Williard: 22, another local boy from Concepcion, Jade and Williard were an inseparable duo. When we first arrived, Williard had left after Geoff (the 3rd American to join us, story to come :) pushed him to do excessive amounts of manual labor and he strained himself. He returned 1 week after we arrived (after Geoff was kicked off the island) and picked right up where he left off. He was an incredibly hard worker and willing to try anything you asked of him. Despite his minimal English you could tell he was very intelligent and picked up on where and when he was needed. He assisted with house-keeping and manual labor like Jade. Both guys were a bit shy, but Williard was more so than Jade. Maybe it was his maturity but he was also a little more focused than Jade. We were excited to have him join us in the kitchen and immediately started training him on prep duties and a bit of front of house service as well.
Williard and Jade...plus Jade in a tree...
Jade: 17 year old local from Concepcion and son of one of the former expert local carpenters Patik, Jade is the youngest of the boys. Extremely quiet and standoffish when we first arrived, he turned out to be one of the kindest and most entertaining people we met on the island. We found out 2 weeks after we had been there he had to have his two front teeth removed and was in intense pain from the moment we arrived from the tooth ache. He slowly loosened up after the teeth (and pain) were gone and when he got his teeth replaced, he was a new man. Very interested in his appearance, he was always looking his best in skinny jeans and perfectly coiffed hair. He idolized Jun Jun (intro to come) and would always follow his lead on hair/fashion. He assisted with house-keeping and manual labor as needed and when we were between boatmen he would go with Jun Jun to Coron. He wasn’t great at English but once we all trusted each other he was of our favorite people on the island and we all helped each other improve our Tagalong and English. After Ann and Bridget left, he and Williard (being the two youngest and least burly) had many more kitchen duties. Jade was always joking around, dancing and checking himself out in the mirror so we figured he naturally would fit better in the front of house and started teaching him how to properly serve the guests.
We will miss them both immensely!
After much debate, we had reached a stalemate. Our vacation rapidly approaching, we were running out of time to make our move. As luck would have it, fate stepped in and put the wheels in motion for us.
A Storm is Coming...
And here it is...
For the last month, our faith in Helena and her “vision of utopian living” had rapidly begun to decline. As we learned more and more about the unorganized day to day operations and the constant trouble shooting caused by Helena’s negligent attitude toward the people and equipment she relied on for survival, we were becoming painfully aware of the fact that you can’t help somebody that doesn’t truly want help! Her inability to relinquish any sort of control made it almost impossible to complete any projects since she had to have a say about anything and everything. We hoped that Nick’s arrival would remove some of her stress but instead it added fuel to the emerging power struggle between our now trio and Ruben. Now that there were three of us, we posed an even larger threat to steal Ruben’s calculated control of Helena and her finances and he wasn’t going to let go without a fight!
Ruben and Trevor had a strange falling out a week or so after Nick’s arrival. Up to his usual tricks, shortly before dinner service, Ruben told Trevor we needed to make extra rice and dinner for the boys. Helena had told us we were NEVER to feed the boys and was about to head down to start preparing dinner. Ruben insisted, saying they would have nothing else to eat without the extra food. Not wanting them to go hungry and already ready for guest service, Trevor quickly threw together a little something for the boys. Helena came into the kitchen to execute dinner service and was furious that the large rice cooker was in use (not even knowing about the food for the boys). We only had two guests and had an additional rice cooker the perfect size for two. Of course Ruben just sat back, letting Helena scream at Trevor, but Trevor wasn’t about to let him get away with setting up for disapproval yet again! Trevor cut Helena off to end her rant, briefly expressed his frustrations with the continuous chaos and contradiction and they agreed to discuss the issue the next morning. Service finished with a bit of an uncomfortable vibe but the issue didn’t seem like it would create the drama it started!
When Trevor went to Helena’s house to discuss the past evening’s events, surprise surprise, Ruben was in his bedroom and eavesdropped on the entire conversation. Trevor told Helena our true feelings about Ruben and his sneaky manipulations. He told her we questioned his loyalties and motives and had felt that way since we met him our second week on the island. Not only was she unwilling to hear or believe it, but Ruben was incensed when he heard Trevor calling him out to “mother”. After that day, Ruben’s mischievous actions escalated to epic proportions. His lurking increased, as did his vindictive efforts to sabotage our day to day work environment by moving our important paper work and seeking to separate us from bonding with the boys and even Helena herself.
