greetings from the motherland!

hello! i know it's a bit late, knowing that i'm leaving the motherland tomorrow.

it's also stupid for one to travel the world without bringing a camera, that's why this entry will be only filled with WORDS. that's what happens when you fly before 8 in the morning and you leave the house around 4:30.

anyways, I'm currently in Fujian province of China. The motherland. And that's exactly what we set out to do. Basically, I'm one of the younger ones in a group of people who travelled back to our hometown here in Fujian. And when I say hometown, I mean "village," literally village. And it's not just any village, it's a village of Chua's.

Perhaps Mike said it best: it was a clan meeting of sorts.

A little story about my ancestral village: Apparently a long long time ago, a certain Mr. Chua travelled all the way to the Eastern shores of Fujian trying to find a way to sustain himself. So he settled down in our little village situated along the coast, but the land was not rich enough to depend on agriculture, something which was highly popular at that time. So he went to the sea and fished for a living. Apparently there's not much fish in our territorial waters, but there's LOTS and LOTS of oysters. In fact, when you go in there now, there are like trash bags upon trash bags of oyster shells scattered all over. It's amazing. Besides that, our land also grew minimal crops, mostly tubers like sweet potatoes and such. Sweet potato porridge is a local delicacy, as is a whole bunch of oyster recipes.

So yes, the village was quiet and abundant with stray dogs, most of which can be chased away by wildly swinging a stick of bamboo or sugarcane or whatever you can get hold of. But it's really amazing that about 9 out of 10 people there are Chua's. And I understand them, and they understand me, in my powerful Hokkien. It was so enlightening to see their eyes glow and old people leap around in joy when they see their neighbor's son (my dad) and grandson come home, eventhough neither of us really knows anybody there (well, my dad knows like 3 people).

So here's the part where I regret not bringing my camera. When we got there (there were 50 of us: yes, all Chua's from Manila), there were like... 300 kids, and I'm not kidding, with their best garbs on welcoming us, with kids from seven years with their little drums and shiny yellow chinese garbs, to middle school kids cheering and clapping, to the older ones playing the band, setting up firecrackers, and the teenage girls adorning us with garlands of whatever local flowers (that part was a letdown, though. remember, we were a coastal town. no flowers. so they used paper flowers. good enough).

So those kids were screaming and yelling us all the way to their school, in which there is a new building that the Chua's from the Philippines donated for them. It was really really nice and new. Sure, there are no iMac's or whatever inside, but whatever makes these kids happy, man. And as long as they stay off the drugs, whatever they smoke here.

Then we walked to some grave site where my grandpa's grandpa was laid to rest. That was really amazing. and the place was high above ground, so there was a nice view of the ocean from up there. Apparently there were land mines set up long ago around that place, so there's significant wear and tear around the place. But it was still amazing.

So I went back to our neighbor's place, had some fish and some oyster lor mee. Not bad, I must say. Then later met some relatives, and the funny thing was, everytime I tell them that I'm twenty (turning 21 actually), the first thing they ask me is whether I've gotten married yet.

So my response would always be that I'm still studying and that I'm still young. So I guess they think I'm mad.

So yeah, going back to that place was really magical. Can't describe it. Really it's by God's grace that in about 2 generations, our family could progress from there to where we are today. Amazing. And yet, I'm really thrilled of our little village, where everybody knows each other, where three little girls eating tubes of iced candy can walk around and giggle about without any fear, where some random stranger would just pop up and instantly know who we are. Where there's actually a huge temple where the names of all our ancestors are documented and displayed and duly remembered. Where people don't associate the rich with obnoxiousness, and the poor are all given equal treatment, equal opportunities, and equal benefits. Where everybody is family, and everybody therefore takes care of each other. That is really beautiful.

Yeah, I can talk about the dirt cheap clothes that I bought here (our place is very near the garment district out here. I really really saved alot), and other cheap things as well, but nothing can beat the chance that I got to visit family. That was really really good.

Now, my rant on China, as a whole, shall come at another time. This entry is too positive to be tainted with other things.

I'm going back in tomorrow one last time for some processions and stuff, then I'm getting on a plane back to Manila in the afternoon. 3 more days after that, I'll get to my next stop, my longest stop, and most significant stop in the Albert Asian Tour. Hello, Singapore!

Right now, I'm going to apologize already, as I have no gifts to give anybody when I get there. No presents from the U.S., no cheap China garments, no dried mangoes from Manila (what else could you want from there?). So there, I got that out of my chest.

Time to go to bed!

I'M OUT!!!