CheetahhhhhhhBlog Mark III

In the garden of Fort Santiago.

Entrance to Ft. Santiago.

On the wall of Fort Fantiago.

Malate church.

In Manila bay, on the South China Sea.

For one thing, we’ve been trying lots of new fruit for my dad. One is called a durian, which is a type of jackfruit. It stinks even before you open it. We had triple-bag it and hide it under the sink. Yesterday we opened it. Vanessa opened the door and all the windows to let the stink out of the house. When you open the fruit, the stink is really incredible. The fruit itself resembles a small white alien. I found it completely repulsive and spit it out. My dad liked it. He said it got better the more you ate.

Vanessa’s mom has made us sticky rice and some sort of rice bread filled with meat called shoipao.

Vanessa’s mom says we still need a few things for the baby, such as something to protect the new infant’s belly.

Unfortunately I am a bit sick, so we spent yesterday in the condo watching historical documentaries (Richard II and Henry VIII). I’m still a bit sick today and mildly concerned my dad is going to be getting bored. Nanay (Vanessa’s mom) is sick also.

Today we were planning to go see Itchyworms, which is Chris Aquino’s favorite local rock band, who are playing in the cowboy bar next to our condo. However I am too sick for such nonsense. We’re planning on going to Corrigedor, the island fortress where the Americans and Filipinos held out heroically against the Japs. We have Vanessa’s family’s children coming here on Saturday for swimming.

In the St Augustin church garden in Intramuros.

Unfortunately we have not figured out how to focus our new video cam, neither of us have read the manual. However:

Preggy Van and my dad.

Looking at crafts.

My dad arrived Wednesday the 21^st and we’ve been rather busy since then. With Gloria, Vanessa’s mom, we went to Intramuros. We spent some time in the old baroque church, which had an organ with 1370 pipes which got my dad all excited. Trivia, he was a pipe tuner. There were many interesting historical paintings of the Spanish and Mexican conquistadors who came to conquer Manila. There was also a very beautiful Japanese garden with hundreds of bonsai. The neighborhood itself is a walled city and somewhat reminiscent of Spain. And we took a tourist trap carriage ride with a horse that bites.

We went to a Filipino handicrafts store. The coolest thing about this store was actually the handmade furniture, which was quite cheap by Western standards. Vanessa and I are going to come back there when we buy a house. My dad got a cool gift which I am forbidden to mention so the lucky recipient in the USA is surprised.

And now the big news…. IT’S A BOY. Vanessa and I were calling it Christina for quite a long time, but she knew it was a boy because her skin wasn’t shiny. She says she knew in her 2^nd month actually because her aura was different. Also she didn’t feel pretty while pregnant which a sure sign of a boy, so she says. Also she was more attracted to boy’s clothes.

We had to wait quite a long time at the hospital but when I finally did get to see the ultrasound it was really cool. I could see his beating heart. He was moving around a lot and very quickly too. He’s an active little guy. We saw his boner and gonads so it’s a boy for sure.

Vanessa says that Christopher Jr. has my nose and forehead, although I can’t tell.

Then we went on a baby things shopping spree. I think we saved a lot of money buying here. Vanessa got everything including baby monitors and a doctor kit, plus all the usual… mittens, booties, shirts, diapers, etc. We’re getting the stroller and crib in Jeddah because of airline baggage restrictions.

Incidentally, our condo has a pool with wireless which we’re all enjoying.

My dad is enjoying strange foods including, tonight, dragon fruit. What the hell is that, you may ask. It’s vaguely kiwi-ish. Vaguely. He says he likes Filipino food, and he likes Vanessa and Nanay Gloria. The strangest phenomenon according to him is that we have no hot water. I know this sounds strange but in the tropics it’s really not necessary. Shaving in cold water and high humidity is actually OK, he says.

We spend about 2 hours a day in taxis. This is because Manila traffic is so terrible. I decided I didn’t want to drive in Manila so we canceled the car rental. My dad is amused by the amount of horn-honking that Filipino drivers do.

He also finds the Filipino malls a tad noisy.

So to recap, it’s a boy, Christopher Achilles Teggatz. The next generation of Teggatzes is OK. I was under a little pressure being the last male Teggatz. Why “Achilles”, you may ask. It’s because I was watching the movie Troy while thinking about baby names. Maybe some of his invincibility will wear off on Little Chris.