I’d like to welcome all of my taipei readers. I’m coming over to rock the spot, so watch out. For all my current readers, i’m gonna head out to taipei for a bit…..

The venue for this particular event is The Wall

The day began as my cousins and I came home in the early morning from late night eats. Our rendezvous point was the place where I finished the night before. My volunteer experience had finished as my highschool years finished. For several years, something like this was lurking in the back of my mind.  As I researched at work,  I looked at many charitable organizations where I would have to donate my time and money to help the not-so fortunate. I looked into working in a jungle reserve in South America, volunteering my time as a coach in Africa and lending my assembly skills in the States. Why you ask? I do like helping people. I look around the Philippines and I see desperation, I see starvation, I see  homeless, I see and try to do with what I can to help.

Living in a world with no money is definetly hard. Living in a third world with no money is even harder…. The other day I was fortunate enough to join a couple of friends who are involved in Gawad Kalinga (www.gawadkalinga.org). Its similar to Habitat for Humanity, a charity that provides housing for people who cannot afford shelter.

As we entered the build area, it was evident that the area did not have a 7-11 or starbucks,however it had your local sari-sari (mom and pop store/home) and a local buko juice and pineapple stop. Its rainy season here in the Phippines, so I tried to find shelter as quickly as possible to shield my camera from getting wet. Foggy lenses are not good….. I look around the build site its then I realize the build site was already a home site. The unfinished 3 storey building was already to home to some 6-7 families who are building the homes.

There were about 20 of us who gave our time and effort to help with some construction duties. The duties for the day …… make cement. Our cementing skills were off the hook!…. lol!.. well not really. It was pretty much all manual labour. Shovels and homemade buckets. Somebody would put stones or sand in the buckets then we’d just pass it along a line up made of men women and children. They would mix it up and voila contcrete…. then we would pass the concrete to another section of the build site….. and that was pretty much the day. Passing buckets  of sand up and down, side to side around the build site. … oh did i mention it was still raining…..

The size of the living area for each unit is about 10 x 8 x 8. Or somewhere close to those dimensions. Its not very big at all. It has running water, a bathroom and a place to sleep. Its not very big. Something is better than nothing.

Thanks to Sarah and Banjo for letting me be……….

I do have pictures but facebook isn’t co-operating. Ill try to get some pics…..

To get a sense of cultural identity and a sense of history of the cities i do visit, I always try to make a visit at a landmark, museum and/or gallery. As ‘touristy’ as it may sounds going to such places and exhibits can give you a general overview of the country you are visiting. So why not go to the National Museum here in Manila. Its great to know how the country has developed and what things people treasure in the country. This is how I get down.

Philippine National Museum vid 01

Philippine National Museum vid 02

the other day, i went to eat at a japanese fast food joint called “tokyo tokyo” where they serve “all you can eat rice”. In the restaurant, there are servers who goes around picks up your tray, brings your food etc. etc….. When you want to eat more rice and you are unaware ….. you’ll hear.. “Steaming hot rice coming….” of course in a filipino accent…. it made be giggle like a little school girl…

Finding work is proving to be difficult here, even with my experience there isn’t much work to have in the advertising world. It be nice to have work to support my traveling habit. thats why there hasnt been many blog entries. However, I have been trying to build a network of friends and new faces my time here. But from my experiences from England it proves to be the same time around. Finding a group or network takes time. You have to make the effort in meeting new and exciting people. People here are willing to show you around, give you tips and help you in the right direction. But the question is where am i going?

Theme music ATCQ - “find a way”