Travel: Philippines (Photo of the Day) - BBQ

This was seriously my favorite part of every afternoon: merienda. We typically had BBQ, pancit, and/or ice cream. :::Drool:::

Travel: Philippines (Photo of the Day) - Coke

My favorite soda in my favorite container: Coke in a bottle. I know foreign nations use real sugar instead of corn syrup, but if it weren't that, I'd swear the bottle makes it taste better.

Travel: Philippines (Photo of the Day) - Rooster

This evil creature woke me up every morning at around 5AM. I requested that he be killed but was informed that he's a cockfighting chicken; thus, his life was sacred. grrr.

Travel: Philippines (Photo of the Day) - Wedding

My cousin snuck me a peace sign, while the real wedding photographers were busy doing their thing. It was a rainy, yet happy day!

Travel: Philippines (Photo of the Day) - Dome

The dome of the church that my family attends in the Philippines is actually quite beautiful. Sorry, I could not do it justice.

Travel: Philippines (Photo of the Day) - Stove

When I saw my aunt cooking on this cute, little, wood-burning stove, I knew I had to photograph it. It's truly amazing how simple life is in the province.

Travel: Philippines (Photo of the Day) - Birthday

I celebrated a birthday while in the Philippines. It was a humble, intimate affair that consisted mostly of family. I'll never forget the 50 people singing to me the birthday song before I blew out the candles on my two cakes. :D

Travel: Philippines (Photo of the Day) - Basketball

My relatives were playing basketball at the front of our family compound when I caught this action shot of my cousin about to slam dunk. I'm not into sports photography (I don't have the proper equipment or the patience), so I was pretty happy about it.

Travel: Philippines (Photo of the Day) - Patubig

So today's picture is actually video I shot while watching my cousin wash her clothes in the patubig (irrigation canal). There were children playing in the water and a few brave souls jumping off a rather tall tree near the patubig. At first, I was afraid the children would get caught in the hanging electrical wire (you can easily see it in the video) but later realized they were going nowhere near it. Many of the children were quite impressed with my camera's LCD screen and I had a small crowd of kids gathered behind me watching me film the jumpers.

Travel: Philippines (Photo of the Day) - Sinampalukang Manok

My mom made chicken sinampalukang from vegetables on our farm. It was good, but I'll take lumpia shanghai any day (enough of them can make up a meal :D ).

Travel: Philippines (Photo of the Day) - Dudong

Dudong: my favorite of the guard dogs on the compound. He's just sooo cute. He's actually the only dog that isn't owned by my family. I actually like him better than my own dogs.

Travel: Philippines (Photo of the Day) - Clothes

Although we own a washer and dryer in the province where we were staying, we are the exception. Many people still hang-dry their clothes, as appliances such as those are prohibitively expensive. Here, I particularly enjoyed the colors as they hung outside my window.

Travel: Philippines (Photo of the Day) - Pancit

Pictured above is pancit malabon. We originally went out for halo-halo, but someone requested that we bring them back a tray of this. It tasted as good as it looked (good!).

Travel: Philippines - Flight Notes

I went on a 16-day trip to the Philippines to attend my cousin's wedding. I'll post a shot every day over the next few days of what I saw on my trip. In light of my last Philippine trip, I decided to stay local and spent most of my time with family.

My flights to and from the Philippines were each a story in their own right. Here are summaries of each leg:

• Flight to the Philippines: I flew out to PI alone but was seated next to some guy that had first class privileges extended to him (he knew like half the female flight attendants that passed by). Apparently, he was supposed to be sitting in first class. Anyway, he and I got to chatting and so they offered me everything he was getting: cheese platters; fruit platters; and unlimited peanuts, drinks (including alcohol), siopao, cookies, chips, and anything else they could offer. It was insane.
• Return flight: My mother, brother, and I were all upgraded to business class FREE of charge!!! 

I seriously love Philippine Airlines.