Jasper and I decided to pay a visit to the Philippines because a bunch of our colleagues are from there. We had a work trip to Korea, but I had wanted to drop by the PH to see them first. I’ve worked with most of them for many years online, and thought it would be nice to finally see them in person.
However, the moment we arrived at the airport, we were scammed by the taxis. We saw people calling us over for taxis, and had assumed they were legitimate since it was at the airport. However, later on, we realized we were charged 3x more than what we would’ve paid if we had gone with the Grab option instead (their version of Uber).
I was so mad. And the driver even had the guts to ask us for a tip! How dare you!?
For anyone who is considering going to Manila, I would highly advise you NOT to go unless you have local friends who could take you around.
I also needed a SIM card. However, I was too afraid to buy one because I felt like they were going to overcharge me and I didn’t want to pay 5x more than a local. So, I decided to wait for my local friends to help me when I’d meet them the day after.
The next day, we met two of our local colleagues/friends in Chinatown. We were stunned by how busy it was. Although it was Lunar New Year, I didn’t expect it to be such a celebrated holiday in the Philippines! Apparently, Binondo, located in Manila, is considered the world’s oldest Chinatown!
We went to the Chinatown museum, and it was kind of cool. The display made it very picture-friendly, but I didn’t take many pics.
Then, we had lunch at a dumpling noodle place that Felis recommended. It was VERY good, but the wait was 45 minutes. Once again, I was flabbergasted.
Jasper and I were not used to the heat, and we had to order ice to put into our drinks to cool down. Nonetheless, the dumplings were big and juicy, and it was worth the wait!
Then, we tried to leave Chinatown to head to the National History Museum. Little did we know that the Grab driver would take almost an hour to get to us because of all the traffic. We could’ve probably walked faster. I’m still astonished that the driver didn’t give up and cancel his ride with us. So dedicated!
Meanwhile, CZ had biked there and was waiting for a long time. Sorry, CZ!
The National History Museum was super nice. Felis made so many puns, and is the ultimate pun master.
I was looking at a lake exhibit, and Felis came over to ask me, “What do you call a counterfeit lake?”
I said, “I don’t know…?”
Felis replied, “A fake!”
And while I was looking at the pitcher plant, Felis commented, “Are you going to take a picture of the pitcher?”
I was soooo impressed. Felis is one of the punniest people I’ve ever met! The word play is brilliant! XD
There’s a common Chinese novel quote that goes, “You have eyes, but you can’t recognize Mount Tai.”
Well, my version is, “I have eyes, and I recognize the punny one, Felis!”
By the way, Felis is one of our best editors on Wuxiaworld, and CZ is one of our staff who deals with tech and customer support! Thank you for all your contributions, guys!
After the museum, we went to the Belfry Café. They had a bell inside the café, which was actually quite cool. Felis made another joke, but I can’t remember what was said since it’s been 8 months (oops). We spent more time chatting and getting to know each other.
Also, during the time we were there, there were a lot of people wearing duck clips on top of their heads. It looked very odd, but cute. Here’s an article about it if you’re interested: https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/se-asia/filipinos-stand-tall-with-duck-hair-clips-as-fad-takes-country-by-storm
Another interesting thing I’ve noticed is that Filipinos really like neon lights. Everything is so bright and neon. They like to make things look very Instagrammable.
The next day, we met with the others who were in the area. We went to the SM Mall of Asia. It was huge, and a very good mall.
We waited for others to arrive outside the McDonalds. It was Raido, CZ, Felis, Invictum, me and Jasper! Yuuko was joining us later in the evening since she was coming from another province.
I was extremely happy to see Invictum because even though we had never met in person, he’s always given me the feeling that things would be ok! I was so happy he came despite the long commute (was it an hour or two?). I knew we would vibe even before meeting, and my sixth sense was correct!
I’ll talk more about Raido later.
Once everyone arrived, we went to have lunch! We went to a Filipino restaurant and ordered a bunch of Filipino dishes. We had the yummy pork, and the super super super super super super sour soup called the sinigang. I feel like sinigang would give someone high blood pressure because of how salty it is. Aiya!
We also had the sisig, and it was really crunchy. And we had halo-halo for dessert! It was good, but I found it so sweet! Everything was so salty or sweet to me.
After lunch, we went the arcade inside the mall. I hadn’t played arcade games in years, so it was actually quite refreshing and fun. CZ showed us who was boss by winning A LOT of tickets. The tickets just kept flowing out! In the end, she redeemed the tickets for a small plushie!
I think going to the arcade is a good date activity if you want to do an activity with a significant other! 😉
Later on, I wanted us to try laser tag, but the time they had available was too late for us. Instead, we left the mall and went outside to go on some rides.
