Monthly ezine for March 2011EditorialAs many people may be aware, at the close of 2010 we stopped hard copy printing and distribution of the Angeles Xtra magazine. Instead we chose to transition the Xtra from the restricted readership of a local Philippine print magazine, to an internationally read article e-zine. Quite apart from wishing to expand into the international marketplace, where our parent company Able Ads makes its main profits, one major reason for our decision was the high costs of operating an office with nine full time staff in Angeles City; another was the seemingly insurmountable difficulty we faced in getting some local ad clients to pay their bills. A good example is Brian Quigley of Phillies. His advertising bill of under $200 was due payment in October 2010. Since then, 27 e-mails, many phone calls, and nine personal visits have resulted in many promises, but no payment; leaving an open bill with us, and a poor local sales girl with no commission payment for all her hard work. To quash some rumors that have come our way, Able Ads closed its office and deregistered itself as Philippine company for the reasons listed above, not bankruptcy. As was stated in our last printed editorial, “an ezine means more site visitors and a higher readership than we could ever hope to reach with a print version of the magazine, Angeles Xtra is, however, NOT closing down … far from it.” When we said we were ‘not closing down, far from it,’ we meant we were going on to bigger and better things – and we’ve proved it. Today, Angeles Xtra is stronger than ever, not least because we are part of the now internationally chartered offshore publishing and media company, Able Ads Limited. While no longer Philippine based, we still remember our original loyal readers from Angeles City, Balbago, Subic and Barrio Barretto. So, while many of our articles are now general and of interest to English speakers worldwide, we remember our roots and still include some articles specifically for expats in the Philippines – as well as this main ‘monthly zine’ page which is and always will be based on and around Angeles City. As for Able Ads, we now have telecommuting staff, outsource freelance staff and sales agents in 4 countries (including the Philippines), so Able Ads and Angeles Xtra just keeps getting bigger and better. Enjoy this month’s e-zine.
Expat Gossip
Chatting in the bar...
…discussions turned to the upcoming 20-year anniversary of Mt. Pinatubo’s eruption. It appears that local officials from San Fernando have formed a committee for the commemoration of the eruption. This committee will be led by Governor Pineda, and include Mayors Rodriguez of San Fernando, Pamintuan of Angeles City and Pelayo of Candaba, also included will be representatives from Clark Development Corporation and staff of the Center for Kapampangan Studies. Apparently two of the activities already planned are the building of a monument, and a poetry competition. Hearing this we asked a Filipino member of our little drinking group what, if anything, local Filipinos think was the expats main contribution to Angeles City in helping people during the aftermath of Pinatubo’s eruption and in the rebuilding of Angeles. His response was to laugh and say, “running away.” While this brought on a few smiles, especially from those of us who remember how quickly Clark was evacuated, and the many lahar buried military houses and rentals abandoned, it doesn’t say much for all the efforts (and not inconsiderable amounts of cash) many expats put out to help those in the local community to survive and rebuild. It does make you wonder if anything we expats do around Angeles is ever really perceived positively – after the cash has been given and spent. Last year we did an Xtra article on Pinatubo and its aftermath 19 years on, if you want to read it, Click Here A Lot of Hot Air
Anyway, my grouchiness aside, lots of people turned up to enjoy the event. Although there was one day of low cloud cover, popular events such as the stunt flying, parachute jumps, ultra light exhibitions and paragliding continued, giving pleasure to many, as did the goodly amount of balloons taking part this year (reportedly 29) and, if the roaring trade at the many food and drink stations is anything to go by, a good time was had by all. When is a holiday not a paid day offA ray of hope shone for many long suffering small business owners in the Philippines last month. After suffering years of ever increasing numbers of ‘official’ public holidays being declared – for which employers are obliged to pay employees for not working, this year DoLE bucked the trend and declared that the anniversary of the EDSA People Power revolution on February 25 was not to be a general holiday for all, just the schools. This was such an unusual and unprecedented event that, fervently hoping this is a taste of things to come; a couple of us even raised our glasses and toasted the Labor and Employment Secretary, Rosalinda Baldoz, bless her little cotton socks ;-) Power and Money
On the last Saturday of February, as we sat with our beers getting warm, power out and no air conditioning, we had a good laugh moaning and bitching about our overpriced local power service. Truth be told though, while we still suffer power outs, this year the number has dropped considerably. Happily we no longer hear the rain start, count to 10, and have to endure an hour’s power out. So, maybe, just maybe, our paying the ridiculously high power rates is actually doing us some good. DMIA International Great, Domestic Not so Much
The newspapers repeatedly report and have articles on expansions and additional flight services from Clark’s DMIA; but, while trying to get a flight for my family to visit some nice Philippine destinations, Palawan or the Coron Islands maybe, I found that while international routes have been opening up, domestic flights are another matter entirely. Apparently, while you can now fly to a multitude of overseas destinations, from Clark, you can only fly domestic to Cebu and Caticlan. If DMIA is, as repeatedly stated, due to become a full airport hub, vaunted as competition for Cebu-Mactan, shouldn’t we be seeing a rise in the number of domestic routes to and from Clark? None of us in the bar admitted to hearing about any planning underway to increase domestic routes, which begs the question, Why? As we can’t seem to find the answer, we at expat gossip are throwing it out here in the hope that someone in-the-know will contact us with a news update - or at least any strong rumor – on whether any thought is being given to provide more domestic routes from Clark. Congratulations to AHRA
More expat gossip from Angeles City in next month’s Angeles Xtra ezine - If you have some expat gossip you think we should publish, please contact us.
