Category Archives: Philippines

Asia Insights

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I never thought I would travel in Asia, let alone spend 7 months there moving from Vietnam to Thailand, Laos, China, Hong Kong and Philippines! One of the coolest things about traveling is noticing the small differences in culture and human behavior, things we usually take for granted. Here are some of my personal observations on this matter, read on…

Hong Kong High tech shower

Hong Kong High tech shower

Toilets – one of the most diverging points of a society is the bathroom! In China you better be prepared to squat, in Thailand you will use a bucket to flush the toilet even if there is running water in the tap. In Philippines a toilet seat is far from being required and forget about hot water!  Vietnam is quite westernized in this department although there isn’t any separation between the shower and toilet so prepare for a wet toilet seat (like almost everywhere in Asia!) while Hong Kong is a different world and you can even choose the temperature of the water!

street market Hanoi Vietnam

street market Hanoi Vietnam

Supermarkets – supermarkets are a great way to get to know a society. In north Vietnam there almost aren’t any, all the locals still go to the markets twice a day to buy fresh products. Thailand and Hong Kong have been taken over by 711! But in Hong Kong all the supermarkets are so tiny and overcrowded there are actual human traffic jams in the aisles. The Philippines was a big surprise for me with loads of western products. While in China they have no bread, only dried crackers, but a whole section of different kinds of noodles. Also the cosmetics section which is massive everywhere in Asia (packed with skin whitening creams!) was much smaller.

Bicycling in Laos, hiding from the sun as usual in Asia.

Bicycling in Laos, hiding from the sun as usual in Asia.

Getting around – It is amazing how many different ways to make a Tuk Tuk there are. Thailand is famous for its Tuk Tuks that seem to be specifically manufactured. In the Philippines they just attach makeshift carriages to a motorbike. In Vietnam there are only motorbikes! In Laos they look like small converted tractors with the passengers sitting in the back but most people are still on bicycles.

Public transportation also varies a lot. Hong Kong is definitely the best with cheap super advanced metro and buses. Thailand is the land of luxury intercity buses (some even have a massage chair!). Laos will use the words “luxury” and “first class” but don’t believe them. Vietnam was surprisingly ok with bus schedules and air con! In China you have to take your shoes off to get into the sleeper buses which are crammed, with no marked seats and not all seats are created equal. The Philippines was probably the worst, with no schedule, no air con, and buses that seem they might fall apart on the way.

Folding money in the Philippines

Folding money in the Philippines

Money – I mean the actual notes! Vietnam is smart enough to get rid of all the coins although they have an obsession for new crisp notes and won’t accept anything that looks too old. While in the Philippines they are obsessed with folding and crinkling up the notes! Laos has the most confusing notes in my opinion with all of them looking pretty much the same. Hong Kong has some high tech plastic notes. And in Thailand the heavier the coin the less it’s worth!

Utensils – A knife cannot be found anywhere in asia! Even modern Hong Kong will give you a fork and spoon. In Vietnam and China even those are rare and you better know how to use them chopsticks.

Communication – In China you will get shouted at, but don’t take it too hard they shout at each other all the time too. In Laos you might be completely ignored while in Vietnam people might just shake their heads in a ‘no’ motion. In Thailand people will say ‘yes, yes’ even if the answer is no, in Hong Kong people will smile and politely keep speaking Cantonese at you and in the Philippines you will almost always find someone that speaks decent English!!!

Food coloring and bucket of sugar in this Philippines traditional desert

Food coloring and bucket of sugar in this Philippines traditional desert

Food – Asia is known for it’s strange ‘delights’. In Vietnam, silk worms, frogs, snails and dogs are a common thing. China will outdo even that with eating… well everything….there aren’t even any rats on the street. China will also over-fry and over-chemical everything. I’ve heard stories of apples not rotting for more than three months. Personally, for the first time in my life I had constant heartburn after two weeks there.

Thailand is queen, king and emperor of spicy food, but also of delicious fruit, fruit shake and fresh coconut water which I will miss forever. Laos was a bit dull while Philippines is obsessed with food coloring and sugar (seriously they add sugar to peanut butter!). For desserts head over to Hong Kong for endless delicious varieties of sweet soups, mochi style rice dough or jelly dessert.

I would recommend staying away from the Dorian stinky fruit which is popular throughout Asia, unless you enjoy the smell of sewage.

