Tagaytay

 Hi Friends!! 

Today we got up bright and early to travel to a suburban vacation town called Tagaytay. It’s pronounced tah-guy-tie in case you were really confused reading that like I was. Uncle Vic has a childhood best friend here in the Philippines, so we will be staying with their family in their vacation home. Auntie Weng and I have been going crazy over how big the plants get over here and the garden in the vacation home did not disappoint!

Since we were eating home cooked food, Uncle Vic’s friends were able to accommodate my allergies and I got to try real Filipino dishes, chicken tinola (which is a ginger garlic chicken soup) and beef bulalo (which is a bone marrow soup). I didn’t eat the marrow itself because the texture was too weird for me but I did enjoy the tenderness of the meat and the bone broth. As you can see on our plates are a fork and a spoon because they don’t use knives here at the table. It didn’t take me too long to figure out how to use the spoon and fork to cut the meat but I will say that I think the Bengalis have it right, eating with your hands is so much easier and the food tastes better too! 

Our afternoon adventure was to the People’s Park in the Sky which was a viewpoint at the very top of a mountain. I’m usually unafraid of heights but it was our driver’s first time driving a stick shift and it was a two lane road the whole way up, definitely not a good idea on any account, but it’s not like I could drive the van myself. We were all holding our breaths when the driver stalled the car a few times up the road! Also, unbeknownst to us cars can’t go to the very top, so Issa and I had to hike the rest of the way in flip flops! At least there was a paved road which made it a little bit easier.

The view was definitely worth the journey. Down below you see the lake and Taal Volcano. Its last eruption was on March 26, 2022  and it is currently degassing at 14 thousand tons per day which made the air smell like sulfur, even from where we were.

With all the hiking we were ready for a snack and I was in heaven when I saw the fruit stalls! Of course I asked everyone if we could stop and stock up. We got half a kilo of mangosteen for $5, which is unheard of in the U.S. There was also a local fruit called lanzones which I tried and really loved! It’s sweet and sour and kind of has the texture of a grape. And I think we bought like 15 mangos since I’ve been pretty much finishing a whole mango myself every day. They’re just too good to resist and don’t taste anything like the ones we get back home. 

Exhausted from our day in the sun and travels we called it a night only to find that none of us were actually prepared for what it means to be living in the suburbs of a third world country. Aka Issa and Auntie Weng took cold showers while I researched the hot water heater. You’ll be impressed, I found the exact Panasonic model and read the entire manual and managed to get the hot water going! Desperate times calls for desperate measures. For those of you that remember I lived in Bangladesh for a summer and took cold showers every. single. day. Mostly because my grandma insisted on showering before me and finished the hot water but either way I was NOT about to do that again lol. And you can forget about having any water pressure, unless you want to shower in cold water. Also, they don’t use mosquito nets here, so we learned the hard way that those buggers could get through the screens on the windows. We basically had to pick between the overwhelmingly loud noise of the AC unit or cracking the window and letting a few bugs into the room, to which we chose the latter. Issa and I went to bed giggling so hard at how Americanized and spoiled we are. Here’s to hoping we adjust quickly!

Love you all,

Carolyn 

Manila

 Hi Everyone!

Isabel and I crashed so hard last night when we finally arrived in Manila at midnight, let’s just say I’m going to think twice before traveling for over 35 hours without a bed again. It was totally worth it though! Even if the 8 am wake up call from Uncle Vic (Isabel’s dad) was rough and jet lag was pretty hard to beat today.

It’s Sunday here and because the dominant religion of the Philippines is Catholicism most of the city was at church today, including myself! Each culture is so different and Filipino church in the Philippines was quite the experience. At the end of mass everyone rushed to the front, hands raised in the air, as the priest threw holy water on the crowd, almost like he was a DJ that had popped a champagne bottle and was spraying it around at a club. I can only compare as far as I’ve seen in movies of course ;)

You guys would be so surprised if you came here. I know I was, especially since the last time I was in an Asian third world country was ten years ago. And I know we were staying in the nicer district here but everything was beautiful and clean and so safe! It was way better than LA or even Pasadena, which really says something about our country. Being back in Asia is like wrapping myself in my favorite warm blanket on a winter’s day. The plants are so lush and green and everyone is so warm and friendly. It’s so amazing to me that these are people who are really struggling, and live hard lives to earn few dollars, and yet you’re never left wanting for a helping hand or a genuine smile.

Isabel, Uncle Vic, and I walked around the neighboring hotels and casinos, it was so strange because it really felt like we were in Vegas. The casinos connected into high end shops, all the lobbies were decorated for Chinese New Year, and the indoor greenery was spectacular. 

Auntie Weng joined us for lunch after our walk around town and we went to an authentic Filipino restaurant. Finding food here is not easy! Everything is pork and if it doesn’t have pork then it has fish sauce. Even today Auntie Weng ordered veggies for me which we specially requested to be made without fish sauce only to find that veggies here are made with chicken, shrimp, and pork. Oh well, you live and learn, next time I’ll make sure that my side of veggies is actually vegetarian lol! 

The most surprising part of my day was when went to the Rockwell. It was an old power plant that had been converted into a mall, and too be honest I wasn’t expecting much. To my surprise it was a mall of luxury and foreign brands! You name it, you could find it here, Chanel, Versace, they even had a Levi’s store! It’s so weird being half way across the world and feeling like I’m at the South Coast Plaza in Orange County. The one thing I will say is that their mall has way better snacks, we stopped for this traditional dish called Taho, which is tofu and tapioca pearls drizzled in syrup. It was delicious! The tofu was almost like flan with its texture, I’ve never tasted anything like it and I’ll definitely be ordering it again while I’m here. I also got a calamansi melon soda which was tart and refreshing. Calamansi is a type of lime that’s really popular here, it’s less bitter than a regular lime but still has that sharp tang to it. If you ever come across one you should definitely try it! 

