If you don't feel right, you can go...Ha, I love 80's soft rock. If I had to pick my top three cuts, they would be Billy Ocean's romantic "Caribbean Queen" (’No more love on the run’!), Bonnie Tyler's epic "Total Eclipse of the Heart" (’Turnaround, every now and then I get a little bit lonely and you're never comin' round’), and Toto's inspirational "Africa" (’I bless the rains down in Africa’).

That's right, doggy, I REPRESENT (tourists)!!!

After an intense CrossFit-esque workout in Baguio's Burnham Park last evening, I sat down for a cheap meal at a local canteen (that's what they call the "budget" restaurants here in the PI), enjoying my two favorite Filipino dishes so far, pork adobo and arroz caldo. A good sized portion of each totaled 70 pesos, which is a little under $1.40. More on the food here a little later in the entry. The Filipina chick that served me decided it would be a good idea to serenade me with some karaoke en Tagalog (Tagalog is the official language of the Philippines). It was pretty funny. Every time she would look back at me she would start cracking up and totally butcher the song.

Baguio from Kristian's balcony.

Sunset approaches in Baguio. This is the view from the SM (Super Mall).

Since I am spending such a good chunk of time in Baguio, I felt it only appropriate to show those of you following along some of the city's sights. There isn't anything here that is nearly impressive as Sagada or Batad but I like the look of the homes built on the piney hills of the city. Burnham Park is a really nice place to chill, although it can get rather crowded during the day, which is why I typically only visit at night. There is also Camp John Hay, a defunct U.S. military base which has become the site of great parks, golf courses, and luxury homes in which some of the wealthiest folk dwell. It's a great place to walk around during the day, when the weather is pretty hot, as the dense pine forests act as a canopy to block the sun.

On a stroll through the "eco-trail" at Camp John Hay. Look familiar, Northwesterners?

Though sometimes Kristian cooks for us at his apartment where I am staying, we usually just eat out at the local canteens. The food is cheap and abundant. Most Filipino dishes are very meat heavy and light on the veggies. Last night, I ordered a dish of steamed vegetables to go with my chicken menudo and rice and Kristian gave me a perplexed look like "Why would you spend money on that?" As I mentioned earlier, my favorite dishes are pork adobo and arroz caldo. I have been eating adobo for as long as I can remember (my mom made it often), and there are some good offerings here, although honestly I haven't found any to match hers yet. It is a stewey dish usually made with either chicken or pork, seasoned with soy sauce, vinegar, pepper, and garlic. Arroz caldo is one of the lighter dishes I eat, a thick and flavorful rice pooridge complimented with bits of chicken or beef. Diniguan is a dish that I tried and have grown to love deeply...DEEPLY. Chunks of pork meat and pork organs are slow-cooked in pork's blood and God knows what else. It is a very rich dish and requires plenty of rice to balance the strong flavors. Pancit is the popular noodle dish and is a nice break from eating big plates of rice all the time with the meat dishes. There's lumpia, which is a popular Filipino-style egg roll, filled with pork, vegetables, and rice noodles, and deep-fried. So those are the "normal" dishes. On the street, you'll encouter some funky shit. First, there are the skewer stands, where you won't find the typical meat on a stick. Instead you'll find de-beaked chicken heads complete with comb and waddle, chicken feet, intestine medallions, and other strange animal delights, all well seasoned and barbecued on a skewer. One of the most popular Filipino snacks is balut, and even though I ate a whole bag of cockroaches in Cambodia, I haven't mustered the strength to try it yet. Oh, but I will. Balut is either a fertilized chicken or duck egg in which the embryo has been allowed to mature long enough to develop a beak, reptilian feet, bones, and feathers. The locals love it! My mom used to rave about it to me. I'll give it a try...in due time.

The preferred mode of local transportation is the jeepney. These things are great and really cheap to get around in. They basically look like an old-school jeep from the front, but have been modified so that they can accommodate a bunch of people in the back. Look at the picture, it's much more effective than my attempted explanation. Each one is totally customized, and some of them have been very impressively tricked out. Some have whole murals of epic battles or American Indian and Wild West scenes painted on the side. Others have great decal jobs. And some are just plain fugly. You read right: FUGLY, dig?

Your average jeepney. This one ain’t nothin’ special, but just know that there are some real pieces of work out here.

Okay, on to the best news of my stay in Baguio so far: I finally met members of my family face-to-face. Yeah! They are awesome people and we had a great evening of playing catch-up over a magnificent feast this evening. My point-of-contact was my first cousin, Jackie, a half-Lebanese, half-Filipina, who is just a couple years older than. She let my tita (aunt), Gigi, know that we were meeting up tonight, and so Gigi came all the way from her home in the beach town of La Union to meet me. She brought along to more cousins, Margaret and Brian, 13 and 4 respectively. It was such a great feeling to have finally met them. Tomorrow, we are all heading to La Union, sans Jackie, who has job responsibilities, to meet the rest of the fam. I am so excited! At last, I can meet my lola (grandma), who I have heard about all my life, as well as my other aunts, uncles, and cousins. One of my uncles is a commercial fisherman, so I am going to see about heading out with him during my stay for a little fishing trip. Yum...

Some of mi familia and me together again for the first time.

Cousin Jackie.

Cousin Margaret.

Aunt Gigi.

My mama let me know that she and my pops are seriously considering buying a house here in the Philippines. Good news for everyone, plus I’ll have a place to rest my laurels while in country. Who’s with me?

Kristian and me at the Lamtang Boulders.

Cancelled my flight back to Bangkok in favor of a longer stay in the Philippines, plus I discovered that a flight from Manila to Kota Kinabalu in Borneo (Malaysia) is just a smidgen over $20 USD. Amazing! So now I can climb Kota Kinabalu and see Kuala Lumpur along with other Malaysian sights before heading home. It will be a blast, for real.

"Call it a clan, call it a network, call it a tribe, call it a family. Whatever you call it, whoever you are, you need one."
Jane Howard