Tea house in China

Tea house in China

Coffee or Tea? Vietnam has Its own delicious variation of ice coffee and also some strange room temperature teas, in China you will spend a small fortune for a cappuccino so you better stick with the endless varieties of teas served in tiny miniature bowls. Laos and especially Thailand are home of bubble milk Tea but not much when it comes to quality stuff.

Drugs – Thailand weed is great, Vietnam isn’t too bad either but don’t expect too much of the Chinese brand. Good luck finding any in Hong Kong. Laos is rumored to have opium but I couldn’t find any. In the Philippines they smoke pipes since rolling paper is very expensive and the weed had a delayed effect on me kicking in only half an hour after I smoked.

Chocolate? What in Asia? You have to be kidding me?!?!

 

 

 

 

Love, Yes?

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Love the merchandise

Love the merchandise

When my dancer/actor friend from Manila told me to come watch his fringe theater performance called “Love Is Not Yet A Musical”, I’ll admit I was expecting one of those ‘we are so cool and sophisticated that you aren’t going to understand anything we do’ performances. I did not expect to survive one of the most thought provocative, experiential, heart breaking, gut wrenching nights of my life which literally ended in tears for me. I’m pretty sure some of what we went through would not have passed the Helsinki declaration which regulates experiments on human beings.

Sarah Slezer, the 21 year old company manager, had explained to me that they didn’t like the way mainstream theater is done and the idea behind the performance was to create something different, something that will move people and get them to participate. Despite this, no warning bells went off and I was not prepared for what followed.

Rehearsals of one of the scenes

Rehearsals of one of the scenes

 

 

 

The creation process itself was experimental too. The group used crowd sourcing to gather more than 500 ideas, letters, monologs from which they selected and combined to create a whole piece. The whole event was exceptionally managed with a crew of around 30 actors and productions manager for the 60+ members of the audience that showed up. Half the performance was in Tagalog so I can’t vouch for that but some of the English monologs were the strongest I’ve ever encountered.

 

Spoiler alert!!! I can’t possibly get you to understand what I went through without some specific examples. Personally after much consideration I do recommend you go and experience the show first-hand if you can (showing, every weekend until the end of march in Manila) And if you do you probably shouldn’t read on…

But for all those of you who are in different countries, you know the drill…

It started out by getting the coolest finger led in one of three colors which the organizer used to separate us into 3 groups.

"Can I offer you a drink?" This actor sacrificed his eyes for his art...

“Can I offer you a drink?” This actor sacrificed his eyes for his art…

We were first led into a maze where actors pulled individuals into hidden cloves performing just for them or asking them to complete tasks. I was giving 30 seconds to express my most important message through writing, heard an intensely sexualized monolog. Truth is I missed out on a lot that was going on because I was mesmerized by an actor who poured a shot of tequila for people asking them “What would you tell the last person you broke up with if you had the chance?” and “Are you still angry with them?”

If their answer to the last question was yes the person was to shout the sentence at the actor and throw the tequila shot into their face, if they weren’t angry anymore the actor would raise his glass and they would drink together.

“You never made me come!” Shouted one woman and threw the alcohol into the guy’s face.

“You should have fought for me,” Said another and raised her glass.

And so it went on.

I thought this would be the entire performance but it was barely an introduction and we were hurriedly herded together with our group and led out into another room.

For the next hour and a half we were led through 4 different rooms. Our guides used body language and very strict words to get us to follow and stay in line. Each room had a different theme. Hot, Cold, Past, Future. Later I discovered they were connected to the ‘gods’ which was the theme of the play.

Throughout the performances, manipulative brain washing techniques were used to get the crowd to participate and follow along. Fake actors were embedded into the group, time and again creating a peer pressure environment and making you not sure what was part of the performance and what was “real”. Loud music, flashing lights, darkness, smell were all used to put the audience into emotionally vulnerable states and cooperate.

Hot
Seduction, sexuality and the craziness of love were the themes of the monologs. The audience got to dance and share ‘the craziest thing we did for love’. Quitting school, becoming a third wheel and choosing a same sex relationship were some of the very intimate things people shared.

 Cold

Cold indeed

Cold indeed

Doctors with scary masks were giving us instructions in very commanding voices and demanded: “Introduce yourself, Feed me candy, Give me a kiss on the cheek…” and the crowd, as crowds do, obeyed. This led up to the demand “Ask me out on a date?” to which an older women replied feebly “Um, do you want to go out with me?” The actor shouted an insulting NO!

