The trip started with a car ride to the airport. I was super nervous not for the plane ride, or what people in the Philippines would think about me, but the process of getting to the plane is what freaked me out. I never went on a plane until this trip, and I have no knowledge of anything airport related. I'm that kind of person that likes to do research and be prepared before doing something, but this time I didn't know a thing. I would ask my mom how the process worked but everything she said didn't make sense to me because I couldn't visualize it. In the car ride my mom kept pointing out how nervous I looked and I actually felt like crying. (It was only my grandmother and I going to the Philippines since we cannot afford all of us to go at the same time). At the airport, my grandma got to use a wheelchair and had someone push her while I walked with them. I felt so lucky because I just asked the worker what I had to do, and she was filipino too. We got to skip the big lines for security and we went through an express lane for people with wheelchairs. We got to ride on this car type thing inside the airport and we got to our gate. There were already a lot of people there, but we were 2 hours early. After 2 hours passed my grandma and I were the first passengers on the plane and we walked over to our seats, 44A & 44B, and finally got to rest after our long day. There wasn't a lot of people on the plane, since we were flying from Toronto to Vancouver to pick up more people. Some lady took up all three seats and was lying down like it was a bed, but we had a full flight when we got to Vancouver.
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| Toronto Pearson International Airport |
We got to our gate and we were 30 mins early. This plane was a smaller plane and we got to go outside and climb these stairs to get into the plane and the flight was only 1 hour long. We finally arrived in Legazpi and the airport was so tiny it only had 3 gates. As we walked out the plane. We got our baggage and we walked outside the airport and we saw a bunch of people across the road. I grew up never seeing a picture of my aunt and uncle so it would have been difficult for me to find them since they were picking us up, but somehow I knew it was them because they look similar to my mom. I saw them and I started waving and I pointed them out to my grandma and we walked towards them and gave hugs and got into the van. It was awkward at first because they aren't that good in English so they didn't really talk to me that much. They also brought my aunt's daughter aka my cousin, Shaira. She was really shy at first and was hiding behind the seat in front of me. We were driving from Legazpi city to Tabaco city since we were staying with my uncle. As we were driving I was just looking at the view of houses and shops, and I kept saying how different everything here is compared to Canada.
We got to the house and as we got out of the van, people were just starring at me, and looking at me, and I felt very uncomfortable, and I felt the need of going inside the house. Once we got in my uncles house we ate some food and talked a bit. My other cousin, my Uncles daughter, Reyzel, was going to be home from school any minute. She's one of the only cousins I really knew about before going to the Philippines. Later that day we went to the "bayan" or town and went to the mall. I felt very uncomfortable since everyone looked at me so much, and because of the news of how people pickpocket you, and steal your stuff, since it happened so often in the Philippines I felt very paranoid and I probably looked so scared. On top of that it was so hot and I was very jet lag since the time difference was 12 hours from Toronto to anywhere in Philippines. I felt anxious and I really wanted to go back to the house.
The next day we went to the "bayan" again and I got used to people looking at me, and I knew no one was going to steal my stuff since nothing happened the first day, but I was still pretty cautious. The day after I got really sick. I had fever, I felt so dizzy I couldn't even stand up, and I had the worst headache ever, it felt like my head was throbbing, and I was sweating buckets. I couldn't open my eyes and look around because my head would just throb even more. I ended up lying down on a bamboo chair the whole day. And I was left at home with my cousin while my grandma and my uncle went to do stuff. My aunt came and she seemed like she was freaking out and she felt my forehead. She left and came back with some medicine. Knowing myself I cannot swallow pills, so we had to crush it and I drank it with water. A few days later I was 100% better.
That weekend we went on a 12 hour bus ride from Tabaco City to Manila, Philippines capital. When we got to Manila we waited at the bus terminal for my Lola (grandma) Vilma (my grandma's younger sister) and my Tito (uncle) JP. (I call him Kuya (older brother) because he isn't old and it's weird lol) Anyways, we rode a taxi to their house and chilled there for a bit, and I met my kuya JP's cousin Kevin. We had lunch and had a shower, then we went to the Ninoy Aquino Wildlife center. It's basically a zoo for rescued animals, but we only got to see a few animals because the "mini zoo" was closed since we got there at like 5:00. After, we walked to the Quezon city circle. (it was a long walk) and we chilled there for a few minutes, and bought fruit and shoes. After we walked over to the carnival area, and we went go carting, which was really fun. It got late and we rode a jeep, then a tricycle back to the house, had dinner and went to sleep.
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| Ninoy Aquino Wildlife Center |
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| Uncle Rey, Lola Vilma, Mama, Kevin, Reyzel At the Quezon City circle |
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| Me, Reyzel, Kuya JP, Kevin At the Quezon City circle |
The day after, we had to leave to Laguna, to visit my family on my dad's side, and my grandma's good friend, Tito Aurthur. We couldn't stay longer since my cousin Reyzel had to go to school, so we would have time to go back to Manila bus terminal then go on the 12 hour bus ride back to Tabaco City. We stayed a night at my Tita Beth's house, and we went back to Tabaco City.
A few days later, we went to Odalo, which is where my grandma, my mom, and her siblings grew up. And is where my Tita Judith, Uncle Romeo, and my cousins Shaira, Kuya Jake, and John lives. They also have a dog named Dudoy.
It was an amazing experience going back to my roots. While we were in Odalo, we explored my grandma's old home which is now abandoned and probably haunted, visited farms, and met up with family. We also visited the Mayon Volcano. Some trips we went on were to the Borcel Swimming pool in Tabaco city, and the San Lorenzo beach. We also had a big party for my Grandma's 64th birthday.
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| Uncle Rey, Mama preparing food for mama's birthday |
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| Mama, Lola Adela |
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| John, Shaira, Reyzel, me, Kuya Jake Brocel Swimming pool |
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| Mayon Volcano |
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| Mayon Volcano |
This was such an amazing experience and trip I will never forget, and I wish I'll be returning sometime soon, or maybe they can come here to Canada and visit. <3 <3
I vlogged this trip on my vlogging channel!! https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLTg9JHrnv8CnBtUWe_XWNEr-peOH-c7pD
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