Weekend in Manila: Volcanic Delight and a Walk Through History

I've gone back and forth between Manila and Naga on a number of occasions over the last few months due to various work-related events; however, until this past weekend, I'd never been spent any time in the city as a tourist. To be entirely frank, I had very little interest in experiencing Manila as a tourist thanks to its reputation for insane traffic (everything is officially two hours away in stop-and-go traffic), manic mall culture, heart-stopping pollution and the general sense that it's not a particularly safe city. While my weekend in the city provided plenty of evidence in support of all of the above non-flattering descriptors (the traffic is truly obnoxious -- it took a total of four hours to get from the airport to my accommodations on Friday evening), I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed my time there. I think my number one takeaway to get the most out of Manila is to have reasonable expectations -- traffic will likely be awful, so don't bother over planning.

The highlight of my weekend (other than the three Mexican meals I inhaled over the course of the three days...in my defence, dietary variety is non-existent here in Naga, so I took advantage while I could!) was day trip to Mt. Pinatubo, a volcano two hours away from Manila. The trip was planned at the very last minute, but it was truly excellent...I think I can honestly say that Pinatubo's crater lake is one of the most beautiful places I've ever been able to visit. The trip involved leaving Manila at 3AM, which was sort of unamazing, but necessary to beat traffic and get a reasonable early start for the hike to the summit.

A few snapshots from the day:

An hour long butt-bruising 4x4 ride at 5:30AM through an insane landscape -- it's unreal to think that all of this was densely forested prior to Mt. Pinatubo's eruption in 1991...according to the guide, the forest is now buried under 50m of lahar

Lahar formations -- the morning sun alternated between warming up the colour tone of the landscape and totally washing it out

Getting to the crater involves two hours of walking through the canyon -- a super easy hike with a VERY gentle gradient

Final stretch leading to the most stunning view...

Mt. Pinatubo's crater lake: absolutely breathtaking...the photo doesn't begin to do it justice. It's hard to believe that the lake wasn't there until 20 years ago

 It just wouldn't be the PH if the cross wasn't there

Post-crater hike back towards base camp -- hot and dusty

The second highlight of the weekend was a walking tour I did through Manila's Intramuros (the historic walled city) on Sunday morning. The tour is led by a very charismatic man named Carlos, who really puts in an amazing amount of effort to put on a one-man theatre performance that's both entertaining and informative. For me, the best part of the tour, aside from Carlos' impressive collection of hats, was the interpretation and insight that was provided on the Filipino national identity and psyche...there really was a lot of food for thought that I'm still mulling over in my head, particularly about the Spanish and American cultural legacies and the formation of nation building mythologies and figureheads. 

Learning about the American era in the Philippines -- really fascinating

Front gate of Santiago Fortress -- above the Spanish royal seal, Saint James on horseback, slaying Muslims, the last inhabitants of Manila's Intramuros area before the arrival of the Spaniards

Anyhow, apologies for the lack of updates recently...the last month has really been about keeping my head down and plodding forward with work, which I've enjoyed immensely, but it has not been the most inspiring material to blog about. I'm down to my final six weeks (!) in the Philippines, with less than two weeks remaining in my work contract...in a month from now, I'll be on the beach in Palawan, and my time in Naga will officially be over. It suddenly feels like time is going by too quickly. I'm leaving for Malaysia in just a few days, so I expect to be posting a little more often soon!

The Worst Neighbours Ever

A funny thing happened the other day when I was speaking with my sister via Skype: halfway through the conversation, she interrupted me and asked, 'is that a rooster?' Indeed, my next door neighbours are very big into cockfighting (it's a huge deal in the PH), and have a collection of roosters they keep in their front yard. Let it be known that neighbours who keep roosters in the front yard are the worst kind of neighbour possible, as it is a massive misconception that roosters only crow at dawn. Roosters will crow whenever they want attention, which apparently in the case of my neighbours' flock, is all the time. I spent the first few months of my time here actively despising my neighbours, sleeping with earplugs and imagining the satisfaction that would come from abducting the birds in the middle of the night and dropping them off at KFC. Anyhow, coming back to the Skype conversation with my sister, I was amazed when she asked about the rooster, as a) I couldn't believe that the mic on my laptop had picked it up; and b) I realized that I had become so accustomed to hearing it had become almost a white noise. The first time I mentioned how annoying I found the roosters to be to my Filipino friends and colleagues, they all laughed and said that I would eventually stop noticing them...it turns out they were right. 

The source of many (unhappy) sleepless nights during my first couple of months in Naga

Post-Typhoon Assistance

Messages and expressions of concern about Typhoon Haiyan/Yolanda have been steadily coming into my inbox over the last few days, with friends and family asking if I'm okay. As grateful as I am to have people in my life who care enough to check in, I can't help but to feel like a total fraud, given that my entire storm experience boiled down to sitting alone in the dark for one night. Regardless, I'm very thankful for everyone who has reached out recently.

