With only a week and a half left, it’s hard to believe that my time in the Philippines is already coming to a close, so I thought I’d use this post to reminisce on one of my favourite experiences that I’ve had since being here.
A few weeks ago, our group decided to spend a weekend away at the beach for some proper R&R (as one should whenever the opportunity arises!). We all took the Friday off and made our way to a beach a few hours from the IRRI campus where we stayed at a place highly recommended by one of our supervisors. None of us really knew what to expect with regards to the accommodation but , let’s just say, we couldn’t have been any closer to the shoreline if we wanted to.
On our way to our destination we met a Filipino basketball team who were on their way to a beach in the same area that we were staying to celebrate a second place win in a basketball competition. We all connected quite well and they offered for us to join them on some ocean activities the following day which we gladly accepted — we were excited to explore the area with locals who knew how to experience it in the most authentic way possible.
The upcoming days were spent enjoying what the crystal blue beaches had in store. We went snorkeling with the basketball team and saw so many beautifully tropical fish such as parrot fish, strange-looking yellow needlefish, and even clown fish. We were also able to feed bread to the fish and even got our fingers nipped a few times.
After snorkeling we were invited by the basketball team to join them for a home-cooked lunch, kamayan style — food is served on banana leaves and eaten with your bare heads, no utensils. The menu consisted of rice (of course), chicken adobo, squid adobo, grilled pork, and fish sinigang (a traditional sour soup). The food was delicious and the company was great!
During down time at our bungalow we spent a lot of time walking on the shore looking for shells and playing card games — which I can say with confidence is not my strongest suit, pun intended.
We were also introduced to Indian mangoes which i a popular snack food in the Philippines. Indian mangoes are essentially small mangoes with green skin and firm, slightly sour flesh. If you’ve never eaten them before you might think that they were unripe but they are actually meant to be eaten at this stage. Essentially, the green skin should be peeled off and the flesh cut into sections. The flesh can then be eaten as is but we were told that locals prefer to dip the flesh into salt or a fermented fish sauce, both of which I tried, but I prefer the flesh on its own. They are delicious and extremely refreshing, we even brought a few back to IRRI which I happily ate with my lunches.
Our weekend away was definitely a memorable trip that I am grateful I got to experience! We met so many new people, made new friends, ate new foods, and had the opportunity to enjoy the ocean in a way that I think many people could only dream to experience.
“Life is like the ocean. Waves will try to knock you down and push you back to where you started but once you fight through them, the entire ocean is yours.”
— unknown