Dadaps: The Musical, and Luzon Exploring with Jenny

Part I: Even More Dadaps!

After much anticipation, Nathan's family came to visit the Philippines during August. It was his sister, Sofie's, first time, and his dad's first trip back since he left nearly 30 years ago. You can read more about their visit in Nathan's blog! 

Nathan holds the music for Uncle Jemay (professional
 violinist),with piano accompaniment by cousin Jascha!
Photo by Jenny Qi

As always, it was great to spend time with Nathan's family. Since we came to Manila 8ish months ago, I've been able to get to know many of his relatives that live in the area. I've said it before and I'll say it again- I can't imagine how difficult the transition to living here would have been without the Dadap network! And quite a network it is- Nathan's grandfather is one of fourteen siblings, so there is a seemingly endless list of aunts, uncles and cousins (plus all of the great-, half-, second-, once-removed- level relatives!). When Nathan's immediate family visited, even more relatives came out of the woodwork. Over the course of a handful of family reunions and smaller gatherings, one thing really stands out about this family: Music. Whenever the threshold level of Dadaps is reached, music starts playing- singing, piano, violin, guitar, and contagious laughter. It's truly incredible how pervasive musical talent is throughout their family. Famous musicians from the Dadap clan reside in Manila, Los Angeles, New York and throughout the Philippines. As someone with no musical abilities to speak of, I can now happily attribute this to a lack of genetic predisposition! Though I'm hoping that all of this singing and performing will eventually rub off on me and I'll be able to join in.

Fishermen returning at sunrise on the shores of Hinunangan

The coconut forest of Hinunangan at sunrise

Dadaps: The Musical started out with performances  in and around Manila, mostly at family gatherings over food, and then began a national tour with a trip to Hinunangan, Southern Leyte. This is the place where the family of 14 siblings arose, and there are still many relatives living in the small, beachfront town.  The closeness of the small community was evidenced by Nathan's dad being able to approach strangers and ask "Do you know where I can find my cousin Long-Long?", and get directions to his relative's house (along with a suggestion that he might be at the bar)!

This was my second trip to Hinunangan, the first having been in June after a work trip to Tacloban. Since the last visit was only  2 days long and mostly spent recovering from an exhausting project, it was great to be able to relax and take in the beauty of the area over a few days. The highlight was a short boat trip to the San Pablo & San Pedro islands, located just off the coast. We spent a beautiful day on a white-coral beach, snacking and snorkeling until it was time to go home. A small resort type area had been established, but it was by no means a popular tourist destination, and I suspect it is largely undiscovered by anyone outside of Hinunangan. All the better, and I hope it stays as pristine and untouched for years to come! The tropical fish were incredibly beautiful, and I vow not to return to the Philippines without an underwater camera. Being the wimp that I am, I am usually pretty skittish about ocean swimming due to a mostly-irrational fear of sea snakes and sharks. Snorkeling has proven to be the perfect solution, and allowed me to spend hours at a time in the salty Pacific without the eerie feeling that something is lurking beneath my feet. Except when there was something lurking beneath my feet! On the sea floor, but not more than 20 feet away, I saw a 3-5 foot long, limbless, striped creature. 

This is how I remember the sea creature I saw

I immediately darted to the shore, and only returned to the water when Nathan's 16 year old sister went in, since clearly she would be the perfect person to protect me from sea snakes. Together we returned to the spot where I'd seen the animal and took a closer look, only to discover that instead of a serpentine face it had a mass of short, waving tentacles. I still don't know what exactly it was, and I can't find anything that looks quite like it on Google, so I'm going to have to assume we discovered a new species of hybrid anemone/sea snake. Luckily it took on the docile nature of it's anemone ancestors, and we escaped unscathed :)

The epic spread at the Dadap despidida
(complete with 3 vegan options- score!)
Photo by Jenny Qi

The 3-week-long visit culminated with a great family gathering at Nathan's uncle's house in Manila, with an incredible assortment of food, world-class musical performances, and lots of joyful family time. This was also the same day that my friend Jenny from California came, and one awesome Philippine experience blended seamlessly into the next!

Part II: Me, Jenny and Luzon- a whirlwind tour!

As it turns out, I'm wildly popular, so much so that in August I had a second visitor from across the world! Jenny, a friend from UCSF, wisely decided to take advantage of having a friend in the Philippines when planning her summer vacation, and we had an awesome time exploring the island of Luzon for the 8 days she was here. Travelling during rainy season has it's plusses and minuses, and the journey started out with a rude awakening to the realities of mother nature in Manila: urban flooding!

