PHILIPPINES 2019
I always look forward to an upcoming vacation, however, this trip to the Philippines had a different type of anticipation because I was more excited to see Joyce's relatives for the first time since we were married three years ago, than I was excited to see the sites and attractions. The daily itinerary wasn’t any more detailed than “Bohol”, “Cebu”, “Camiguin”, and “Cagayan de Oro”.
Instead of figuring out where to go, where to stay, and where to eat, there were two other questions: what do we need to bring for Joyce’s relatives and how are we going to fit all these items in our suitcases?
Instead of figuring out where to go, where to stay, and where to eat, there were two other questions: what do we need to bring for Joyce’s relatives and how are we going to fit all these items in our suitcases?
Philippines has a cultural phenomenon called pasalubong. As a Filipino traveler you bring a gift to the people you are visiting. Each region and island have their own pasalubong items ranging from candies, to pork products, to fruits. The concept is analogous to bringing souvenirs for your parents and family, except pasalubong is a more formalized, the gifts are for the larger, extended family, and there’s much higher expectations if you’ve been living internationally.
We started with video game shopping. An Aunt, who's house we've stayed at before and would be spending three nights with during this trip, asked us to pick up a PlayStation 3 on her behalf for her two sons. I spent more time researching the best PlayStation 3 games than I did things to do in Bohol, their home province. There were multiple trips to GameStop. I had a carryon bag dedicated to safely transporting the PlayStation 3 and over twenty games.
Beyond GameStop, my wife and I went shopping at BJ's Wholesale and IKEA. BJ's was my wife's first shopping experience at a discount club and I thought for sure we'd be leaving with a new TV, 100 pieces of Tupperware, and a stand-up paddle board. Fortunately, the shopping cart was limited to personal care products (deodorant, toothpaste, moisturizers, floss, nasal spray, and vitamins), candy (primarily chocolate but I made sure to mix it up with Swedish Fish and Sour Patch Kids), and bulk jars of peanut butter, peanuts, and chocolate covered almonds.
When we entered IKEA my wife went immediately to the cookware section and grab three grill spatulas. She saw the $1.99 price and grabbed an extra two for good measure. At checkout there were glass baking dishes, cutting boards, hot trays, chopping knifes, can openers, and vegetable peelers. All items I've never packed in a vacation suitcase.
You may be thinking, don't Filipino supermarkets sell these items? They do. But because these items cost $0.50 more in the Philippines than the U.S. there's a rationalization (or I believe an irrationalization) to save $100 and pack four suitcases with all these items up to the 20KG weight limit. The peanuts were about twice as expense in the Philippines as the U.S. but the other items were all comparable. I also made a last-minute run to ShopRite and picked up Spiced Wafers, Kandy Kakes, and Butterscotch Krimpets - all local, sweet delicacies and what would be considered more traditional pasalubong, then say a can opening or a cutting board. After initial hesitation as to what these items were, they were soon quickly consumed.
Joyce flew out a few weeks in advance of my departure to spend more time with her family and take care of things at her mom's house. My dad accompanied me to JFK to send Joyce off and he got a firsthand glimpse of the absurdity of the Filipino luggage packing experience. I knew Joyce's suitcases were waaaay overweight so I brought two extra suitcases so she could remove items and I could easily transport them back home. The scale at the airport showed the bags weighed about 38KG each, nearly double the allowable limit. I wish I recorded my dad's incredulous facial expression when Joyce opened her suitcase and it looked like she had just come from shopping at BJ's and IKEA. After Joyce removed a few items that would barely move the scale I went for the heavy items - the peanut butter, bulk foods, and glass baking dishes. It took 30 minutes of removing and rearranging items to reach the 20KG limit. When I returned home I was able to pack most of the items in my suitcase.
We started with video game shopping. An Aunt, who's house we've stayed at before and would be spending three nights with during this trip, asked us to pick up a PlayStation 3 on her behalf for her two sons. I spent more time researching the best PlayStation 3 games than I did things to do in Bohol, their home province. There were multiple trips to GameStop. I had a carryon bag dedicated to safely transporting the PlayStation 3 and over twenty games.