The pictures and stories that are coming out of the devastation zones are indescribably heartbreaking. Within the PH, there's been no shortage of volunteer opportunities and fundraising campaigns; however, it goes without saying that international aid is badly needed. If you'd like to help, please think about making a monetary donation with a registered Canadian charity (a good read on why a monetary donation is the best kind in this case); the federal government will dollar match any personal donations made up until December 9th. It's a cliche, but entirely true: every dollar helps. A few ideas of charities to work with, all of which are already on the ground in the PH: Red Cross, Plan International, UNICEF, CARE, MSF or Oxfam. All of these charities issue tax receipts. 

Disaster at the Neighbour's Doorstep: Super Typhoon Yolanda

Super typhoon Yolanda has come and gone, leaving in her wake the anticipated damage and destruction that one can only expect from what has been called 'the strongest storm recorded in modern history.' It's been less than 24 hours since Yolanda left the PH, en route for Vietnam, so officials are still in the early stages of assessing the total damage; however, early reports seem to indicate that due to the international hype surrounding Yolanda in the days leading up to her landfall, there was better than usual preparation before the storm, in terms of pre-emptive evacuations and disaster preparation efforts. That said, infrastructure damage is expected to be extensive and the death toll is already at more than 1000.

Here in Naga City, we were quite lucky: Yolanda's main path was further south in neighbouring Visayas region (Naga is located in South Luzon), meaning that we mostly got lots and lots of rain and extremely strong winds (I've never heard wind whistle so loudly before). Personally, the only real impact of the storm was losing power for a day, which resulted in a caffeine withdrawal-related headache (lesson learned: keep coffee in the house at all times). I spent most of yesterday listening to podcasts in the dark, being grateful to live on the 4th floor (in case of any flooding), and standing on my terrace, watching (and feeling) the wind and staring at the deserted streets below. It was the first power outage I've experienced here that's lasted more than an hour; to be honest, not knowing how long it would last for (I had been warned beforehand to be prepared to lose power for up to a week), I was quite nervous about it. I used to think that my neighbourhood was quite dark, due to the fact that there are only a few streetlights; now that I've seen just how dark the neighbourhood becomes once there are zero streetlights, I must say that those few streetlights make a world of difference. While my experience with Typhoon Yolanda was basically a day of housebound boredom (traumatic, I know), I'm worried about my friends and colleagues who are based in the Visayas; friends in Iloilo experienced significant flooding in their home, and friends based in Bohol and Leyte (among the hardest hit regions) have yet to check in. 

I'm hoping that Yolanda will be the last storm of the year, as the PH has now experienced 24 major storms this year (20 is the annual average). I mentioned in my last post that it's difficult to understand how it must feel to live in a region of the world that experiences natural calamities so frequently (earthquakes, typhoons, volcanic eruptions); however, my Facebook and Twitter feeds are already full of Filipino posts about rebuilding and about how no storm is stronger than the Filipino people. I suppose such a sense of resilience and optimism is necessary if you're going to live in this part of the world.

Waiting for the power to come back on

Disaster at the Doorstep

One of the more worrisome aspects of life in the PH has been the consistent threat of natural disaster. The PH is in the Asia-Pacific section of the Ring of Fire, where earthquakes and volcanic eruptions are a fact of life. Naga sits in the shadow of Mt. Isarog, a potentially active volcano, and Bicol region is in the PH's traditional typhoon belt (on average, the PH experiences approximately 20 typhoons annually), meaning that the region spends half the year under alert for typhoons. In the four months that I've been living in Naga, the city has been lucky (KNOCK ON WOOD!) and has not had a major disruptive event to speak of, but that may soon change: much of the PH are under warning for Super Typhoon Yolanda (international name is Haiyan), currently a Category 4 hurricane that is expected to reach a Category 5+ status. Bicol is not expected to be impacted as badly as other parts of the country, but to be on the safe side, I've been advised to stock up on a week's worth of drinking water, candles and food.

While I am feeling mildly panicked inside over the possibility of being caught in what is expected to be the worst typhoon of the year (it's not being called a super typhoon for no reason!), my office colleagues are extraordinarily zen about it. In fact, one of my colleagues just told me that I should be excited to experience my first typhoon. His description of what happens during a typical typhoon is the following: 'You sit inside, you watch the typhoon, you get bored because there's nothing to do, then you sleep.' I suppose the difference between our reactions boils down to the simple fact that typhoons are regular events for locals, whereas the most significant weather event I've ever experienced has been the freak ice storm in the Ottawa Valley back in 1998. 

