Online Shopping

Back when I lived in San Francisco I was a big fan of online shopping. I was working a billion hours and often did not have the time to go. Plus it seemed so easy--just go to amazon.com and I could find just about anything I needed. Same with the stores where I already knew my size. Add sephora and zappos and I was pretty much set. Oh, and ebay. I was a big fan of Pottery Barn crap from ebay.

Since moving here, I do very little online shopping namely because the shipping/customs costs are insanely high. For example Banana Republic (gap, et al) partnered up with a shipping service that offered international delivery with customs fees included. For those who do not know, customs fees can be HUGE here. We once had a glass sculpture from Italy sent here, and despite the amount of the item already being lowered on the customs form from the company, customs here still wanted Php50,000+++ which is over $1000. It ended as life usually does with a few hundred being slipped into a pocket and our item being released. But anyways, back to the Banana Republic shipper. I placed items in my online cart amounting to about $150. Fees for shipping and customs via their partner was $120. Way too rich for my blood. At those prices I am better off waiting until I am home or shipping them to my sister and having her forward them. (It is worth noting that there is a Banana Republic locally which makes this a somewhat random example, but such is life).

I still buy most of my clothes in the US for one simple reason, I am too big for Philippines sizing. I am over 5'8". This means that even when a size goes up, it does not necessarily get longer, just wider. According to the Inquirer (one of the dailies here), the average height of a Filipino woman is 4'11" (although this does seem suspiciously petite) which is a lot smaller than me. Wearing a size 10 in the US equals size like 3XL here. And your bellybutton will still be showing. There are larger sizes here of course in the imported clothing and the inseams will be longer, but at that point, I would rather just buy from SF because the cost markup is high. And finally, it is worth noting that my wardrobe consists namely of jeans and cheap tops from H&M, so I am definitely not high fashion.

The moral of this drawn out, convoluted post is I fell in love with a company that allows me to do all my online shopping: Johnny Air. I order from whatever random online retailer I want, email Johnny Air with the shipping info, and they forward it here. Earlier this month I ordered from Sephora.com. It arrived from Sephora to their US office in two days, and SIX days after that, I received a txt telling me my package was here!!!! The prices are preset based on weight or size (size is something is big I guess) and includes everything. Total cost for shipping: P1,750 for about 3 lbs. So, this is my new happiness. Their website is: http://johnnyairretail.blogspot.com/ and they have a facebook page as well.

Other fantastic delivery services that I have used recently include Fully Booked which was FAST. I ordered on a Monday and the books were here Wednesday. Not the cheapest shipping, but the convenience was fantastic.

Although everyone knows that all fast food (i.e., McDo) can be delivered, more and more restaurant delivery services are popping up. Main ones are: http://www.quickdelivery.ph/ and http://www.citydelivery.ph/. I have used them both...quick delivery multiple times and city delivery just once. Both are awesome and perfect for rainy season when I do not really what to go out, yet do not feel compelled to cook. Plus there are no Indian Restaurants near me, so this satisfies that craving.

I guess I never need to leave the house again........

I Think I Finally Figured Out the Food

One can generally categorize foreigners living here into three categories in regards to their food. Firstly the rarest are the people that eat only foods familiar to them from home. This is not limited to ingredients and recipes only but even brands. The second group are people who eat exclusively local. Never will they buy an imported item, eat at some place like McDo when there is Jollibee, and will be the first to give you a dirty look when buying a 60-pack of frozen jalapeno poppers (blech--never again--no one else likes them but me so it took me MONTHS to finish them all). The third and obviously more common group are the ones that eat from both. Appreciate the familiarity of some items from home, but buy local whenever it is better or less expensive.

I, like most, fall into the third, but probably even less than many. I do tend to lean towards imported when it comes to most dairy as well as snack food. Once I moved here, certain foods from home turned into major comfort foods. My mother's macaroni and cheese was a favorite when I first moved here although I realized quickly that the price of cheese made an inexpensive meal in San Francisco turn quite pricey here. And like many things, I was the only one who thought it was delicious.

My biggest food thing for me is still milk. I drink it. A lot. If I had it my way, I would drink it with almost every meal. While many claim the UHT milk tastes the same, as a beverage it does not. I have started to stockpile the California Sunshine milk from S&R. While it is still psycho pasteurized (I think the shelf life is something like two months) there is none of the funny aftertaste. Plus, it goes well with cereal. While cereal is not the most popular food here, I can eat it almost any time of the day. Also, randomly, Grape Nuts are sold here. Best cereal in the world and kinda random to be sold here. Corn Flakes and Cheerios, I understand. But who knew there was a market here for Grape Nuts? My sister & her husband visited a couple of weeks ago and they even brought a box back with them (they cannot buy Grape Nuts in France). Best cereal ever.

