Hello steemians,

it has been a while since I posted , or have written any blogs. Simply because I am not such a good writer and because not much exciting happened to blog about. I can write some decent travel blogs, but that is about it
hehe .

And traveling is what I am currently doing, so I hope to have some nice things to share with everyone in the coming period.

My first trip to the Philippines.

Right now I am in the Philippines, the home country of my wifey @fernwehninja . We know each other for about two years now , and are together for 1,5 year. We have travelled a lot together already . And she also stayed in Holland with me for nearly 3 months. We have been to Thailand ,Cambodia, Vietnam , Spain, Norway and Belgium together, but surprisingly enough I haven't visited her country the Philippines yet.
So it was about time that would happen. I booked a ticket 6 months ago, and we started saving together. We were both really excited when the date came closer , but then tragedy struck.

As some of you might know, her brother Rayvic @istillrise suddenly passed away. Which was obviously a big blow for the whole family, me included. And really shook things up. I was really looking forward to meet him , and his young baby , who was 5 months old at that time. He wanted me to be the Godfather of his son. Which I of course proudly accepted. 2 weeks before I would finally meet him and the rest of the family this came to a bizar , unreal and tragical situation. For the whole family, and for me personally as well. From super excited and looking forward , to heartbroken and deeply saddened.

Mixed emotions

2 weeks later I stepped on the airplane, with really mixed emotions. On one hand still excited to be with my wifey @fernwehninja again after not seeing each other for 7 months , and meeting the family and my God son , but also a little unsure about how I would deal with the whole emotional experience.

Family strength

So after a 30 hour journey , which took me from Amsterdam to Shanghai to Cebu . (I had an 18 hour layover in Shanghai) I finally set step on Filipino ground. Happy to hold my wifey in my arms again .
I first needed to rest and adept to the heat a bit , but 2 days later I could finally meet them.

They took me in like I am part of the family already , and was happy to some smiling faces. They showed enormous strength and positivity. Which was really amazing for me to see. They take great strength from their trust and faith in God . Something which pretty much all Filipinos do , and it was great for me to experience. A very learnful experience for me as well.
#Family dinner and invitation to a despidida party by one of the family members.

The family of the mother of my Godson , Mary , invited us for a despidida. (A goodbye party , Filipinos like to give, when a relative or friend is leaving the country for a longer period) for her Mama Linda , the great grandmother of my God son. It was a real lovely evening and a great introduction to the Filipino culture and tradition.

There were great homecooked meals , we did Karaoke , and there was cake for a niece from Australia, whose birthday also got celebrated that day. They also celebrate birthdays of relatives in other countries which was also very nice to experience. So all in all it was a great introduction to the family and some Filipino dishes and traditions. I felt really welcome and I enjoyed meeting them.

Traveling through the Philippines.

I will be trying to do some blogs and travel reports in the coming time ,and share my personal experiences , as well as trying to share some tips about how to travel on a budget , and some more things that might come up in my mind. Some nice places to visit.

I've been visiting Puerto Princessa and El Nido in Palawan , Loboc and the Chocolate Hills in Bohol , and currently my wife and I are in Bali . Because my wife and I both wanted her to have a holiday feeling as well.

I hope you all enjoyed reading my story , which feels a bit as a comeback on Steemit , since i was inactive for quite a while .

Don't forget to upvote , or follow if you don't follow me already 😉

Thank you for reading! And take care.

Salamat! Amping!