I Used to Live There! – Page 6 – Bradley's Old Fashioned Weblog

Typical Treatment of Family Members Returning From Overseas

June 28, 2010 Bradley Farless2 Comments

I’m sure not every American’s experience is the same, but when I go home to visit family, events usually play out in pretty much the same fashion. I’m sure most people would recognize this as their typical experience as well. You call ahead to let them know you’re coming home. When you arrive, you can see that the house has been cleaned. Your family will welcome you and tell you to go ahead and get comfortable. A room and bed have been prepared for your arrival and after you put away your luggage you get something to drink, maybe something to eat, and then you join your relatives in the den (or living room) to trade stories and talk about whatever interests you. Typically you’re treated to dinner, maybe even more than once depending on how many family members live in the area.

Well, that’s about how it goes for me. I know from lots of experience. I spent quite a few years away from home while in the Army and I’m away from home now. Before that, when I was still a kid, my dad was in the military as well. So, coming home for visits is something I’ve been doing all of my life. It’s always an exciting time, when I can look forward to getting some good quality rest and relaxation. In other words, when you come home to visit, the visit is all about you and making you welcome and comfortable. Your family wants to make sure you enjoy your stay.

Before I go on, I want to say that what follows isn’t necessarily my experience. This is just a typical behavior for Filipinos. I count myself lucky. I have a great set of in-laws. One of my brother-in-laws even flew up from the southern islands to spend a little time with me before we left on a previous trip.

A common habit of Filipinos, when greeting a returning family member, especially one that comes from abroad is almost completely opposite that of the American way of doing things. Where the American return home is all about making the visitor comfortable, the Filipino return home is all about making the family comfortable. Like I said, this is most often the case when that family member is returning from an overseas location where they’ve been living.

Upon arrival, there may be a place set up for that family member to sleep. However, the responsibility of filling the fridge will fall on the guest. Depending on the length of stay, other financial burdens may be placed on the guest, such as utility bills. Beyond this, the family will expect hand-outs, usually in the form of cash or gifts, from the guest. In the local language, Tagalog, it’s called ‘pasalubong’, a gift given when returning home. It doesn’t just apply to this situation though. It’s often the case that parents will bring home a snack or candy for children when returning from work. That counts too, but in this case the pasalubong is more of an expectation than a gift. If that expectation isn’t met, tension is immediately created. If the guest doesn’t step up to cover bills or other expenses, such as purchasing new household items, then family members immediately assume that the guest is stingy and is holding out on them. This is because Filipinos almost all believe that if a person is overseas then they’re living the good life and have plenty of money to burn. Those of us that live in those other countries, Filipino migrant workers, or those that have traveled extensively likely know otherwise, but that is a common misconception in the Philippines. Also, the poorer the family, the more they expect from their returning relative.

This habit of sponging off of returning overseas workers isn’t restricted to family members. There are people who will make it a point to call up friends who have returned from overseas, to ‘catch up’, and will then impose on that friend to treat them to lunch at an expensive restaurant. This isn’t just a guess. I’ve heard first-hand accounts of this happening from various people, as well as second-hand accounts.

The result of this is a lot of hard feelings between family members and returning visitors. Returning family members may feel unduly put upon, especially if their salary overseas is just enough to keep them living a moderate lifestyle while putting a bit in the bank to invest in their own future. Family members on the other hand, due to ignorance, may wind up feeling snubbed or abandoned.

As a consequence, I’ve heard of quite a few Filipinos that don’t inform their family members that they’re coming back to the Philippines when they return for vacation. They don’t want to feel saddled with financial responsibilities on their vacations and instead get a hotel room and just hang out with friends, shop, relax and have fun, which is really what a vacation should be all about.

Over time, I’m sure this problem will be remedied through education and experience, but that’s probably a long time in coming. For now, most Filipinos believe that a person living overseas has plenty of wealth that should be spread around when they come to visit.