It got so bad that Ruben claimed to be so uncomfortable and hurt he couldn’t even be around the kitchen. He was so mature about the whole thing, he wouldn’t even address Trevor anymore. He avoided Trev whenever possible and used Nick and myself as a third party to communicate with Trevor when he needed answers absolutely nobody else could provide. I tried to reason with Ruben one evening and he threw a small tantrum, saying he couldn’t deal with a person as aggressive as Trevor. He said Trevor needed to “be careful” and that “he could be a bitch too”. In retrospect, this conflict was the beginning of the drawn out end. He told Helena Trevor made him uncomfortable and that he didn’t feel safe. She told me I needed to solve the problem by forcing Trevor to apologize. As you can suspect, Trevor wasn’t overly thrilled to be forced to apologize for speaking his honest feelings (that shouldn’t have been heard by Ruben in the first place) but since the old man wasn’t interested in being the bigger person, Trevor sucked it up and did it. Unfortunately, the apology did nothing to remedy the situation.
There were two nights before we were set to leave for a week in Taipei. We had been debating never coming back after vacation but were hesitant to leave Nick and still hopeful things could maybe come around. Luckily there were only two guests and they were enjoying their 2nd and last night on Mangenguey. Whenever weather permitting, we seat the guests on the beach in front of the main house. It was a lovely evening so the guests enjoyed a romantic dinner al fresco.
Even though there were only two guests at the resort, there were 5 of us on duty: Jade, Williard, Nick, Trevor and myself. The boys, scared to get in trouble, would rarely go to bed early without us strongly insisting. Call it our declining motivation but we didn’t have it in us to send them to bed early this time. Ruben had been on high alert and trying to use our commands to get the boys in trouble with Helena and in turn regain his control of them. The boys were also great company. They were helping us learn Tagalong and were a lot of fun to be around, even when we were all working. When dining at the beach, the guests are so far away we also don’t have to sit silently in the open kitchen so we were excited for another chance to bond with them.
When we had agreed to work on Mangenguey, we didn’t know that playing personal chef to a picky diva with unhealthy taste would be part of our duties. We figured family meal would include ALL members of the Mangenguey community and would be simple, Filipino foods and/or whatever needed to be used up. This was not the case. After Bridget and Ann left we were very short staffed, especially in the kitchen so cooking family meal meant taking time away from our other duties Helena deemed most important. Also, it was becoming clear that we didn’t like to eat the same things as her. Finally Helena told me that we obviously didn’t have the same taste as her. In an effort to compromise and still budget successfully, I offered to create a family meal menu. Helena could compare that menu and the regular guest menu and decide which days she would eat each set meal. The system worked great for a week, she was even nice enough to buy us some special healthy items in Manila.
Unfortunately, her inability to relinquish control once again crushed the long term success of the system and put us right back at square one. She repeatedly told me the family meal plan was to be my last priority so when I was busy with other things and unable to plan ahead, Nick, Trev and I would eat whatever was fast and easy. For herself, Ruben and Richard if she didn’t like what we were eating usually she would request at the last minute to eat the same food as the guests. The consistent last minute decisions caused much unnecessary stress and wasted precious work time. Helena would occasionally offer to cook for them and herself but those times were few and far between.
I had text Helena to warn her that dinner would be a little late that night. We had a lot to do to prepare for vacation in two days so in our minds that took priority over meal time. We were usually so swamped that we didn’t have much time to eat so “mother’s” feeding schedule wasn’t always our top priority. The Queen desired lunch delivered at noon and dinner by 6 or 6:30. It was nearing 8 and we were just plating her meal for one of the boys to transport.
We should have known we were playing with fire. When “mother” gets hungry, she can sometimes become quite irritable (especially since the masseuse wasn’t around to give her massages at will anymore!) As we plated the food, Jade and Williard were clearing the billiard balls off the pool table…as Ruben appeared out of the darkness, Jade and Williard happened to be hitting the last couple balls in the pockets with the cue.
“Mother is wondering when you are going to feed her?!?” Ruben asks, his voice full of criticism and attitude. Then he sees the boys “playing” pool. “What is this?? This will not be tolerated!! You should not allow this!” He pivots quickly and scurries to inform Helena, leaving her food for Jade to deliver.
The boys quickly cower, sensing the tone in Ruben’s voice. They quickly finish with the pool table, Williard returns to dishes (although there were only two small plates) and Jade waits for the food to finish and leaves to deliver dinner. No more than a minute later, Helena comes storming into the main house. Nick, Trevor and I were surrounding the island, one on each side. Nick and I were watching as Trevor began to prepare the guests dessert when out of the corner of our eyes we noticed Helena, entering the house in a rage.