Sink or Swim (or Pedicab)

An empty jeepney trying to escape the rising flood

After a tiring but gorgeous day of exploring the historic walled city in Manila proper, light rain began to fall and we took refuge inside a nearby mall to pass the time until our night bus left for the north. Little did we know while we shopped for comfortable travel pants and cheap sunglasses that the light rain had turned into a full-fledged downpour outside. Stepping out of the mall into the throngs of wet Manileños was shocking. A horse drawn carriage rumbled past with water reaching the carriage floor. Four girls linked arms and braved the newly-formed river toward the main street. Tricycles sputtered water and stalled out.  Our 10 minute journey to the bus station suddenly seemed incredibly difficult, and my now-totally-irrational fear of water snakes (there it is again!), combined with the surety that the water contained rodents and human waste, was not making it any easier to step out into the knee-high flood waters.  After acknowledging that the luxury of time was not on our side, and that the many holes in the streets and sidewalks of Manila make it too unsafe to walk through the dark and muddy waters, we bartered with a pedicab driver to take us to the  main street where we could find a jeep.  This short journey involved the pedicab driver mostly pushing his vehicle through the street while we stood crouched on the seats, per his instruction. Eventually we reached a sidewalk with a high enough elevation and hopped out near the main road. Despite the fact that jeeps seem perfectly designed for this sort of situation, they were all passing by without picking up passengers, driving quickly toward higher ground. A tricycle (motorcycle with a sidecar) seemed like the only mode of transportation available- taxis had also fled the area. The water on the main street was too high, so we began a tour of a not-so-nice neighborhood, winding through the back roads in search of the most elevated path. The fact that Jenny and I were surrounded by unfamiliar road signs with two strangers who could easily have taken us somewhere other than the bus station set of all of my female-travel-danger alarms, and the stress and fear caused by the flood were magnified. An hour into what would otherwise have been a 10 minute journey, the bus station finally came into view. I was filled with relief as we climbed aboard, soaking wet, just minutes before it left the terminal. And so began our journey to Banaue, Jenny having been officially inducted into Filipino culture!

Rice, Glorious Rice!

The view from our Batad guesthouse

The next morning, we arrived in Banaue, home of the famous rice terraces. We quickly ate and tracked down a jeepney bound for Batad, where we planned to hike and spend the night. Following the example set by fellow travellers up north, I asked if it would be ok for us to ride on top of the Jeep for the 45 minute journey, and I'm so glad that I did! The view was incredible as we wound through the mountains and terraces. The morning fog kept the air cool, the UV rays at bay and coated the lush surroundings in a mystical haze. Though it may seem like it would be scary to ride on top of the jeep, the slow speed and handlebars allieviate any potential danger. If anything, the people on top of the jeep have a better chance of surviving if the jeep tumbles off the cliff, as I've heard they sometimes do. These paved, well-travelled roads didn't seem to threaten that very often. We did, however, have to hop down and quickly walk on a part of the road where a landslide had just occurred, while our guide gazed fearfully at the newly formed cracks on the rockface beside us. Thankfully the driver and road construction workers were there to recognize the potential danger and guide us through safely.

Harvest time in Batad

In Batad, the "Ampitheatre Rice Terraces" are breathtaking, and after quickly dropping our bags in a guesthouse ($4/night!) we began hiking. Eschewing some advice to hire a local guide in favor of the ask-everyone-we-pass-for-directions strategy, we made our way through the 2,000 year old terraces to a beautiful, misty waterfall. Another American tourist had joined us for the trek, but our hiking styles were not well-matched (careful and leisurely versus surefooted and speedy!), and we quickly gave up on trying to match his pace. We all reunited at the waterfall, passing our jeep mates and their hired guide who were on their return trip. After taking in the beauty of the falls, getting our feet wet and taking many pictures, we began the very slow ascent back up the terraces to our guesthouse. Rain was fallling and we were still weary from the long journey, so we took advantage of every stopover or photo-op to take breaks. Arriving at our guesthouse with most of the day still ahead of us, we settled in on the deck for a calm evening of gazing out at the terraces and getting to know the family that ran the guesthouse. 

