From Solo Adventures in Hong Kong to a Filipino Wedding

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It was the very beginning of my solo travels and my first time in Asia. I was in Hong Kong. You can imagine the level of my excitement stemming from my new-found freedom combined with a discovery of new cultures, different flavours, smells and languages stimulating all of my senses. A friend of a friend, Adrian, was hosting me in his apartment well-located in the city. He was an English teacher and was working long hours. I was left to explore Hong Kong on my own during the day and I was loving the experience.

After about over a week, he asked what my plans are as I showed no sign of considering leaving his apartment anytime soon. Seeing I had no plans, he asked if I wanted to join him as a date for his best friend’s upcoming wedding in the Philippines, where he was going as his best man. I Googled the Philippines, and images of pristine beaches, crystal clear water and exotic food popped up, so I decided why not.

We booked our flights to Manila and started packing our bags for the week. Meanwhile, I was doing my best to convince him to spend a couple of days alone on one of the islands, before meeting up with his friends and their families. That is when I found out the wedding was not where I had imagined it would be. The paradisaic islands with turquoise beaches were far away in the South of the country. We were headed to the North, to an area called Pangasinan! I was, however, very keen on visiting some islands and with a little online research I discovered that Pangasinan was also called “home of the hundred islands”. Adrian texted his friend letting him know of our new plans and that we would be arriving a few days late.

As everything was arranged very last minute, we were booked on separate flights. And funnily enough, we later found out we were sitting next to each other on separate planes, on seats 22B and 22C. We met at the Manila airport and directly went up to some local looking person to ask how to get to the islands.

A kind lady wrote down the above instructions for us, which sounded like a puzzle to be solved, that I still carry with me in my wallet to this day.

We got on the bus and started the what was supposed to be a four-to-five-hour journey. I am not exaggerating when I say it was a once in a life time experience. We stopped every few minutes to let more people onto the bus until there was no more room to stand and the entire bus smelled like a mixture of fried pork and chicken. Yes, they were selling fried food the entire time, and on top of that, they occasionally let on people to sing and play musical instruments in that cramped space. It was a total show.

 

We arrived after eight hours and found a hotel to check in. I am sad to say that we never made it to the islands. We spent three days at the hotel as it was pouring rain the entire time, we couldn’t even go out to get food.

Then it was finally time to head to where we were meant to go in the first place and meet the couple that were getting married, in an extremely cute village not too far from where we were. I instantly felt welcomed when I got introduced to the whole family. All neighbours in the village were treated as family, and we cooked, and danced, and sang, and ate for the entire week.

Everything we ate was locally sourced. Whatever grew on the ground was cooked and served on the table. I witnessed a whole pig getting butchered and roasted for the first time in my life, waking up to the sound of its cries days before the wedding. I am an animal lover but I admired the ceremony around the roast and how it brought together a community of people.

We then switched from the house to the wedding venue. Drinks kept flowing all weekend, and I could feel the excitement of everyone in the air. We celebrated the bachelor’s final few nights and made sure he is hungover enough for the big day.

The day of the wedding was a lot of fun. Filipinos really know how to throw a good party. I got up to cheer the groom to wish him congratulations and only then I realized he had an identical twin. I was speaking to the wrong person the entire time! They all seemed quite used to it.

All family members took turns to get up and celebrate the loving union of the couple, followed by more drinks and dancing turned into karaoke. I had an amazing time and I am still quite convinced that Filipinos are one of the most fun and friendly people in the world.

Week-long drinking, eating and dancing led to exhaustion and I was glad to be able to spend a few extra days at the hotel recovering from all the fun we had.

I like to end my stories with little takeaways and this trip proved to me that what makes a place great and memorable, more than any natural wonder or pristine beach, are its people. The Philippines opened my mind to seeing friends in strangers and showed me that a warm-hearted community can be found even in the farthest corners of the earth.

If you are interested in exploring more unique destinations, you might enjoy reading my blog about Kabak Koyu in Turkey!

If you’re interested in exploring more about unique destinations, you might enjoy reading my guide to Montenegro!

Travelling long term is fun but constantly arranging transport & hotels for yourself can be exhausting if you don’t know where to look. I use the following platforms to make my booking process a breeze:

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