revenge of the killer tomatoes 13

There are few things more empowering than traveling to other countries on your own, especially if you’re an Asian woman.  But a husband or significant other can be quite handy during a trip.  Here’s why.

1.   It’s tougher to coax strangers to take your picture.  - I usually try to spot a family traveling together or someone pushing a baby stroller.  I think it’s less likely that they’ll flee with your precious digital camera.  Of course there’s no hard and fast rule and any con artist worth his salt would look like the most innocent tourist.  That’s why I had few pictures in Prague and NY with myself in them.   

hubby can’t refuse to take crazy pictures of me. (yokohama, 2008)

i shot this from a window at our NY office (2006) when no one was looking. believe me, i tried to pose for the pic with the cityscape behind me.  i failed. 

2.  If you’re struggling with your suitcase, your S.O. has no choice but to help. -  I confess to playing the weak card on this.  Combine huffing and puffing with “miserable puppy” eyes for maximum effect.  If you’re strong and athletic and have no need for an extra hand, fine, congratulations.  But if you’re a wimp - physically, like me - it’s not a great setback to women’s empowerment. 

3.  If you get lost, you’re not alone.  -  Hubby and I initially set out for Ayutthaya, Thailand with the intention of renting bicycles when we get to the island.  We spotted several bike rental shops after the ferry ride, but put off renting bikes in the hope of finding a better deal.  Eventually we ran out of bike shops.  No problem, we thought.  Until we got lost on foot.  It was a gruelling 2 hours of wandering aimlessly under the scorching sun.   But thank goodness for Hubby who kept my spirits up when our bottled water was running low.  And hallelujah for elephants!  That cost us an arm and a leg but we actually enjoyed the quirky, bumpy ride.

photos from our second trip to thailand (2006), our favorite shopping destination.

4.   You have an excuse for eating second helpings and more.  -  Hubby and I are passionate about Japanese food.  At Asakusa in Tokyo, I ate five or six plates of sushi and sashimi, not counting Hubby’s plates which I helped clean out.

more photos from our first time in tokyo together (2008), courtesy of abie co. 

5.  Someone can veto your foolish purchases.  -  Having a shopping companion who knows you well can be good or bad, depending on what he/she thinks is an unwise acquisition.  In our case, a Voltes V toy robot was definitely one of the best buys of our life (we were both fans of the Voltes V anime that was, after several episodes, banned from Philippine television by former dictator Ferdinand Marcos).  Clothes are a different matter.  Hubby might have vetoed the trench coat I got in Poland.  

Two thoughts after my Eastern European adventure - which I’ve yet to finish writing about on this blog: (1) Every Filipina should travel to Europe alone at least once in her life; (2) One’s fascination is multiplied infinitely when traveling with a wonderful companion. 

Warsaw, Poland -  First and most painful lesson learned from traveling by rail in Eastern Europe:  travel light!

I should’ve taken the trouble of finding a luggage locker at the Tegel Airport.  I only realized that when I was skidding down the escalator of a train station in Berlin (heading to Warsaw), chasing after my falling suitcase. 

How delusional of me to think I could drag around one week’s worth of used corporate wardrobe, meeting notes and conference swags (drastically reduced this year) around Eastern Europe without pulling a muscle!  

How do the Germans teach the history of the World Wars to their children?  This question haunted me from Berlin to Poland.

According to a Polish friend who went to a German prep school, the German re-telling of the war was very objective and fact-oriented.  They spent a lot of time discussing the events that led to the rise of Hitler to the top echelons of power.   I am sure the Germans were and are remorseful for the genocide and other atrocities, but I still wonder how they tell their children about that dark era.

My friend’s apartment in Warsaw has a national park for its backyard.  Our walking tour began there.  I admired the Royal Palace from afar, sitting on a glassy pond surrounded by canopies of trees.  Peacocks and squirrels wandered freely.  We watched intently as a male peacock danced for his lady love, his fan of blue, emerald and gold feathers flying open as it quivered with a low whirring sound.  I was delighted to see a monument dedicated to Frederick Chopin  (the first CD I ever bought: Chopin’s classic piano pieces).  Chopin’s statue was bombed during WWII, one of several attempts to crush the Polish spirit.  It now stands proudly again.

We then dashed off to Warsaw’s Old Town, which was flattened during World War II (it is widely known that Warsaw was the most devastated city of WWII, while few are aware that the City of Manila ranked second).  Warsaw’s Old Town was charming, even if many structures were merely rebuilt after the war.

