I arrived in Bacolod and I was so
excited to see Leila. I met her in England as she was a friend of
Ruth's. It was going to be great spending my last 6 weeks with a
friendly, familiar face. She picked me up from the airport with
their driver and we headed back. I was going to stay with her and
her family an hour from the city. How cool is that!
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| Leila and I at the Mall |
The house was huge in Filipino
standards. They have 2. The main house has 3 bedrooms, a huge dining
area, a family room, 2 kitchens (inside and out) and 2 terraces. The
bathroom has a working western toilet and the shower only has cold
water but to be honest its a god send, its soooo hot here. Her family
are lovely. It was all girls apart from little Pedro...the cook and
cleaner's son. It seems that most of the children live with the
grandparent here. For example, her sister lives on a farm a few
minutes from here but her children live here.
That night Leila took me a small
village to visit the beach at sunset. It was breathtaking. All the
local kids followed us there and laughed and joked as we took
pictures. After we went to Kennedy's home (the driver) and I met his
family and had a few beers. What an amazing experience I was going to
have here.
The next day we chilled out and in the
evening we were off to the local church for the Easter Thursday
parade. Didn't know we would be in it! We chose a float and walked
beside it with the rest of the church. I'm not religious at all but I
felt so privileged. By this time i'd realised that not only was I one
of few westerners in the town but the only female one too. Everyone
kept coming up to Leila asking who I was and saying hello. I've never
met more friendly people.
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| One of the Easter floats |
The next day was another lazy day. Not
much to do over Easter weekend here. We headed back to the church at
night for the bigger parade. We were just going to watch this time.
The local police invited us to sit with them at their station and
watch it. They were so lovely (even if they were armed!) and really
funny. They spoke to me and asked me lots of questions about home.
Their English here is really good and I felt at ease talking to
anybody. Leila bought me some famous Bacolod BBQ chicken....wow I've
never tasted anything like it.
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| Michaela (Leila's daughter), Natalie and Pedra in a bikini...I mean Pedro |
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| Cute little Pedro. The girls tease him rotten, dress him up as a girl and paint his nails lol |
On Saturday we went Renee's home
(another worker of the family) for karaoke. I needed a drink first so
they bought 2 bottle of brandy. Its fair to say they couldn't get me
off it after a while. Screaming cats had nothing on me. It was so
funny.
On Sunday we went to a small local
resort at the beach. I was a little 'peaky' lets say from the evening
before but it was a good day. We went with the whole family and had a
BBQ. The kids had a great time. Got lots of stares and people asking
about me but I didn't mind and I met neighbour after neighbour haha.
The next weekend we went to
Boracay....but thats another post.
I asked Leila one day about getting
some professional photos done, don't know why I thought of it, but
she said it was definitely possible so we arranged it. The day of
the shoot I was a little nervous. I wanted sexy shots and I wanted to
show off my new body which was now 2 stone lighter than when I left
for Asia. When the woman did my makeup and I thought 'oh shit I look
like a bleedin trannie' haha but it looked better in the camera.
The woman who took the pics was a
sadist i'm sure. Here are a few lines that took place....
'suck your tummy in'....'I bleedin am,
it wont go in anymore!'
'straighten your back, drop your arm
and lean this way'....'no love it just doesn't go that way trust me'
'look up, no further up'.....'jesus I
can't roll my eyes to the back of my head you know'
'suck your tummy in, more'......'ffs!'
'move you shoulder forward and twist
your neck this way'.....'contrary to belief, I wasn't in the
exorcist!'
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| Worth the pain |
Honestly, when we'd finished every
muscle hurt in my body. Who needs a workout, just have a shoot with
this crackpot haha. I must admit, the photo's turned out great
although I was pissed off she made me look whiter! I'd spent 7 months
getting this bleedin tan!
We went off to Boracay again but for a
week this time and I was to collect my pictures on return.
Leila flies to Manila on Monday leaving
me here alone with the family. Its making me a little nervous. They
are amazing and we all do our own thing but they keep trying to feed
me and its not that i'm not grateful because I really am. I just
don't have an appetite anymore and eating rice and fish for breakfast
doesn't quite float my boat. I'd rather just buy small things like
noodles, toast, spam (yes spam!!! whoop!), and make my own snacks
when i'm hungry. It feels like I dont appreciate their cooking but
really I am now eating to live and not living to eat. A first for me
haha.
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| EAT IT!!! |
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| mmmmm spaaaaaam |
Leila assured me that they don't mind
at all its just that mama is worried I dont eat enough, bless her.
Decided I'm going to make them a chilli at the weekend. They have
everything I need here and I can't wait. Was going to make spag bol
but they like it sweet here....go figure. Mine is quite rich and may
not go down well with the kids.
Well, announced on Facebook my coming
home date and everyone is so excited. Brought a tear to my eye. I
have had an absolutely amazing time in Asia but I am ready to come
home and see my friends and family. Plus my money is almost gone
haha.
Read about my experiences.....coming soon.
