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I have fallen in love again causing me to drift in and out of coherent thought since I got back here in NY. Within less than a month, I sincerely got to appreciate the richness of her beauty and the passion boiling within her. So with who is it this time? It’s not exactly who, but ‘where’ actually. Haha… gotcha! I left my heart in the Philippines and I’ve never felt so attached to the country that my heart had once forgotten. My mind is still in pure bliss of yearning to return to the land that made me rediscover my true identity. Hmm… so where do I begin the story?

Ahah! I can honestly remember thinking “This is as happy as I am ever going to be!” My mind and heart can only churn out this thought whenever I am in the Philippines (and as I’m currently blogging this entry). First thing that comes to mind is the feeling of being surrounded by ALL my titos & titas (uncles & aunts), lolos & lolas (grandparents), pinsans (cousins), pamangkins (nieces & nephews), old & new friends, and even our kapitbahay (neighbors). Having their warm presence around redefined the true meaning of family. They embraced us unconditionally with open arms and personally made me feel more at home than here in New York.

With that in mind, I wish the time given to us were as abundant as their kindness and hospitality. Unfortunately, time was limited and constrained us from sharing more memorable moments with each and everyone of them. But despite of time running against us, we were able to cram a lot during our short stay over there.

Shopping was great, even though most of it were for our relatives and not for us. I was already content and delighted seeing the smiles on their faces when we took ‘em out shopping, especially the little ones. I used up my entire budget within one week. We spent most of our vacation mall-hopping and sidetrips to arcades, KTV, movie theatre and even ice skating with our cousins from both our mom and dad’s side. There’s more than 25 of them (excluding three overseas) all in all and I can name each and everyone of ‘em on top of my head.

I’ve must have depleted the extra cash in my bank account from the ATMs in every mall we’ve been to. From Megamall, Ayala Center, Market Market! Mall, Glorieta, Greenhills, SM San Lazaro, Robinson’s, Rockwell, Tutuban, and even SM Baguio… you name it, we’ve been there, except for the Mall of Asia, the newest and biggest mall in the continent. There’s no doubt that the malls there are incredibly huge, more extravagant and definitely a lot cheaper than here in NY, especially when haggling for great bargain buys with desperate merchants of tiangge (bazaars/flea markets).

Of course a trip to the Philippines wouldn’t be the same without commuting with the authentic novelty rides. From the colorful jeepneys and boisterous exhaust of triycles, to sidecars (pedicab), swarms of pimped out scooters, vintage kalesa & karitela (horsedrawn carriages), and the infamous LRT… I rode ‘em all. Heck I even boarded a deteriorating banka (an outrigger boat balanced by bamboos) that broke down twice in the middle of the ocean to and fro Puerto Galera, an exclusive remote island with crystal clear water and white sandy beach north of Mindoro Oriental.

I must admit, despite of the grueling traffic and scorching heat, the clamorous soundtrips of OPMs blasting from the speakers made up for every tormenting travel we did in the mainland. Narda by Kamikazee was the most overplayed song. You can hear it from malls, local bars and even videoke spots sa kanto (in street corners). It was (and probably still is) the most requested song from the radio stations nationwide, even at clubs and nightspots like Bagaberde, and even Baywalk and Metrowalk. We even jammed it with our cousins with their electric/acoustic guitars and old beat up drum set. I think it became the official theme song of our vacation.

With just a little under a month, we had places to visit and so many things to do. Hmm, one thing we did too much of was over-soaking ourselves under the sun. My skin was toasted "well done" like a sirloin steak from swimming resorts in Angono, Rizal to Pansol, Laguna and supposedly to Cavite, not to mention snorkeling in Puerto Galera and jetskiing in San Fabian, Pangasinan. And while we’re there, we went to our cousins in Dagupan and then climbed up to Baguio for some sightseeing in Mines View Park, marching in the Philippine Military Academy, horseback riding in Wright Park and definitely a lot of eating in Burnham Park.

Amazingly, I even had time to squeeze some fitness to get my body in shape during my vacation. The baseball gloves I brought came in handy as I got to exercise my arms for a game of catch and throw in Taytay. I even got to test my strength and endurance from wallclimbing at Rockwell. Then jogging around Grandstand in Luneta and even a long walk through Intramuros was a great remedy for my gluttonous self. And aside from the daily shower of profuse sweating I produced, imagine the intense running I did on the basketball courts. I swear I could’ve filled up a whole balde (tub) because I repeatedly slipped on my on sweat. Haha! In the end, I shamefully admit that we still lost to the locals playing either in tsinelas (slippers) or just with their bare feet.

And finally, what would our vacation be without the fresh local "only in the Philippines" food, drinks, and delicacies. Mmhmm… I can still taste ‘em from the tip of my tongue. The distinct taste of Pinoy pizza, fishballs & chickenballs (bola-bola) pushed by a kariton (pushcart), matamis na saging & kamote (sweet bananas & yams), double slurping on Nescafe mochas, sippin’ on the real buko (coconut) juice (not from cans), drinking hot taho (sweetened bean curd & tapioca) served best daily mornings by Jerry from Tondo, ice cold gulaman (fruit jelly), tagayan of San Mig Lite with pulutan (beer-match food) from inuman (drinking) sessions infront of the house, bibinka (rice cake), and of course Jollibee. There’s plenty more I forgot to mention so just fill me out in the comment box.

Sigh! And now I’m back here in New York. It had hit me a lot sooner (and harder) than when I remember going there when the excitement had not yet hit me. Nothing personal to my friends here but it is NOT great to be back. I enjoyed myself way too much that I did not prepare myself on how to handle my own return. Time does fly when you are having fun. Just writing this entry reminds me of how much I sorely miss my beloved country. I think I’m sick. Go ahead, diagnose me with PVS: Post-vacation Syndrome (hehe!) with a mild case of homesickness. The symptoms are clear from all that reminiscing you’ve just read. The only cure is not to think about it, but it’s helpless because I’m helplessly in love with the Philippines.