We do not ever buy meat in the supermarket. This is some weird issue of Ado's. She thinks the meat is not fresh in a grocery. Same for most produce. And on the subject of produce, it is almost avocado season!! Starting about May there will be tons! I can make guacamole! Burritos! Off season, one can find the occasional Haas, but if one avocado is the same price as a dinner out for two, I am not buying it. Same with off season strawberries. And cherries.

I can find bagels now. Either at the bakery inside Mickey's or French Bakery does a surprisingly good prepackaged bagel. Not gross mushy like most prepackaged but has a bit of a chewy crust. It is not the best bagel in the world but a really, really, really good substitute.

Blech. According to Meralco, we have rolling blackouts starting again this evening in our neighborhood for an hour. At least it will still be light out. Maybe a good time to go for a swim.

Burritos in the Philippines

I am from San Francisco where I can safely state that EVERYONE eats burritos. Burritos are the food to eat when stepping out of the office for lunch, a dinner, or a snack after a long night of drinking. You start eating them as a kid and never stop. When I was last in San Francisco, I probably ate about 10 burritos during my month long stay.

For some reason, burritos are not very popular here so whenever I see them anywhere, I always try them. Actually I should not say they are not popular because everyone I talk to really likes mexican food, but rather it is really hard to find a decent mexican restaurant and even harder to find a buritto. Chili's and Taco Bell are about as Mexican as it gets (possibly the most blasphemous statement I have ever made). First stop was Salcedo market which had a little burrito booth set up. For P179 ( ~$3.75) I bought a burrito with pork, rice, sour cream...and that's about it. Honsetly there may have been other items in it...but nothing that added any flavor. While it was small, the biggest problem was it was flavorless. Literally tasted like unseasoned meat and rice. Not what I was looking for.

Luckily we came across Ristras in San Juan. Fricking awesome!! Again I had a pork burrito and it was just what I wanted. The manager was there to walk people through the ordering process and answer any questions about toppings. While not as good as a San Francisco burrito (nothing can match a deluxe steak from La Cumbre) it was really, really, really good. Cost was P290 (a little over $6.00) and was packed with stuff!! The flavors were there and it was big--too big for me to finish on my own. So now I am estatic that I can get a fantastic burrito here. It also makes me really happy that the restaurant is located in San Juan and not in a mall. I feel like tons of the places I love are in Makati where I never really go, or inside a mall which makes me heistant to go. Honestly, I would never park and walk through a mall to get a burrito. Here, I can just pull up, get my take out, and leave. I think it may be safe to say that Ristras may become my new favorite place to be.

Six Months Later.....

Well, the Christmas tree did not work out. It turned brown way before the 25th and by the time New Year's came, it was probably a fire hazard. I am going to have to bite the bullet next year and buy a plastic one or buy some weird bush from a plant store and decorate it.

In the past six months, we made two trips to the States: Hawaii and San Francisco. I realize when I go back, I really do miss San Francisco. I love it there. Where else in the course of an evening can I have fondue for dinner, eat Gingerbread-Guinness ice cream, have drinks at a crusty dive in West Portal, and end up in the Castro at a drag show? I miss it a lot. Nowhere else am I able to buy items like biodegradable plastic bags made specifically for picking up after my dog on a walk. Besides my family and friends, the city is just awesome. Home is always home to a certain extent and I will always, always love San Francisco.

I realized that I am coming up on three years now living in the Philippines. People no longer think my pidgin tagalog is cute and are starting to wonder why I do not have a better grasp on the language now. What can I say, I suck at languages. I have gotten much better at understanding the language, it is just my speaking that sounds like a drunken five year old.

We have been in our new home for a year now. We are settling in to the neighborhood well. I have found a fantastic neighborhood vet for my dogs at Animal House, found a fantastic source for eggs from one of the houses in our village (eggs here tend to run small and this place has larger ones), Ado found a nearby gym for her workouts, and we have only had three brownouts in a year. Life is good here.

We had a lot of visitors from overseas this past year, and I have found that they tend to see things that I overlook now or take for granted. Below are some random images (mostly taken by said guests).

The girls are wearing uniforms that are typical of a high school here (although I am thinking this picture was taken in the province). The skirts are always much longer than you would see in the US and the shoe is always the Mary Jane style. Although I would have hated to wear a uniform in high school (nine years of elementary was enough), I can't get enough of the students in uniform here. I think they are so fricking cute.

