Welcome! I'm Brad Smith, a former English teacher who specialized in seniors and juniors at a Massachusetts public high school. I love a good novel, a fine poem. Retired to the Philippines nearly eight years ago, after having vacationed here over a couple of summer breaks. Yup, the people, the scenery, the utter absence of biting cold, and the inexpensive living here caused me to pick up and leave my New England home; and while I've made occasional trips back to that home, it hasn't yet crossed my mind to return for good. Glenda, my significant other, lives with me in a small, rented house in Cabanatuan, a city in central Luzon. I've met many fine people here, made good friendships, helped out where I could, accepted help when it was offered. Started this blog a few months after coming to the Philippines, and have kept a double focus throughout these pages: one, to let you enter my personal life and the lives of Filipinos close to me; two, to offer overviews of current issues important to Filipinos, as well as the customs and heritage of a remarkable people. Cheers!

A harvest of the Latundan bananas grown at the Torres farm in Rizal.

Fleshier than the Cavendish, and sweeter.

8.29.26

Wet Not You Like Do?

Make what you can of that, but, getting serious, at least thirty people have drowned or have been swept to their deaths in landslides over the past two weeks. The weather gods have set up a self-perpetuating mechanism in the atmosphere over the western Pacific, wherein Luzon receives an almost constant dousing.  One expects the conveyor belt of cyclones and low pressure areas heading westward during the rainy season. But instead of the scattershot way in which these systems normally travel -- west, northwest, west-southwest -- the southwest monsoon is pushing all of these systems north of the Philippines. And the counterclockwise spinning of these lows and cyclones, in turn, once they are north of the islands, enhances the flow of the monsoon. Words do not do this justice, so I'll just bring over a screenshot of the Ventusky map of my neck of the world for right now: Aug. 29, 2pm.

Just to the north of Taiwan, we can see a weak low pressure system; farther to the west,

we see the remnants of Typhoon Saudel, which plowed into the Chinese coast at the

city of Wenzhou yesterday. Spinning counterclockwise, these systems are helping to

draw in the moisture-laden air off the coasts of Indonesia and Thailand. Notice the

pounding Luzon, and especially the west coast of Luzon, is taking. I'm not on the coast,

but never before have I witnessed such a sustained period of rain. It's embedded with

thunderstorms one day, falls lightly the next, comes down hard the day after. And lows

and cyclones spinning north of us will continue, firing up the monsoon winds south of

them, for as far from the present time as Ventusky prognosticates, which is two weeks.

Oy, another two weeks of this.  ...Well, before I moved here I knew a rainy season came

with the package, and that monsoons came with rainy seasons.

It's the weekend, and Glenda is spending it with her children in Rizal, where it is also

raining steadily. Someone has asked me if she has to drive all the way to Rizal Province,

which abuts Metro Manila, when she visits the farm -- no, Jose Rizal is such an 

important national hero here that a few places are named after him in the islands. The

small city of Rizal is about 40 minutes away by car, to the northeast of Cabanatuan.

Have been nibbling at smoked gouda while pecking away at this posting (thank you, S&R membership store!). An appointment with the cardiologist for two days ago had to be postponed when the doc was called away to perform emergency surgery; when I see him Sep. 8, I'll discuss with him possible weight loss drugs to help me shed more kilos. Last time I saw him, he happily changed the lipophilic statin he had prescribed for me to a hydrophilic one: I'd read that statins soluble in fat cross the blood-brain barrier and over time could produce ill effects -- so I opted for the statin soluble only in water. On another note, Phoebe (the calico) has been missing for several days; the weather being what it is, I hope she's found shelter, and hope caring people are feeding her.

8.19.26

Drenched

That southwest monsoon ("habagat," in Tagalog) has been with Luzonites for two weeks now, and forecasters tell us it may well rule our weather for another two weeks. Many byroads and some main roads in the Cab City area are periodically impassible due to standing water; when downpours are truly torrential, schools close; and Teresita the other day spoke of a news story about families in parts of Metro Manila fleeing with gas stoves and valuables to the second stories of their homes ahead of encroaching waters. Residents of the island have weathered these before, and they'll weather this one -- but, oh, the headaches habagats can cause!

