Come to think of it, I'm told there's a Pinoy saying that if one dreams of poop, money is coming. That's why one of the Philippines' biggest exports are nurses - the butts are stinky to wipe...but the pay becomes very nice indeed as long as one can ignore the smell. Such applies to our night at the resort - as long as we ignored the problems with the room, we had a truly wonderful time.
And on a side note - one time my youngest son opened the door while I was changing the poopy diaper of one of our medically-fragile foster kids. He didn't miss a beat and quipped, "Mmmmm - smells like money!"
As we were checking out, we met the owners of the resort - whom we suspect are distant cousins of a close friend of ours in the states. It turned out that they were selling beachfront lots, so we had to go see what they were offering (we knew we couldn't afford it, but hey - we've both been realtors before. How could we not go have a look-see?). There was a 450 sq. mtr. lot about 70 feet from the waterfront, and this lot was going for 50K USD. There was a 1000 sq. mtr. waterfront lot that was going for 150K USD. Yes, we drooled over the lots - and the only reason we didn't eagerly sell all our worldly goods to get one of them was that it was simply too far away from family in Manila - and being close to the family means more here than in the States (yes, that IS a true statement). But drool we did.
The neighbors were from Switzerland, Sweden, England, Australia, and of course the US. Our neighbor would have been the Swiss - and the house was magnificent! It was truly waterfront (even had its own retaining wall for when the storms come). I really don't think it's an exaggeration to say a similar house in an similar location stateside would have cost over five million, but here it cannot have cost them more than 500K USD all told, property and complete construction combined. All that for a tenth of the price - nice!
The property owner took us back to the bus stop...and along the way, what should I see along the road but a VFW post! There it was, an honest-to-goodness American Veterans of Foreign Wars post...and it felt really good that I had the right - the right! - to go in there and have a beer.
Article comments
1 - Clarence Yu
Great article. Though I beg to disagree on the system of collecting income and sales tax --- oh, the Bureau of Internal Revenue can be quite creative.
2 - Ruvy
Bang up article Glenn! Your writing reminds me of a less bitter version of Moshe Saperstein. An Israeli humor writer who once wrote for the Jerusalem Post, who wrote essays on life in Nevé Dekalim in Gush Qatif, where he and Rachel had retired to live - and who wrote bitterly of being expelled from his home there by a criminal Israeli regime led by Ariel Sharon.
He too, lives in a slum. Not by choice, or to be near relatives, but because his home was stolen from him.
3 - Glenn Contrarian
Thank you both for the encouragement - it really does help. Maybe this is the better way to become published, by writing about experiences and ironies most Americans don't see - instead of writing long, fictional epics on a grand scale and then watch the torrid pace of technology outdate everything one has written in a matter of months.
Again, thanks!
4 - Jordan Richardson
Nice article, Glenn. I've passed this over to my wife's family (she's Filipino). Very unique, fresh perspective with great lively tone and sharp punches of humour. Well done!
5 - Joanne Huspek
I'm going to have to bookmark this to read again, it was that enjoyable. Nicely done!