A guide to Filipino markets for Travelers!

You might be seeing a pattern here – I’m actually creating blog posts for vlogs I’ve already posted on YouTube! But this is for a reason! I also want to promote Filipino culture on this site, given I am Filipino first before a Japanophile so expect some posts like this in the future as well!

For my foreign readers, this is how a typical Filipino market looks like. We call this a “Palengke” in Filipino, or “Merkado” in Bisaya (borrowing the word from Spanish). The market has two main sections – the dry section and the wet section.

This is our town’s market (the building at the left)

The Dry Section

In the dry section, you’ll find goods that are, well, not wet. This is where you can buy fruits and vegetables, grains/rice, household goods, supplies, and sometimes, even clothes and apparel. Especially in rural towns, you’ll find all sorts of things since the market is already the “mall” in these areas.

Other ingredients for food preparation repacked into small portions (very Filipino)

It’s very common for Filipino markets/stores to have repacked ingredients so that consumers can buy what they only need. You’ll find also that things like shampoo, toothpaste and even deodorant, are sold in “sachets” which is economical but not really environment-friendly.

The Wet Section

The wet section is where you can buy fish and meat and is characterized by sticky, wet floors, so you need to be careful when walking in this area.

You can buy Cebu’s famous Chorizo at the wet market!

In the wet market, you buy things by the kilo (or fractions thereof). Prices are usually negotiable, especially when you buy a lot so don’t hesitate to ask for the “last price”, and try to look around if they don’t give in the first time!

Other tips when visiting the market!

Bring eco-bags for a more environment-friendly shopping experience. They’ll usually pack the dry goods in plastic bags but you can do away with this if you bring your own bag.
Bring cash and coins. You obviously can’t use your credit or debit cards in markets like these.
It’s OK to haggle! Well, you can opt not to if you want to help out the store owners but this is normal practice in markets, especially when you buy in bulk.
Get ready to be dirty, especially in wet markets. Wear shoes that you don’t mind getting dirty so that you don’t slip off when walking in such a slippery area. I actually personally don’t like going around the wet market section because of the slippery floor!
For foreigners, just be open to the experience. Part of getting to know a country is experiencing things local people do. Don’t be quick to judge, especially if you feel it’s negative, because that’s daily life for the local folks! And you’re not entitled to validate this from your own point of view so go out there with respect and an open mind! Get ready to be overwhelmed by the sights and the smell! 🙂

When international travel resumes, I recommend you visit a Filipino local market for the experience! Let me know also how different (or perhaps similar) markets are in your countries!

You can also check out the vlog I shot on the same day I took these photos below. 🙂

Shopping for the Holy Week!

Good times at Maayo San Remigio

Last January, I took the family to our first real vacation since the pandemic started. Some of my friends also decided to take their families with them on vacation that same weekend, so it was a bit of a reunion after being locked down for almost a year.

From our hometown in Dalaguete, which is at the southeastern part of Cebu, we drove five hours to San Remigio, at the opposite side of the island (northeastern part). The drive itself was already a lot of fun since it’s our first time to explore the outside world after a long time.

After settling down, we went around the resort to take some photos. We also had a social distanced dinner with our families and it was a lot of fun catching up with my friends! After dinner, we played mahjong, drank a lot of beer, and talked until around 3AM!

Getting ready for our favorite game – Mahjong!

The next day, we made the most out of the resort by checking out the beach and the pool! Basically, we spent the entire day swimming and relaxing, as you would on a vacation like this. Good thing I didn’t have any hangover from the night before. The weather was quite gloomy but at least we didn’t get sunburn.

There are trams to take you from the rooms to the other areas of the resort

The best shot of the sunset on this cloudy day

We stayed for three days and two nights, but time passed by so quickly! I guess that’s always the case when you’re having fun. I hope to visit this place again because I really enjoyed my time there! Not to be biased because my friend works there but you can really feel the warmth and hospitality of the staff, despite them just reopening to the public from the pandemic. We felt safe and forgot about the world for a few days.

