Our flight arrives an hour late from Melbourne!

PHILIPPINE 2009 – A SAUCY TRIP REPORT

PT1

I love this shot, I was standing on a flower box when this little boy

approached me from below.

Turned out to be the best shot I got on the brand new Canon EOD digital before it conked out.Bloody digital trash.....

It was one of those quick last minute decisions, a random look on travel.com.au revealed airfares at prices that really could not be ignored. We are not talking about one off those pathetic 10% off fares; this was $645, down from the usual costs that hover on the far side of a grand, which is Aussie for $1000.

Big buggars hey!

The next 24 hours were spent in negotiation with ‘She who must be obeyed’, seeking permission to book the fares and thus relieve ourselves of the misery, boredom and evil in our local community in Sydney town.

Ning donates to the local economy!

My reasons for so urgently wanting to return were two fold; of course there was the desire to meet the members of our railway society based in Manila. These guys were terrific and are doing a terrific job over there. I inspected their recently restored trackcar (BUDA car) that is now on display at Tutuban station, as well as the extended photo wall that joins it.

They have so many plans and I feel quite honoured to be a part of it, even though I am eight hours away. Despite the distance, it makes me proud to be able to help my second country, while so many who were born there and moved here, seem not to care less.

Every weekend a sea of hornbags converge on Rizal Park for excercise to loud rock music. It worth a visit, not only for the loud music, but also the great atmosphere.

The other reason I wished so much to return was to see Filipino people back home. It does not take a rocket scientist to know that I have been developing a big grudge towards them, thank mostly to the efforts of vermin in our local community.

This taxi caught me by surprise and I had to do a sprint to photograph it. Why the fuss? I mean these things are all over the place. A closer look will reveal the company name which is the same as my dear little estranged god-son.

Daily hurt, backstabbing and betrayal finally becomes too much and your own self-defence system soon has you putting up walls, becoming negative and ensures a growing dislike for everyone in that group of people.

The view from our room in Mabini Mansion, Ermita. The trees mark Rizal Park (sometimes called Luneta Park) and Manila Port in the background. Big building in the background is the Manila Hotel, formerly owned by the national railways.

Only returning to the Philippines, where people were still truly Filipino and not corrupted by Australian lifestyle, would solve this dilemma, would return me to where my mind once was, would remind me of why I fell in love with the country in the first place.

The old Fuji S5600 still manages to put out the odd ball tearer or two. These two eepneys are by far the best I have ever taken, especially in the area of lighting and colour. Taken on TM Kalaw in Ermita, I tried to find the maroon jeep again, with no success. Still, walang problema, this one is going up on the kitchen wall.

Despite the pain and negativity, I again found myself doing the usual anticipation things of counting days and marking activities as ‘the last time I will be doing this before I go away’. Even on the day, the anticipation had me egging Ana on to get to the airport as early as possible.
Much time was passed organising all the events I had planned and the people I had to meet.

Soon we would be at the airport...................................

Time to enjoy the holiday - a holiday that proved to be the turning point for me, the holiday that made the attitude changes I needed and to cast away the dead weight of unappreciative people back home.

As I type this I am half way through my holiday and I feel a huge weight lifted from my shoulders, with a positive outlook and plans to be rid of those who don't qualify in the friendship test as soon as I return.

Liberated? You yes, very much so. Things look so much brighter, many thanks to a ceremonial funeral yesterday for these past people in my life.

Rest in NO peace!

Balintawak and the new LRT1 to MRT3 loop closure project is in full swing.

Railways and Industrial Heritage Society

Philippines Inc

(Australian Chapter)

It has been a hard 10 years in the making, but yesterday the Australian chapter of this new society became official.

Ever since I first went to the Philippines in 1999 I have wanted to do something to help preserve the important railway and other transport history of the Philippines.

On returning home I set up the 'Philippine Railways SIG' which has gradually grown to over 200 members and led to numerous websites and forums, it has also been a place where travellers and Filipino students regularly came for information.

Still it was not yet a museum, or a society that could benefit the Filipino population as a whole.

This began to change in 2007 when a group of us visited Caloocan workshops and decided it was time for something to be done, we even inspected the little railcar that has now become our first restoration project.

We later went on to find an expert in Philippine history from Pila Laguna called Jaime Tiongson. Jaime has enormous experience in the area of history and we were very lucky to gain him as our president there. He has been instrumental in our gaining acceptence in many government circles and also captured us our first television appearance.

Being stuck in Australia had me a little depressed, afterall, it was my pet project and something I had pretty much decided to devote my life to. I love the Philippines, despite being a born and bred Aussie, but moving there permanently is not really an option at the moment.
So a happy alternative had to be found and that was the 'Australian Chapter'.

So what does our group do for the parent group in the Philippines?
Glad you asked!!

We are the base for a group newsletter, we conduct fundraising and we are the membership office for the world, the only place we don't accept membership from is, obviously, the Philippines (since the group is already there).
Our board has years worth of experience in the railway industry, preservation and also the railfan hobby. This will all go towards offering technical assistance, research work and other support roles.

DOES IT ALL JUST BENEFIT RAILFANS?

No, indeed it dosen't.
Besides also covering industrial topics as well, the society here in Autralia will also help the Philippines by:
* Giving jobs to people when we outsource major work, thus helping families.
* Most restoration material will be sourced in the Philippines, thus giving companies money and helping people with jobs.
* With most money spent in the Philippines, we will also be doing a lot to help the economy!

So any membership money, or even just the occasional donation helps, not only the saving of great history, but also the country itself.

That is great for everyone!

If you can help us, perhaps with just a donation, no matter how small, please check out our

RIHSPI-ANZ WEBSITE

Thank you

----------------------------------------------------------------------

The South Sydney Filipino Community (or part of it anyway)

~~ MERRY-GO-ROUND OF MISTRUTH ~~

** THE EXCITMENT CONTINUES **

As outlined during my jog yesterday, there has been more exciting rumours going around.

It has indeed been a good decision to advertise the site via other media and mailbox drop, as the decent members of society are coming out of the woodwork with all the latest tid bits of rumour and bollocks.

Remember - for the full truth and nothing but the truth (willing to use a polygraph) keep checking out this website. I don't have the internal desire tolie, or reasons to have to make things look better for my for fear of legal repercussions.

So you may be asking yourself

"AM I A FILIPINO MUSHROOM?"

"AM I BEING KEPT IN THE DARK AND FED BULLSHIT?"

Well yes it is indeed a valid couple of questions.

Don't get me wrong, some people in the community are happy to listen to the bollocks and allow themselves to be treated like fools by the spreader, without doing themselves the honour of getting the full story.

Of course you are welcome to look like a fool - it is a free country - we fought in two world wars so you are able to make the decision to hide from reality and embrace that which is ignorance.

Of course if you have any self respect, you may wish to know the truth behind the storylines.

Now if you have heard any of the following storylines (in green) you may welcome a BREATH OF FRESH AIR, aka THE TRUTH (in red).

I was the one assaulted by them!

Interesting- how does one do that while sitting in a chair, being approached by the actual attacker?

I was attacked by Brad and a couple of guys!

This is an interesting story, which has now changed numerous times. There was only two guys there, one was myself who was trying to push the attacker off, the other was your friend who assaulted me (see earlier shot of the bruise on my arm).

Actually, while I think of it, a male Filipino friend of the attacker, who I have finally identified through a local Filo shop, was about to punch me as well but thought better of it.

These other two guys seem to have a desire to have caused themselves much trouble over reasons they had no idea about.

Those who were attacked have been taken to court!

Really, we missed this. How did we do? Did we win?