How I Got a 1 Year Visa For Free in the Philippines

June 25, 2010 Bradley FarlessLeave a comment

When I entered the Philippines on June 1st I entered with a tourist visa stamp with the intention of filing for a resident visa and possibly extensions to hold me over until it was approved. When we went to the Bureau of Immigration satellite office in Makati, however, we were told that filing for a resident visa can take up to 3 months. Extensions might not cut it and it would be costly, so we asked for advice. The lady at the office asked us if we were married and if we’d entered the country together along with a copy of our marriage contract. We said we had, so she asked us why we hadn’t availed of the ‘balikbayan’ privelege.

We had no clue what a balikbayan visa was. We hadn’t seen anything about it on the Bureau of Immigration site while researching visas. It might be there, but since it’s so unusual a phrase, I might have overlooked it. She told us that since my wife had been out of the country for over a year and was an OFW (Overseas Foreign Worker), I, as her spouse, qualified for a 1 year balikbayan visa. She said that we should have approached the immigration counter at NAIA together when we first arrived and I would have received the visa with no problem. Oh, and I’m not sure how this works but the balikbayan visa isn’t actually a visa. I don’t know what you would call it. Also, the best part is that it’s completely free.

Here are the exact requirements to qualify:

Former Philippine citizens (including Filipinos who have become naturalized U.S. citizens, and citizens of the Bahamas, Bermuda and other countries within the jurisdiction of the Embassy of Washington, D.C.); Also eligible are Filipino citizens living overseas. A typical situation is that the Filipino visitor to the Philippines is not yet a foreign citizen, but he or she has an immigration card from a foreign nation [such as a “green card” in the USA].
Foreign spouses and minor foreign unmarried children of Filipinos and former Filipino citizens.

Since we didn’t get the visa at the airport, we had to take a few extra steps. We wound up having to make a trip to the main office of the Bureau of Immigration in Intramuros, an area of Manila that used to be home to the Spaniards during the colonial period. Once there we approached the information desk and stated our case. The clerk at the desk told us to proceed to the Immigration Regulation division on the 3rd floor where we again stated our case to the Immigration Officer who helped us.

Since we didn’t follow the steps appropriately, it was within the discretion of the Immigration Officer to tell us to leave the country and then return to get the balikbayan visa, but we were polite and had our documents ready so she was more than happy to help us out. She had us fill out a form requesting the change and then made a notation on my passport visa page, amending the tourist 21 day visa stamp to a balikbayan visa.

So, now I can stay in the Philippines for up to 1 year at no charge, which gives me more than ample time to apply for the resident visa at my convenience. Living in the Philippines comes with a cascading torrent of fees, but for once the system worked in our favor without costing us a few thousand pesos.

If you’re planning on coming to the Philippines and you qualify for this, save yourself some time and get it done right at the airport. Just remember that you have to arrive together, approach the desk together, have your passports (obviously) and your valid marriage contract. If however, you’re already here and didn’t know about this, hopefully this post will give you an idea of how to get it amended.

Good luck!

The iPad 3G is for sale in Manila, but WTF?

June 25, 2010September 4, 2021 Bradley Farless4 Comments

While we were out in Manila last night at Megamall we wandered into the electronics area to find some speakers for my laptop. Some of the ‘specially priced’ movies we’ve been picking up have low volume so we needed something to give it a bit of a boost. While we were there we saw this in the window:

The iPad3G is a pretty neat item. I personally have no desire to get one. I still think of it as nothing more than a giant iPod Touch. Plus, it doesn’t really match up with life in the Philippines. Walking around with something like that in your hand would make you an impressive… target. Ya. People would see that and that incident where the guy got his fingers ripped off while his iPad was being stolen would seem tame by comparison.

Anyway, what prompted me to take the photo was the price tag. The iPad isn’t being sold here officially, that I know of anyway, so the hand-imported ones are selling for higher than what they should. The price on that iPad is 59,950 PHP, or approximately 1,290 USD. Electronics in the Philippines typically carry a higher price tag. I think they’re highly taxed by the government, but this is just over the top.