This Month's Funnies
Rednecks
Emily Sue passed away and Billy-Bob called 911. The 911 Operator told Billy-Bob that she would send someone out right away. "Where do you live?" asked the operator. Billy-Bob replied, "At the end of Eucalyptus Drive." The operator asked, "Can you spell that for me?" There was a long pause and finally Billy-Bob said, "How 'bout if I drag her over to Oak Street and you pick her up there?"
Nothing confuses a man more than a woman driver who does everything right.
Country Mix
An American, traveling on a train in Europe, met a Cuban tobacco grower, a Russian vodka distiller and a lawyer. While they were talking business, the Cuban took out four cigars and passed them around. After lighting his own cigar, the Cuban took one drag and then threw it out the window, explaining that cigars were of no consequence in his country since there was such an abundance of them. After dinner, the Russian passed out bottles of vodka. After taking just one swig, he threw the bottle out the window, explaining that vodka was of no consequence since, in Russia, it was so plentiful. The American businessman sat in quiet contemplation for several minutes then arose and threw the lawyer out the window. Why is a package sent by Ship called Cargo, but when sent by Car called a Shipment?
That four letter word - Golf I was a war baby. My parents took one look at me and started fighting.
More Rednecks If you stop and smell the roses - sooner or later, you'll inhale a bee.
Anthropology You know you're old when getting "lucky" means you remember where you left your car parked.
Tickets Please Impotence is just Nature's Way of Saying "No Hard Feelings".
What’s in a name People tell me I have the body of a God... Buddha.
Counseling More funnies in next month’s Angeles Xtra ezine - If you have any funnies you think we should publish, please contact us.
March Trivia Quiz We always listen to what our readers want; so, as your feedback last month was that many felt that our last Trivia Quiz was a little too easy, we took that to heart. We’ve burrowed deeper, researched quirky facts and world wide trivia and have developed a special 20 question Trivia quiz. While this maybe devilishly difficult, is not arch-hellishly difficult, so we hope you all find this month’s Trivia challenge a good workout for your brain cells, but not one that blows them out. Good luck.
For our restaurant review of tasty locally eateries in and around Angeles City, Balibago, Subic and Barrio Barretto, we thought to try a different type of establishment this month. So, instead of a traditional fine dining venue, this month our restaurant review is from a fast food restaurant that some of our local expat Americans swear is the best such franchise, and one that is reported to serve food way above the flavored cardboard texture and taste of the usual franchise.
On the first visit, in the middle of a lunchtime weekend rush, there was only one outside table still available when we arrived, so we quickly seated ourselves and got ready to order. We found table staff courteous and helpful, and the menu of a high standard. There is plenty of choice, with dish descriptions good, and the dishes themselves appearing to be a cut above similar establishments. On ordering a number of different dishes for the table of six people, a Friday’s Three-for-all was ordered as appetizer, with main meals of one Jack Daniels Salmon, a Daniels Steak, with the remaining three opting for the scrumptious sounding Bacon Cheeseburger, one medium-rare, one medium-well, and one well-done. After an overly long wait of almost 45-minutes, all of the dishes arrived together. All the food was tasty and as advertised, but all the bacon cheeseburgers appeared to be medium rare. On the second visit on a Monday morning before 12 noon, table service was again good, and a well-done bacon cheeseburger, Friday’s Shrimp, and Buffalo wings were ordered. All arrived within 25 minutes, and were tasty and cooked as requested.
