You cannot escape the ‘mall culture’ in the Philippines

It is not a secret that I am not a fan of spending my time inside malls but I can also understand why this has turned into a very popular phenomenon in the Phillippines called: ‘Mall Culture’ aka ‘Malling’



Inside the mall (Ayala Centre in Cebu):







Many malls have incorporated gardens and parks into their design such as this one in Ayala Centre, Cebu with the addition of the Ayala Terraces outdoor eating and recreation area.











In the tropics it is hot all the time with a temperature average between 32C and 40C during summer season and 25C and 30C during rainy season. Throw in the noise and air pollution into the equation, no wonder people prefer to stay inside the malls even if they are not going to shop, eat or do business inside. They just stay inside, hang out, go malling.



Malling has truly become a culture in the Philippines. It is a national pastime.



Some articles I found about this topic:



UK Trade & Investment (): Retail in the Philippines

Inquirer (): The national pastime

Brunei Times (): Let’s go malling

Reuters (): ‘Malling’ consumes shoppers in the Philippines



So when we were in Cebu, Dutchman and I could not escape these airconditioned oasis. We mostly did the following:



1) Shop (at SM, Ayala and Robinsons) – we did not have a lot of time so we were always rushing and even driving from mall to mall.



2) Meet and Eat ( with friends, relatives and family) – the malls are a favourite place to meet by everyone so Dutchman and I have given in. I guess it is easy for everyone as it’s a place in the centre of the city, with accessible parking and with many restaurant choices.





Meeting with my cousins in Ayala Centre at their favourite place to eat: Lemon Grass (Vietnamese-Thai Cuisine restaurant) and later having coffee at UCC Coffee.



I met with my BFF as well in the same mall and wrote earlier an entry about it here: Spending time with Rock BFF in Cebu





Dinner with the family here a few times. My brother and his wife had to leave for an engagement in Cambodia, so while they were gone, we made sure to entertain the smart aleck nephew that was left behind.I call him smart aleck because he is far too advanced in IQ and EQ for his age. He is just 6 years old but thinks like an adult. I hope he can follow a school soon that specialises on individual accelerated learning.





We ate at Cafe Laguna in Ayala Terraces. We were so hungry I forgot to take pictures of the food, instead I only have pictures of the aftermath and the desserts, haha.





Dutchman and I even went to SM Mall to watch James Bond’s Skyfall movie, and we also had dinner here with smart aleck nephew.



Nevertheless, there is one thing I have regretted, I was not really able to shop. My original plan was to shop a whole day. It never happened. I had an hour here and there and had to always squeeze in last minutes.



Viva malling in the Philippines! =)

Riding in Daddy's Arms

Curiosity won - and So did I...

Quite often I get frustrated with using online trees, particularly those on ancestry.com but I continue to use them for clues. And sometimes you get lucky if there are sources attached, which doesn't happen all that much.







At the time I was checking these trees last week, I already had a record of Dietrich's baptism but decided to click through to see what the record was because it looked like a different source than what I had.







I was surprised to see an image. Other records of baptisms I'd seen on ancestry were like the above but without images. I was a bit disappointed because it appeared to be the same document in my files. But I clicked on through anyway.







The above is a portion of the page. The entry for Joh. Dietrich is 3rd from the bottom. Looking at it closely I noticed that his sponsors were different than the record I had. The copy I already had shows the sponsors to be Dietrich Schadler and wife while the sponsors for Johannes (just above Joh. Dietrich) were Joh. Schwenk and Regina! This is apparently another transcription of the records. But how could I know which is correct?



The other thing I noticed, which I've circled in red in the above screen shot, is the number of images for this record set. Curiosity got the better of me and I started “jumping” through the images a hundred at a time. Image 150 looked like a journal or diary as was image 250. But image 350 displayed baptism records written in German Script! I had landed on baptisms for the year 1758 so started going back 20 pages pages at a time. Image 310 was for August 1751 so back one more page and there in the lower right corner was the entry for Dietrich! How cool is that!!







