Formal wear

It's not everyday that I see a pug in a tuxedo in the streets of Metro Manila.

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Golden eggs

Not from a goose but from a shark—the Whitespotted Bamboo Shark (Chiloscyllium plagiosum), to be exact. Found among the coral reefs of the west Pacific, including the Philippines, this small, one-meter, nocturnal shark lays eggs that are five inches long. These back-lit eggs showing the fascinating development of the shark inside are in the Ang Kalaliman (The Deep) section of the Manila Ocean Park. I assure you that these sharks are very much alive. In fact, the guy in the middle was wriggling so much I had to take several shots before I got one with both his head and tail in the photo.

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WWII alien

At least, that's what this looks like to me. I saw this sculpture made of old scrap metal inside Fort Santiago in the old walled city of Intramuros but couldn't find any kind of information about it. I won't be surprised if the metal came from weapons and vehicles used during WWII, which also caused the damage to the building behind it.

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Natural polish

So how do Filipinos who don't have electric floor polishers or vacuum cleaners with a gazillion attachments keep their wood and stone floors shiny? With a bunot, half (or two-thirds, in this case) of a dried-out coconut husk—without the shell, which is too hard. The husk's fibers are soft enough not to scratch wooden floors but tough enough to withstand the vigorous polishing that floors require. Of course, this method requires that one be healthy and very fit, without knee or hip problems of any kind. Put one foot on the bunot and just slide it back and forth, following the grain of the wood. Guaranteed to strengthen your arches and leg muscles, and give you a great aerobic workout. And I've just realized while cropping and editing this photo that our bedroom floor needs to be waxed and polished very soon.

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He doesn't use a phone booth anymore

About ten minutes away from our house, there is a street corner that used to be notorious for purse-snatching. The robber was on a scooter and had victimized several people, including a friend of ours. Because of this, the barangay decided to put a security outpost on the corner. I have never actually seen a security guard posted there since it was finished, but neither have I heard about new purse-snatching incidents. I think the gaudiness of the outpost was enough to turn even the thief away.

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Keeping things cool

The Humanities cultural gala Magis was staged at the Henry Lee Irwin Theater in the Ateneo de Manila University. Named after the American Jesuit priest from Connecticut who first came to Manila in 1921, the theater sits 1,100 people. I wandered behind it during the intermission and saw the compressors of the airconditioning system that keeps the place cool. There were four of these huge structures and the noise they created was tremendous.

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Meals on wheels

The customized motorcycle and bicycle side car designs in Manila can be very ingenious. I've already shown you what our neighborhood water filtering station uses to deliver 5-gallon bottles. This man has a gas stove and an eating counter attached to his bicycle.

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Shared habitat

The Penguin Café Gallery in Malate, Manila (just several blocks away from the Malate Church) derived its name from the owner's large collection of penguins. Here is one decorating a lamp in a corner, with a couple of penguins painted on the window. I don't know if geckos have the same type of habitat, but this twisted one looks happy enough sharing the same space as the penguins.

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Legs

I just wanted another photo of Eastwood City Walk, the unique dining and shopping center whose design I like so much. It wasn't until I uploaded the photo that I noticed the two guys sitting across each other on the benches just beyond the arch.

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Michelangelo's turning in his grave

This is what happens to nude statues in Manila. And this is just a little one decorating the entrance of Music 21, another KTV (karaoke television) venue. And I've just realized that I have never seen a nude statue displayed in any public place in Metro Manila.

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Eyesore

I don't know if this was supposed to be an office or condominium building, or what company was constructing it, but it has been standing unfinished behind the Quezon City Hall for more than a decade. An eyesore and a waste.

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What's wrong with this picture?

The street sign at the corner of Ongpin and Salazar Streets in Binondo, Manila's Chinatown, is the fanciest in the area. With brightly colored little Chinese dragons atop the names, it is probably the most photographed street sign in the metro. I took a photo of it from the street but there was a huge red shop sign behind it which kind of drowned it out so I decided to take a photo of it from the other side. And immediately burst out laughing! I hope the barangay council never corrects it!

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Caged sidewalk

In many of Metro Manila's major roads, the sidewalk is separated from the road by barriers. Sometimes, they're just waist-high rails but in extremely busy roads and intersections, wire mesh barriers are higher than your average Filipino. These are meant to stop people from (1) using the road to walk on; (2) crossing the road just anywhere and anytime; and (3) flagging down buses, jeepneys and/or taxis wherever they happen to be when they see the vehicle. It's only been a decade or two that road rules for pedestrians and commuters are being enforced more strictly and it's been a struggle. After all, roads in the provinces (the rural areas) are meant for everyone and everything, whether they're people, animals or vehicles. And I have no figures to show but I suspect that people like me who are Manila-born and bred and whose parents were also Manila-born and bred are actually a tiny fraction of the metro's population. I'm submitting this as an Odd Shot Monday post because I'm sure the barriers will be odd for those in other countries, but to be honest, this is a very common sight in Metro Manila.

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Sunbathing

I've always found the stuff that taxi drivers place on their dashboards fascinating. There was that one who had a whole bunch of stuffed toys hanging from a sun visor, and now this: a robed and veiled Virgin Mary and a resin mermaid au naturelle with her hair positioned just so.

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Used, used and used

At the Penguin Café Gallery in Malate, Manila while the next band was setting up their equipment, a DJ would be spinning some vinyl records. Aside from a shiny new player, he also had one old beat up player. And take a closer look at his lamp. It's made out of an empty can of mushrooms.

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The better to eat you with, my dear

The Manila Ocean Park is Metro Manila's first ever oceanarium with an underwater acrylic tunnel. It only opened in March 2008 and I finally got to visit it last week. This is a Giant Arapaima (Arapaima gigas), whose natural habitat is the Amazon River basin in South America and is one of the largest freshwater fish in the world. I forgot to ask how big this particular one is but it looked like it was about 5 feet (1.5 meters) long. Aside from other fish, it also eats other small animals, like birds. The Giant Arapaima tank can be found in Manila Ocean Park's Agos (flow) section, featuring fish which can be found in rivers.

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Open iPod

Spotted in Tomato Kick, the restaurant that turns into a bar at night, located in the house that was converted into a tiny strip mall. Don't like the music? Plug in your own iPod.

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Drinks are on the house

Back in June 2008, I wrote about Pino, a tiny restaurant and bar near our house with a very innovative menu. I'm happy to say that it's still open and has actually been featured in a local TV show, which I hope means that they'll get even more customers so they'll continue operating. After watching another play last week, my husband and I decided to stop by for a beer and some bar chow (their Tempura Oyster Pearls are yummy!). We sat outside since it wasn't too hot and humid. Looks like humans aren't the only creatures who use Pino as their watering hole.

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Test tubes

The unusual but colorful ceiling decoration in the medical laboratory of the University of the Philippines Health Service. I was so tickled, I just had to ask the laboratory technicians—all women, which is also pretty odd for a Manila hospital—if I could take a picture of it and they kindly let me in.

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They deliver

A house in our neighborhood. I have no idea why they're displaying banners of Shakey's Pizza and Jollibee on their fence. My guess is the family who lives there owns the franchise of the nearest branches.

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