Trip to the Philippines

Current mood: grateful

As many of you may wonder my trip to the "rootland," the Philippines, was a wonderful, reflective, introspective, peaceful one month (U.S.) summer trip. I was able to see my Lola. She's 84 yrs old and survived a stroke two Thanksgivings ago. She can no longer speak and cannot move her right arm. She can no longer recall who we are. Perhaps she weaves in out consciously. Sometimes it looks like she remembers us but most times, if we'd talk to her, she just looks at us. She dramatically aged since.

My grandparents used to live (as did I) in La Mirada- they raised us before they moved back to Bohol a few years ago. I used to speak cebuwano when I was very little. Unfortunately having been born and raised in southern CA, that all changed with english taking over the day to day conversations. When not intimidated, I tried to speak the dialect-- it was awesome having cebuwano around me, it felt so comfortable.

That was the longest I've been in Bohol; most times I stay in my dad's hometown of Iloilo, more city'ish. That was also difficult visiting there because the past 3 times I've been there, my Lola would always be there waiting for us; Unfortunately she passed away two Junes ago.

The barrio of Sta. Filomena, Albur, Bohol is situated next to the ocean. The ocean is literally less than a 10 minute walk from my grandparent's house. It was so nice! We went to the beach nearly each day. Nonetheless, I still haven't learned how to swim but it was good practice, especially when the ocean becomes your own swimming pool. When it wasn't raining and if the ocean was high tide, it was such a magnificent sight. Waking up to caribou, dogs & cats co-mingling, a flock of turkeys along with their leaders, pigs, chickens (exclude their feces of course! you better watch out where you step), and various kinds of insects including colorful butterflies, coconut trees surrounding you like your own personal gate was a pleasant experience.

Of course you can imagine I was bitten by mosquitos, ants, spiders, and amongst others all over (and I mean ALL OVER). I used Off repellent but I'd still wake up with more increasing bites/scars each day. The big scare was being bitten by a mosquito that caused dingue. People died from it.

Below is a bulleted list that were highlights amongst my trip:
- Novena & rosaries in the local barrio chapel and/or at the house (even sleeping really early! that's normally unheard of back in the U.S.)
- Tried to sing visayan songs (during one of the rosaries)
- Getting lots of massages, including one in particular where I got a body scrub and massage- with my cousins
- Sandugo festival (Sandugo was one of the first treaties of friendship between Spain and the Philippines- leaders traded blood)
- Walked to the local beach-
Got a hair spa
- Having delicious soups (esp. coconut with kamungay)
- Was able to see a useful resourceful medicinal way of using tabacco leaves to relieve pain- (Tried to) walk the caribou
- Able to see the co-collaboration of animals together without chasing each other
- Able to see Bohol's largest python & the smallest monkey, the tarsier
- Able to see a herd of turkeys work together to find food
- Went to the oldest church in Bohol in the town of Baklayon
- Able to see fireflies in the town of Bilar
- Able to see and feed the monkeys in Bilar
- Taking a "mini" trip with my cousins on a motorcycle to the town of Bilar & taking a intermediate hike (we didn't even have a flashlight!)
- Experiencing the fiestas of Sta. Filomena- Albur, Sta. San Roque- Wepo, & the feast of Our Lady Assumption- Dauis
- Turning 26 in Bohol and alongside my grandparents present
- First experience with playing badminton in Cebu (not too bad for my first time)
- Learning pusoy dos (similiar to poker) in Cebu
- Seeing a few live bands in Iloilo & Bohol
- Drinking San Miguel Ice beer
- Drinking Tanduay & coke with my Lolo
- Taking the motorcab, motorcycle, & taxi - all on one night!
- Saw the movie, Stealth in the movie theater
- Being the tannest (is that such a word? well now it is!) I EVER been {how can i keep this color?}
- Eating the best mangos
- Eating ube ice cream! Magnolias brand- yummy!
- Eating at a restaurant where the servers were deaf; you'd order your food through a telephone in the booth
- The restaurant benefits one of the deaf foundations; Ironically, the theme were cowboys
- Re-visiting Chocolate Hills (the 1st time ever was back in 1993)
- Visiting the new attraction- Sagbayon Peak (it overlooks the Chocolate Hills)
- Taking a boat ride in Loboc River
- In Manila for our 7 hour stay, we went to the famous Intramurous area, all on a horse carriage!
- Saw the biggest starfish ever & we carried it back to my grandparents house

I hope all of you will get the chance to see and experience some of the stuff that I've had the blessed chance to experience. You will always come out a different (and hopefully better & appreciative) person when visiting a 3rd world country.

Try not to take things for granted, especially:
- people (all your love & loved ones)
- toilets (with running water & with toilet paper)- washing machine & dryer
- foods like various kinds of cheeses & diary products
- how stressful & aggravating freeways may be; remember they're there to be able to get to Point B faster)
- what the U.S. has to offer such as smog checks on all our vehicles to ensure what we breathe is safe- trash & sanitation systems, esp. with recycling & trash bins in every corner in the U.S.
- reduced mosquitos and other insect infestation
- the nicer infrastructure the U.S. has to offer such as roads, streets, etc.
- the abundant cell phone peak minutes to call a person rather than text
- the cheaper price of electronics, such as televisions or laptops
- the various kinds of food types in the U.S. (mexican, italian, persian, indian, carribean, deli, you get my drift)- various kinds of races


Currently Listening : Illadelph Halflife By The Roots Release date: By 24 September, 1996