad to get back to some civilisation and having not to worry about being kidnapped and being held for ransom.

Hidden (Pleasant) Surprises

One thing I forgot, and it's something that I really shouldn't have forgotten to mention, is that when I was out cycling recently on my way to the salt farm I noticed a motorcycle just behind me, tooting his horn trying to get my attention.  I tend to ignore this type of thing as usually it's someone who wants to hassle you either for a job, for money or just attract your attention because they don't see many foreigners around here. 

On the motor bike was a young couple with the wife holding a tiny baby in her arms.  After he'd followed me for a short distance I stopped and the guy riding the bike handed me Php50, which completely confused me until he started making sign language that the money had fallen from my pocket.  Php50 to me isn't very much money (75p) but it's a reasonable amount to a Filipino.  I didn't want to take the money, trying to explain that they could keep it for their honesty but they weren't having it and neither one of them would accept it. 

This left me with a feeling that was completely opposite to the one I had when the low-lifes tried to lift my camera out of my backpack (Nearly Mugged in Iloilo) and certainly went quite some way in restoring my faith in the local people, which I suppose is only fair as generally the vast majority of those I meet are kind, friendly and welcoming.

I Wanna Be Elected & Sea Salt

Today's been declared a holiday here in the Philippines as it's the local and presidential elections.  The build up to this has been going on for much longer than in the UK and it seems that everyone and his brother is standing for some government post or another: honestly, I've never seen such a huge number and variety of candidates on offer.  At Jaro Square the railings along one side are completely smothered in election posters, so much so that bamboo extensions have been added and the posters now effectively cover a wall 10 feet high by 600 feet long.  It's not entirely made up of of individual posters as many have been replicated in order to try and raise the profile of the candidate, but it's still a huge array of people looking to be elected for government.

The well at the house has finally dried up.  I'm now having to shower using a bucket of water from the swimming pool, which fortunately has been cleaned up somewhat so that it's not all green slime and I don't end up looking like the lead role from The Creature from the Black Lagoon.

I've been out cycling a bit more lately, although it's so hot nowadays that I tend to restrict it to a few hours in the late afternoon.  One place of interest is on the coastal road going north to Dumangas where there is a salt farm.  Areas of low-lying land have been divided into squares of around 15ft using irrigation channels and the bottoms lined with clay bricks.  At high tide the sea water floods the area with a few inches of water.  Then during the heat of the day the water is left to evaporate leaving a salt residue, which is then scraped into piles using wooded squeegees. These piles are then loaded into baskets on a yoke and carried to storage sheds for distribution.  It's quite astonishing the amount of salt that can be yielded from a few inches of sea water. 

Flooding During High Tide

Harvesting the Salt

Transporting to the Storage Sheds

Piles of Salt in the Storage Sheds

What drew my eye to this cottage industry was a couple of old chimneys (what with being in the chimney business myself) that were sited nearby.  I was curious to know what the chimneys were used for and asking the locals it seems that they are for the kilns used to manufacture the bricks to line the bottom of the salt extraction pits.  If ever they need a new chimney, they know who to come and speak to.

Green, Green Grass of Home

Just got this photo taken from a recent flight out of Iloilo, which perfectly shows the extent of the drought.

Dry As a Bone

This should all be vibrant green rice paddies.  However, the good news is that it's rained a couple of times this week.  Not a lot but at least it's a start.  The humidity in the late afternoon is stifling so it has to start raining properly soon (you would think).

Shaking All Over

At 10:50pm last night I was just thinking about going to bed when there was bang and the house felt like it had jumped off its foundations.  At first I thought there had been an explosion at the diesel power plant nearby but then in a split second it was obvious what had caused it as the house started to sway: this was an earthquake.

I'd experienced (and survived) a 7.8 earthquake in Taiwan and this certainly brought back feelings of deja-vu.  It really is a scary experience.  And I don't mean scary like watching a scary film, this is proper scary.  It wasn't until Taiwan that I fully understood why people slept outside following a big earthquake.  It's only when you get caught up in an earthquake that you really begin to understand the vast energy involved and that's being released.

In the morning I checked and it was only a 4.5 but more significantly, the epicentre was just a few miles out of town so essentially we were right on top of it.

However, there have been no reports of any damage, which is surprising considering the quality of the building work here.

Lets hope that that this little one isn't the prelude to something much bigger as I read that the Big-One is overdue for this region.

Contrasting Countries

I had yet another trip to Singapore.  It's important for one to be able to escape to civilisation once and a while and to be able to indulge in some quality living.  Having said that, the downside is the minute I arrive in Singapore I just start to bleed money.  It's phenomenal the amount you can get through in a weekend - and that's not being extravagant, that's just going out for a few beers.  Fortunately, due to the kind hospitality of a good friend of mine, I was able to stay at his place instead of having to splash out on hotel and this this dulled the sharp edge of the cost of my stay.