Beyond GameStop, my wife and I went shopping at BJ's Wholesale and IKEA. BJ's was my wife's first shopping experience at a discount club and I thought for sure we'd be leaving with a new TV, 100 pieces of Tupperware, and a stand-up paddle board. Fortunately, the shopping cart was limited to personal care products (deodorant, toothpaste, moisturizers, floss, nasal spray, and vitamins), candy (primarily chocolate but I made sure to mix it up with Swedish Fish and Sour Patch Kids), and bulk jars of peanut butter, peanuts, and chocolate covered almonds.
When we entered IKEA my wife went immediately to the cookware section and grab three grill spatulas. She saw the $1.99 price and grabbed an extra two for good measure. At checkout there were glass baking dishes, cutting boards, hot trays, chopping knifes, can openers, and vegetable peelers. All items I've never packed in a vacation suitcase.
You may be thinking, don't Filipino supermarkets sell these items? They do. But because these items cost $0.50 more in the Philippines than the U.S. there's a rationalization (or I believe an irrationalization) to save $100 and pack four suitcases with all these items up to the 20KG weight limit. The peanuts were about twice as expense in the Philippines as the U.S. but the other items were all comparable. I also made a last-minute run to ShopRite and picked up Spiced Wafers, Kandy Kakes, and Butterscotch Krimpets - all local, sweet delicacies and what would be considered more traditional pasalubong, then say a can opening or a cutting board. After initial hesitation as to what these items were, they were soon quickly consumed.
Joyce flew out a few weeks in advance of my departure to spend more time with her family and take care of things at her mom's house. My dad accompanied me to JFK to send Joyce off and he got a firsthand glimpse of the absurdity of the Filipino luggage packing experience. I knew Joyce's suitcases were waaaay overweight so I brought two extra suitcases so she could remove items and I could easily transport them back home. The scale at the airport showed the bags weighed about 38KG each, nearly double the allowable limit. I wish I recorded my dad's incredulous facial expression when Joyce opened her suitcase and it looked like she had just come from shopping at BJ's and IKEA. After Joyce removed a few items that would barely move the scale I went for the heavy items - the peanut butter, bulk foods, and glass baking dishes. It took 30 minutes of removing and rearranging items to reach the 20KG limit. When I returned home I was able to pack most of the items in my suitcase.
Three weeks later I was off to join Joyce. I had one suitcase filled with her overweight items and a box containing a walker for one of Joyce's Grandmoms. No weight issues for me. I also flew out of JFK because Philippines Airlines not only has direct flights from New York to Manila but also has transfers to most in-country destinations. I was able to check my bags all the way through to Tagbilaran, my final destination. 20 hours later I exited the Tagbilaran airport to see an excited Joyce.
Joyce's Aunt and nephews picked me up at the airport and we all drive to a beach resort for lunch. The new Tagbilaran airport, which opened a few months ago, is located on Panglao island in Bohol. The Philippines is hoping the new airport will bring more tourists to Bohol and there's quite a few people hoping to capitalize on those developments as evidenced by all the hotel construction. |
We ate a quick lunch before boarding up in Auntie Virgie's Ford Everest for the hour drive to Valencia, the small town where Joyce's family is from and where she spent her high school years.
We didn't have much time to settle in at Auntie Virgie's before we were on our way to a "Sweet 13th" birthday party. The party was for a Chinese friend of Auntie Virgie’s son. 13 is an auspicious number in Chinese culture so it was quite the celebration. The party’s food buffet included both Chinese (chop suey) and Filipino food (lechon). A DJ MC'd the event.
I was exhausted by the time we returned to Auntie Virgie's house but there was still one thing that needed to be done - set up the PlayStation 3. A couple of wire connections later and Call of Duty battle mode was playing. Her sons quickly understood the controls and gameplay.
