Philippine diaspora is considered one of the largest worldwide. According to the World Migration Report 2022 from the International Organization of Migration (IOM), about 6 million Filipinos live abroad, which represents more than 5 percent of the Philippines' population. But not all Filipino ...
The eighth wonder of the world: Batad rice terraces
After three full days in Sagada, we continued our trip to Banaue, the most famous and touristic place in the mountains. The town itself is not attractive but serves as a starting point for countless hikes through mountainous rice terraces, counted as UNESCO world heritage. It is truly impressive how ...
Learning the basics in Tagalog and Ilonggo
When you read about the Philippines, you find out about their 90 different languages and dialects. I spend my volunteering year in Negros Occidental, an island province in Western Visayas where people mainly speak Ilonggo. So before coming to the Philippines, I wasn’t sure whether learning Tagalog, ...
My Cebu city photo impressions
At the end of our 10-day holidays in Apo and Bohol, we spent one last day in Cebu.These keywords summarize my impression of Cebu City: Market Transport & jeeps Electricity lines Tropical Christmas Faith ...
Bacolod’s 38th MassKara festival
Lucky are those who live in Bacolod during the highlight of the MassKara festival because it’s nearly impossible to get a hotel in Bacolod during the third week of festivities. Since 1980 Bacolod celebrates its MassKara festival. MassKara stands for “many faces” or “masks” with smiles to represent ...
My detailed Bacolod jeepney guide
These former U.S. military jeeps and left-overs from World War II are today’s most common and cheapest means of public transport. Contrary to buses, there are hundreds of them so that you never wait for a long time. They pick up and drop passengers anywhere along the road, so that you’ll often not ...
Upshot after one month in the Philippines
My fifth week in the Philippines is coming to an end - time to look back and conclude how much my day-to-day life has changed: A harsh change in my daily rhythm: After five years in the south of France where everything starts late and you stay up until late, I’ve become an early bird again in ...
Linggo ng Wika – National Language Week
The month of August is a big celebration called "Linggo ng Wika" all over the Philippines. Many schools then celebrate the Filipino National Language, which connects hundreds of millions of Filipinos with different ethnical and language backgrounds. During a school event, I discovered Filipino ...
