Name: Bird’s Nest Soup (Rang Nok)

Location: Yaowarat Chinatown in Bangkok, Thailand

Cost: 200 THB (6.21 USD) for the cheapest bowl

It’s not everyday that you get to recline on yellow sofas surrounded by jars of illuminated spit, get spoiled by your waitress, and sip on the finest Swift saliva.  Well, actually, we got the cheapest bowl possible, but it was still a great foodie experience.  Swift nest’s are formed by the birds regurgitating their spit and letting it harden.  Depending on the quality, bird’s nest can fetch anywhere from about $5 to $1000 per bowl.   After eating over 100 Thai foods, bird’s nest soup was actually dreadfully plain.  However, if the purposed health benefits like curing lungs, boosting blood circulation, rejuvenating the skin, warding off tuberculosis, helping people recover from giving birth, and not to mention it’s aphrodisiac effects, the lack of flavor is hardly to complain about, right???  The waitress cracked a raw egg into our soup, splashed in a hint of honey, and told us to eat it with the small water chestnuts provided.  Yes, this is by far the most I’ve paid per bite of food in Bangkok, and, No, I probably won’t buy it again, but it was a high society experience that left me feeling like a culinary pro!

-Migration Mark

From growing up in Africa and traveling through many countries, I’ve obtained a respectable transcript of outlandish edibles ranging from ambrosial to grotesque. Congolese snails in the reincarnation of rubber tires, grubs, unknown testicles, a scientific assortment of winged bugs, balut fetus, rats, and a host of interior animal organs, are among a host of the weird delicacies that have been sandwiched between these two extremes. Throughout it all, I have been able to mastermind an eating strategy when faced with freakishly weird awesome foods.

Fried Rat in Laos

1.  The Adventurous Mindset

The adventurous mindset erases an automatic negative attitude and cry’s out to partake of the most outlandish edibles around. A great attitude goes a long way when attempting to eat weird foods. With an adventurous mindset you can be happily munching what you first thought might be repulsive.

2.  Be the Peer Pusher

Friends should push other friends to try weird foods. This is a healthy peer pressure exercise and I am all too often the guilty culprit who enforces the tasting of everything to the sometimes delight or pain of friends.  A group all trying something is less intimidating than sampling by yourself.

Smelling a chunk of the tender King of Fruits (Durian)

3.  Take Small Bites

A giant mouth full sometimes triggers an unpleasant regurgitation as constant chewing is necessary to avoid choke-age. Try small bites that are easy to chew and therefore faster to swallow and keep down.  I’ve tried big bites and small bites, but I think small bites makes it easier.

4.  Think Delicious

The mind is quite a powerful tool and can be manipulated by itself.  Think delicious thoughts when widening your lips for the first bite of an utterly weird something, and it will probably be much better than the initial thought.

Eating Balut in Manila

5.  Don’t Over Think

Hesitation causes bad thinking. Bad thinking causes food worrying. Avoid hesitation by getting in there and sampling something without thinking too hard about it and just going in!

6.  Actually…It’s A Delicacy

Have a realization that to many local people, the ultra bizarre food you are about to eat is probably not weird at all. In fact, many weird foods to us, and vice versa, are local delicacies that are prized eating possessions that should be respected when munching.

Grub Worm in Ecuador

7.  Tell A Story

Everyone I’ve ever met adores hearing about extremely weird foods that I have sampled in my life. Other than eating, there’s no greater satisfaction than telling a story about eating an exceptionally bizarre food that everyone is absolutely grossed out by.

8.  Don’t Kid Yourself With Textures

Do not think about or even contemplate or hesitate the texture of a weird food.  All too often it is not the flavor, but the texture that grosses people out.  If you simply focus on the flavor and try to completely ignore the texture, the food will be much easier to handle.  Durian, known as the king of fruits, is neglected stricly for it’s texture, but the fruit is actually brilliant!

Mystery Soup Number 5

9.  Someone Eats It

How can you be afraid of a food when there is someone that eats it?  There is reason to be scared if you are eating something completely new that no one has ever tasted.  However, almost all freakishly weird foods are eaten and therefore cannot be abnormally unhealthy.  Don’t be afraid, it won’t harm you!!!

