Choose Philippines

I was lucky enough to come home twice this year. On my most recent trip I decided to take a chance to fly with a low-cost Philippine carrier Cebu Pacific where I paid half of the usual fare of the other alternative for a direct flight.  I'm used to travelling on a budget so I don't mind the fuzz free deal, and the lack of leg room is not a much of a problem for petite girls like me. 

I had a great book (A Thousand Splendid Suns) to keep me entertained, and when I wasn't reading I was sleeping. Over all it was a smooth ride, but what struck me the most was the flight back to Dubai. I was seated near the cockpit, and I thought I saw a glimpse of a woman on the control boards, and when the Flight announcement came on I got the confirmation, a woman's voice came on. The captain was Filipina, her name was Mayra Florencio and here I was reading about the abused women in Afghanistan. At that moment I just felt so grateful and blessed to have grown up in a country where Filipinas can choose to be a Pilot if she can and wanted to.

Elated, I shared the story with pinoy friends, a lot of them are surprised, many of them are dubious about taking a Philippine carrier and surprisingly having a woman pilot. I can't blame them. Years of sub-par standards have plagued the Philippines, and no one I know has really flown with a female pilot, filipino or  otherwise, but as they say – “if you never try then you will never know.”  The irony is despite our so-called "Pinoy Pride" A lot of us who have left the country are stuck in this belief system of a hopeless Philippines. 

Going around Manila in 2014 I saw usual problems of traffic jams and poverty but there was also a lot of construction going on, mostly prime condominiums, shopping mall extensions, a lot of new restaurants, and a lot more foreign expats working in the city. Things looked positive. Above all, I flew to Dubai on a low-cost Philippine carrier with a Filipina pilot. I think that alone is PROGRESS.


Dubai may have their high-rise buildings and everything money can buy, but I still think the Filipinos, our people, are leagues ahead, If only we learn to give ourselves credit, if only we can be free of this old "colonial" mentality that everything else from “abroad” is better.

The real revolution begins in the mind, we should break free of the old chains and believe that the Philippines can soar to greatness if we wanted to.

Let’s choose Philippines. Happy Independence Day!

Manila is not just a Brown Envelope

An old blog entry. January 2008.

It is a Sunday, the lazy sun is about to set here in Manila as I type this down on my old room where its never quiet, honks and engine roar from the jeepneys below, bells from the ice cream vendor, endless murmurs of passersby, kids playing outside...all these while sunlight strikes my window and a cool breeze blows from the curtains.

Manila Bay Sunset. (Not my photo, grabbed from Internet)

I am here and I still feel homesick, like I haven't been living in this town, or in this country ever since, or as if I've already left. It's funny coz I started this year feeling I should be somewhere else, doing something else. I don't know. I still feel that way most of the time, but right now I am sitting here, typing with my coffee and the classic egg pie from the bakery right across -  and I'm good. Sometimes this is all I need. A moment. A still frame that delays the passing of time, even for just a few stops.

I've realized that I will always long for Manila, especially the city, the old Manila where I used to live with my parents, where I studied high school, took up university, where I landed my first job at fledging PR and events company run by obsessive compulsive people.

It was in a house in Malate, I had this one corner where I wrote about all kinds of stuff, from furniture, to Chinese cuisine, Macanese festivals, hotel promos, budget travel, rubber shoes, grilled burgers and even yatch spare parts, name it. After work, I'd walk around the cultural center and breathe some badly needed air, badly polluted but who cares, watch the sun go down on Manila Bay, with joggers, lovers and sea leeches all in tow.


Last week I took a trip down there, old Manila, with some business I had to attend to, but still it was refreshing to be walking down its streets again. The orange jeepneys, crowded Taft avenue, the LRT, the old buildings, 3-star hotels brimming with all sorts of foreigners, bars in Nakpil, all kinds of bars, the streets lined with money changers, 7-11s, government agencies, employment agencies, internet cafes, Starbucks filled with med students who treats it like its their school canteen, fish balls and cigarette stands, an occasional kalesa (horse carriage), cheap paintings portraying rural scenes, all side by side in the streets of Manila.

Kalesa on the main road. Taken with my Holga 2008.

Of course I am aware that there are cellphone snatchers, sleazy pimps, swindlers and street garbage lurking in the background as well, but its all part of the chaos, so i swing my bag in front of me the way any street-smart Manileña would. It was a breezy afternoon like this, I look around, the crisp air whispering stories at me. In fact, every corner, every nook had a story to tell, just lying there waiting for scavengers like me to pick them up.

Somewhere near Binondo. Holga 2008

Carriedo LRT station. Holga 2008. 

But all is not lost, because I know someday these scenes will somehow find its way here and reappear in another world, fictitious or not. For now, I just want to share this feeling of homesickness, and the joy of finding those lost streets again, and maybe share with friends abroad, those thinking to go abroad, or even those just thinking of going on a vacation tour to some other country, or those who have never been here, that there is really so much of life here in Manila. It might not be the clean, progressive, chewing-gum and smoke-free city or the peaceful away-from-everything else paradise island that they have out in the south, but if you're looking life and stories like I do, I have to say, Manila will not dissapoint.