I've spent a cumulative three weeks at Auntie Virgie's house over the course of my travels and never had any difficulties adjusting to local life. This time was a bit different because, I think, I hadn't been traveling previously and instead arrived directly from the States. The humidity and heavy food (pork and rice) was a double punch to my gut that knocked me a bit out of commission for the first couple of days. 75% humidity meant that by 8am I was starting to sweat with a minimal amount of physical activity. I couldn’t catch up on sleep. The 6am sunrise triggers roosters, dogs, and pigs into a cacophony of crowing, barking, and snorting.
We didn't have much time to settle in at Auntie Virgie's before we were on our way to a "Sweet 13th" birthday party. The party was for a Chinese friend of Auntie Virgie’s son. 13 is an auspicious number in Chinese culture so it was quite the celebration. The party’s food buffet included both Chinese (chop suey) and Filipino food (lechon). A DJ MC'd the event.
I was exhausted by the time we returned to Auntie Virgie's house but there was still one thing that needed to be done - set up the PlayStation 3. A couple of wire connections later and Call of Duty battle mode was playing. Her sons quickly understood the controls and gameplay.
I've spent a cumulative three weeks at Auntie Virgie's house over the course of my travels and never had any difficulties adjusting to local life. This time was a bit different because, I think, I hadn't been traveling previously and instead arrived directly from the States. The humidity and heavy food (pork and rice) was a double punch to my gut that knocked me a bit out of commission for the first couple of days. 75% humidity meant that by 8am I was starting to sweat with a minimal amount of physical activity. I couldn’t catch up on sleep. The 6am sunrise triggers roosters, dogs, and pigs into a cacophony of crowing, barking, and snorting.
On Sunday morning I headed up the street to Joyce's grandfather's house where a anniversary party celebrating the ninth year since his passing would be held later in the afternoon. It was a chaotic scene with action everywhere. It was only 10am but Uncles were already drinking Red Horse and Tanduay, national beer and rum, respectively. The house was packed with relatives. Joyce's Grandfather had a brother who settled a few houses away.
In the 1960s the Filipino government encouraged its citizens to reproduce for the good of the country. Joyce's grandfather and brother fulfilled their patriotic duty and had 17 kids between them. |
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I was whisked away by Joyce's brother and a few cousins to attend a church service at her grandfather's gravesite. Philippines graveyards have above ground tombs and can be a bit cramped making them difficult to navigate. After walking over a few graves, we reached Joyce's grandfather's site and waited on the priest to arrive, which true to Filipino form was nearly thirty minutes late. If you think Church is boring, you should try attending a service in a different language. The upbeat music was the only thing keeping me awake.
After the church service we returned to the grandfather's house for the first round of eating which was for Joyce's immediate family and consisted of finger foods and appetizers. Joyce's neighbors were invited for the second round of eating and lined up for Joyce and her Aunts to serve the Food. There was a ridiculously long line of kids waiting for a piece of lechon. That night came down to a cock fight or early bedtime. I opted for the early bed time.
Here's the mayhem in video form:
Here's the mayhem in video form:
Not much happened the next two days and we lazed around Joyce's Aunt’s house. One morning Joyce led a walk to the rice patties behind the house and she impressed me with her local vegetation and tree knowledge.
On the walk back we stopped at Joyce's Grandmothers house, where Joyce spent her high school years.
Morning view from Auntie Virgie's house:
On Tuesday afternoon, Joyce, her brother, one of Joyce's friends, and me caught a ferry to Cebu. We’d spend the next few days together traveling around Cebu and in Camiguin. That night we ate dinner at Mr. A, a celebrity chef restaurant set high in the hills that rise to Cebu's West. Joyce and I had a date night here several years ago and the place remains a high-end and showy restaurant.
The next morning one of Joyce's relatives picked us up at our hotel to drive us south to the Simala Shrine, a local Catholic pilgrimage site in Sibonga. When you first see the Church you'd think it had been constructed by the Spanish a couple hundred years ago but that isn't the case. The church is a modern marvel with the last round of construction completed in 2012. As late as 1997 there wasn't even a building on the site. The church receives 1,000s of visitors a day, each seeking Mother Mary's blessing for health, passing exams, and good fortune.
