There are countries where everything follows logic. And then there’s the Philippines. Here, logic doesn’t exactly disappear – it simply finds a different job and starts working under a completely different set of rules. The longer you live here, the more often you encounter what I like to call the Filipino paradox. The Filipino paradox…
Tag Archives: Philippines
06
heinä
heinä
Weather forecasts during the Philippine rainy season are little more than educated guesses – or wishful thinking dressed up as meteorology. But rain here isn’t just another weather event. It’s a spectacle, the tropics’ own Broadway production, a soul-cleansing ritual, and nature’s gentle reminder of who’s really calling the shots. If you imagine tropical rain…
11
kesä
kesä
Whenever nations face off in major football tournaments, people across the globe glue themselves to their television screens. Well, not quite everywhere. In the Philippines, for historical reasons, football has never exactly set the national soul on fire. Those students kicking a leather ball between two posts on the foggy school grounds of 19th-century England…
05
kesä
kesä
World War II ended in 1945 – except for one man. Japanese Lieutenant Hiroo Onoda spent nearly thirty years hiding in the jungles of the Philippines, convinced the war had not yet ended. Onoda’s story is not merely a tale of extraordinary endurance. It is also a cautionary lesson about how dangerous blind obedience and…
12
touko
touko
Does the Philippines really have the world’s largest banknote? When did Filipinos first see an airplane in their own country, and where did it come from? Where and when were the highest and lowest temperatures in the nation’s history recorded? To many foreigners, the Philippines looks like an exotic tropical paradise – beautiful beaches, smiling…
09
touko
touko
Toward the end of World War II, Japanese soldiers are said to have hidden a vast treasure in the Philippines — one President Ferdinand Marcos allegedly spent years searching for. Many believe he didn’t just search for it, but actually found it. Filipinos are obsessed with buried treasure to such an extent that it has…
05
touko
touko
Scroll through any Facebook group about the Philippines long enough, and you’ll eventually find the same question popping up again and again: “What’s it like to have a Filipina wife?” The answers usually range from “Best decision of my life” to “Bro, you have no idea…” – often followed by a mix of admiration, confusion,…
29
huhti
huhti
Everyone, at some point, experiences a moment that feels almost magical – when a dream suddenly seems real. It may last only a split second, but it stays with you forever. I had mine on an island cloaked in emerald rainforest, when I slipped into a turquoise sea and found myself surrounded by the dazzling…
27
huhti
huhti
In the Philippines, global superstars are treated like visiting royalty, and fans practically worship the air they breathe and the ground they walk on. But when things go wrong, even stars are quickly reduced to mere mortals. Every year, millions of foreigners arrive in the Philippines. Most have a wonderful time, enjoying the beaches and…
21
huhti
huhti
Tourists are back in the Philippines. You can tell from the souvenir shops – business is brisk, and suitcases are swelling with gifts. Alongside the usual trinkets, travelers can also pack a few more… distinctively “only in the Philippines” souvenirs. Like anywhere else, people flying out of the country tend to grab last-minute gifts at…