Sunday, October 30, 2005
I got this article from a friend who e-mailed me. I would like to share it to those who would be "fortunate" enough to wander into my blog. The author is an Englishman who had the experience of working in the Philippines. He wrote about his observations particularly on the peculiarity of Filipino's way of eating, on giving names, and it's exotic food. It is amusing but admittedly true. For those who want to know or understand certain aspect of Filipino culture or trait, read on. I also learned from the author part of their culture when he compared ours from theirs. I hope you'll enjoy reading it as much as I did. Note: The links and (words in green with parenthesis) are mine for clarity.
Matter of Taste by Matthew Sutherland
I have now been in this country for over six years, and consider myself in most respects well assimilated. However, there is one key step on the road to full assimilation, which I have yet to take, and that's to eat BALUT. The day any of you sees me eating balut, please call immigration and ask them to issue me a Filipino passport, because at that point there will be no turning back. BALUT, for those still blissfully ignorant non-Pinoys out there, is a fertilized duck egg. It is commonly sold with salt in a piece of newspaper, much like English fish and chips, by street vendors usually after dark, presumably so you can't see how gross it is. It's meant to be an aphrodisiac, although I can't imagine anything more likely to dispel sexual desire than crunching on a partially formed baby duck swimming in noxious fluid. The embryo in the egg comes in varying stages of development, but basically it is not considered macho to eat one without fully discernable feathers, beak, and claws. Some say these crunchy bits are the best. Others prefer just to drink the so-called 'soup', the vile, pungent liquid that surrounds the aforementioned feathery fetus... excuse me; I have to go and throw up now. I'll be back in a minute.
Food dominates the life of the Filipino. People here just love to eat. They eat at least eight times a day. These eight official meals are called, in order: breakfast, snacks, lunch, merienda, pica-pica, pulutan, dinner, and no-one-saw-me-take-that-cookie-from-the-fridge-so-it-doesn't-count. The short gaps in between these mealtimes are spent eating Sky Flakes (biscuit) from the open packet that sits on every desktop. You're never far from food in the Philippines. If you doubt this, next time you're driving home from work, try this game. See how long you can drive without seeing food and I don't mean a distant restaurant, or a picture of food. I mean a man on the sidewalk frying fish balls, or a man walking through the traffic selling nuts or candy. I bet it's less than one minute. Here are some other things I've noticed about food in the Philippines. Firstly, a meal is not a meal without rice-even breakfast. In the UK, I could go a whole year without eating rice. Second, it's impossible to drink without eating. A bottle of San Miguel (Philippine Pilsen Beer) just isn't the same without gambas or beef tapa. Third, no one ventures more than two paces from their house without baon (similar to a brown bag, this may be a bit exaggerated for me) and a container of something cold to drink. You might as well ask a Filipino to leave home without his pants on. And lastly, where I come from, you eat with a knife and fork. Here, you eat with a spoon and fork. You try eating rice swimming in fish sauce with a knife.
One really nice thing about Filipino food culture is that people always ask you to SHARE their food. In my office, if you catch anyone attacking their baon, they will always go, "Sir! KAIN TAYO!" ("Let's eat!"). This confused me, until I realized that they didn't actually expect me to sit down and start munching on their boneless bangus. In fact, the polite response is something like, "No thanks, I just ate." But the principle is sound if you have food on your plate you are expected to share it, however hungry you are, with those who may be even hungrier. I think that's great. In fact, this is frequently even taken one step further. Many Filipinos use "Have you eaten yet?" ("KUMAIN KA NA?") as a general greeting, irrespective of time of day or location.
Some foreigners think Filipino food is fairly dull compared to other Asian cuisines. Actually lots of it is very good: Spicy dishes like Bicol Express (strange, a dish named after a train); anything cooked with coconut milk; anything KINILAW; and anything ADOBO. And it's hard to beat the sheer wanton, cholesterholic frenzy of a good old-fashioned LECHON de leche feast. Dig a pit, light a fire, add 50 pounds of animal fat on a stick, and cook until crisp. Mmm, mmm... you can actually feel your arteries constricting with each successive mouthful.
