Jeepney

Actual posting Feb. 1, 2013

This seemed like a good opportunity to take a break from construction-type processes, so here's a posting about JEEPNEYS - a type of vehicle unique and ubiquitous to the PHILIPPINES.

In the USA 100 years ago, a slang word "jitney" meant "5- cents."  As the country gradually became  motorized,  some enterprising car-owners "stretched" their cars into small buses, and charged 5- cents for other people traveling into town or to informal "stops" in a metro- area.  These vehicles became known as "jitney buses."
In the Philippines, the close of World War II left large amounts of U.S. Army "Recyclable" material behind, including lots of jeeps - which were often "stretched" into small buses for public transpor-tation, and this combination of events coined the word, "jeepney."  A lengthened jeep frame would have a partially enclosed body put on it, with bench seats running along the sides, and this "model" became the foundation for public transportation in the Philippines. Their descendants are still around in large numbers and all-over-the-place (that's ubiquitous, see above)  hauling people and "freight" medium to short distances around cities and into the rural areas.

Most jeepneys today are built on Japanese van or medium-truck frames.  Here 

is a nondescript lineup at the San Jose terminal.  The white one is about the

size of a Dodge Caravan; the larger yellow one probably has dual-tire back axle;

these large ones can be 30- feet long.  Windows usually have rolled up plastic 

curtains in case of rain.    All are familiar makes: Izusu, Mitsubishi, Nissan, 

with diesel engines,  manual gears, and  quite often "armstrong" steering.

The "retro look" is still really popular. Not likely that a 1940s jeep would still be around, and this "re-man" front end is larger than original, anyway.  Under the body will be a mid-size Japanese truck frame, as noted above.  Roof- racks are often loaded with all kinds of "stuff"including passengers.  I have a non-digital photo of someone riding on top sitting in a rocking-chair (it WASN'T 

"Granny" Clampett).

This jeepney is "all about chrome everywhere.  It has a vertical- bar grille and
nautical-theme decorations.  Any imaginable theme is probably somewhere on
a jeepney as decor:  superhero, religious, scenic, U-name-it, THEY-got-it.

Familiar German-car emblem is often-seen.

This private jeepney was so fancy I asked our tricycle driver to stop so I could
get photos.  To own such a vehicle and not have to earn its keep "in-service"
is very wealthy by local standards.

I like looking at jeepneys - they sure make the Buick Park Avenue I had in
Kentucky look "PLAIN-vanilla" by comparison.

I don't get to ride in jeepneys very often as they make a lot of stops and side-trips in-between towns, though in-town their routes seem to be fairly linear and well-established - - I don't know enough about Iloilo (eee-low eee-low), the largest city, yet to be able to get around on them.

I will include later some photos I haven't been able to capture yet:  jeepneys with 8 or 12 people hanging off the back and top, stacked twice-their-height with top-rack freight (that would be baskets or other light weight if it's that much), and interesting artwork.  Also not seen on this blog yet is anything much about tricycles, the motorcycle-sidecar combo which are everywhere in the Philippines.  It's mostly that I always see the best "photos" when I don't have the camera in-hand and ready.   COMING UP You can expect to see one "POST" about the tricycles, and likely one about "BIG TRUCKS", and one about FISHING - boats and methods - - THESE,  among other things I'm planning to write about.  Next blog is likely to be back to the concrete-block house project, as it is moving along rapidly and I have lots of photos - - my limit per blog is about 6 or the program starts to scramble them - so I learn to keep only the most-needed ones to tell a story.  But I also have in-mind at least one article on shopping/ cooking - - we'll see how it comes out.

Hope you all are having a fine and prosperous year 2013!    Tim Larson, Philippines

Hel"Lowes" & Ho-ho-Home Depot

I looked back at previous postings and discovered I had never put up a photo of the completed bamboo "nipa" house which has become our cooling-off and kicking-back place, so I'll start with a view taken from near the front door of our present house (see "Arrival" blog for photo).

It's a nice place to sit and relax.  I got the electric line done a week ago, but
so far there's been  no need for an electric fan out there.  The trees are papaya,
guava, and kalamanci (like key lime); coconut and others are nearby.

Meanwhile, we started construction on another concrete-block house just beyond the back of this bamboo structure.  There is a building "boom" going on in this area, and even "usually" there is no large-scale lumber or home-improvement supply industry here - so getting materials has become a little challenging. Lumber is cut- to- order by several small mills who get their material from legitimate (needing paperwork "permit" for some species of trees) logging.  Cement blocks are hand-made with molds by some local businesses.  Steel re- bar, hardware, and roofing come from independent supply companies - it pays to canvass around for prices!   When nobody nearby had any stock of lumber, we had several of our own trees (mostly from the farm) processed so that we would have material for bracing, scaffolding, and later to re-use as studs.

The tree is felled in the usual manner, with guide-ropes and small branches to 

cushion if needed.  Here, the "sawyer" has rolled it into a good working

 position and is marking with a "string-line" to take a thin slat off one side.

He walks his saw along the log following his straight- line to flatten one side,

removing the least possible material. Then, the log is rolled flat-side down, 

and another straight-line mark allows him to square-off one corner.