The next morning one of Joyce's relatives picked us up at our hotel to drive us south to the Simala Shrine, a local Catholic pilgrimage site in Sibonga. When you first see the Church you'd think it had been constructed by the Spanish a couple hundred years ago but that isn't the case. The church is a modern marvel with the last round of construction completed in 2012. As late as 1997 there wasn't even a building on the site. The church receives 1,000s of visitors a day, each seeking Mother Mary's blessing for health, passing exams, and good fortune.
The next morning the four of us flew to Camiguin, a small island off the northern coast of Mindanao. Few travelers make it to Camiguin and the reward for those who do is an unspoilt paradise. We checked into a Balinese style hotel and could have spent the next few days lounging between the hotel’s villas, club house, and beachfront. We took a break from the rest and relaxation to bath in Tuasan Falls and go snorkeling at the Sunken Cemetery. Over 100 years ago, a Spanish cemetery along the coast, fell into the sea following an earthquake. The tombs helped create an artificial coral reef. I didn't see any conquistadors under the sea but the reef was impressive and had all sorts of colorful fish including clown fish and blue star fish.
We woke at 6am the next morning to head out to White Island, which isn't much more than a sand bar off the coast of Camiguin. It was a cool island with great views back to Camiguins volcanic mountains but between the sun and the wind I was glad when we returned to the hotel for breakfast. We lounged at the hotel as long as we could before heading to Joyce's home in Cagayan de Oro but we had two more stops on the way to the ferry. The first stop was to visit a family friend who previously lived next to Joyce in Cagayan de Oro. The second stop was for a fresh seafood lunch. We timed the ferry to Balingoan on the mainland perfectly and lucked out again when we were able to quickly fill a shuttle bus with a small group of travelers who were also heading to Cagayan de Oro.
The Philippines population density is 311 people per square kilometer which places the country in the upper 20% worldwide. For comparison India is at 412/km, China is 146/km, and the U.S. is 35/km. Most of the worlds populations has aggregated along the coasts and in an island nation like the Philippines that aggregation is even more extreme. Filipino island’s major roads are circumferential in nature with relatively few leading to the island’s interior. As a result the population density feels higher than 311/km. All of the drives we did, Panglao to Valencia, Cebu to Sibonga, and Balingoan to Cagayan de Oro, were exhausting drives along these circumferential roads. Automobiles struggle to maintain a speed of 20 MPH because the road passes from town to town with not much countryside or open space in between. Business are located directly on the circumferential road and driver’s need to be on the lookout for pedestrians. Also, any sort of motorized vehicle could appear on a Filipino road, some of which struggle to reach 10 MPH. 5 miles outside of a major city traffic crawls to a stop – there’s only one road in and one road out, and everyone is on that road.
We finally arrived in Cagayan de Oro. That night we are dinner at Mesa, one of my favorite restaurants that serves a modern take on traditional Filipino cuisine.
The first morning in Cagayan de Oro, we were up early and on our way to another Catholic shrine, Our Mother of Guadalupe. This was a completely different pilgrimage than Simila. Instead of a drive to a monstrous cathedral it was a three-hour round-trip hike through jungles and rivers before reaching a modest church. The route to the church included stops for the 14 Stations of the Cross, depicting Jesus's final days, hanging from the cross, and resurrection. We lit candles at each station. A short service, which amazingly was in English, was held once we reach the church.
We finally arrived in Cagayan de Oro. That night we are dinner at Mesa, one of my favorite restaurants that serves a modern take on traditional Filipino cuisine.
The first morning in Cagayan de Oro, we were up early and on our way to another Catholic shrine, Our Mother of Guadalupe. This was a completely different pilgrimage than Simila. Instead of a drive to a monstrous cathedral it was a three-hour round-trip hike through jungles and rivers before reaching a modest church. The route to the church included stops for the 14 Stations of the Cross, depicting Jesus's final days, hanging from the cross, and resurrection. We lit candles at each station. A short service, which amazingly was in English, was held once we reach the church.
Back in Cagayan de Oro I braved the heat and visited two local coffee shops in the Divosoria area, the city’s historical central square - 90 degrees, 75% humidity, drinking coffee at 1pm…I am truly committed to the local coffee experience.