The next ‘toy’ that I shell out money for will probably be the iPhone 5 next year, if even that. I’ve had to rearrange my priorities since coming here and I can think of plenty of other things I could spend that money on. My trusty iPhone 3G will just have to keep chugging along for a few more years.

Squatters in Manila

June 20, 2010 Bradley FarlessLeave a comment

Something I noticed on my first visit to the Philippines two years ago was that people seem to live anywhere there’s room enough to set up shelter. I thought that there must be no sort of zoning regulations or building codes, both of which would prevent this sort of thing in the US. I still don’t know if there are building codes and zoning regulations in the Philippines, but I know why there are houses everywhere. People just do what they want to do and because so many of them do it, it’s too costly for the government to try to stop it; they just ignore it instead. This has led to a class of people who are locally called ‘squatters’, at least in English.

Squatters are people who don’t own the land they’re living on. They have no legal agreement, tenancy or title, or anything of the sort. They just see an area that looks like a good spot for a house (or in some cases just a ramshackle shelter) and they start building with whatever they have the means to afford or acquire.

No area is off-limits to squatters, in their own minds at least. If there’s a 10 feet of ledge along the top of a sharp ridge by the road, they’ll build on it. If there’s a space under a bridge, they’ll build on it. If there’s an empty lot near a major mall that’s not being patrolled regularly, they’ll build on it.

What you wind up with, at least in Manila itself, is something that looks like this:

I don’t remember the name of the area where I took this photo. It’s where two major train lines intersect and you pass between them using a covered walkway. One of the protective grills was missing so it gave me the perfect spot to take a photo. The squatters homes are made of pretty much anything they can find and put to use.

The most bizarre thing about squatters is that they have electricity. Some of them even have air conditioners and they usually have running water too. In the interests of earning money, the utility companies in Manila have done installations to provide them with their basic needs, further legitimizing their claims to their homes, and the land they sit on. Imagine being a politician and trying to shut down all of the areas like this in Manila. Imagine the public outcry over the ‘inhumanity’ of it. So, despite the fact that these people don’t own the land, it’s not likely they’ll be removed any time soon.

Fort Santiago, Intramuros, Manila, Philippines

June 18, 2010 Bradley FarlessLeave a comment

The Intramuros area of Manila is actually pretty big. There are still sections of the original wall wall running through the city, complete with rusty cannons and stone guardhouses, which people can still walk on. These areas aren’t maintained well, though they’re kept relatively clean. The inner area of the wall seems to have been converted into mostly tertiary schools, souvenir shops, restaurants and a few businesses. We didn’t wander the walls or the greater Intramuros area during this trip; we went straight to Fort Santiago.

Fort Santiago is the site of the oldest military compound in the Philippines and has been attacked, destroyed, rebuilt and used by the Spaniards, Filipinos, British, Americans and the Japanese during various wars and occupations. It’s purpose has been both noble and terrible as a site for national defense and the scene of a major massacre. Currently, the area is in varying states of repair, with some areas looking well manicured and others crumbling with every gust of wind. You can see where some structures have been shored up with improved technology over the centuries, like a few steel braces and beams we saw on the original red brick Spanish military barracks which was originally built in 1593.

Before entering Fort Santiago proper, there is a well manicured area that must have been rebuilt to give you a sense of what the area looked like in its prime, under Spanish control. It’s really quite nice. There are also a few cafes and gift shops in this area, as well as a partially restored warehouse that was used for storing goods brought in off ships.

There are still a few ugly ducklings around that need some attention and restoration, but I saw plenty of construction material positioned alongside and in front of them, so at some point these should be fixed up nicely. I’m especially curious as to what the second building was for. It looks like a residence. A rough guess is that it belonged to the owner of the shipping warehouse across the plaza. Some of the chips on the walls look like they were caused by bullets though, so perhaps at some point a group of soldiers tried to use it for a makeshift defense.

