My first day in Butuan

I arrived in Butuan on a Monday, lunch time. In the afternoon I went for a short walk and visited my former high school, ANHS. I did not get in but just walked outside its walls. On the right hand side (when facing the front of the school), vendors are selling various types of food but a lot of them have banana preparations on display. Here's one.

Stuck in Brunei

On my way to the Philippines this time, I was stuck in Brunei for 24 hours. Due to the floods caused by Ondoy, the international airport was also affected. Here's one of the photos I took while touring the city for a few hours. I guess this is their biggest mall.

Pedestrian Crossings

I tried crossing roads in Butuan using the pedestrian crossings. These are on crossings where no traffic lights are in place. I was surprised to see that actually it is not "respected" by drivers. Drivers would never stop to give way to pedestrians. The picture below is an example. Here the pedestrian is giving way to a tricycle.

Bawal Umihi Dito

I think this is one common practice that we Filipinos should stop. I have been in a number of cities around the world and has never seen a sign similar to this. I heard comments from people of other countries who had been to some of our cities, that urinating in public is disgusting. Why a sign like this is everywhere? Because we unashamedly are doing it. STOP it NOW!

Rubbish in Manila River

I just would like to share with you the rubbish floating on one of the rivers in Manila. This river is located in the boundaries of San Juan, Mandaluyong and Sta. Mesa, just a few meters from Kalentong.

Mount Mayapay

Mount Mayapay is the silent witness of Butuan's past and future. It is the nearest mountain range to our city. I had been twice on its slopes during my teen age years. One time, I was with a group of factory laborers planting trees. The other time, when I worked as a kargador and travelled there to collect rattan poles. These were in the mid 70s.

Photo taken from the new bridge.

The Agusan River

Despite witnessing the ugliness of those three kids polluting our river, the beauty of the river cannot be ignored. This is the river that for many years in the past was the main economic engine of Butuan City. This was the time when the logging industry was booming in the region. But now we realized that it was also the time when our forests were abused and degraded by people whose only interest is making money. The floods we experienced in the recent times and the 60s were the results of those abuses.

Our environment

I would like to share with you this photo I took at a riverbank just near my parents' home which is just around 100 meters far. I admire the Filipinos for their personal cleanliness. I often hear that overseas employers in some industries prefer Filipinos due to their good personal hygiene habits. However, I could also observe how most of Filipinos do not care about their surroundings/environment. This is very obvious when you walk on the streets of cities.

The photo below was taken in one of my early walks in the neighborhood. The children of course do not exactly know the impact of what they're doing.

I'm back

This is my first post since my return from the Philippines. The trip was exhausting not physically but mentally. It's quite frustrating when you are met by "mandarayas" as soon as you come out from the airport. Taxis are overpriced. There were only two taxi companies available for passengers and they charge the same. I was charged Php 610 from the international airport to Bacood, Sta. Mesa. The next day, when I took a metered taxi back to the airport (domestic) I only paid Php 150. This is just one case of the cheating prominent in our society today.

I have posted a few pictures already on Facebook but I will post them again here. I could tell more stories for each picture I'm going to post here.

OK.....watch the coming days...

bye for now...