Having successfully defeated jet lag, and rather unsuccessfully shopped (it’s hard to buy things you can get cheaper back at home), we happily called it a night. 

I’ll keep you posted on our new adventures tomorrow. We’re already heading out to another town in the morning, wish us luck dealing with traffic in the PI! 

Love you all,

Aisha 

17,806 Steps in Seoul

Hi Everybody!!

After almost 18 hours of travel time Isabel, Auntie Weng, and I made it to Seoul for a 14 hour layover. Never one to miss an opportunity to check another country off my list, I was thrilled to be getting a taste of Korea through our layover tour! 

We had two hours to spare before our driver Hun arrived so we decided to refresh ourselves in the hall with this very clever makeshift vanity Isabel created. I will say, it did draw a few peculiar looks from the employees but I thought it was genius!

Then we had a quick breakfast of coffee and bagels. Apparently here they put cheese inside the bagel, almost as if it were baked through the middle which was very different and I can’t say I liked it. However, the bread itself was amazing and dare I say, even better than the famous New York bagels. They were so fluffy and light, the proofing was perfect! 

(Below are a few pictures from our drive that don’t really fit in my story but were too pretty not to share!)

By 7 am our driver Hun arrived and took us to the only place open in Seoul early on a Saturday morning, Jogyesa temple. Which was how two Catholics, a Muslim, and an atheist all found themselves at a Buddhist temple for morning worship lol! We weren’t allowed to take pictures inside but the outside had a gate with four spiritual protectors in each corner that the worshipers would bow to each one before entering the grounds. 

Around the courtyard there were hundreds of lanterns, each one representing someone’s wish. The temple itself was built in the late 14th century and housed three giant golden Buddhas, one for health, one for wealth, and one for happiness. 

But the most entertaining statue to me was this little guy called a haechi, which is a mythological creature that wards off evil and can distinguish right from wrong and good from bad. Legend says that the haechi rams the corrupt and guilty with its horn. Essentially said creature is fiery, righteous, unicorn lion who stands for justice and I’m obsessed!  

The next place we went to was Bukchonhanok village, a little town with houses that are around 600 years old. Because this place is a historical site, the government pays citizens a million dollars to live here. While the houses are updated, they aren’t particularly modernized, which lead this town to become a senior community. I can’t say I blame the younger generation for wanting to live in apartments! I myself wouldn’t do well without a solid heating and air conditioning system or a microwave lol.

After walking the village we visited Gyeongbokgung palace, which is the main palace in Seoul. Unfortunately because of constant warfare with Japan and then North Korea, not much of this place survived. Most of what we saw was replicas or restoration work, the oldest being 150 years old. But it gave us a good feel for what the palace would have been like. 

They even have reenactments of the changing of the guard ceremonies. 

Over 500 years, Korea had 27 kings which isn’t a great track record. All around the palace are these Korean longevity flowers in an effort to combat their short life spans. You can see them on the shingles above the six white dotted flowers on this gate. Apparently it didn’t work because the kings loved to party and eat and drink in excess according to our guide. They had multiple party buildings in the middle of the lakes, which was intentional so that the spaces didn’t get too hot during the summers and also had beautiful scenery while entertaining.

Another fun fact is that in Korea the king was only allowed 9 concubines because of Confucianism. There were other peculiar influences of Confucianism throughout the palace, for instance the stone floors were extremely uneven and placed at different heights intentionally because it was considered impolite to run and everyone in court was supposed to walk slowly. I myself tripped a few times when I wasn’t paying enough attention to where I was walking, guess that trick really does work to force people to be mindful! I can’t really say that my poor feet agreed.

One of the highlights of the palace was that for once my 5’5’’ self felt tall! I was practically a giant going through all these doorways! 

By the time we finished perusing the grounds all of us were frozen, so Hun took us to get Korean chicken soup for lunch. They stuffed the chicken with ginseng, rice, and dates and boiled it in a bone broth. It was the perfect meal to reinvigorate us for the markets.

We visited two markets called Insadong and Hongdae. Insadong had lots of souvenir shops and little trinkets. The streets were so busy because according to Hun it was a “nice” day at 30° and everyone wanted to be outside enjoying the “sun.” I was freezing despite wearing thermals and layers. 

Thankfully we warmed up in a traditional tea house before going to the very trendy market in Hongdae where I promptly realized that I am now too old to be hip and trendy, even in Korea. I did enjoy watching everyone else’s sense of style and fashion but it almost felt like I walked onto a college campus town center and stood out like a sore thumb. Thankfully street food has no age so we enjoyed all the little stalls with snacks like this one. This was fried dough filled with red beans but shaped like fish and basically the only type of fish I’ll ever get to eat in this lifetime. I can’t complain though, as it was delicious!!

Before I knew it our day was over and it was time to get back to the airport to catch our flight to Manila. We did a lot done in 9 hours and all three of us were beat but so happy to have explored. Who knows, maybe I’ll come back again to finish seeing the rest of this country. All I can say is that after today I’m satisfied…for now…

Talk to you all tomorrow!

Lots of love,

Carolyn