I also share one key Pinoy trait ---a sweet tooth!! I am thus the only foreigner I know who does not complain about sweet bread, sweet burgers, sweet spaghetti, sweet banana ketchup, and so on. I am a man who likes to put jam on his pizza. Try it! It's the weird food you want to avoid. In addition to duck fetus in the half-shell, items to avoid in the Philippines include pig's blood soup (DINUGUAN); bull's testicle soup, the strangely-named "SOUP NUMBER FIVE" (I dread to think what numbers one to four are); and the ubiquitous, stinky shrimp paste, BAGOONG, and it's equally stinky sister, PATIS. Filipinos are so addicted to these latter items that they will even risk arrest or deportation trying to smuggle them into countries like Australia and the USA, which wisely ban the importation of items you can smell from more than 100 paces. Then there's the small matter of the blue ice cream. I have never been able to get my brain around eating blue food; the ubiquitous UBE leaves ube cold. And lastly on the subject of weird food, beware: that KALDERETANG KAMBING (goat) could well be KALDERETANG ASO (dog)...
The Filipino, of course, has a well-developed sense of food. Here's a typical Pinoy food joke: "I'm on a seafood diet "What's a seafood diet?" "When I see food, I eat it!" Filipinos also eat strange bits of animals--- the feet, the head, the guts, etc., usually barbecued on a stick. These have been given witty names, like "ADIDAS" (chicken's feet); "KURBATA" (Filipino term for necktie) (either just chicken's neck, or "neck and thigh" as in "neck-tie"); "WALKMAN" (pigs ears); "PAL" (acronym for Phil AirLines) (chicken wings); "HELMET" (chicken head); "IUD" (chicken intestines), and BETAMAX" (video-cassette-like blocks of animal blood). Yum yum. Bon appetit.
"A good name is rather to be chosen than great riches" -- (Proverbs 22:1) When I arrived in the Philippines from the UK six years ago, one of the first cultural differences to strike me was names. The subject has provided a continuing source of amazement and amusement ever since. The first unusual thing, from an English perspective, is that everyone here has nickname. In the staid and boring United Kingdom, we have nicknames in kindergarten, but when we move into adulthood we tend, I am glad to say, to lose them. The second thing that struck me is that Philippine names for both girls and boys tend to be what we in the UK would regard as overbearingly cutesy for anyone over about five. Fifty-five-year-olds colleague put it. Where I come from, a boy with a nickname like Boy Blue or Honey Boy would be beaten to death at school by pre-adolescent bullies, and never make it to adulthood. So, probably, would girls with names like Babes, Lovely, Precious, Peachy or Apples. Yuk, Ech Ech. Here, however, no one bats an eyelid.
Then I noticed how many people have what I have come to call "door-bell names". These are nicknames that sound like - ell, door-bells. There are millions of them. Bing, Bong, Ding, and Dong are some of the more common. They can be, and frequently are, used in even more door-bell-like combinations such as Bing-Bong, Ding-Dong, Ting-Ting, and so on. Even one of our current Senator and Presidential Candidate has a doorbell named Ping. None of these door-bell names exist where I come from, and hence sound unusually amusing to my untutored foreign ear. Someone once told me that one of the Bings, when asked why he was called Bing, replied "because my brother is called Bong". Faultless logic. Dong, of course, is a particularly funny one for me, as where I come from "dong" is a slang word of well, perhaps "talong" (eggplant) is the best Tagalog equivalent.
Repeating names was another novelty to me, having never before encountered people with names like Len-Len, Let-Let, Mai-Mai, or Ning-Ning. The secretary I inherited on my arrival had an unusual one: Leck-Leck. Such names are then frequently further refined by using the "squared" symbol, as in Len2 or Mai2. This had me very confused for a while.
Then there is the trend for parents to stick to a theme when naming their children. This can be as simple as making them all begin with the same letter, as in Jun, Jimmy, Janice, and Joy. More imaginative parents shoot for more sophisticated forms of assonance or rhyme, as in Biboy, Boboy, Buboy, Baboy (notice the names get worse the more kids there are-best to be born early or you could end up being a Baboy). Even better, parents can create whole families of, say, desserts (Apple Pie, Cherry Pie, Honey Pie) or flowers (Rose, Daffodil, Tulip). The main advantage of such combinations is that they look great painted across your trunk if you're a cab driver. That's another thing I'd never seen before coming to Manila -- taxis with the driver's kids' names on the trunk. Another whole eye-opening field for the foreign visitor is the phenomenon of the "composite" name. This includes names like Jejomar (for Jesus, Joseph and Mary), and the remarkable Luzviminda (for Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao, three major Phil Islands) believe it or not). That's a bit like me being called something like "Engscowani" (for England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland). Between you and me, I'm glad I'm not. And how could I forget to mention the fabulous concept of the randomly inserted letter 'h'. Quite what this device is supposed to achieve, I have not yet figured out, but I think it is designed to give a touch of class to an otherwise only averagely weird name.