“WHAT is going on here??” she asks, voice trembling with anger.
“Nothing, just finishing up dinner.” Trevor replied, in a tone almost too calm.
“Why are the boys playing pool? You are supposed to be in charge and keep them under control! I will not tolerate this!” She said, almost yelling.
”Richard is always playing pool…” Trevor started to say, but was cut off.
“Richard is the BOSS!!” We all thought..mmmm, convenient that you call him that now when normally we are told you are the only boss and he is to be ignored.
Trying to ease the tension I said: “They just hit two balls while they were cleaning up, we told them it was o.k. The guests are so far away and we have way too many people working at the moment anyways. There was nothing else for them to do at the moment and they were trying to..”
“That is not important Kiku (by the way, my name is KIKUE, but she never quite got that). Maybe you all should just pack your things and go.”
“No problem!! That sounds like a great idea.” Trevor and I replied in unison.
From the surprised look on her face, you could tell this was not the response she was expecting. “Well, ok.” She stammered. “Give me your phones, and keys right now.” The whole time poor Nick was just standing at the end of the island, looking appalled and confused. The boys were just as perplexed. Trevor proceeded to finish up dessert as I followed her over to our desk to give her our keys and grab our stuff so we could leave and pack. In an effort to be nice I said something about being sorry things had turned out this way and she retorted rudely with “Me too but it was bound to happen eventually anyways.” Whatever that was supposed to mean, I took it as just another sign it was good we were leaving now!!
As we left the main house, she called after me and asked me to prepare a guest statement for the departing guests. Trevor tried to tell her to go do it herself and while I agreed with him, I had already prepared the statement. Once we got to our office, I printed it and Nick and I took it to her. That was the last time I ever saw her up close. As Nick and I headed back to pack we came across Richard. He shook our hands and told us not to worry. He had been fired many times from Mangenguey and that if we talked to her in the morning he was sure we could have our jobs still. We told him thanks anyway, wished him well and set off to pack.
We had crossed Richard’s path only because he was locking up the desalinator. Helena was fearful that someday a disgruntled employee would sabotage her machines. Usually when she chose to have somebody leave her island she waited to tell them to go until an hour before they were to leave, had them pack with an escort and hurried them away. This fact is the only reason why I think she was expecting us to prove our loyalty by apologizing profusely and begging for her forgiveness. Unfortunately for her, our definitions of loyalty are slightly different.
We spent the night packing, finishing our case of SMB (San Miguel Beer) and reminiscing about the insanity that had been our daily lives for the last 3 months. Trev passed out around 3 but Nick and I couldn’t sleep. We stayed up and chatted: I apologized one last time for getting him to Mangenguey and we discussed our next move. All we knew of our certain future was that we left the island with the guests at 7 am. After an hour of restless napping we got up, still a bit buzzed and riding adrenaline.
Last Sunrise
Me, Nick, Peter and Jade...goodbyes
Awkward and unsure of what to do, we woke up at 5, gathered our things and figured we would just head to the beach and wait to leave. We had prepared a bunch of things we didn’t want to take with us for the boys to keep. We were worried it would be confiscated by Ruben when we took it to them but luckily Peter and Jade came over around 5:30 to say goodbye. We sent them with the boxes and they snuck them to a safe place. Just as they left, Richard came to get Nick. Trevor and I headed to the beach with our things to wait till we could leave.
The day all the chaos occurred, the internet (another story in itself) had gone down. Richard came to get Nick because they needed him to fix it ASAP. I had prepared a document for Helena to sign, promising us our owed salary but she refused; she wanted to do the bank transfer now so she had to have the internet. In addition to the internet, Nick had a bunch of large projects he was to work on while we were gone including dry docking the Bangka and setting up the live booking button for the website. He couldn’t fix the internet but she was able to get it to work when she plugged her laptop into the main router. They also tried to convince Nick to stay. When Richard had come to get Nick, apparently he was in tears. Richard tried unsuccessfully to get Helena to say “I’m sorry” to Nick. She tried to claim he wasn’t meant to be mixed up in that debate but Nick pointed out the fact that if she really cared that much she could have told him before he packed all his things. After an unsuccessful attempt to prolong his stay with no apology, Nick joined us on the beach. We talked a bit more with Peter and Jun Jun and exchanged contact information. Despite the language barrier, we could see they were a bit shocked by it all.
Lucky for us the guests were ready to leave a bit early. Richard was kind enough to come shake our hands and say goodbye but we never say Helena again. As we boarded the Bangka a feeling of relief washed over us…we were free, free at last!!
