Well that was fun, take 2

Fun: Yesterday, Tet and I decided to engage in a “sportsfest” and planned an evening of table tennis and bowling.  We headed to Smashville, a local gym, that has a couple of table tennis tables.  However, it turns out that the table tennis room was reserved by an association of lawyers.  Granted, they weren’t actually playing table tennis, just hanging out and eating, but that didn’t help our cause.  So we left Smashville and headed to NCCC mall to go bowling.  We arrived and guess what?  Half the lanes were reserved by the same bowling association!  The other half were reserved by other groups.  Auggghhhh!!!!  So we ended up going to a place that has Wii and playing virtual tennis and bowling.  Lots of fun but not quite the same as the real thing.

Good deeds:  You know the saying…no good deed goes unpunished.  After playing Wii, Tet and I went to a coffee shop and had dinner.  We were sitting outside when a 10 year old girl came up to us, selling fans.  Tet talked to her for a bit and found out that she was trying to make money so she could buy food for lunch at school.  We weren’t interested in the fans but Tet gave her 5 pesos.  A few minutes later, a second girl came by selling fans.  Tet gave this girl 5 pesos as well.  Later, two more girls came by.  These two didn’t have fans to sell, they were begging for money.  This time I gave each of them 5 pesos.

Fast forward to today.  I went to the gym in the afternoon.  When it came time to come home though, I realized I had a problem.  I had left my wallet at home.  I had a shoulder bag with me that I carry my change in but that only had 2 pesos in it.  Not enough for a jeepney.  Of course, if I hadn’t given money to the two girls the night before, I would have had 12 pesos, which is plenty for a jeepney ride.  Instead, I had to take a taxi home at a cost of 60 pesos.

Skin color: White/light skin color is definitely prized in Asia.  A few examples.  When I went white water rafting in Thailand, the guide said he wished his skin color was like mine.  Then he’d be able to get a girlfriend.  Tet continually puts her arm next to mine and says she wishes her skin was ligter like mine.  And she told me that her cousin wants to have a daughter with my skin color.  Another American who lives here has actually had women come up to him at the mall and ask him to have a baby with him.  They’re not interested in marrying him, they just want a  baby with light skin.  

Contrast that with Americans and other light skinned people who spend time at the beach or in the tanning salon trying to darken their skin.  Interesting how we value the opposite of what we have.