To enter Fort Santiago proper, you have to cross a moat using the original bridge.

Flanking both sides of the gate are relief carvings of what look like Spanish soldiers. They’ve both been heavily damaged, perhaps through intentional defacing by angry Filipinos who resented Spanish rule.

These red brick ruins are all that’s left of the barracks built by the original Spanish soldiers in 1593. During the American period they were used by military officers and their families. The building was destroyed during World War II.

The two holes in the first image, and a few others like it, were placed along the waterfront area of the fort, by the Pasig River. When we first saw them my wife said they looked like places for holding prisoners. I looked down in one and saw that it had a tunnel that led back into the fort so I guessed that it was a powder and munitions storage area. Turns out we were both right.

The Spaniards originally used the area as storage vaults for munitions and powder, but it was too damp to suit their needs. They built a new storage area further away from the river and turned it into a dungeon for prisoners. This area would later be used by the Japanese to imprison and torture Filipino and American guerrillas, civilians and POWs.

Just past that sign I’m standing in front of in that picture there’s an opening that leads down into the lower level. It was locked up. I’m guessing it was damaged during the Ondoy disaster last year and hasn’t been reopened to the public yet, which is a shame because it would have been very cool to get a first-hand look at something with so much historical significance. I’ll have to find out who to annoy into reopening the area.

Since I couldn’t go in, I stuck my arm down through the opening and took a few pictures with my camera. When I got home later and transferred the images to my laptop, this is what I saw:

Notice anything odd about that image? Here are two more that I took from different angles:

That’s just a tad bit creepy right? I think it must be a statue, because later I saw bronze statues through an opening in another closed off area, but those were all one solid color. This one has different colored clothing on and a more natural looking skin tone. The area is creepy anyway, because the Japanese massacred 600 people in there at the end of the war:

The whole Fort has a pretty heavy atmosphere. A lot of lives were lost in that small area and during the majority of its existence it has been used as a stronghold for a foreign military on Filipino soil. As we walked through I couldn’t help but imagine the way things must have been in the past, what the soldiers must have done, both good and bad, or how the Filipinos felt when they saw the walls. I spent some time in the US military so I wasn’t imagining ‘glorious battle’. I was just wondering at the daily routines. What did they eat? Where did they eat? I wondered how they’d adjusted to the heat and if they ever flicked cigarette butts over the wall into the river. I wondered where they used the toilet. The simple stuff that often gets overlooked in action movies.

Fort Santiago is well worth a visit and I’m looking forward to going again when more areas are open to the public. Besides the dungeons, the actual building Jose Rizal (the Philippines national hero) was imprisoned in as well as a walkway down by the river were blocked to the public. I still think it must be due to last year’s Ondoy storm damage so I’ll keep my fingers crossed for a reopening sometime in the next few years.

Note: In this post I deliberately avoided talking about Jose Rizal, though his presence in the fort does play a large part in the nation’s history. The reasons for that are that I don’t know enough about him to discuss him yet and I focused on the areas that interested me or had significance to me as an American. The fort has a very nice Jose Rizal museum which you can take a look at if you have an interest in that aspect of Filipino history. I’ll be posting about Jose Rizal in the future when I’ve heard about and read up on him more.

Save The Turtle! 亀

June 18, 2010 Bradley Farless13 Comments

There are many areas in the house that require our attention, and this was one of the most serious. When we finally got to cleaning up the turtle aquarium, I couldn’t help but feel bad for not doing it sooner. This turtle was in a tank on the second floor. I’m not sure who was supposed to be taking care of it, but it was sitting there in its filth, starving, with a glass full of turtle food on a nearby shelf that no one was giving him. So, we started feeding him and kept putting off the inevitable, probably because of just how disgusting an event it would be. We even hoped to find a cheap new tank for him so we could literally toss the old one over the balcony railing into the empty lot next to us. That didn’t happen, so we had to take action. We couldn’t bear to see the turtle suffering anymore.