Deep fried 1 day old Chicken

10.  Last Resort: Block Taste Buds/Don’t Fully Chew

In a last resort case where the food simply causes an involuntary gag reflex, it’s best to chew while blocking the passage between the nose and throat and then swallowing with haste. Immediately chase with whatever beverage is nearest.

Duck fetus balut

In the end, there’s no way to absolutely love all freakishly weird foods from around the world. However, it is a wonderful asset for any traveler to be able to relish a few odd entrees and thrive to tell about them!

I know you have all eaten some freakishly weird foods, I would love to hear some comments!

-Migration Mark

The Songkran Festival in Thailand (traditional Thai New Years) is the biggest and most sought after holiday on the Thai calendar.  Songkran is usually thought of as a few inebriated day of throwing buckets of water and shooting water guns where everyone is a target.  However, with 66 million Thai inhabitants, there must be a bigger picture, so I turned to 27 of my Thai students to get a more local picture of what characterizes Songkran.

Tallying the results and analyzing the trends I came up with a single sentence that I think sums up what the Songkran Festival is for many Thai people.  Songkran is a long holiday to spend time being happy and excited with family and friends, respecting elders, going to the temple, playing with water, and eating seafood. Below are the results with what I think are the most interesting answers, followed by the highest number of responses.   I will let the interviews speak for themselves and hope you enjoy!

photo courtesy of Takeaway

“Best Holiday in Thailand” – 18 of 27 Students think that the Songkran Festival is the best holiday in Thailand.

1.  What is the first thought that comes to mind when you think of “Songkran”?

exciting and attractive people playing, water wet laugh, funny wet enjoy, water (5), happy (2), exciting (2), visit my family (2), water funny, water festival, water in Silom, water and friends, water and people, hot, fantastic, exciting water, happy relaxation, don’t work, long holiday, time to relax

2.  Do you mostly spend time with family or friends?

family (18), both (5), friends (4),

3.  What is the Songkran Festival for you?

a time for me to get wet, enjoy people in Thailand, it’s time for family, go out and eat at some restaurants, meet my family (10), play water with my friends (4), have a party with my family (3), a time relax (3), drink, a time that I go to my house, a time to see movies

4.  What kind of food does your family usually eat for Songkran?

Thai food (my grandma cooks for everyone!), ice drinks, ice cream, Thai food and perhaps some alcohol, seafood (12), Chinese food (3),  pizza (2), many kinds of soup (2), seafood- crab/shrimp/squid, Issan food, grilled seafood, roasted chicken, tomyum gung, same food as usual, suki yaki, noodles, som tam

5.  What is your favorite thing about Songkran?

i’m soaked, everyone is happy, put the water with water gun to people, shooting water guns and eating seafood, playing water (6), visiting my family (2), playing water with friends (2), stay home and play games, going everywhere in Bangkok, walk on Khao San road, go to the temple, meet new people, going back home enjoying the long weekend, go out with friends, holiday to relax

6.  Do you or your family have any traditions?

build sand castle at temple (old Thai tradition), go to the temple (17), anoint parents and grandparents (5), anoint Buddha (4), give foods to monks (2), go to grandmothers house on first day (2), stay at home and make dinner, talk to each other, go to the beach, drink wine with my family, visit relatives, make merit, have lunch together, go to the sea

An interesting tradition that one of my students mentioned is the annual sand castle (pagoda) building at the temple.  Though not all temples hold to this custom, some families still go to build an intricate sand castle to make merit.  You can read more here.

7.  Where is the best place in Thailand to spend Songkran?

Bangkok/Chiang Mai-more funny people, anywhere- because Thai people are really happy for the long weekend, Chiang Mai (6), Silom, Bangkok (4), Temple (3), Pattaya (3), Khao San Road (2), Koh Samui, Hua Hin, Auksa road, Koh Chang, Serom road, anywhere up country

-Migration Mark

From spending 24 Hours at Angkor Wat to aimlessly walking around the capital of Phnom Penh, in order to fit in to the Cambodian lifestyle, you will need to follow a few or possibly all of these tips.

1.  Parkas and Gore-Tex

If you venture outside or somewhere onto the street, whatever you do, don’t forget the North Face down parkas.  Locals don’t appreciate the glorious sunshine.  I saw numerous people rocking the latest in mittens, leggings,  scarves, and long johns.