The squared log is string-lined to cut 3-inch and 2-inch slabs, and it will then

be rolled  to cut slabs into lumber.  He leaves some "Siamese" places joined in

each cut, to be separated at the end of the process.  Maker's name is worn off 

the saw case but it looks like a REAL BIG Stihl or "Husky", 7 inch wide x 40+

inch long saw  bar.  He is beyond "expert" to "artist" operator.

Shows the log nearly finished into lumber. There are other horizontal cuts

below the picture-edge; he's cutting more than one "set" of pieces.

Well, the pieces are cut; he still has all his toes; the remaining slats will be cut
 as usefully as possible.  This is one of several trees cut in about 4 or 5 hours.

I just had to show you the string-line.  Made from an oil bottle, a fishing
 line,a hand-made crank for winding the string, and uses oil, not chalk.

The lumber arrives at our house aboard a motor-"tricycle," standard small-
hauler in the  Philippines (more on these in another post, soon).  There is
 a stack of table-slabs on top; mostly 8, 10, and 12- foot lumber, but also
six  16-footers.  The entire stack cost about $80 U.S.

The table-slabs were cut from a species prized for this purpose; all very even
and parallel on both sides.  A very impressive feat.  No need for a sawmill here.

Well, I have more to say about materials and the beginning of construction, but this seems to be about the usual length for one of my posts.  So I'll stop for now and get back to you later with other "differences" about how things are done, here. 

PROCESSES - how things are planned and made to happen - always interest me.  And, once you see a few samples of scenery you pretty much know what it all looks like.  I'll work "scenery" photos in fairly often, and try not to go "over-BOARD" on the process photos (or, you might be bored).  But you can expect to see some photos of differences in vehicles (from USA), market and grocery-buying, farming and several other  topics where the folks here adapt to their surroundings, which are different from KY, U.S.A.

Have a great day - -   TeeJay

Holidays in the Philippines

   I have been trying to organize my photos into categories so that I can put up blogs by topic: Transportation, Farming, Shopping and Food, Fishing and Local Industries, and so on.  But I'm having a hard time getting all the photos I want of any one topic put together - - sometimes I'm just not ready with the camera when the opportunity comes up.  So maybe the photo selections will be a little bit more random.

   Christmas

in this area is not remarkably different from in the U.S. except for a few things. 
1) Less commercial activity - not all the hoopla of Christmas Sales etc.  We are rural enough here that our small-businesses and the District Market vendors pretty much keep business- as- usual, and the major shopping at San Jose is 40 miles away so we don't have the constant media-blitz of "special sales" that seems to be everywhere in the U.S.
2) Simpler decorations-  Businesses and homes put up cardboard cutouts and streamers, and a few of the wealthier homes have strings of Christmas lights.  Not as elaborate around here as in the U.S.  Noticed more decorations in San Jose; Christmas trees in Malls, salespeople wearing Santa hats and reindeer horns.

3) Lots of carolers-  every evening for a couple weeks, we had several groups of carolers, mostly enthusiastic impromptu "singers" with gourd-rattles and sticks-drumming-tin cans, but several times with guitars, etc.  Some gratuity is hoped- for but not required.  Mostly local traditional carols, mixed with a few familiar U.S. Christmas songs.  Almost always everything sung in 4- count time (we're used to hearing "Silent Night" in 3-count, and "O Holy Night" in 6-count, for example).

  But, Christmas Day was mostly the same. Lots of special cooking, and people going to various relatives' and visiting.  All-in-all a restful and enjoyable day.

  New Year

was most notable because EVERYBODY stays up; most years, lately, I've gone to bed at my regular time. There is some not-quite-superstition that what happens on New Year's Day sets the direction for the year, and maybe for your life.  Some people make it a point to eat spaghetti or pancit:  long noodles = long life, prosperity (pancit is like meat and vegetable stir-fry added to almost any type of long noodle, often "chow mein" or "ramen").  There are a HUGE number of personal fireworks, bottle-rockets,  and other home-made noise-makers (5 or 6 tin cans splinted together into a "gun-barrel" with slats of bamboo and duct-tape; the end of the last can has a pin- hole punched in it; a few drops of alcohol are dripped thru the hole, the barrel is shaken for a few seconds, then a cigarette lighter is held to the hole; makes a BANG! not unlike a small-gauge shotgun).  One of our nearby neighbors treated us to 2 days of Karaoke singing.

Brief Photo Gallery

Some of the orchids grown from grafts, see first blog-post.

Tabasco bushes grow several places on our lot.  Each bush has
hundreds of  inch-and-a-half peppers.  Each pepper is powerful
enough to move an 80,000 pound truck about 10 miles.

How many cats in this photo?  I think 6 but hard to tell. There are 8 around
 here somewhere, and we never see a rodent of any kind.



The row of  8 coconut shell "bowls" as it looks BEFORE and AFTER.

The row of bowls, DURING.

OLD Question: Why did the calf go around the cow?  (To get to the udder side.)

As I've been working on this for a couple days, I've picked up a few more photo's - not enough yet for a TRANSPORTATION issue,but maybe for a short "farming" or "Home Depot" gallery.  But for right now I'll quit for awhile.