Friday, May 09, 2008

Why The Philippines is Poor

Below are two emails I received which had been forwarded to a lot of
addresses. I copied them instead of just forwarding them like most
people do because I would like to add my own comments. Please read on
and reflect on the two different perspective from two different
persons, one a Korean who is living in the Philippines at the time he
wrote the essay and the other article from a Filipino Doctor who lives
in the USA. I am deferring my opinion until after you have read the
articles in order not to influence your own thinking. Please read on.

This is an essay written by a Korean student i want to share with
you. (Never mind the grammar; it’s the CONTENT that counts). Maybe it
is timely to think about this in the midst of all the confusion at
present.

MY SHORT ESSAY ABOUT THE PHILIPPINES
Jaeyoun Kim

Filipinos always complain about the corruption in the
Philippines . Do you really think the corruption is the problem of the
Philippines ? I do not think so. I strongly believe that the problem
is the lack of love for the Philippines .

Let me first talk about my country, Korea . It might help
you understand my point.
After the Korean War, South Korea was one of the poorest
countries in the world. Koreans had to start from scratch because
entire country was destroyed after the Korean War, and we had no
natural resources.

Koreans used to talk about the Philippines, for Filipinos
were very rich in Asia . We envy Filipinos. Koreans really wanted to
be well off like Filipinos.

Many Koreans died of famine. My father & brother also died
because of famine.  Korean government was very corrupt and is still
very corrupt beyond your imagination, but Korea was able to develop
dramatically because Koreans really did their best for the common good
with their heart burning with patriotism.

Koreans did not work just for themselves but also for
their neighborhood and country. Education inspired young men with the
spirit of patriotism.

40 years ago, President Park took over the government to
reform Korea . He tried to borrow money from other countries, but it
was not possible to get a loan and attract a foreign investment
because the economic situation of South Korea was so bad. Korea had
only three factories. So, President Park sent many mine workers and
nurses to Germany so that they could send money to Korea to build a
factory. They had to go through horrible experience.

In 1964, President Park visited Germany to borrow money.
Hundred of Koreans in Germany came to the airport to welcome him and
cried there as they saw the President Park . They asked to him,
‘President, when can we be well off?’ That was the only question
everyone asked to him. President Park cried with them and promised
them that Korea would be well off if everyone works hard for Korea ,
and the President of Germany got the strong impression on them and
lent money to Korea . So, President Park was able to build many
factories in Korea . He always asked Koreans to love their country
from their heart.

Many Korean scientists and engineers in the USA came
back to Korea to help developing country because they wanted their
country to be well off. Though they received very small salary, they
did their best for Korea . They always hoped that their children would
live in well off country.

My parents always brought me to the places where poor and
physically handicapped people live. They wanted me to understand their
life and help them. I also worked for Catholic Church when I was in
the army. The only thing I learned from Catholic Church was that we
have to love our neighborhood. And, I have loved my neighborhood. Have
you cried for the Philippines ? I have cried for my country several
times.

I also cried for the Philippines because of so many poor
people. I have been to the New Bilibid prison. What made me sad in the
prison were the prisoners who do not have any love for their country.
They go to mass and work for Church. They pray everyday. However,
they do not love the Philippines . I talked to two prisoners at the
maximum-security compound, and both of them said that they would leave
the Philippines right after they are released from the prison. They
said that they would start a new life in other countries and never
come back to the Philippines

Many Koreans have a great love for Korea so that we were
able to share our wealth with our neighborhood.  The owners of
factory and company were distributed their profit to their employees
fairly so that employees could buy what they needed and saved money
for the future and their children.

When I was in Korea , I had a very strong faith and
wanted to be a priest. However, when I came to the Philippines , I
completely lost my faith. I was very confused when I saw many
unbelievable situations in the Philippines . Street kids always make
me sad, and I see them everyday. The Philippines is the only Catholic
country in Asia , but there are too many poor people here. People go
to church every Sunday to pray, but nothing has been changed.

My parents came to the Philippines last week and saw
this situation. They told me that Korea was much poorer than the
present Philippines when they were young. They are so sorry that
there are so
many beggars and street kids. When we went to Pasangjan, I
forced my parents to take a boat because it would fun. However, they
were not happy after taking a boat. They said that they would not
take the boat again because they were sympathized the boatmen, for the
boatmen were very poor and had a
small frame. Most of people just took a boat and enjoyed
it.  But, my parents did not enjoy it because of love for them.