And broke into one of the best monologues I’ve ever heard that completely embodies the reason I will never date anyone!

 

Next there was a performance in Tagalog revolving around separation and death and we were told to lie down on our backs. A projection appeared above our head. People were looking down at us, throwing dirt and flowers. We were being buried! We were instructed to whisper things we were afraid of. Personally this whole experience made me feel very vulnerable and scared.

Future
Up on the roof  we joined a “fitness” class. “Reach for the stars reach for the moon” the instructor was shouting to happy music. The contradiction to the previous room was very intense. “What is your goal? Your dream for the future? For tomorrow?” The instructor asked. “To go abroad, To finish grad school,” were some answers. The fitness instructor was overly enthusiastic and comic performing sit ups “to finish high school,” and encouraging us to reach for our dreams.

A member of the crowd intervened to share his dream. He was talking about how much he prepared for this day where he would be the star. The instructor seemed to cooperate and dressed the guy in a suite. An intense scene in Tagalog developed, with this guy waiting for his wedding day and being dumped at the alter. At one point the guy jumped onto the edge of the roof and threatened to commit suicide. And the fitness instructor shouted out “No, help me convince him not to jump,” As we had experienced this type of manipulation in the other rooms it was quite evident that this ‘guy’ was part of the crew (He was actually, the friend that brought me to the performance). Despite that it was an extremely intense moment and people were shouting, “Don’t jump, come down!” then another guy jumped up on the roof edge too. At this point I wasn’t sure if that second guy was part of the act or not. The borders between reality and performance had broken down.

The scene somehow quickly changed to us creating paper airplanes and being asked to have a conversation with our future love 10 year from now. But I was still stuck in the previous scene wondering what would have happened if we would have experienced this room first? Could someone have thought this was ‘real’? And even if not, what are the psychological ramifications when asked to participate in this kind of scene? Not to view it from a safe passive distance of an audience, but to be standing there with the instructions to take action!

 

“The Past”
“Then I realize that that smell on your shirt would soon fade away. Slowly, it will smell like all the clothes in my closet. It will no longer smell of you, but smell of me. As I inhale once more …. One last time, I smell your shirt, the scent seems to be gone.” The Nose Knows (Isabelle Martinez)
This heart breaking monologue which was preformed while we were asked to pack boxes with books and clothes brought me to tears, and I wan’t the only one.

This continued with asking us to close our eyes and imagine a previous lover, to caress their hair, touch their nose, their lips… while the actor spoke about memorizing these features because she knew it was the last time she would see this face. Thinking of this now almost 24 hours later still brings tears to my eyes… Then we were asked to draw a good memory that we had with our past lover and share it and finally a monolog from an old women in Tagalog who was crying and showing pictures from an album…

War
As we were brought to the first maze room and were met with a guy playing the piano I thought it was finally over. But the final act hadn’t yet begun. We were told we would be going to war and given 5 minutes to freshen up and use the toilets.

Crushed in a human train? No thank you!

Crushed in a human train? No thank you!

Back on the roof we were told to choose a different color than what we had gotten. I missed the point that we were supposed to choose based on which room we were most connected to and chose entirely based on color. Blue, like a star wars light saber! We were separated into groups when all chaos broke loose. Smoke screens, water, flashing lights and constant screaming from all around. “Stay with me!” Shouted the actor in front of me holding an umbrella as she ran across the roof through the chaos. I was the only one that actually followed her as the rest ended up with other actors or got lost in the chaos.  Two other people found us and we were instructed to say things we hate. All the while we were surrounded by screams and shouts from the other groups which were doing other stange activities. This continued to a “cleansing ritual” were we were to sprinkle water on ourselves and “release” things we didn’t want to take with us. We were then told to go experience the other groups’ “rituals”,  where they were saying sorry for things they had done while hitting a drum or making promises for the future. By this point I was too shell shocked to do anything.

But it still wasn’t over and a “battle” between the groups had begun. I’m probably getting all of this confused but I think a dance performance between a man and a women was interrupted and we, the past and the cold group were told to convince the woman to leave her partner and stay with us. The other group was told to convince her to stay. Then I think we were told to do the opposite. But who the hell knows…

There was a last crazy “game” where the actors pantomimed a train and told people they could get on or off whenever they wanted. Almost everyone got on and they were surrounded and literally crushed by the actors who got them to run around the roof. Luckily being from Jewish decent I knew better than to be conned to get on a crowded train.