Above is a portion of image number 309 with the year 1751 at the top of the page. The entry for Dietrich is on the second line. It shows that his parents (in the first column) are Michael Hofmann and Maria Engel. The second column shows Joh: Dietrich born 22 June baptized 21 July. In the third column are the sponsors Dietrich Schädler and wife. No, I don't read German but this was, luckily for me, quite legible. And of course, having the transcriptions helps.



If you have an ancestry account and are logged in you can click on this link to get to the full image. There are two pages per image and Dietrich's entry is at the bottom of the second page.



This is part of a larger collection of “Pennsylvania Church and Town Records, 1708-1985” which ancestry added and which Randy Seaver wrote about in January. Being a little more curious, today I took a look to see what all was in the Montgomery > New Hanover > New Hanover Evangelical Lutheran set. You have to have an ancestry.com account to view the images.



“A List of Baptisms from 1740 to 1825 as they appear in the records of the congregation. New Hanover Lutheran” begins with Image 1.



A Diary or Journal begins with Image 141 which is dated 1865 Cheltanham, Montgomery Co. Pa. I didn't take the time to determine the writer. It begins in 1865 and goes through 1893. There were names written throughout. The first few lines of the first image: 6th mo 8 oh 1865. Our wedding day, were married at Germantown Meeting. A warm tho. pleasant day. A good many friends to dinner, more to tea, about 50 beside our family. Our bridesmaids and groomsmen all went home with us and spent the night. They were Enos Laikin and Mary Ann Imes, William Taylor and Mary A. Ogborn, Morris Ogborn & Susan Leattergood.



Miscellaneous Documents starting with Image 267: Permission to microfilm, then documents relating to the incorporation of the German Lutheran Congregation. Some documents in German Script, later ones in English.



Baptism Records in German Script begin with image 280. They start in 1744 and continue through 1878. Marriages begin with image 683 and go from 1809- 1882.



Deaths start with Image 721. The year 1886 is on the first image and 1884 on the last of 10 images so they aren't in any kind of order.



There's a bit of the history of the congregation, lists of Members and Communicants 1855-1919, Baptisms of Infants 1885-1912, Marriages 1887-1912, Burials 1886-1913 with a notation on the last page that there were “500 funerals at New Hanover to date”, more Communicants 1906-1921.



There are 20 images of German Script dated from 1744-1765 appearing to be congregation history and old records as well as several pages of signatures (in German) dated 1765-1790. And finally, Miscellaneous Records in German Script 1766-1796 (marriages, lists of trustees).



It's truly amazing the various types of records found in this data set. Most of them are of no use to me since my ancestors were gone from Pennsylvania by the late 1790s but what I found there (the baptism record of Dietrich Hoffman) is absolutely fantastic!

Hiking With New Friends

One of the really neat things about living this way is that we get to meet a lot of online friends that we'd never have a face to face meet up with if we were not traveling. Today we met a newer friend, and had a chance to get to know them even better. I met Becky though another online friend, Melanie. I really enjoy reading her blog and figured I'd enjoy her in person too. She was even better in person.

Smart, easy to talk to and really funny too. Mostly, I noticed how peaceful of a person she seems to be. I had a very comfortable day with her and her very cool kids.

We met up at Lake Louisa, along with Aric and Ace, and did some hiking. Although Aric says it is not hiking. It is Florida trail walking. I tend to agree after having done some true hiking in other states. We still had fun!

It's been a bit since I've hiked with younger children. I remembered today what one of the coolest things about younger kids is. They are so timeless. Meaning they just don't change all that much over the years. You can see a huge cultural influence on teens. Not so much with the younger kids. Especially when they are free range kids. This could have just as easily been me and my siblings as kids. Out just exploring the world without a care in the world.

Her teen son (not sure if I can share his name here or not?) was fascinating. We spent a lot of time talking. I learned a lot about war games from him. And guns. He was awesome. I can't wait until next winter when I can spend more time with him.



The day was just one of those lovely, warm days that have me loving my life. Since I do not always feel that way, it's nice when it does happen!

Showtime with the Lipizzan Horses

I have visited these horses and wrote about them enough times that I'm beginning to feel like a dating ad when I talk about them. It's hard to not talk about how fabulous they are when you share pictures of them. They are such gorgeous creatures.