My mother who has been working for Catholic Church since I
was very young told me that if we just go to mass without changing
ourselves, we are not Catholic indeed. Faith should come with action.
She added that I have to love Filipinos and do good things
for them because all of us are same and have received a great love
from God. I want Filipinos to love their neighborhood and country as
much as they love God so that the Philippines will be well off.

I am sure that love is the keyword, which Filipinos should
remember. We cannot change the sinful structure at once. It should
start from person. Love must start in everybody, in a small scale and
have to grow. A lot of things happen if we open up to love. Let’s
put away our prejudices and look at our worries with our new eyes.

I discover that every person is worthy to be loved.
Trust in love, because it makes changes possible. Love changes you and
me. It changes people, contexts and relationships. It changes the
world. Please love your neighborhood and country.

In the Philippines , there is God for people who are
abused and abandoned. There is God who is crying for love. If you have
a child, teach them how to love the Philippines . Teach them why they
have to love their neighborhood and country. You already know that God
also will be very happy if you love others.

That’s all I really want to ask you Filipinos.

Why Is The Philippines Poor?
by Dr. Arsenio Martin of Fort Arthur , Texas .

THE DIFFERENCE

The difference between the poor countries and the rich ones is not
the age of the country.

This can be shown by countries like India & Egypt , that are more
than 2000 years old, but are poor.

On the other hand, Canada , Australia & New Zealand , that 150
years ago were inexpressive, today are developed countries, and are
rich.

The difference between poor & rich countries does not reside in
the available natural resources.

Japan has a limited territory, 80% mountainous, inadequate for
agriculture & cattle raising, but it is the second world economy. The
country is like an immense floating factory, importing raw materials
from the whole world and exporting manufactured products.

Another example is Switzerland , which does not plant cocoa but
has the best chocolate in the world. In its little territory they
raise animals and plant the soil during 4 months per year.  Not
enough, they produce dairy products of the best quality!  It is a
small country that transmits an image of security, order & labor,
which made it the world’s strongest, safest place.

Executives from rich countries who communicate with their
counterparts in poor countries show that there is no significant
intellectual difference.

Race or skin color are also not important:  immigrants labeled
lazy in their countries of origin are the productive power in rich
European countries.

What is the difference then?  The difference is the attitude of
the people, framed along the years by the education & the culture &
flawed tradition.

On analyzing the behavior of the people in rich & developed
countries, we find that the great majority follow the following
principles in their lives:

1. Ethics, as a basic principle.
2. Integrity.
3. Responsibility.
4. Respect to the laws & rules.
5. Respect to the rights of other citizens.
6. Work loving.
7. Strive for savings & investment.
8. Will of super action.
9. Punctuality.
10. and of course… DISCIPLINE as the most important one
11. NO to crab mentality

In poor countries, only a minority follow these basic principles
in their daily life.

The Philippines is not poor because we lack natural resources or
because nature was cruel to us. In fact, we are supposedly rich in
natural resources.

We are poor because we lack the correct attitude. We lack the will
to comply with and teach these functional principles of rich &
developed societies.

Dr Arsenio Martin blames the poverty in the Philippines because we
lack the correct attitude of: Ethics, Integrity, Responsibility,
etc...and we lack the will to comply and teach these functional
principles of rich and developed societies.He failed however, to tell
how are we to teach the concept of these high soundings words to the
hungry, the jobless and the squatters? I hear from friends whenever we
talked about the Philippines what the problems are and how to solve
them. Much easier to talk about them especially from us who are living
abroad because we do not experience and see the poverty on a daily
basis. Dr Arsenio talked about savings and investments and work loving
as means to correct the problem. I do not know of any other country
whose people love to work and worked harder than the Filipinos. How
could the Doctor talked about savings and investments when majority of
the able bodied citizens are unemployed. No matter how intellectually
sound Dr Martin’s perspective is, I doubt seriously if it can solve
the poverty problems any time soon.

