GIBeregovoy (GI stands for Gennady Iosefovich) is my nom de guerre on the 'net. You can also find me at TankNet (www.tank-net.org) where I post there more often.
And yes, I'm a Filipino.
Ok, some 'factoids' for the "furriners"
(warning extremely long post!):Filipino because originally the name of the country was Las Islas Filipinas, Filipinas being named after King Philip who was IIRC the reigning monarch at the time in Spain. When the Americans came, the country's name was 'americanized' to Philippine Islands. Then when we became totally independent (1946), the name was changed to Philippines since Philippine Islands was too 'colonial.'
Spanish is still spoken here, in a different sort of way. It's called Chabacano and it is mainly spoken in some parts of Cavite and Zamboanga IIRC. Cavite is a province in Luzon (and where my clan's roots are) while Zamboanga is a province in Mindanao, which island is down south, and a bit north of Jolo where the .45-calibre pistol was said to have been invented (or the source of its inspiration) since the .38 was unable to stop effectively a Moro's charge when the Americans were fighting in that area in the early 1900s. The .45 stopped them cold.
For sometime (late 40s to 70s), we had the most powerful military in the region. It is said that pilots of the Philippine Air Force (now sadly labelled as Philippine Air Farce
) used to land their planes anywhere in the region as they pleased. We sent a Combat Team (BCT I think was the term - countrymen, you can see the name of the unit at the back of the P500 bill since Ninoy was a war correspondent at the time) in Korea and probably (not sure) a medical team in Vietnam. Back to language: there are plenty of dialects in the country, the major ones being Tagalog (spoken mostly in the southern parts of Luzon), Cebuano (spoken mainly in the southern part of the Philippines IIRC) and Ilonggo (spoken in the middle areas of the country). There's also Ilocano (spoken in the northern Luzon) and others (comrades, correct me if I'm wrong).
The national language is Filipino (or Pilipino - there's still a debate among the linguists on which is the proper term), which is really mostly Tagalog (and thus many Cebuano speaking people find this annoying).
Official religion (not State sanctioned :-) ) is Roman Catholicism, with the second main religion being Islam - which makes the Philippines a unique place in terms of religion in the region which is predominantly Islamic (Malaysia, Indonesia) and Buddhist (Indochina).
The capital is Manila, although during the Marcos Regime it was moved to Quezon City. Manila is part of Metro Manila, a recent creation (thanks to Imelda Marcos, wife of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos) in the late 70s or early 80s IIRC. Metro Manila is really a conglomeration of several cities and municipalities. Think urban sprawl gone mad. Population of the country is 70 million last count, among which there are 7 to 10 million in Metro Manila.
Form of government is a republican presidential system, patterned after the US government (sans federalism), although a "parliamentary" form was "experimented" during the latter years of the Marcos Regime.
People have often asked me on other fora (forums) why the Philippines as a nation has failed. The simplest answer is politics. (If anyone is interested, shoot me an email, and I'll answer)
BTW, the term "Filipino" or "Philipino" does [red][underline]NOT[/underline][/red] mean "domestic worker."
There was a ruckus on this when a dictionary (I dunno which one - Webster, Oxford, I can't remember) defined the said word(s) as such.And yes, we do not have tails, nor look like monkeys, and we do have heads (not like what that Hollywood teen actress said after filming her movie here several years ago
).What else... hmmm... on The Hobby...
The hobby is, admittedly, seems to be concentrated in Metro Manila (this observation being based on the knowledge that there are no hobby shops in the other major cities of the country - again, correct me if I'm wrong mga kababayan). There are several hobby shops, the three major ones being Lils Futaba (or simply Lils) - Accurate Model Shop being sort of a 'branch' of Lils due to it's close affiliation with it - STC or Special Toy Centre, and JMN. The first two have several branches while JMN is concentrated in just one shop at Harrison Plaza. Lils is the official distributor/retailer of Tamiya products, while STC concentrates mostly on Dragon. Trumpeter and AFV Club kits are found more at STC than Lils. Tamiya prices in Lils are cheaper than those in STC IIRC, while Dragon prices are cheaper at STC than in Lils IIRC (or was it the other way around - now I'm confused!). (Mga kapatid, kung gusto niyo tawagin ang mga branches ng Lils, STC at saka JMN at Accurate, meron akong directory akong ginawa :-) I normally call STC and have some of their kits reserved so that no one can get their itchy, greedy, prying hands on them!