I had some banking and other business to carry out in Singapore, as well as doing some networking with colleagues from my previous employment in the hope of finding alternative employment now that the project in the Philippines is rapidly coming to an end.

Busily trying to make the most of my time I decided to have lunch on the hoof and bought a sandwich from the place were I used to go for lunch when I was in Singapore.  As I walked to my next task I unwrapped the sandwich and took a bite and in that moment, as the freshness and flavours of the sandwich washed over me I stopped dead and it dawned on me the overwhelming blandness of what I'd been eating in the Philippines.  You may think I'm being over dramatic regarding a simple sandwich but really, it was an absolute delight.  This sandwich far too good to enjoy walking around so I found a seat in a park next to a temple and took my time to savour and enjoy it.  I couldn't help thinking to myself: why can't I get a sandwich like this in the Philippines?  After all, they have all the necessary ingredients.  But it's a question I couldn't answer.  

An Appetising Hawaiian Sandwich from the Philippines
(See what I mean?)

I also spent a few days in Malaysia.  I love the huge contrast between two neighbouring countries that are essentially are made up of very similar people and which for a brief moment in history were one and the same country.  Both have good points and bad points but I'd struggle to rate one over the other. 

I flew from the Philippines to Singapore using Cebu Pacific, which is one of those budget airlines that you actually spend the same as you would have with a regular flight once you've added all the hidden extras.  Going to Singapore involves two flights - a domestic one from Iloilo to Manila and then the international leg from Manila to Singapore.  Going to Singapore was a daytime flight and wasn't too bad and was ok.  Just ok, not great.  At least I could look out of the window.  There is no other form of entertainment throughout the 3½ hour flight.  All drinks and food have to be paid for.  The seat allocation has to be paid for.  Any additional luggage over the stingy standard allowance has to be paid for.  Like I said, you end up paying as much for the flight as if you'd booked with regular carrier and had all those extras included which you normally take for granted.

But I had a point to prove:  I wasn't going to fly with Silk Air.  However, coming back my resolve wavered.  The budget terminal in Singapore is designed to remind you at every step you're a tight wad and you're going to suffer for it.  The flight didn't leave until 1:30am, which in itself wasn't a problem but once on board the flight, and despite having paid a premium extra-extra for the emergency exit seat I soon realised that sleep wasn't going to be possible.  The seats feel like they're made of planks of wood.  The head rest stopped at my shoulders.  The bulkhead stopped me from sitting straight and the seats were narrower and more restrictive than a kid's high-chair.  As a result I didn't get any sleep and I ended up with a cricked neck and shoulder as a result of trying.  Added to which there's no in-flight entertainment and it's dark so there's no point in looking out of the window.  I just sat there staring at the back of the seat in front of me for 3 hours.

The flight arrived in Manila at 5:30am and I spent 3 hours in a plastic seat waiting for my connecting flight.  On arrival in Iloilo I went straight to work but I have no recollection of the day's events as I was suffering from chronic sleep deprivation.

Water, Water Not Everywhere

The weather of late has been oppressively hot and clammy.  So much so that it takes a huge effort to go out and do anything during the day when the preference is to either sit in the shade with a cool drink or relax in the comfort of the air-conditioned house. 

The heat and dry weather is further compounding the drought problem too.  The house where I'm staying relies on a borehole for its water supply but the ground water levels have dropped so far that this is now struggling to fill the header tanks on the roof.  As a consequence the pool is no longer topped up and the water level is falling, thereby stopping the pool filter from working.  It's now an attractive green colour with a huge array of pond life living in it.  Just when you need the pool most.

Pea Soup or the Swimming Pool

Running out of ideas of what to do and where to go I had a look on the internet for inspiration and found a place not too far from here that has a waterfall, so a visit was planned.  Driving out towards the place it soon became obvious that visiting a water fall during a drought might not be the best idea.  The landscape that was previously one of a vibrant green is now a mixed hue of browns.  The rice paddies are mostly covered in the straw of dead crops or have that crazy paved looked from the dried mud.  Cattle and water buffalo look forlorn and dejected in fields of brown grass and the locals in the farming districts seem to be listlessly moping around waiting for it to rain.

Hoping that the mountains would have some remnants of water we persevered in visiting the waterfall but each and every river we crossed was bone dry.  When we arrived at the point where we needed to hike a couple of miles to see the waterfall, we all agreed it was going to be pointless task.  As my driver said, a waterfall without water is just a fall.  Or a rock face.  And there'd be no cooling dip in the plunge pool at the base of the waterfall, which was likely to be either empty or full of stagnant, fetid water.  And I already have that at the pool at the house.