So 13 years after I had last gone to visit the Philippines, I went back again, and now it was over.
As I look back, I have no regrets about our family moving to the States. But at that point, it meant a lot of things.
It meant the family - the grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins - I was so used to seeing on a regular basis was going to be an ocean away.
It meant finding new friends, which is not the easiest thing for a 12 year old about to enter high school.
It meant giving up being Filipino to a certain extent, as you cannot enter a whole new culture and country and expect to not be changed in some way or another.
It meant a lot of things, but in a nutshell, it meant saying goodbye to the only world I had ever known.
There are times when I wonder, what if we ended up not moving to New York. And as unfathomable as it was back then imagining not living in the Philippines, it's just as unfathomable to me now imagining not moving to New York. I appreciate all the opportunities moving here has presented me. And the family and friends I did not get a chance to see as often --- like Tita Thelma (ESPECIALLY Tita Thelma actually) --- I got to see a lot more often from that point on as most of them were based in New York as well.
But the best thing about moving from the Philippines? It made one appreciate all its good and all its bad that much more. And in the end, it makes one even more glad that one's core is a product of all that good, and all that bad.
Manila, Iloilo, Bacolod - they will always be home to me, just like New York will always be home to me as well.
I hope I get to see home more often in the future.
Till then, Coming To Manila is closed.
Monday, April 21, 2008
Coming To Manila: Epilogue
Coming To Manila, Day 15: Back To New York
So woke up early again to pack, as our flight was in the early afternoon. As promised, Tita Doris dropped by with Rodel, and I felt like I was 12 years old again, saying goodbye to her when we left the country for good.
She had to leave before Rodel brought us to the airport, and she started crying as she said goodbye. I told her to stop it, and save the tears for when she sees Gina again, because one way or another I will try to get her to come visit in 2008.
As we were finishing up packing (me with Tita Dors' help), the doorbell rang and I went to open it, expecting it to be Ate Michelle. I was very pleasantly surprised though when I opened it and I saw Manong Toto.
Manong, as he was scheduled to, had taken an early flight from Iloilo but instead of going home he went straight to our hotel from the airport to say hello. He really didn't have to, and I appreciated it so much and was so glad to see him. I won't lie to you, he scared the bejeezus out of me growing up and Nonoy has his own war stories about that, but looking back, my fear was never warranted. I don't recall him yelling at me ever, and in all those weekends I spent in Fairview, he was like a big brother to me. I mean, Nonoy and I were hyper 10-12 year olds and while we gave him fair reason to be rather annoyed at us, I actually remember having some great conversations with him about sports and life around that time.
And this memory, I will never forget, even though he probably has: I was at Fairview one weekend, and I knocked a bottle down by accident, shattering it. However, a piece of the bottle fell straight down on my thigh, opening a cut. There I was crying, and a bit shocked to see my own blood gushing out, and it was Manong Toto who calmed me down and then cleaned my wound up. It's memories like that, of the little acts of kindness shown to me, which I always remember, to be honest with you.
Soon afterwards, Ate Michelle, Marielle and Andre arrived and then it was finally time to go to the airport. We said our goodbyes at the lobby (and it was at that point I started my campaign to have Manong Toto come visit the States with Ate Michelle in 2008), and then Rodel drove TJC and I to catch our plane.
Long story short, 24 hours later, we were back in New York City and Coming To Manila was officially a memory.
Coming To Manila, Day 14: Return to Manila
So we woke up at the crack of ass to get ready to go back to Manila.
Because of the "super typhoon" warnings, all the hotels had put their boats on dry dock, so instead of taking those, our escorts from the hotel rode the public ferry with us to Caticlan. From there, we took a shuttle to Kalibo, since we were flying out from there. The flight was delayed yet again, but good ol' Rodel was waiting for us at the airport.
For our last night, we were staying at the Manila Peninsula, and I must say it was a pretty darn nice hotel. It was one of the nicest ones I had ever stayed in actually.
I don't know if the picture does it justice, but it really was so elegant, the lobby. Unfortunately, about a week later, this and this happened, which led to a running joke about how TJC and I were the Prophets of Destruction. I mean, we were at the Philippine Congress hours before it was bombed (see Day 3), and now, the Pen was the scene of a mutiny and a siege.
Ate Michelle met us at the Pen, and she went out and did her own thing while Tito Alex picked us up and brought us to Serendra to get a closer look at things, including the model units they had. It was pretty darn sweet, I have to admit. I checked out the site where the condo my sister and I bought will be going up, and was quite pleased.
Above is a model of The Aston, and it was quite a treat imagining what the thing will look like once it is built. Our unit is on the 32nd floor, right below the Penthouses, facing East, so being the geek that I am, I started counting up to 32 on the model just for fun.
After our visit at Serendra, Tito Alex brought us to the Mall of Asia for a quick look see. Holy cow, the malls in the Philippines are huge, but this one took the cake. Biggest one in the country, and the third biggest one in the world actually. It took us about half an hour to walk about 1/10th of it.
