I Went To The Philippines!

Hello!
A couple of months ago, my small family of four went to the Philippines. For those people who are nervous about not being able to speak the languages and who are thinking about travelling to the Philippines, DO NOT WORRY most of the wonderful people in the country know how to speak English. However, that doesn't mean you can't learn a few words to expand your cultural experience. Originally being from the Philippines (I'm full Filipino) we were actually there for a holiday as well as my grandma's 90th birthday.

To me, the food was delicious over there. As you all know, everybody has a different taste pallet so the cuisine in the Philippines might not be to everybody's liking. My favourite meal of the day is breakfast so I had to taste their breakfast meals. One dish I especially liked was The Filipino Breakfast which usually consisted of a cup of rice, fried egg and a sweet pork sausage called Longanisa. I ate it for breakfast almost everyday. It wasn't  exactly healthy but I was sure the touring around made up for it. Another dish I really liked was Lechon also known as whole suckling pig. It's normally used at fiestas and parties. We had two at my grandma's birthday and it was gone in  five minutes. The crackling was all that mattered to me at the time, I didn't care if I didn't get any meat I just had to get some crackling. I got some in the end. Yay!

If anyone has a chance to go to Dumagete, go visit the boulevard. It has been my favourite place to visit ever since the age of six.It's basically like a boardwalk with the ocean to your left and food stalls to your right or vise versa depending on where you start the walk. The food stalls sell tempura, fish balls and balut. The thought of eating a nearly developed duck didn't go down too well with me but I wanted to be adventurous. However, after staring at it for a good couple of minutes I didn't end up eating it. I ate the yellow part which was very nice but to avoid the possibility of throwing up on my twin Grace, I couldn't do it. Most people find that It's not the taste but more the texture that turns them away. One thing I loved about being in a country like the Philippines was the endless supply of fresh seafood. I'm a seafood lover and it got me really excited.   All in all I love Filipino cuisine, the combination of sour, sweet and savoury is well balanced in the cooking and if I could, I would eat it everyday.

In the provinces, Grace and I went zip lining. It was a wonderful experience as I hovered over all the greenery. I had never been on a zip line before so at first I was kind of reluctant. Grace, my daredevil sister (not really, she can't sleep with a spider on the ceiling) wanted to do it with or without me. I knew I would regret it if I didn't, so I went ahead. When I got into my harness, my first thought was: that is was really tight and I was glad I wasn't a guy but once I  pushed off from the platform, I felt a sense of relief. It was pretty relaxing, dangling several metres above the ground. It was the closest I was going to get to flying. For now.

Shopping for a whole new wardrobe in the Philippines is cheap but challenging. First of all, there is only so much you can fit in your luggage. Secondly, no refunds once you are back in your home country and Thirdly, if you are a fan of wearing real things customs might confiscate it. I attempted to buy a whole new wardrobe and by the time I got back home, I realised that I really didn't get that much clothes. To top it all off one of the blazers I bought was already tight. Luckily, some of the things I did purchase, went with other clothes in my wardrobe to make a whole new entire outfit. Forever 21 has to be the best clothes shop, I've ever visited. It's got everything, for an affordable price! If anyone has a special way they shop for clothes overseas please help me. 

Well there you go. Just  a small taste of my very big holiday. If you have an opportunity to travel at a more than reasonable price, take it! Take the plunge because not many people can say they've been overseas.

Floating restaurant

Feeding the birds