You can also check out my vlog on this trip if you want to see how the resort looks like as I didn’t take enough photos for the blog! 🙂

This post is a couple of months late, but I’ll be catching up on a lot of blog posts in the next few days because my motivation is back! Please do look out for more posts in the future! Comment below to help motivate me to post! And also, subscribe to my YouTube channel because I have a few things posted there that aren’t yet on the blog.

Finally home for Christmas!

I just wanted to quickly update that I was able to go home to Cebu (yay!). I needed a change of environment because I really was getting super depressed in Manila. I missed my family, and I thought we should be with family during these tough times. So, as you may have read from my previous posts, I sent my car first and then completed my requirements to be able to fly back.

I did my 14-day quarantine at home and completed that on the last day of 2020. Obviously, I spent both Christmas and New Year’s at home with the family, and I couldn’t complain at all.

As you may already know, I’ve started making vlogs on YouTube so please check it out if you haven’t yet! And subscribe! Haha.

I’ll try to post more regularly as well. This is it for now, I need to sleep!

How to apply for COVID Shield Travel Authority

Hey guys. So, I’m flying back home to Cebu soon and in order to do this, under the current situation, I have to get a Travel Authority from the PNP office. This document is required in order for someone to travel domestically in the Philippines – at least when you cross borders between provinces, in order to slow down the spread of COVID-19.

However, as great as the intent is, the execution of the process isn’t really very efficient. I personally got stressed applying for this document because instructions aren’t clear on the onset. You are able to ask for instructions from the barangay but they always seem to skip out on things and you always end up lost and asking for questions one way or the other.

So, with all the stress and confusion I experienced, I decided to share what I’ve learned of the process so that you won’t have to go through the same. If you have all of the requirements, you can actually finish everything in half a day! You can apply for the travel authority 3 days from your travel date at the earliest. If your travel date is more than 3 days away, they will reject you and ask you to come back! Here are the things you need to apply for the COVID Shield Travel Authority (and bring photocopies because you need to submit them).

Requirements

VALID ID. Make sure your valid ID shows that you are a resident of the city where you are applying from. Otherwise, you will need a barangay certificate.
BARANGAY CERTIFICATE (OF RESIDENCY), only if your valid ID does not show your current address. If you rent a condominium, you can try to request the certificate from your condo admin, but to be safe, best to get this from the barangay.
BARANGAY HEALTH CERTIFICATE. You can get this from your barangay health center. They will just ask you if you have symptoms or have been in contact with a positive COVID-19 case, no need to present results of a COVID test for this.
TRAVEL DETAILS. If you are flying by plane, bring a photocopy of the ticket. if via car, you need to share the vehicle details and the driver’s name.
LETTER OF ACCEPTANCE/COORDINATION from your receiving barangay/LGU. If you don’t have this, you can still apply for the travel authority but processing will take longer as they will need to call your receiving barangay/police office to coordinate your arrival and get their approval to proceed. You will have to explain your reason for travel and if you have any contact from the local LGU to make the coordination faster so to avoid this altogether, ask your relatives/friends at your destination to coordinate this directly with the barangay and send the document to you.

Process

Here is the step-by-step process I followed. This may or may not be 100% applicable to your city as processes aren’t really streamlined across. Also, note that some cities/municipalities have online processing so it may be faster but generally, you can follow this as a guide! There’s news of moving the entire process online nationwide but I’m not sure when that will be implemented. Having one standard process (and online at that) would make this more efficient and importantly, safe for everyone!