This was the store in our previous neighborhood. One stop shopping for the basics.

I absolutely love this picture which a friend of mine captured while we were in traffic. What can I say? This sums up the Philippines for me in so many ways.

Ah, while most of the food here is great, there are certain culinary delights I cannot wrap my head around. Hot dogs and marshmallows are one of them. This is really common at kids parties and I cannot figure what twisted fucking mind came up with it. It's a hot dog! With marshmallows!!
Finally, a picture at the market in Tagaytay. Leave my mother alone in a wet market with a camera and this is what you get. I have no idea how she got the guy to pose with some pig legs but I love it!!!!

Thanksgiving in the Philippines

This year I will be attempting the prepare a Thanksgiving dinner here. This will be the first time that I have done this by myself (usually I get to play second fiddle to my mother with my father stepping in to carve and my grandmother making the gravy). I am sticking to very traditional with a few exceptions:

1. I am not making cranberry sauce. I don't eat it, most invited to my dinner do not eat it (I will be the only American--the rest are Filipino with a few that have lived in the states). Also I am not sure how easy it would be to even find cranberries here.

2. I am not making sweet potatoes. I don't eat them. Therefore, everyone must suffer.

3. Instead of spinach or green beans, I may do corn. People here like corn.

I am a little worried about the pumpkin pie. I was easily able to find canned pumpkin here (woo hoo!) but I think that pumpkin pie might be something one has to grow up eating. If I had never eaten it and someone presented me with an orange pie and told me, "it's a pie made of squash and it is really yummy", I would not want it. So we'll see how many takers there are. I am also thinking about buying canned whipped cream (the shame!!) only because with the humidity here I have found that when I make it fresh it falls quickly. Never mind. I cannot bring myself to buy canned whipped cream.

I also am using a simpler version of the stuffing with pretty much just sausage, bread cubes, onions, and celery all seasoned. I got the recipe from a friend's mom. There is no sage or the like so I am hoping it will appeal to a wider palate.

On a random note, turkey is REALLY easy to find here. Just about every grocery has frozen turkeys. Although I know there are fresh in some places, I want a few things to be simple. That and my oven is kinda small.

The Head of the Pigs

Here at almost any major celebration one will get to eat yummy pig (here called lechon). I like to take pictures of the head.

Lest you think I am lazy, these are three separate pigs from three separate parties.

Disgusting S&R Bakery!

So, I realize that this is my billionth post about S&R. Well, remember how I referred to the bakery as "cruddy"? I will have to revise my opinion and say it is disgusting. Rancid. Gross. Possibly holds the cure for strep throat. Some family came by today with a cake for a small birthday celebration. They made the unfortunate choice of purchasing it at the S&R Bakery (Congressional Branch). Does this not make you sick to your stomach?

"Honeycrunch Cake"

Purchased today (about $8.50)

Expiration date is five days from now....


....but it is rotted and moldy!!!

UPDATE: We went back to S&R this week and showed the bakery manager the pictures and the original receipt. She was very sweet and offered us a new cake free of charge (which we declined) so she instead gave us a store credit. Way more than we were expecting--we only went back to let them know they had rotten merchandise on display. Although I still will not buy from the bakery, their service was top notch. We went back over two weeks later with a digital camera and receipt and they went above and beyond.

Moral of the story: S&R = Great Service, Scary Baked Goods

More Reasons to Love S&R

We went to S&R yesterday for groceries as well as looking to price vitamins because they 1. sell the huge Costco size bottles and 2) have better prices than Mercury Drugs (the local drugstore here). There were no vitamins to be seen yesterday which was completely random as their selection is usually really good. I asked a girl stocking the shelves and she told me there were no more vitamins in any branches. At checkout we asked one of the supervisors who informed us that the vitamins were only temporarily not being sold and they expected to have them back on the shelves soon (it was over some random paperwork with the Food & Drug Bureau). Not only was she helpful, she even offered to take our number so she could call us when they are back on the shelves! How nice is that!!!

Another side reason I love S&R is the uniforms their checkers wear. An odd thing to me about the Philippines is all the check-out girls (always women--never men) at grocery stores are in a uniform that includes a skirt, stockings, and heels. I think for a job that requires you to stand on your feet all day, it is insane to wear heels! Even low ones are insane! My feet used to ache at the end of the work day and I spent 8-9 hours of it at a desk! I cannot imagine working retail in heels! I love that the checkers at S&R are in: jeans, polos, and sneakers. That to me is an appropriate and comfortable uniform for standing on your feet all day. I love it.

