For the first time in a few years, I'm posting this entry from outside of Japan. Currently I am in Manilla waiting for my connecting flight to Cebu.
Travelling to the Philippines is a big deal for me this time for several reasons. First, it's been 5 years since I have travelled overseas. It's been an hour since I arrived in the Philippines and it feels so... weird. For one, having staff speak to me in English took a little getting used to. Plus the whole driving system is the opposite of Japan.
The second is that it's been about 20 years since I last went to the Philippines. When I was younger, my family and I would go the Philippines every few years to visit Mum's side of the family. Her family is rather big, so it's hard for me to remember everybody's names, while they only have to remember me. Sadly all of Mum's siblings have passed away save one that is in Australia, so it's just visiting cousins this time round.
The final reason is that this will be the first time to travel to the Philippines without Dad. As neither Dad and I can speak a lick of Tagalog or any of the dialects, while mum and her family talk away, Dad and I would just talk to each other. Fortunately, Dad was able to go to the Philippines with Mum a few years back, so he was able to at least see Mum's family and relatives before he passed. I only wishes Dad was able to visit Japan just once, even if it was just Ibaraki prefecture.
One other thing I noticed while going through Narita airport to my flight to Manilla, is that mainland Chinese are usually the most difficult tourists to deal with. A simple purchase/transaction at a store that should only take 1 minute or 2 suddenly becomes longer: and I'm standing there just waiting to pay cash for a bottle of water. I have to commend the shop staff at Narita airport for having the patience to deal with them, because I certainly don't, even when I was working in hospitality.
I will be in the Philippines for two weeks, but expect some photos of my trip after returning to 日本.
No comments:
Post a Comment