First 30 Days in the Land of Unexpected: 4

You just have to get used to it and this, I guess is happening to me now! Saturday was spent in my room at the hotel. No regrets though because I managed to finish reading all pages of the Lamana Hotel magazine featuring information, attractions, sights, tours, maps, dining out and entertainment in PNG. It provided me basic information about “The Land of Unexpected” which a newcomer like me has to know.

The magazine helped me:  

…to know the spoken languages (english, pidgin English-tok pisin and Hiri Motu) 

…to know their religion which is predominantly Christianity practiced in harmony with local beliefs and traditions...the latter though has so much influence on their practices

…to know the seasons: dry season – May to October; wet season – December to March --- this I have to experience yet but indeed this month is a dry season, it's prickly heat!  

…to know useful phrases but practicing them would still be a challenge such as "how are you?"..."yu orait"..."sorry" is also "sori" only spelled differently

…to know local attractions which I plan to see one-by-one, and make sure that I do so within my two-year stay here. There are nice places to see and explore but given the condition in this country, I hope I can manage to visit some of the sights in the districts

…to know where to buy souvenir items which is useful before my R&R or home leaves or even in decorating the place I would find to be my home for 2 years

…to know restaurants which I also plan to cover all by hopping from one to another with the precondition that there is a car to take me there or someone who has a car to accompany me

…somehow get an idea of the city through the map and the entire country in terms of geographical/political division though I still have to navigate myself in the city

…getting around which I doubt is useful since I am not allowed to move around in public transport. Safe taxi companies are recommended but still i have to be cautious

Indeed it's the land of unexpected, though I still have to know why and where it got this tagline. 

First 30 Days in the Land of Unexpected: 3

Life away from home is difficult without internet access. There is one at the hotel business center but you can only use it for 30 minutes then the guy at the concierge would ask you to come back later. Nights are also not complete without it and without posting a picture or a status about my adventure in the ‘land of unexpected’.

I queued at Digicel to buy a wireless modem and also to find out why I cannot top-up or check my balance using my blackberry handset. I queued in 3 lines for different purposes, unfortunately, I left without a modem and my issue on the phone unresolved. They ran out of stock of the modem and my blackberry needs to be reset which I am hesitating of doing. I might end up buying a cheap unit where I can use to top up and set my monthly subscription to the internet. 

An old friend came to the rescue in the evening who took me to another Digicel office and I found the wireless modem for free! Not free from Digicel but free from my friend who gave it to me as a welcome present! Now, I am happy because I am connected to the world. The same person took me to a Chinese restaurant and I had proper dinner tonight!

At lunchtime, Fr. Gerald took me to “ChaoMasters”, a Filipino restaurant. It was a buffet restaurant which costs $30 each. It’s a complete set of menu from appetizer to dessert. There’s always a place to run to, if you miss a Filipino dish! Apologies for putting costs in everything here, I am just finding it really expensive! In the long run, I am sure I’d end up not doing this. We found Filipinos there, of course! A group of ‘pinoys’ in one table lively reminisced their childhood games comparing with the new generation type of games but before that they were seriously discussing the PDAF scam. Along the course of the conversation, I learned that the owner of the restaurant has been in PNG for 28 years and other pinoys are counting 20++ years here! One of them shared that his family was excited to be going to the Philippines but after two weeks of holiday in our ‘bayang magiliw’ they already wanted to come back to PNG. A pinoy pride maybe, one of them mentioned that Filipinos in PNG are highly regarded and all of them occupy managerial positions. I did not bother telling them what my position is, because having grown in a working environment where designation is not a big deal, it doesn't matter to me!

First 30 Days in the Land of Unexpected: 2

I completed my day getting myself oriented at the office and memorizing the names of my colleagues. A meeting was held to give me an overview of our projects. I’ll be overseeing 19 projects! These are small projects but when reporting period comes, it’s going to be a nightmare.

On my 2^nd day, I made another trip to the grocery. I found what I was looking for, a coffee plunger to use for my rice coffee brought all the way from Bicol. The coffee plunger was worth 49 Kina which is approximately USD23! This country is ridiculously expensive. I also looked for a mug and a nice once costs 14 Kina and to make conversion easier, it is roughly US$1:2K, so I settled for a plain colored old rose though I hate the color but just because it was the cheapest, I opted for it. A spoon costs US$2!   