It results in creations like Jhun, Lhenn, Ghemma, and Jhimmy. Or how about Jhun-Jhun (Jhun2)? How boring to come from a country like the UK full of people with names like John Smith. How wonderful to come from a country where imagination and exoticism rule the world of names.
Even the towns here have weird names; my favorite is the unbelievably named town of Sexmoan (ironically close to Olongapo and Angeles(two cities north of Manila where the Subic US Naval and Clark Air Force bases were formely located; it was known for its bars and nightclubs that catered to US servicemen on R&R)). Where else in the world could that really be true? Where else in the world could the head of the Church really be called Cardinal Sin? Where else but the Philippines! Note: Philippines has a senator named Joker, and it is his legal name.
Monday, October 24, 2005
Check out this site. It offers different "Test" that might interest you. One of them is the US Citizenship Test shown below.
| You Passed the US Citizenship Test |
 Congratulations - You Got 9 Out of 10 Correct! |
Enough of the advertisement lest I digress from my topic which is about the use of credit cards vis-a-vis cash. I must admit that before I set foot in the Land of Milk n' Honey I'm a firm believer of paying in cash. If you can't pay for something outright why buy it? I guess that trait came about when I was a kid and I would hear adult relatives talk about (gossip if you insist) other people who are mired in debt and how miserable their life playing hide and seek from creditors. Perchance I would see some of these people and look at their face. Then I imagine their face mirrors that of a miserable person and I don't want to be it. Thus my resolution never to be in debt. Live simply and below your means. Pay in cash!! Come to think of it I didn't even have a checking account.
As fate would have it I now reside in the land where credit card rules. You won't be able to rent or buy a house or car if you don't have credit history which is tied with your use of a credit card. So I had to "learn" how to use one to establish my credit history for future reference.
Applying for credit card is easy especially if you have a bank account. Credit card companies will even vie for your patronage. They will offer you incentives like cashback. They even have cards specifically for students to start them early on the road to indebtedness (or perdition). Learning how to use one wisely is where the problem lies. Credit card separates the prudent from the spendthrift. The restrained from the extravagant. The economiser from the squanderer. The happy person (present) from the miserable (future). The intelligent from the...? no, not necessarily so.
Credit card gives you the illusion that you have enough money to spend based on your credit limit. As long as you pay the minimum balance you're good to go to spend more. You tend to forget those fine print (in case you even bothered to read it) in your terms and conditions like accrued interest on accumulated payments due. I've read stories of people who graduated from college three or four years ago and are still paying for the beer and pizzas they splurged on using their cards. Hoohah for those college weekend binges.
Still I'm now a firm believer of using credit card instead of cash if you know how. Where else can you get $25.00 to $50.00 cashback for spending. If I paid in cash for my purchases I won't be earning points to get that cashback. But it takes discipline and restraint on your part to resist buying things everytime something catches your eye or spur of the moment decision to travel because you feel like it and charge it all on your beloved card(s--ouch!).
Here's my unsolicited two cents worth of tip in using credit cards.
1) Have a healthy fear of being in debt. Not just "fear" but a "healthy fear". You can't avoid being in debt (I realized that) especially when you need to take out a loan. But you must be discerning. Is it worth it? Is it a necessity? Do I have the resources to settle my obligations in its entirety. I guess I have to thank my adult relatives after all for all their talk about those mired in debt because that instilled the first lesson in me.
2) Treat your card as cash that you actually have on hand. Forget about your credit limit. How much is your take home pay? Budget your expenses based on that excluding (a must) savings. Then use your card to pay for your expenses. That way you earn points for cashback and you are able to pay your balance due in FULL NOT just the MINIMUM. You avoid accrued interest which is the bane of all those in debt.
3) Save part of your income. If you're planning to buy big ticket items save on it first. If you have about 50% of the total cost saved then you can purchase the item if it has a period of interest free payments. This will allow you to continue on saving for the full amount while utilizing your initial savings to pay the billing statement as they come without interest.
