Discovering The Philippines

Hey there,

Last week, I introduced you to the Philippines, but today, in part 2 of this series we are going to embark on an exploration of what it is like to actually be there!

Buckle up, because today we are going to be covering a lot of ground. It is challenging to compress 4 months of life-changing experiences into words.

So while my past letters might have been a nice 4-course meal, today’s letter is going to be a 3000 word buffet.

Embracing The Unknown

The first time that I visited the Philippines, I was with my business partner, Tom Thornton. But the second time I visited, I went solo and lived spontaneously for 3 months. I would go from airbnb to airbnb and city to city, just exploring my interests.

I’ve spent a total of 4 months in the PH.

• 1 month during in the fall of 2022.

• 3 months during this past summer.

Here is a heatmap of my time there:

Barely Scratching The Surface

Before we start wandering through the Philippines, I need to make something clear:

I’ve only experienced a small sliver of what the country has to offer.

I am painting a beautiful country with a broad brush, and there is so much left to explore.

Enough preamble!

Let’s talk about what makes the Philippines so interesting!

Population

There are over 100 million people in the Philippines.

For context, the United States is physically 33x larger than the Philippines, but only 3x larger in terms of population.

What that means is that the country is PACKED with people, especially in Manila, which is where I spent most of my time.

Manila is actually the most densely populated city in the world. There are over 100,000 per square mile.

Here’s how you can visualize this density…

Imagine how densely populated New York City is…. now imagine that it was squished into a space that is only ¼ of it’s current size.

That is how dense Manila is.

As a kid that grew up in a town of 500 people, I was constantly shook by how many people were there.

My mind never fully grasped how populous the city was.

Southeast Asian Geography

Thousands of years ago, the sea levels were much lower.

What this means is that there was a point in time when you could walk from Australia to China or walk from India to the Philippines.

There were all kinds of trade-routes that linked land-masses together. This is one of the many reasons why the PH that you see today is so diverse.

But because most of the ancient records were written on bamboo (and then burned by the Spanish) or were passed down orally, much of the history of the Philippines has been lost.

To me, this is heartbreaking, but it creates a lot of mystery to the history of the islands and gives their past so much more depth.

Language Diversity

Beyond the national language, Filipino, the country is home to over 170 languages/ dialects. I am sure that there were many many more before the 16th century (when the Spanish colonization began).

Here is an interesting map of Filipino languages that I found online:

And while we are talking about languages, long ago there were many scripts that Natives of the Philippine archipelago used to communicate (many of these written languages have since disappeared).

Here is a graphic that shows the pre-colonization scripts:

An interesting note is that these scripts would be scratched onto bamboo tubes/slats.

Here is what this might have looked like:

Alright! Enough history lessons.

Let’s go to the Philippines! 🇵🇭

Welcome To The Tropics

As you step out of the airport, the humidity will give you a nice warm hug. It is the most humid place I’ve ever been. If you walk outside for more than a few minutes, your shirt will be heavy with sweat.

I spent most of my time in the city and in the provincial areas. I loved seeing the vegetation in the provinces. There are mango, coconut and banana trees everywhere.

Although I didn’t really go to the beach, I had plenty of opportunities. In the future, I’ll do more of a “vacation“ trip and go to places like Palawan or Siargao, so I can swim in the crystal blue waters and walk on the white sand beaches.

Even though the islands are tropical, there are higher elevation, mountainous areas throughout Luzon that I would love to explore. When I was in Baguio “The Summer Capital of the Philippines”, I was amazed to see banana trees, pine trees, and bamboo growing just a few feet apart.

My imagination would run wild with ideas of building a beautiful cabin, high in the lush mountains of Luzon.

Oh yeah, one more thing about the tropics… it rains. A LOT. I went there in the rainy season and the less-rainy season but during both seasons it rained more than anywhere else that I have ever been to.

Get an umbrella! Filipinos love their umbrellas, because they can double as a sun shade.

Iconic Filipino Transportation

After WW2 ended, the Americans left a whole bunch of jeeps in the Philippines. And because the Filipinos are incredibly resourceful (more on this later), they took those leftover military vehicles and converted them into “Jeepneys“.

Jeepney’s are truly iconic and Filipino to the core. They are also terrifying for foreigners to figure out (and I almost fell out the back of the first one that I climbed into).

Ahh… how do I even describe a jeepney. Well, they are sight to see.

Colorful. Packed with people (and with a few hanging off the back). Bumping OPM (original pinoy music). They weave through traffic with seemingly reckless abandon while shooting black smoke out of the back (gotta love diesel engines, right?).

They also have these little bikes called a traysikel (tricycle). It is basically a little motorcycle with a carriage attached on the side. And without exaggeration, I have seen just about everything transported via the traysikel.

Here is an incomplete list: a goat, 50 dozen eggs, a small mountain of bagged ice, a stack of chairs, a medium-sized family, etc.

