Normally around this time of year I’d be dreaming of sipping tea by the hearth and romping in the snow with some fun-loving dogs. Snow gives the holidays a magical quality that is only matched by the colours of autumn. Even the Filipinas we’ve talked to long for a bit of the white stuff. Fat chance of ever seeing snow in Manila. December is as cold as it gets and the temperature rarely dips below 25 C (80 F). Here, the holiday season for us is marked by escaping the heat in an A/C apartment and taking daily dips in the pool (we have become excellent lap swimmers!). Pumpkin pies and sugar cookies are replaced by mangoes and sapin-sapin, a delicious coconut milk-based dessert.
In our guidebook, Filipino cuisine has humourously been described as “short on greens and long on intestines.” Ironically, dessert is often flavoured with or made of vegetables and even ice-cream comes in flavours such as corn, avocado, and purple yam (we even saw cheese-flavoured ice cream). The sapin-sapin that we are so fond of usually has a purple yam (ube) swirl in it, and I must say it is delicious. If there is one aspect of cuisine that Filipinos have mastered, it’s dessert.
I’ve been immersing myself in Filipino history. Their dramatic past (and present) makes for a captivating read. This irresistible 7,107 island archipelago whose total land mass is comparable to Arizona, has been colonized by all of these countries in this order: Spain (who held on for 400 years after the explorer Magellan first landed on its shores; and who named the country after King Philip II), Portugal (only a partial takeover until the Spanish overtook them), Britain (just a brief colonizing stint), Japan (for a ruthless four-year period during WWII), and finally, the US (who bought the nation for US$20,000 in a package deal that also gave them Guam and Puerto Rico). Finally, a long-awaited Independence came in 1946. Strangely enough, Filipinos (or Pinoys as they call themselves) annually celebrate their Independence from Spain in 1898 instead of the date of their actual independence. Maybe this is because the revolt against the Spanish brought forward the most popular national heroes or because the Spanish held the Philippines for so many more years than their other colonizers. This staunchly independent nation is now home to 84.5 million people, 1/8 of which live in metropolitan Manila.
Enduring an onslaught of typhoons, flash-floods, volcanoes, and earthquakes, the U.N. has named the Philippines the most disaster-prone country on earth. Notably, it is also home to the largest robbery in history (by ex-president Ferdinand Marcos and his shoe-loving wife Imelda) who stole an estimated US$5-10 billion from the people of the Philippines. Fitting their fun-loving nature despite such natural and man-made adversity, those in Manila can proudly say that their city has the world’s largest nightclub.
According to a recent language survey in Canada, Pilipino is in the top five spoken languages of Manitoba, Nunavut, and the Northwest Territories!! (Are you gasping with surprise? We are.) With Magi’s help, I’ve learned a few phrases though neither of them will get me very far in Manila (or Iqaluit for that matter). In a strange, and now laughable, dream the other night I was abducted by guerillas in Manila and spent the entire dream saying my two best phrases in Pilipino which are, “My name is Krishna” and “Can you put this in a doggy-bag?” My aim was to try and convince my captors that I was Filipina so they would let me go. It didn’t work.
Life is calm right now despite a slew of very eventful dreams. Aside from doing some initial planning for our trip around Australia, it seems we are taking a brief vacation from our holiday. Though we haven’t done much exploring or traveling within the Philippines, I must say that so far, this is some of the best quality time I’ve had on our trip. It’s nice to be able to sit back and watch the world happen, especially at this time of year when things usually seem to feel a little more hectic. We decided to stay here so that we wouldn’t find ourselves celebrating the holidays in a guesthouse somewhere in the outback. So, we are not only looking forward to Christmas and New Years, but Magi's 26th birthday next Wednesday as well.
tothesea,
k~*