2.  100cc Family Vehicle

The Dodge Caravan is no longer the family of 5 vehicle of choice.  Rather a family of five or six (and 2 or 3 generations at that) comfortably manages to finagle their way onto a 100cc Honda motorbike and cruise from place to place as a routine activity.

3.  Guerrilla Marketing

Local Cambodians have taken guerrilla marketing to the highest of world levels.  If you have something to offer, offer it at a price (includes advice).  If you have a 2 seater motorbike, ask everyone if they need a ride, even if it’s obvious they don’t.  If you have scissors, offer a haircut.  If you have hands, just start massaging unsuspecting victims.  And by the way, getting rejected 5 or 6 times is absolutely “NO” reason to give up.

4.  Wear Pajamas

This mostly goes to females and is directly correlated with the winter gore-tex.  Women love pajamas.  It is a frequency to see ladies dodging across traffic on streets, riding side saddle, or vending, all while  sporting the latest in Berenstain Bears or Digimon.  If you leave the house, don’t forget to “NOT change,” or if anything, add a parka, mittens, and a scarf to the repertoire.

5.  Invent the Remix

You better be up on the latest rap and pop songs, because they need to be remixed in Khmer, ASAP.  As I heard very familiar rap songs blasting on buses and in restaurants, very unfamiliar voices were projected.  If you are good at remixing, a video must also be produced, like Ghost Ride the tuk tuk in Bangkok.

6.  Overload Your Vehicle

If you have a truck, it is mandatory to load it to capacity, then add a few more tons of cargo, then add a couple family vehicles on top (100cc’s), and then add a couple generations of families to the very top.  This must be done even if no one really wants to go anywhere.  After completion of loading, you can get more advice from how to successfully drive a car in Indonesia.

Overloaded Truck in Phnom Penh

7.  Play House

Get comfortable on microscopic tables and chairs and sometimes using tiny utensils or other “play house” essentials.  The toy food sets and furniture I played with when I was a kid, become a full grown adults reality when eating outstanding cuisine on the streets of Phnom Penh.

8.  Chill Out

If there is not much to do in the afternoon it is required to take a nap on the back of a motorbike, in a hammock, on a fence pole, or with your leg vertically propped in some position that looks ridiculously uncomfortable.

If you can master these daily norms you will easily fit in and possibly even start to become a local Cambodian.

-Migration Mark

1. Chili Peppers…Please!

I grew up eating food with spice and sometimes with chili.  Throughout SE Asia however, I have nurtured my ever craving lust for the succulent seeded heat of chili peppers.  I simply can’t taste food unless there is an abundance of hot chilies involved in the meal.  In my month in Indonesia, I was able to come up with 9 mandatory foods to eat in Indonesia and every single dish would not be the same without a massive dollop of sambal chili sauce.

2. No Toilet Paper for Me…

Before coming to SE Asia the thought of spraying after “making a release” really sounded quite dreadful.  Now, I really don’t feel clean if I have to use Toilet Paper.  I much prefer the spray and shake method.  As I like to say, “a powerful spray, goes a loooong way.”

3. Rice, Rice, and Rice

You don’t normally get Kenyan style nyama choma in Asia, but anything with rice is splendidly satisfying.  Though I am 1/2 Chinese and grew up eating rice on the daily, my habitual rice eating has been reinforced.  Just like the locals I hung out with in Batad of the Philippines rice terraces, If I don’t eat rice 2-3 times a day I’m just not fully satisfied in life.

4. King of Fruits…Bow Down

The notorious durian fruit, also known as the “king of fruits” smells pretty far from appetizing.  In Malaysia I was able to tackle the durian fruit in the form of buffet and now I actually crave it from time to time.  It’s actually and surprisingly  quite delicious!!!

5. Squatting Potting

My thighs have become absurdly strong, and it’s surely not from the gym, it’s from squatting at so many roadside  locations.  I’m not ashamed to admit that I find myself squatting on top of regular toilets from time to time without thinking about it…weird.

6. Scooter Butt

As a first timer on a horse may need to walk afterward with a wide stance, so sitting on the back of a scooter too long creates scooter butt (sitting on the back of a moped for a long period of time).  However, there is hope, my butt has now become accustomed to scooter butt.