Make a photocopy of your valid ID and travel itinerary. If your valid ID doesn’t have your current address, get a barangay certificate from your barangay hall to prove your residency.
Go to the barangay health center to get a health certificate. Please wear your face shields on top of the normal masks because this is required to enter any government office.
Go to the PNP satellite that processes the travel authority in your city/municipality. These are normally done in auditoriums/sports complex due to the volume of people. You can ask for the exact location from the barangay health center when you get your health certificate
Submit all requirements to the person manning the front desk of the PNP satellite handling the travel authority processing
If you don’t have a letter of acceptance/coordination from your receiving barangay, you need to go through the coordination process where PNP will call your receiving barangay to align your travel.
Once you have all requirements including the letter of coordination/acceptance, you can proceed to the encoding line. They will type your details on to the Travel Authority template and request you to review it before getting it signed.
In the city where I applied, they process all travel authorities by batch. So they collect all documents until just before noon, get it all stamped with the serial number and signed, then distribute it at around lunch time. Same with the afternoon batch. Be prepared to wait!
Once the Travel Authority is signed and stamped with the serial number, they will release it to you and you’re done!

Other items you need to consider is that the place where you can apply for this is usually crowded with other people. Social distancing is still in place but because of the volume of people, you can never really be more careful. Always wear your mask and face shield, bring your own water and alcohol/sanitizers, and stay away from the crowd as much as possible.

I created a short video on my experience so please also check it out (and subscribe if you haven’t yet).

If you have any questions – drop them at the comments, or share your experience if you’ve tried applying for the travel authority! 🙂

How to ship your car from Manila to Cebu via 2GO Rolling Cargo

Last week, I had quite an anxious experience with trying to send my car from Manila to Cebu via rolling cargo. I’ve tried searching the internet for a step-by-step guide but I couldn’t find anything, so I thought I’d lay it down here for anyone who wants to ship their vehicles from Manila to Cebu, or to any port in the country, really.

I did my car shipment via 2GO Rolling Cargo and the process is not as straightforward so I hope this guide can help you out!

Book an appointment

Call 2GO Rolling Cargo to book your car shipment. Their contact number is 02-8-528-7400 and they accept calls from Mondays to Saturdays, 8AM to 7PM. You can also email them at 2GO_Freight@2GO.com.ph.
Upon calling, they will ask for some details about your vehicle including the declared value, so that they can provide the estimated shipping cost. They will also ask you your planned shipment date (you can check with them the earliest or nearest schedule to your planned date). You also need to provide the details of the person receiving the car at the port of destination.
After booking, they will provide you with a booking reference number. You will also receive a text message with the booking and schedule information.

Dropping off your car at the port

As much as I wish that they have a pick-up service so that it’s less hassle for customers to ship their vehicles – they don’t. You have to do everything by yourself and it is at this point that things become confusing or you get lost in the process so let’s get to it.

Before leaving for the port, make sure you bring the requirements and the payment (note that they only accept cash) with you. You only need to bring a photocopy of the OR/CR, the deed of sale if it’s second hand and the delivery receipt/sales invoice if your vehicle is brand new. Bring a bit more cash than the estimated amount since this could change depending on the actual measurement done on site.

Drive your vehicle on the scheduled date and time to Pier 2 North Harbor, Zaragoza Gate. Click here for the Google Pin. Plan to arrive earlier if you want to finish early. I got there on time and there were already several people ahead of me! Ask the guard at the entrance where to go, and he’ll instruct you to head to the second building after you turn left from the entrance gate. Park your car outside the building, go in and approach the guard at the 2GO booth for the next steps. He will give you some forms to fill out. A 2GO staff will also inspect your vehicle parked outside and take measurements. After this, you will wait in line at the cashier to proceed with the payment.
Take your documents to the white container van across the Zaragoza gate entrance. Give it to the guy in the counter and he will give you another document based on the car measurements taken earlier. He will tell you to proceed to Pier 16 for the next step but will not really explain in detail.
Take your car, exit Zaragoza gate and head towards Pier 16 but not really to Pier 16. You can search for MNHPI Corporate Office on Google Maps instead. Click here for the Google Pin (refer to image below for Step 3). Inform the guard that you are processing your Rolling Cargo documents. There is ample parking here! Enter the right most side of the building (where there’s an aisle of counters/windows). Go to the last window and submit your document. Once they give it back to you, go to the first window on that same isle (Philippine Port Authority window) and give them your documents. They will return it to you after stamping or signing. To be honest, I don’t know what they do here exactly – and I was super lost. Good thing this old man saw me and helped me out for a tip of 20 pesos.
Go back to Zaragoza gate and get your car weighed. The weighing toll is across the first building you entered. Go up the ramp and give your documents to the guy in the booth. He will give you a gate pass.
After weighing, drive your car inside the pier back to the area where the white container van is. Park your car and bring the complete documents and the car keys to the person manning the white container van. He will inspect the car one last time and give you back your copy of the documents. This completes the drop-off process.

