Something I've written countless times on here is how overdue a post is and yep, I'm right there again... and I'm still a whole set of photos behind! Yeah, I know, that's about as first world as a problem can get, huh? Regardless, hopefully it's not too long before I get my US/Canada trip up on here.
Last Christmas, I was able to go home to the Philippines with my family for the first time since I was born, after a whopping 33 years. The rest of my family had been back numerous times but due to my health, travel back to the tropical climate had never been a viable option and admittedly, that was largely proven this time around. I was there a total of 11 days and my skin was wildly angry with me for most of it, which is a real shame because honestly, I fell right in love with the Phils from the second we landed in Manila.
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| Unfortunately, there is no viable representation for how insanely excited I was taking this first photo. |
Prior to my trip, I had been told for years just how wonderful it always was going back to the Phils - by family, by friends, by strangers who incidentally found out I was Pinoy and decided to share their experience - and these professions were often met with mixed emotions. My relationship with the notion of going back had always been complicated. My health, at least according to my parents, was a significant part of our choosing to live in Australia. It was understood that the weather back home wouldn't likely be merciful to my skin and it was because of this worry that whenever the family would go back to visit, I would never go with them.
Quite honestly, I really didn't mind although that in itself made me feel somewhat guilty about having no interest in going back especially considering that, to many others, that lack of interest was something of an insult. Furthermore, alongside the worry about how my health would cope, I'm pretty sure I also harboured an unacknowledged fear of flying, coupled with no real desire to actually travel anywhere overseas. Sure, I'd had past notions of wanting to see Disneyland as a kid and two movies with 'Sabrina' in the titled fairly tickled notions of getting to see Paris and Rome. Collectively, the rest of my family had lived in/been to the Phils, the US and further visited Europe on exchange or pilgrimage and I had vague notions of wanting to do the same, but hardly very strong ones.
Of course, this 'fear of flying' was eventually defeated after I decided to go for a nice long holiday to the US in 2010 upon realising that an overseas trip wouldn't actually completely bankrupt me (no, really, I had never considered it a possibility before then and then I looked up flights to New York thanks to the tales of my lovely workmate, Jenny, and immediately thought, whoa... I can potentially afford that!) so after carefully choosing a time of year I felt would be kindest to my health, off to the States I flew for an unforgettably awesome 5 weeks.
Wonderful and amazing though that trip was, I admittedly had it in my head that it was a once in a lifetime thing. Coming back to redundancy and an incapacity to work for a number of months due to health, the notion of employment, let alone steady enough employment to even think of saving money for another trip anywhere, was just not something I could imagine at the time.
Thankfully, I was able to ease back into the workplace again and by end of 2011, I was back in the game and after a few years of saving, I was finally able to
tour Europe with some friends in 2014. In 2015, I had the even greater fortune of
being invited to stay with some friends in Germany where they had moved temporarily for work.
Unwittingly long story short, by the time it was suggested that my parents wanted to have their 40th Wedding Anniversary in the Philippines with the rest of the family, I was automatically reluctant. Despite now having been a good few places, I had never yet tested myself in the climate I'd spent my life fearing. Saying that, I was definitely a lot more open to the idea now that I'd actually gone through the motions of travel and had more confidence in my ability to manage it, regardless of my health (not to mention my growing obsession with it, of course), so by the time we took off from Sydney, I was ready. Ready to finally see the country in which I was born, ready to finally meet the family I'd never met and ready to face fears I'd held for years.
And, skin be damned, it was all totally worth it.
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| I finally got to see a jeepney with my own eyes. Philippines, I am really in you! Meanwhile, I have to say, though everyone warned me about what traffic would be like in Manila, the second we were thrown right into it, it actually made perfect sense to me. I may be unaccustomed to incessant honking on the road, but the driving language there is completely different and absolutely perfect for the situation. No one would get anywhere safely over there if people didn't signal their location with the horns or get their car nose right up in there once a half inch opened up. Yes, we were stuck in spots for ages but I really didn't mind it at all. Also, very few situations on the road drive you too nuts after you've literally sat in one spot for 3 hours straight. That's right, New Jersey Turnpike, I'm looking right at your congested ass! |
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| Ok, I didn't take many photos like this as I felt quite invasive doing so, but straight out of the airport, the reality of a whole other kind of life is everywhere. At one point, we were stopped in traffic and these little kids came up to the car windows to beg. Tiny, tiny children who looked like they had nothing and made me want to cry for not having anything to give, no money, no food... my tita gave them candies in the end but, really, nothing had ever torn at my heart the way that moment did. It kills me to think that anything they do get could very possibly go to someone who is exploiting them and their innocence. |
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| My first time in the family home since shortly after I was born. |
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| Ah, Resorts World. I'll never not have mixed feelings about the existence of places like this particularly in poorer cities. |
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| Yes, those are crab shells! |
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| A Royal Blue Christmas with the best family anyone could ask for. Seriously. |
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| Fully Booked! My little bookstore loving heart exploded. |
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| Looking at the city as we began the drive to Tagaytay to celebrate my parents' 40th wedding anniversary. |
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| Tagaytay was lovely and the air was so kind. Though I was so happy to be there, I spent most of the day painfully uncomfortable and itchy but the cleaner, fresher, less humid air out there provided something of a balm after the city air. |
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| I will never see this and not think, 'Karaoke!' |
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| Beautiful Manila Bay Sunset. |
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| Manila Ocean Park's Symphony of Lights. Ok, I got surprisingly emotional watching this. Honestly this was a fantastically choreographed show with some perfectly chosen music. I was really impressed. |
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| Project Pie Profoundness. Loved that place and its fabulous pizza pies. |
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| Filo feasting at its finest. After years of photos on Viber, I finally got to be in one! |
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| Ponging it up with the cousins. Hilarious times. My cousin, RJ (not pictured), is hands down one of the funniest people I've ever met in my life. His siblings get honourable mention. My gut was busted every single day. |
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| Pastel Ladies on NYE 2015-2016. The colour-coordinated fun times never stopped! |
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| Right before I left for the airport... and they all came. The absolute best airport entourage you could ever hope for. I carry this photo with me always. |
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And... done! Till next time, Phils. Thank you, as well as every other trip I've taken but especially you, for being so wonderful and furthermore providing me with just about the biggest bout of perspective I've ever received. On every count possible, I am ridiculously fortunate.
Fortunate to have been born into a culture of which I'm immensely proud, yes, all its past and ongoing transgressions notwithstanding.
Fortunate to have been given the chance to live in the beautiful and bountiful country I do now and to create the life I live and love.
Fortunate to have the physical, emotional and financial means to actually return to the country in which I was born and visit so many others.
Fortunate to have such an amazing family here in Australia, in the US and in the Phils and to have now almost met them all after 34 years.
I am a very, very lucky human.
