Breakfast in a suit

In every tour you never really know what kind of hosting/lodging you will get in a particular city. I’ve lived in one room studios to houses with 10 rooms . Sometimes within a certain city you can have varied accommodation. You have your Haves and Have Not.

To be assigned to live with the Ambassador was quite the experience. He was quite famous and was a career diplomat he gave the impression of someone who had a good education and highly intelligent. He was very formal when he spoke with us and breakfast was a formal affair. He had 2 maids to take care of his house and they told us to come to the breakfast in a suit.

We only saw the ambassador during breakfasts. His wife we saw every day. Not that she would talk to us. She always sat in the living area smoking and drinking her champagne as soon as she wakes up till evening. I guess it is not easy to live a life of a nomad – changing cities every few years. It takes a toll on you.

I guess they love champagne a lot. We are served Champagne during breakfast too but they mix it with orange juice.

Living in this house was certainly a luxury. We were driven around by a driver and the house felt like a hotel.

We became friends with the house help. The phrase, “taga saan ka?” [where do you come from] opens myriads of conversation possibilities. Pre internet days we discovered that we were supposed to be news bearers, one common phrase we heard during this tour was, “what’s happening to the Philippines?” They’d ask us all sorts of questions like what is happening to this particular actress to thoughts on the current government. In hindsight I should have read upon current news before going on this trip. 

What is that Car?

The time came for me and my housemates to be picked up from the embassy. There were four minors in this trip, me included, and we were distributed to different houses. I was to be housed
with  the two eldest guys in our group and will be staying with the Philippine ambassador to Austria. We went down the embassy with our bags in tow and looked as a car pulled up along the driveway.  It was BMW.

Prior to globalization and the internet boom, the only cars available to the Philippine Market were Japanese and American cars. European cars can only be brought in if it was bought abroad and shipped to the Philippines. To have a Mercedes Benz was a status symbol among the ultra-rich back then.

To the Filipino, even today, BMW is synonymous to wealth. back then, it was my first time seeing one, let alone riding one. Here's how I remember that ride:

Pure luxury. At least to my 18 yr old self that's what it seemed like. Chauffeur with uniform, fragrant leather smell,  soft leather seats and powerful acceleration. It also felt like you were "hugging the road" or running on rails.

I was also amazed that no matter how fast we were the driver would always stop or slow down every time there is a pedestrian lane. It was totally opposite of how things were in the Philippines where pedestrians and drivers play cat and mouse. pedestrian lanes are mere "suggestions" and you get honked upon for walking  too slow and where mayhem is the norm and it's usually a free for all affair. .

How can I tell if it's old or new?

Upon arrival at the embassy we were welcomed by the Staff and the one in charge of the Cultural Affairs. We had a briefing there about our stay and to which houses we'll be assigned to. Some choir members had their foster parents pick them up already, I was assigned to stay with the ambassador so we had to wait awhile. 

Being the curious kid we were, we decided to go out and see what Vienna has to offer. At that time walking in the streets of Vienna felt like walking in a theme park. It seemed to me that all the building were in the same style and color. I have never seen anything like it in my life, Manila being an eclectic mix of modern and old, rich and poor, all in the same area. 

When we went back to the embassy, I asked a staffer about the things I saw. He told me, "Not everything is old. See that building there? It's new but they have to conform to a certain style and color that fits with this area. If you want to see new buildings there is a place where those are being built" 

its so hot inside this car

Our Pickups finally arrived and we were assigned to different cars on the way to the embassy where we will be picked up by our foster families. The Car assigned to us was an Opel Tigra, a car I’ve never seen before in the Philippines. One of the “Titos” (literally means Uncle, but in the Philippines it a generic word for any male older than you) wearing a light brown suede jacket asked us to ride in his car.

The ride was pretty good and there was no traffic. Vienna is amazing city to drive in during spring, so many colors and tulips on the center islands.  I really didn’t want to mention it but coming from the cool weather outside this car was stifling hot. I still had my jacket on but I was sweating bullets.

(I imagine this was how I looked) -image not mine

 In all honesty, what I really wanted to do was open the window slightly to let the cool air in. It was my first experience with a heater.

I was in the passenger seat and looked at the backseat, at my choirmates. Yes, they were suffering as well. I looked at our driver and he didn’t even break a sweat with his leather jacket on.

(Is it hot in here?)

 I tried to open the conversation by saying I’ve never seen a heater before. I guess he noticed I was sweating buckets and told me an interesting theory. Here is what he told me:

You kids haven’t adjusted to the weather yet. You still like the cold weather because it hot where we came from. But to him who lives with cold weather all year, a hot car or room feels very good.
(That still didn’t explain why we were sweating buckets and he wasn’t) To cut the story short he allowed us to open the window slightly to let some cool air in.