It is the go-to transportation in provincial areas, but in the cities, you can book an “Angkas“ and someone will just pull up on a motorcycle, hand you a helmet and you can just jump on the back of the bike.

Family & Community

One of the most important things I noticed in the Philippines was how tight-knit the families and communities are. For example, one night, I walked by a park and saw a bunch of kids were playing night games. There were probably 80 kids in the park just running around just having fun. It hit me with nostalgia from when I was a kid and that was more normal. Nowadays, the playgrounds are empty in America.

About the family - it is completely normal for 3 generations of family to be in the same household. And unsurprisingly, nursing homes are pretty much nonexistent. They treat the elderly with a great deal of respect.

This respect is even built into the tagalog language. For example, you strategically include the word “po“ within your sentences whenever you are addressing someone respectfully.

When a mother and a daughter are walking around in public, the daughter usually holds her mom’s arm. It is heartwarming.

Cultural Observations

The Philippines is a very religious country. Without competition, it is the most Christian country in Asia. There are monasteries, crosses, and statues all over the place. Again, this is part of the legacy that the Spanish left.

Speaking of legacy, the United States left a permanent mark on Filipino culture.

During the 5 decades that we had stewardship over the Philippines, we built a lot of schools and ton of other infrastructure. As a result, English is one of the most commonly spoken languages. They teach it in school.

Filipinos are totally tuned into American culture, music, hollywood, memes etc. In fact, Facebook is the backbone of how they communicate.

A random observation that I made is that they like having “whiter“ skin. There are skin whitening products and many girls (and guys) don’t like to go outside a lot because it will make their skin darker.

This was so odd to me, because here in the U.S. the girls go to the tanning salon to get the same shade as a tan Filipino. I won’t even try to unpack this cultural nuance here. That said, I think “morena“ Filipinas are gorgeous.

Another random observation: girls are better at making eye contact in the Philippines. Again, I have nothing more to add here other than that it was interesting and refreshing.

Pinoy Personalities

In last week’s letter, I mentioned a few of the personality traits that Filipinos have in spades. But now that I’ve spent time in the Philippines, here are a few more personality traits that are too common to ignore.

They are playful. They like to joke and they like to have a good time. From the little kids to the adults, this is consistent.

They are superstitious. I don’t really understand these well enough to explain in depth, but they have all sorts of little quirks like “don’t take a shower after you have been in the cold rain“, etc.

They are friendly. Countless times, I would be walking down the street and a group of guys would invite me over to sit down and visit. It was incredibly easy to make friends.

They are hospitable. Filipinos are the best hosts and I can’t be convinced otherwise. They will do everything that they can to make sure you are comfortable. For example, they will plug in a fan right next to you, so you feel a little more at ease.

Musically Inclined

This deserves its own section.

Did you know that Karaoke was invented by a Filipino? Well, it was.

Did you know that Filipinos are the best singers? Well, they are. I swear, everyone that I met in the Philippines could sing. Just walk down a busy street and it will take you about 60 seconds to find someone that can sing better than your entire family tree.

After my first trip, I went down the rabbit hole of Filipino music and man, oh man am I glad that I did. I am constantly finding new artists and listening to them also doubles as Tagalog practice.

The Filipino language is very “melodic“ and flows smoothly, so it lends itself well to singing and rapping. Don’t believe me? Look up Flow G.

The Filipino Palette

Ahhh… it isn’t possible to talk about the Philippines without talking about the food. Filipinos LOVE food. Most of it isn’t healthy, but almost all of it is masarap (delicious). There are a lot of fried foods and sugary treats/drinks, but I did my best to just dodge those.

Rice

You know the phrase “rice is life“? Well, for Filipinos it is. They include rice with every meal. Most are completely convinced that you can’t feel full without eating rice. I certainly confused a lot of people when I asked for my food without rice.

Meat

The most commonly eaten meats are pork, chicken, and fish. The best pork I’ve ever had was in Cebu, Philippines. If you are ever in Cebu, definitely try the Lechon, which is their specialty. The way they grill and season their chicken is different but very good. Beef isn’t very common over there because it needs to be imported. You can still get it, and if you do, you should try ‘Beef Tapa‘ or ‘Tapsilog‘. Mmmm!

Eggs

They know how to cook eggs perfectly. Whether it be fried or boiled, all the eggs that I had were fantastic. Except for…

Balut. Ahhh… the fertilized and boiled duck egg. I tried this twice. You know, I really tried with this Filipino delicacy, but I just couldn’t get past the texture (and the fact that I was eating a boiled baby duck). Video evidence of this can be found on my TikTok.

Fruit

Fruit is exceedingly abundant. In some areas, there are so many mangos that they will just be rolling down the side of the road. I would buy fresh fruit pretty much every time I went out on a walk.