The Korean talked about LOVE as the means to uplift the Philippines
from poverty. He went on to say prayers is not enough, by saying we
love the Philippines is not enough. We collectively, the individuals,
the businesses and the government must share our wealth to the less
fortunate.

And to this end we as individuals can do something about spreading the
wealth in helping the poor. I know most Filipinos in the USA as well
as from other countries send balikbayan boxes to the Philippines. But
most send it to their families and nothing is wrong with that. But are
your relatives really poor? Maybe they are not as well off, but I
doubt if they are poor. I am talking about the squatters, the street
people whose only clothing is the one they are wearing. The basoreros
who toils all day long in the garbage dump collecting plastics, cans
and other salable items and in good days are able to make 100 pesos to
support a family of four or however many there are in the family.
These same people eat the food they rummaged through the garbage. How
do I know this? In one of the Wowowee shows the basoreros were the
guests of Willie Velerame. Wowowee is a popular noon time variety show
in the Philippines. During this show one of the basorero
contestant/guest pleaded to the rich people who eat in the restaurant
not to spit on the leftover food because they ultimately eat these
leftovers. These are the people I am talking about, these are the
people who need our help the most. Rather than be a part of the
intelligentsia that debates the problems and the solutions of the
Philippines rhetorically in the comfort of our living room let us act
on it. Let us help our poor brethren.

How? I suggest that instead of sending the next balikbayan box to your
relatives, send it to the really poor, the people I mentioned above.
There are charitable institutions you can send it to in the
Philippines. I send my balikbayan box for the squatters through the
Columban Sisters. I just happen to know Sister Mercy of the Columban
Sisters in Metro Manila who ministers to the squatters. She
distributes the clothes and can goods to the squatters. By sending
clothes and food we alleviate the sufferings of the destitute for at
least few days, if there are enough of us sharing our blessings we
could extend the days into weeks.

Another way to help is to give a family a means to provide its own
livelihood. The Columban Sisters in Ozamiz, specifically, Sister
Cecilia who has various ministries, teaching autistic children,
training physically and mentally handicap adults make Christmas cards
and also provides trade training like how to sew mentioned if they
could get a sewing machine the women whom they taught to sew could
make money making dresses to support their family. It made so much
sense that I asked how much is a sewing machine? She quoted around
8,000 pesos or there about. So I sent $250.00 to the Columban Sisters
headquarters here in the State with a caveat that the money is for the
Columban Sisters in Ozamiz specifically to be used to purchase a
sewing machine to be given to one of the sewing machine graduates. The
rest of the money is to buy the materials to make clothes. I received
a receipt honoring my request.

My dear classmates, friends and relatives let us make a difference one
family at a time. I know all of us would like to see the Philippines
improve but unless we do something about it, it will remain as it is.
And if we wait for the government to do it, that might take forever.
If you would like to buy another family a sewing machine so one more
family will be removed from the list of destitute send $200 or $300 to
the Columban Sisters. Their internet address is
columbansrs@eircom.net. Let us show our love for the Philippines by
giving not just talk about it.

Tiger-in-the-Woods
Ely

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Thursday, May 08, 2008

Cali Trip 2008 Chap 10 the Final chapter

This last chapter is a fitting ending to a wonderful vacation, the golf outing with my long time ago friends from Pittsburg, Nap Nazareta and Norton Gonzalez.

It was nice to meet and spend some time with my classmates, friends and relatives. I wish and hope that I could keep doing this for many, many more years to come.