I bought souvenirs from various quaint shops.  Colorful, handpainted eggs.  A pair of handwoven slippers, great airplane shoes!  A hard-to-find mug with Picasso’s rendition of the Polish mermaid, holding a hammer instead of a sword - a reference to the Soviet Union’s opportunistic subjugation of Poland at the heels of the WWII…  And because I’m such a nerd, I shrieked with glee when I saw a marker saying that Marie Curie, icon of physics and chemistry, lived in that building (my science teacher mom would be so proud!).   My friend and I walked around the Old Town in the cool weather, eating chocolate-flavored ice cream swirled high on waffle cones. 

Oh, strangely, we came upon an exhibit of over a hundred Berlin bears painted and jazzed up to represent the countries of the world.  Guess which country made the most hideous but funny bear?  The other bear below, with the painted image of a monkey-eating eagle, was the Philippine entry.

 Later in the afternoon I spent hours inside the Museum on the Warsaw Uprising, moved and awestruck at how the Polish have retold their past and clarified its lessons for future generations.  I saw articles by a favorite author, George Orwell, condemning the Soviet occupation of Poland and the tolerance/acquiescence by the Allies.  I can’t resist a good book, so I walked out the museum with a 3-inch-thick authoritative account of the Warsaw Uprising, along with additions to my growing ref magnet collection. 

I liked Polish cuisine, especially the rich borscht soup that looks like wine and those delicious dumplings.  My friend and I had a fabulous dinner at a restaurant located in the basement of what used to be a former vodka factory right in the middle of Warsaw.   

I saw many great symbols - the “Fighting Poland” symbol engraved in stone beside the Warsaw Uprising memorial, the mermaid holding up a sword and shield, to Chopin and memorials to war heroes.  Unfortunately, I only took a handful of photos in Warsaw.  I forgot to charge my camera (waaa!).   As I packed myself onto a train cabin heading to Cracow, clutching my precious baon bag of strawberries and chocolates (courtesy of my friend), I felt an odd calm and satisfaction.  I know I will not visit Warsaw again with the same eyes.

Berlin, Germany - Recently ranked by BusinessWeek as one of the most livable cities in the world, Berlin is a battle-scarred veteran ready to take on the world.  It reconnects with its rich cultural heritage, keeps mementoes of both proud and bitter past.  But it is also fascinatingly modern and edgy.  

I joined a walking tour and we saw the magnificent royal buildings and wide boulevards to the broken tower of the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church that was bombed in World War II, the archeological treasures in the Pergammon Museum (must-see’s: the Pergammon altar, the Ishtar/Babylonian gates and fantastic ancient mosaic art and sculptures) to Norman Foster’s modern addition to the Reichstag. 

There were horse-drawn carriages bearing tourists circling the Brandenburg gate.  A few minutes later, I spotted the innovative pedal-powered transport designed by the Max Planck Institute, then hopped over to the mall-like Hauptbahnhof train station, gateway to other European cities (this is where I landed a week later, coming from Prague).  There were few remnants of the Berlin Wall.  One scribbled graffiti said it all: “Madness”. I was in tears after our tour guide narrated how hundreds of thousands ripped the wall apart with crude tools and their bare hands, with throngs on both sides of the wall shouting, “Freedom!!!”

Whatever is left of Hitler’s complex underground bunker is now several feet below a nondescript parking lot, conspicuous only because of a historical marker.  Hitler committed suicide in that bunker, along with other loyal minions who took cyanide.  Several hours later, we visited the Jewish Memorial, a vast installation of thousands of dark gray, starkly sharp-edged, unmarked graves in different sizes.

During the Cold War, a royal building was converted into one of the Communist party’s headquarters.  Now it houses an MBA school - a shameless paean to capitalism.   Beside it, another party building was torn down to give way to a commercial development.  At Checkpoint Charlie, student actors gamely posed as American soldiers for 2 Euros.

Across a mural that depicted progress, equality and (supposed) happiness during the Communist time, there was a haunting blown-up photograph of protesters who were killed during that era. 

While sipping capuccino, I ran into a rally staged by young people about joblessness and the sorry state of education (they should see our public school students attending class in flooded rooms!).  There was music, lively chanting and a speaker with rocker looks, standing on a moving platform.  One of the streamers featured Spongebob Squarepants.