It's COLD in Vienna

Coming from Manila, Philippines where it's perpetually in the 30's. We have a saying here about our weather, "we only have 2 seasons, HOT and HOTTER" It is really not hotter per we except that the humidity changes. You either have a Dry kind of hot or a Wet kind of hot day. Get the picture?

We arrived in Vienna, Austria early Late May 1998. It was spring and the weather in the 15s to 20's. this was pre internet days so we had no idea other than the warning of our choirmaster, who lived in Europe before,  to bring light jackets.  At the airport it was quite warm and so we didn't put jackets on. We waited for our organizers to show up in the arrival area and while waiting, one person in the group bravely ventured outside the airport

Suddenly he came back inside saying, "it's cold outside!!" The whole group got up and hurriedly went outside. the feel of the cold air was a reminder that we were not in the Philippines anymore. then we saw the tulips. (Tulips are imported, we don't see them much in the Philippines) Everyone went to the tulips to have their pic taken.

(Here is the group posing beside the tulips outside the airport)

Taking a Crap at the Plane

Without much sleep from the night before and a little too excited about the trip to Europe, i forgot to take care of "business" before I went to the airport.

The stopover in Taiwan was short and soon we find ourselves boarding again, this time for Vienna. We took off and right after food was served once again. I will usually eat what's in front of me, a discipline I learned growing up. It was my 2nd big meal in a span of few hours. 

It started as a rumble then a riot in my tummy. I knew I had to go. I've never used the airplane toilet before and it seems I'd have to use one now.   

There was a line and my tummy is saying, you gotta go!! Tried shifting position and think random thoughts to take my mind off. First thing I thought when coming inside, wow its small. I did my thing and flushed. SHWOOOSH! The sound startled me. To my Horror some bits and pieces did not flush away and were stuck. I tried flushing again. Nope that did not work. Water did the trick. I used the water for handwashing to loosen the bits and pieces. Flushed and it was all clean :)

I don’t think anyone enjoys going number two on a plane, but if you’re going to, there are some basic ways to minimize the impact it has on other passengers

• When you’re done, use a lot of soap when you wash your hands — airlines typically have foaming soap, and you’d be surprised by how much of a difference it can make in terms of the smell
• As a courtesy, wipe down everything you used and leave it the way you entered it. 

Orange Juice Please

Have you ever had a friend who at times makes you feel so ashamed that you want to sink to the floor when you are with Him/Her?

Flying out of Manila going to Taipei-Vienna via EV Airlines I got seated beside my choir mate, Dennis. Shortly after takeoff he  pushed the call button requesting for Orange Juice. The flight stewardess obliged his request and came over to our seats and gave him his orange juice.

Whenever the Flight Stewardess would pass he would ask for Orange Juice. After his third Orange Juice, I asked, "are you really that thirsty?" He told me, "No, But it's Free! so you should claim it." I thought to myself , but we are not the only passengers in this plane... imagine if everyone wanted their orange juice at the same time? while I was thinking that, he pressed that call button again, yep, he wanted his orange juice.

Visa Denied Because Someone Farted

Now that I think about it, it seems funny that one of the members in our group got her Visa denied due to someone farting.

Part of itinerary of our Group in the European Tour was to go to the United Kingdom specifically in London. All of our lodgings, host families, concerts were set and all we needed was a visa to UK because the Schengen Visa does not cover the UK.

We prepared our papers and went to our scheduled interview at the UK embassy. Interviews are done individually and you have to wait in line.

In one of the lines, one of the members in our tour group started to giggle. The consul at the window motioned for her to come forward to the window despite it not being her turn yet. He asked her, what's funny? Are you laughing at me? She said, "no, i wasn't laughing at you" She told him someone farted in the line and thats why she laughed.

The Consul would have none of it. Picked up her application and marked it Denied.

My choirmate would have none of it because she felt that her visa had to be denied because of the merits of her application and not because of the demeanor she showed while in a line. When she tried to reason out, the consul called for security so she could be led out.

Our Choirmaster decided that without 2 people in our small team (16 pax)  we would not push through with the UK leg of our trip.  The other one denied because she wasn't a student anymore but had a masteral degree in nursing so they were afraid she would jump ship so to speak (how ironic that now they would jump at this opportunity to hire someone of her status)

So yeah. Denied because someone farted :)

Motherly Advice

Fast forward to my 18th year of existence. We have been preparing for months now to go to Europe. First stop Vienna, Austria. Having joined the University of the Philippines Manila Chorale we were on our way to compete at the Bad Ischl Choral Festival.

 This was before Internet, we really didn't have an idea of where we were going and how much costs it would entail. My parents dropped me off at the Ninoy Aquino International airport and my mom, she took me by the shoulder and gave me an advice: 

Yep, I seriously thought she would give me advice like, don't sow your seeds. Good thing she gave me enough money to spend on food. I barely used it though. because the lack of information on where we where going I hoarded the money in case things got bad on that tour.