Feeling the heat on a warm day, we elected to try a couple of the fruit shushes. As a diabetic not wanting to push the envelope too far, I ordered the drink described as a ‘luscious mixture of green apples and sprite,’ while my wife ordered the sweeter sounding orange. When the drinks arrived, the massively overpowering flavor of both was sugar, so strong that even my wife, well known for her sweet tooth, couldn’t drink them. We did ask about this, but were told they were sweet because they were made from syrup. My complaint that the apple drink certainly did not state this in the menu just received a shrug, resulting in us leaving the P360 oversweet drinks untouched. When the food started arriving, the prawns and mac-and-cheese were tasty, but the crab cakes, though having a strong crab smell, were just a tasteless mush inside. The mushroom chicken and mushroom was good, but when I started eating the Chicken fingers I found them rather chewy. After eating a couple smothered in the dipping sauce, I bit another in half and found the reason for their toughness, blood sitting in very undercooked meat. After 5 minutes trying to get the waitresses attention, I finally went in and put the dish on the counter myself saying it was not cooked. When someone came out, they apologized and said they would make a new dish, which was duly delivered, but again, I found the chicken undercooked so left it. I was not charged for the chicken fingers, but on this occasion left disappointed both at the standard of the chicken dish and crab cakes, and also at having to pay for over sweetened drinks not as described in the menu. My review conclusions are that TGI Friday’s décor, seating and menu are good, as is the table service in general. Taste and quality of the majority of the meals is also good; however, they seem to be let down by the kitchen staff, with order to service times being overly long, and food quality, (certainly in respect to its being cooked as ordered or correctly), being something that seems to be overlooked at peak traffic times. Overall, I feel that although TRG Friday prices may be higher than similar franchise eateries in the Mall and around town, so to is their menu selection and food flavor. So, my recommendation is that TGI Fridays at Marquee Mall is worth a visit, and I will have no problem eating there again – providing of course that my food is cooked properly and as described on the menu!  Movie Review: The King's Speech
This month’s Movie Review is on a film that has already made a big impression on movie goers and, building on its seven BAFTA awards, one that is confidently expected to grab a bunch of Oscars from its 12 nominations at the ceremonies that are ongoing as I write this. 
The Kings Speech revolves around The Duke of York (Firth) who suffers from a strong childhood stutter that is, to say the least, troublesome to a royal commonly called upon to make pubic speeches. Bullied by his domineering father who feels the stutter is just a lack of effort, the duke turns to numerous doctors for aid, but with no success. In a final effort to help the duke overcome his stutter, his wife (Bonham Carter) finally brings him to the rather shabby office of the unorthodox speech therapist, Lionel Logue (Rush). Butting heads constantly, and working through their huge differences, the Duke and Logue work on the problem. Things become more frantic when, upon the unexpected abdication of his elder brother to marry divorced commoner, Ms Simpson, the Duke of York finds himself destined to be King George VI; an occasion that requires considerable public speaking – and a radio broadcast heard all around the word. Although on paper the storyline seems rather lastluster, writer David Seidler does an excellent job of making it worthwhile, easy to follow and enjoyable by all, not just royal history buffs. Kings Speech director Tom Hooper prooves his credentials bringing in experience gained in previous costume dramas such as ‘Love in a Cold Climate,’ ‘Daniel Deronda’ and ‘Elisebeth I' to make the movie look and feel the period. Last but certainly not least, actors Colin Firth, Helena Bonham Carter, Geoffrey Rush and many others all prove their worth brining characters to life with realism and not a little humor. My review findings are that The Kings Speech deserves its many praises and is well worth watching.
Trivia Quiz AnswersHere are the answers to this month’s Trivia Quiz, How did you do?
Come back next month for more from the Angeles Xtra magazine from Angeles City, Balibago, Subic, and Barrio Barretto, Philippines. “If you like what you see, tell others, if you find a problem, tell us” |
This year’s Hot Air Balloon festival is again being reported as a big hit with crowds – although as we gloomily predicted in last months Expat Gossip, it caused havoc with those o
Philippine officials of the Energy Regulatory Commission have finally admitted to what many of us already knew - that the Philippines has the highest residential power charges in the world.
With SEAIR expanding its operations from Clark to include Hong Kong and Macau, happily we can now all enjoy directs flights to and from Clark to these destinations, as well as Vietnam, Korea, Thailand, Singapore Malaysia and Taiwan. While this is great, and the expansion of oversea routes can only be applauded, (and I really appreciated only having to take a 30-minute drive to pick up and drop off relatives visiting from the UK recently), the question remains, what about domestic destinations?
As strong supporters of our local drag racers, it was good to know AHRA were out at Clark Speedway giving it their all on 12 February. While some people took things easy and sat quietly gazing skyward at the balloon festival, the expats of AHRA were being quite a bit more energetic; burning rubber and plenty of adrenalin pushing their V8 monsters to their limits in the super pro drag races. As always, Steve “Mad Max”Caldwell put on a good show, as did Bill Hand and his roadster. Happy to see Ron Poulter on his welcome return to drag racing in Angeles with his new car running well into the 10s; but commiserations must go to one of AHRA’s long time veteran racers (40 odd years racing here). After John Rizya’s recent spin out on track demolished his beloved Camaro, ‘Thunder’, he is now working hard to get back on the race track. 
The venue of our review is the TGI Friday’s located at the corner of ‘food lane’ on Level I of Marquee Mall, Angeles City. As a franchise outlet, traffic volume here varies considerably both through the day and days of the week, so this review is a compendium of three visits at different times and days of the week. 
The third visit took place late lunchtime on a Sunday. Although we did manage to grab a table for two, the restaurant was packed inside and out. Table service was again good, and crab cakes, fried mac-and-cheese, and Asian prawns were ordered for appetizers, with mushroom chicken & mushroom, and chicken fingers ordered for mains. 
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