Anyway, somehow the scene changed to a marriage scene and then there was this fire show and a story about this love god getting beat up by children, then this live sweet song came on and every one was giving hugs to each other. It was obvious they wanted to put us through some “healing process” but I had had enough of being pushed around and told what to do so I just sat down and tried to get everyone to leave the white girl crying in the corner alone.

Islands of Surprise

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I knew nothing of the Philippines before arriving here and I’m happy to report I discovered many pleasant surprises. The biggest one would be everyone speaks English. Ok, maybe not everyone, but even in small villages most locals can more or less communicate in English. They all learn English from kindergarten but my guess is it’s probably because TV and movies are in English and not dubbed. Even those that don’t are helpful and nice to me for no apparent reason. What a difference from China!!!

One of the colorful jeepney's

One of the colorful jeepney’s

Manila reminded me of Tel Aviv but once you leave it, it’s a different country and definitely a third world one. Getting around is quite difficult, there are no real bus schedules and the king of the roads are the Jeepney’s, which actually have their own wiki. They started out as old U.S jeeps but today some have progressed to modern small trucks. They are decorated with colorful art and sometimes come with massive loud speakers and really lousy music.

Some tricycles, not yet crammed with people.

Some tricycles, not yet crammed with people.

Their little brother is the tricycle, the local adaptation of a tuk tuk, but here it’s simply a motorbike (or bicycle) which has a cart attached to its side. I was crammed in the tiny cart with 4 other people and two others were siting on the back of the motorbike, one of the sitting on a folded wooden chair attached to the back!

A nude sculptor of Maria Magdalena in Manila university.

A nude sculptor of Maria Magdalena in Manila university.

Christianity is also a very big thing here and there seem to be more churches than McDonalds. I have to be quite careful not to blurt “Jesus Christ” every time I see something strange, which happens quite a lot. But it is a strange brand of Christianity, one that doesn’t seem to try and dress women’s bodies, maybe it’s just too hot for that?

Right now I’m in Contanbaco, a small village which has a nice climbing crag 5 minutes from the village center. I’m the only foreigner in the village right now but I still feel surprisingly comfortable.  I was happy to discover that there are local climbers here that come climbing every weekend and even happier to discover quite a few women amongst them.

One of the women lead climbed a hard 5.12!

One of the women lead climbed a hard 5.12!

If you do plan on coming climbing bring your own gear as unfortunately the gear some of the locals use is not up to safety standards.

Local climbers showing true professionalism bringing a Coffee maker and a hammock to the crag!

Local climbers showing true professionalism bringing a Coffee maker and a hammock to the crag!

Beyond Temptation

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First watch this video. Then, after you’ve finished drooling, read on and I’ll tell you all about Macho dancing plus an in-depth interview with Eisa Jocson the contemporary choreographer, dancer and visual artist, from the Philippines you’ve just been seduced by.

MACHO DANCER from Eisa Jocson on Vimeo.

Macho Dancing is basically male strip dancing. In the Philippines this is quite popular amongst both male and female spectators and a unique movement vocabulary has been developed by the dancers.  Eisa has researched this dance form, broken it down and managed to embody it into her ballerina, pole dancer and very female body.

I participated in two Macho Dance classes finding it utterly fascinating how small movements and body language can enable one to project an image beyond their born gender. I was quite surprised when more than anything the class resembled Chi Gong classes I was practicing in china.

The principles are simple:

  • Connect your breath with your movement.
  • Interconnect your entire body putting your whole weight behind every movement and move as if you are immersed in sticky dough.
  • If you don’t have the muscles fake the body position muscular people have. Shoulders held back and up, arms always floating away from the body.
  • Exaggerate your movement by using opposition, If you want to go down first go up, if you want to go right first go left and also separation of your spine.
  • And the most important thing – move as if you are the most handsome guy in the world, completely in love with yourself.

Go on try for yourself! It’s fun!

 

Interview With Eisa Jocson

Both As a Pole and Macho dancer your work has strong elements of seduction. Why do you choose to focus on that and how does it make you feel?

I think it’s a very elementary instinct we all have it. It’s quite raw and open. Desire is desire it doesn’t hide that it is anything else than that. I’m drawn to things that have this taboo because I don’t believe in it and on top of that there is a lot of skill involved, it’s not just desire that happens it’s constructive desire. It’s very precise, it’s craftsmanship.