Going home

Obviously, since you don’t have a car anymore, book a Grab or a taxi on your way home! It takes a while to book a Grab due to the location so patience is key!

You will receive text messages once the vessel carrying your vehicle has departed. You will also receive another text message upon arrival. Make sure to have the recipient collect the vehicle in the same day (before 4PM) to avoid extra charges. My car arrived in Cebu on time without any issues so at least you can rely on 2GO to safely deliver your vehicle.

I started a YouTube channel

So, I started a YouTube channel. I needed a different venue to channel my mental energy. This came about on my fifth day of Twitter hiatus. I just picked up my phone, recorded myself making coffee – and decided to just give it a go!

My very first vlog!

I’ve always wanted to start to move to vlogging but I didn’t really like talking in front of the camera. So, inspired by some silent Japanese vlogs where people don’t talk, and instead communicate through subtitles, I decided to do the same. I find these kinds of vlogs peaceful and relaxing.

Cleaning the house

Why vlog on YouTube?

The question should be, why not? It’s a great way to pass time. I see it as an investment of some sort – maybe someday, my channel gets monetized and I start earning on the side (from both Adsense and Affiliate links). It’s a far-off dream but there’s really no harm in trying. I also really just wanted to do something new. When I make a video, my brain just focuses on it until it’s uploaded so I forget about all of the other things for a moment. It feels like a mental exercise. A release of mental stress.

I’m not going to stop blogging. My YouTube channel would be more about tasks or activities that can be captured in a video. And I’ll also be posting my vlogs here so it’s a win-win situation. Haha.

So, please subscribe to my channel – it’s boredathome on Youtube. I need a thousand followers in 12 months and that’s going to be tough, so help a stranger out! I’m still a beginner, my videos are not going to be great right away, but I’m exploring and we’ll see where this takes me.

Do you have a YouTube channel as well? Let me know in the comments and I can give you a sub!

Taiwan: Days 4 & 5 – Outlet Shopping & Free time!

Our second to the last day was gloomy – we were expecting this weekend to be rainy and were lucky enough to have had bright sunny days to tour around. But on this day, there was no chance of sun. It’s fine since all we had in the itinerary was shopping!

Day 4

Off we go to Mitsui Outlet Park!

Mitsui Outlet Park is outside Taipei so we had to take a 20-30 minute train ride if I’m not mistaken. When we got there, it was already drizzling. We were ready so we had umbrellas with us. But, I wasn’t prepared for the cold wind!

We got lost on the way to Mitsui Outlet Park from the train station. We apparently walked in the opposite direction! We passed through a lot of construction and eventually found ourselves in a big but seemingly empty mall!

The shopping began. I wasn’t really planning on buying anything. I tried out some things but did not eventually buy them. #minimalism

A nice place to chill among imitation cherry blossoms

OK, so I bought a jacket because it was too cold (not this color though)

After walking around for over an hour, we decided to take a break at a Japanese coffee shop that served these fluffy pancakes! Expensive but, it was an experience we had to try.

I eventually ended up buying a pair of shoes because I liked the colors. This was a steal at only a little over 2,000 PHP.

Not a shoe person but I fell in love at first sight

After spending a whole afternoon at the outlet store, we went back to the hotel to freshen up – and it was free time for everyone. We could go wherever we wanted to go!

I decided to go roam around Xiamending again, looking for milk tea.

I found a milk tea shop that looked like it was named after me. HAHA. Tell me you do not see JEK in this sign?

