The Slap on the Side of the Jeepney
The driver’s assistant slapped the side of the jeepney twice—a sharp, flat sound that meant we were full and he…
2026
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The Morning the Pump Boat Didn’t Show
The El Niño pump boat was supposed to leave at seven. I was at the dock at ten to, coffee…
Three Days in the Cordillera: What the Rice Terraces Actually Ask of You
I was three hours out of Manila when the driver pulled over at a roadside stand selling roasted chicken and…
The Pancit That Moves: The Garage on P. Antonio Street That Was Locked
The first bowl arrived on a plastic plate, steam curling past a fluorescent tube that hummed louder than the tricycle…
Hunting Down the Last Batch of Sugpo from Manila Bay’s Dying Fishponds
The heat hit us first, before we even got out of the car. It was late February, which in the…
At 5:23 AM, the Sand Was Still Cold
The dunes of Paoay don’t make a sound of their own. What they do is amplify everything else — the…
The black mouth in the limestone cliff
Puerto Princesa Subterranean River National Park has two speeds, and for most of its history only one of them has…
The morning the whale sharks found him too fast
The water off Oslob, on the southeast coast of Cebu, doesn’t look like much before dawn. A flat gray sheet,…
The part of Mount Apo nobody warns you about
The morning was clear above Kidapawan, which felt like good luck at the time. I’d arranged a guide the night…
The ranger looked at my permit and then at the trail I’d marked
“You know this one doesn’t go to the summit?” he said. I told him yes, that was the point. He…