Must be getting homesick!

I've been in the Philippines just under a month now and a little homesickness is sinking in, I really don't know how some of you guys lived here for months and months...

Anyway, it is just mild homesickness.. Things I miss about Britain and Manchester.

Buttered Crumpets - would kill for some of these for breakfast!
Crumpets and Dairylea - Need I say more
Bread with no added sugar - Warburtons.. Nuff said
Irn Bru - I take back what I said about bombing the factory
Milder Weather - Boy can it get hot down here in Mindanao
Fast Internet - I like not waiting for Youtube video's to buffer.

But here in Valencia, they have it worse than those in Manila or Cebu. So there are a few things I miss from just being in a major city...

A Cinema - Gosh darn it, Valencia doesn't have one. And the snide DVD's are of shockingly bad quality, not even worth the 40 pesos
McDonalds - Sorry folks, Jollibee is just not good enough
Roads - Strange how you miss a bit of concrete...
Pavements - So as not to always be on guard for that Jeepney or Trike

There we go, had my little whinge.. On the plus side I am off work for another month

And you had to mention Jacket Potatoes.... Add that to the list... With Cheddar cheese, not the processed stuff sitting on store shelves over here..

Ah sorry to hear that Sean.

Me I was up for plenty more the first time I stayed for 35 days, I had no desire to return, missed almost nothing about the UK.

I think eventually I would miss Irn Bru especially given that I drink about 100 cans a month I think I would contact them and offer to start up a bottling factory over there, the syrup is transportable so they would not have to break the secret they would only have to ship me the syrup, a few tons every month would do nicely My programming pal Segundo has been in Scotland and loved the Bru and Ana got a taste for an ice cold Bru as well eventually, so I think I could sell it into the Filipino market

I live on Curry so I might eventually miss that, but the ones I make myself are better than the restaurants here in England though not as good as my favourite Scottish Curry houses, however I am only missing one or two ingredients over there and I am pretty sure I could get those from the Indian sector in Manila which I am going to visit next time I am there I also found spices like Jeera in Makro about 12 months ago so definitely sources exist there for what I need.

Internet? well ours is about equivalent to about 2001 in the UK, I got Ana to measure speed on BBMax and we get about 400K download on PLDT about 40 times slower than my connection here, but almost enough for me to work on.

I am more homesick for Scotland living here in England, I also miss Scottish crumpets (totally different from the English version) and Scotch Pies, although I got some good imitations down here the other day.

I also miss the countryside in Scotland the mountains in the Trossachs very near to my old home, I would miss them more eventually if I were in the Phils I think, bare mountain rock instead of mountains covered in trees.

As you are a younger man Sean the isolation is probably the bigger problem, me I love quiet places but even I can imagine it could get
bad out in the sticks saying that my daughters mum Shona always said she loved the isolation but she has had some trouble living in Orkney which is even more bleak and isolated than Mindanao

I bet you will be loving it again when you start moving and get to see some new places again in a week or two

I got used to the butter out there eventually but preferred Lurpak if I could get it, fairly sure I have seen Anchor butter in SM as well, the local butter is just weird.

Bread well I quite like the sugary sweet Gardenia, I have also found that SM do unsweetened brown bread as well these days, the bread is strange at first but I adjusted, a slice of toast along with Ana's scrambled eggs (which is really an omelette) is great in the mornings lots of black pepper mmmm....

I am not as extreme as some folk when it comes to the water, I will brush my teeth in water from the tap and mouthwash with it as well, never had a problem and the water is fairly cold I am quite sure I could drink it safely as much of the water in Manila is potable, problem is it might not always be potable. Saying that Ana and the family always use the large filtered water supplies for drinking and cooking.

Black pudding, yum I have not thought about that for a long time a good Scottish breakfast with black and white pudding I miss that too

The weather in May in Scotland was always the special time of year for me often that was our only summer, the rest of the time it rained and rained.

I have no one here in England to have that serious deep conversation with sadly and my good friend that I had those conversations with in the old days in Scotland died in 2006 I miss him a lot.

I think if I had transport in the Phils that I could find great beauty driving around there, it would be more dangerous than here but would be worth it, I would do it to document the countryside photographically and it might be best to team up with a local photographer when travelling.

Forgot to say, I miss fresh milk, that is the reason the butter is so bad, they really don't have much of a dairy industry over there, either that or they have some really rank cows

The milk is very poor and the powdered stuff for kids is ridiculously expensive, UHT milk can be found in the markets but none of it tastes right.

I use milk in cooking quite a lot and this is the one real problem I have over there, saying that everyone over there loved my poached fish that was done in milk.

Yeah that would be good Peter I would like that, need to make a plan for the next few years for that

My pal was very a smart man really knowledgeable and a hell of a devils advocate, used to drive me nuts talking to him sometimes, I have a few other good and loved friends in the UK but they are scattered far and wide and we don't get that intellectual engagement that you get talking to a good pal down in the pub on a regular basis.

I think about Smithy a lot even now, I was in Manila when I was called by a mutual friend, I knew the very moment that Linda started speaking what had happened, she would not be calling me for any other reason, a Sunday evening it was and I had just arrived in Manila a couple of days before.

I still have an old recording on my Sky+ box, nearly 8 years old now and I have never deleted it, when he got on the tele on Fifteen to One, he made it to the last three, the luck of the draw meant that he got one tricky question that he got wrong but I think he loved the fact he made it so far.

I have posted elsewhere that I used to give him a couple of quid on a Sunday night (1980's) as the stake for the local quiz machine and we would drink all night on his winnings the only thing we were both crap at was sports questions, I would answer the really tough science questions though and he would get EVERYTHING else

I think because I am out in the sticks it is a bit harder than it would be if I were in Cebu or Manila, in fact I really enjoyed the Condo in Manila...

Back in the UK I go out every week with friends, if nothing but for a few drinks and a long chat. That is lost here in Valencia other than the "Mayong Buntag" and the like, no actual conversation. Of course I chit chat with Joy and some attempts with her younger brother but his English is not too good.

But the back end of next week I head to Cebu, well... Barili, which is on Cebu island. Stay there for a few days and then move on and see Bohol and of course Cebu city. So I guess once I get to move around more then the homesickness will go.

Though, I think upon my arrival back in the UK I will be stopping at a Tesco's to pick up some crumpets before getting back home

Oh, and some ........

Yeah the big city is always a bit easier, although in the very short visit we made to Cebu city I found Cebu a bit limited compared to Manila, but then again we didn't know our way around.

But I'm sure you will have a good time in Cebu and Bohol.

I used to be a Vimto addict too

Cebu is quite cool.

I cannot comment about Manila as 1 day spent there on shore leave would not make me an autorithy on the place, but I absolutely adore Cebu.

Didn't have the chance to miss anything really, probably because I was too immersed into exploring the place and making new friends and aquaintances.
I did have a bit of a moan about the bread served at the hotel as toast, as it was rather sweet compared to our stuff, but soon put that right by going to the SM bakery place and getting a couple of french baguettes... Bo's coffee was a very good alternative to what I am used to drink at home, and saved me from having to endure Starbucks crap.
Besides I remember buying one of those one cup filter coffee machines for 600php and some excellent Davao coffee for my morning cuppas on the veranda...

When I was going through puberty I had a real dislike for Peanut Butter. The smell, the taste and the texture. Used to love it as a kid and at some point into adulthood I became fond of it again... Weird!