1. Prior to Covid we usually travelled to the Philippines 3-4x a year. As such, we have a large box at our PH home containing frequently used supplies like soap and shampoos, diapers, napkins, baby bottles, and even extension cords.

However it had been such a long time since we visited the Philippines, we had forgotten about it. It was a pleasant surprise to remember that we had all those stuff, while we were settling down.

Upon opening the box though, much of the items had to be thrown away. Mika’s old diapers were still too big for Baby Ju. The soap and shampoos were already expired.

It made me wonder, what happens when soap and shampoo expires?

(I googled it and turns out it can be dangerous if used!).

2. We also have a small ziplock containing a few thousand pesos so we had some cash on the go.

The next day there was a delivery for my brother and the maid was asking for some smaller bills to pay for it. I handed her some P100 bills.

A minute later she came back saying, “Kuya, hindi na po tinatanggap ito”.

It was another reminder how long we have been gone. Some of the bills we had were so old it had been phased out.

3. Later that day we went to SM Bicutan for grocery. After paying, the cashier handed me an unusually large coin.

I looked at it closely and it read: P20.

Hala! Barya na yung P20!

…

So saan aabot ang P20 mo?

Hindi na pala kaya ang Cornetto.
Hanggang alkansya nalang.

4. At home, Mika was happily playing with her 7-year old cousin Gab.

One game they kept doing over and over again was jumping down the stairs.

After a few days we asked Mika, what’s your favorite in the Philippines so far?

She replied: “Stairs!”

Then continued… “Mommy, why do houses in the Philippines have stairs? How come we don’t have stairs at home in Singapore?”

5. Mika’s fascination for stairs lasted for the whole trip. Much later in the trip here was a conversation of Mika and my mom.

Mom: “Mika, we missed you while you were in Alabang. We had so much fun here, we had lots of ice cream!”

Mika: “It’s okay. I also had fun in Alabang. The house there has stairs too!”

—

I forgot to include this in my previous post about the flight going back to PH.

X. As we got seated on the plane it was nostalgic to hear the in-flight safety announcements.

The instructions to locating the nearest exits in case of an emergency, to how to use the life jacket, how to put on the oxygen mask and the reminder to put on your own mask before assisting others.

The routine announcement was a reminder that things were back to normal.

Though deep down, a part of me was hoping there would be a surprise “welcome back to flying again” song and dance number from the flight attendants.