O.I.D.P. - ONLI IN DA PILIPPINES !!

by R. Ballater Aegis |   August 12, 2024

With its politicians openly threatening to kill you, insanely beautiful mountain and maritime scenery that astounds you, and traffic that makes you feel as if you’re stuck in a looped chase scene of a Mad Max movie, the Philippines is, without a doubt, the most interesting, consternating, delighting, upsetting, stimulating land on Earth. Like men trying to understand women, or physicists grappling to peg the mechanics of gravity, attempting to comprehend this archipelago of 7100-plus islands once dubbed "the Pearl of the Orient Seas" is a delicious impossibility.

Filipinos have long used "Only In the Philippines" as a manner of offering up descriptions of the indescribable to foreigners with screwed up looks etched on their faces. "OIDP: Onli In Da Pilippines" - not only speaks to the local manner in which the quip is pronounced, but also to the real-world Geist of what the place is all about. It is a guide for the uninitiated and newbie alike, as well as an entertaining elaboration on the obvious to the homeborn. The uniqueness of this country and its 174 ethno-linguistic cultures amazes even the most jaded traveler or longtime resident. The world is lucky that such a place indeed exists.