Nandito na kame (and i sincerely think that's wrong somewhere...)

Yup so i'm finally here, ten years after my last visit, and lots have changed since then, hardly the least of which is my appearance, which now looks much more local (i.e. Filipino) than at any other point in my life (and come to think of it, since i've been now identified as a Malay, a Thai, a 'non-Chinese', and a Filipino in Malaysia, Thailand, S'pore, and the Philippines respectively, i've more or less concluded that i'm acquiring more of a native Southeast Asian identity, and this at the expense of a Chinese one). The downside of it is that people talk to me in Tagalog and expect me to respond fluently when all i can do is shake my head and utter little token phrases like "wala" and "hindi pa." I'm almost tempted to utter something in my significantly better (ok, maybe that's pushing it a fair bit) command of Thai and hold on to whatever hope that they might speak that instead...

Hmm anyways i realize that there's so much i want to say here that has taken place ever since the month started, stuff regarding VCFFOC, Thailand trip, CGL Training etc; which i dunno when i'll get a chance to recall and subsequently to write about...

But anyways,while i can remember what i can remember about the Philippines, i'd better note it down while i have the chance to.

Eh actually there hasn't been much so far. Today i explored but a fraction of the countless number of really giant malls there are in the Metro Manila area. You think that vivocity is big? Well, then you haven't seen any one of a large handful of giant malls that connect with one another like one giant air-conditioned Orchard Road. There's another mall near where i am in QC that stands alone (ok not really there's an equally big SM next door that i haven't even been into) but definitely is bigger than vivocity already... And i've yet to go to SM MegaMall, the largest mall in Asia when i last was here; and SM Mall of Asia, the new holder of the title of the largest mall in Asia...

Currently i'm trying to plan for a trip up to the mountains. The rice terraces, to be exact. Now if you know me you'd know that planning of any sort is hardly my cup of tea. And now to make things even less comfortable for me i'm planning a trip for me and me alone - no co-traveller to shift the blame to or to commiserate over should anything go wrong. Of course thankfully i've some prior info and what not but still this is a monumental achievement for me, and hence if i really am able to pull this off, methinks i'm gonna be quite pleased with myself... However, that's a big IF, so i dunno how things will turn out in the end... So all i can say is, stay tuned...