19 August 2006
call me joe sa pilipinas
spent a day this week with mom chenn in manila. apparently the american women's club hosts a monthly bazaar with all sorts of arts and crafts products. mom didn't mind having a tour guide and i didn't mind an excuse to visit the philippines, so it worked out well. alicia had other obligations.
we met up with our friend andrew baltazar who was nice enough to accompany us around for the day.
we visited the new "mall of asia" which, for those of you with prior manila mall experience, totally outdoes megamall, greenbelt, mall of america, or any other mall - in fact i think it's now the largest mall in the world.
the bazaar was fun - it was interesting to see how products get shuffled around asia only to appear as "discounted" in other countries with a fair markup. for example, cheap baby clothes that are cheaper in thailand, cheap chinese decor that is cheaper in hong kong, cheap wooden nativity sets that are cheaper in baguio. it was a good place to set up good manufacturer relationships and sample some of the products.
we also got to sample some fresh mango shakes. for those of you who like mangoes, keep in mind that the philippines mango, also known as the "manila super mango", is known worldwide as the best tasting carabao mango. it's also the national fruit of the philippines.
finally, i even got an obligatory "hey, joe!" from a high school kid. this is a common greeting for caucasians (particularly outside Manila) and descends from the american military presence during a large part of the 20th century. fun times, good memories, and all in a day.
we met up with our friend andrew baltazar who was nice enough to accompany us around for the day.
we visited the new "mall of asia" which, for those of you with prior manila mall experience, totally outdoes megamall, greenbelt, mall of america, or any other mall - in fact i think it's now the largest mall in the world.
the bazaar was fun - it was interesting to see how products get shuffled around asia only to appear as "discounted" in other countries with a fair markup. for example, cheap baby clothes that are cheaper in thailand, cheap chinese decor that is cheaper in hong kong, cheap wooden nativity sets that are cheaper in baguio. it was a good place to set up good manufacturer relationships and sample some of the products.
we also got to sample some fresh mango shakes. for those of you who like mangoes, keep in mind that the philippines mango, also known as the "manila super mango", is known worldwide as the best tasting carabao mango. it's also the national fruit of the philippines.
finally, i even got an obligatory "hey, joe!" from a high school kid. this is a common greeting for caucasians (particularly outside Manila) and descends from the american military presence during a large part of the 20th century. fun times, good memories, and all in a day.
