A Trip Report-part 5

[donb2222]

It's only $50 each way to Davao, and I decide to risk my life and go :0)  Before I left I sent text messages to 3 penpals, and one of them responded that she would meet me at the airport.  When we land at the airport I meet a fellow American that has to wait 8 hours at the airport for his penpal to take a bus and meet him there.  That meant he would be sitting at the airport until 1 in the morning.
I gave him my cell number, and asked him to call me if she did not show up.  I was glad to have him to talk to because penpal #6 is an hour and a half late.  The excuse is always traffic.  We have traffic in America also, but we plan for it.
Anyway, she is not as pretty as her picture, but  there is something really sexy about the way she moves and the way she talks.
I check into the Regency Inn, her recommendation, and she takes me to a restaurant that she owns.  This is really cool.  We sit and talk, and drink Red Horse (my first time).  Her restaurant has pool tables and videoke, and she sings a few songs for me.  
She has a great sense of humor and I enjoy the flirting back and forth. She takes me back to my hotel, and we talk for hours in my room.  
The next day she invites me to her townhouse, and I am very impressed.  It is really nice.  We then leave to go meet her friends, and that is where things went downhill.  She introduces me to her friends, and that is it, for the next hour it is like I am invisible.
I am sitting alone in the corner, and I keep trying to start a conversation with someone but I am basically ignored.  This is really weird.   Most times Filipinos are very eager to talk to guests, and I am not able to follow the conversation because it is all in Visayan.
My penpal is sitting on the opposite side of the room talking to one of her friends.
I finally tell my penpal that I need to go, and I just walk out the door and get a taxi.  
I go back to the hotel and try to contact my other penpals, but they do not respond.  With the way things have been going, the other two penpals were probably friends of penpal #6 ;0)
I fly back to Cebu, and the Golden Peak is full, so I check into the Castle Peak.  I head to the mall to do some shopping, and to flirt with a girl that works in a store that I frequent.  Wow, she loves to smile, and she asks if I like to read.  I tell her that I am reading a book by John Grisham, and I ask her if she would like to have the book when I am done..

[Dave H]

... in response to A Trip Report-part 5, posted by donb2222 on Nov 7, 2002

Hi Don,

This has been a most enjoyable and educational experience! Please keep it coming! Sorry to hear about the low points, but they have sure been interesting. About the only thing that is missing is a rickshaw pulling karate master that pulls up and threatens to kick your butt and then performs a kata instead. :oDDD  Sorry...that one still cracks me up from Larry's trip report.

Dave H.

[shadow]

... in response to Facinating!, posted by Dave H on Nov 8, 2002

I didn't post about the pig in the sidecar!!!  

[Dave H]

... in response to Good thing..., posted by shadow on Nov 8, 2002

Hey LArry,

I think you need to add that to the "P-L Pig Hall of Fame" posts. I've heard about a vulcanized pig in a jeepney, an exploding pig, and now a pig in a sidecare. )))

Dave H,

[shadow]

... in response to A Trip Report-part 5, posted by donb2222 on Nov 7, 2002

Your trip sounds much like my trip and experiences of nearly two years ago, when you and I met. Although I seemed rather disgusted with my findings then, I learned much. I have since run by my own set of ground rules when dealing with penpals.

Rule #1 if they don't respect me enough to be on time, or nearly so, they are not worth my time. A half hour late once in a while is tolerable. But culture or not when they are repeatedly 1-2 hours late to me shows a great deal of disrespect. I usually inform them up front that I will not wait for them. They are either there within half hour of when they say they will be, or I will not be there when they do show up. There is no excuse to be two hours late in Cebu City and blame it on traffic when I can walk anywhere in the city in 2 hours. In fact, I can walk from uptown to LapuLapu in two hours.

Rule # 2 deals with the age issue. At a very minumum 25 years is the age I start looking at them. Preferably 30. Although I am sure I am passing up some good ones, I no longer have the desire to sort through the immature giggling girls to find that one in three dozen that is worth the effort. I'm looking for someone mature enough to have an intelligent conversation without 3 chaperones on the fifth date.

I will no longer tolerate the extreme jealousy some of the women there display. If and when I commit to someone, that someone will have no reason to be jealous of anybody. Until that time they have no property rights on me, and jealousy will send me down the road without them to find someone else. To me it shows immaturity and insecurity.  