       In Manila recently.  (Philstar)

Our own snug home, a cottage really, sits on top of a rise between larger buildings that protect it from wind. Drainage is good. My friend Jheng and her family, over in Barangay Bantug Norte, live high enough to avoid flooding, but rain leaves a lot of standing water in their vicinity. Aedes aegypti may not be the dominant mosquito species anywhere in the islands, but if one of these passing buzzers takes a shining to standing water near you and lays her eggs in it, you're in some danger of becoming infected with dengue fever, a very painful, if rarely lethal, illness. Jheng's cousin came down with it five or six years ago and toughed out his bout at home in bed. More recently, dengue put Jheng's son and sister into the hospital, one after the other; her son Aaron had a rare form of the disease and needed to spend quite some time there. The city government sent the fumigators with their heavy-duty equipment to Jheng's duplex, and they sprayed the living quarters, along with a wide area surrounding the building, down.

Mosquitoes are generally not bothersome in my neighborhood -- but if I get buzzed at home or in the city, and successfully slap the intruder down, I take time to study what I've killed. White bands on the legs of the insect are the tell-tale markings of Aedes aegypti. In all my years here, I've yet to see those markings.

                                                                                                                                                                                            Aedes aegypti

8.5.26

What Goes Bump in the Night, Phlipside

A low-pressure system crossed north of here and then sat down to the west of Luzon, where it has been throwing squalls at central Luzon for a couple of days. Beginning to look like a true rainy season. Not only that, the low's counter-clockwise spin is pulling in the southwest monsoon, which will further wet us down -- and the weather folks here say the monsoon will be with us for at least two weeks. It is dark midday, and Glenda is gone for the weekend to be with her children at the farm. Cats surround me; the rain on the roof is like a metronome gone mad.

I'm attracted to atmospheric creepiness, also to tales of the uncanny. Here's one quality of horror stories that particularly attracts me: in the genres of adventure, or mystery, or crime, generally speaking, an extraordinary character is confronted with an extraordinary situation; in horror fiction, though, an ordinary character is confronted with an extraordinary situation. Regarding that extraordinary situation of horror, the North American culture I grew up in has latched onto some European denizens of the dark and has created some of its own frightening creatures: ghouls, vengeful spirits, vampires, golems, mummies, werewolves, bigfoot, killer clowns, wendigos, skin-walkers, possessed dolls, etc. The Philippines, with its more than 140 ethnicities, has a plethora of things that go bump in the night. I'll introduce to you a few of the creatures that have crossed ethnic lines and become popular among a wide range of Filipinos, and add some artwork from various sites to give you images of the creatures (as a teacher, I could introduce in a classroom a creative work without seeking permission from an author or artist; this blog makes its author no money and the readership is not high, so I'm following the same practice here).

__________________________________

Aswang

The earliest Spanish colonists back in the 16th century noted that Filipinos considered the

Aswang the most horrifying of the islands' supernatural creatures. It is a shape-shifter; by

day it lives in human form, sometimes as an outlier in the forest, and sometimes as a quiet villager

or city dweller. At night it transforms into a creature with wings, enormous sharp claws, and teeth

that rend the flesh of lone walkers. It uses its long, flexible black tongue to steal fetuses from

the wombs of pregnant women. Aswangs also have a reputation for stealing corpses as they lie in

state in the family home of the deceased; rooms in which departed loved ones lie are brightly lit

throughout the night to warn away this creature.

It can take a variety of forms: the ghoul that sits in trees above cemeteries, awaiting freshly dead

bodies to feed upon; the were-dog, which has the speed to run down any human prey; the

beautiful woman that grows wings at night and separates from its lower body to fly with trailing

viscera, searching for babies and toddlers left untended to snatch up and feast upon.