And arguably the best brown sugar milk tea of the trip!

After milk tea, I decided to walk around more. I was craving for beef noodles because it was a cold day. I managed to drag my brother and some friends to search for a street-side stall that sells beef noodles!

Finally, we stumbled upon this local restaurant that had beef noodles among many other local food!

We couldn’t communicate but the restaurant owner understood “beef ramen”

The others caught up with us when we told them about this spot. So, we were all gathered again for the last evening in Taipei!

Day 5

The next day was another free day – our flight was in the early evening so we had half a day before going to the airport. We spent it buying souvenirs to bring back home. And also, I brought them to “my” milk tea shop! XD

While everyone else was shopping for souvenirs, we headed to this cafe near our hotel which I really wanted to try out ever since I saw it. It’s a small cafe with some tables outside. And a lot of plants! Luckily, there was an available table when we got there!

They serve their food with these cute figurines of animals

I am craving this butter toast right now.

It was finally time to go back to the hotel to check out and head to the airport! I was feeling sad as I always do on the day I fly back home from a trip. I had a great time though and created good memories with friends old and new so I had no regrets.

The last three photos are of myself so you can actually end it here if you want. XD

A cool digital photo thing at the train station

I’m finally done with the Taiwan blogs! Blogging is not as easy (nor as fun really) as it used to be. But I need to do this because I want to remember the events of each trip. I have a lot more backlog posts that I need to catch up on soon as well – I’ll get to them one by one, slowly but surely – with enough motivation and energy. Haha.

Thank you for reading until the end!

The Hangman’s Daughter

I finished reading The Hangman’s Daughter by Oliver Pötzsch over the typhoon when we had no electricity. It was the perfect way to spend a sleepless night over. I’ve started it a while back but I had difficulty finishing it due to anxiety over what’s going to happen next.

The story revolves around the town’s hangman named Jakob Kuisl and a series of deaths that occur in the small town of Schongau in the 17th century. The townspeople suspect that this was caused by witchcraft, and the witch – an old midwife who these children hung out with prior to their deaths. Jakob then proceeds to investigate the details of the events to prove the midwife innocent and prevent another witch hunt.

Overall, I enjoyed the book. I’ve read that it is historically accurate so reading about life back in the 17th century is interesting in many ways. How they treat sickness, how they implement the law (and execute people) and the fear of “witches”. It is a thriller, and there are some parts which gave me anxiety and scared me especially when I read in the middle of the night. I don’t get the why the title is The Hangman’s Daughter, though, when his daughter didn’t really have much to play in the story (except towards the end). The encounter between the Hangman and The Devil towards the end was intense and had me reading faster than my mind could interpret the words. Everything unfolds at the end so rest assured, without spoiling the ending, there is proper resolution and you won’t be left wanting for more.

There is a series of books after this, although I’m unsure if the story continues – so I’ll be checking the others when I can. No promises given the backlog of books I have on queue but, we’ll get there.

I got this book for free during an Amazon Kindle event – it’s an annual event where they give away several books for free for one day (I’m not sure if it’s World Book Day or something).

Have you read this book? If you haven’t you can click on the image below (affiliate link) and let me know your thoughts!

I’m probably depressed

Hey guys! Wow, what a month it has been so far – just when you think 2020 is almost over, the world (at least the Philippines) has turned upside down again with at least 5 typhoons in a row (since October), 2 of which (including the latest one) were record-breaking disastrous. As of today, the typhoon is over but we have at least two provinces that are still experiencing aftermaths with the severe flooding. In case you want to help out – here’s a post from WhenInManila that contains a list of organizations you can donate to.

I don’t want to come off as selfish by talking about my own personal struggle when a lot of people are suffering right now, but because I can’t sleep (running on the third week now), I thought of unloading some my thoughts here.

