Hello everyone! Here’s an overview of my second week in the Philippines.
Monday consisted of typical routine. I walked with Jessica to FNRI in the morning, worked on internship tasks, ate lunch, then worked on tasks until 5pm. The walk to our internship is an adventure and about a mile. It consists of about a quarter of mile to reach the gate to exit our condo (which is fortunate to say), under ten minutes to reach the main footbridge, about nine minutes on the footbridge, then about ten more minutes to reach the building in FNRI.
Paranaque is definitely a busy place, there’s crowds of people on the way to the internship. I really enjoy the nature surrounding the buildings of FNRI. Though it took Jessica and I a few days to figure out, there’s actually a short cut to reach our building our internship is located in. The path honestly makes me feel like I’m in Temple Run, a game my siblings and I would play when we were younger.
Tuesday:
After work, Jessica, Sir Dars (one fellow co-worker), and I ventured to SM Mall. It’s fun to try different stores in SM. Tuesday night, I swam at the condo and relaxed in an egg-shaped suspended seat after my swim- 10/10 highly recommend.
Wednesday, I made it on time to my internship, though not as early as I would have liked. Luckily, a security guard offered a sidecar ride to Jessica and I. This experience was actually a highlight of this week since it was a really kind gesture. Plus, the short ride was fun and it saved some time in the morning.
Wednesday:
So, Wednesday is where this week picked up, in a good way. In the afternoon, there was a rainstorm – which isn’t surprising considering it’s the rainy season in the Philippines. The rainy season is about June to November, then the dry/sunny season is from December to the end of May.
Sir Dars and Jessica recommended we take a tricycle back to Siena Park, which I was kind of hesitant about. I’m not a fan of being in a small vehicle going almost 30 miles/hour or more when traffic in the Philippines is like a very chaotic game of Tetris. I got in after Jessica, and I literally almost fell out because the tricycle started going before I completely got settled. Fortunately, another woman watching all this occur noticed and yelled at the tricycle driver to stop. I learned my lesson if I don’t get on a tricycle swiftly.
Meanwhile, it was also pouring and my umbrella was still open, though I did close it after I actually got in the tricycle. After I actually got settled, the back of the tricycle was shut and we rode close to SM. Despite this tricycle fiasco, which I could definitely elaborate on more, the rest of the evening went really well. After Sir Dars, Jessica, and I dried off in our condo, we went to SM to watch Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. In the Philippines, many places require you to show proof of vaccination, which the three of us gladly presented before the film. Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness included a plot of reasoning and creativity I liked, kind of a mind-bender.
Thursday was kind of uneventful, though I watched a webinar on Food Defense.
Now, my extremely fun and memorable weekend.
Over the weekend, one of my internship supervisors was kind enough to drive Jessica and I to Pagsanjan, which is the tourist capital of Laguna. Ma’am Cean and her husband joined us in a Korean barbecue restaurant on Friday, which consisted of one of my favorite meals so far in the Philippines. Ma’am Cean also made a reservation for Jessica and I at Casa del Rio, a small resort right on the edge of the Pagsanjan River.
Saturday morning, Jessica and I enjoyed banana pancakes with scrambled eggs. After breakfast, Jessica and I went on a boat tour of Pagsanjan Falls – an extraordinary experience. The two locals helping us were so kind. To provide a better description, one guide was in the back, Jessica sat behind me, and another guide was in front of me.
The tour of Pagsanjan Falls consists of an hour to the falls, and about forty minutes back. There are fourteen sections of currents the local guides led the boat through. We were surrounded by the valley with rock faces and tropical trees. And this is not easy for the local guides, as they seem to elegantly jump from rock to rock to shift the boat over sections of currents. There are 1,006 boats for tours, all part of the United Boatman Association of Pagsanjan – every worker typically does one day of river tours a month, which makes complete sense to me considering how physically demanding a tour is, especially several times in one day.
While in Pagsanjan, Jessica and I walked to the Pagsanjan Arch from the center of town; built from Spanish soldiers at the end of the 19th century (image below).
Individuals I’ve come across in the Philippines tend to be relatively open about their mental health, which is something I genuinely appreciate.
Updates next Sunday!