Still very unsure of what our futures held, we let that go for a while and enjoyed our last Bangka ride thru the Calamines. Jun Jun, the temporary boatman, had become our closest friend on Mangenguey and we were happy he could join us for a little bit longer. He dropped us at Seadive, a local restaurant and hotel, where we would stay until we left the next day. Before he dropped us off, he asked me for my bracelet. The Filipinos are big on tokens of remembrance and I was more than happy to give it to him. I have two bracelets I wear in remembrance of Kerry Sussex, mother of one of my best friends, who passed away from cancer just over a year ago and I never take them off. I let him choose which he wanted and ironically, he chose the one that says “Always in my Heart”. I was wearing my remembrance from Jun Jun already (details to come). We made him promise to meet us at Seadive after he finished his errands for one last beer before he left for Mangenguey and we would sadly probably never see him again.
The Ride to Coron: Nick and Trevor
Beautiful Calimines
Nick, Jun Jun and Jerry en route to Coron
We spent our morning planning Nick’s flight to Manila and contemplating our various options for the immediate future. Fortunately we were able to get him on our same flight the next day! Just as we got that all squared away, Jun Jun showed up with Intes. Intes was one of Jun Jun’s “brothers” and our tricycle driver whenever we came to Coron. We had some beers with Jun Jun, Intes and Jerry (a friend of Jun Jun and new addition to Mangenguey) and said our final sad goodbyes to Jun Jun. Jun Jun would be back in Coron the next day but there was no guarantee we would see him given our flight schedule. Free from obligations and with nothing to do, Intes was very nice and offered to take us on a tour of the interesting spots in Coron. We spent the day enjoying the sights and at night met up with Ann for some video-ke and dancing. It was some of the most fun we had the entire time we were in the Philippines.
The Crew
There were a lot of us...
Panoramics of Coron from the Cross: It takes around 720 steep stairs to get there. The staircase was man-made with no machinery.
The non-water side of Coron
At the top after a long, hot climb.
Nick is a bit tall for the Philippines...
Descending
Joel T. Reyes made sure to leave his initial in stone at this monument!
Our Ride Around Coron, Courtesy of Intes
Heading to the Hot Springs at Night
Mark Angelo Intes: Tricycle Driver Extraordinaire
Time for some singing...
The boys would rather eat!!
After a late night we woke up early, sent our luggage with air cargo to save a little cash and had some breakfast. We had just enough time to say one last goodbye to Jun Jun before him and Intes sent us on our way to the airport. We met Ann at the airport and we all headed to Manila. Ann had never left Busuanga or been on an airplane and was on her way to start work for Kris Aquino. We had missed her on Mangenguey and were excited to get some time with her before we left!
On the way to the airport we saw this adorable puppy at the "Gas Station"
If you look in the side view mirror, that is the gas being filled...
And it came in those gallon bottles!
Interesting wording for a cell phone load add :)
We arrived in Manila, exhausted from the last two crazy days. We went out first to a midget bar and Ann saw her first little person ever She had to wake up early for her job the next day and had closed down the disco without us the night before so she went to bed early. We went out for a couple more drinks and made some interesting new friends…sorry, this story stays between us but here are a couple pictures (don’t worry parents, it was nothing bad!!)
When we got to Manila, a street vendor was selling these hats. I had to buy one because they are part of the boys uniform at Mangenguey...and if the hat was lost, they charged the boys more than I paid for it from the street vendor. :(
Welcome to the Hobbit House!! So p.c. huh?
There was a local t.v. station inside doing interviews with customers and staff.
Me and the Boys Outside the Hobbit House Main Entrance
Ann, Trevor and I with the Door Man
A Fellow Leo
Another New Friend
Wasn't the classiest bar we had ever been too...
But it had great signs!!
In the midst of all the travel, Nick had made arrangements to work in Thailand teaching with a friend of his. We were so happy to know his trip halfway across the world wasn’t only for three weeks of work on Mangenguey! Trevor and I woke up to catch our early morning flight, said our goodbyes to Ann and Nick and headed to the airport to go to Taipei.
Full of mixed feelings, excited to be free and nervous for our unknown future, we set off to enjoy the first time off we had gotten in three months. After three months of semi-slavery, we needed it!!
Next time on Mangenguey: The Modern Day Dystopia:
Top 5 Culinary Sins of the Mangenguey Kitchen
The Bangka A.K.A. I am not sure how this piece of crap still runs…you pick up paying guests with this thing?? Please don’t let me (or them) get stuck in the middle of the ocean!!