They have different types of bananas and they ALL taste better than the Cavendish bananas that we have imported from South America. My favorite banana was the ‘Saba‘. It is a short and stout banana that has a slightly starchy taste. They usually use it for cooking but it was so masarap. I could clear an armful of those in an afternoon - not kidding.

Here are a few other fruits that I really enjoyed:

• Green mango with bagoong - you eat them when they are hard and sour, and dip them in a salty fermented shrimp paste. It sounds gross but it had such a refreshing, complex taste.

• Coconut - They call them “buko“, which means “seed“. You can get fresh coconut juice pretty much anywhere for cheap.

• Dragonfruit - I had these when I was out in the provinces and they were SO good and 10x cheaper than I could find them on the shelf, here in the U.S.

• Pineapple - ridiculously sweet and when you buy this pre-cut, they carefully cut out all of the little spines on the fruit, so that it doesn’t aggravate your mouth.

• Strawberries - Small. Delicious. Sweet. Not much more to say.

Street food

I like to call this “speed food“, because you can get a fast, decent meal for like 80 cents. You can live on the street food and I am sure that many do.

Most street food is fried, but I still tried it, because… you only live once, and I was making videos for my TikTok account.

Speaking of my tiktok, you should definitely check it out, because I made videos for nearly all of the unique foods that I tried.

Forks, Spoons, Hands

One thing that I need to mention is that in the Philippines, they use a fork and spoon when they are eating (instead of just a fork), or they will just use their hands. Honestly, after eating with my hands a few times, I found that it just makes food taste better. Just wash your hands before and after you are done eating!

Grab A Bite To Eat

Now, let’s say you are feeling lazy or are in a hurry, you can always have someone bring your food right to your apartment. There is an app called Grab that works kind of like UberEats that is extremely popular. Whatever it is you are craving, you can find it on Grab.

Economics

The economics in the Philippines are a bit different than the United States. The cost of living is 3-4x less than the U.S. but the standard of living is lower, as well. It was very nice to come home to a functioning shower, washer, dryer, central heating, aircon, and water that is safe to drink from the tap.

Cash is king

If you want to buy something in the Philippines, bring your pesos, because aside from restaurants and shops in the mall, you are going to need to pay for everything in cash. 30 pesos here… 12 pesos there… etc.

The only time I used my debt card during the trip was to pull out cash.

And if I wasn’t paying in cash, I was paying with Gcash, which is a digital currency linked to your bank account. Honestly, I freaking loved Gcash. Imagine Venmo, but better and for everything. It was so convenient to send and receive money, and if I didn’t have cash on me, most people are cool with you paying them with Gcash.

Micro-Economy

Something amazing about the Philippines is how many little “shops“ there are. They are barely a shop, though. They call them “sari sari stores“. They are tiny little shops where you can buy small quantities of the basics.

Imagine a tiny 7-11, but the size of a small bedroom and it is attached to someone’s house. These are hard to describe, but they are everywhere. Clearly the tax laws are different in the Philippines

Massive Malls

One thing that the cities in the Philippines all have in common is MASSIVE MALLS. And by massive, I mean malls that are the size of a town. These malls are one of the few public places that have air conditioning, so they are teeming with people cooling off on a hot day, or just running errands.

You can get just about anything in the mall - I even had a tooth pulled! How exciting!

Urban Life

I spent much of my 3 month trip in and around Manila area. The traffic is pretty terrible, especially around rush hour (which is 24/7). And because of all of the vehicles, there is a ton of smog, which can’t be good to breath in. I didn’t realize how poor the air quality was until I left the city and went to the provinces.

Coming home to the U.S. it really made me appreciate how fresh the air was and how peaceful and private life can be in a small town.

Now, one last thing I need to mention about urban life before moving on. There are parts of the city where life isn’t that great. Money and opportunities can be hard to find. Some are living day to day in harsh conditions. If you have a roof over your head and food in your fridge, be thankful.

It breaks my heart, but there are little kids in the slums of Manila that have never even set foot on a playground or played in a park. Someday, I’d like to start a foundation that does day camps for children in similar circumstances.

Everyone, especially kids, deserve to get out of their house/town/city and into the wild, even if it is just for a little while.

I am the person that I am today because of the adventures I’ve had.

And the best adventures start when we step outside.

Okay, that is all that I have for you, this week!

Next week, I’ll share:

• Insights gained

• Lessons learned

• New perspectives

If you want to go a bit deeper while you are waiting for the 3rd (and final) part of this letter, you can find my other Philippines-centric letters here:

• Discovering The Philippines Pt. 1

• The chaos of getting there: Why I’m On A Plane To Egypt

• How To Improve Your Life Circumstances

• The 1-in-60 Rule of Kindness

• How To Build Unshakeable Self-Confidence

• The Secret To Strong Relationships

• Focused Work and Dental Work

• All Good Things Come To An End

• The chaos of getting home: Trading Blankets for Wisdom

Catch you next week!

- Cliff