Hobo-ing in Manila

I'm in Manila!

I don't have many pictures to show yet.  I honestly haven't taken any, other than my receipts for expense reporting later. 

These are my thoughts thus far:

• Working the night shift is hard.  The first day, I loved it.  I loved coming home to a bright day.  But honestly, it's really hard sleeping in the day, and feeling like the world is moving on without you.  Maybe I realized this subconsciously last night, so it was so hard sleeping, and then I could hear my damned neighbor having sex, and watching tv loudly.  It woke me up several times.  All I can imagine was this married, old white businessman doing it with some Asian prostitute, and it really disturbed me.
• Life is unfair.  Honestly, the slums of the Philippines intrigued me.  And maybe that sounds really naive and annoying, but I haven't seen the slums before.  It was also my first time seeing a Jeepney too.  There's something sadly beautiful about the slums, all the vibrant colors covering the dark and smelly trash.  Even the Jeepney - people squashed with each other in these tiny colorful transports that were converted from military jeeps.  Although I haven't seen much yet.. I appreciated the sense of culture and character emenating from those trying to make the most out of nothing. 
• I live in a 5-Star hotel.  It's where I call home for the next 2.75 weeks, as I stuff my face in gluttony at $40 per meal while listening to a live string quartet.  Get this, the hotel is so amazing, that in the book of amenities, it says you can request a helicopter landing pad.  It also has a dress code for the lobby.  The excess disgusts me, and maybe I am just being naive again.  Maybe it's been too much of a culture shock seeing one part of the city from the other.  In LA, the contrast was never this severe, and maybe because of that, it was easier to forget about the injustice... To feel less guilty.  Maybe I should not be one to judge.
• The hotel feels almost suffocating.  I can't fit in with these businessmen.. ever.. these 'important' people.  These individuals, that seem to have so much power. 
• I actually feel very lonely and out of place here.  I don't know why God placed me here.
• All cynicism aside.. the Filipino people so far have been incredibly friendly and hospitable.  And it is awesome (for me) that pretty much everyone I've encountered speaks really good English. 
• Food is good - similar to Chinese food and flavors. 
• I like the stuffy / humid weather.  I think maybe it gets me in touch with my roots.  Actually, that's me being naive again - I am in air conditioning 80% of the time, so I hardly get to go out.  But when I am out, I like it!

Signing off - Doe

Missing NYC

I've been sick with the cold. It's kind of nice though to be alone in the house and to just rest. In my mind, there are a jumble of fears and wants. I haven't been reading the Word this weekend and I think because of that I have also lost a lot of perspective and also my daily routines.

I saw and did much during my trip to the east coast. I'll put up pictures later. But tonight I just wanted to share one of my favorite art pieces from the Met (Metropolitan Museum of Art) in NY. It was created in Ghana, and from afar it glitters of gold and looks very luxurious and classy. Up close it is made of woven recycled bottle caps and cans. Amazing!! I love love love it.

SNA

I'm at the airport to fly from SNA to SFO to MDT... It's going to be a long day. I'm never choosing such ridiculous flights again.

On a side note, I'm trying pretty hard to maintain my sanity in preparation for the upcoming week. Praying a lot and just maintaining perspective. I didn't wake up this morning in beads of sweat that I normally would.

I'll just upload some pictures of Memphis while I'm waiting to board: Beale Street (Memphis's historic mini street of jazz bars- live music literally at every bar), toilets made of guitars found on Beale Street, and my view at the hotel in Memphis (gave me a lot of peace waking up to ducks swimming in the mornings).

Accounting may not be so bad after all...

I'm back from Memphis. Everyone who asks me how it was, the first thing I have to say is that it was a culture shock. I was there for about 5 days, primarily to work and eat BBQ so I didn't see much other than delicious BBQ and Beale street. I think my experience could be summarized in the following:

- Where are all the fresh veggies?!??!?!??! All I saw were welted lettice and soggy tomatoes.
- Everyone is ginormous. So much, that it's the first time where I saw obesity an issue in America. I only saw 4 skinny people out of hundreds I encountered.
- There are no Asians. People kept staring at me, and some workers at the warehouse tried to holla at me.
- I didn't realize this, but they are extremely racist in the South. Talking to the head of the warehouse, he was talking about his family and how he met a girl in Tennessee and had ended up marrying her. He mentioned that "Southern Belles" talk about how they would never want to live or interact with those "Yankees" and still refer the Civil War as something caused by the "aggressive north." It was my first time fully understanding why they had an Asian population of 2%. And that any sense of niceness that Southerners show is just a facade for whatever crap they may be talking about you or your culture behind your back. It was daunting to realize that America is composed of 80% of these types of people, and that I've been sheltered in my diverse LA bubble. I've traveled through various countries, and yes, I expected such perspective in each respective country, but never in America, the supposed melting pot of the world. It was just another blow to any sense of identity or belonging to this country.

In any case, it was an overall interesting trip. I definitely wish I could have had time to do some sightseeing, but it was truly a whirlwind of work at the warehouse. I felt really sick once I returned I think from all the food I ate. My body suffered a shock from a part-time vegetarian diet to an all-smoky-meat diet.


On the bright side, I've been feeling really encouraged relating to my career. There were two things I came across (thanks John for the first).

1. You don't have to be an accountant forever:
"Accountant To Play Football For Miami Dolphins"
http://www.thepostgame.com/blog/dish/201204/accountant-play-football-miami-dolphins

This article talks about an accountant from Florida that ends up being recruited to the Miami Dolphins, which is practically like a 0.00001% chance.


2. Even if you are an accountant, your number-crunching can serve a greater pupose:
"Accounting for International Development"
http://www.afid.org.uk/

This website shows volunteer opportunities in which you could help organizations abroad in need of better financial infrastructures. They have needs in all accounting related fields: financial planning, preparation of financial statements, bookkeeping, internal audit, etc. For the first time in my life, I have a desire to grow my understanding and knowledge knowing that one day I can use it for such purposes. That's awesome!

Memphis BBQ

Mmmmmmmm... Dry rub. Hands down the best BBQ I've ever had.. Very smoky and flavorful. The meat falls off the bone in a way you know it's been cooked just the right way. And best banana pudding too. I just hope I don't get heartburn again in the morning.

Double Filet-o-Fish

*drool*...

Angèle Dubeau - Les Beautés Du Diable

I am obsessed with this song these days... Just pardon the weird goth theme in the video. Really, don't watch the video, just listen. This artist also does a slammin' "Princess Mononoke".