Romance

How do I love thee? Let me count the ways — and, believe me, we cannot count them enough in the Philippines. Let’s bask in the afterglow of a tropical sunset under the quivering shade of palm trees at the beach. Let’s row about in the mystical stillness of a volcanic lake. Let’s climb the stairways of the gods at the Rice Terraces of the Philippine Cordilleras. Let’s swim with whale sharks in the ocean. Let’s join ancient cultural communities in their hypnotic rites and rituals. Let’s chase each other in the ruins of the walled city of Old Manila. Let’s get lost in the dark with fireflies flittering all aglow around us. And let’s say it with flowers — and eat them up in an earthen bowl of organic honey-dribbled mountain flower salad. In the Philippines, the only answer to all that loving is sweet yes yes yes….