Here's How It Really Is

The imagination is a wonderful thing.  If we don't know something, we just imagine what it's like and even if what we imagine is wildly unlike the real thing, that's the perception firmly rooted in our minds.

Because of this I'm always asking people 'what's it like' in relation to their work, their lives, their daily situation.  I'm always keen to know what other people's real existence looks like and if it's anything like I imagined: more often than not, my perceived idea is nothing like what it really is (this is assuming I can get most dullards to give you a proper description to my question, rather than a monosyllabic answer like 'nice' or 'good' or 'shite').

To this end I've done a timelapse video of my daily drive to work.  This most mundane and routine of tasks may enlighten and surprise some although possibly not as the case may be, but it's an insight into my daily grind.

Drive to Work from MMcG on Vimeo.

It's Murder Here

Here's a clipping from a local newspaper that seems to be an every day occurrence here in the Philippines.

I can kind of understand the feuding politicians killing each other for control of the lucrative bribery rackets government but why would anyone want to shoot a preacher?

Unless you're Clint Eastwood in the movie Thunderbolt and Lightfoot.

Subic Bay on a Good Day

A pleasant morning view of Subic Bay:

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Fortunately, what you can't see is the large pile of Mcdonalds rubbish left on the beach near the shoreline by a group of people from the night before.  This is despite rubbish bins being provided close by.

I can't fathom the mindset of people that go to a scenic place to enjoy the view then just leave all their rubbish behind to trash it for others.  It's the ultimate selfish act.  

Power to the People

Headline in one of the national newspapers in the Philippines:

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Got that?  23 new power plants, coal fired, in 5 years.  Nearly 5 plants a year.

So, whilst the UK is busy blowing up its power plants to meet EU directives on carbon emissions (http://www.kentonline.co.uk/medway/news/demolition-begins-at-power-station-36730/) and replacing them with useless wind farms, and even more useless solar farms, the far east is setting itself up for cheap, reliable power attracting more and more industry.

Along with a plentiful and cheap labour supply is it no wonder the Philippines is enjoying an economic boom (if only they could get to grips with the endemic corruption).

Meanwhile, the cost of producing electricity in the UK is likely to rise due to current power generation policy. How's that working out for you?

Everyone's Her Personal Assistant

As if it's not bad enough using "txt spk" in an official business e-mail, this person seems to think everyone is going to act as her personal reminder service:

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**Note: if I do not reply within 12 hours, do send me a reminder as I might have overlooked your e-mail.  

Where do they find these people?!!!

Swim to School

I've read about kids in the third-world who have to walk miles to school, cycle vast distance to school and even take a zip line across a canyon to school, but swim to school?

Sir, a shark ate my homework!

Beery Walls

On a recent trip to Singapore this ad for a special offer in a local bar caught my eye:

This got me thinking about making a comparison with the price of beer in the Philippines.

So, at current rates Singapore $49 is 1,594.12 Philippine Pesos.

In the bar where we drink in Subic Bay you can get a bucket with 3 beers for Php 105 so each beer costs 35p.  So Php 1,594.12 will buy you 45.54 bottles of beer!

I'll drink to that!

Gonyosoma Oxycephalum

Having been here in the Philippines for going on 6 years I struggle to find things to get excited about or to stimulate the interest.  However, every so often when you're least expecting it, something will crop up.

This is exactly what happened last weekend.  Out for a drive for no particular reason than to get out of the house, I went down a side road that is fairly remote and out of the way. On my way back to the main road. I saw this beauty crossing the road:

Click to enlarge the image

It's a Red-Tailed Green Ratsnake (Gonyosoma Oxycephalum), which is an odd name as according to the Wikipedia page it eats mostly birds and bats.

This one was moving quite slowly across the road and probably at least 6 ft in length.  Had I known at the time that it was non-venomous I might have grabbed it by the tail and taken some better photos but without that information I was staying in the the safety of the vehicle to watch it.