7.  Massage?

In the United States I never dreamed of having a massage.  Here in SE Asia I have become used to either paying a humble 200 baht ($5), having a cute fish massage, or if I am sitting randomly on the roadside an old man might possibly come to lightly rub my shoulders.  If you’ve been in SE Asia for a while you can bet on this.  Warning though, at first it’s a little awkward.

8. Food Expenditure

If I have to dish out more than a dollar for a single meal or go to an established “sit down” restaurant, I immediately feel rather uncomfortable, strange, and just plain incompetent.  It seems my entire personality has evolved to really only relate to street food or hole in the wall eateries where I can spend less that a dollar.

9. Environmental Spectacles

The environmental beauty of SE Asia is incredible.  Hiking deadly volcanoes, climbing rice terraces from Mayoao to Batad, and pretending to be a millionaire on pristine beaches.  I haven’t even itched the surface of possibilities.

10. Heat Streak

If the temperature drops below 80 degrees Fahrenheit (26.6 Celsius) I start to get goosebumps and shivers.  It’s peculiar, but I’m starting to realize why people sell goose down parkas roadside.

11. Munch-Astic

I have said this time and time again and I could go on and on; the food in SE Asia is just unparalleled.  Where else can you expect and demand to eat Manchester United Burgers, Nasi Campur mystery buffets, Bangkok Boat Noodles, feast on fetus of Balut, and then get ultimately dirty in Seafood Dampa?

12. Natural Shirt Vent

In SE Asia numerous youth and men alike walk around with shirts cinched up just below the breast.  I too cannot resist walking around all day with my shirt pulled up halfway over my stomach to increase the airflow.  Note: I especially and would recommend doing this after heavy meals

13. Karaoke Singing

Most embarrassingly on the list, I find myself thinking even sometimes dreaming about karaoke and secretly hoping for more.

14.  Need to be Sweating

After attempting to jog in Manila, an orangutan trek in Sumatra, my try at conquering hot yoga, and then paired with avoiding the usage of an air conditioner, I have simply come to the conclusion that sweating is natural and feels right to me.

15.  Diving Off Roads

Driving in Indonesia taught me a lot about pedestrians walking on the side of any street.  With little more than a micro second notice, pedestrians are forced to casually dive off the sidewalk or side of the road into pools of water or muddy basins as motorcycles or overloaded trucks zoom past with an intimidating breeze.  After some time, a few near perishing occasions, and learning to open my eyes wider by paying attention, it is now easy and somewhat enjoyable for me to avoid oncoming or sometimes incoming traffic.

16.  Human Hordes

As with motorways, hordes of people will inevitably be “in your way” when walking anywhere.  Swag surfin, booty shaking, or simply patience, are invaluable when dealing with massive crowds.  Soon you become accustomed and enjoy the variety and mixture of random humanity.

17.  Opportunity to Help Others

From assisting in the charity projects of In Search of Sanuk, building houses with hope, being immersed in Payatas, and hanging out at the Bali house of life, there is not much better value than helping others with the secret recipe for 100% guaranteed happiness.  Spending time and hanging out with others will put a smile on everyone, inside and out.

I’ve learned quite a few things since taking up migrationology, some things can be a little awkward until you remember, Nothing Is Awkward in Southeast Asia, loosen up and enjoy.

Please suggest any other reasons of how you know you love Southeast Asia, or ask me any questions!

-Migration Mark

The jaunt from Batad to Mayoyao took nearly eight hours and included hiking, walking down completely barren mud roads, keeping my footing while crawling over fresh landslides, swinging back and forth on creeping jeeps, and clenching on to highly unstable homemade vehicular devices.

One of the vehicles that took us to Mayoyao

“In Mayoyao you are not just a tourist, but a family friend,”

said Efren, my guide.  “Let’s go and register at the town (village) municipality.”  I arrived to see 3 or 4 cops drinking coffee sprawled out in the office, elevated feet, and chuckling amongst themselves.  They sprang to their feet putting on serious faces, and looking for a notebook, welcomed me to Mayoyao town proper.  After about 5 minutes of searching for what I assume was the “tourism registration book (I don’t think it really existed)”, they finally found a blank piece of paper and had me write my name on it.

“How many tourists come to Mayoyao,” I asked politely.  “Nut so manny,” they sheepishly replied.