Today while we were at the market we had to stop by the pet store to buy a few kilos of cat and dog food, so we got some new gravel, a water treatment liquid that will help keep the water clean and some turtle food, since we’d run out. I wanted to get a filtration system for the water but they’re a bit expensive and we’re closely monitoring our budget until we get our first paychecks. Instead, that liquid we bought will have to be enough. That and some wire mesh screen we’re going to put over the top to keep the mosquitoes and other bugs from laying eggs in the now fresh water.

There’s only so much I can say with words, so here are some pictures and a video to help you get an idea of the disaster that was sitting in that aquarium.

This is the tank before we got started. It was mostly empty, without enough water, and it was packed with crawling insects, larva, and weird flying bugs that were clinging to the sides. There was even a spider in a web. The smell was HORRIBLE.

We had my laptop out for some music to keep our mind off what we were doing. That’s Lady Gaga’s new video, Alejandro, playing.

The turtle was hanging out in a small bucket while we were cleaning out his aquarium. He was pretty impatient about the whole thing and kept trying to climb over the edge.

Here’s a video of us cleaning the turtle’s tank. You can see some of the larva crawling around in the bottom of the tank before we washed it out. The whole thing was filled with a heavy goo that couldn’t have been anything other than waste.

Here’s the turtle in his tank after it was cleaned. You can see that we didn’t buy quite enough gravel to meet our needs. We’ll have to fix that later. It’s so damn clean you can’t even see the water in the photo. Fantastic!

We feel a lot better about things now. There’s no more guilt. We weren’t responsible for the turtle’s condition, but we were becoming responsible slowly by ignoring the situation. In the US, this type of thing would be considered a severe case of animal abuse, punishable by a fine at the least I’m sure. Now, the turtle will live on happily with us ensuring that it’s well fed and taken care of. If you’re wondering about the kanji symbol in the title, that’s the turtle’s new name, 亀. It’s Japanese and it means ‘turtle’. Spoken, it’s pronounced ‘kah may’. Kind of lame, sure, but it’s relevant to my interests as I’ll be taking up Japanese courses sometime in the near future, if everything goes according to plan.

The Cathedral Basilica of the Immaculate Conception (AKA Manila Cathedral)

June 17, 2010 Bradley FarlessLeave a comment

That’s a pretty big mouthful, but basically what I’m talking about here is the church that’s designated as the command center for the Archbishops of Manila. To be precise, these esteemed gentlemen:

A few posts ago I showed some photos of the cathedral in in Antipolo. It’s pretty nice, but the Manila cathedral was designated as a Minor Basilica for a reason. It’s got great architecture and a LOT of history, as you can see from the picture above, which shows archibishops dating back to 1573. We went through it rather quickly, because it was as hot as an oven in there, but on a cool day we could go back and spend a few hours reading all of the information that’s put out on display. A quick history is that this church was originally established by the Spanish during the colonial period. It originally fell under the diocese of Mexico, but eventually gained its own authority and power structure. The building itself has, in part, survived multiple wars, a massive fire and an earthquake. It’s been rebuilt a few times.

The exterior and interior of the building are in pretty good shape. There was some quiet renovation work going on while we were there, but it didn’t detract from the overall experience. I’m not Catholic, but it was still inspiring to be in such a sacred place with over 400 years of history, so we took a few moments to offer up prayers before leaving to continue our self-guided tour of the Intramuros area.

This is a view of the cathedral from the main entrance towards the chancel. It’s a pretty big area.

If you walk to the front and then turn and look above the entrance, you’ll see the pipe organ. A plaque I read said that the first Catholic missionaries to the Philippines brought musical instruments with them, including a portable box organ which was probably destroyed in a major Manila fire in the 1500s. It didn’t say exactly when the pipe organ was put in place, but it said that for almost all of the cathedral’s history, there’s been a Master Chantre, some of which were specifically named as organists.

