Philippines

I have known him for many years. We even studied architecture together at my university. Later, he became a serious backpacker who traveled across the whole Asia. Only one important country he missed: the Philippines.

I vividly remember the day when we sat at my place back home in front of Google Maps and discussed visiting this island in the future. The thought of going there didn’t appeal to him even though he liked Asia a lot. I still recall myself telling him that he should go nevertheless one day since “You never know, it may be your favorite trip.”

Meanwhile, Pierre did travel to the Philippines, and the rest is history. He met a local girl, got married, and had a daughter. He quit architecture, bought a huge piece of land to farm and a local boat to fish. He employs local people on his properties, and he even learned to speak the local language.

I'm sharing this story with you in a village that has access to only 6 hours of electricity per day.

January 2014

Moments

Did you know

- Two of the largest naval battles in history were fought in the Philippine seas.

- There’s an islet in the Philippines within a lake on an island within a lake on an island.

- Of the 10 largest shopping malls in the world, 3 are in the Philippines.

- The National Flag of the Philippines can be inverted to officially declare a state of war.

- The three largest known pearls in the world were found in the Philippines.

- The top 3 most densely populated cities in the world are in Metro Manila.

- During Manny Pacquiao boxing fights, the crime rate in the Philippines almost drops to zero.

- Super Typhoon Haiyan has the strongest wind ever recorded at landfall.

- Camiguin has the most number of volcanoes per square kilometer than any other island on Earth.

- The eruption of Mount Pinatubo created one of the largest mushroom clouds in history.