Blood Pudding

[lupestripe]

To describe Manila as chaotic would be something of an understatement. The city is a bustling metropolis 24-7, with horns honking and traffic blaring throughout the night. My hotel is sat on one of the major junctions here so it's going to take a little getting used to if I am to get some sleep.Today, I headed out of the city to the town of Tanza. You could describe this as a suburb commuter town but it's worlds apart from the city. We grabbed a bus heading that way by simply flagging one down - there are no bus stops here - before navigating our way around the moving cars, bikes, tricycles and jeepneys also using the road in order to board it. It takes strong nerves and good awareness to navigate the roads here, with vehicles attacking you from every direction and no obvious traffic enforcement at all. I was headed to Tanza as it is where Louis grew up. We were also with his friend Rob, another furry who studies in Manila but escapes to Tanza for some tranquility. The bus was exceptionally cramped, certainly not made for chunky westerners, while all of the seats were still coated in plastic, assumedly to protect them. The journey itself would have been half the length had it not been for the snarled up traffic but we did take advantage of a new toll road which has only just opened, reducing the time to about 90 minutes. On the way, we also saw the Mall of Asia, where Saturday's furmeet is due to be held, the university district with its imposing educative institutes and Manila Bay with its mainly yachts, which I am told are barely used.Bus journeys in foreign lands are always an experience, and this was no exception. For a start, the film they were showing was hardly PG-13, something to do with killer spiders that put the shits up me and I'm in my thirties. Furthermore, hawkers kept boarding the bus every couple of miles to sell a range of edible delights such as peanuts and pork scratchings. One lady even started preaching from the Bible during our trip - the Philippines is a devoutly Catholic country - and asked for donations as soon as she had finished.With no bus stops or signs of any kind, fortunately I had Louis by my side to tell the bus driver where to stop once we had reached the small settlement of Tanza. Like my own town of Pudsey, Tanza is built on a crossroads, where we hopped off and did a bit of exploring. The shops and settlements look a little ramshackle, with produce pouring out onto the street, which only added to the atmosphere of the place. 24-hour burger bars (Angel's Hamburgers), a shop selling high end televisions and various convenience stalls all battled for supremacy on the kerbs while the ubiquitous tricycles touted for custom, the Philippine version of taxi cabs. In many ways it was a lot like Indonesia with its chaotic bustle, with people everywhere, along with friendly smiles and people trying to sell you stuff.We headed into Tanza to check out the school and cemetery, both of which are currently undergoing restoration. I discovered that the Philippine flag has two official versions, one inverted during the time of war. The flag looks a bit like the Czech flag and in times of peace, the blue is on top of the red. In times of war, it's vice versa. It was an interesting fact to learn as I was wandering around the modern church attached to the school, at which the children pray as part of their studies. The alters were brilliantly artistic, shimmering gold in the sunlight while the room itself was large and airy, a very pleasant place to be. This was where Louis went to school and it was an honour to be shown around.Another honour was to be invited back to his parents' house on the other side of town, so we hitched a tricycle and, with a bit of a squeeze, the three of us managed to settle in for the short journey. Tricycles are everywhere here and they act like taxis in a country with too little road space for the number of cars. Effectively a tricycle is a motorbike with a silver sidecar bolted to it, in which up to four passengers can ride. It's a little precarious due to the bumpy roads, particularly in wet weather, but it's a very pleasant way to see an area, not to mention far quicker than walking. It's also insanely cheap, like most things here, with our five minute journey costing around 20 pesos (35p).Louis' parents' house is on the outskirts of Tanza, surrounded by rice paddy fields and newbuilds, encouraged by a recent government scheme to build new housing. Unlike in the UK, each individual or family merely has to buy the land and then they can build whatever house they want. Sadly, due to financial constraints, this often means buildings remain unfinished when the money unexpectedly runs out and Louis spent some time lamenting the dried up paddy fields of his youth on which these new houses now higgledy-piggeldy sit. Still, encouraging house building may be a good thing as the poor often build houses above water and on stilts so as to avoid having to pay for land. You see some of these dilapidated developments over the river that runs adjacent to the road heading to Tanza, making me fear for the residents during the flooding associated with the rainy season, which has just started.Louis' mother is an absolute delight and it was great meeting her. She was unbelievably kind and hospitable, with excellent English