It’s self-diagnosed but I’m sure I’m not OK. I’m also most likely not alone given we are all going through the same situation. Pre-pandemic, we could easily get rid of mental stress by hanging out with friends, visiting family, traveling to our favorite places, going to the karaoke and drowning our sorrows with alcohol. Eight months of pent-up stress has worn down my mental and emotional capacity. I’m finding it hard to sleep, and even harder to wake up – therefore impacting my energy for work and non-work activities. My dreams have become far more interesting than reality that I really don’t want to wake up every morning. And then there’s the guilt about not being able to do my work well when I am lucky to even have work — everything is just piling up. Everything has become so overwhelming. I’ve tried listing down the things I need to do to get better.

I need to start considering therapy. I’ll just give it a try, get a professional diagnosis — whatever this is I’m going through, I can no longer wing it by myself. I don’t know if I’m ready though. I know I have a lot of repressed emotions and memories from my childhood, and I’m scared of opening a can of worms.

Reassess my goals and activities. There’s so many things I want to do and I’m always frustrated because I’m not progressing at any of them. Do I really need to learn the piano? Is blogging really still a passion or am I just clinging to an old flame that’s long been put out? Should I just sell my gaming consoles because I didn’t buy them to just gather dust?

Get off social media — again! It’s a warzone out there. You would think that calamities or disasters would bring people together – but people are bickering even more. Is it really so hard to accept that people have different opinions, beliefs, principles and values? What is the point of throwing labels at each other? I don’t participate in these discussions but I can’t stop people from posting about it so, while I love my Twitter time, just minimizing usage isn’t enough – I may need to go on an indefinite break.

Reconnect with friends and family. It’s harder to do this now, and easier to just disconnect from everyone to be honest, but going through my old photos while archiving them to the cloud, I was reminded of the many friends I’ve made that I had close connections with but have now been reduced to online “friends” I don’t even interact with anymore. Just check up on them – ask them how they are? I’d appreciate if people asked me that. I also need to see my mom already – I haven’t been away from the rest of my family this long.

Take a break. From everything. Hopefully I can go home soon and take a long break for the holidays if work permits. I can’t wait to be in the mountains of my hometown, surrounded by nature, living a simple slow-paced life not worrying about anything. That would be heaven.

Look at me adding to my already long list of to-do’s. But I need to do these for myself, otherwise I’d go crazy before the pandemic ends. This is the worst my mental state has been ever and the first step to getting better is accepting that I’m not OK and that I need to do something about it.

How about you, stranger on the internet – how are you?

After 13 years…

Exactly 13 years ago, this guy left the comfort of home, hopped on his first airplane, and started an adventure in a land quite familiar, but still a bit foreign. Leaving Cebu for Manila was unplanned, but when the opportunity presented itself, I knew I had to grab it.

In the beginning, it was a lot of fun – living with college friends in a “foreign land” and making our way through adulthood together. It was like a permanent sleepover party until the responsibilities of adulthood got real. And then, as time passed, they started finding their own way in life and from that batch of college kids, I’m technically the only one left standing.

Thirteen years is a long time. It’s like attending nursery school and graduating 4th year high school (pre-K12)! I’ve met a lot of new people along the way, and most of them too have found their own paths in life. To be honest, seeing where all of my friends are now makes me feel like I’m stuck. There are times I feel like I’ve wasted all these time not going after my dream of living in Japan, or doing something more meaningful back home in Cebu.

I used to bring a camera with me everyday and I took a LOT of photos over the past years. Archiving these photos to the cloud gave me an opportunity to look back at all of the fun memories (and even remembering the not so fun ones along with them). This exercise made me realize that the years were not wasted because I’ve grown together with the people I’ve spent time with. I’ve learned life and work skills, and wisdom that comes from getting through tough experiences.

Now, the question is where do I go from here?

I don’t know where I’m going. But I do know that this already feels like a new chapter. It’s not too late to go after dreams and life goals. Especially with this pandemic, being where I am now is a blessing in itself. So, I will continue doing my best and maybe someday, I’ll feel that thrill I once felt when I first landed in Manila. That excitement for something new. Maybe finally find my purpose in life. We’ll see!