Rave - Filipino Hospitality

My daughter Nina not long ago signed up with www.CouchSurfing.com, a portal for people looking for and offering a place to stay to fellow travellers.  Soon after, she informed us that a girl was coming to stay with us for two nights.  She wanted to see a bit of Manila and was going to Cebu, Bohol and Palawan.  The idea at first seemed novel to me but having a complete stranger at home gave me a bit of apprehension.  After grilling my daughter prior to giving my consent, I learned that our would-be visitor was Raisa Simula, a youngish single Finnish girl coming from Vietnam where she was currently teaching English and that she was travelling alone.  I agreed reluctantly and the day of her arrival soon came and we picked her up at the Mall of Asia where she waited until Nina and I got out of work.

My first impression of her was something straight out of the Lonely Planet complete with sandals, road-worn clothing and a small tattoo on her left upper arm to boot.  With preliminary introductions done, we proceeded to barrage her with questions which she had to answer all over again when we got home and this went way past dinner.  She also informed us that she was going to Taal Volcano the next day and asked if we could just direct her to a place where she could get on a bus to Tanauan in Batangas.  We were stumped so to speak.  Here I was a Philippine-born man in my fifties and I would think more than twice about trekking Taal by myself.  I didn’t even have to foggiest how to get there by public transport.  We would have taken her around if it was a weekend.  I nor Nina and my wife have ever been on the volcano island.  And I thought I was pretty well travelled in the Philippines.

Nina said she would drop her off at a bus terminal along Taft Avenue and that they would meet up in Makati in the afternoon before returning home.  Apparently there is a Couch Surfing meeting place there where all the in-country backpackers converge.  My wife and I, like typical parents, warned her about the risks and dangers about travelling in the Philippines (or anywhere for that matter) especially for a single white girl alone on the road in a strange country.  She acknowledged our advice but I don’t think it would have made a difference.  She seemed tough and wise for her age and I suppose you get that way travelling around the world by yourself.  I was a bit adamant against visiting Mindanao and she assured us that she had no destinations in those parts.

The following evening she filled us in on her day and we again had our questions, more curious about how she fared alone.  She had no problem in getting to Batangas and in getting a ride to and from the island.   She mentioned that she had lunch in a street-side stall.  She even made friends with a Filipina on the bus and met up with other backpackers on the island.  She enjoyed the boat ride and the trek and had only good and kind things to say about the locals she encountered.  The following day I was to drop her off in the NAIA Terminal 3 for her trip south and asked if she could stay with us again after 2 weeks as her return to Manila did not coincide with her trip back to Vietnam.

Raisa stayed in touch with Nina while she was in the south and we kept track of her progress.  When we didn’t hear from her in more than a couple of days, we asked Nina to text her and check up on her.  I am not sure how this goes with other people in other countries but we felt concerned and responsible for her while she was in our country like we would for our own daughter.  Still, you had to admire the girl and her like for her bravery and sense of adventure.  We become hostages to our fears especially from hearing news of victimized tourists both local and foreign.   But in the process, we miss out on so much.

Raisa has since returned to Vietnam.  Nina picked her up the night she arrived from Palawan.  While away, she said that she was offered a job in Thailand and was moving there.  She had her next six months planned and sorted out but could see no further than that.  She was all praises for the beaches she had been to and the diving she had done and the countryside she had seen.  She was even able to attend a barrio fiesta and tried many type of Filipino food which she swore was better than Vietnamese food.  She mentioned that Vietnam or Thailand could not compare with what we had.  More importantly, she could not say enough about the people that she met and the warmth she enjoyed while visiting all the places she had been to.  She had always felt safe and was never cheated or taken undue advantage of.  She even signed up for a volunteer job planting mangrove trees.

More than glad that she had a good time, I am so proud of our kababayans who treated her well and welcomed her into their homes and hearts and who went out of their way to make her visit enjoyable and memorable.  Raisa is one girl who, despite her bravado and daring, arrived with apprehensions and left a fan of the Philippines and the Filipino people.  This also reaffirms the hospitality that we are so famous for.  Still, as one would do when diving, know the waters you intend to swim in.  If the water is murky then you would most likely see nothing. If the current is too strong you could get swept out to sea.  If there are sharks around you are asking to get bit.  And finally, many tourists and visitors who have gotten into trouble have had more than clean fun in mind.  If you have to deal with shady characters, go to questionable places or otherwise do things that are clearly illegal then you are almost certainly going to get in trouble where ever you are.

Stay safe, Raisa, and we await your return to the Philippines.