A good friend's tropical island wedding in the Philippines gave us an opportunity to see the country that we would not otherwise visit on our own.
We know that the country offers spectacular scenery as much as its neighboring countries, but we just didn't have a warm and fuzzy feeling about it - perhaps because of the notorious corruption, precarious safety record, or maybe it is extremist making news kidnapping people. People from Hong Kong would not forget the hijacking incident many years ago, which took the lives of many Hong Kong tourists. The tragedy is a sobering reminder of the sloppy police and ignorant government in this country. So for Jocharvel, we always thought there are better places in southeast Asia for our tourist dollars.
Nonetheless, it is hard to say no to a beach wedding. We are indeed happy to be able to enjoy a get-away and to see a new place.
The short-trip was not particularly exciting, partly because of the unsettled weather. We spent a day driving in Bohol in the rain - saw the cute little chocolate hills; We ended up chit chatting a lot with our airbnb hosts David and Fiona; We were disappointed by our cancelled diving trip because of bad weather, but we did manage to soak up some precious sun on the incredibly fine sandy beach. The weather on the wedding day, however, was perfect, so on that front, at least the trip was not a total waste (very happy for Emma and Hansel).
As usual, the first thing we pay attention when we travel is the people. Filipinos are very chill (I wonder if they inherited this character from the spanish). Most of the people we interacted are very friendly and honest, and they are very happy people. In fact, the people are so sweet that we were reminded our time in Myanmar.
Unlike any of its neighbours, the country is predominately Catholic and has been a Spanish colony for a few centuries. The uniqueness in culture plus the irresistible tropical island setting should have been a bullet-proof formula for tourism success, and yet it doesn't seem to be the case, especially compared to regional champions like Thailand and Malaysia. In my opinion, besides the safety concerns, inadequate infrastructure and the lack-luster gastronomy scene are also kind of discouraging.
On the day we arrived, Jo and I spent about an hour strolling Cebu before our ferry to Bohol island. And we were engulfed in chaotic traffic and tumultuous jeepney and tricycles, along with the intoxicating fume. The city is lined with litter, and filthy sewage stagnates on the side of the streets. These reminded us the countries like Bolivia, Ecuador or Albania, but I thought the Philippines would be more developed. When Jo and I took the car to the country side, unpaved roads are common once we strayed from main roads. We are bewildered by the under-development of the country, considering it was one of the first countries to open up in the region.
While I can understand the infrastructure development takes time, especially for a country with numerous islands, the cuisine, or the lack of it, is really baffling. The most common good from what we saw are fried chicken and fried pork. Even the top rated restaurants boasting authentic local Filipino food turned out to be rather bland. We started to realize the reason why there are no foodie shows or celebrity chefs on TLC from this country. I guess if this country wants to up a notch in attracting tourists, investing in a few signature dishes may be a wise first step.