Tito Alex then dropped us off back at the Pen, where we met up with Ate Michelle again. Since the rest of the family was in Iloilo for a wedding, Ate Michelle was kind enough to take us to dinner with some of her family members on our last night. We went back to Serendra again, and ate at a restaurant whose name escapes me right now. Don't get me wrong though, the food was delicious.
Joining us for dinner were Ate Michelle's sister Marielle, her fiance Andre, and Ate Michelle's cousins Katrina and Miggie. Here is a picture of us after dinner:
We all went to a coffee place afterwards, and stayed there till pretty late actually - about 1 A.M. or so. And it turns out Miggie was in a convent at one point, before the Mother Superior gave her the "Climb Every Mountain" speech straight out of The Sound of Music. Or at least that's the version I remember. Ha.
Afterwards, it was time to go back to the hotel. Ate Michelle told me she'll drop by before we leave, and that Tita Dors will drop by as well, and then Rodel will bring us to the airport.
The end was almost here...
Coming To Manila, Day 13: The Last Full Day At Boracay
So, as the end of our trip not only to Boracay but to the Philippines approached, TJC and I were a bit worried as we were hearing on the news about a "super typhoon" that was going to hit certain parts of the Philippines.
The brunt of it was not going to hit Boracay or Manila, but there was enough winds and what not to potentially cause us problems. Anyway, that was not enough to prevent us from enjoying our last day there, so off to the beach we went again, with the usual Jonah's interlude. TJC's "shark bait" comment had me looking for dorsal fins in the horizon when I was in the water though. Of course, there were none, but still...
Dinner was at the Boracay Steakhouse again, and drinks were at Pat's Creek, Hey Jude and a Summer Place (sans trannies this time around, I guess they moved on to a different place that night). Called it a night after that, as the trip's end slowly came towards us...
Tuesday, April 1, 2008
Coming To Manila, Day 12: Thanksgiving Day At Boracay
So nothing new to report about the activities during the day: went to the beach, read a book, got into the water a few times, went to Jonah's, etc. etc.
However, that day happened to be Thanksgiving Day, and for weeks upon weeks, TJC was talking nonstop about how he can't miss Thanksgiving, we had to find a place that would have a traditional Thanksgiving dinner, etc. etc. Needless to say, places like those are few and far between in an Island in the middle of the Pacific.
We ended up going to dinner at Boracay Steakhouse, an Australian steakhouse place. The food was phenomenal actually, and not expensive at all to boot. We looked for a place to drink afterwards and ended up at A Summer Place. The place was jamming, and we saw Anne Curtis again, and TJC was quite happy to note that "she turns red when she drinks, just like me". What was unique about the place though was a clique of transvestites were at the bar (sometimes even working behind it), and they were quite a sight. There were some old drunk white men hitting on a few of them nonstop and we were debating with some of our neighbors if they realized they were trannys or not.
At one point, we were talking to this couple from Michigan - he was white, and she was Filipina (and born and raised in the Philippines too). We introduced ourselves, and TJC told the guy his name. The guy goes: "Hey, how come you have an American name??". TJC went: "That's because I AM American!". Silly white folk.
Anyway, between the tropical setting and the trannys at the bar, it was the most unusual Thanksgiving I have ever spent.
Coming To Manila, Day 11: Erwin's Turn To Get Burnt
So our second full day in Boracay, and it was blazingly sunny during the day. Slathered myself all over with sunscreen, but it did not really help as by the time the day was done, I was burnt, and burnt bad.
We spent the day on the beach again, reading a book, going into the water ever so often, and then it started raining around 5 PM. By the time evening rolled around, it was pouring nonstop. We decided to eat at the hotel's restaurant and stayed in afterward. Which was fine really, since the sunburn was very uncomfortable.
Coming To Manila, Day 10: TJC Flambe
So after a long hiatus, Coming To Manila is back.
So the next few entries will be quite similar in their entries; it's basically a day on the beach redux.
Anyway, since it was our first full day in Boracay, we finally got to hit the beach. We were checking out the sky beforehand and it was overcast. TJC decided he did not need to put on any sunscreen since it was overcast, but I told him: "Dude, we're by the equator. You should." He didn't anyway, and let's just say by the time we got back to the room hours later, he was red again - but this time not from drinking, but because he was burnt.
Before that though, it was so much fun getting into the water again. Last time I was in the waters of Boracay, I was about 12 years old. Almost 20 years later, here I was again, and the crystal clear waters were exactly as I remember it. And just like back then, schools of fish would swim by me; I told TJC about it and his reply was: "Shark bait."
So hours later, after we rested up and what not (and after our daily Jonah's Milkshake stop), Burnt TJC and I went out to dinner around 10 PM, and ended up at this Korean/Japanese restaurant. We grabbed drinks afterward at Hey Jude again, and called it a night soon after.
