Tag: cousins

Las Filipinas

Las Filipinas… it’s been long overdue that I visit my native land, where both my parents were born and immigrated from with my grandparents when they were kids. While a visit would have only been made better if my parents and sisters were there, and while it was unfortunate that I was meeting my father’s side of the family for the first time under the circumstances of my great-grandmother’s passing, it felt really amazing to be in the land of my people.

Visiting the Philippines felt a lot like visiting Toronto in the sense that I was going there to see and spend with family, (most of whom I was meeting for the first time!!!) who were the most generous hosts and hospitable guides. It was nice to be surrounded by family being away from mine since August, and to have family act as my travel guide as well as be the best kind of traveling company.

Without my relatives, I don’t know how I would have gotten anywhere. Traffic, especially in Manila can be particularly awful, but I had the best time riding public transportation in the form of “jeepneys,” (small, colorfully ornamented public buses) and in the sidecar of motorcycles.I spent the majority of my time with my great-aunt Flory who lives in Manila and together with my aunts, we also visited the northern province of Luzon (Ilocos Sur & Norte), and Tagaytay in Cavite. I also traveled further south to Oriental Mindoro, where my great-grandmother lived.

There were a lot of firsts for me in the Philippines: I met a LOT of cousins, and great-aunts and uncles for the first time, rode a horse, sang karaoke outdoors, ate a lot of homecooked Filipino meals for the first time in months (!!!), fed a camel, saw a windmill up close, went swimming in a waterfall, and watched a dancing fountain show coordinated to “Watch Me-Whip/Nae Nae” (among other songs).

If I could describe the Philippines in one word, it’d be “warm.” The Philippines has a very lush, tropical climate year-round, so it is very literally a warm place. There are a lot of farms, rice fields, beaches, and waterfalls. Manila is a big city, but visiting smaller towns, and rural provinces was refreshing after the hustle and bustle of China, and Hong Kong.

The people of the Philippines were so warm and welcoming as well. My family showed me the warmest hospitality and made sure I enjoyed my visit. My trip there was such a treat. I’m always grateful, so grateful, and I feel so proud of my roots. Maraming salamat po, las Filipinas!!! Until next time.

I’ve been in Japan for a few weeks now, friends. I hope to update you sooner than later about my time in Tokyo before I jet-off and run my JR pass to the ground starting this weekend… but if I can’t, sit tight. I will share about my time here, promise.

A happy week to you all, and happy watching my Philippines footage!

Love from Japan ♥

The kids table is always the best table.

If you disagree… I mean, to each his own. But really? What kind of person would prefer to talk to older and taller humans about grown-up things (whatever those things are), when you can laugh at fart noises without being judged and nobody feels guilty about having three servings of cake?

I recently got back from a month long visit to Canada. I was born there, and that is where most of my extended family lives. My parents, sisters and I try to go once a year, but the past couple of years I’ve been visiting on my own. It hasn’t been the same, but nonetheless, I’m always so grateful to spend time with my family up North, since it’s really only an annual thing.

It’s so crazy how much can change within a year. I’m the eldest grandchild on both sides of my family, so everytime I visit, it seems that more of my cousins have outgrown me. I can’t believe that two of them graduate high school this upcoming week, and that another two are moving to California in August to go to school and all my little cousins aren’t so little anymore!!

I can always be my silliest self around my younger cousins, and it’s always the most fun… #kidstable4lyfe.

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Simply put, the kids table is the simplest. It’s a retreat back into the easygoing, good ways of childhood. No one is asking any serious questions (the most serious question being: can you break-dance?), and there’s no pressure (unless it’s to get up and demonstrate said dancing skills). Really, you don’t have to say or do much as an older, bigger kid at the kid’s table. Just sit back, let the kiddos do the talking, hence all the entertaining (their conversations are ten times more fascinating than any grown-up conversation I’ve been apart of) and be prepared to bring your a-game should you be challenged to a dance off.