4) Limit the number of credit cards you have. Keep it to two or three tops. It will not only limit your spending but it will also make it easy for you to keep track of your expenses. If a better offer comes on a new credit card pay off one of your current cards and switch to the new one. But don't close the card that you paid off. Just don't use that card, better still cut the card. It has something to do with your credit history report if you keep on closing accounts.
5) Discipline your spending habits. Live below your means. It's simple, check out your vices and see what you can live without otherwise woe on you if you can't, you're already ADDICTED to it.
I can understand why some people don't like having credit cards. They'd rather pay in cash and I can empathise with them. Probably they were just able to get out of debt and they don't want to go through the same experience. They have a "fear" of being in debt. I admire them for how they discipline their spending. But if you can abide by my tips then you can take advantage of all the incentives that a credit card has to offer. You definitely stand to gain.
Thursday, October 20, 2005
I have always admired Prof. David's editorials. It is incisive and thought provoking. Depending on the subject it can be heavy at times that it whishes over my head. His recent article, posted below in full, about "realpolitik" best describes the subtle and not so subtle techniques that the present administration employs to maintain its control and credibility or whatever is left of it. And it does not bode well where our country will be headed. How did this administration ended up where it is now? It started with bright hope right after EDSA 2. Then it went spiralling down. What happened Gloria? 'Tis said "Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely."
Public Lives : Realpolitik vs Ethical Politics First By Randy David
THERE IS AN APPROACH TO POLITICS THAT equates power with the ability to impose one's will on others through the effective marshaling of strategic forces under one's control. In foreign affairs, it is called realpolitik. Modern politics is often conceived in these terms. It is politics without values.
The study of politics in stable societies debunks this view. If there is to be cooperation in society rather than perpetual conflict, says the German social theorist Jurgen Habermas, politics as a practical activity has to make room for values. The same applies to the legal system of any society. Laws cannot be treated only as commands backed up by punitive power. They also have to be seen as embodying reason-God's or the community's. This ingredient spells the difference between mere legality and moral validity.
The more desperate Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo becomes, the more she resorts to ruthless realpolitik to keep the presidency. Here the preferred methods are those of remuneration and intimidation. She does not hesitate to buy the loyalty of individuals, or prey upon the vulnerability of those who oppose her. She alternately begs, cajoles, rewards and threatens people-to obtain support. She seizes every opportunity to form the most fleeting coalition in order to secure a tactical advantage. And she lies without compunction. To her, people are nothing but expendable instruments of power. Politicians like her are among history's most dangerous leaders.
Marcos and Estrada would seem like weaklings beside Ms Arroyo. The late dictator had a chance to order the bombing of the gathered throng at Edsa, but he hesitated and held back. At that fatal moment, he must have felt rationally accountable. If he had stayed on as president, he would surely have had to sit on a throne of bayonets to enforce his rule.
Joseph Estrada could have used the enormous powers of his office to block the impeachment process at every stage. The majority of the legislators in both chambers of Congress were on his side. Instead of leaving Malaca¤ang, he could have insisted that the impeachment tribunal be reconvened after the walkout of the prosecutors. He could have invoked the rule of law to disperse the crowds in the streets. Instead of allowing himself to be led out of his house by an arresting team to be mugshot and fingerprinted like a common criminal, he could have called upon his angry supporters to defend their president. He was, after all, a validly elected president. He did none of these, because despite his many faults and lack of formal training, Estrada was in awe of the law.
Ms Arroyo stands in awe of nothing and no one. Not the people, not the Constitution, not the judgment of history, maybe not even God-or she would not glibly use His name at every turn to validate her right to the presidency. Some may call her clever for knowing how to use her powers to fight those who question her continued stay in office. I believe she is not clever; she is just reckless. By using the law and all its institutions to shield her from any challenge to her legitimacy, she incites people to disrespect the law and the nation's fragile institutions. But more than this, every day she remains in office, she pushes the nation to the edge of violence from which it may not recover.
There is no reason why any society cannot find itself mired in this type of politics for a long time. Cynicism erodes ideals and strips politics of its normative content. Leaders are routinely permitted to do as they please because their continued rule happens to be beneficial to the narrow interests of the powerful few. Before anyone realizes what is happening, the leaders become monsters that cannot be restrained by anyone. Hitler is a classic example. He tapped into the deepest fears of Germany's middle class and the prevailing disenchantment with politicians in order to weave a mad regime that exterminated millions of people and invaded neighboring countries.
