The Notorious P.I.

So concludes my two week foray into the Eastern horizon that is the country of my ethnic origin, this supposed developing nation that is known as Ang Republika ng Pilipinas. Coming into this trip I didn’t what to expect, coming out of it all the stories I’ve only heard from others have only become more real.

If I were to describe the Philippines to me in one word, I would say ‘different.’ I mean, really really different, given my American background. This place really blew my mind, and to be honest at one point in the trip, I swore it was unreal, haha.

But in all seriousness, like most individuals who visit their home country for the first time ever after growing up their whole lives in the United States, I have been given a chance to get some perspective on my quality of life. I know that I've only gotten a small glimpse and a slight taste of what life really is like there, but hey, I've experienced more than if I had just sat on my couch back at home.

So alls I’ve got say about that is, damn.

Anyways, I don’t think I’ll go over every single detail of my trip, however I do believe I will list off all the things that stood out to me the most.

Oh, and I’d also like to mention that I will be thoroughly and extensively disappointed in myself for the rest of my life, since in an unfortunate turn of events, I lost one of my memory sticks for my camera, along with the 400 pictures that was stored on that. As a result, I no longer have pictures and videos from Makati, Quiapo, Mt. Pinatubo, Tarlac, the drive to Baguio City, and many other scenes that I will probably never be able to capture again (one of the videos I’m most disappointed in losing is driving through the Barangay Pembo during the rain, truly powerful in my humble opinion). So, in other words, I fucked up. I messed up real bad.

Sigh.
Moving on.

And now, the 14 things that stood out to me the most during my trip to the Notorious P.I.