Manila Entertainment

It just struck me that I’ve recently seen a lot of awesome / bizarre entertainment here in Manila, and you all need to know about it. I submit to a jury of my peers…….

Exhibit A: Michael Jackson:
I mistakenly heard on the radio that Michael Jackson was performing in Manila. This seemed crazy, but no crazier than the Colorado Rockies in the World Series, so I bought tickets for me and Jen. It was actually a well known Philipino singer, Luke Mujales, singing songs by the pop idol. However, he also had a sparkly glove, back-up dancers, and an afro wig for the earlier Jackson 5 era songs. He also showed Michael Jackson videos while performing. Obviously, all copyright laws were ignored.

Exhibit B: The PBA.
The Philippine Basketball Association. Jen and I caught the local commuter train out to Arraneta Coliseum (sight of the Thrilla in Manila! 1976) to watch the Magnolia Beverage Masters play the Pure Foods Tender Juicy Giants. We rolled up to the ticket window and paid the US equivalent of 6 dollars for box seats, which was good for two games. This was the cheapest professional sporting event I will ever attend.* There are 3 basketball seasons here. We are in the middle of “import season.” This is where each team is allowed one foreign import player over 6’10. I don’t know who won, but it was pretty awesome, especially when you picture Ali and Frazier in this place beating the shit out of each other 30 years ago with 7000 screaming Filipinos ringside.

Exhibit C: Prom
If you are the elite 1% of the country, and in high school, what do you do for prom? You hire lights, magicians, transvestites, and Elvis impersonators. That’s what. Jen and I chaperoned. Wow. The theme was “Las Vegas.” So as the kids walked in, there were ladies on pedestals with feathered headdresses and bikinis on. Also on pedestals were two magicians, two transvestites, and a Filipino Elvis impersonator. “Why transvestites?” you might ask. Good question.

* Let the jury be aware that we only paid this much because we are high rollers. Ticket prices went as low as about $0.25.

Dr. Teeth

before
Now!

I have invested in tooth care.

Mountain Biking!

Last weekend was awesome. Immediately after school on Friday, I rocked hard with my band (as yet nameless) and then met up with Jen and her fellow golfing* ladies for outrageously priced Guinness. I spent most of Saturday wondering who had kicked me in the head the previous evening.

On Sunday, I usually attempt to injure myself in a soccer game, but we had a weekend off. To increase my usage of health insurance, my friend Lee and I decided to go mountain biking. This involved us getting in a taxi at 6 am and driving for an hour out to a strip mall. There we rented bikes from a small bike shop and watched in awe as all the wealthy people of Manila who live in my neighborhood reappeared at this strip mall wearing tight shorts and helmets.

Two extremely nice guys took pity on Lee and I and invited us to ride with them. First we just biked through this neighborhood while I thought about how awesome I was. Next we started up this 80 degree hill for about 2 miles and I thought I was going to sweat so much my organs would come out my pores. I didn’t know bikes had gears that low. If my motorbike has gears one through four, on this mountain bike I was on gear negative twenty-two.

Once at altitude we biked on several nice trails that wound through little villages. Every kid we saw (and there were many) shouted good morning as we passed. We were of rock star status all day. We even biked up to a little village shop that served us fried tofu and Gatorade (not mixed together).

This weekend Jen is off at the beach paradise of Boracay with the ladies. I intend to busy myself with scotch, and then two more chances to injure myself with a game of Australian Rules football today, and soccer tomorrow. What could possibly go wrong?

* Jen will return to the US this summer as well. Probably on the WPGA tour.

How a Rock Star Lives

*
Apologies for not posting in a while. I’ve been busy. How in the world do I spend my time these days? (Aside from the obvious obscene amount of hours spent at school) I’m glad you asked.

I’ve been playing a lot of soccer lately. Most of my friends call it football, which makes me feel very international. Our school has a team mainly made up of faculty and we play weekly in a league. Thus far we are undefeated. My job is to run up and down on the wing a lot and try not to do anything too stupid.

I’ve also been drumming. My self and 3 other teachers and a student have recently been getting together to play some cover songs. We’ve yet to do anything worthy of a music video, but give us some time.

I’ve also still been biking. Judging by the fact that I am alive to write this, you can assume I’ve been doing most of my biking indoors. However, early tomorrow morning I’m supposed to be getting a ride out of town to do some mountain biking. This should be extremely awesome.

Jen and I are still taking Tagalog lessons. My newest favorite phrase is, “Bababa ka ba? Hindi o oo?” This means, “Are you going downstairs? No or yes?” This is not a useful phrase, but it sounds extremely awesome since you get to repeat the same syllables multiple times.

I’ve also been planning the return tour to the US this summer. Hopefully that will be sorted next week and I can give you all dates and tour stops.

* Yes, this is an extremely awesome photo. Yes i took it myself.