It’s so normal to me that I forget that it is a taboo. I forget that I am the subject of desire, I approach it quite straight on. What makes me sad is that desire is being pushed to the margins on one side while actually being used by the consumerist main stream and hidden in an allusion in advertisements.

Eisa Jocson

Eisa Jocson

What is the strangest reaction you’ve had to one of your works?

It was an endearing strange one, a gay man wanting to marry me as a macho dancer and woman wanting to be me as a macho dancer.  I really like hearing feedback because if you listen they are basically divulging themselves in the process. I feel those that are giving the feedback are in a vulnerable position.

Would you consider yourself or your work Feminist?

I haven’t brushed up on my feminist view. It could be and it could also not be. It depends on the books I am currently reading. It’s shifting and that’s good because it means the work is evolving.

Where did the idea come from to do Macho dancing and how did you train for it and does it affect you?

I was introduced to it by a relative and went to a club and thought it was fascinating and shared it with an artist friend from Singapore. In other places the shows are very different they are more narrative and less focused on the craft of the body.

At the beginning I went to see the shows and slowly slowly I asked them to teach me. It was a difficult process just to be in that space and ask them to teach something they don’t really teach. In the beginning they were a bit doubtful they thought I was baiting them into a bachelorette party, the Macho’s would come with assistants in case something happened and I myself would have a friend to learn with me just in case. This interaction isn’t normal, there isn’t a teacher student relationship in the Macho community. Macho dancing has affected my way of being. People close to me can tell, you become more masculine in the normative sense. It shifts your world view. Today after the Macho class I went to the bank as it was closing, usually I’d sweet talk my way into it but somehow the Macho class affected me and I didn’t find it within me to smile and be gentle.

 

In Class

In Class

Did any of your Macho teacher see one of your performances?

Not yet. It’s a fantasy of mine to actually preform in a Macho club. But it’s quite fragile for the people of the industry. How can they wrap their mind around a woman preforming a Macho dance as an artistic practice? Even in the performing dance world it’s a strange thing. I don’t want to come in and impose myself.

What does the Queer community think about your work?

Queer people have been quite enthusiastic I didn’t expect that most of the support would come from them. A transsexual that saw my performance in Zurich was asking me if we do this regularly in the Philippines? If we have a drag king scene? I didn’t even know what that was and I told him that it doesn’t really exit. There were some opposing views from (gay) men who haven’t seen my work and don’t think it can work. After they do see it I think they become confused. It’s quite magical and charming for me when they do find it’s seductive.

In class you said that Macho is all about taking over as much space while Pole dancing is about the illusion of being light and not taking up space what do you think of this from a Gender perspective?

Here (in the Philippines) the stereotype of the Genders are quite strong. The dances are pointing to the hyper of both. I hope one day they can be combined but I’m not sure how it’s going to happen.

Do you feel a different objectification as a pole dancer or macho dancer?

When I’m pole dancing, since I’m a woman doing pole dancing the taboo is much closer to the gender stereotype. They always assume that the act is sexual or objectified because I’m a women in skimpy cloths . In Macho it works better because I’m an outsider, a woman, so it’s fascinating. There is a confusion that you have to manage, how to put you in a box and categorize this object.

Are you trying to fight this objectification?

It’s part of the discourse, it’s a language that is made for objectification so it’s inherently there. But what’s interesting is when you manage to make it disappear while still staying within the form. To still look at the pole dancer, at the same body, but gain this shift in perspective.  You can look at my performances and objectify it in a consuming way but if your intention is not to consume you won’t look at the person as an object.

I wouldn’t say my work is a rebellion. I don’t see anything wrong with what I’m doing, although I’m very careful in the Philippines. I haven’t actually performed the entire piece here, just more subtle pieces focusing on the money transaction. I didn’t take off my top which I do in the Macho Dancer piece. I think if I did that here it would be labeled as a provocation and all the other things might disintegrate. It’s easy to sensationalize my work, A woman doing Macho and the media can just invent some fantastic story about my intentions.

What are your actual intentions with your work?

Just to question constructs that are seemingly fixed or already put in place by society, family history or how you’re brought up. Even just to question your movement habits. Like the habit to cross your legs and take up so little space. Questioning this opens up a different world. 

 

Eisa will be preforming in Switzerland on the 11-12 of February

On the 17th she’ll be back in manila for an interactive exhibition about macho dancing./p>