What I Miss Most from Home

This day a year ago Miggy and I flew back to Singapore. I'm glad I was able to take a break and stay home for six weeks. We were also able to go to Baguio and Bohol during that time. We had planned to go to Tagaytay also in early January. Good thing I decided just to stay home because Taal Volcano erupted. 

Bohol, December 2019.

I've lived in Singapore for almost ten years now and this is the first time I've been away this long. I would normally get to go home once or twice a quarter. Being away this long has been very hard for me. I wouldn't be surprised if my doctors say that one reason why I've been sickly is due to homesickness. 

Here's what I miss most about being home:

1. Being with Miggy and my Mom. It was truly heartbreaking we were not complete for Christmas. It was certainly odd not to be with them during noche buena and media noche. And truly incomplete not to see the rest of my family and friends for Christmas. 

2. Christmas in the Philippines. I've spent several Christmases outside of the Philippines (sometimes in Jakarta, sometimes in Singapore). The best place to celebrate Christmas is at home. A big part that we missed was simbang gabi and the midnight Christmas eve mass. And as much as the fireworks during new year is annoying, I missed that too (even though they usually keep me inside because of the smoke). 

3. Filipino food. Jollibee and some Filipino restos has helped us here, but it's just not the same from what's available at home. That's also the reason why I started learning how to bake Pinoy buns. All the silogs, I miss you!

4. Shopping at home. SM! Glorietta! MOA! I miss shopping at our malls. I normally buy my clothes from Manila since the quality is better, a lot cheaper, and there are more options. It's been also hard to find Filipino ingredients here. There are times it's hard to find toyo, suka and it's been a few months since I've been able to buy Del Monte Italian spaghetti sauce (grrr). 

5. Vacation places. Back home there are so many places you can visit. We have five different types of sand, so many different types of beaches, mountains, hills, forests etc. The options are bottomless. Our last family vacation was in Bohol. I took a lot of videos, but I just can't bring myself to edit it until now. 

I know realistically it's going to be awhile before we can go back home. I'm just praying that we will be complete this Christmas. 

CB///288 #StuckAtHomeDay/318 #StayHome #BeKind