Just after taking this photo, a young guy walked in, embraced this cross and began to pray silently. I’ve noticed that Catholics place a lot of importance on symbols, images and things as objects or focal points of prayer. It seems bizarre to me, because there shouldn’t be an object between yourself and God. On the other hand, I suppose something that inspires (properly placed) devotion can’t be all that bad. Being in the cathedral was a strong reminder and incentive for me reflect as well.

This is the “La Pieta”. I didn’t read the plaque, so I don’t understand the symbolism behind the statue, but it’s well made.

This is an image of Our Lady of the Philippines located in the Manila Cathedral.

I’m looking forward to visiting this cathedral again. We were a bit short on time and just happened to see it while on our way to Fort Santiago so we rushed through. I may create an additional post about this cathedral in the future, since it’s such a wonderful and rich landmark in Manila.

Settling In Update (with some good photos)

June 15, 2010 Bradley Farless2 Comments

Everything has to be done in small steps, in increments. When I got here to the Philippines I was throwing myself into the house renovations while trying to buy furniture, stock groceries and household items, find a job and figure out my visa all at once. It’s great to be motivated, but it’s burning us out too. We haven’t taken any time for ourselves recently, unless you count laying on the bed, exhausted, with our laptops in front of us. Hopefully we can work in some time for that, because we’re about to put the brakes on this headlong rush, hopefully by the end of this week.

The housework is coming along nicely. We’re getting the place cleaned up, we’re selling the scrap metal and we’re taking out the useless junk to my burn pit, which is actually more of a burn mound now. I need to find time to scoop all of that up and put it on the curb. It’s becoming very unsightly. There’s a lot of things I’d like to get done around here, but I’ve moderated my plans to fit time and budget constraints, for now. Gotta be realistic about this.

The biggest issues now are my visa and finding work. Thankfully, we just found a lucky break while downtown at the Bureau of Immigration. There’s an old law that says that I’m entitled to a one year free stay in the country by virtue of returning to the Philippines with my wife, who is a citizen. That will give me plenty of time to apply for the resident visa, which takes a load of stress off our shoulders. I’ll have to post about that process later, if it works out the way it should. Finding work shouldn’t be difficult. The laws here on hiring foreigners are nowhere near as strict as in Singapore, and with that one year pass and later a resident visa, the whole thing about my being a foreigner should become a non-issue.

Here are a few things that have been keeping me occupied for the last week or so.

We stopped to check out this huge hole in the ground. The construction is congesting traffic and giving the local shopkeepers a headache since some of them had to close down to make way for the work. Eventually this is going to be a multilevel car park that should free up a lot of road space in Antipolo’s town area.

When possible, we’ve been browsing the markets. You can find a lot of interesting (and weird) stuff in them. Occasionally you even come across a great deal on something that you’d pay double or triple for elsewhere. The stall in the picture above sells mostly religious stuff like creepy dolls and statues and tons of rosaries. Ya. Creepy. I know they’re supposed to be religious and inspirational, but most of them look like something that would scare the crap out of me if I caught sight of them in a darkened room.

Don’t ask me why, but there was a random steel bolt sticking out of the wall in our bedroom. I got a hacksaw and put in a lot of work to cut that thing short. Later, I’ll cover it over and then repaint the wall.

We also spent some time in the hospital with my father in law, who is now thankfully doing a lot better than he was when we rushed him up there. That was a stressful experience and I’m glad he’s home again.

One of the things that I like about living out here in Antipolo is the look and feel of the neighborhood we’re living in. It’s full of people all day long. I don’t know how, because you’d think everyone would go to work, but at any time of the day you can look outside and see kids and adults walking around or sitting down and talking. At night it’s so quiet you can hear the second-hand on a wall-clock ticking. That makes for some good sleep.

Here are some photos:

The neighborhood is down in a valley. The view as you’re going in or out is pretty nice.

