House blessings are interesting in that they appear to combine elements of Catholicism and old superstitions. The blessings form the priest were in Tagalog, so the only parts I recognized were the sections that would normally have been said in Latin (or English). Seriously, after attending catholic school for eight years, you get to know the routine. We then toured the entire house while holding lit candles (!) and the priest sprinkled holy water, everywhere. Our big dog, Onday (pronounced “Un-dai”), was tied up in the maid’s room and ended up being sprinkled, as well. She merely gave the priest a look of profound confusion. The best part was when my framed Night Gallery painting (a Hong Kong hand painted replica of the one from “The Messiah on Mott Street” – which features a silhouetted kid and the Angel of Death) also got blessed (!!) If anyone looked at the proceedings from the outside, they would swear that we were having an exorcism.

But that’s not the “superstition” part. The priest also blesses (with a little sprinkle) a small basket of coins, as well. After he leaves, you’re supposed to stand on the stairs and throw the coins at your guests (!!). The coins are considered good luck and saved as mementos of the occasion. I was a bit concerned, however, since Filipino coins tend to have some serious heft to them. It felt like I was tossing heavy pieces of metal at my family’s heads (which was pretty much the case). No one was injured, though, and a delightful time was had by all. My nephew even got his car blessed a second time (!!) I mentioned to the padre, “He still has to drive safely, right?” I think the irony of my statement may have been lost. That’s ok, since we’re all officially blessed over here, now…

With her daily chores completed, she’s currently chuckling at our new 29″ TV in the living room (tuned to a local language comedy show). This is absolutely perfect. We actually pay her well at $56 per month (with, of course, food , additional amenities, etc.). Her family now depends on her and I’m really happy to be a part of that. Now, I just have to get used to having a servant. After working for 16  years, overseas, as a servant, Alma (I suspect) is also thrilled. Having been on the “other end of the stick” she takes particular care of treating the maid well. By the way , her name is “Bebe” – which is pronounced “Beh- Bay”. It sounds like something Frank Sinatra would have said (while snapping his fingers}.

In actuality, I have to snap my fingers (behind my back) whenever I address her, in order to pronounce her name correctly. She calls me “Sir” (with no effort) and I have to pretend I’m one of  “the Rat Pack” from the 60s when I call her by name. I doubt that she’ll catch on, though (I hope)…

The final stop was in Greenwoods (Phase VI) – not to be confused with Greenwoods (Phase VII), which I have since renamed “Squatterville”. Now we were talking. This is a bit out of the way – but it’s a QUIET neighborhood (as in “no damn roosters”). It’s just great. The house is a stand-alone with:

• plenty of space (large rooms)
• a nice terrace
• a garage area for my nephew to park his new car
• two bedrooms
• three (count ‘em) bathrooms (with one bathroom located in the Master Bedroom)
• a maid’s room that isn’t reminiscent of a dungeon
• a spacious attic that can even be converted into a guest room

Originally, brother-in law Elmer was going to stay downstairs (in the maid’s room), but decided otherwise, since it’s too far from his job. So now it’s just me, Alma and niece Rancel. We’ll be getting the maid pretty soon, since we’re advertising for one, out in the Provinces. This is just too cool. Not bad for being in a third world country, I’d say…

Hey Joe – Merry Christmas! (You’re handing out money – right?)

The way that this place was set up was kind of weird – with a small office on the bottom floor (our place would have been on the second floor with an outside fire escape that led to an attic storage area). The small office was currently occupied by a female call center agent, who I believe slept in there (!!). Anyway, we were told that she would be leaving soon. Whatever. This place was interesting in the fact that you could get the feeling that it was not originally intended to be a home – it was more like a school, actually. I got the impression that it had been converted into a home. Like I said, it was ok – just not for me. The next stop was a bungalow-style apartment in a “nice” section. Just down the street from my brother-in-law’s four-story house. He’s the one who owns the successful meat packing business and is the president of the Pasig City Market Association. He’s considered “well off” with four servants to look after his family. His granddaughter is also a popular child model/actress that we seen on TV, all the time. So we knew the neighborhood (and its dwellings) would be more in keeping with what I was looking for. Next time, I’ll tell you what happened there (and the “interesting” thing that I discovered)…

This was a rather unexpected development that was prompted by our last rainstorm. Fortunately, it didn’t flood outside (like that ridiculous affair with typhoon Ondoy).

Alma and I were next in line…

Instead, the water started coming into our cooking area/kitchen at a rate that made it seem rather moot to even have a roof. Add to that, consistent problems with the plumbing and some rather large cockroaches (not many – but even so…) it just didn’t make sense to stay at our place any longer. By the way, I don’t know what it is with these cockroaches. But I’m downstairs with three other people and one of these guys decides to fly (!!!) onto my shirt (and they’re nearly two inches long). In two years, the only time I have seen a cockroach fly over here (or anywhere, for that matter) was when it decided to fly onto me! (The other time was during that earth tremor). But I digress.

The real issue is that this place was poorly constructed from the get go. We’ve had two instances of plumbing issues and the electric sockets are falling apart. So, we went apartment-hunting. Right now, we live in the ironically named “Greenwoods Executive Village” (Phase IV). So we were directed by a real estate agent (red flag) to check out a brand new bungalow-style apartment over in Phase VII. Well. The place was actually very nice – it was just being completed, too. But for some insane reason, the owner had it placed next to an extensive chicken coup with an astonishing view of a group of “squatters” living in shacks surrounded by garbage (!!). I kept thinking, “Who the hell would put a nice apartment here?” There were no words to describe the location of this place. Anyway, next time I’ll relate the rest of the search…

Meet your new neighbors, Henry!

This is why I awoke to incredible winds and a power blackout that lasted till late the next afternoon. While cruising in a tricycle to get some groceries (Wednesday is my oDesk payday), I was astonished at the number of downed trees in the area. Sadly, the death toll was at 10 (with 40 missing), the last time I checked. In one instance, a tree fell on a house, killing 2 kids in their beds (!!) And to think – they went to bed thinking that it was just going to “rain a little”. Good job, national weather service! (Click here for more info).

You can only imagine how big this will be. We even had to secure a large tent for the front of the apartment house in order to contain the event (!) Brother-in-law Kiko will be supplying an entire pig from his lucrative meat supplier business (not bad) which is scheduled to be butchered on Friday morning. He’s also supplying fish and other foodstuffs. Elmer and Renmar are providing drinks, etc. Alma and I are providing the paper plates, napkins, plastic utensils and a few other items. There will also be two birthday cakes and a professional-size karaoke machine (!!) It promises to be quite an event. I’ll have to get up a bit early on Saturday to get in my usual eight hours of work. We even have some relatives arriving early on Friday (and sleeping over) to help start with the food preparation! Seriously, these guys like to party in the Philippines (I noticed that with my Filipino neighbours in the U.S., too – every weekend was a karaoke party).

Speaking of which – work goes well. I barely have the time to fit everything in. The new project that just started has to do with writing copy for one of the largest electronic kiosk manufacturers in the U.S. (as an example, both Harvard and Fordham University have purchased 40 kiosks each from these guys). The hourly pay for this project is the most I’ve received to date – so that’s good. Other than that, I’m still getting work from the company that provided copy (that I wrote) for the recent Columbian presidential election candidate (he won – so I guess my family’s safe – for now). Beyond that, I have six other assignments to work on (including some guy who’s filming his screenplay that I’m editing).

New addition  to the family alert – we now have a  Shih Tzu (!!!) Her name is Candice Lane Brennan (”Candy”). She’s 2 months old and the very definition of “cute”. We’ll be taking pictures of her, this Saturday and I’ll post a few…