Magical Philippines - Part 3

"Once the Sun and the Moon quarrelled with each other, and the Sun said:

'You are only the Moon and are not much good. If I did not give you light, you would be no good at all.'

But the Moon answered:

'You are only the Sun, and you are very hot. The women like me better, for when I shine at night, they go out doors and spin.'

These words of the Moon made the Sun so angry that he threw sand in her face, and you can still see the dark spots on the face of the Moon."

Philippine folklore tale.

Each person travels for a different reasons for us as a family, travel has always been about adventure and discovery. Learning new customs, relating to different cultures and understanding the often eccentric traditions we encounter. The Philippines is a place like no other, totally unique in its global positioning. It's a place where you can find all that you seek, if you are willing to stretch your imagination and move out of your comfort zone.

The Philippines is made up of 7117 islands, so finding your personal preference is possible, however you will have to travel far and wide to find it. But if you are not too keen on the adventure, you can book a beautiful resort in a place like Boracay and do the conventional resort holiday thing.

Filipinos are warm, happy, and have a great sense of humour! In fact, the Philippines is one of the happiest countries in the world, ranking near the top on Gallup's index.

We found the Filipinos to have an ever present sense of humour, their joking, light hearted banter, especially singing, makes every day in their presence a true blessing. As some of our Filipino friends pointed out to us, it's an inherent trait that helps them cope with the dire poverty, hardship, and natural disasters they face. No matter what the reason, life in the Philippines is all about smiling, laughing and enjoying every moment with the people around you!

Filipinos love their shopping malls. They even have brands of shopping malls. In fact, they serve as community hubs, since they're clean, safe, and, most importantly, air-conditioned. Aside from the usual stores they also have countless food venues, gyms, grocery stores, banks, health clinics, nightclubs, parks, concert amphitheatres, and even churches inside their malls.

One we were settled in Manila, we brought up our itinerary plans. We had heard so much about the paradise island of Boracay, known for having one of the best beaches in the world with powder-like white sand.

The enigmatic Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte had recently closed the island resort for rehabilitation and it had just been reopened. The 3.98 square mile island still receives about 1.5 million visitors every year, making it the most popular destination in the Philippines. Even though Boracay has been celebrated as the best islands in the world in CondÈ Nast Traveller reader's poll, we decided to avoid it, and chose 100 Islands National Park instead.

Typhoons wreak havoc in the Philippines nearly every year, while we were there flooding and landslides took many lives, but we were never deterred from our quest. It rained often and very often it poured, a real deluge of rain that rendered our flimsy raincoats useless. So we set out regardless, to the rural area of Bolo Bay and we stayed in Nieves Cottage, where rural does not begin to describe it.

How we found 100 Islands as a destination came from Dennis, a taxi driver we took a ride back to our apartment from Mall Of Asia, one of the biggest shopping malls in Manila. Dennis recommended it and we swapped the plans to go to Batangas.

Politeness is an art form in the Philippines and tourists are addressed as "sir" and "mam" no matter their age. You'll see younger people refer to women and men who are a little older as "ates" and "kuyas", a respectful term for an older sister or brother. Dennis drove us there the following day and dropped us off with a cautionary suggestion to take care of our valuables.

We never took too much care and never felt threatened or exposed at all the time we were there. Speaking to locals, they love their President, who has come down on criminals and drug dealers with an iron fist. He has empowered the police and strengthened the judiciary and now criminals are scared and the people are happy. The Philippines once was a scary place to travel freely, but nowadays it's the thugs that are scared, thanks to Duterte.

Filipinos respect and cherish their elders, and that shows in many ways in everyday life. For instance, seniors are addressed as "po" after please, thank you, and other exchanges, with the younger person taking the elder's hand and touching it to their forehead in a charming display of reverence called "mano."

Elderly, disabled, and pregnant women even have their own line at banks, restaurants and taxi queues, allowing them to bypass the crowd. However, their politeness can go a little too far, as we rarely heard a Filipino come out with a direct "no" answer when we asked them a question. This trait that created many challenging and hilarious situations for us on our travels!

Read next week about the adventures of the Philippines and the bliss of white beaches and crystal clear water.