I wanted us to go on the rides together, and we all tried the pirate ship! Each time, it was halfway up in the air, it made my tummy feel funny. I was slightly scared, but I enjoyed the thrill. Not sure about everyone else!
Raido looked like he wanted to curse.
Thank you to everyone who went on even if they were not a fan. 😛
We took a picture, and Raido was super far in the back and looked like he wasn’t part of the group. Haha. Yuuko made fun of him later on when she saw the picture.
We then went karaoke!! As some of you may know, karaoke is my favourite hobby of all times. In fact, my latest karaoke session with my friend lasted 5 hours, and we sang 70 songs. I could probably handle 6 hours if my singing partner rotated with me.
Anyway, the karaoke was quite expensive. It was 3000 PHP for three hours. It did include some food, but still seemed kind of scammy. Perhaps it was because we were in a tourist area.
There were a lot of Chinese businesses there, and we even saw lion dancing! The lions would go to each restaurant and get some red pockets.
Soon, Yuuko arrived and gave me a big hug and asked me to rate it. I gave her a 5-star rating. It was a good, firm, warm hug! A very loving, proud hug! I mentioned I would definitely praise her in my blog post. 😉
The girls (me, Yuuko, CZ), had a blast singing, but the guys looked dead. Raido looked grumpy like always, but it was nice he came even though he isn’t a fan of singing! I had met Raido previously in 2022 when we first went to LA. At the time, a lot of us caught covid.
I still remember his favourite line, “This is trash!”
To this day, I would still imitate him and go, “This is trash!” *points to actual trash*
I still remember how he pointed at the mushrooms outside and asked me if I was going to eat that since I was environmentally friendly and it would’ve gone to waste if no one picked it.
Anyhow, Raido was in PH so that was nice he could join us. I would describe him as a grumpy, kind, talkative man. Haha. Yuuko loves making fun of him too. Hehe.
Invictum also sang very passionately, and Yuuko said this is a typical Filipino man singing karaoke. Haha. It was funny. Too bad I didn’t record him! Invictum is full of passion. Haha!
Felis and Jasper were mainly listening. I hope they enjoyed the music!
After karaoke, I went on some rides with CZ because no one wanted to go on the spinning ones. It was not too high, so I was completely fine. I love rides!
We also went on the ferris wheel! The ferris wheel was nice, but it felt a bit short. We couldn’t all fit in one, so we had to split apart. Yuuko, CZ, me and Jasper were in one. And we took many cute selfies together.
After that, I had wanted to go to a rooftop bar, but Invictum said because of our outfits, we wouldn’t be allowed in. I forget if it was no flipflops or no t-shirts or shorts or something. We didn’t look fancy enough.
But we ended up picking a bar nearby and we ordered some light alcohol and drank and chatted.
Invictum was being a wise dad and giving us life lessons. CZ was sharing her love life with us, and Invictum was very invested and told her not to date someone simply because they were cute. *cough*. Talking about relationships is always fun. Raido also shared some of his stories with the ladies.
Felis didn’t stay too long because it had been a long exhausting day, and was allergic to alcohol? (I think). But I think Felis had fun, and thanks for coming out!!
Meanwhile, Raido didn’t expect the day to be as “fun” as it turned out. He ended up staying a lot later than he intended. Yay!
I was really happy that Raido and Invictum both came out!! It was out of their way, but we had a great time.
Too bad we couldn’t stay longer since me and Jasper were meeting Yuuko and CZ for Star City (an amusement park) the next day.
The next day, we had lunch at Jollibee, and I ordered the steak with rice. It was soooo yummy!
Speaking of which, Filipinos really love rice. At McDonalds, you could actually order one rice. I was SO amused. Take a look!
We then went to Star City, and went on a bunch of rides. The amusement park is half indoors and half outdoors. I really liked the little train ride we had gone on. Jasper even went on a rollercoaster type of ride with me and CZ, but he looked like he was gonna fall off since he was sitting on the edge. Yuuko actually filmed it and made fun of him. Haha. Poor Jasper!! Hehe. But I’m glad he went on despite his fear. Thank you for going out of your comfort zone, Jasper!
I personally am afraid of spooky rides and haunted houses, but we went through a creepy ride too. The only good thing about it was the A/C inside helped me cool down.
Near the end, me and CZ went on a spinning ride, and I was dizzy for 30 minutes after that. I don’t think I can handle spinning rides anymore!
Anyway, we then went to Shake Shack for dinner. It was so expensive. I wonder how Filipinos afford it if they’re earning their local currency.