Mayoyao village proper on the mountainside

I was happy to be the only tourist in Mayoyao, the rice terraces were astounding, stretching through the entirety of a valley, from the bottom to the top.  Batad with its 116 Terraces of Rice is one village correlating with its set of rice terraces.  In Mayoyao the terraces are a continuation of “rice terrace sprawl” with differing villages (known as a barangay) on each ridge or hill.  If Batad is New York City, Mayoyao would surely be Los Angeles as a spread out mega-rice-opolis.  The size and sheer stretch of Mayoyao and what they call the undiscovered “paradise terraces” is stupefying.

I rested my head at the only lodge in town known as “Milcah.”  To myself for 200 Pesos (USD 4) I had an entire house, 4 or 5 rooms, two bathrooms, a dining room, and a living room.  Though it is the only place to stay, it is a great place to stay.  The owner encouraged me to invite my friends and call her ahead of time to prepare the lodge for the visitors. (If you are interested give Ruth Benigno  a buzz at 09058331053 and let her know to prepare the house for you.)

If the weather cooperates, the Paradise terraces of Mayoyao will surely make you stagger.  In the morning my guide and I hiked to a viewpoint where we could see the framework of rice terraces flawlessly adapting into the natural environment in a beautiful harmony.  A symphony of the “hallelujah chorus” erupted in my head as I gazed back and forth on the horizon, staring glossy eyed as clouds precariously floated about.

View of Mayoyao Paradise Terraces

From the top viewpoint we hiked down into the depths of the terraces where we went from home to home, finally breaking at Efren’s grandmothers house.  We hung out, chatting with the grandmother while sampling the home brewed rice wine.  Something I had already known from being Immersed in Payatas and having valuable adventures in Bicol was the warm hospitality of Filipinos towards strangers.  The grandma seemed to love me and she couldn’t understand a word out of my mouth.

Paradise rice terraces of Mayoyao

I reflected back at the first quote Efren had told me, “not just a tourist, but a family friend.” The villages and rice terraces are set up in a fashion where the main paths lead from home to home, making it impossible to avoid a house when touring or going from one place to another.  It is alright to take a break, siesta, or just hang out and rest outside of anyone’s home (which everyone does).  This lifestyle has created a people full of warmth and a close knit community.  It is easy to interact with friendly locals who are mutually just as curious as you are about everything.  It really is true that in Mayoyao, but really all over the Philippines, you are a “family friend.”

Mayoyao paradise terraces

-Migration Mark

Also Check Out

• 116 Terraces of Rice: 2000 Years Old
• Pictures from the Philippines

Though I have been to only a fraction of Gawad Kalinga (GK) villages (if you are not sure what GK is check out Building Houses With Hope)(GK builds homes for the poorest of the poor in the Philippines giving people not only a living structure but a new perspective on life with an attitude to succeed), the Iriga Character village in the Bicol region of the Philippines was an astonishing example of how improvements are feasible in the midst of poverty.

I caught a 1.5 hour bus from Naga City to the sleepy and ultra humid bus terminal in Iriga City.  A local volunteer with GK accidentally but essentially bumped into me at the terminal and was heading in the same direction towards the village and let me tag along. The GK Character village is located roughly 20 minutes (7 km) from the Iriga City proper (rather difficult to find if you are a newbie).  It is accessible by riding the Filipino version of a tuk-tuk, known as the tricycle (a motorcycle with a makeshift pedicab welded together with somewhat of a bike tire making up the third wheel, and in Bicol they fit 10-12 riders, I still don’t know how it is engineering-ly possible, but somehow it works).

I was greeted by smiling people and happy children, willing to show me around their village even if they did not feel comfortable speaking English or talking at all.  Being rainy season, it was raining, and one of the boys from the village took the liberty to find an umbrella and personally carried it above my head as we walked up the hill for the view of the village, the flowers, and the dominating Mt. Iriga in the background.

Just as in being Immersed in Payatas, GK Jack and Jill, and GK Libmanan (all GK village sites), the folks at GK Character village were hospitable, willing to share everything, and genuinely cared for my concerns.  They were willing to listen to any questions I had.

