I'm Here

Monday, February 5, 2018

Blogging was still in its infancy back then, so I don't recall many other blogs during the time when I started blogging.  Social media was nothing like it is today, and vlogging (video blogging) was almost non-existent.



I remember the challenges of locating an internet cafe in the provinces.  Assuming I found one that wasn't full, I would begin the process of posting.  The computers were typically slow with no SD card reader, and I would have to transfer the photos from my old digital camera via USB cable.  So while that was cranking away, I would go ahead and begin typing up the written content for my post, usually copying from a piece of scratch paper where I had previously written my notes/thoughts.  And assuming the pictures copied successfully to the hard drive, I would then begin the process of uploading them onto the internet (which was an even slower process).

You will also typically note me mentioning that I was in a rush at the internet cafe, as I was always trying to save money.  Of course, many times, there was nothing I could do, as I would just have to wait for the pictures to finish uploading.  I couldn't get an internet connection set up at the house either, as the internet service providers did not yet have coverage deep in the countryside back then.

Sometimes I wonder how it would have been had I began the Coconuter journey today where social media and technology are more widespread and advanced, or had they been available back then.  Maybe I would have had better luck and more fortunate events.

Original post below:

Thursday, February 23, 2006
I'm Here

Well, I'm here now in the Philippines. To all the non-believers out there, I hope the pictures are enough proof. I'm in a rush right now in an internet cafe, so I am really just typing what comes to my head and I don't have time to arrange the pictures so I hope it's in order. The first is of the scapular my mother gave me during a very emotional goodbye. There's a set of airplane pics in there too. All I have to say is that the trip was very long. I was mistaken about the flight time because it actually amounted to almost 20 hours. It was a combination Continental and China Airlines Flight. China Airlines had the much better service. I almost got lost at the Los Angeles Airport, but with some asking around I was able to find the correct terminal. Let's see, my first day was spent just getting up to Subic. It was about a 3 hour drive. I was wearing a jacket from Houston to LA to Taipei, then boom... the Philippine heat hit me. The first day was pretty rough, and I'm pretty worn out. I tried jogging to the palengke/market to buy a large jug of water and some fish & rice. I hauled the jug of water back to the residence I am staying at currently and it was pretty damn hard. I think I'll take a tricycle next time. I think I spent around 500 pesos today and I did not buy anything special except for what I already mentioned above, if you call that special. That's way more than the daily budget I had planned. I have to really work on getting it down to 50 to 100 pesos a day. It really was a pretty discouraging day, but I think that's partly because I'm tired and I have to recover from some jet lag. I hope tomorrow will be better. I'm really rushing so I'll try to elaborate and do more story telling tomorrow. Remember that I have to worry about internet cafe fees too. Gotta go.