TOURIST REPORT

When it comes to unique food or cuisine, the Philippines does not disappoint. The Philippines offers a variety of unique cuisine that tourists will surely love. From appetizers, street food, desserts, delicacies (kakanin) and main courses. Even though you are into sweets, or spicy foods, or exotic foods Philippines always have something to offer. Filipino cuisine is now being recognized more in other countries than it was before when in fact it is now being sold in other countries especially here in Canada. For entertainment options, there is a wide variety of options you could find while in the country and it totally depends on what you are desiring to experience. For souvenirs, also there is a lot of options to choose from and mostly Filipinos do not just make simple things like fridge magnets, they do take time to make a souvenir in a unique way as possible being it made from wood, shells, stones etc. For religious practices, it always have been part of every Filipinos even children and that's because the diversity of religions in the Philippine is a lot.

Most of the people around the world might already know something about Adobo, there are actually different types of adobo namely pork, chicken, string beans etc. Also Filipinos cook adobo differently, some are dry and some are saucy but I personally prefer the saucy one. Another very common dish to try while in the Philippines is the Pork Barbeque, although it is also cooked in different countries but what I like with the Filipino barbeque is the flavor and how it is cooked. We actually grill it with charcoal and I think the smoke of it adds flavor with the barbeque that makes every Filipinos crave. However there are some more of the most well-known dishes in the Philippines that is not being recognized yet around the globe, one of them is the Lechon which is just a whole pig that is roasted through charcoal for a long period of time. Lechon never goes missing in every celebration in the Philippines such as birthdays, Christmas, new year, and more. With its crispy skin and soft delicious meat, people will surely love it. Another one would be the Bicol Express which is a pork strip cooked with its main ingredients, chili and coconut milk. This one is perfect for people who love spicy foods, I also suggest to eat it with rice to balance out the spiciness. Personally, my tolerance in spicy foods is not that high so I really don't like eating much of it compared to the others. After, having heavy and spicy foods people will surely love some dessert and one dessert that the Philippines can offer is the Halo-Halo. Almost everywhere you go in the Philippines especially in the summer you can always spot someone selling halo-halo, even in fast-food restaurants they sell this dessert but has more ingredients and toppings compared to the regular halo-halo sold by the locals. In addition to that it is very much affordable and easy to make if you want to experience making one. Even my family sells halo-halo in front of our house. It is a combination of ice, evaporated milk, sugar and mixed fruits like banana, coconut, pineapple and also jello, sweet beans, they also put ube and leche flan on top but it really depends on the seller what are they going to put and how are they going to price it. Delicacies or kakanin is also a must try unique cuisine in the Philippines. There is a wide variety of kakanin options you can choose from, such as Suman - a sticky rice usually wrapped in banana leaves or baby coconut leaves and boiled for like 30 minutes just like regular rice and served with sweetened coconut sauce. Another one is Ube which is made out of purple yam crashed and cooked for long period of time with a constant stirring to achieve the right texture and taste.

Down with the entertainment options, the Philippines has a lot to offer but these options I'm going to talk about is just my favorite ones. First on the list is the Cultural Center of the Philippines where (Cultural Center of the Philippines, 2020) Manila's major cultural guns perform here, including Ballet Philippines, the nation's premiere dance troupe; Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra; the nation's main classical orchestra; and Tanghalang Pilipino, a theatre group that performs classic and original local work, but often not in English (Cultural Center of the Philippines, 2020). Another one would be the VivaManila. (VivaManila, 2020) Non-profit vivamanila is an arts-and-culture organization run by passionate locals who are on a mission to revive downtown Manila to its pre-war glory through a diverse combination of hipster initiatives, community building and art. It organizes weekend cultural events in Intramuros roughly every month, including fantastic mini-festivals of music and art on the leafy grounds of Baluarte de Santiago (VivaManila, 2020). If you're for a place to do casino then Solaire is the place to be. (Solaire, 2020) Solaire is the Vegas-style casino of the Philippines with 24-hour gambling and the impressive Theatre at Solaire, which draws high-profile musicians, variety shows and Broadway productions. Includes a top-end hotel, several restaurants, a decadent spa, a shooting gallery and a giant family-friendly pool with sunset views of Manila bay (Solaire, 2020). (Admin, 2014) Nightclubs and Bars form other common and popular forms of entertainment for youngsters. Major urban areas like Cebu and Manila have many popular Nightclubs and Bars and some examples of these are Embassy Night club in Manila, B side for live music, Conspiracy bar and garden café in Manila and LA café. 1951 Penguin Café is a popular café for hanging out (Admin, 2014).

