Historical Background: The challenge of writing about the sixteenth century Philippines, or sixteenth century Britain for that matter, is that so much has changed or been lost to modernity. For countries like my beloved Philippines, there’s the added challenge that history has been vanquished by the soldiers and colonial governments. What I find myself having [...]
Before the trip, my plan was to do field research during the day and then spend about half an hour blogging each night to keep in touch with friends and family outside of the Philippines. But, you see, those plans were made before the Advent of Jetlag. The time difference between Cebu City and Chicago [...]
Life, like the plot of a juicy and unpredictable novel, can have reversals. One afternoon, we were told that the best view of Cebu City would be from the Taoist Temple in Lahug, an affluent part of town in the mountains and home to a thriving Chinese Filipino community. We took a taxi there. On [...]
Excerpted from private journal, 21 April 2007, 2:45 a.m. Cebu time: It’s nearly 3 a.m. I’m not sure, but I think I’ve hit a low point in the trip. I’m feeling a bit discouraged. Yesterday, the shuttle driver who picked us up from the Mactan-Cebu International Airport told us that the Kadaugan Re-enactment of the [...]
It’s Thursday the 26th now and I’m trying to remember what happened last Saturday, 21 April, our first full day in Cebu. It was an amazing day. Despite the set-back of the news that the Battle of Mactan Re-enactment was not happening, I forged ahead with my family in tow. They have been incredibly good [...]
Excerpted from private journal, 20 April 2007, Friday: There are about 900 people here in the domestic terminal for Cebu Pacific Airlines. Lots of noise. A cacophony of voices. It’s the most # of non-Asians I’ve seen in 3 days. Passengers are loading for places like Boracay and Cagayan de Oro and Legaspi. Our driver [...]
In Manila, they’ve “reclaimed†part of the Bay, which means that the government has filled in the bay with soil from other provinces to make more land to build on. What was built? Well…here’s a description from my journal: “SM Mall of Asia – the Biggest, most extravagant mall I’ve ever seen anywhere in the [...]
My son, Boy-boy, has a collection of Filipino children’s books called TUTUTBI PATROL (Dragonfly Patrol). They’re a bit like Aesop’s fables where the stories are designed to teach kids life lessons or morals. Often, the stories and illustrations are set on a farm or countryside with the animals trying to figure out how to get [...]
Excerpted from my private journal, 6 April 2007: The immunizations are done — Hep A, Hep B, Tetanus, Measles booster, Typhoid. Everything on the pasalubong list has been bought for relatives and the NGO community leaders I’ll meet on the journey. The suitcases have been brought out, ready to load. I’ve done my Internet searches [...]
Excerpt from my private journal, 5 April 2007: I drove across Columbus Avenue to get to North Beach and wondered if the half-hour of writing at the Lake would justify the carbon footprint I’d leave behind. It is a fine spring day in Chicago and I’m hungry to see the expanse of turquoise water beneath [...]