Cali Trip 2008 Chap 10 The Final Chapter

March 24, Monday—The highlight of this day was our golf outing. Saturday night at Nap’s house when we had our bull session Junior Dumlao, and Manuel Nazareta said they would play golf with us today. Bobby T. also promised that he would come to Pittsburg to play with us. Now that it’s time to play, unfortunately only Norton, Nap and I showed up. Manuel had an attack of gout, caused by two glasses of wine from last night according to Nap. Junior Dumlao had an attack of morning sickness. He could not wake up. Luckily another Pinoy who works at the golf course joined us, Toto. On the first tee we paired up and loser pay for lunch at the Wall of China restaurant, Nap and I against Toto and Norton. Of course there’s the usual bickering of handicapping, who is giving and who is getting strokes specially since we do not know each other’s ability in the golf course. I naturally assumed that Toto must be good because he works at the golf course. Norton is refuted as manghaharang sa golf course in the Philippines especially against Japanese and Koreans golfers. In golf terms manghaharang probably equates to the term sandbagger. Someone who pads his score or claims his score is much higher than what he actually shoots. The term manghaharang is used in the Philippines to mean, highwayman, hold-upper, a thief in other words. Which probably fits most Filipino golfers. Filipinos when it comes to wagering are heartless; friendship goes out of the door, being a relative does not mean a thing. So we agreed to play even up, no strokes. After we completed playing the first hole and we were on the tee box of the second hole, Norton asked for our scores. Nap said bogey, bogey is one stroke over par and the first hole is a par four which means Nap’s score is five according to Nap. That’s when Norton said all bets are off, because Nap’s score must have been at the very least 8 and probably higher.

Nap hit the ball twice in Japanese term it’s called “Gurong-gurong,” a miss-hit that just dribbles a few feet forward. For the non-Filipino readers, we, Filipino love to use phrases that are contrived based on play on words. Like the word gurong-gurong, there’s no such word in Tagalog dictionary. The actual word is gulong gulong that means rolling. We coined the word gurong-gurong, sort of making fun of the Japanese language. Japanese have a hard time pronouncing words with the letter L. It comes out sounding like an R. Which is the opposite of the Chinese that tend to pronounce R like an L. Just an aside, when I was in Vietnam there was a Korean Women singing group in Tan Son Nhut, that’s the name of the base I was stationed at, all the women looked beautiful. That’s beside the point. The point I am trying to bring forth is that Korean can pronounce the L and R sound. However, these girls when they sang the song, Rolling Down the River. They sang it Rolling Down the Liver. Just one of those things that stuck in my mind, so when I hear this song I sing it with the lyrics, rolling down the liver. 

Now back to the golf game. After Nap’s two gurong-gurong shots, his next shot went fishing in the pond, that’s a one-stroke penalty. At this point his score is already five, a bogey and he is not on the green yet. Then he played sunka that means bunker to bunker. I am glad Norton called the bet off. Nap and I would have lost right from the first hole, had Nap counted all his strokes and penalty. It’s a lot more fun golfing with Pinoys there is a lot of subtle mind play going on. For example, when an opposing player has a short putt to make, his opponent would say knock it close. Sometimes an opponent would say when someone is about to putt, I would be very, very careful, this green is really fast and that’s a down putt. You could not do this when playing with anybody else. They would get mad. There’s a lot of bantering through out the entire round of golf that it made it fun. For example, Norton would say to Nap, na out-drive ka nanaman ni Ely (Ely out-drove you again). Since the bet was off it became a fun game otherwise with money on the line it would have been a much serious afternoon.

On the back nine we caught up with the foursome in front of us and we had to wait.  Nap called Bobby from his cell phone and inquired why Bobby did not show up.  Bobby said he was waiting for the FedEx to arrive with the merchandize he promised us. And he was still waiting up to the time Nap called him from the golf course—to which Norton commented, bullshit.

I guess Nap felt bad about having our lunch bet canceled so he said let us just have lunch at home. And we did. We had gulay na mongo with dahon ng ampalya (mong beans with bitter melon leaves) and spareribs, with a glass of wine, delicious. After eating we went to the patio so Nap could smoke as well as continue our conversation. Conversation is too polite and too formal a word for what we were doing—nagbubulahan (bull-shitting). Manuel and his friend Dick came over and joined us. Then Jerry Nazareta came so there were more stories and more lies. Then we decided to call Bobby T. again and told him we were still waiting for him. I really would like to see Bobby. I haven’t seen him in 50 years and yet talking with him felt like we had been together all this time. While I was talking with him he made the mistake of asking what color of golf shoe would I like and I told him white. He also told me he just gave David Duval a golf lesson that’s the other reason he did not come to play golf with us. David Duval was the number one golfer in the world before Tiger Woods, in you case you did not know. So after we clicked off Jerry said I thought you guys said Bobby was waiting for the FedEx for your clubs and shoes. So how come he is just asking what color now?  That just shows when one tells a lie sometimes by covering it with another gets caught in one’s own trap. We never expect to get any of the promised items anyway. But we pretend to believe only to make fun of him later. That sounds cruel but we really, really love this guy. After the heavy meal and the glass of wine and the heat I felt a bit drowsy and so I went home.