A homeowner, Tita Norma (who was always cheerful, far right), graciously provided me with meals and cooked a glorious array of fresh Bicolano garden produced vegetables in fresh coconut milk and rice.  For breakfast I was treated to a dazzling mix of various wonderful tasting Filipino breakfast dishes such as fried noodles with vinegar, fried rice, egg, and Filipino pancake. Just like in Bangkok where little things make a difference, and Bali with the house of life, together with In Search of Sanuk founder Dwight, I was inspired again by the graciousness of people who have very little but are happy and willing to share what they do have. An immersion into a local persons home if it be in the Philippines or anywhere else in the world is valuable exposure to a different way of life.  If we can strive to have a positive attitude, we can retain a better judgment and an improved knowledge of passing wonderful time while encouraging and pushing fellow humans in a positive direction.  Often it is little unspoken things such as merely spending time visiting, joking around (Filipinos love to joke and laugh), listening to stories, and showing appreciation for what others do that will uplift someone as well as yourself. In the words of one of my favorite philosophers Alain de Botton in his book the Art of Travel- “If is is true that love is a pursuit in others of qualities we lack in ourselves, then in our love of someone from another country, one ambition may be to weld ourselves more closely to values missing from our own culture.” Let us be thankful for what we have, grateful for what we can do, and happy for the life we have.  There is no better place to learn this than in a GK village where people have little but are usually content and excited with what they do have. -Migration Mark

“If you can smell the garbage, you are entering Payatas,” said Tita Silver, the mother of my host family.

Our jeepney crackled through the streets amidst the hustle and bustle of vendors and commuters.  The stank of garbage was in the air and the streets and shops were not what you would call clean.

I was on a weekend trip in the Metro Manila area of Payatas (known as one of the main dump sites in Metro Manila) in Quezon City, joining a group of students from Ateneo de Manila University on their immersion program with Gawad Kalinga (GK) who build houses with hope.

We were divided into groups and I was assigned to stay with Tita (Auntie) Silver and family in their Gawad Kalinga (GK) village and home that was already built by the GK community.  The house was simple but clean, small but sufficient, and the family was warm, kind, and hospitable.

I was given the opportunity to volunteer my services, helping transport sand and cement from one location to another, mingling with the community in Molave Payatas, and conversing with various people, especially my host mother.

One of my main curiosities was “how had GK made a difference in your lfie and community?’  That single question sparked a multi-part answer and demonstrated the effectiveness and hope of GK.

Meet Tita Silver-

She is from the island of Mindanao in the south of the Philippines.  Tita Silver has a husband and nine children.  Her husband is a foreman construction worker and originally moved to Manila to look for work.  He eventually found work abroad, doing construction in places like UAE and Vietnam.  At the time of my visit Tita Silver’s husband was building a hotel on the touristy island of Boracay.

Migration Mark: How was life in Molave Payatas when you first moved from here from Mindanao in 1992, prior to the Gawad Kalinga village?

Tita Silver: Life was difficult, the area here was not comfortable, with drunkards and drug dealers all over.  All the houses were makeshift shanties, made from garbage.  At night it was dark and criminals could easily hide from police in dark alleys and piles of junk.  Most of the men had no jobs and would sit around and drink.  When it would rain everything would get flooded, there would be mud up to our knees, and I wouldn’t even be able to leave.  Sometimes there was no water and the drinking water was contaminated.

My husband had a job but on payday (every 2 weeks) he would get drunk, spending too much of the family money.  Finances would become very tight on the 10th or 11th day, waiting for the next pay check and often the whole family would go hungry for a day.

Migration Mark: How were you introduced to Gawad Kalinga?

Tita Silver: I heard about GK through a friend and approached a GK official, filled out surveys and applications.  Then someone checked on us and eventually my family was approved.  We were accepted in the GK program.

The Tita Silver families GK village house was finished in October 2008.

Migration Mark: How has life changed since the GK village in Payatas has been built?

Tita Silver: GK has provided many families with comfortable living conditions and really improved the conditions of the area.  The garbage can still be smelt, but we have fresh water, clean homes, and we are happy.  There are much fewer drunkards in the area and it is safe at night because we have become a community and know each other.  Now, most of the men work and have steady jobs to provide for their families.  GK has improved our lives and given us hope.

