Manila - Health

Well, I've been busy and haven't got a post out there since Monday. So much I want to write about, so little time.

Health is always dependent on culture. The culture you're raised in and the experiences you have in your development within that culture define what is "good" health and what is "bad" health (this is, of course, true for many things not related to health).

What I'm trying to point out is that I write this little article having been raised in an incredibly healthy way. From the cleanliness of the homes I've lived in to opportunities with sports and exercise to the general quality of food over my life. I was raised in a healthy way and I've developed personally in a healthy environment. I'd even venture to say it's quite above the norm for the US and obviously above the norm for Manila.

I'd imagine most of you reading this share the same perspective as me in this way so it should be a good read.

Drink

First of all, you don't drink tap water. Even in fancy hotels. The utility infrastructure here is quite not-to-be-trusted by our relatively sensitive immune systems. Yes you get the shots, and no you don't test their effectiveness.

Except, of course, on accident.

This also means you don't trust ice. You don't trust lettuce. Hell, I've even questioned the bottled water that says "drinking water" with its origins in the Philippines. But questioning doesn't quench your thirst so you buy a 5 gallon jug of water and drink some water that is "purified and processed through the latest state-of-the-art, that includes carbon filtration, water softening, reverse osmosis, microfiltration, and ozonation" methods.

One question to you: how do you brush your teeth? More on that later.

So what about iced tea from a restaurant? What about water in the work water cooler? What about that ice in your Beam and diet coke? These are some of the questions you ask yourself as you continue to drink your Beamer. It's these little things you take for granted in a country that has a pretty darn good utility infrastructure. Even with the little bit or iron in the water. No Britta here. I wouldn't say having to think about this stuff is welcome, but it's definitely interesting.

However, Filipinos really do drink a good amount of water. In the US, drinking enough water is like a health-fad. Here, it's just what you drink. I've even gotten comments from a coworker saying I drink too much diet coke. She said "your kidney will die" (rough translation). I said "it's better than Typhoid." I didn't really, but it would have been funny.

They also drink a lot of coffee. But who doesn't. Well, I don't, but they certainly do.

There's no cultural drink that I really noticed like tea or something. Although they do have Mango juice here that's pretty killer.

Food

To my surprise, the food here is really unhealthy. I honestly thought I was going to lose weight here. Not the case. It's been a struggle to actually gain only what I have. I could blame that on my ridiculous work hours and lack of typical physical exertion, but the food has definitely had an impact.

Now, I did rave about the free breakfast I get at the hotel. Don't get me wrong, that has contributed, but it's partly because they don't have any healthy cereal. Even the skim milk has fat in it (I checked the label). You see? This is clear evidence of my American perspective saying how nothing is fat free? Remember that fad from the late 90's? I'm actually getting ahead of myself. This comment will make sense.

So, a non-breakfast example. Up in Minnie, I buy these Lipton Asian Sides noodle and rice packets for about $1.27 a pop. They are awesome and I love them. It's quite a nice portion and has about 4-5 grams of fat and around 100 grams of carbs. Perfect for my kind of dinner. It's literally what I eat every single night up in Minnie. Maybe with some pre-cooked chicken.

Needless to say, that being my dinner, I was pumped for the instant noodle dishes here. I mean, this is Asia!

Well, they do indeed have an entire aisle dedicated to instant noodles. I was pumped - note the "was". If you look at the choices, the portions are about 1/3rd my Lypton Sides and they have twice to three times the fat! I mean, they're just noodles. I was just surprised. I found some I could live with, but it was an interesting 30 minutes in that aisle trying to figure things out.

Oh, this is a good time to jump in about the different flavors here. First of all, chicken flavor is really hard to find. Pork is all the rage. A popular item/flavor is Pancit Canton. It's actually a traditional noodle dish with some chicken in it and, sadly, shrimp. I was pumped about the chicken, but I'm allergic to shell-fish. It's pronounced "Pan" (like the a in father) "sheet." I called it panshit.

They also really like garlic here. They do use it well in garlic fried rice, but it's just too prevalent in other foods for my taste. Some of the flavors I did really enjoy here have been teriyaki (they got this down), soy, and spaghetti.