Ms Arroyo's madness is not yet of this scale, but she is beginning to manifest the same symptoms. She seeks to free herself from any accountability by painting all who would check and oppose her as destabilizers or power grabbers. She exploits the cynicism of the public about all politicians in order to strip the latter of any moral right to criticize her. She describes politics in our society as so "degenerated" and everyone who participates in it as unclean in order to excuse her own use of corrupt and expedient means to retain power. She tears at the last fabric that holds our people's "lifeworld" together and puts everything at risk all in the name of power politics.
No nation that allows itself to be governed by such barefaced cynicism can hope to accomplish big things. It will be pulled apart by the clash of personal agenda. It will destroy itself and pave the way for the rule of tyrants.
There is no way out of this, says Habermas, other than by returning to the basic ways of deliberative democracy. By revitalizing popular participation, instead of shortcircuiting it, we may be able to achieve consensus on what constitutes the common good. All our past elections have been merely exercises in the counting of individual preferences. The point is to use them as occasions for their fusion into a collective vision.
Saturday, October 15, 2005
Though currently residing in the US of A, I'm still very much interested in events happening in the Philippines. Sadly it is very disappointing especially how our so-called "leaders" ("elected"? politicians) comport themselves.
They are supposed to set the example. They are supposed to be the "father" or "mother" of the specific geographical area they were voted into. Be it a barangay, municipality, city, provincial or national level. They are supposed to regard their constituents as their children with vision of improving their lives and well being.
Alas, if we call our country "home" then our so called "parents" are not fit to raise a family. They only think of how to enrich themselves and perpetuate their dynasty. They don't care if their children go hungry, wallow in squalor, be uneducated or leave "home" to sell themselves to our "neighbors". Our so called parents are not ashamed that our "neighbors" look down upon their "family". The word "shame" is lost in their vocabulary...and it is not surprising, for they represent the meaning of the word but are in total denial. Thick skinned and unrepentant. They have mastered the art of rationalizing their actions. Mouthing legal jargons and even quoting Bible verses so their conscience will be clear.
Corrupt and avaricious...Here's the Php 100.00 I've collected from our group as taxes, said the politician. We'll spend Php 25.00 to buy us food and I'll keep the Php 75.00 as payment for my effort in collecting your contribution. Without me there'll be no food concluded the politician. It's like the billboard we read whenever there are projects being undertaken:"This Road Project courtesy of: President- Senator- Congressman- Mayor- Councilor- Barangay Captain...courtesy of Who??...where did the money come from anyways? Behind those Php 100.00 Road Projects only Php 25.00 goes to the actual budget to build the road and Php 75.00 goes to the courtesy of Who?
Only they know the morality of their actions for they often say: If I can defend it in court then what I'm doing is not wrong...is it?
"But how is this legal plunder to be identified? Quite simply. See if the law takes from some persons what belongs to them, and gives it to other persons to whom it does not belong. See if the law benefits one citizen at the expense of another by doing what the citizen himself cannot do without committing a crime." ~Frederic Bastiat, The Law
Thursday, October 13, 2005
Ever wondered what kind of creature you'll be if you can "shift your shape"? Check out the link at the bottom. It turned out I'm a werewolf. I would like to thank blogger "askalfreak". I found this link when I stumbled into her blog site.
"In mythology and folklore from around the world, tales of amazing creatures who can change from animals to humans at will abound. If you were one such creature, which would you be? A beautiful, mischievous kitsune? An aggressive, independant werecat? Click the link at the bottom and take the quiz and find out! For more information on this magical menagerie, read "Half Human, Half Animal: Tales of Werewolves and Related Creatures" by Jamie Hall."
(Who? Me??)
Werewolves of folklore differ greatly from modern renditions seen in movies and shows. People believed there were many ways to become werewolves, such as drinking rainwater collected in a wolf's pawprint, eating meat gnawed on by a wolf, or being born with a full set of teeth or covered in a caul. And unlike movie werewolves, werewolves of old were oftentimes harmless and highly honorable!
As a werewolf, you are loyal, strong and honorable, and you will protect all you hold dear with your very life. Although you are not a violent individual at heart, you will fight for what you believe in. You are a good friend and truly are a wonderful person to be around. ..hmmmm...really?!!?
