The bug bites drive me nuts and the heat gives me a slight headache every now and then – but it is the little things that I come across as I mark my first full week in the Philippines that remind me of home.

Just last week the Celtics and the Lakers went head-to-head in the NBA finals. It was maybe ten in the morning here, which felt odd because I’m used to watching it with my dad at 10:00 PM in San Francisco.

As I drank really, really good hot chocolate (not the fake crap but the REAL chocolate tablets) the Celtics trounced the Lakers, much to the disappointment of my relatives. One of my cousins, going to school in Silliman University, just received in Kobe Bryant jersey from his mother in the United States. I couldn’t help but smirk as I scooped up a spoon full of rice and dumped it onto my plate.

Everything here smells like earth and gasoline, which isn’t to say that’s a bad thing. But I’m more used to the smell of gasoline by itself as I’m making my way through downtown.

America is not the only country in the world suffering from insane gas prices. People in the Philippines, or at least where I’m at, are paying almost the same amount as people in San Francisco. Right now, drivers are paying about 59 pesos per liter. I may not be the best at math but that is a lot of money at the moment I think the peso is around 45 pesos to the dollar?

Gas is the key necessity to make money, especially in the Philippines. The motorcycle cab or as I like to call it Pedicabs are the life line to many people in the Philippines. For people who don’t have cars, many rely on the use of these sorts of vehicles to get around.

I’m leaving for Bacolod City tomorrow morning. This week the Philippines got hit by a typhoon and Bacolod was one of the cities that got flooded. Maybe I’ll end up doing a underwater vlog, eh? Any takers?
—Eming Piansay