My Japan Home

Tokyo, Japan

January 28 – February 3, 2017

Ah, to be in a small town trapped in a big city. In just a week’s stay, I felt in the zone in Taito-ku, one of Tokyo’s more traditional wards encompassing the quaint districts of Ueno and Asakusa. It had the best of both worlds. I could live here, I thought. Having been welcomed so warmly by friendly, familiar faces accounted for that sense of home. My student-turned-friend Taka came by within minutes of my arrival.

TTT with Takafumi @ Asakusa, Tokyo

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Illumi-naughty

Yokohama, Japan

February 3, 2017

Like a moth to a flame. That was how I had a night of light with my naughty friend Yuka. She suggested we saw the annual extravagant LED light display, commonly known in Japan as “illumination.” The word effectively lured me to scenic harbor city Yokohama. A walk on the boardwalk certainly delivered. The skyline was wholly lit-up with a galaxy of colored pin lights outshining actual stars.

Cosmo Clock 21 @ Minato Mirai, Yokohama

Reunion Tour

Antipolo City, the Philippines

July 10, 2017

Squad goal achieved! Way back when the world was not yet a wide web, I lost touch with grade school friends Ramir and Antonieto, one of my first beshies (best friend in non-millennial speak). It took the invention of Facebook to reconnect us. And a road trip through Antipolo, where Tony (three decades had cut his name) relocated in the intervening years, to regroup our squad, long-disbanded before the Spice Girls’ swan song!

With Tony and Ramir @ Hinulugang Taktak

3W for a Salaryman

Tokyo, Japan

January 30 and February 2, 2017

3W was shorthand for three sales a week. For us put-upon salespeople, though, it meant work, work, work! That was my ancient past as a life planner for a Japanese insurance company in Manila. Our big boss, Sawaki-san, demanded nothing less than Japanese-style work ethic. I had never looked back on it as fondly as I did in Tokyo Metro 20 years later. I fancied myself as a salaryman for a day.

TTT as Salaryman @ Tokyo Metro

Places of the Heart

Legazpi City, the Philippines and Yokohama, Japan

November 22, 2015 / February 3, 2017

My inner introvert would cringe at the antics of my camwhoring, social media persona. But there was no passing up an “instagrammable” pose on the letter block sign of Legazpi by the sea.

TTT @ Legazpi City!

Tale of Three Towers

Seoul, South Korea / Tokyo, Japan / Guangzhou, China

October 31, 2014 / January 29, 2017 / September 8, 2017

With a little help from my friend, I snagged a photo op with the 236-meter tall Namsan Tower in Seoul. I mounted a ledge for maximum exposure. And raised both arms to be sure. Cindy clicked the camera.

Success!

She did get the entire tower within the frame. I was not as lucky. At least I could spot my forehead!

A Bit of TTT and Namsan Tower

Bare Back, Full Frontal, Inside Out

Narusawa, Yamanashi Prefecture, Japan

January 31, 2017

When in Japan, get nekkid as the Japanese do! It was time to get the hang of letting it all hang out in full view of friends and strangers alike. In the (un)dressing room, I was still bundled up in winter wear, less for warmth than for self-consciousness. My Japanese friends Taka and Koji, comfortable in their own (bare) skin, approached to inquire what was taking me so long. I peeled off my gloves and sweater ten…ta…tive…ly as in an awkward striptease. I stopped short at my skivvies. Then I uttered a sheepish admission, “I’m shy,” before doing a 180 and unwittingly mooning them! I caught their impish grin and, just like that, I was cured of any qualms about public nudity.

Yuyari Onsen @ Yamanashi Prefecture

While They Were Sleeping

Tabaco, Albay, the Philippines and Fujiyoshida, Yamanashi Prefecture, Japan

November 22, 2015 and February 1, 2017

No kissing of the ground here as I wouldn’t want to wake these sleeping beauties. It didn’t mean I was less smitten at first sight by iconic Mt. Mayon (2,463 m or 8,081 ft) in the Philippines and Mt. Fuji (3,776.24 m or 12,389.2 ft) in Japan, both seductively conical and dangerously active stratovolcanoes. At times spewing fire and brimstone but mostly notoriously shy, these badass beauties were known to hide their graceful form behind a veil of clouds.

Mayon Volcano

My Snow Angels

Narusawa, Yamanashi Prefecture, Japan

January 31, 2017

To a tropical boy, snow was as real as Santa Claus. I knew which was fictional, but snow was just as much the stuff of children’s literature and my childhood dream. Then “adulting” cured me of my boyhood fascination with frozen precipitation.

Flanked by my Snow Angels, Koji (L) and Taka (R), with Mt. Fuji in the background @ Fujiten Snow Resort, Yamanashi, Japan

Hamming It Up @ Hamilo

Nasugbu, Batangas, the Philippines

January 5 – 7, 2017

When we could not take a vacation at an exclusive resort, we borrowed it. Without a condo unit at swanky Pico de Loro Beach and Country Club to our name, Ki asked an old friend for an overnight stay in her furnished studio. It trumped paying at the resort hotel or Airbnb rental. No sooner had she given the green light than we drove a few hours south of Manila to posh Hamilo Coast in Nasugbu.

Sunset @ Pico de Loro Cove, Hamilo Coast

Digging Digos

Digos City and Hagonoy, Davao del Sur, the Philippines

March 27 – 29, 2014

A city without an airport – that meant it was far from touristy. That was exactly how we found Digos, capital of Davao del Sur. Mom, sister, friend, and I flew in via GenSan in South Cotabato. Davao City was half that distance, but my brother who planned this trip thought otherwise. In the age of Google, we relied on assumptions. Well-played.

TTT @ Leling Beach, Hagonoy, Davao del Sur

Paradise In My Eyes

Sipalay and Kabankalan, Negros Occidental, the Philippines

November 2 – 4, 2016

We started on the wrong foot. We were just a party of three, but one woke up on the wrong side of the bed. Actually, he did not even sleep a wink. At our 7AM call time, he was just about ready to turn in. Never mind that we had a bus to catch for a 6-hour ride to a remote beach, and that we could miss the last boat ride to our resort. Alas, the majority had to acquiesce to the lone game-changer.

The Splendor of Sipalay

Gross to Gorgeous

Rodriguez (formerly Montalban), Rizal, the Philippines

November 20, 2016

From ewww to ahhhh. And vice versa. A road trip on a whim one Sunday afternoon ran the gamut of vowel-sound exclamations. After church, what was left of the weekend was enough time for an adventure. Or at least a joy ride. Ki drove aimlessly, eastward, until we stopped by the main church of Montalban (now called Rodriguez).

The Selfie Lord @ Wawa Dam

Through the Wilderness

Murcia, Negros Occidental, the Philippines

October 31, 2016

Sometimes the wilderness was your own backyard. Born and raised in Bacolod, I was perhaps the last person of my generation to visit the town next-door. It took almost half a century and a change of city to get me to step foot on Murcia.

TTT made it through the wilderness @ the 7th Waterfall of Mambukal

Touting the Tout

Daraga, Albay, the Philippines

November 21, 2015

You know the drill. Pretend to lean on it, rest your elbow on it, lick it like a lolly, strangle it like your ex’s neck. The funnier the pose (but who’s laughing?), the better (arguably). These done-to-death touristy photo ops seem to be the be-all and end-all of Cagsawa Ruins. The sobering history of how it came to be is reduced to photo effects. It has gone down the pathetic road of the Tower of Pisa.