This creature is inherently wicked -- not a merciful bone in its body. Its name derives from the sanskrit word for "evil," and early Spanish clerics, who generally believed in the creatures, identified them as demons.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                  Duwende

                                                    Duwendes live below the ground in large, buttressed cave systems. They are diminutive but magical

                                                    beings, known for their ability to afflict humans who offend or hurt them with diseases causing

                                                    skin rashes, inflammations, and fevers -- diseases which cannot be cured or palliated with medicines.

                                                    But duwendes have also been known to strike up friendships with humans, to whom they bring                                                                        gemstones and enchanted gifts -- such as a magic dipper, which, when placed within a basin, will

                                                    fill that basin with rice; or a suit of clothes that will make the wearer invincible. It is important for one 

                                                    who makes friends with a duwende to remember, though, that breaking off that friendship will bring                                                              years of bad luck, or, in worst cases, death. 

Tiyanak

While also small and not unlike the duwende in appearance, the tiyanak means humans only harm. It

views unwary travelers as choice food and is famous in the islands for imitating a crying baby as it hides

along a trail or at the edge of a forest; when a caring human investigator lifts the small form, the tiyanak

attacks with sharp claws and teeth. An 18th century Spanish cleric noted that this creature amuses itself

by preventing pregnant women from giving birth: the misfortune of a stillborn child or of a mother 

dying in labor was often attributed to this malevolent creature. 

                                                                                                                                                                                                              Tikbalang

                                                                                                                                                                                     The tikbalang has the head and legs of a horse, but the shoulders, arms, and torso of a well-muscled

                                                             human being. This lord of the mountains and the forest was a part of Filipino lore long before the

                                                             Spanish arrived in the 16th century, when the islands had no horses; back then, the phantom is 

                                                             thought to have been associated with the Philippine deer or the serow, an East Asian animal that                                                                     looks like a cross between a goat and an antelope. At any rate, the Spaniards introduced horses, and                                                               over the next century the tikbalang gained a horse's head and legs.

                                                             The creature, both revered and feared by Filipino believers, is considered to be guardian of the wild

                                                             places in the Philippines. It lives in the mountains, the rain forests, and often plays the trickster

                                                             when confronted with humans entering its domain. It will lead them in a wide circle and prevent                                                                     them in other ways from making progress on a journey. . . . 

In Philippine folklore, when there is a heavy downpour while the sun is still shining (as there was here in Barangay Bitas the day before yesterday), it is a signal that two tikbalangs are getting married.

 Sigbin

A dog-like supernatural creature is said to lurk about at night and suck the blood of people standing

in doorways from their shadows. This is the sigbin, a nightmare form with enormous canines and

a long, flexible tail which it can use as a whip. This beastie has the ability to make itself invisible,

but invisibility is unlikely to hide its presence from humans, for it continually emits a nauseating

stench.

The sigbin is said to hunt children during Holy Week and fashion the hearts of its kill into amulets.

Aswangs are known to keep them as pets, and, strangely enough, some of the very rich among

humans are also said to keep them as pets, for protection. They feed their sigbins raw, fresh-killed

meat. There are stories of such families forgetting or unable to provide this meat and winding up in pieces strewn about their mansion.

. . .Well, there you have five thumbnail sketches of supernatural creatures in the Philippines. There are scores of others, as I've mentioned -- and just as the West has its ghost hunters and demonologists, there are some true believers among Filipinos today. But mainly, I guess, the creatures are used by nonbelieving Filipino parents in cautionary tales designed to keep their children obedient and safe from actual creatures of the night.

11 Scariest Filipino Mythical Creatures to Look Out For - Bisaya Podcast

Filipino Popular Tales

Creatures & Spirits | THE ASWANG PROJECT

Duwende Lore in the Philippines | Aswang Project                           You can also "wiki" any of the creatures above!                                                                                                                                         

7.28.26

Jousting

The last week has seen violence between Chinese Coast Guard and Philippine Navy personnel flare in waters adjacent to the Scarborough Shoal, which lies about 100 miles west of Pangasinan Province -- well within the 200-mile Exclusive Economic Zone kept by the Philippines and by countries with coastlines around the world. These zones were instituted by the United Nations in their 1982 Convention on the Law of the Sea and give exclusive right to sovereign nations to make use of marine resources lying within 200 miles of their shores. Well, this doesn't sit well with the Chinese government, which claims more than 90% of the South China Sea as its own. Clashes between China and Vietnam over the Paracel Islands have occurred in the past; more recently, China is contesting the presence of Philippine fishing fleets at the Scarborough Shoal, the Spratly Islands, and various reefs within the Philippines' exclusive zone.  