When I got home I found Nene and three other ladies playing mahjongg. Cora Ubaro is one of them. She is Precy’s sister and Precy is married to Orlando Baclig. Precy and Orlando’s son Kenneth is my godson, I think, or is it Lomy’s?  Cora brought her dog, a miniature something on a leash that she kept under the table next to her. I was trying to be sociable but whenever I made a move towards the table the mutt started growling and yelping with an aggravating high pitch sound so I left them and went to take a nap. When I woke up the mahjongg was still in session. By this time Jake was back from work, he and I watched dancing with star for a while.

Jake gave me the set of golf clubs, Titleist and the golf shoes I used when we played in Alameda, for my 75th birthday present. The stipulation was if I don’t use the clubs anymore to give it back to him and not to give it away. It’s a deal. The one club that I really appreciate is the fairway metal, Precept with 18 degrees loft. This club is the one I am using instead of my three-wood. In fact it’s the only club I am using from the set he gave me when I play golf now. I am using my own set, Walter Hagen and Jake Precept fairway metal. Thanks a lot Jake. I’ll return your set when I go back there next year. Or you can come and get it when you come visit us here in Virginia.

This concludes my Cali Trip 2008. Thank you all, my classmates, friends and relatives, for a wonderful time. May all your traffic lights be green, your skies blue, and your pockets full of dough, until we meet again. Love you all.

Tiger in-the-Woods,
Ely

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Saturday, May 03, 2008

Cali Trip 2008 Chap 9

Easter Sunday

Cali Trip 2008 Chap 9

March 23—Easter Sunday—Before I start my narration of the events of Easter Sunday let me correct something from the previous chapter. Dayo sent me this information; the love bug that has smitten Danny is not a Fandango dancer. She is a Classical Flamenco dancer. Sorry about that. After all Flamenco is rigorous stumping kicking kind of dance while a Fandango is a slow movement kind of a dance. That’s how I see it in my mind. I will make it a point to see Clara Ramona, that’s her name by the way as given to me by Dayo, in August. I will personally apologize to her for my misgivings. Lomy and I will be attending Dominic’s wedding in Bolinao on 08/08/08 after all. How’s that for a wedding date? Even I could remember that. My favorite class 52 classmates and Lomy and me were planning on going on a Mediterranean cruise in September that petered out. That freed up the money we were saving for the cruise and now we can go back to eating normal food again, imbes na nagdidildil nalang sa asin palagi (instead of subsisting on rice and salt all the time). That’s the closest English translation. Now let me go back to the task at hand, the journal writing.

Dulce and I drove to Antioch to attend the 10 O’clock Easter Sunday mass. There are two catholic churches in Pittsburg but Dulce likes to go to mass in Antioch, the neighboring town because of Father Vicente who used to be the pastor in Pittsburg many years ago. When we got to the church it was overflowing with C-E parishioners. C-E is a designation for those people who go to mass twice a year, C for Christmas and E for Easter. We did not want to fight our way inside so we turned around and went back home. We ended up going to the 12 O’clock mass at the church on Harbor Street, which is about a mile or so away from the house. The children had their egg hunt and through out the day, people were constantly coming and going. Some were playing Knock and scrabble and the rest of us watched sports on TV and imbibing at the same time. We capped off the night with another game of Texas Hold Em. This time the Professor, that’s me against the young guns: Justin Willis, Gabe Basco, and Arlene’s boys. Justin and I battled it out to the finish with the professor winning all the loot. I should have returned their money but it did not occur to me at the time. Sorry guys. After the poker game I sauntered to the formal dining room where Dominic Elias Basco and Eleanor Ripalda were making music with their guitars. I was surprised at how good Dominic is. He is probably 14 or 15 and he claims, he does not or cannot read notes, he plays by ear. But he is very, very good nonetheless. The party ended at around 9 PM since Monday is a work and school day. Few of us lingered on and as usual when we get together we always gravitate to the good old days when we were young and carefree. When we did not know words like health insurance, mortgage and bills.

