10 things that are more fun in the Philippines

Inspired by the recently launched Department of Tourism campaign, I looked through two years worth of photos (without the help of Google, all of them are mine) to come up with my own list of things that are more fun in the Philippines. I've put up only 10 here but the possibilities are endless.

Can I just say, this was so much fun to do? Can the Negative Nellies out there please give it a try? It's better for your heart and your wrinkles, I promise. Although may find it difficult if you are devoid of humor—a rather rare and life-threatening condition for a Filipino.

But wait, there's more!

A toast to September

I know, I know. October is halfway done and here I am posting about September. 

I still have a bit of a hangover from last month. Although fall had officially begun in September, we were blessed with what is known as an Indian summer: two straight weeks of seasonally misplaced, blissfully warm and sunny weather that stretched all the way into the first couple of days of October. It was the summer Amsterdam didn't have. The whole city felt positively festive, like it was drunk on sunshine. Para silang nanalo sa giyera.

The last weekend before autumn weather officially kicked in was absolute bliss. Marlon and I hosted a dinner at home, with four other expat couples. It was actually warm enough to have cocktails on the balcony, so my friend Leigh suggested we make mojitos. The next day, it was so warm and muggy and lazy that we dragged our air mattress onto the balcony, sprawled out with some books, and made a couple more mojitos with the leftover ingredients from the previous evening. Mmmm.

Here's what I learned from Leigh's mojito tutorial:

Into a tall glass, put two teaspoons white sugar, a handful of fresh mint leaves, a little slosh of white rum (we used Bacardi) and two lime wedges, or half a lime cut into two. Crush the lime wedges until juice comes out (I used an ice cream scooper!). Fill with soda water and ice. Clink glasses and enjoy.

I'm raising my glass to September—you were absolutely, unexpectedly fantastic. Cheers!

Oh no, knit again

It's hard to cultivate thoughts of summer and sunshine when this is what greets you every single day. Apparently, this is what passes for summer in this little corner of the world. 

If cold can make things shrink, then the temperature of 12℃ over the past few days has definitely reduced the square footage in my brain that's reserved for swimsuits, sandals, strawberry smoothies and other summery delights. Instead, all I can think of is staying warm.

I seem to have knits on the brain lately. Case in point: I'm currently lusting for a Missoni scarf. I saw my first one in De Bijenkorf (the Rustan's or Takashimaya of Amsterdam) today and fell in love. A few seconds later my eyes drifted over to another one, and now my heart is torn.

Soft and feminine, or bold and striking?

Unfortunately, it comes with a price tag befitting a Missoni, so this love will have to remain unrequited... at least until I can figure out a way to drum up a regular income.

Also in the realm of knits: a few days ago, Audrey of Googooandgaga tweeted me a link to Zilalila's hand-knitted jumbo Nest cushions.

It was another case of love at first sight.

It just so happens that Marlon has always, always wanted a beanbag. I'm not wild about shiny, shapeless pleather, so I've flexed my wifely veto muscles to keep them out of our home. But when I showed the Nest to Marlon, we instantly felt that another miraculous matrimonial compromise was in the offing... in the form of a beanbag both of us could love.

So, braving the rain and cold, we embarked on a Sunday afternoon mission to Sukha, a wonderfully curated home and lifestyle store on the Haarlemmerstraat, which itself turned out to be a lovely street dotted with interesting little stores and cafes. When we got there and sank into the Nest, our worst fears were confirmed.

The Nest indeed feels as enveloping, comfortable and warm as it looks in photos. Therefore, we simply had to have it. 

Good for the home, bad for the bank account... but wait! It turned out to be half the price that it was on the website. That was a big relief... as big a relief as this big cozy knitted beanbag will be in the winter. Or, come to think of it, in the summer.

Beach bummed

As of June 21, summer has officially arrived. You'll have to excuse me for not blogging about it earlier, because it's been pretty hard to get all worked up about it when it's been gray and rainy for the first two weeks of the season. 

I check the weather forecast obsessively (being appropriately dressed for the weather can spell the difference between bliss and misery), and after the seemingly unending doom and gloom, I was ecstatic to see sunshine and 27℃ forecast for last Monday... the hottest it's been all year!

I've been reading about Amsterdam's city beaches, which are basically man-made patches of sand strewn around the city. Now Amsterdam's not by the sea, so the "beaches" are actually beside canals and rivers, thereby satisfying the basic beach requirements of sand and water. But others, like Strand Zuid, have no sand at all... and the "beach" on top of the NEMO building has sand but no water! 

Coming from a country of beaches (without the quotation marks), I found this all very... curious. Apparently, the city beaches are intended to give people without the time (or money) to go on vacation the chance to still enjoy summer at the beach. And with the weather being so changeable from day to day all the time, planning a proper seaside vacation can really be iffy. That I can definitely relate with. So I figured: why not give the urban beach a try? 

Bright and early Monday... uh, afternoon, I hopped on a tram to Centraal Station, then on the tram 26 to the man-made island of IJburg, which is the next big up-and-coming residential development. 

IJburg and the other nearby islands definitely deserve their own walkabout/photo safari. Being new and man-made, the islands feature modern city architecture vastly different from what you'll find in Amsterdam. Definitely interesting, but what I saw reminds me too much of our Asian megapolises. If I wanted brand spanking new and cemented, I would just go home... or back to Singapore. I like the greenness, narrow streets and history of Amsterdam too much to move out here. But who knows, the still-low property prices of IJburg may make me eat my words some day.

On that island is Blijburg, which from everything I've read so far is hailed as Amsterdam's best city beach. A "nomadic" beach that has changed addresses several times, Blijburg came into being as a by-product of the construction of the island and its buildings, and will continue to relocate until the construction of IJburg is completed.

I've read a lot of things about Blijburg's "great vibe", which actually made me look forward to getting there. So apparently, "great vibe" means "transplanted from a backpacker's memories of the 6 months they spent bumming around Southeast Asia (mostly Thailand). Quaint little beach shacks? Check. Fluttering neon-colored pennants? Check. Zen-inspired chillout bar? Check. Oversized Buddhas? Check, check, check... six times over.

So, let's talk about the beach.