Hey Pogi!

In my last blog I mentioned that people thought I was a celebrity because of my good looks. Please don’t choke, I’m not having delusions of grandeur or becoming vain. To tell you the truth I’ve never really thought of myself as very good looking (until I came here... cough, cough). Nearly every white person here is considered more handsome or cute than the average Filipino because of their white skin. Unlike Australians, Filipinos have an obsession with becoming whiter. It’s true! It’s so hard to buy skin stuff here that isn’t whitening. Anyway, nearly every time I go out I hear people call me “pogi” or “guapo” which means handsome. That’s kind of good for my self esteem but one trip to the town of Tanauan with some friends of mine gave me a boost that almost pushed me over the top. I was casually walking amongst the market stalls when I heard a lady say something that I couldn’t quite make sense of. I knew it was something about me being handsome and her boyfriend but the rest was a bit of a blurr. Then my Filipino friend started laughing and said, “Maybe she’s talking about me”. I laughed back and said, “I don’t think so. What exactly did she say?” He then gave me the boost that my ego didn’t need. She said, “I wish my boyfriend was that handsome!” Don't worry it's not going to my head.