The best of time for me was being a teenager and maybe up to my early twenties when life was just a big bowl of cherry with no worries. I am not saying that life after that was bad. It was at that point in life that the burden of responsibility slow replaced those carefree days of summer. That’s when we started having families. And before we knew it we have five kids. That spells trouble multiplied by five then multiplied by five again equals the number of years of troublesome worries of raising them. Then they are on their own, peace and quiet at last. Only to be replaced by the loneliness of an empty nest. And then one day they reward you with the best gift of all—grandchildren. And now the best of times is back again, it’s called Aidan, Connor, Gabriel, Elias, Ethan, Evan (Bootzer) and Ibrahim.

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Monday, April 28, 2008

Cali Trip 2008 Chap 7

Cali Trip 2008 Chap 7

Saturday 22 March—After breakfast I drove to Mildred and visited with my old buddies, Manuel and Nap Nazareta. Manuel was tinkering with his car on the driveway. Manuel was a mechanic for one of the Ford dealership in Pittsburg. He became a after I joined the Air force. As a matter of fact, Manuel and I took the Air Force test together in Oakland in 1958. Somehow he failed the test. He claimed that his answers were one off the answer sheet. In other word his answer to question number 2 was placed on number three on the answer sheet. Consequently, all his answers were wrong. That’s how he became a mechanic because he failed the Armed Forces Test. Meanwhile I went to Cheyenne Wyoming and became a Communication Specialist, upon graduation I elected to go to Fuchu Air Station in Japan, just outside Tokyo. It was an Air Force rule that if you graduate as an honor student you get to choose first, amongst all the available Air Force bases worldwide. Unfortunately Philippines was not one of the places listed. So I selected Japan. In 1958 the rate of exchange was 36 Yen to one dollar. And now one Yen is worth 1.04 dollar and climbing. The Japan tour was a fun time for me. We could have a lady’s company for the night for a cartoon of cigarette and at that time a cartoon of Salem cost 90 cents. But that’s another story for another time. Back to Mildred, Manuel is afflicted with emphysema and he could hardly walked ten phases without stopping to rest. He claimed it was the fume from the vehicles that caused his affliction. I suspect it was the Pall Mall cigarette that he and I used to smoke. If you are not a smoker, Pall Mall comes in a red pack at least it used to be when I was smoking and it was the first king-sized cigarette, unfiltered. And we used to smoke like a chimney. Fortunately, I stopped smoking in 1966. What prompted me to stop smoking were my two girls, Elouise and Elice. I don’t think Elaine was born yet. They were about five and four years old then. I realized after hacking and coughing early in the morning when I woke up that I was killing myself. The question came to my mind, who would provide for them should I die? That was all the incentive I needed to stop. Of course seeing my dad suffering from emphysema must have reinforced my determination as well. By the way, my dad died from emphysema in 1967. While Manuel and I were shooting the breeze Nap came over. Nap’s house is just across the street from Manuel. Not long after, Norton Gonzalez another one of the original member of our group 50 years ago came walking by on his way to his sister’s (Linda) place to borrow her car. Norton planned to go to the driving range to hit golf balls. I told Norton no need to borrow Linda’s car I’ll drive to the driving range. Norton has been living in Philippines for a long time, since he got married to Chit. After several minutes more of reminiscing about old times and picture taking we went to the golf course. Manuel did not go with us only Norton, Nap and I went. While we were hitting golf balls it seems like no matter what club we used to hit the ball it only goes about 120 yards. So we came to the conclusion that golf could be played with at most three clubs, driver, iron and a putter. We did not even use up all of our driving range balls that we paid for. It didn’t do us any good going to the driving range anyway. All we did was waste gas and money. On our way back we passed by Jerry’s place, another member of the Nazareta family, one of the gang as well. Jerry and his wife were waiting for their friends to arrive to go to Cash Creek, another Indian Casino in the area. As usual when you go to a Filipino house you are served with food and refreshment. We had beer, soda; diet bottled water and pulutan (finger food). After dropping off Nap and Norton I went home and took a nap. We agreed to meet at Nap house again this evening.

