JAPAN

Before COVID hit, we travelled to Asia for a month.  Our first stop was 3 nights in Tokyo, Japan, a place my dad and I have always wanted to visit.  We wanted to see the home of anime, manga, and Studio Ghibli, Hello Kitty and the nonstop city of Tokyo. When visiting, it was everything I thought it would be and more. It was a clean, modern, and visually beautiful, and we were able to see Meiji temple, many shops, famous crosswalks, restaurants, and the Epson digital art museum, which was high-tech and colorful.   Since this trip I have even more of an obsession with Japan and have a dream of living there some day.  I’m working toward this by learning the language.

VIETNAM

After stopping in Japan, we flew to Vietnam, where I was born.  When I was adopted, my parents promised that they would someday take me here so I could see my homeland and experience the beauty of the culture.  We stayed in a nice airbnb in the Old Quarter of Hanoi, but also travelled to Ninh Binh to experience a rural section.  It was very hot but it was really fun to visit Ha Long Bay, museums, great restaurants, and the night market.  It was also special because my grandparents were with us, and my grandfather’s parents met and were married in Hanoi.  We visited the Hotel where my great-grandfather worked as a musician, as well as the area where my great-grandmother owned a music shop.  We also went to St. Joseph’s Cathedral, which is where they got married in 1925.  So this trip was important to me and my grandfather since we were both exploring our roots..

PHILIPPINES

The last part of our time in Asia was spent in the islands of the Philippines, the birth country of my grandparents.  We met up with my dad’s sister and her family, and travelled to four different areas:  Manila, which is the capital, Palawan, which has beautiful beaches, Banaue, which has the great rice terraces, and Ballesteros, my grandmother’s hometown. Each of these places had its own unique beauty.  Manila is a city filled with people and cars and huge shopping malls.  Palawan was so pretty and we had a chance to go snorkeling and see coral reefs.  Banaue was up in the mountains and was surprisingly cool and the views were incredible.  In Ballesteros I had a chance to witness what it’s like to live like most Filipinos, including going through electricity brown-outs.  I met many of my extended family members, and had a chance to visit a local elementary school and see how it’s different from ours.