Tita Silver is on her feet and thankful for the things they have.  Some children are in University and working and going to school.  She is a member and head of the GK Payatas homeowners association.  The family also runs a small sari-sari (tiny convenience) store out of a room connected to their home.

I was privileged to stay with Tita Silver and she graciously gave up the only air mattress in the house for me to rest comfortably, as well as fed me with fantastic meals.  When I got really dirty from construction work, one of the son’s even let me borrow a pair of bright pink shorts!

-Migration Mark

Related

• Building Houses with Hope

Gawad Kalinga, known as GK, strives to create a Philippines and world with no more slums, no more violence, and no more poverty.  With dignity and honesty, GK and volunteers build homes, aiming to create sustainable villages, and forming safe communities as well as transforming danger and poverty into nation building and lifting each other up.  In the eyes of GK there is “less for self, more for others, [and] enough for all.”

GK provides the materials and builds homes for the poorest of the poor in the Philippines.  People who had no hope in life, struggling to survive another day, and living in the dumps, are given a chance to become homeowners, live as humans should, have proper survival resources, and work at jobs.

GK aims to create sustainable villages where the homeowners have small gardens and various projects that eek out necessities and generate small profits to maintain life (similar to my friend’s urban garden project in Bangkok).  Many are taught various trades like home decorating and gardening techniques among other skills that can provide benefits and lead to work.

The community villages that GK builds contain 60-100 families and usually around that amount of houses.  The houses are not plain and ugly but rather painted in bright pink, orange, green, blue, and other colors that promote hope and happiness.  They are houses that the owners are proud to own, improving their entire lives and the lives of their family members and relatives.  The houses have plants and flower planters to make the premises look friendly and welcoming.  GK firmly believes that humans should live like humans.

In the spirit of In Search of Sanuk who aim to “have fun helping others,” it was my goal while in the Philippines to offer my time and labor to GK for a couple weeks in an attempt to meet communities, hear fascinating stories, help out in anything, and learn from everything.

The founder of GK, Tito Tony Meloto was intrigued with my past history of couchsurfing and invited me to coushsurf in and around the warm and friendly Filipino Gawad Kalinga home owners and said they would gladly welcome me into their villages.

There are over 2000 GK villages now in the Philippines archipelago already, and one can volunteer with GK while traveling throughout the islands and staying with local Filipinos, sharing food, and love.

Another quality slogan coming from Gawad Kalinga is “united we stand, provided we eat.” It is often the poor who have very little who are also eager to share what they do indeed have and treat guests with ultimate kindness and complete unselfishness.

In my next few posts on Migrationology, I will share some of the experiences and opportunities I have had with some amazing and hospitable Filipinos through Gawad Kalinga.  I hope they will encourage others to also volunteer their time and selves to be a small part of helping and encouraging others.

“Providing a decent home is just the beginning of the transformation of the people and the community.” -Gawad Kalinga

For more information on Gawad Kalinga check out their website at www.galadkalinga.org

For more information on In Search of Sanuk and having fun helping others check out www.insearchofsanuk.com

Before GK in Payatas-

GK Village in Payatas-

-Migration Mark

Related

• Immersed in Payatas: From Dump to Triumph

My first day walking around Manila, the Philippines and I happen to stumble upon a food item that I simply could not possibly pass by.  I took one look at the pile of “1 day old” chickens and decided I had to partake of them.

I ordered as the chef quickly threw one of the baby chickens into the boiling oil to reheat it.  He then poked it with a stick and pulled something very small out the mid section of the bird to discard (no idea what it was, but apparently its not eaten).  The cook then served the chicken to me on a stick with a sour vinaigrette sauce.

I began with the head, munching the neck and beak in a unifed bite.  The little guy went down rather easily.  It tasted like chicken except with an extra crunch, as well as a rather bitter gamy taste to it that really crept in as the eating continued.

1 day old fried chickens really are an exquisite and wonderful snack.  At only 2 to 3 bites, they are also perfect to be eaten off a stick.

After eating one it was only right that I also munch his sibling, and went ahead and ordered up a second round of 1 day old fried chickens.  Luckily each chick will only set you back 6 pesos or about $0.12, so an all out day old chicken buffet might only cost a few bucks.  In my opinion, that’s a great deal for a protein rich treat.

I was pulling a combination of beak and chicken feet out of my teeth for the next couple of hours.