CZ and Yuuko says it’s just a treat and not something people often do. But there were a lot of people inside, so I think Filipinos really enjoy living in the moment. They must be YOLOing. (YOLO stands for you only live once)
We chatted a lot, and CZ mentioned how it was very common for Filipinos to send money back home. Most of the time, they give probably 80% of what they earned.
I was so shocked that Filipinos would be so willing to do this. 80% is a lot!!! But CZ said that it’s normal because your family raised you. She said that if her grandmother didn’t raise her, she wouldn’t be here today. And she would do anything for her grandmother.
This actually reminds me of the Asian culture. Although I was born in Canada, I still follow a lot of Asian values. I give my parents money and goes to all their appointments with them if they require a translator. It makes it very tough for me, because I feel torn in between.
A part of me wants to leave my parents and just be free, but a part of me feels like I have to stay to take care of them because my parents need me so much. My parents do not speak English and they aren’t tech-savvy either. So when you have this combo in Canada, your life is very hard.
I wish I could be more like CZ and not feel resentful. I want to be a good daughter, but also live my own life. Sigh.
Anyhow, I was so happy that CZ came out three days in a row. By the end of it, she looked half dead and I felt a bit bad. She had run out of energy and asked me how I was still so energetic. Haha. But maybe because she bikes everywhere, so she burns a lot of calories on a daily basis!!
CZ, you need to eat more because you are burning too many calories! Thank you for coming out and helping me get the SIM card!!
After a few days in Manila, me, Jasper, and Yuuko went to Bohol. Yuuko suggested that to experience the PH, we really needed to see other parts since PH is super big!
Bohol is an island province in the Philippines, and is known for their chocolate hills and the tarsiers (they look kinda creepy and cute at the same time. Feel free to google). We took a plane there, and went to a nice hotel Yuuko had previously been before.
There were a lot of restaurants and bars around there, and the Korean Moon restaurant that we tried was so yummy that we went there twice!
Yuuko helped us book a tour, and we went on a day time boat cruise while we ate and admired the scenery. The scenery was gorgeous and the singing was great! The singers sang in different languages (English, Tagalog, and Mandarin).
However, the food was left out all day, and me and Jasper had food poisoning and I had explosive diarrhea for a week after that. I think Yuuko was the only one fine.
Anyhow, there were young girls dancing on the island as a group, and you could give a donation and they would also teach you.
Yuuko got off the boat briefly to dance with them. It was very cute!
When they were dancing on their own, they would go very fast and smack the sticks together very hard. They probably burn a lot of calories by doing this on a regular basis!
The driver also took us to see the chocolate hills. They really look like those truffle chocolates. I think you’d probably want to eat them if you see them! Here’s a picture:
We also went on the ATV! I was soooo scared and didn’t want to drive my own. Luckily, Jasper drove and I just tagged along as a passenger next to him.
It was very dirty and hot. I don’t know how our ATV guide wore long sleeves and covered his face with a mask too. It was like a hat mask. I already found it so hard to breathe. He was also soooo fast at running up to the top of the hill too! Very fit!
Our ATV guide was very experienced at taking pictures, and my favourite picture is the pic of Yuuko stepping on us. He was so creative and pro!
I felt bad for him because he has to hustle so hard. He said this is his life, day in and day out. It is truly hard-earning money.
Me, Jasper, and Yuuko watched the sunset together, and it was so nice. In the end, we gave our ATV guide a big tip! He was very grateful.
I also ended up buying my carpet outfit in the PH. The ladies tried to scam me, but after Yuuko stepped in, I managed to get it for cheaper. I love it, but the needlework is very bad. It looks good on the outside though! (just like most things on social media)
We were also working in the hotel at the beach during most afternoons. It felt nice working by the pool, smelling the salty ocean air, and gazing at the sandy beach.
We went swimming on one evening, and I hadn’t been inside a pool in over a decade. I actually had a toe cramp where my toes were spread apart in a very disturbing manner.
My feet were probably not used to being in the pool after all these years. It was painful, but luckily it went away after a few minutes. I had to put my feet flat on the ground for a few minutes before it resumed its original shape.
On our last night, we had late night drinking on the beach, and it was very nice. Me and Jasper are super lucky to have our PH friends/colleagues take us around and spend time with us. Thank you so much to you all who came out, and especially to Yuuko for being such a great tour guide! Without you, we wouldn’t have gotten to experience so much.
Your hugs are amazing and I can’t wait to get another one! Hope to see you all again in the future!
P.S. If Yuuko hadn’t made such a strong request, who knows when I’ll ever blog… Do you know how many brain cells it takes to write? (Answer: A lot) Hope you enjoyed it!
Grow with me 