10 random things...

…I’ve learnt about life in The Philippines since arriving here just over two weeks ago.

1. Karaoke is VERY popular.
 
2. You do not put toilet paper down the toilet – you dispose of it in the bin provided.
 
3. Clothes are dried by hanging them outside your house on hangars. I’m so used to seeing second-hand clothes for sale on the streets in East Africa that it took me a few days to realise these clothes were not for sale…
 
4. A favourite dish is lechon. This is a young pig (about six months old) that is cooked whole on a spit.
 
5. The most common form of public transport is the pedicab. This is a bicycle with a side-car and a typical journey will cost 5 pesos (about £0.07p or $0.11)

 
6. There are a lot of dogs. Most of these are strays although some do seem to belong to people. They all wander the streets during the day and night, fighting and barking.
 
7. Food can often be an unusual mix of sweet and savoury. Bread is usually sweet and finding cheese in a fruit salad was an ‘interesting’ taste sensation!
 
8. Cock fighting is a popular sport, drawing large crowds to purpose-built auditorium.
 
9. Each town or city is divided into smaller districts, known as Barangay. Each Barangay has its own council along with a ‘Multi-Purpose Hall’, which is the equivalent of a community centre or village hall. The Barangay we live in is just one street but there is still a sign that welcomes you at one end and says ‘Thank you for visiting’ at the other end.
 
10. February is meant to be the start of the dry season but it is still raining a lot. Nearly every day there are heavy downpours accompanied by strong winds, which blow the rain at all angles. Some days these showers last for just a few minutes but on other days, like today, it seems to rain virtually all the time.