two weeks of newness

Flying was a weird experience- yes, it was my first time. No, the worn smiles of the flight attendants- as they are properly labeled- nor the irritable fellow passengers didn’t help. It was the microcosm of Asia in the sky where the Chinese was the superior race. Damn jerky Pinoy to my right didn’t get his cup of water half an hour before arriving at CKS airport; Damn chinky Chimays-in-the-sky were still wearing those frozen smiles on our exit. We shared the same skin color and eyes. I was supposed to be Chinese but I’m not.

Lush hills and mountains jutted out as if to guard entire neighborho--- I won't even begin to be all-romantic about this. Taipei city or even the whole of Taipei county is infested with scooters and black dogs! Kids have anime-like hairstyles, smooth skin, and clad in uniforms of their respective schools- the ones you see in Japanese Manga and movies- with uniformed sweaters to boot. It was cold and the air was foggy, at least during my first week there.

It was the nicest "naturey" place I've been too; the city and thick shrubberies and large trees complemented each other very well. They even have squirrels and different kinds of birds on their parks. A man feeding squirrels with tomatoes is the best image etched in my memory. Taipei city proper was very neat, free of the usual trash that littered manila. Even people seemed more neat. It was a far better city that manila, it was obvious enough when I arrived at their airport- a hundred fold better than NAIA.

I tell you, I belong, though not quite. I was rendered clueless by the local dialect. Luckily, I was able to survive most of the conversations that involved me with well-rehearsed nods and unctuous smiles. I didn't rehearse that last bit, it was all-natural. Half-cursing my high school Chinese Education and lamenting why I stopped speaking even Fukien after high school, I go along exploring the rest of Taipei county, unnerved to realize that I had irony written across my face. I was a thick blockhead pompous enough to pretend that I understood all the things spoken to me.

I confirmed that I was Pinoy. It was great to be in a well developed country, to feel the culture, to celebrate their accomplishments, and just to be in a better place. I just didn’t resonate with all of it though. After the initial excitement I felt during the first days of my stay, it occurred to me that I missed the people in my country, my friends and Manila.

On the plane bound for Manila, an old Pinoy hag was sitting on the seat near the window, which my ticket said was mine. I took the pleasure in pretending to be Chinese, talking to her in English, arguing that the one she was sitting on was my seat. She was hesitant to move. The little brown imp, I mean hag, grumbled some unintelligible words and ended up talking to Annie (the Pinay on the center block of seats. We were on the left block of seats), “Eh mareklamo ’tong isang toh”. I kept my disguise just to see how it would end up. Haha, the chinky flight attendant! I was about to show Chimay my ticket while pointing the seat the hag was on when the hag suddenly ejaculated, “Okay, okay, sit”, transferring to the one near the gangway. It was my first time sitting near the window. No hag was going to stop me.

When I took out my Baudrillard excerpt, she seemed unsettled. When I marked the only lines that made sense to me, she exclaimed to Annie, who was probably her daughter, “Pinoy yata!”. I took out the Gift magazine and read the Chinese portion intending for her to see. It was the best show I could deliver. I think I succeeded. When I closed the window she said, “E di nainitan ka din!”- Rather oafish really.

She thought I was Chinese. These things have always been there; it will outlive the hag. It was a good performance though.