They are strong, impressive creatures!



They even have great hair!



What I don't think I've talked about yet, is the fact that they are clearly trained to be showmen.



Since I don't speak horse, I have no idea if they enjoy us being there or not. But I can tell they are comfortable and used to us being there by how they interact with the crowd.



If those pictures were not proof enough, check out this one.

Best.Horse.Shot.Ever.



I swear he was looking at me saying," and hoooolllldddiiinnnngggg...please just take the shot already!"




Love the Lipizzaner horses. Living the life in sunny Florida.

A Day with Mike Law

When I first started buying Rock magazine, probably back in '89, like most of you I was in awe of all the heroiccharacters. Bold, competent, even handsome. But the one who most summed up that period , for me, was Mike Law. AKA The Claw.



I was guiding a group along the Grand Canyon track in the Blue Mountains one day in the early Nineties and recognised Mike, from magazine pictures,coming the other way. I couldn't believe my luck. A real rock star, live, in person. So naturally I stopped him, and surprisingly he gave me all the time I wanted, chatting about stuff, you know, stuff. And even suggesting I come and climb at the gym where he worked. I don't know where my group got to. I caught them up some time later.

But, in my mind,I came away with an invitation to climb with Mike Law. The Claw!



I never did.



Till one day, recently on a dash trip to the Bluies with Lee,we met again. Vector: Neil Monteith.





That's me sort of looking smug mixing it up with the big boys.



I was taken as much by Mike's story telling as his climbing. He's like a TV that's always on exactlythe right channel, the imagery is rich, and only just believable.



So I can scarcely believe all the amazing people I've been hangin with lately. The latest buzz was a day at my local crags with Mike.



Starting with breakfast.



We told storieswhile Sandraroasted coffee from our tree, free range, low food miles, organic, but saddly,tainted with child labour. Grandson Judd helps pick it.






We had chili eggs on Turkish bread. Fav Saturday morning food.






Then out to the crags. Starting at Tinbeerwah. Yes, I took the Legend of The Claw to the Slabs of Tinbeerwah. What of it? It was fun. I left my bolt plates at work, so we used wires.

How embarrassment?

Then we dropped in at my work for lunch - Nachos and chocolate cake - and down the highway to Mt. Tibrogargan.

My human guide book, Lee was away in Kentucky, so I sent him a message. What to do with Mike?

"Remains of the Day" 5 pitch, mixed.



So here's Mike climbing past the notice declaring the route closed for Falcon Nesting.

Settle down climbers, don't get your nuts in a knot,the date on ithad expired. Mike led first. We swung leads.







I snapped a couple of shots along the way, on his following pitches.

























The Claw has been credited with the dubious honor of theMastery of "Jiggery Pokery" in climbing.

Here he carefully disguises a kneebar from the camera, but this grasshoppersees all.




"Remains of the Day"

So named when Gareth and Ross found human remains on their first ascent. Funny guys.





I look forward to climbing again with him. And Sandra and I wishMike and Vanessa the most joy and happiness on their next, most extreme, unpredictable adventure they will ever undertake.





Call anytime, day or night,if you need help with that one Mike.



jj

Great Oakley to East Carlton via Pipewell and Wilbarston

From Mel Jarvis'sAround Corby Walk but clockwise. With Barry and Gordon. Lovely dry sunny morning with no wind. About 7 miles - no big climbs, but lots of high stiles!

Monks in sheep's clothing - on the site of Pipewell Abbey










Pipewell Abbey

The wide expanse of Pipewell/ Desborough airfield

Some info on the airfield If the link doesn't work first time try refreshing the page. No idea why!





Another link to a story from BBC People's War website mentions the airfield and more about Corby and Northants in WW2

One of several stiles

The path follows the line of the hedge

Worth a dollar or two?

Approaching Wilbarston

To be investigated?

Wilbarston

A carved tree at East Carlton

East Carlton Church

Wildlife - rabbits possibly a hare, definitely a fox running across the field with his brush flowing as he ran