People in Berlin are very friendly and accommodating, which was a pleasant surprise to me.  Different cultures collide and collaborate to create the Berlin vibe, without smothering the city’s heritage.  I was sad to leave Berlin but anxious to go on to Warsaw and explore Eastern Europe for the first time.

in 1999, i first heard a radio ad for the Binibining Pilipinas beauty pageant.  the announcement rattled off various qualifications and ended with “not older than 25 years old”.  oh my, i’m no spring chicken!  at 26, i slid down the slippery slope towards OLD. 

the remaining years  of my 20s turned out to be great times though.  i clocked in 10-20 work hours a day but also reconnected with friends i largely ignored during law school, explored the philippines, read more milan kundera and salman rushdie, and discovered a passion for interior design.  now, years later and about 20 pounds heavier, i look back at the things i did before approaching another milestone of sorts…  

• january 2007 - panic.  “what, i’m turning 35 next year?!!” 
• february - boycotted valentine’s day, on mutual agreement with hubby.
• march - business as usual at the salt mines: training in manila for asia-pac colleagues.   
• april - business as usual at the salt mines (cont.): prepared for meetings and long trip in april-may.   
• may - revisited the fabulous impressionist collection of the Chicago Art Institute. saw the famous dinosaur Sue at the Field Museum.     
• june -  returned to manila to teach legal research to law students (my third year to teach).  joined a thesis defense panel for the first time. 
• july - bought brand-new car without knowing how to drive.
• august - actually learned to drive my car, weee! (yes, i’m 15 to 20 years too late on this indispensable skill!)
• september - climbed the Great Wall at Badaling in Beijing.  paid homage to Chairman Mao at Tiananmen Square.  wore out shoes touring the Imperial Palace.  spotted the “bubble building” and other Olympics edifices.  made new friends among asia-pac colleagues. 
• october - got my first taste of Europe via London.  floored by the art collections at the Tate Modern and National Art Gallery.  ate a veal burger at Burrough Market with best friends.  saw Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre.
• november - drove car to office on my own for the first time.  very liberating, very “thelma & louise”, minus the tragic ending and brad pitt.
• december - bravely went on first two-week break from work.  did not need to put out any fires, thankfully.  my first car accident: hit a stubborn parking driveway post that failed to avoid me.  on a happier note, celebrated 5th wedding anniversary!  2 dozen lilac roses marked the occasion.
• jan. 2008 - instead of throwing a birthday party, recruited volunteers for mural-painting session at Asilo orphanage.

and yes, i revived my blog before turning 35.  it’s comforting to know my brother will always be 5 years older than me.  :-)  raise a glass of cabernet sauvignon for me, please!

marian

beijing & london:

at Asilo:

howdy, volunteers! :-) 

first of all, i apologize for the test-site feel of this blog.  it IS still a test site.  many thanks to kuya (older brother) for setting up my return to cyberspace.  i can’t fully explain the blog title at the moment.  i thought about the most memorable films i saw in my childhood and came up with the cult classic “attack of the killer tomatoes”.  it spoofed the many creatures-gone-stark-mad movies that made a killing at the box office in the 80’s, like “jaws”.  it was followed by “revenge of the killer tomatoes”.  more on that later…

so a big THANK YOU again to all of you who’ve volunteered to join our visit to Asilo de San Vicente de Paul orphanage in manila this sunday, january 20. 

here are the details:

• time - pls. be there by 9:30 a.m. so we can finish the mural by noontime.
• place - Asilo at 1148 U.N. Avenue, Paco Manila, opposite the Pius Catholic Center.   i’ll post a map later today.  if you get lost, call me at my mobile or call the orphanage at: (02) 523-3829;523-1460; 523-5264
  • commuting - take the LRT1 (old line) to Manila and get off at UN Avenue station. you can walk but it’s better to hail a pedicab. just say you’re going to Asilo.  pedicab fare is 20 pesos.
  • driving - i’ll post detailed instructions later, but if you’re familiar with UN Avenue, just look for the Pius Catholic Center across Asilo. parking is available inside the compound.
• what to wear, bring - be in comfortable work clothes that you can give up if they get splattered with paint.  we’ll take care of all brushes, paint and other materials.
• food - lunch will be served to volunteers in the Asilo compound.  pastries will be given to the kids.
• gifts, donations - no need to bring gifts to the kids or donations to Asilo, but of course those would be greatly appreciated!  let me know if you’re pledging or donating to our Mural Pot.
• who’s coming? - half of the group would be colleagues from work, the other half are either my relatives or close friends.  so far there are 17 to 20 people coming.   
• any special abilities required? -   no, unless picking up a paintbrush is an extraordinary talent.  we have a lead artist/muralist who will design our collective art work.   just be there and have a good time!

 any questions?  email or call me.  thanks and see you there! /mari