Honesty sometimes can be hard to find there. Many things in the culture are different. I understand that. Often they do not consider what they are telling me is a lie, but in actuality it is. Silly things like "traffic" as being the cause of them being two hours late in Cebu City. Bullcr**. I'd rather hear they were talking with their sisters boyfriend and forgot the time than be given some lame excuse.

I will save my pisos for someone who wants to be with me and acts like it. Someone who is where she says she will be when she says she will be there. Someone who doesn't need a taxi to go two blocks over. Someone who would be happy living in a nipa hut with her chosen mate.

Myrna would have failed all these rules on the first date.

Just my humble opinion.

Larry.

[Dave H]

... in response to Hi Don., posted by shadow on Nov 7, 2002

Hi Larry,

Sounds like some very good rules to live by. Reading Don's and your reports has made me realize how very lucky I was to find my wife...let alone in one try. She doesn't even own or like cellphones. )))

Dave H.

[shadow]

... in response to Iagree!, posted by Dave H on Nov 8, 2002

you probly never gift wrapped one for her in your G-string!

[Dave H]

... in response to Yahbut,..., posted by shadow on Nov 8, 2002

Hi Larry,

That would probably make her dislike cellphones even more. LOL She is finally text messaging her sisters a little from her PC to their cellphones.

Dave H.

[donb2222]

... in response to Hi Don., posted by shadow on Nov 7, 2002

Hi Larry,
 I feel as though I learned much more about the Philippines on this last trip than I did on my four previous trips.  You are right, there is no excuse for anyone being two hours late, and that is why I excused myself and walked away from the one that was always late.
The more intelligient and educated Filipinas seem to understand the difference between Filipino time, and American time, and act accordingly.
Chaparones for the first date or two are fine, but after that it is a little ridiculous.  If you ask most Filipinas they will tell you that they never have a chaparone on a date with a Filipino.
Yep, lying does seem to be more accepted over there. I attribute some of it to their desire to tell you what they think you want to hear, but not all of it.  Sometimes they seem to lie for absolutely no reason, or for any reason that I can understand.
I never did have much of a problem with jealousy. When the penpals would ask if were meeting other penpals, I would reply that I was meeting at least 50 or 60 others :0)
Try living like a Filipino, and ride the jeepneys and eat the bar-b-que with them.  The ones that just seem to be happy to be with you are the better ones.  That, and let them pay for things with your money, if they keep they change, you have your answer.  
Of course, I do not need to tell you how to live like a Filipino, you are thrifty just as you are, and I respect that.

Don

[shadow]

... in response to Re: Hi Don., posted by donb2222 on Nov 7, 2002

It seems every trip gets cheaper aand funner. This upcoming trip will cost less than $1000 total. Next one $500?  

Charlie.

[Dave H]

... in response to Thrifty? Me?, posted by shadow on Nov 8, 2002

Hi Larry,

That is great! With all of this bloody Scottish blood flowing through my veins, I like a bargain. I have the Philippine end worked out. Now I'm trying to figure out a way for the airlines to pay me to fly to the Philippines. )))

Dave H.

[shadow]

... in response to I sure am..., posted by Dave H on Nov 8, 2002

You'll remember ur ol buddy Larry when you figure that one out!  

Is that what it is? Scottish blood? Scotch/Irish here, so I guess it's possible!

Larry.

[Dave H]

... in response to I sure hope..., posted by shadow on Nov 8, 2002

Hi Larry,

I'm actually Scotch/Irish myself. Northern Irish Protestant on my paternal grandfather's side, Irish Catholic on my grandmother's. Some more Scottish on my mother's side. My wife loves to tease me with protestant lines from the book/movie "Angela's Ashes." I tend to eat fast, so she says "You eat like a Presbyterian." Another favorite is "It's the Northern Ireland in ye ... it attracts the dirt." My bad hair mornings are because of my ""Presbyterian hair." LOL From your pictures, you look like we might be related. LOL By the way, your photos were fantastic, we really enjoyed them!

Dave H.

[shadow]

... in response to Me too..., posted by Dave H on Nov 8, 2002

My G-string is GREEN!  

I am undisputed champion of bad hair mornings.

Larry.

[donb2222]

... in response to Thrifty? Me?, posted by shadow on Nov 8, 2002

Hi Larry,
 Only 1000?  How can you do that?  How long will you be staying?  Please elaborate.

Thanks ,

Don