I remember the first time I visited Cagayan de Oro in November 2012. I arrived at a dump of an airport and stayed at Mallberry Suites, a midrange business hotel located near the Robinson's Department store, the city's primary shopping destination. When I returned two years later in January 2015 I landed at a new airport. The city had undergone a major transformation with not one but two glistening New malls each with an adjoining luxury hotel. There was a lifestyle night district that's as cool of a late-night drinking district as I've seen, albeit a bit on the small side. Four years later, as of April 2019, the economic uptick continues. There's a third fancy mall, with a third luxury hotel. There's another nightlife district with a rooftop bar.
As impressive as this is, the more impressive development has been beyond the malls and chain stores at a local level. There’s about ten coffee shops that have opened in the past four years, new restaurants with menus ranging from farm to table to French, the city has caught the gourmet burger craze, and has a few upscale bars. The only thing missing are microbrewery and these would seem to be way, way off. I doubt I'll see microbreweries until overseas Filipinos start relocating back to the Philippines.
The thing to remember when you are taking in these new dining and nightlife experiences is that while it seems the city is firing on all cylinders, participating in these signs of economic advancement are still out of reach for the majority of residents. On the second to last night of the trip Joyce, her brother, two cousins, and I drank a couple buckets of beer at Sky Bar – it’s the sort of place I’d visit every weekend but her brother and cousins had never visited since it opened over a year ago.
The economic progress may be most visible at Joyce's mother’s house and neighborhood. Joyce's mother has been working hard in California and sending money back to the Philippines for home improvements. There's a tiled bathroom and shower. Joyce's mother’s room and her storefront have been turned into a comfortable living room. The most dramatic change was to the space directly outside Joyce's bedroom. This space was previously an 8-foot-wide courtyard and a pig pen. literally a pig pen. It's now a beautiful dining room and kitchen.
As impressive as this is, the more impressive development has been beyond the malls and chain stores at a local level. There’s about ten coffee shops that have opened in the past four years, new restaurants with menus ranging from farm to table to French, the city has caught the gourmet burger craze, and has a few upscale bars. The only thing missing are microbrewery and these would seem to be way, way off. I doubt I'll see microbreweries until overseas Filipinos start relocating back to the Philippines.
The thing to remember when you are taking in these new dining and nightlife experiences is that while it seems the city is firing on all cylinders, participating in these signs of economic advancement are still out of reach for the majority of residents. On the second to last night of the trip Joyce, her brother, two cousins, and I drank a couple buckets of beer at Sky Bar – it’s the sort of place I’d visit every weekend but her brother and cousins had never visited since it opened over a year ago.
The economic progress may be most visible at Joyce's mother’s house and neighborhood. Joyce's mother has been working hard in California and sending money back to the Philippines for home improvements. There's a tiled bathroom and shower. Joyce's mother’s room and her storefront have been turned into a comfortable living room. The most dramatic change was to the space directly outside Joyce's bedroom. This space was previously an 8-foot-wide courtyard and a pig pen. literally a pig pen. It's now a beautiful dining room and kitchen.
Joyce's neighborhood is transforming as well. The federal government was closing open sewers and paving dirt roads. Once completed Joyce's mom will be able to obtain a title for their property. Finally, a political promise that came true.
The final full day in the Philippines was another lazy day. We grilled pork belly and in hindsight wish I had eaten this every meal during my trip. I don't necessarily believe that pork tastes better in the Philippines than elsewhere, I kind of prefer pork tenderloin, pork roll, and scrapple over Filipino lechon (crazy, I know), but there is something about the cut of the Filipino pork belly that is in a separate class of pork than I've ever eaten. It's the perfect cut of white meat with a little fat that I've never seen replicated elsewhere.
I visited two more coffee shops in the afternoon before meeting twenty of Joyce's Aunts and cousins for dinner at a Filipino seafood restaurant. Family style dining with my extended Filipino family. It was the best way to end the trip.
I visited two more coffee shops in the afternoon before meeting twenty of Joyce's Aunts and cousins for dinner at a Filipino seafood restaurant. Family style dining with my extended Filipino family. It was the best way to end the trip.