"To live is to play at the meaning of life...The upshot of this . . . is that it teaches us once and for all that childlike foolishness is the calling of mature men."

Ernest Becker - The Denial of Death

Anyone who keeps the ability to see beauty never grows old.
Franz Kafka

I'm almost certain to be in the far-east next year, health-permitting, and will head to the Philippines and Japan.

Here are some interesting things about the Philippines that are little-known, yet very intriguing;

The Philippines is the third largest English-speaking nation in the world, behind the United States and the United Kingdom.
Boondocks and Boonies, words that have come to mean “in middle of nowhere” in the English language, are derived from the Tagalog word bundock, which means “mountain”. An educated guess would be that American soldiers fighting in the Philippines a century ago adopted the word. As an example, “Our units going into the boondocks to search for insurgents.” After the war, soldiers brought the term home with them, and the rest is history.

The Philippines is the fourth largest Catholic country in the world, behind Brazil, Mexico, and the United States.

Though the Republic of the Philippines is roughly the same size as Arizona in total area, it has 36,289 km of coastline. The United States, in comparison, has a “mere” 19,924 km of coastline. How is that possible? The Philippines is composed of 7,000+ islands (some are quite tiny), each of which has its own coastline. All those coastlines combined add up. (7,107 islands covering a land area of 115,739 sq. m. (299,764 sq. km.).

The popular toy, the yoyo, was invented by 16th century hunters in the Philippines.

General Douglas MacArthur, known for his “Return” to the Philippines, was the son of Arthur MacArthur, a Brigadier General in the Army who played a major part in pacifying the Philippines during the Philippine-American war at the end of the 19th Century.

The Philippines has the longest accessible underground river in the world. (Can be found at the St. Paul National Park in the province of Palawan.)

The Basilica of San Sebastian is the only steel church in Asia and was the second building to be made out of steel, next to the Eiffel Tower in Paris.

halo-halo, a heavenly Filipino dessert treat, literally means "mix-mix". And it is just that: a mixture of sweetened fruits and beans, lavished with pinipig (crisp flattened rice flakes), sugar and milk, topped by crushed ice and ice cream. You know its summertime when halo-halo stands start sprouting by the roadside and by the beach. You can make your own by selecting and mixing ingredients to make a perfect halo-halo. (Believe me, in 34+ degrees, this is truly wonderful!!)

With a total membership exceeding 3 million, the Philippines has the third largest Boy Scouts organization in the world, behind the United States and Indonesia.

Philippine Airlines took to the skies on March 15, 1941, using a Beech Model 18 aircraft amid the specter of a global war. It became Asia's first airline.

Karaoke Inventor
Roberto del Rosario, a Filipino is claiming the right for the invention of the Sing-Along-System (SAS) that eventually led to the development of Karaoke, a Japanese term for "singing without accompaniment" Among del Rosario's other inventions were the Trebel Voice Color Code (VCC), the piano tuner's guide, the piano keyboard stressing device, the voice color tape, and the one-man-band -OMB- The OMB was later developed as the Sing-Along-System (SAS).

The flag of the Philippines is the only national flag that is flown differently during times of peace or war. A portion of the flag is blue, while the other is red. The blue portion is flown on top in time of peace and the red portion is flown in war time.

In some years, the Philippines are struck by more than 20 tropical storms and typhoons.

Not only those who can talk the best tell you the most interesting things.
Chinese Proverb

Ulan, Ulan ulan, ulan
Rain, Rain
Pantay kawayan; Pantay kawayan
As high as the bamboo.

Bagyo, Bagyo bagyo, bagyo
Typhoon, typhoon

Pantay kabayo. Pantay kabayo.
As high as the horse.