as her brother-in-law is from Barking, East London. She commended me on the clarity of my accent, saying Londoners and Australians were difficult to understand. She also offered me unfettered use of their family car on Thursday, with a driver, so I could explore the local area and places hard to reach from downtown Manila. That is a really nice gesture for which I'm very grateful.I spent four very happy hours here, wandering around, seeing the menagerie of animals they have and also meeting their golden retriever puppy Charlie who is four months old. He was very playful, running around, happy with his frisbee ring in which he always got his legs tangled when it was dangling from his mouth. He was also very happy with his stick, making us wish we were dogs so we could experience such simple pleasures too. He loved playing with his mouth, trying to grab onto my arm lightly all the time. it was really sweet. The family also has four cats, with one's waving tail scaring me as I thought it was a snake slithering out of a crevice in the house.Many families own animals here, chickens, ducks, geese and cows being the most popular. Primarily these are used for food, but not the fantastic offerings we had during my final hour there. Lengua, ox tongue, cooked in red curry sauce was the main dish served with a side of blood pudding, which was effectively tender pork in a thick sauce made entirely from pig's blood. Think gravy, except blood, the gravy forming around 80% of the dish. It was quite sour to the taste, complementing the sharp tender nature of the ox tongue nicely. It also worked well with rice, with its dryness combining with the moist sauces well. During our meal, which we had in the open plan gazebo, the rain started to pour, typically tropical in its power, lashing on the wood and steel roof, providing a magical exotic atmosphere. It's the rainy season now - it tends to rain tremendously around dusk, 6pm - and six hours later it has yet to stop, with roads now rivers, quite literally, and the lightning strobing every couple of seconds. Not a good time to be on the 14th floor in a hotel.After our meal, we hailed down another tricycle and headed back to the crossroads, which had now become a hawkers' paradise of goodies. Spying a bus in the middle of the road, we dodged the miscellany of cars using it, before clambering on board. As Manila is dangerous for foreigners after dark, Louis kindly accompanied me back to my hotel, only to make the same ninety minute journey back again, but it was appreciated as Manila is a confusing place, particularly if you have only been here for 24 hours. On the bus journey home, we talked about a range of things, spying the beautifully coloured lamp posts in the process. The post itself is decorated with a range of different lights - some coloured blocks, others with LEDs shooting up and down - which adds to the vibrant colour of the city. There are many different variations of these colours, depending on locality and corporate sponsor. It's certainly a nice touch. We also saw a range if American fast food restaurants - McDonald's, Wendy's, KFC and the like - as well as their own chains too, including the aforementioned Jollybee's (see post passim). The Philippinos certainly like their fast food!We got soaked walking the fifty yards back to my hotel but after a great day, we didn't mind. I grabbed a beer from 7-eleven, well Louis did on my behalf, before seeing him off and retiring to my room and watching the delights of cable TV before having a snooze. Puppies like to snooze. Last night, I saw an episode of Ramsey's Kitchen Nightmares based in Silsden, a town about 15 minutes from where I live, which was something of a shock. But then American and British culture is everywhere over here - I heard One Direction and Justin Bieber on the radio on the bus on the way home - so I guess that's the price of globalisation and the Internet connecting the world. Places are different yet the same these days, exotic yet familiar. It's an interesting transformation.

Comments

[porsupah.livejournal.com]

Sounds a bit like an East Asian counterpart to India, with the frenetic pace of the cities, though perhaps even moreso. ^_^;

Not sure I'd be up for tongue, but black pudding can be good, certainly. Is there any sign of goat in the cooking? =:9

I think I'd need to decompress for a couple days after a visit like that.. !

[lupestripe.livejournal.com]

I think comparisons could be drawn between East Asian cities and Indian ones, although I have never been to India so I am sure there are contrasts too.

The tongue is fine provided you don't remember what it is. It tastes like tender meat really, so it's easy to forget what it actually is. There wasn't much goat, no.

[sabotlours.livejournal.com]

I've been loving every post you've been making about your trip!

[lupestripe.livejournal.com]

I'm glad you have been enjoying the diary of my trip *hugs*

[skawinski.livejournal.com]

Hee, devoutly Catholic...I know at least one more place that's ain't as far as the Philippines :P Good to hear you're having a fun time over there! Stay safe and enjoy the rest of your holiday :)

[lupestripe.livejournal.com]

Yep, but this seems to be devoutly Catholic without the political interference. Homosexuality is certainly tolerated and accepted in the Philippines, for example.