WttP: Welcome to Tagaytay Highlands

Every year, my extended family and I always have to go on some "posh" trip. Ther treat. For them, it's all about resorts, islands, high- class hotels, and living in luxury. I'm game.

This year, we headed out to the highlands of Tagaytay, where there was an exclusive resort and all that.

But really, the most interesting thing happened, when we were on our way to the resort. We stopped at a gas station. I should tell you what I was wearing at this point. Ok, I was wearing a blue Michael Jackson "This Is It" shirt. I'm a total fan. But I guess a much much bigger fan would have to be my mom. She loves him. I don't know how much I can emphasizes the word "love" here. She LOVES him. She LOOOVES him. Remember Abbey, my black and white cat? She would have been called MJ. Then my mom would be all like, "Ask me why that's her name. Go on." and after you ask her, she'd go, "It's because it's no matter if you're black or white." Yeah, I know right?

So anyway, while we were at the gas station, we decided to get something to eat. Some wanted the Pancake House, some wanted good old McDonalds. I wanted Starbucks.

So there we were in McDonalds, right, and I finished off my pancakes long before the others did. I decide to go to the bathroom. I headed for the bathroom. And walked passed it. I walked into Starbucks.

Now, in Starbucks, it was a little bit empty. There was no queue, so I just stood in the middle of the place, taking my time, when I notice the barristas staring at me.

"Where DID you get that shirt?" one of them asks. I say "Oh, this thing? Hong Kong."

She replies with, "Are you a superfan? Beacuse I"m a superfan, and my best friend is also a superfan."

I"m like, "That's nice. My mom's a fan too. You have no idea."

And then another onslaught of questions.

"Have you listened to Childhood? Apparently, you must have listened to it if call yourself a superfan.

"Do you dance, sir?"

"No, seriously, where DID you get that shirt?"

I was actually very intrigued at this point. Not at the fact that they were talking about Michael Jackson, but the fact that they could talk like that at all. People here are really friendly. And they will say what they want.

I told them something. "You know who you should quiz? My mom. She couldn't get out of bed for a few days after hearing Michael died. Wait here."

Like they were gonna go anywhere. So after a little convincing, my mom walked straight up to Starbucks.

I told her, "They say if you're a superfan, you have to have listen to Childhood."
She quickly responds with, "Oh, please. Let me talk to them."

She quickly asked me to point out who were the people talking to me. Immediately she asked, "When did the King win most grammy awards? How many did he win?"

And we had the barristas saying "Oh no, please," and so begins her conversation with her new buddies. Finally, we were able to leave.

Leave Starbucks, leave the gas station. Headed to Tagaytay Highlands. A little bit of horseback riding, bowling, swimming, souveneir shopping, and of course, my review of the place.

Yeah, nothing beat what happened at Starbucks. Oh, and the answer to that question my mom asked? He won eight grammys in 1984.

-J

Welcome to the Philippines

I was born in the Philippines. I stayed there till I was a year old and then moved to Hong Kong. Ever since I was eleven, I’ve been going to The Philippines every summer. The problem was, it always rained. It rains for days in the summer, and it doesn’t leave you with much to do.

So like, I went to the Philippines this year in February, which happens to be my birth month. Yes, I’m spending my birthday here. . But we also wanted to do other things.

I was on the plane from Hong Kong, and I was looking out through the window. I remember that every time I got on the plane, I ended up throwing up. There was this one summer when I got sick on the plane and recovered about two weeks later. The day after that, I was on my way back to Hong Kong. On a plane. Yes, life is tough, I know.

Then, one summer, I found something that saved me. Music. It’s amazing, it’s like, the whole journey I didn’t feel a thing, and ever since then, I’ve been listening to a lot of music.

I remember my sister’s first flight. It was hilarious, it was like, you know that thing where you’re descending and then you can’t hear anything, and people always say things like “you gotta chew gum, you gotta chew gum” and all that? Yeah, and so we’re descending and my sister was new to that feeling and she was screaming at the top of her voice saying “I cannot hear! I cannot hear!” and my parents were either telling her it’s ok, and grinning apologetically at the neighbouring passengers. I was laughing all the way. God, that was funny.

But that was a long time ago. This time, I was staring out the window, my sunglasses on, my earphones plugged in, my sister chewing gum. I say to her mockingly, “I cannot hear!” She rolls her eyes and turns her head to the other side and she chews faster. As if I didn’t see that.

About fifteen minutes before we landed, the captain addressed us. I did not realize this until I took off my earphones and heard, “We are now flying over Pampanga. Thank you, that is all”. For some reason, I thought about epitaphs. Those words engraved on tombstones. I saw my name, and I saw “Died February 5, 2010. Crashed 30,000 feet into the province of Pampanga.” I did not like it. Worse yet, they’d be suing me for damages to their streets.

I had conversations with my mom involving car accidents. She says that if you’re going to get hit by a car, you’d better get hit by something cool.
“Who wants to have “Hit by a taxi” as their epitaph?” she says with a look of horror. “It’s only worth it if you get hit by a Lexus.”

And I remembered my sister and I one day. We were walking on the street when she stopped and said, “Look it’s Naruto!” and started to walk in the middle of the road. I've never watched Naruto before. Her epitaph would have been something like “Died looking for Naruto”.

So anyway, we finally touched ground. We entered the open air. Charming locals. The smell of burning leaves to drive away the endless onslaught of mosquitoes and flies. My mom really loves that smell. This was the Philippines. Mmhm.

-J