of filipinos and foreign lands

"...manila is the cradle, the graveyard, the memory. the mecca, the cathedral, the bordello. the shopping mall, the urinal, the discotheque. i'm hardly speaking in metaphor. it's the most impermeable of cities. how does one convey all that? if one writes about its tropical logic, its familial loyalties, its bitter aftertaste of spanish colonialism, readers wonder: is this a magical realist?...how do we fly from someone else's pigeonhole? we haven't. we must. and to that, we have to figure out how to properly translate ourselves..."
                                                                                                - excerpt from ilustrado, by miguel syjuco

the except rightfully refers to manila, but reading it somehow reminded me of how difficult it is to describe my country to foreigners.

diha sa bohol

despite the hassles of packing and rushing to beat a flight, i would have to say that i will always love traveling. there is truly something marvelous about seeing everything for the first time, and the novelty of it all inspires you to do more in order for you to see more.

bashful tarsiers