Ssssh. Manila Motel Rates. Holga 2008.

Dubai – 2 years and counting

(on the road, photo taken from my lomocam, march 2009)

March 15 2009 --- I packed my bags  and journeyed 4000 miles or so into the unknown. I just quit my job (which after almost 5 years became -quite literally- my life) two days back, left loving friends and family in a daze, that it all seemed unreal to me and to them.  I  wasn’t scared, I wasn’t that sad, or you know how it feels when you feel too much, you stop feeling anything that you just want it done and over with.

After few hours on the plane (and several glasses of white wine), I caught myself crying non-stop. As if  I was grieving the loss of my old life, and the fact that It will be a very long year before I can ever see the people that I loved the most again, and even then I just know it will never be the same.  So I cried my eyes out on the plane that by the time we landed I was somewhat relieved, cleansed by all things past and managed to find enough courage to move on to the next big adventure.

I am not gonna go into details of what happened next, but suffice to say that after 2 years of living here as an expat I have seen , done and gone through a lot things that I would probably never would have thought of if I was still in my sheltered cocoon in Manila. They’re not all good, they’re not all bad, but I am happy and proud to say that I have officially no regrets.

They say there is no better teacher than experience and I found this to be true in all aspects. Living in Dubai – 2 years and counting, is where I've learned some of the most important life lessons :

1. To be a woman, realize what it really means , and learn what it takes to be one.  It is tough to be a woman in a country where people have a different view of women in general , Asians & Filipinas in particular. I have said this before, and I'lll say it again, I have met so many fascinating, inspiring, strong, independent, talented beautiful (inside out) pinays out here, that knowing them actually made me a better person.  Their lives, their experiences....I have just met a woman who at 37 has been jailed in Saudi, almost died in drunken car accident in Dubai, her sea sailing husband has left her with 2 kids and no kind of support, yet she surfaced strong and vibrant with  a cute flower tattoo on her  knee to show, and that’s just one person.  If after 2 years or so in the Middle East and you haven’t learned to be a proper woman, I’d say you’re either very dense or very dependent or both.

2. To be a Fiipino and learn to  appreciate my country and my countrymen.  Living away from home made me realize what I love most about the Philippines and what I admire most of about Filipinos –resiliency, resourcefulness and positivity.  The best traits of a fighter.  

Of course when you love someone its like you're seeing them for the first time and you also find the worst in the them, but the good thing is you now have that desire to make it better, by avoiding the same pitfalls.

I was just talking to a French friend the other night and here’s what she had to say – that she found her Filipino workmates very easy to get along with, always happy and smiling, they work hard, but the only bad trait is that they chit-chat too much. Chizmiz, the buzz, you tell them one thing and the next minute everyone will know. Its really sad, but its something we can’t deny.

Chismis (gossip) is our ultimate downfall. Pinoys like to talk, and when they do they talk about other people, I am guilty of this sometimes, but I am proud to say that have successfully managed to control this thanks to the help good friends who feed my thirst for sensible and enlightening conversations .  So please the next time you’re with someone you just met, pinoy or otherwise, please try to think of something else to say other than “may boyfriend ka na?” or “when was your last relationship?”. Really its lame.

3. To Love more and judge less. Love is the simple solution to most things, but unfortunately because we are vain and blinded by self-love we do not see that we are all connected, we are different but we are the same. I’ve met so many different nationalities, so many different,  annoying quirks and the trick is just to find the thing that makes them tick and from there build your understanding of them. I am hardly ever the best in this, I am still judgemental in a lot of ways (I blame it on being Pinoy) , but the thing is now, I try harder.

4. To believe in music more so than I ever did before. Its true, music is the language that connects us all. Its my lifeblood. it fuels me, it defines me and I am better person today because of it. It has helped me relate to others better. Truth be told, I would not have survived Dubai if not for my Ipod. When there’s nothing else, find your song and play it loud.

5. To find God. I found that in your darkest days, when there’s really no one else, when there’s nothing or no one to hang on to, not even yourself, He is there and whatever happens happens for a reason. I found that life is only meaningless if you think that everything happens at random, If you don’t look up to something bigger than yourself. 

Now Religion  is something else, people make it complicated, to a point where you only see their politics but not the Truth. I have found that my devotion should not be ruled by what these people have got to say. My relationship with God is my own and as long as I have faith, let the self-righteous be damned.

Also, that i may not like the Church or the congregation so much, but I like being Catholic. Its good to know that I made that choice for myself and not by anybody else.

6. Lastly, I learned to appreciate and respect myself more. I learned my worth as a person and that I don’t need to settle for loose change from people. You teach people how to treat you, so you don’t let them get away with treating you like crap. Anywhich way, I say,  Whatever, I am fabulous and its their loss, bwahahaha

So there you go 2 years and counting. Pretty heavy stuff, I doubt if I’d have come face to face with all this things if I didn’t leave the comfort zone. If you managed to get this far, thanks for reading. I highly-recommend jumping off the cliff to the unknown. Its not safe but hey - You live, You learn.