Yes, I said spaghetti. I think I might have had some of the best spaghetti last night for dinner I've ever had. It's crazy, I know. But it tasted so darn good. And this was from a place in a mall. I mean, seriously. Italian?

This brings me to my next point. Yes, lots of stuff are noodle based and rice based. But seemingly none of the dishes I've really eaten have been culturally local (with the exception of panshit). They are all borrowed. There was even this huge dish the team at work got for a birthday. When I dug into the noodles with veggies, I thought for sure this was local. Nope, Chinese. I was floored. I mean, it wasn't any Chinese I had ever had. It wasn't particularly or good, but it wasn't Chinese as I know it. But the dish was a popular favorite for birthdays. So was spaghetti.

It's interesting. And a bit ridiculous I think.

Other things they like to do here with their food here:
1) Deep fry it
2) Wrap it in a sweet bread roll
3) Stir fry it
4) Put cheese on it
5) Artificially create it

All of the above (minus the sweet bread part) I try to stay away from. But man that stuff is everywhere. They even had this bread roll covered in a butter and cheese all over it. It's called an Ensaymada. Surprisingly, I have yet to try one.

They do enjoy their leven bread here though. A traditional breakfast is actually some pandesal with liver spread. I won't comment on the liver spread, but the pandesal bread is frickin awesome. We get it free at work on Fridays. Come to think of it...I didn't get any yesterday. Dammit.

One thing I just noticed, I haven't eaten a sandwich here. They don't exist. Wow, I seriously just noticed that. Maybe that's why I've really not taken to the daily food here. No sandwiches. I live on sandwiches and salads for lunch. Man. I'm kinda surprised I didn't notice that until now. Huh.

So, I'll repeat that my impression was that the food here is really unhealthy. Now, let me flip this observation on its head.

Me thinking things were unhealthy is rooted in my perspective that I eat a couple bowls of cereal for breakfast, have either a pretty big salad or sandwich for lunch, and a heaping plate of noodles with meat for dinner. Mixed in there is a bagel for good measure. Now, those portions are American portions...which are quite large.

Here, portions aren't that big. When buying a chicken dish, you might get one fried chicken leg with rice.

One.

The spaghetti I had was also about a third to half of what I would have gotten from a comprable place in the States. Even the pizza pie sizes are smaller here.

So maybe, just maybe, it's not the food that is more unhealthy. It's the fact that my American eating just don't align with the type of food here. Maybe the food is only relatively unhealthy when you eat a bunch of it. Maybe if you eat the portions typical here, it's actual a well-rounded meal. Maybe my ideal meal portion is what is unhealthy. Hmm.

I haven't made a decision, but it has made me think.

Physical

I don't think exercise here is very popular. I honestly can't comment that much because I've seriously been in a capitalism bubble since I've been here, but I don't think they do. I mean, basketball is popular and they have many local leagues here. However not many people work out at all. You really don't see the level of physical fitness that you do in America.

Okay - yes America is, on average, considered obese or something. But in my daily professional and personal life, there is a pretty large faction of people I know that exercise regularly.

This brings me to my next observation: there are a huge amount of overweight people here. Now, please know that this "huge" is completely relative to my expectations coming here. Relative to the States, people are probably more aligned with a "normal" weight. But man, I totally thought the average person would be thinner than I see. I don't know whether this is evidence for my observations on food or exercise, but it is what it is.

Most likely, my opinion wouldn't be the same if I got out of my little bubble here, but it's all I've witnessed.

Hygiene

Brushing your teeth is quite popular here. It's even commented on in traveler guides for the Philippines. I've noticed it. The average teeth color here is pretty darn white. What does this mean? Some pretty awesome smiles. Especially when I make jokes.

Now, remember my question about brushing teeth way up there? Everybody uses tap water. If you recall my comments on tap water, I didn't really want to. Plus I know my Mom would get worried if I did. So how does one brush? I chose to keep a bottle of water (filled from my very own water dispenser mind you) next to the sink and just poor water on the toothbrush.

You'd be surprised how much water you use brushing your teeth.

And how much toothpaste gets built up on the brush from no high-powered stream of water.

And how hard it is to break the habit of sticking the brush under the faucet.

It happened once.

Yes Mom and Dad - I'm okay. It happened the first week I was here.