One Philippine sailor has lost a thumb and another received a nasty

gash on his head in encounters with the Chinese at Scarborough

Shoal over the last week. In these confrontations, Chinese skiffs

appeared in close proximity to the Philippine military outpost at the 

shoal, members of its crew taking photos of the outpost. Philippine

small boats were sent out to warn off the Chinese, and the Chinese

produced long poles and in one case an ax, assaulting Philippine sailors

who had only oars to defend themselves. After learning of the

wounded sailors, President Marcos described the encounters as              (ASEAN Analytics)

"provocations" and summoned the Chinese ambassador to Malacanang Palace in Manila, where both sides aired grievances.

The 2016 "Permanent Court of Arbitration," under UN auspices, ruled that the Chinese claims in the South China Sea had no legal basis, but the Chinese government both refused to take part in the arbitration and refused to abide by its ruling, claiming that the Court lacked jurisdiction. And what we are left with, folks, is a fine mess -- and a tinderbox for the entire region.

________________________

Last week, Glenda and I became members of S&R, the Philippines' answer to Costco, and we are glad we did, for there are items in that cavernous store that that cannot be found elsewhere in Cab City. Real bagels! Sauerkraut! A number of cheeses not found elsewhere here! Glenda picked up packs of Korean instant noodles she had only heard about, and I introduced Glenda to fresh asparagus. Gastronomic excitement here.

After doing some study online, I asked the cardiologist whether my statin could be changed from a lipophilic to a hydrophilic statin (one that is soluble in fat to one that is soluble only in water). He was hunky-dory with the request and made the change on my new script. And I continue to feel well.

7.15.26

Lazy Days 

Feeling fine. Received from Shopee yesterday a tarpaulin to replace the frayed and torn one covering the threshing machine up at the farm -- so far the rainy season hasn't been much of a rainy season, but that can change quickly. A super typhoon sailed north of us late last week and is now causing flooding in China; however, the monsoon has held off, and hit-or-miss afternoon thunderstorms have been the order of most days. This afternoon: reading, playing Lexulous online, listening to podcasts. Tomorrow: swimming with Glenda and Clara Mae. Always: trying to socialize the kittens, when they are not outside. See, Matilda had brought them outside to a hidey hole, where they stayed for more than two weeks. Came back ready for real food and pretty wild. Haven't seen one of them for several days and hope she is all right (they are all female).

Missing the shore.

7.5.26

Pangasinan

We picked up the results of the stress test from Premiere Medical about a week ago. And they were good. "Premature ventricular complex" (heart flutter, extra beats) occurred around the time of peak exercise: not unusual for one my age. There were no signals to suggest ischemia (restricted blood flow caused by blockage or atherosclerosis, usually). Blood pressure remained steady throughout the test. In short, the report would be a source of comfort to most folks my age. From whence the hairy episode, then? I've experienced brain farts. Are there heart farts, too? Looking forward to seeing the cardiologist on the 23rd.

Cousin Ritz had said he'd keep the kitty dishes full. We packed, hopped in the Vios, and drove west for a few hours to Aliminos, Pangasinan Province. There we snailed about on backroads, traversing on one of them a large grove of trees (kalanta mahoganies?)  whose splotched, smooth bark reminded me of the bark of Massachusetts sycamores, until we reached the South China Sea and our destination. The Blessed Purple Bamboo Beach Resort. No purple bamboo to be seen, but it's a clean and fetching place with an enormous swimming pool, and, as its name promises, a beach on Lingayen Gulf, which separates the provinces of Pangasinan and La Union. The resort lies just a kilometer or two south of the Hundred Islands National Park.