First 30 Days in the Land of Unexpected: 1

Upon reaching Lamana Hotel, I unpacked which was really ‘me’. I feel restless on travel if I don’t unpack immediately. After organizing my stuff since this will be my home for 3 weeks, I lied down and didn’t notice that I fall asleep and even missed the call of my boss. Upon waking up, I took a quick shower and decided to have lunch at the hotel restaurant. There I found 3 Filipino staff. We are everywhere!!! I did not convert the price of my lunch otherwise I wouldn’t be able to eat. This place is more expensive than Dili!

I had my local sim card loaded but I failed due to network error. I contacted Fr. Gerald through a land line and mentioned to him my issue with loading credit on my phone. He kindly volunteered to send me credit ‘pasaload’ and we agreed that he would pick me up at 2:30PM so he could take me around. We went to Vision City, the biggest mall to check the shops. I was happy to see all my toiletries available. There was also calamansi! According to Fr. Gerald, the Filipinos introduced it here. Most of the goods are expensive but the secret like any other countries is to refrain from converting; otherwise, you wouldn’t be able to spend. We went for a coffee at Figaro which I heard to be a franchise of a Filipino here. Since it was their 38^th Independence Day celebration, I still found a few locals in their traditional dress and even got the chance to have a picture with a couple of them in Figaro. There were quite a number of locals moving around the mall but you’ll never miss a Filipino because you would bump into them as we were moving around.

A common sight on the grounds outside the mall is red stains which were spit on the ground of beetle nut. Chewing is a common tradition in PNG. Looking around, the landscape was nice with hills surrounding the city yet it’s very warm. However, the hills are slowly being bulldozed to pave way to infrastructure development. There is a lot of on-going construction work. PNG is one country which is blessed with so much and diverse natural resources. Natural gas and mining are two major industries here.

Fr. Gerald dropped me again at the hotel and after a few minutes, my boss came to see me to welcome me and we had informal meeting. He warned me that lamina hotel gets busy over the weekend because it’s a popular spot of expats for night life including a live band and a disco house.  

So far, my first impression of the city was good by looking at it physically. Things are yet to unfold as I start to learn PNG in-depth. Otherwise, I wouldn't be here if there are no social issues confronting the marginalized sector of this country. Grateful and thankful to Fr. Gerald Gutierrez for his kindness on my 1st day!

Little Act of Kindness during Check-in and Touch Down

This first day includes bits of stories from departure in the Philippines. I left Manila with a heavy downpour of rains which would have been very challenging without the kindness of a friend who facilitated his driver to take me to the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Terminal 1. As always, terminal 1 was full of people yet it still surprised me to see a long queue of Filipinos at the check-in counter of Air Niugini, the national carrier of Papua New Guinea.

I started chatting to some of them asking the basic questions of how long they have been in PNG and in a polite way, where they are working. The average number of years they have lived in PNG was 5 and most of them are connected in the gas industry. The man in front of me weighed his luggage since the weighing scale was close by the queuing area which makes it convenient for passengers to check their baggage before reaching the check-in counter. His suitcase weighed 26 kilograms which was 3 kg more than the 23 allocation. He deiced to remove something which surprised me upon seeing him took out a 2-kg ariel and another 2-kg surf powder detergent. I couldn't stop myself from asking why he has to bring such item to PNG which he politely replied with ‘meron naman kaso ang mahal kasi doon’ (it’s available but very expensive there). As expected, I also had 12 kg excess baggage which I managed to reduce into 4 kg.

I got through the immigration without any question why I don’t have OEC (Overseas Employment Certificate) which I was really thankful about though prior to the immigration queue, the lady at the travel tax counter tried to ask me a few questions why I don’t have OEC. But like my other trips, I was ready with my ‘world peace’ answer.

I requested for a window seat without thinking that we’ll be landing at Jackson International Airport at dawn. Hence, being on a window seat defeated its purpose. I was also seated to a Filipino who remained quiet all throughout the trip and I decided to be the same. In-charge of the cockpit were foreigners while the cabin crews were all Papuans. The service was good and the plane was big. It has been a while since I was on a huge airbus and a proper meal on board because I have been using budget airlines when I was in Timor-Leste. The food was not unusual but I was impressed by the service. 

Upon arrival, I was impressed by the airport. Well, my benchmark was other developing countries I worked in. Again, while on queue, I chatted again to some of them and found similar responses in terms of the number of years they have been in PNG and the nature of their work. After the immigration counter, there was another queue at the customs clearance counter. A Filipino helped me lift my suitcase from the conveyor. Again, I got the chance to talk to other Filipinos. There was one who, after exchanging pleasantries and question and answer of the usual stuff, he gave me his business card. He asked me not to forget to call him so that he can take me around Port Moresby. All these little act of kindness are signs of a good start!