The owner of our Batad guesthouse with her niece
Photo by Jenny Qi

I especially enjoyed talking with the father of the owner and hearing his thoughts on life in Batad. He had a strong appreciation for the way of life there, calling it "simple but beautiful", and noting that  “Barack Obama, he has so much power, but he has no time! He can’t come to Batad. He's probably stuck in an office, drinking coffee! Hah!” He made similar observations about the American ambassador in the Philippines and other world leaders, and clearly considered himself to be lucky in comparison, sitting on the porch of his modest family-owned business, overlooking one of the most beautiful views in the world. Hours later he appeared from the road carrying a large spear, and told me that it was for hunting wild boar in the forest, which he would kill and then haul back on his shoulder. An impressive feat for a man who appeared to be at least 70. His wife was a small woman of a similar age who, when standing, was around 2.5 feet tall. Short to begin with, she was completely bent over at an angle that looked to sometimes be less than 90 degrees. Still, she was incredibly industrious, removing mung beans from their pods and helping her daughter maintain the guesthouse. Rita, the daughter of this pair and owner of the guesthouse, was an unmarried, friendly but tough-looking woman who chewed betel nut all day (like the local version of chewing tobacco, it causes mild euphoria and warms the body). Her nieces and nephews lived next door and were also present. It was adorable to watch the 2 year old boy giddy with excitement when he saw his 6 month old sister smiling. To round out the family portrait, there were about 8 puppies scattered across the porch, occasionally latching onto their sickly flea-ridden mother but usually curled up into little sleeping fur piles.

Sagada, Mountain Province

Hanging coffins in Sagada

The next morning, we climbed back on top of a jeep and were on our way to Sagada- a city tucked away in Mountain Province, famous for its pine tree forests and laid back atmosphere.  We began another day of hiking, heading first to the famous Hanging Coffins. According to Ifugao tribal tradition, suspending the coffins serves the dual purpose of bringing the spirits closer to heaven and protecting them from wildlife. Some of the coffins were only around 3 feet long, and I learned that the dead were traditionally placed in the fetal position and wrapped in twine before being placed in the coffins. Immediately after death, the dead would be positioned upright in a wooden chair near the entryway to their homes so that neighbors and relatives could come pay their respects. Since these chairs couldn't be used after the ritual, they sometimes ended up hanging on the cliffs alongside the coffins.

Hiking in rainy season, without a guide, is not the most advisable course, and we quickly learned the error of our ways when we lost track of our trail after crossing a river. Panicking and facing a steep hill with houses above in the distance, we made the decision to just hike as directly upward as we could, trail be damned. Unfortunately, this was a particularly thorn-ridden patch of land and a week later my legs still show evidence of this poor decision making! Luckily, before any tears over our ensuing death were shed, we found the trail and realized we were actually quite close to the main road! Still, lesson learned: hire a guide. All the fear was quickly erased when we emerged onto the main road in front of a store with a sign reading "Hedgehogs for sale". Still filled with adrenaline our harrowing experience, I asked the storeowner if he would mind showing us a hedgehog even if we weren't ever going to buy one. He obliged, and ten minutes of cute-animal-therapy set the tone for a relaxing evening in Sagada.  We ate a delicious dinner in a Bob Marley themed restaurant, drank berry wine with some fellow visitors, and rose the next morning ready for a long day of bus rides back to Manila. 

Baby cow taking a nap in Sagada

Travel can be draining, but nothing revitalizes a bus-weary vegan like spending a stopover in Baguio with not one but TWO vegetarian restaurants. Thankfully Jenny is a fellow lover of vegetarian food, so I don't think she suffered too greatly.  High on veggie-power we began the next long bus journey, and safely arrived in Manila after around 14 hours of travel.

Back to Manila

Having completed the rugged, outdoorsy portion of our itinerary, we proceeeded to embrace the softer side of the Philippines. Starting with a foot massage for me, mani-pedi for Jenny, and a whole lot of food at a going away party for two of my office mates.  We traded in hiking boots and bug spray for dresses and sandals and spent a day browsing thrift stores, intermittently snacking and walking through the well-manicured gardens of Tagaytay. For Jenny's last day, we took on the necessary task of souvenir shopping at Greenhills shopping center, haggling-capital of Manila.  I've made it this far without succumbing to the temptations of cheap shopping, but the air of deal-making was too strong to resist and I ended up with a pretty cute cell phone case and some vegan lipstick. Jenny's bargaining skills were quite impressive, and featured lying about prices offered by other sellers and cooly walking away from goods only to be quickly offered a lower price. We made it home just in time to escape a monstrous rain storm, and cheers-ed to a great week with glasses of freshly squeezed coconut milk. 

6 month old hegdegog in Sagada
Photo by Jenny Qi

All in all, August was an incredible month full of family, friends and new experiences. Still, I'm happy to be back to work at SIBAT, and greatly appreciate having a job that I don't dread returning to after a vacation!