Articles in Philippines Bike Trip 2013
Encounters in a 7-11 and an Internet Cafe
Tuesday August 19, 2014
7:00 a.m.
Not much on my mind this morning. How about some more UFC? I watched UFC Fight Night 47 yesterday morning – the prelim card and the main card. The fights themselves were fairly disappointing. As I mentioned the other day, MMA fighters in the US are moving away from technical fighting and just trying to punch each other. However, the Brazilians …
Pop Culture Thoughts
Friday August 15, 2014
7-11 Cebu
Not much on my mind first thing this morning. Jeepneys are going by and filling up with customers. I can’t say with any confidence who all these people are and where they are going. Many are students. That is clear. Others are going to work, but I have no idea what kind of work. It’s not like Bay Street in Toronto …
Early Morning Thoughts Over Coffee
Thursday August 14, 2014
6:30 a.m.
Not much going on at the 7-11 this morning. When I came in, all the chairs and benches were still up on the table. I had to clear my own table first and I learned how heavy these friggin’ chairs are. They’re made of square steel tubes welded together. Built to last. The music is blasting like a night club. I’ve …
Jeepney Workers and Beggars
6:10 a.m. 7-11 in Cebu
Got an awesome night of sleep last night. I woke up fully refreshed and feeling great, but I still have ghost images in my left eye. Who knows? It might be a permanent part of my life now. It doesn’t affect distance vision all that much. A very annoying side-effect is that my prescription glasses are now all wonky for my …
A New Internet Cafe in Cebu
There is a crazy homeless dude outside the 7-11 window this morning. He’s got dirty rasta-style locks of hair going down to his waist. Black skin from the layers of dirt. Wearing one flip-flop on his right foot. Holding two flip-flops in his hands. I haven’t seen this guy too often. I saw him yesterday, and he nearly ran right into me. That’s one thing …
A Neighborhood in Downtown Cebu
This morning, I came into the 7-11 to find the place almost completely empty. Unfortunately, there were four customers in line at the counter – worse, they were 4 senior citizen customers! Oh, man, did the 7-11 clerks take a long time to finish dealing with them. They used not only ID to get the senior citizen discount but also some special 7-11 discount card. …
Thoughts from a 7-11 in Cebu
It’s 7 in the morning and I’m sitting at one of many neighborhood 7-11’s in Cebu City. It’s like I’m back in Taiwan. But not really. In fact, being at a 7-11 tends to heighten some local characteristics, as I can compare it to the 7-11s in Taiwan. As you can probably guess, in every comparison, the Filipino version comes up short.
My biggest complaint (as …
Double Vision and a Trip to the Hospital
Seemingly out of nowhere, I’ve started to have trouble with my eyes. It was probably a gradual process that I just didn’t notice, but it doesn’t feel that way. It feels like I woke up one morning and suddenly couldn’t see very well. The problem was mainly in my left eye, where I was experiencing double vision or ghost images. It was pretty bad and …