flashback - from Taiwan

this post was from my mySpace blog dated 5/27/2006:

i'm on my way "home"
Current mood: happy

sup yalls. i'm officially on my way back to cali after a 2+ weeks on the other side of the earth. i'm in Taiwan right now, waiting for my plane... another 5 hours to go! at least the internet is free here. especially since no one is waiting.

so it's been quite an experience. i'm like totally used to the way people drive in the PI. the first time my uncle started driving i was like holding on for dear life as we squeezed between jeepneys and taxis. BUSSES are the WORST! totally no regard to anything that's in it's way. especially on the way up to Bagiuo. talagang crazy!

yesterday, we, meaning my ma, me, my aunt, my cuz Ed, and my 2nd cuz Kathleen, went to the bukid up in the mountains in Mabini, Batangas to where my dad grew up. it was mostly the same except that there was an actual paved road that snaked it's way up the side of the mountain. but when we got there, we were swamped by all these people that were my cuzns. saw the "tree house" that my dad lived in. crazy that it's still up and that people still live there. had some fresh buko juice... shoot the whole forest surrounding the huts were coconut trees.



but the experience of this whole thing was that i experienced... life in the Malls. too many to count. Glorietta was definately my favorite, especially since in was across the street from SM Makati, plus connected to another shopping store called the Landmark, but that was also attached to the high end, Greenbelt shopping centers. I went out one night, and checked out a trio singing, time after time by cyndi lauper in Greenbelt's restaurant row. We also went to SM Megamall in Ortigas! Holy Canoli! the place is 6 stories high and even though it was even and straight, you still couldn't see to the other end of the mall. i actually didn't get to see all 6 floors :( but we did get to go to the SM Mall of Asia - the BIGGEST MALL in Asia. Unfortunately, it didn't float my boat. Sure it had an Olympic size Ice Skatikng rink in the middle of the mall and the open air stage face manila bay, but still didn't impress me. it's just HUGE in terms of land size... 386,000 square meters. So we went to that mall, as well as Robinsons Galleria in Ortigas, SM Batangas, and SM Baguio. I'm not sure if I'm forgetting anything else, but after a while, they kinda looked alike... except for Glorietta.

The stores there are cool. My faves are the local ones like Bench/, Penshoppe, Bayo(even though it's women's clothes i still support pi clothing companys), and a couple more that i can't think of at the moment. The food courts/restaurants in the mall were pretty cool. A lot of filipino food "vendors"! For a full meal, is less than $3! My fave was bistek (cut up pieces of steak in soy sauce) with rice wrapped up in a banana leaf. boom, there's your plate. There are also the reg fast food chains like Jollibees, Goldilocks and Chow King PLUS the American imports like Wendy's, McDo's (as in dough bread. "love ko 'to!"), KFC, Burger King, and even an El Pollo Loco!

I stayed at a variety of places like the Renaissance Hotel by Marriott, across from Greenbelt in Makati. Swanky. $94/night. The only thing that bothered me about that place was that there were a lot of OLDER Americans staying there... who were in the presense of petite pinays who what their hands all over them... hmmm... at any rate... then we stayed at the Holiday Inn Galleria which is connected to the Robinson's Galleria Mall in Ortigas (Manila). This place had a dope continental breakfast. Not like the Holiday Inn express in Elk Grove, but this was like a full buffet with an egg station (omellettes, fried, or scrambled) then there was rice, longanisa, tocino, bangus, bistek, fruits, breads, juices... a lot. Oh, then we stayed at our resort in El Nido in Palawan. Words can't really describe this place. I'll post picts soon, plus a video of a walk-through I did from tip to tip of the resort! If there is a word - paradise! We also stayed at this little inn in Bagiuo. cute, but not much. at least this is where i saw the finale, not the results show, of ai! and to keep everything real, we stayed at my cuzns place in Bats City, Barangay Kumintang Ilaya. It was right after the tropical storm, Caloy, swept through Luzon and hit Bats pretty hard. Much to say, but they were without electricity for at least 4 days... and we spent the night during one of these days. nothing like doing a tabo with a flashlight! it's an experience, but it was real.

And now i'm coming back to the states. It was weird cuz, we were always on the move these past two weeks, but I didn't feel like I was "home" until yesterday, when I was with my cuzns in Bats City and seeing the others in Mabini. but realizing that this is where both of my parents are from, it just feels like truly, this is where my roots are. not in the malls in makaki, or getting a number from a girl in tarlac, or creeping up the hills in bagiuo, or getting up at 4:30am to see the Tinik (yes the very birds in Tinikling) birds fly from a mangrove in Palawan, but Batangas is where my blood is from. I feel like a Batangeno... i just wish i could've stayed there longer.

ala-eh!