So it turns out that I have been travelling around the world taking photos and filmming crap at the behest of people that will pay me small sums of cash to do so, for about 2 years now. Since 2009 I have "worked" over parts of 5 different continents, but as until now, have failed to write about said adventures. I have asked myself why this is and come up with a few hairbrained excuses about crap access to internet (via shitey maritime satellites onboard cruise ships) and lack of anything to properly write about. I am able to put my hand up and say that whilst these probably were contributing factors, in all honesty it was probably due to laziness and lack of vision, (saying that, if you had to deal with ships internet, you probably would have found yourself in an equally disagreeable set of circumstances)...
Anywhoo, I have now stumbled upon the next adventure/chapter, and finding myself in a more agreeable situation, I have decided to write about actually living abroad (as apose to living and working inside a large floating hotel). I have taken up employment with an american production company who have their main studio lot on the outskirts of the city of Cebu in the Philippines, and so this shall be some sort of testiment to my time here. There are a great many things that I have forgotten about from my seadays which are only roused from scratchy messages scrawled on the back of postcards, or collections of photos, and I am determined not to fall into such a situation once again.
So, now that i have formed some form of mission statement, I shall begin.
I departed from Edinburgh on Thursday and was carried to Euston Station on the hottest train in the world. Yes, this sun was clearly powered by raw solar energy. Moral of the this part of the story, dont travel on Virgin Trains.
After this sweaty, uncomfortable and somewhat vomit inducing sejourn down the length of Great Britian, I found Mr Euan Cherry who led me to Angel where we cosumed far too much booze, resulting in 1 hours sleep before catching a plane to Hong Kong. This flight consisted of broken sleep and a really nippy woman who kept moaning about nothing. What Fun. Then a 2 hour wait in HK before flying to Cebu - luckily this was an easy flight thanks to Cathay Pacifics fantastic idea to show session 5 of 30Rock on their inflight entertainment, and providing me with a window seat so that, in my childlike fasination, I could smoosh my face against the glass as I craned to view as much of the landmass below as possible.
The scenery was incredible. A collection of green, hilly islands with sandy beaches expanding out to reefs and turquoise water. I am now particularly excited about starting diving again, and hopefully doing my advanced PADI as its cheap as chips to get up to the next level here. what a win.
Anyway, landed (after listening to the wowful new Incubus album - oh Brandon Boyd how I love you, but this offering kindles my passions for you not...) passed through security, found the people I needed to find and got a taxi to the studios. Im living onsite, my room is large and air conditioned, en suite and all for the steal of 25quid a week. thanks for that, much appreciated. Had a good sleep and then headed out into the city.
So far Cebu is not how I imagined. I must admit that it being dark by the time we left suggests that I missed alot, but it seems far more developed than I imagined. There are a lot of really expensive looking malls that put a lot of our tawdry shopping excuses to shame. All the restaurants are extremely cosmopolitan, with everything from Mexican to Tepinaki - my food worries are starting to subdue. Saying that, it seems that Philippinos like to make very sweet food - everyone Ive talked to has complained of dishes being much sweeter than we are used to in the west, and I can concure that tonights veggie burger was hard to get my head around. Portions are also much smaller which is great. Our cooking facilities are pretty rubbish, so everyone at the studio tends to eat out 2-3 meals a day, this is due to social reasons and cheap food, but I am happy with this.
After dinner I was then taken to a bar called Suelanders (really pronounced Zoolanders, which makes me extrememly happy indeed). Great bar with a wide terrace a couple of stories up with views over the river and the citys 2 main bridges (Old Bridge, and New Bridge - clearly a lot of work went into naming them).
After the bar my first Jeepany experience - Jeepanies are a cross between a taxi and a bus. They are effectively small vans with 2 benches in the back, open windows, and are brightly coloured. They are the cheapest way to get around. They each take a specific route so you they cant go off course to take you somewhere particular. You can, at a squeee, have about 12 folk in 1 with 2 hanging off the back - i have heard reports of squashing 24 in, also that getting out of a full one if like getting out of an elephants arse (perhaps like a rudimentary version of the infamous Ace Ventura rhino scene...). Girls are not supposed to hang off the back, but at night it seems more allowed... So a typical jeepany ride costas about 8pesos. its 66 pesos to the pound, so clearly, its pretty cheap. Still cant get my head around the conversion - think its going to take quite a while...
Anywhoo... people seem really nice so far. Place is really great. Very excited to be here indeed. Jet lag is starting to kick in so sleep calls.
Until next time foul friends.
adieu x
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