Before travelling to the Philippines, I didn’t know much more than the average person does. When you think of the Philippines, what is the first thing that comes to mind? For me, I imagined an exotic array of islands bordered with white sandy beaches and crystal clear water just like the images from the Travel Channel or National Geographic.  But what also came to mind was the darker side: the dangerous city of Manila corrupted with the drug and sex trade of which most tourists are warned to steer clear. I found both of these sides of the Philippines to be true, but I also learned so much more.

Did you know the Philippines is a chain of 7,107 islands? I found that every Filipino I came in contact with was eager to share this tid bit of information and they actually have a song about it that children memorize in elementary school. Now I will never forget this fact. I was also surprised to find that most Filipinos can speak at least 4-5 languages. Filipino (Tagalog) and English are their two official languages; however, most can also speak a combination of both called “Taglish.” They can also speak one or more of the dozens of indigenous languages from the various regions and some can even speak Spanish. Having English as an official language made the Philippines one of the easiest Asian countries for me to navigate. While listening to the radio, it was entertaining to hear the mesh of English, Tagalog, and Spanish blend together. Most TV channels are American and broadcast in English without subtitles or dubbing. Coming from Korea, it was quite a luxury to be able to use English freely. After spending just over 2 weeks in the Philippines and exploring a small fraction of the islands, I gained an appreciation for their history and culture.

It was early evening when my boyfriend and I landed in the Manila airport after a 4 hour flight from Incheon. Little did we know that we would not be meeting his brother until much later that evening. Everything seemed to be flowing smoothly. Our flight landed a bit early, we grabbed a taxi to the bus terminal, and we bought our tickets for the 4 hour bus to Olongapo City, which is where we would be meeting his brother and sister-in-law. Then we hit Manila traffic. I’ve been stuck in traffic in places like Los Angeles and Seoul and I thought that traffic could not get any worse. Manila traffic is a whole different animal. It took us 3 hours just to get through Manila. The infrastructure of the city is horrible! There seems to be one main highway that goes through the city and one main train, which looked so jam-packed that I would rather spend 3 hours on a bus than a minute on the train. After crawling out of the city (we literally could have walked faster) it took another 2 1/2 hours to get to Olongapo City. Traveling in the Philippines is not as glamorous as it sounds. You don’t just hop on a plane and hop off onto a luxurious island. Getting to these islands requires hours on buses, ferries, smaller boats, and finally the local form of transportation, “jeepneys” or tricycles.

When we finally arrived, it was almost midnight. I was so exhausted at that point that I just wanted to pass out, but I knew my boyfriend would want to spend some time catching up with his brother. We were warmly greeted by his brother and sister-in-law and quickly taken to his brother’s Korean restaurant, “Chinku,” which means friend in English. It was comforting to eat some familiar Korean food after our long journey. After that, we had a drink at nice bar right alongside the sea. Sitting outside and drinking beer without being layered up in my winter gear was so refreshing. That night we expected to stay with my boyfriend’s brother, but they surprised us by getting us a hotel room for the night. This was the first of many surprises throughout the week.

Even though his brother and sister-in-law were busy running their restaurant, they still managed to take care of us and plan many exciting adventures for the week. They took us all around Olongapo City, a beautiful city surrounded by mountains and lined with beaches. The theme of Olongapo seems to be love. It may have been because Valentine’s Day was right around the corner, but there were scattered signs that read, “I Love Olongapo” and little heart decorations could be seen almost everywhere. Because Olongapo City is located on Subic Bay, which is home to a US Naval Base, there are many Americans living there. Also because of the Han Jin shipbuilding company, there are many Koreans living in Olongapo. At times it felt like I was right at home either in Korea or in America rather than on an exotic island. On a trip to the local grocery store, I was overwhelmed to find that the grocery stores are just like those back home complete with a wide variety of American brand-name products and even a deli!  I was a bit envious of this considering the grocery stores in Seoul are limited to Korean brands and overall are pretty pathetic. We loaded up on tropical fruit- mangos, mangosteen, papaya, dragonfruit, and more! My boyfriend and I ate more mangos in a week than most people eat in a year.

On our second full day in Olongapo, we went island hopping and explored the deserted islands of Capones and the almost deserted island of Anawangin. These are islands that local Filipinos go to as a weekend getaway and are not popular for foreigners so it was pretty cool to have the chance to check them out.

My boyfriend’s sister-in-law comes from a big religious family and possibly one of the nicest families I have ever met. She is one of nine siblings. Her father is a pastor of a small Christian church located in the mountainous village of where she grew up. On Sunday we had the opportunity to visit the church and feed the village children who are very poor and often are unable to afford to eat. Every other Sunday this church provides the children with a meal. This experience became one of the most memorable and humbling moments of our trip. The children came excitedly to the church with their own bowls or containers in hand. One boy in particular, no older than 5 or 6 years old, walked barefoot 3 hours through the mountains by himself just to eat a meal. Hearing some of the stories of these children was touching, but seeing how grateful and gracious they were was unforgettable. These children literally have nothing, but if their friends needed more rice porridge or if they had an extra piece of candy, they shared. If they were given something, they said thank you and did not ask for more. Later, I talked to my boyfriend’s sister-in-law about the church and she explained that she used to be like one of the children. She grew up in the same village often only eating one meal a day. She sees herself in the children, which is why it is so meaningful for her to give back to this community.

That evening we were invited to enjoy a traditional Filipino meal. After eating mostly Korean food so far, I was excited to try some local cuisine. A Filipino meal mostly consists of fish, chicken or pork with vegetables and rice. Nothing too crazy, right? Well that was until after we had a few rounds of Filipino fruit wine and we started talking about some of the more interesting foods that they eat. One of which is called, Balut, which is basically a duck embryo. Upon hearing that we hadn’t tried Balut yet, one of the brothers ran out for a quick minute and came back with a bag of eggs. I was nervous to try them, but was curious enough to actually follow through with it. It wasn’t awful, but definitely not something I would be craving to try again anytime soon.

Skeptically trying Balut for the first time….

During the rest of our time in Olongapo we checked out some tourist spots such as the National Shrine at Mount Samat and a newer attraction, Las Casas Filipinas de Acuzar.

We even had the chance to check out an exclusive resort for the day and have a taste of how the rich and famous live.

During my short time in Olongapo, I was able to experience a wide range of Filipino lifestyles. There is a lot more to the Philippines than their beautiful beaches. And this was just the beginning of our journey. Next stop- Boracay!