Speaking of natural disasters: a few weeks ago I mentioned that I would be heading to Bohol for a work conference and to visit a Canadian colleague who is based there. Those plans were derailed when a massive 7.2 magnitude earthquake hit Bohol and Cebu just a couple of days before I was due to depart. My Bohol-based colleague has written about the earthquake experience here, and images of the quake zone can be found here. Unfortunately, Bohol is expected to be the hardest hit region for the incoming typhoon. Suffice it to say that thoughts and/or prayers are going out to Boholanos. 

Day at the Farm

I've mentioned in several different posts that my project here in Naga is focused on developing the region's culinary tourism brand. A big part of my work has been to try to build an inventory the region's culinary tourism assets, as there was little data or information on the topic available when I first arrived. In an attempt to get a better handle on what resources are available, I've spent a lot of time travelling through Metro Naga, visiting potential culinary tourism stakeholders, ranging from farmers to home-based entrepreneurs to traditional processing facilities. 

A couple of weeks ago, I was able to head out on a familiarization visit to a local farmers' cooperative. My host for the day was Felix, the cooperative's vice-chair and possibly the most charming man I've ever met. It was a fascinating visit, and I learned a lot about agricultural practices and commercial crop production. I'm embarrassed to admit it, but it's only after that visit that I now understand why land needs to be ploughed. The best thing about Felix: he does not have a favourite crop (apparently a true farmer can never choose), but he certainly has a favourite child (no hesitation when asked, his youngest). 

I've been quite keen on developing a farm to fork-type tourism activity, as it's the kind of activity that is growing in popularity in the tourism industry, it's an activity that would make the most of the resources that are readily available in Naga, and it's the type of activity that would appeal to Naga's current tourism market (80 per cent domestic), as well as it's target market (the international crowd). I was also motivated to work on a farm-based activity because I really believe in the importance of knowing where food comes from and how it's grown. 

A few photos from my day with Felix:

Those crop dividers are deceptively narrow and slippery. While Felix was practically doing cartwheels and backflips, I narrowly avoided taking a mud bath. 

The water buffalo (aka the hardest working plough animal around) -- locally known as a carabao, which caused some confusion, as my Canadian ear was hearing caribou

Freshly harvested rice field already being prepped for another planting

Field being prepped for a fresh planting: sadly, economic imperatives don't allow for regular fallow periods

My Mom's Old Stomping Ground

At the end of October, I went to Hong Kong for a long weekend in order to renew my Philippines visa and to visit my grandmother (who lives in HK) and my parents (who happened to be visiting at the time). The visit went by all too quickly (it was only three nights), and it mostly involved food and family, but it was a lovely little break. 

I really like Kowloon Tong, the area where my grandmother lives. The area is a quiet little residential enclave, and is pretty much the exact opposite of the hustle and bustle image that Hong Kong normally conjures up...no sky scrappers, no expats, and (relatively) no traffic to speak of. My grandmother lives only a few blocks away from where my mom grew up, so it's always interesting to walk around with my mom, who despite having left HK more than 30 years ago, still seems to be more in her element there than in Canada. 

A few sights around Kowloon Tong:

Kowloon Tong is a neighbourhood of gated buildings

I quite liked the look of this mailbox system

A fruit vendor who clearly does not find it to be problematic to celebrate more than one festive occasion at a time 

Kowloon City Market before the Saturday morning crowd arrived

Kowloon City Market

Dim sum for takeaway

Noodles for sale

When we're in town at the same time, one of my favourite things to do is to get up early with my mom and head out for a walk around the neighbourhood park, ending up at a HK-style eatery for breakfast. HK is a gastronomical wonderland with no shortage of Michelin starred fine dining establishments, but it seems that native Hong Kongers still flock to the hole-in-the-wall diners for their bread and butter rice and tea. On this visit, my mom introduced me to Tim Choi Kee restaurant, an eatery that's been around since 1949 and has long been patronized by her family, where strangers are expected to share tables, meals are served on mismatched dish ware, the service is brusk, you're probably best off giving your chopsticks a wipe down before using them, and the food is delicious. 

Tim Choi Kee restaurant in Kowloon City

The outdoor dining option

I wouldn't want it for breakfast every day, but every now and again a piping hot bowl of congee is deeply satisfying -- perhaps because I ate rice every single day for the first 18 years of my life. This particular bowl was full of raw beef that was meant to cook through from the heat of the rice porridge-- a fact that my mother only decided to tell me AFTER I had swallowed my first spoonful.

A local remedy for colds: heated cola + lemon...I'm not sure how effective it is, though I've been told many times that flat cola helps to soothe an upset stomach

I just LOVE these cups -- in HK they're not considered exceptional in any way, shape or form, but I find them to be quite charming.