My friend has this little place up on a mountain with a TERRIFIC view of Davao city. I call this picture "stairway to Heaven" because it looks so calm. That little house at the top has no rooms, it just has couches, tables, chairs, and a kitchen. It's main purpose is to entertain guests and to relax by the great view.
When there isn't any Internet or television around, lots of Filipinos turn to playing cards. When I go on trips with friends, we almost always bring a deck of cards with us. A favorite game is called Pusoy Dos which I'm told is like Gin. This picture was taken in this beautiful cabana that my friends and I stayed in at a resort.
I love this picture because of the beautiful dock amidst the ocean with the beach and cabana in the background. Sights like these are really not unusual in the Philippines
Instead of a Sweet Sixteen, girls in the Philippines celebrated their 18th birthdays by having a debut. The traditional debuts have a cotillion with the debutant being presented with 18 of her girl friends and 18 of her guy friends. They often have a dance presentation, video messages, and speeches. However, none of my friends had a traditional debut and instead we opted for funner, more modern choices. Mine was a Hawaiian Luau inspired by my two trips to Hawaii.
My friend Erica, opted for a Hip Hop-themed party.
Because it's so hot in the Philippines, most private schools have air-conditioned classrooms. At my old high school, every classroom and office was air-conditioned including the cafeteria. It got so cold sometimes that the windows would fog up. Also, since we wore uniforms, the only way we could really express ourselves was with jackets. So some girls would wear a different jacket every day of the week. They weren't just fashion statements though, because it got really cold, sometimes jackets were actually needed.
The most popular theme park in the Philippines is called Enchanted Kingdom. It's really small compared to theme parks in other places. It only has one real roller coaster. The ride we're on in the picture is called the Jungle Log Jam.
Christmas is a HUGE holiday in the Philippines. We're the largest Catholic country in Asia and they say Christmas in the Philippines starts in November and ends in January. People start decorating really early and leave their decorations on til way after Christmas. It is also a huge family event with many families spending Christmas Eve with one side of the family and Christmas Day with the other side of the family.
I really love this picture. It was taken aboard a yacht on Manila Bay during a friend's birthday party. It captures the beautiful Manila skyline with the waters looking golden because of the sunset.
Old houses are popular tourist attractions. Because we were a Spanish colony for over 300 years, a lot of our architecture, culture, and even our language is influenced by Spain. This picture is of a bed in this old house my family had lunch in during a trip a year ago.
Magellan's Cross is a big landmark and tourist attraction in Cebu City, south of Manila. The Tindula wood encases the original cross planted by the Portuguese Ferdinand Magellan on that very spot on April 21, 1521. The Spaniards famously came to the Philippines looking for spices and ultimately stayed to promote God, Gold, and Glory.
This is one of the old houses of the famous dictator President Ferdinand Marcos and his wife Imelda. Imelda Marcos was famous for having thousands of pairs of shoes. This is one of their houses in Laguna, a province near Manila.
This is a picture of the new municipality where the mayor of Laguna works.
Although basketball is the most popular sport in the Philippines drawing in crowds of up to 23,000 per game, my sport of choice is softball. I play for my college varsity team and our season is starting in a couple of weeks!
Since most of the schools in the Philippines are Catholic, uni-sex, and require the students to wear uniforms, some of my college classmates and I decided to have a Christmas party with the theme being "Wear your old high school uniforms"
Manila is actually a really big party town. Everyone goes out at night, even if it's not a week night. Since everything is pretty near each other, a lot of people go bar or club hopping. Drinking age in the Philippines is at 18 so a lot of college and highschool kids go out too. One can easily go to 4 clubs/bars in a night. This picture was taken at Embassy Superclub which is probably the most popular club in the Philippines. Lines to get in go all the way around the building, and that's even if you're already on the guest list. Reservation for a table inside is about $150 a table for one night.
Well I hope you all enjoyed this glimpse into my world through the pictures that I have shown :) I really love where I live and the Filipino culture and I hope I was able to break some stereotypes as well as encourage everyone to maybe plan a trip to the country in the future :)
-thatshot7