Only reasons for me not to love S&R are the cruddy bakery (I wouldn't want to buy anything from it--soft baguettes and dried up pies are the better of the offerings) and the way I can get excited about an item to then find it slightly off the mark. For example, yesterday they had Triscuits which I love and hadn't been able to find for months and months (I blame Mom for my love of Triscuits. Growing up, this was our junk food). Unfortunately they were cheddar flavor. I did not even know Triscuit made a cheddar flavor. Blech. Once I find plain triscuits again and parmesan flavored goldfish crackers, I will be set for junk food.

On a random aside, while I cannot find tricuits here, I have found some great olive tapenade and tahini paste (two items I used to bring back from the states) as well as a very decent Indian restaurant. Life is looking up.

There are Good Things About the Groceries

Maybe I shouldn't be so hard on the grocery situation here. I think it may still be part of the missing Trader Joes/Whole Foods that is getting to me. There are some bonuses of shopping here. One block away from us is a wet market. Here I can find most cuts of pork as well as some beef. There is an abundance of fish (which I never buy or look at but there is a ton). There is also a slew of fresh local vegetables and whatever fruit may be in season here. In addition you can but some staples: oil, rice, soy sauce, margarine (butter is not sold there), some spices, etc.

Also, within a 15 second walk of our current house, I can visit one of four sari-sari stores at which I can buy everything from cigarettes (by the stick or pack), gum or candy, rice, an egg or two, oil, vinegar, coke, beer, milo, shampoo, soap (body, laundry, or dish), etc. The list goes on and on.

I guess most of my frustration is comes from the fact that most of the items I eat are not available locally and even if they were I would be the only buyer. Case in point, Ado stopped by Taco Bell to grab me a taco. The lady asked her is she wanted crunchy or soft. Ado told her she didn't know what kind and the lady said, "Ma'am, you usually order crunchy." How sad is that? I am known at Taco Bell!!!! I can attribute some of it to the fact that since I am a funky foreigner I stand out, but the sad part is I am probably their best customer. Ugh, that is so embarrassing! Taco Bell!

More Grocery Woes

Grocery shopping is just flat ticking me off lately (and by lately, I mean since I have moved here). No store ever has a constant stock of certain items (i.e., peanut butter with no sugar, powdered sugar) and it always seems like a crap shoot. For example, sometimes Shopwise & Unimart have great looking produce during one visit, and the following time, there is nothing to be seen. I wish there was one fantastic grocery store that stocked everything I wanted. Part of the problem is many of the groceries I look to buy are not staples in a kitchen here so they fall more under specialty items. Mushrooms in good condition are always a pisser for me to find as well as sour cream that is not in a liquid form.

I think the hardest thing for me to get used to is the amount of sugar in many items. Peanut butter is my big one but a lot of sliced bread tastes sweet as well as canned corn. We were looking for one can of corn and ended up buying an imported brand because that was the only one without sugar added. In addition, I miss bread. Besides sourdough bread and bagels, I have yet to see any rye bread. I also miss Kosher beef hot dogs (here they are all pork or pork/beef blends) and beef bologna (German style from a deli....not fat oscar meyer type).

Final evilness of the groceries here is expired food. It is unfortunately very common to see expired or just old (in terms of produce) still on shelves. I learned the hard way and now know to look and EVERY label to see when the expiration is. I do not know why they do not discount the items right before they go bad instead of letting them fester. The first time I saw this (it was about 20 pieces of bagged lettuce mix that had all rotted down to a small fist size amount) I thought it was a fluke and mentioned it to the produce guy. He looked at me like I was crazy so I left it and went away. I no longer shop there. Funnily enough, the store is Waltermart which reminds me of the evil chain in the states so it is just as well.

More S&R Shopping!!

Today we went to S&R (the Philippine's answer to Costco) for their three day sale and for the first time it really felt like Costco. It was crowded beyond belief and the lines were 10 people deep. Ah, reminded me of home.

Their stock was awesome! There were maybe 15-20 different types of ice cream (pints as well as ice cream bars), tons of vitamins, shampoo that comes in large bottles, lotions, chicken taquitos, Kirkland brand cranberry juice (which I love and drink like water), Snapple, Starbucks iced coffee drinks, refried beans, I could go on and on. Disappointingly, they still do not carry tampons so I will continue to be the freak that brings a bunch back from my trips to the states. I was really happy. I wish their dairy section would improve a bit but that is minor compared to what they have. Price wise, most imported items are within a couple of dollars of US prices which is nice. We also needed to buy two new tires as we had a flat last week and they had a killer selection. (On a side note, bonus of the Philippines is there is always someone hanging out on the street that is down to change your tire for a couple bucks tip).