Anyhow, day after tomorrow we’ll be heading to downtown Manila to Intramuros, the old Spanish administrative area from the colonial era. The main Bureau of Immigration office is there and we need to pay them a visit. Afterwards we’ll hopefully get to see the Manila Cathedral and some other landmarks in the vicinity.

Also, I don’t know if I’ve mentioned this here before, but I’m posting other, less personal, stuff about the Philippines on EverythingButBalot.com. Check it out if you have time.

My Own Personal Pit of Destruction

June 12, 2010 Bradley Farless1 Comment

A few days ago I posted an update talking about hauling useless crap out of my in-law’s house and burning it. Just to go into some details, that useless crap includes things like broken hangers, rotting wood, shredded electrical wire (that’s likely to burn the house down if used), random plastic caps and knobs and broken light switches, molded paper, completed crossword books, old newspapers, 3 year old grocery receipts, random pages of magazines, broken umbrellas, molded clothing that’s literally rotting, and other unpleasant ‘treasures’.

The trash pick-up here is only once a week, but with the amount of crap I’m hauling out, in addition to regular daily household wastes, I had to get creative. That’s why burning it is the best option. It also prevents animals and scraggly children from tearing open the bags to see what’s inside and leaving a pile of trash in front of your house that has to be bagged up again.

The lot next door is unoccupied, so it’s front ‘lawn’ makes a great place to build a fire. Here’s the fire pit as it stands now:

It’s a bit messy. I have to get out there with a rake and a shovel to dispose of the remains but I haven’t had time to yet.

It feels great to get rid of all of that crap. The house is gradually getting cleaner and livable. It’s a big place and it’s a waste if it stays the way it is, not to mention it’s unhealthy for everyone that lives here, so I’m staying motivated to get the job done.

Tomorrow I think I’ll finally finish cleaning out the back of the house. We bought a washing machine 11 days ago but haven’t been able to install it because there was too much scrap wood and metal in the way. It’s a good thing too, because I’m almost out of clean underwear.

The Antipolo Library

June 12, 2010 Bradley Farless4 Comments

My wife and I love to read so we were excited to check out the Antipolo library when we saw the sign near the town hall. We couldn’t figure out how to get into it at first because the whole lower level of the building is taken up by unrelated offices. We had to ask a guard for directions. There’s a narrow stairwell on the left side of the building that leads up to the entrance of the library.

We expected to have to pay a fee to enter, but instead we only had to sign in on their guestbook. We also had to put on home-made shoe coverings before we were allowed to walk around the library. I wasn’t too thrilled with that, since they’re reused without being washed. I’m not a big fan of getting toe fungus from strangers. Oddly enough, when we left, we were asked to deposit the shoe covers back at the entrance and then told to walk through the library to a separate exit without them. Kinda defeats the purpose doesn’t it?

I’m really impressed with the fact that Antipolo has a library at all, though I can’t say I’m all that impressed with the titles available. The place is small. It’s about the size of a small classroom and has 8 to 10 racks of books which are about 6 feet tall and 6 tables that each seat 4 people. The books that are available are all very old, some outdated to the point of being useless information, the medical books being the biggest example of that. Medical practices and knowledge change constantly and you can’t learn much that’s still relevant, or even correct, from a textbook that’s 20+ years old. The categories cover very basic topics that seem to focus on high school level education and the area for fiction and literature seemed really small.

There were two or three computer terminals available, but all of them were running what appeared to be a game that’s used to teach basic English and logic with a 5 year old audience in mind. I didn’t notice any signs for Internet access, but I didn’t get to check the terminals.

What the place excels at is providing a relatively cool, quiet place for groups of people to study and read. Peace and quiet is rare in Antipolo. If you happen to want to use the library, I suggest bringing along your own reading material and your own laptop with a mobile broadband USB modem.

Hopefully, better facilities will be available when we move to Manila proper but for a provincial area, this is more than I expected.