#:-) If you're wondering why there aren't M1A2s in STC, BLAME ME! :-) )On specific branches, Lils Parksquare has a large number of Hasegawa (?) and Fujimi (?) 1/700 scale waterline ships, while STC Alabang has lots of Dragon figures and some resin accessories (fruit baskets, fuel drums, ammo boxes, etc.) while JMN has a lot of interesting goodies (Miliputt epoxy putty, Celluclay - at around P500, X-Acto knives and blades, and resin after market parts by Legend). Accurate is more into Tamiya mini-RC and aircraft. JMN has lots of Revell kits (I think they're the only ones selling Revell), especially 1/72 scale armor kits (take your pick, M1A1HA, Challenger - 3 flavors IIRC, T-80U, Leclerc, etc). STC Alabang has lots of Gunze stuff - epoxy putty, putty, decal solution set, and Gunze paints. Lils has lots of Tamiya paints. JMN has Microset, Microsol (very useful - currently unavailable last time I went there), Bare Metal metallic polish (two bottles left IIRC). JMN also used to sell blank decal sheets and Bare Metal foil - all very useful. JMN has Tamiya, Revell, Model Master and Humbrol paints of limited quantities and varying age (some Humbrol paints look like they've been there for five years already). BTW, are you guys taking down notes? Yes? Good. :-) There are plenty of diorama stuff also at JMN (celluclay, static grass - 3 flavors right now, field grass - hehehe, I bought all of them for the last Motorex contest, Woodland Scenics stuff, etc.). But for resin and RTV, you have to go to your nearest chemical factory to get it (unless you want to get 'em from me, 'coz I know someone who sells RTV and polyester resin). Lils Parksquare used to sell Dow Corning RTV, but apparently it was old stock and had solidified. I should know, I bought one and promptly returned and exchanged it for several kits. JMN has also lots of other goodies like 1/35 posters, maps, etc, various decal sheets of varying age (they recently got some new stocks), MRE carton sheets, and even some photoetch parts.
So basically, the strengths of the following stores are:
STC - Dragon, AFV Club, Trumpeter and other 'lesser known' manufacturers like Alan and K-something. Also has a fine collection of 1/250 to 1/720 ships, from the large Shokaku carrier to the USS Arleigh Burke. Also lots - and I mean LOTS - of sci-fi/anime models as well as tools (motor tools, pin vise, drill bits, etc.) Has a nice stock of Gunze paints and Gunze products, and catalogs, as well as (damn, I'm gonna HATE myself for revealing this :-) ) Concord books (yeeeup - M1A1 books, Leo2 books, SpecOps books, lots of reference material).
Lils - Tamiya is king here. As well as R/C kits. Got a whole range of Tamiya paints as well. Lils Parksquare has Evergreen sheet styrene of varying types and thicknesses. If you're a Tamiya fan, this is the place to go. Also spotted some Trumpeter kits, though not as numerous as STC. Lils Parksquare also has some after market (white metal) and photoetch parts (it's beside the door, from inside, it's to the left of the door).
JMN - A modeller's shop! Decal sheets, blank decal sheets, if you do dioramas this is the place to go. Has a nice collection of car kits. Revell kits abound here - PzH2000, Luchs, Fuchs, M110A2, etc. etc. Few Dragon kits (last saw only 2) and some AFV Club kits (someone beat me to the Scimitar!
:-) ). A significant number of Academy and Kangnam kits and some Tamiya kits as well. Other accessories, photoetch, Legend aftermarket parts - F105 cockpit, ACES II ejection seat, resin figures. Also sells a Tamiya airbrush (or spraygun) set complete with compressor. Various paints - Tamiya, Humbrol enamels, Model Master, Revell. Check it out from time to time and you'll find something important like Bare Metal foil (good for masking, too!) and blank decal sheets.Accurate - closest shop for those in Paranaque and Las Pinas. Sells mostly Academy. More into Tamiya mini-R/C cars. Lots of plane kits.
For airbrushes, best place to go is National Bookstore or Recto (where I suspect there are other lesser-known, family-run, small hobby shops that are treasure troves like JMN). Tip: at National Bookstore, they sell paint jars with labels "M. Enriquez" or something. That is an art supply store at Recto and I reckon they sell Badger (and maybe Aztek?) airbrushes and accessories.
That's it! Phew! Sorry for the extremely long post! Hope this helps!