Most of the times we have shopped here the lot was empty and there were no lines so the crowds excited me a lot. Most of the Costco type stores opened in the past apparently closed down so it is great that this one looks very successful.

Grocery Sucess

Shopping for groceries can be a chore here. When making a dish, my shopping lists are often read, "If I find ingredient A, buy ingrediant B". There is no point in having four out of five items needed for a meal. I have started to buy items if I may need them in the next 2-3 months because some things show up once, never to be seen again. We often will hit a few stores in one day of shopping to try to get everything needed. Soft corn torillas are the latest item I cannot find anywhere.

Last week we went to Unimart in Greenhills and found: enchilada sauce (both green & red), peanut butter without sugar (difficult for me to find--I bought three jars), and local free range eggs. I consider this, VERY successful shopping.

We leave in two days for a vacation in the states and I am quite excited to go grocery shopping (Trader Joes especially). My food plans include: eating burritos from La Cumbre a few times a week, going to Izzy's Steakhouse, drinking as much milk as humanly possible, ordering Round Table Pizza (I realize this is not the pinnacle of fine dining but it is very much comfort food to me), eating pounds of strawberries & cherries, and living off of sourdough bread. I am going to gain so much weight!! I can't wait!

Oreo Cookies......

I am not positive intellectual property exists here. I will ponder this while eating my Fibiso Hi-Ro.

Lemon Curd

My brother-in-law just got back from London last night and brought me back TWO jars of lemon curd!!! I am in heaven. Tomorrow I will make scones so I have something to eat the lemon curd with as the spoon in the jar does not go over too well here.

(He also brought me a salami, Irish Cheese, and some handmade fudge.....love, love, love him!!)

Santis

A lot (too much actually) of my focus with getting accustomed to living here has been the food. My in-laws get on me about not eating Filipino food. What I have tried to explain to them that it is not that I do not eat most Filipino food, I don't eat much of American cu sine either. I am a picky eater. I do not eat seafood (of any type), onions, mayonnaise, sweet potatoes, etc. I do not like fat on meat and have been know to cut the tiny pieces off chicken breasts before cooking them. I am living in an island nation which of course takes advantage of the fact that there is tons of gorgeous seafood right off the coast. This leaves me with few options for food or even grocery shopping for that matter.

Cheese is sold here namely in an aisle--non refrigerated. This is due to the fact that much of it is "cheese food". I have been going to Santis for my cheese fix. Love, love, love it. Cheese from Germany, Italy, France. In addition there are tons of cold cuts (prosciutto, dry salami), meats (lamb from Australia, all beef hot dogs), dried mushrooms (cannot live without porcini), heavy cream, etc. I love it. I am in heaven there.

http://www.werdenberg.com/santis/index.cfm

Milk is Back!!!

The one food item I miss the most here is milk. There is tons of milk--local caribou, Australian, etc but it is all psycho pasteurized (with the exception of the caribou milk). The milk here is fine for coffee or cooking but when used as a beverage, which is my absolute favorite drink, it tastes horrible to me.

As a result, I buy half gallons of Darigold Milk for PHP208 (about $4). It is imported from the states (Washington State), hence the extreme price. I can't get enough of it, although I drink it rarely due to the cost. Sadly, last month none of the local stores here had it. I went to Rustan's, Makati Market, Robinsons, Unimart, and S&R and found nothing. Today we went to S&R and the milk was back in stock. It is a little sad how excited I was. I was starting to assume that since there was no milk, it was no longer being imported which would have made sense. Milk is perishable and I am sure there is not much demand for an expensive version of it here. Plus, I have to take a sip while I am in the store as I have bought a spoiled one in the past. This means I have to drive home holding it between my legs.

It just bums me out when I remember my wonderful Strauss organic milk from the states. A nice glass bottle, cream on the top....now I am ecstatic with hormone filled goodness.

Gross Pizza

It is a pizza with a hot dog in the crust......

Fallen Tree

We have a partially demolished lot on which we will build our future home and there were two large trees. One we want to remove and the other we were happy with. The tree we were happy with was a casualty of the typhoon. You can see it in the background. The one standing room is a toilet. Here the builders "stay-over" which means you need a working restroom as they will stay onsite.

$5 for Milk

I finally found milk here imported from the US. Paid P219 which is about $4.50 for a half gallon. It was so nice to eat y Grape nuts and actually drink the remaining milk out of the bowl instead of throwing it down the sink.