Our evening session comprised of Junior Dumlao, I never did learn if Junior is his real name or same as his dad kind of junior, Norton, Nap, Manuel and me. Junior is the kind of bullshit artist who actually and truly believed the lies he tells. We all know this and we just went along and even encouraged it for our own entertainment. It added color to our conversations. Junior is also having some kind of health issue. He has trouble walking. I brought a bottle of wine and I was surprise and gladly so, that no one was really into heavy drinking. I also noticed that only one is still smoking when once upon a long time ago we all smoked, heavily. One of our favorite subjects is Bobby T, nice guy but a bigger bullshit artist than Junior. I don’t believe that he believed his own bullshit though. Except when it comes to ghost telling stories. He would swear on a stack of bible that he sees ghosts. Anyway, we called Bobby and when it was my turn to talk to him, it went like this; “Sino ito (who is this)?  Ely-Tom Cruise-Oyzon?” Most of his lines are make you feel good kind of lies. He loves to talk and he talks so fast that sometimes uutalutal (he stutters). By the time we ended our conversation, one-way conversation actually, he promised to give me a Tiger Woods’ driver and pair of golf shoes. Somewhere between getting my shoe size and giving me advised on what type of shaft I should be using in my golf clubs he also managed to counsel me on what food I should be eating. I remember him saying eat a lot of broccoli and no meat. He tried to impress me by dropping the names of his golf students/clients; big name sport personalities in the Bay Area and actors as well. I remember him mentioning Jean Hackman and Sean Connery. Apparently, he makes his living teaching golf in San Francisco. I would not swear to it. I have not seen this guy since I left Pittsburg in 1958. He promised he’d bring the driver and shoes Monday for we agreed to play golf and he would take a day off from his busy schedule just to see me and teach me how to hit the ball. All the while Bobby and I were on the phone the rest were eagerly listening and as soon clicked off they all asked what did he say? I told them that I will be using a new driver and wearing a new Foot Joy shoes comes Monday. In chorus they all said, “Maniwala ka diyan—don’t you believe it.” And each one told me the broken promises Bobby made to them. One said, “The shoes he promised me five year ago napudpud na ang suelo hindi ko pa na kita.” English translation, the sole of the shoes he promised is all worn out and I have yet to see it. And then they all mentioned other things like golf clubs, shirts, etc…that Bob promised them are still in the mail. Of course we were talking in Tagalog, and somehow the stories are a lot funnier if told in Tagalog. For the edification of the non-Filipino readers, you should know that all most all Filipino when they write to each other they use English as their medium of communication. When I write to my sisters it’s in English. To tell you the truth it is easier for me to put my thoughts in English. Besides, I have a hard time spelling Filipino words they are so long and so many repeating vowels. If I were to recant all the stories of this bull session it would be novella. Suffice to say it’s always fun when good long lost friends get together and looked back to the good old yesteryears

I’ll stop here for now even though the day is not yet complete. There’s still lot of stories to be told before the night is over. But it’s getting too long I am afraid you might fall asleep reading this chapter, so bye for now.

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Cali Trip 2008 Chap 6

Cali Trip 2008 Chap 6

Friday, 14 March—I drove Nene and M. Dam to the senior center for lunch. On the way Nene asked me to have lunch with the seniors and I told her that I am not hungry, also to be honest I do not feel comfortable with old people that I do not know, still she went ahead and bought a lunch ticket for me. Sometimes she does not know the meaning of “no I am not eating” I suppose that’s a carry over from our Filipino culture, that when it’s time to eat it does not matter whether you are hungry or not, sit down and eat anyway. The Marines also have a saying, never pass up chow or water for you never know when you will have another chance. Although it was only Friday and the center will be closed for Easter Sunday there were parting greetings of Happy Easters. M. Dam somehow thought it was Easter Sunday already. He still has a sharp mind but get confused some times. Some times he’ll asked what time it is and if you say nine he would ask morning or night? I guess it’s his poor eyesight that he can’t tell whether it’s day or night.

