Parallel Universe

Do you remember the superman cartoons ? remember bizzaro ? The chiseled faced superman who lives in the parallel universe (Htrae) where everybody are distorted copies of Clark kent and Lois lane. Yung merong baligtad na “S” sa dibdib. Instead of being vulnerable green kryptonite they are weak around blue krypton matters.

http://theages.superman.ws/Encyclopaedia/bizarro.php

I feel like I'm in a parallel universe here in wellington. Maraming bagay na sa aking palagay ay baligtad ang dating. Let me break it down:

In the Philippines the pecking order is as follows :

Politicians - We, the taxable people of the republic, have been sustaining the incredible/excessive lifestyles of our politician. Wala tayong laban bago dumating ang sweldo sa ating mga kamay eh awas na.

Businessmen - People who have the smarts at the right time. People who know people in government.

IT people - They make good money pero parang kulang pa rin.

Nurses – they make slightly higher than minimum wage

Government Employees – Probably slightly lower than nurses.

Mekaniko - Grease monkeys.... ang pangtanggal nila ng grasa eh 1 litrong gas. Pang hilom ng maliliit na sugat eh brake fluid. I've worked for my uncles auto supply in banawe and my sugat's have been properly treated with STP.

Tubero - Guys who sit and wait in the ongpin bridge hoping that somebody's shit/turd is hard enough to clog the damn toilet. If its a lucky day then they earn at most Php 150/day. (Tirso Cruz “the Turd” matinee idol ng bayan)

Culture and Lifestyle sa pinas: People in general prefer to buy brand new cars. We only see japanese cars Toyota, Nissan, Mistubishi and Honda's. We like to celebrate Christmas, Valentines (Balentayms). Fiesta's here fiesta's there. Madami sa atin ang merong maid buhay senorito at senorita merong taga laba at plantsa, taga luto, hugas at ligpit ng pinagkainan. Afford din natin ang full time Yaya's.

In wellington, the pecking order is :

Top Govt post – Sure they make good money... tama lang siguro para hindi ma prone sa corruption.

Tubero – They charge 65nzd/hour.

Mekaniko – They charge around 50/hr.

Nurses – I've several nurse friends here. Sila yung bumubuhay sa asawa nilang Doctor.

IT – They make approx. NZD 55k ++ annually compute mo per hour talo pa sa tubero.

Dito 2^nd hand cars naman ang patok particularly the japanese/european imports. Citroen, Peugeot, Subaru, Saab, Alfa Romeo's, BMW's , Audi and Holden's. Nakakahilo nagmistulan akong taong bundok na ngayon lang nakakita nang ganung mga auto. Some Japanese model cars are unheard of din sa pinas Nissan Camino, skylines. Toyota Cavalier. Honda Legacy. Dito yung mga WRX engines ang pinag uusapan sa pinas 4BA1, 4DR1 Yung mga makina ng jeep mostly Isuzu's.

Back in the pinas it would probably take me 2-3 more years before I can save up for a decent 2^nd hand car. It took me 3 months here, hopefully its decent. It's my first car btw.

Sa Pinas kung mag electric fan tayo dala-dalawa kapag hindi kaya ang init eh magbubuks ng aircon. Dito oil heaters ang binubuksan paano kasi ang ang temperature sa bahay eh parang centralized aircon na nasira yung “OFF” button.

DSL connections are considered as a luxury sa pinas (atleast sa family namin ) mostly dial up lang masaya na. Dito majority uses broadband some use dial-up access pa rin.

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I attended our tuesday buddhist meeting last February 14 and was assigned to do 'door duty'. Ofcourse being pinoy I've greeted the bodhisattva's a warm “Happy Valentines” on their way inside the centre (naks kiwi spelling). Most of them blushed lang when I greeted them, some even forgot that it was 214. I was surprised when a islander (maori,samoan,fiji ?) girl ran up to me and gave me a kiss on the cheek (promise sa cheek lang!). That was my first kiss sa NZ, First kiss sa 2006.