When it comes to souvenirs, the Philippines also has a lot to offer. But personally, I picked the following because I think that if the tourists were to get them, it will remind them that they've been to the Philippines and it is indeed from the Philippines. I am going to start by the simple and very common ones which is Keychains, there are a variety of design you could choose from and probably could get them anywhere you are in the country. In addition to that they are actually very cheap and light so there is no problem carrying them back to your country. Since Philippines has lots of picturesque beaches, I think that buying some bracelets, necklaces, wind chimes, and more made with sea shells would be a great souvenir to bring home. I believe that you can get them anywhere you go in the Philippines even in places that are not close to beaches. In addition to that, when going to beach resorts and walk around the shore make sure to keep your eyes open as you could sometimes find sea shells that could be a great souvenir to take home and what's good about it is that it's free. Secondly, (Wedberg, 2018) Toy jeepney has been the most frequent local transportation within the country, a toy version of this vehicle is a perfect gift for a collector or to a younger child (Wedberg, 2018). I believe that there is not much country around the world that uses jeepney as one of their local transportation and jeepney has been one of the national symbol of the Philippines so it is a great souvenir to take home with you. Thirdly, you can also take home carved wood that is made by the locals and designed in lots of different figures. But in my opinion, you guys should take home a wooden spoon and fork since it is one of our culture that in every dining area there should be a wooden spoon and fork displayed. Another carved wood souvenir is the Sungka, (Wedberg, 2018) it is a very popular game among the locals in the country that involves dropping shells and stones into the small bowls that are carved into the long wooden board. Get ready for a fun game where you have to be quick on your hands (Wedberg, 2018). Another unique souvenir tourist could take home is Banig, they are usually made of palm and they're another excellent welcome gift for those who will be travelling to many beaches. Fun fact, back in the days we actually use banigs as mats to sleep on because we don't really have beds before. We also use it whenever we go on a picknick by the beach.

Philippines is a country which has diverse ethnicity and religion, but most of the Filipinos are Roman Catholics. Here is a list of religious beliefs and practices that my family does as well. Fiestas and Festivals are religious events which are celebrated in honor of the saint and other pagan Gods ,any centuries ago. This is the time to celebrate and give thanks for the abundant blessings bestowed upon us. Aside from the spiritual activities, people prepare the most colorful, unique and joyous celebrations for this occasion. Through these fiestas and festivals, the Filipino culture has been increasingly popular among tourists and have been flocking the country to witness these events. (Thomas, 2017) Palm Sunday is the beginning of Holy week. During this day of the Holy Week in the Philippines, people flock to church with palm fronds or palaspas to be waved upon the priest's entry to the church. It's like a reenactment of Jesus and his disciples' entrance to Jerusalem, where people welcome them by waving large palm leaves (Thomas, 2017). (Thomas, 2017) Fasting is done to understand the suffering and the sacrifices Jesus did for mankind. As a sign of Penitence, on Ash Wednesday and every Friday throughout the Lenten season, Catholics are required to avoid eating any meat and if possible, reduce mealtime to once a day, however, young children and the sick are exempted of this practice (Thomas, 2017). (Thomas, 2017) Pabasa is a ritual that includes chanting or singing instead of just reading the words of Pasyon, a book that recounts the life of Jesus, from birth until his death and resurrection. Each group sings the lines or verse by turn, sometimes in a Capella, but lately it is accompanied by guitars to make the ritual lively and appealing to the younger generation (Thomas, 2017). (Thomas, 2017) Stations of the Cross also known as "Way of the Cross or Via Crucis", Station of the Cross is a religious tradition among Catholics, where they pray and mediate in front of each of Jesus Christ's fourteen images depicting the events of his crucifixion until his resurrection (Thomas, 2017). Another religious practice that we do as a family and mostly all Filipinos is going on Simbang Gabi. Simbang Gabi starts every December 16th, 9 days before Christmas Eve. It is not just going to church on a regular day and on your own time, in our province (Pangasinan), we go to church early in the morning because mass starts as early as 4:30AM and we believe that if we complete the 9 day mass our wishes will be granted. Another religious practice during the holy week that we Filipinos do is the Visita Iglesia wherein we visit at least seven churches to pray. (Tan, 2018) Visita Iglesia was introduced to the Philippines by Augustinian missionaries in the 1560s (Tan, 2018).

Even though Philippines is tagged as a third world country, and that crime rates are high in some places, It is inevitable that Philippines will always have something to offer for the tourists. Philippines is rich with its history that influenced some things even up to this day such as our language, we tend to have words and phrases pronounced the same in Spanish. Filipinos are known to be hospitable and that is a true statement. When you go to the Philippines and only speaks English, I promise you that every Filipinos can speak English. It might not be as good as you expect but at least they try to accommodate tourists in the best way they could. In addition to that, I would say that you should start considering the Philippines when planning to travel because it will never disappoint you.