Who is your inner Shapeshifter?
brought to you by Quizilla
Wednesday, October 12, 2005
There are times when you receive notes from friends at the internet that you also want to share with other people just because and this is one of them....Psalm 118:8
What is the shortest chapter in the Bible? (Answer - Psalms 117)
What is the longest chapter in the Bible? (Answer - Psalms 119)
Which chapter is in the center of the Bible? (Answer - Psalms 118)
Fact: There are 594 chapters before Psalms 118
Fact: There are 594 chapters after Psalms 118
Add these numbers up and you get 1188
What is the center verse in the Bible? (Answer - Psalms 118:8)
Does this verse say something significant about God's perfect will for our lives?
The next time someone says they would like to find God's perfect will for their lives and that they want to be in the center of His will, just send them to the center of His Word!
Psalms 118:8 (NKJV)
"It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in man."
Now isn't that odd how this worked out or was God in the center of it?
Saturday, October 08, 2005
It'll be a year this Christmas since I went back to the Philippines after being away for three years. I arrived late in the evening, almost midnight. The heat and humidity, in spite of the air conditioning at the airport's immigration area, is what reminded me that I'm back home. It's exactly the opposite where I came from when I left early morning the previous day. That's in the midwest, Minnesota, to be exact. Thank you much Jay S. for taking your time picking me up and dropping me off at the airport.
On my first day I took the public commute to visit my parents since our hotel was just a walking distance from the MRT Station in EDSA. Nothing much have changed except perhaps the major bus stops where they put up fences along the pedestrian walk to better control the commuters and the buses from loading and unloading their passengers wherever they please. Did it work? I have no idea since they were still doing the finishing touches. But I've noticed that some pedestrians have already found ways to scale the fence and hail a bus wherever they please...will it work?...go ask those pedestrians!!!
But nothing beats walking in the city with just a t-shirt on (of course I was wearing pants!!!) especially in December. Except for the humidity, the weather, as they say, was gorgeous...go ask the Minnesotans. To give you an idea here are two photos I took some years back and both were taken sometime December while on vacation although in different years (circa 90's, blue skies and calm waters):
Honda Bay, Palawan, Philippines
Sunset at Boracay, Panay, Philippines
Coming home also means meeting old friends. Seeing old familiar faces is good...for the heart and mind. Just like Metro Manila's environs nothing much have change. It makes you reflect on where you have been and what you have become while reminiscing moments you shared in good and bad times. I just wish I had more time.
Reunion with relatives is a different matter. Especially on Christmas Day. Home cooked sumptous food. Seeing your nephews and nieces grow taller and older. You ask yourself where did the years go? I was once like them, now I see my father in me.
Live responsibly while your young and grow old gracefully. Those were my thoughts. But beimg young gives you that sense of immortality. We all know because we've been there. You're brash, adventurous and experimental. We only hope and pray that their guardian angel would always be on their side working overtime. Keeping them safe and from doing things that they may come to regret for the rest of their lives. I know mine worked overtime. And for that I am forever grateful.
Sunday, October 02, 2005
Summer Jaunt in Chicago
Before winter erases all traces of summer and its memories I'll blog our summer jaunt.
W and I drove to Chicago in July to meet a relative, renew acquaintances with my batchmates in high school (was that 33 summers ago?!!?), update a soon to expire public document and explore
Chicago's Magnificent Mile, parks and museums. The itinerary ran very much in that order except for the explorations that was done in between doing the first three business.
Moi and my best-half, rightmost pair, and my batchmates with their spouses. More mature? and responsible?...May..be...taken at Cyril's home, center pair; Rollie and spouse leftmost
For those interested in architecture, ye all archi students, Chicago is the place to tour. It's architecture is a mixture of the old and contemporary. A "living" museum of buildings showing the various architectural styles through the years. Ornate art deco to glass facade. It was unfortunate that I was not able to check out any of Frank Lloyd Wright's residential buildings...arrgh@!*#!
These pictures don't do justice (I need to improve on my "digital" photo skills) to the buildings' "awesomeminity". Take a river architectural tour and your tour guide will run you through the buildings' history. 'Nuff said.
Almost forgot, our first itinerary was dinner at Todai.. Can't get enough of those Japanese food and W was looking forward to it. Burrpp...Thank You
