Now that we are settling in for a while, and have this great neighborhood, we decided to splurge on getting “new” bikes for the girls. Merry early Christmas!! We are, naturally, always trying to do things on the cheap so after chatting up one of our tricycle drivers (there are a set of regular ones that work, it seems, primarily for the Bayswater community) and Roy, our now friend/driver, was kind enough to help us out in trying to find used bikes and fans as the ones in the department stores are essentially the same price as at home (and thus out of our traveling budget for a 3 month use). I think his help was above and beyond because when explaining our dilemma of not knowing where to find second hand bikes we said we would be happy to give one of the bikes to his daughter (again the size of Marion but the age of Alys) when we left because we, of course, won’t be taking them along. We really weren’t trying to bribe him or anything, but we do mean to give the bikes away, and I think he didn’t really understand we were serious at first. Anyway it was good fun and I think Aly’s face says it all in how happy the girls are about their new rides. Chad and I are also actually rather pumped that we can ride Aly’s bike and maybe use if when we just need a quick trip to the store or whatnot. Those dollar trike rides can add up! Oh, and we also decided we need fans so that we aren’t using our A/C all night. Nailed it! We were feelin practically local with the amount of people and stuff we had loaded on our tricycle. It really is amazing the sheer volume of people that can be crammed onto/into a conveyance.
I am happy to report of all the different style of tricycles we’ve encountered here in the Philippines I think I like these Mactan Island ones best. (Another aside: Mactan Island is a little Island that is adjacent/part of Cebu proper and is called Mactan Island, Opon Island or Lapu-lapu Island–Lapu-lapu being the name of the chief who was ruler of the Island when Magellan landed in the Philippines and under whom Magellan was killed and Spanish colonization was repelled…for 30 years…and then the imperialist agenda rolled on, but he (Lapu-lapu) is still a hero and an icon and the namesake of this Island and much more. )
We were quite happy with our bikes but one of the bikes had a flat tire. A patch or new inner tube you might think. No, no. That’s silly. Well, lucky us, we’ve been wondering what exactly are all these shops with the label “Vulcanizing” hand scrawled on wood or cardboard signs? Well, vulcanizing (def. per Meriam webster Vulcanization involves heating rubber in combination with sulfur. The Roman god Vulcan was the god of fire and of skills that used fire, such as metalworking. So when Charles Goodyear discovered that high heat would result in stronger rubber, he called the process “vulcanization” after the god of fire). So what this all means here is that a guy will take apart your tire, find your leak and then heat the inner tube in a metal can and vice and burn it with oil from a water bottle until the rubber is melted to seal the hole. At least that’s what I think I observed. Regardless of my understanding of what actually happened, we did then have a repaired tire inner tube and a fully functional bike for Buoy.
We didn’t just buy gifts for early Christmas, we decided to give in to the girls’ requests (read sweet, nagging/frequent queries for ‘When can we get a TREE??”) and give them full reign in choosing a tree, buying decorations and getting ready for the big C-day. It was delightful. And they were so precious. Alys definitely has vision.
Alys has very serious ideas about what she wants for her Christmas tree and Christmas décor. And luckily she is an elegant negotiator in getting her sister to agree to her vision. One of the reasons for their simultaneous placement of the star (Alys was…well, the most accurate is probably ‘bragging” about putting the star on the top of the Christmas tree last year, and so Marion surmised and thought that fairness dictated this year she should be the one to put it on the top. Alys somehow talked Marion into the idea that they should do it together. Well, if they are both happy with that decision–they were–then let it be.)
Chad and I feel a little odd with a tree so well coordinated (gold and silver themed throughout) without our usual mash of handmade ornaments, baubles from Chritmas’s past, childhoods and our kids additions, all colorful lights and smelly needles everywhere. But we are happy with the cheer it brings and elated with the girls joy and the fun we’ve all had doing it a new way, but still our own. Did enjoy some of our traditional Jimmy Buffett Christmas music while we decorated. Sadly no Elf to watch. We’re not struggling.
The Adobo Hobos 