Johor: Kukup I

When I was small, I once followed my eldest brother Seng to his high school classmate's house built on stilts over the water in Kukup. I still remember the freshness of the sweet-sour fish with chopped tomatoes, green peppers and oignons, and the taste of fried mussels which were carrying a slight taste of petrol.

This time, I went to this fishing village again with Mum, my sister Ping and third brother Leong's family on a package tour. The trip was organized by the Chinese High School staff. As there were eight from our family, we occupied a whole van while others took a bus.

Most bridge roads of the village were built with concrete.

We could still find the trace of the earlier material which was the wooden planks.

Ping told me that the house purchasers there were not allowed to take bank loans. I imagined some luxurious house owners must be extremely rich.

It took us about ten minutes' walk to reach our chalet which was deep inside the village.

It was a spatious residential house. Linked to the floating house was a colourful bridge for couples' datings or other small gatherings.

From our chalet, we could see the mudflats

and the sea.

The living room was immediately conquered by karaoke amateurs

while the terrace was preferred by mahjong players.

I was not interested in either activity. Let me take a nap first!

Philippines: Children III

After the children had known me,

they turned into spiderboys

and spidergirls.

Philippines: Children II

When a child is alone.

When there is a companion.

The more, the merrier.

Philippines: Children I

While our Malaysian children go for tuition, piano lessons and drawing classes on Saturdays, these Filipino children play balls in the street,

on the tricycle,

in the house,

from morning to evening...

Philippines: First Tricycle Ride

The Philippines is well known for exporting her citizens overseas. In Alex's family, several members were working abroad. So a family van was necessary to transport them between the house and the airport. Another purpose the vehicle could serve was when the whole family travelled to a long distance. These occasions were rare. As soon as we reached his house, the vehicle was abandoned in the garage again for another long period.

The more popular vehicle was the tricycle. Alex's family owned one. Alex was bringing Jason and me to the riverside nearby.

I had ridden on a trishaw before: with Mum when I was small, and with the Toitot couple when we were visiting Penang in 1997. This was the first time on a tricycle. All my excitement was expressed on my face!

There was little fuel in the tank. The tricycle sometimes stopped half way. Alex had to restart the engine. I think if I had got down and started running or even walking, I would have reached the destination faster.

Philippines: Beginning Of My Adventure

Before my departure, I happened to read the detail on my electronic ticket and realized that the airport where I was going to land was not Ninoy Aquino International Airport, but Diosdado Macapagal International Airport.

My Filipino friend had no idea where it was at first. When I mentioned the location in Pampanga, he was relieved that it was only about two hours' driving from his house.

When I walked out from the arrival hall, Alex was already there. Nothing emotional. I just smilingly said hi to him. He still looked as shy as when I had met him five months earlier. He had come with his neighbour Charles, his nephew Jason and a driver to fetch me.

I remembered when I told my Malaysian friends about this trip, some of them were worried about my safety. If they knew that I was in a van with four guys, three out of whom were totally strangers to me, they would definitely assume that I was being kidnapped!

Everybody was quiet in the vehicle. I was no doubt the most talkative one who asked questions on their country that I was exploring. Besides Alex, Charles was also quite well versed in English. But sometimes I had difficulty in understanding his accent.

We stopped for lunch at an eaterie.

There I had my first Filipino meal. Same dishes were served in different small plates to be shared by we four. If I did not look at my companions' exotic faces, I would almost think that I was eating somewhere in East Malaysia.

Anyway, the Malays and Filipinos came from the same ancestors. So I was representing my country to visit some extended cousins in fact.

Philippines: Fly Again

During my stay in France, my new Filipino friend Alex tried to call me to my handphone, but never got to me. Of course he failed, for I had kept it off during one month there. After I had come back to Malaysia in mid-June, we managed to contact each other again via yahoo messenger.

He had postponed his holiday to his home country to September, the Muslims' fasting month where the hotel business dropped generally, instead of last May as he had mentioned to me in Bahrain.

He was going to celebrate his birthday on 14 September with his family in the Philippines. He asked me if I could share this joy. I checked the calendar. It was also the Mid-Autumn festival. The idea of blowing candles on a friend's birthday cake in a foreign country sounded more interesting than lighting paper lanterns in my own house.

Before his invitation, I had the intention of going for a mission trip in Thailand organized by my church in August. Due to the lack of positive response, it was cancelled. Now I was thinking of going to the Philippines alone as a solitary missionary. If that was God's will.

Before taking any decisions, I had two things to look into: my availability and budget.

I began to surf the internet for the air ticket. Malaysia Airlines and Air Asia were both having promotions. After comparing the departure and arrival times, I decided to fly with the low-cost air company.

When I told Alex that I had purchased my online ticket, I saw in the webcam that his eyes were filled with tears.

On 12 Septembre, I was flying again to fellowship with my brother in Christ.