Dulce arrived around six with her two grand daughters, Audrey and Paige loving called Miss America and Miss California respectively by the grandparents. We decided to go for coffee at Starbuck, a code phrase that means to the casino. Ernie and Pink Jaromay were going, so the betting started as to when we will we actually leave the house. When Pink says we will be there in a little bit. It could mean an hour or two or maybe not. Thankfully, we did get on the road just a few minutes after seven. I offered to use my compact rental car. Dulce said it’s too small and so is Pinky’s Mercedes. I was looking at the four of us and none of us is that obese, one could be said is on the heavy side but we should all fit comfortably in a compact car. That’s when Dulce said didn’t I tell you? Eleanor Ripalda is going with us. So Dulce drove her Volvo and we picked up Eleanor. It was a fun drive and exciting. We started talking about the things we used to do in Pittsburg in the fifties. The basketball, softball, and volleyball tournaments we participated in with the other Fil-Am communities in the surrounding areas. There were no drugs then, if there were we did not know about it. How we enjoyed our trips scaring the girls about the ghost stories especially traveling at night on the stretch of road between Pittsburg and Stockton when it was still nothing but farmlands. There’s a story of a lady in white close by the cemetery that hitches a ride in a passing car. People claimed that they have experienced when someone all of a sudden is sitting next to them in this particular area. There were times when the girls were so scared and at other times when they giggled so much that they wet in their pants, because we refused to stop where the lady in white might be lurking. After exhausting our reminiscing of the good old days we settled down and listened to my Ipod with the songs of the fifties. Naturally, all five of us sang along with Johnny Mathis and others, probably all in different keys, and me singing alone off-key and out of tune. That didn’t bother me one bit, in my ears I sounded just like Johnny even better. Which by the way he was my favorite singer until someone said he is gay. After that still I like him but no longer my favorite. I switched to Engelbert humperdink. How could he not be anyone’s favorite with a name like Humperdink? The exciting part of the trip was Dulce driving. She missed a few turns, which we all do from time to time. But going against a one-way street off an interstate was more than little bit of excitement. She managed to get off the one-way street and gave us a tour of a dark warehouse parking lot. That part was not so exciting, but definitely scary. 

We arrived at the casino safely and immediately dispersed to our favorite games. I played blackjack at first. While I was at the table playing Chamby and Aida came by. Chamby was walking with a slight gimp because of his gout. We just talked for a little bit even though one of my reasons for going to the casino was to see Chamby and Aida, pero saying ang panahon (wasting time) the B/J table was waiting for me. We agreed to meet at the casino because we could not find the right time to visit at their home or them to drive to Pittsburg. Sorry Chamby and Aida that we could not have spent more time together, hopefully next time. Chamby sat next to me and played a few time and lost every hand. He got up mumbling minalas ko lang ang baraja ninyo (I jinxed your cards) and then left to find Dulce and the rest of the group. Dulce and her family at one time rented Chamby’s house when Chamby and Aida lived in Hawaii for a few years. I assume Dulce and the rest were at the slot machine area. Not long after Chamby left I also got up a loser. I went to play Pai Gow, a Chinese two-handed poker something like pusoy in the Philippines. Everyone including the dealer gets 7 cards. You separate the cards into two hands. One hand consists of five cards and the other hand has only two cards. For you to win you simply have to beat both of the dealer’s hands, his five cards and the two cards as well. This is a slow game because most of the time it’s a tie between you and the dealer. It’s the best way to enjoy time while you are trying to let your streak of bad luck go away into the bad-luck bin in the sky. I really enjoyed it this time because I won back what I lost in B/J table and then some. Dulce and Eleanor came by looking a little dejected which means they lost their allocated gambling money. I handed Dulce a couple twenties from my wallet. I have this superstition not to give money from my stack of chips—it’s bad luck. It must be true because Dulce won back what she lost before, and I continued winning at Pai Gow. Pinky came by my table later and told me where I could find them and she pointed at where they would be, at the slot machines of course. I took that as a hint that they were ready to go home. I played a few more hands and then went to them with a fistful of chips. I like this casino. I also made some money the last time we were last year. We left at 3 AM and we were back home before 5 AM. By unanimous decision Eleanor was elected to drive back. We felt a lot safer, nothing against your driving Dulce. We listened to more songs from my Ipod but this time only Eleanor, Dulce and me were listening to the music. I thought I heard Ernie snoring in tune with the Four Aces. Another enjoyable day spent bonding with my nieces, friends and relatives. Life is good.

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