We would be there for three nights. The resort seemed practically deserted: not really surprising, for we were booked Tuesday to Friday in the third week of the new school year. And the dearth of vacationers worked to our good fortune. Unbeknownst to me, the room I'd booked required an ascent on steep stairs to a second level; I worked the bag I had taken up these steps very slowly, for a side effect of the statin I was taking was painful joints, and my knees now trouble me on regular stairs, never mind this set of ladder-stairs. (I'll ask the doc to prescribe a different statin when I see him.) Anyway, the assistant manager accompanying us noticed my difficulty, and jocularly addressed Glenda in Tagalog that there seemed to be an issue. He stepped out of the room as we started to settle in, and five minutes later was back with news that earned him an extra tip from me: management had decided to upgrade us to a ground-level condo directly on the beach. Very nice of them (pays to be gimpy, wot)!

There's the view from our patio. The hobie cat was not ours to

sail, but the spacious condo came with a king-sized bed, a fridge,

and a wide-screen TV with HBO and Netflix, none of which the

previous room offered. The resort's restaurant with its free

breakfast was right next door; twice we brought orders of fish

and chips out to the patio for supper. Excellent fish.

                                                                                                                     We beachcombed, stayed in the pool till the tips of our fingers were

                                                                                                                     puckered, lazed in one of the cabanas surrounding the pool, which                                                                                                                         were named after books in the Old Testament. We took Numbers.

And drove into town on Thursday and did some sightseeing. At the landing outriggers that brought tourists out to the islands were tied. We had discussed hiring one; however, the boats taking 1 - 5 people were . . . small. The sea was choppy that morning, and the smaller outriggers offered only a small platform at the tip of the bow from which or to which passengers needed to step up or step down in order to embark/disembark. Given my bum (for now) knees, and my generally unplucky frame of mind, I begged off, but asked Glenda to take the trip: there was a restaurant at hand and I could keep myself busy people-watching and playing with my phone. Unsurprisingly, she said no way.

On Friday, we managed to get lost on the way home and found ourselves nearing the old Clark Army Base, which has been smartly remade into an international business hub. We were far west of where we should have been. Glenda, behind the wheel, blamed herself; I countered that the GPS done us wrong, and besides, I was her navigator, so the blame should fall upon me. We stopped and bought chocolate, received good directions from an old man watching the traffic go by. An amusing coda to a welcome getaway.

6.23.26

The Bongabon Trip

It was some time ago, but I think I remember that everyone who stayed with me at Liza Villa last month had a good time. We didn't visit the Labi River because the water was too low -- with the rain we've had over the last two or three weeks, I suppose the splashing is good now, but when we passed over it on our way to the resort, it appeared to be a stream about a foot deep!

Liza Villa is between the lowlands of Luzon's central plain and the mountain heights we visited more than a year ago (see 5.1.25, 15th floor). It sits in the far reaches of Bongabon, in the Sierra Madre's foothills, and there were no steep switchbacks on the way there, which was nice. The rice fields gave way to corn, onions, garlic, and peppers. Glenda came upon the old sign almost too quickly to slow down and make the turnoff.

With the children helping us in the dirt parking lot, we

unloaded, waited for others to arrive in their tricycles. We

avoided the gaze of the man sitting on a stool in front of 

a battered camper, whose belly, far larger than my sizable

pot, blossomed out between khaki shorts and the bottom

of a grimy t-shirt. Three girls standing near the man, the

eldest maybe Krizza's age, did not level a gaze: they ogled

us. "Sketchy" is the word that crossed my mind. But that

was before we learned the man, a pleasant conversation-

alist, owned and managed the place, before we trooped

under an arch and beheld a quite lovely garden lining a

swimming pool and bounded by structures that imitated

traditional Filipino houses of centuries gone by.

Ended up liking the place fine. Eleven adults, four children, and two dogs slept in two rooms over three nights. But the rooms were very large, and we slept not on mats but on beds whose mattresses were surprisingly comfortable. Must admit to spending a great deal of time in the pool in my waking hours there; it's nice to feel weightless when you're anything but. Along those lines, have managed to lose 3 kilos since my first visit to the cardio guy. Would like to continue that trend.

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