Coca Cola Body

I never saw another country where Coca Cola advertising is so popular! Not only that there is no birthday or meeting without a cold coke but also the big red advertisements everywhere. Especially the "tindahan/tinda'an" (small stores) like painting their wooden cottages red with the Coca Cola letters all over it. The brand can be lucky because red is seen as a "happy" color here in the Philippines. Not only jeepneys but even street signs are sponsored by Coca Cola!

Somehow the whole Coca Cola phenomenon roots so deep in the society that the picture of a Coca Cola bottle stimulates further imagination (at least for men)! But how can women and Coca Cola bottles be combined? 

It's just a very superficial feature... the shape!

Hence a perfectly female body shape (or measures like 60/90/60) would be called "Coca Cola Body"! You can also say "Coca Cola body in can" that means the person is fat. 

These women, working on one of the floating boats in Bohol, wearing a traditional Filipino dress and a Coca Cola pinafore above it. Their bodies are also labelled "Coca Cola". Do you think it's meant to be a flattering? 

Let it rain

It is "ting ulan" (rainy season) in Davao! But that doesn't mean it is raining ALL the time, it just looks like it ; ) 

There are also very hot and sunny days in between! Often it starts raining in one part of the city and the other part is still dry. But if it starts it's usually a pretty heavy rain! All the waste which was carefully collected before is flowing with the stream; all the jeepneys are crowded because everybody wants to get home; kids offer a walk under their umbrella (ella, ella, ella - by the way: this song is so popular here that they covered it with Filipino lyrics) but no one escapes dry! 

Some areas and streets don't have a very good sewage system so the water stands in the street. Before, the University of Southeastern Philippines with the initials "USP" had the nickname: University Swimming Pool because it was always flooded. 

In fact, for some kids the water in the streets stands so high that it is used as a swimming pool. 

Santo Niño

The Santo Niño is a Roman Catholic embodiment of the Infant Jesus or in other words Jesus as a child. It's the oldest catholic relic brought by Magellan in 1521.

There are many myths about the

 young Jesus. When the Spaniards came to Cebu 1565 (after Magellan died) they destroyed the whole city but somehow the figure of Santo Nino (which was given by Magellan) was found unscathed in a burnt-out dwelling...

 miraculous! Other folklore describe a disappearing of the figure during the night or that the statue has dirty shoes in the morning even though it was cleaned before.

Since then it serves as a patron saint of Cebu and it can still be seen today in every house, car, jeep, literally in every corner of the city! 

But also in Davao I saw this jeepney drayber who had a picture of Jesus and a figure of him as Santo Niño instead of a working dashboard... 

Cebu City

Magellan's Cross is a very famous sight in Cebu. It represents the cross (now housed in a chapel) which was planted by Ferdinand Magellan when he arrived in the Philippine Islands in 1521. It is encased in tindalo wood to prevent visitors from taking it home piece by piece.

Cebu is located in the center of the Visayas and is an important Filipino metropolis. Compared to Davao it's more crowded. To me, Cebu looked more like a city because there are a lot more high buildings and stone houses - among them are of course many remains of the Spaniards. The big buildings, monuments and malls gave me the picture of a prosperous city but on the other hand I also saw more people living in the streets. 

Another difference was the food: the choices of fruits were more divers in Davao. And food in general is quite cheap in Davao because almost everything grows in Mindanao. But I was so happy to finally hear and talk the "lalum kaayo nga Cebuano" (very deep Cebuano words) I've learned in the language school because in Davao it's more mixed with Tagalog! 

Cebu is famous for producing guitars, for its Shamrock cookies and different kinds of dried fish (bulad) which are very popular "pasalubong" (souvenirs or small gifts; in German: "Mitbringsel"). Eventhough the bulad has a very intense smell! 

Another sight, Fort San Pedro, is located in the Pier area of Cebu City and was a military defence station build by Spaniards and indigenous labourers. It's the smallest and oldest (1738) triangular bastion fort in the country. Today it is used as tourist attraction and seemed like a quiet place for couples to gather. 

The San Carlos University is oldest university of the Philippines and is even older than Harvard. We went in to see the museum which showed indigenous handcraft and ancient artifacts. 

Bohol Island Tour

I just spent two days in Bohol (about 2 hrs boat ride from Cebu City). It's just a small island but there is sooo much to see! The first day I rested on this beach... 

The second day Richard and I took a round trip to the island sights. Our first stop: the world famous Chocolate Hills. These are 1,268 perfectly cone-shaped hills of about the same size and they are covered in green gras which turns brown in dry season (that's where the name comes from).

A hanging bridge made out of bamboo.

We had lunch on a floating boat which looks quite wild and natural at first. But actually there were a lot of these boats each with their own live music and certain stops along the river for Filipino dances.

We also visited a butterfly farm, the oldest coral stone church in the region, a men made forest, a cave and last but not least: the smallest primates on earth! These Tarsiers are actually night active. So although they have huge eyes they can't really see much with day light. 

Palawan

Ang princesa ng baybay - a monument at the pier walk in Puerto Princesa, Palawan. 

This is the entrance of the world's longest "Underground River" which is about 9 km long and inhabits different kinds of bats.

Snake island - one of the 8 islands in Honda Bay (close to Puerto Princesa).  

My friends Max & Bente joined us going island hopping in Honda Bay... nice place for snorkeling!

Reif für die Insel

Um mir zwischen dem 2-monatigen Sprachkurs und dem 3-monatigen Praktikum eine Verschnaufpause zu gönnen, habe ich mir 10 Tage Urlaub genommen. Geplant waren 6 Tage Palawan mit Onkel Charles und zwei deutschen Freunden, danach 4 Tage Cebu (+Bohol) mit Richard. Aber es lief nicht alles wie geplant, schon der Hinflug nach Palawan wurde gecancelt und um einen Tag verzögert. Mit viel Elan und Reiselust sind wir schließlich in Puerto Princesa (Palawan) angekommen; ehe ich mich versah hatten wir uns gleich nach der Ankunft ein Motorrad ausgeliehen. Um trotz der kurzen Zeit möglichst viel zu sehen, hatten wir einen sehr engen Zeitplan, viele Sehenswürdigkeiten sowie lange Strecken vor uns. Die Idee mit dem Motorrad ging allerdings nach hinten los, so dass wir uns auf halbem Weg zum weltlängsten "underground river" mal schön abgelegt haben... Die Schlürfwunden haben uns auch den Wind aus den Segeln genommen und das Gehen verlangsamt, aber mit aller Ruhe ging die Reise trotzdem weiter!

Nun ist der Urlaub vorbei, mein Bein heilt langsam, das Gehen wird besser, die Arbeit beginnt, aber ich habe trotzdem das Gefühl schon wieder reif für die Inseln zu sein...

Sweet Spaghetti - Filipino Style!

The one and only magic ingredient: banana ketchup!


Usually spaghetti is served on birthdays - kids love it!
It has a very different taste compared to the Italian style spaghetti! Moreover, Filipino style spaghetti is not only sweet but also served cold. And other noodle salads may look European but taste sweet too! 

This is a wonderful example for how such an adopted feature 1) has been assimilated to the local taste and 2) looks at first like the original but is in fact very different.