*Warning*
*Read ahead at your own risk. Nothing else is that important after this and I'm talking about bathroom stuff*
*Warning*

Bathrooms here are also interesting. I think I mentioned most guys don't wash their hands after pissing. But I also don't think I've actually seen paper towel once here. I mean, at work there is an air dryer, but everywhere else there is nothing but air at normal speed and your pants. I don't know whether it's an environment thing or a cost-savings thing. Either way, it's different.

Oh yeah, you also don't flush your toilet paper (outside of really nice hotels). I didn't know this until today. There is even a sign that says it. There is a big waste basket next to the commode. Just sitting there. I thought this was weird when I first saw it. Habits are hard to break.

I bring this up to highlight the lacking utility infrastructure here. Most likely piping, pressure, and processing can't keep up with that amount of waste.

Oh and it also makes the bathrooms smell like, well, you know.

Okay, I'm going to digress a bit here because I know all of you didn't heed my warning and are still reading - and here is your reward.

There's this movie called "Demolition Man." It stars Sylvester Stallone, Wesley Snipes, and Sandra Bullock. It has many cameos like Rob Schneider and Benjamin Bratt. Needless to say, acting is not the movies forte. Neither is the plot. But the idea this movie plays with is quite fun and quite useful to me right now.

In the movie, Sylvester Stallone plays John Spartan, a cop from the 90's put into suspended animation for crimes like blowing up a bunch of hostages. Wesley Snipes plays Simon Phoenix, Spartans arch nemesis who actually blew up the hostages. Phoenix is also put in suspended animation.

Fast forward to 2032 when Los Angeles, San Francisco, and San Diego have merged into San Angeles. Crime is virtually wiped out. Cops don't carry guns. Everyone is "happy." The popular tunes on the radio are actually musical ditty's from 20th century commercials. Think "My bologna has a first name, it's O-S-C-A-R." It's hilarious.

Part of my enjoyment of science fiction is the realm of "what if" that can be explored.

However, all this nicety and perfectness is obviously just a layer of perceived reality built on a foundation of wickedness. But that really doesn't matter to my story.

Simon Phoenix escapes his prison and as the police don't understand how to stop actual violence, they wake up John Spartan to get the job done. John Spartan doesn't really mesh well with all these changes. He's hardcore. He likes hamburgers, beer, cussing, sex. He also hates songs from commercials. It's a classic fish-out-of-water story.

Now here is where my little digression snaps into applicability.

The first time John Spartan has to visit the bathroom, he has to come back out - much to the hilarity of the other police officers. The following is courtesy of IMDB.com:
John Spartan: Look, I don't know if you guys know it, but uh... you're out of toilet paper.
Alfredo Garcia: [confused] Did... did you say toilet *paper*?
Lenina Huxley: Um... they used handfuls of wadded paper back in the 20th...
[Lenina, Alfredo, and Erwin all laugh]
John Spartan: I'm happy that you're happy, but the place where you're supposed to have the toilet paper, you've got this little shelf with three seashells on it.
Erwin: He doesn't know how to use the three seashells!
[Erwin continues to laugh, then calms down]
Erwin: I can see how that could be confusing.

(Just so you know, Erwin is played by Rob Schneider. It's funny.)

John Spartans confusion about seeing three seashells echoes my feelings about the baday. I mean, I don't get it. Logically, sure. But in practice, it's alien to me. I mean, I'm supposed to shoot water up my butt? Like, up my butt? Around it? Seriously, do I have to?

Well, let me tell you that this ain't France and it ain't Japan (where the baday is built into these crazy advanced toilets and a button with a funny picture on it). Here, the Filippino version of a baday is a frickin metal hose lying on the ground of the stall. I seriously didn't get it when I first saw it. I walked into the stall my first time and there was all this water on the ground. I thought something overflowed but the water looked kinda clean. I just dismissed it.

But not when I visited again and heard a dude using the hose. I was floored. There was a guy in the stall next to me hosing off his butt.

Badays confuse me.

Conclusion

Overall, things were very different from what I expected here in terms of overall health. As I re-read the post, I also notice that my tone is almost always negative in some way. Please don't take this as I look down on what I've seen. It's just that things weren't as I expected. I was surprised. Maybe I shouldn't have been, but I was.