I’m planning to create a guide for foreigners visiting the Philippines, and I believe it’s the perfect time to start. Let’s begin with our first piece of advice: Context is king!

If you’re a foreigner in the Philippines, remember that context is key. What you hear, read, or see might have a specific cultural or historical background, and it’s essential to pause and understand it before forming conclusions. As a visitor, it’s likely that some cultural nuances might escape you, so don’t hesitate to ask for clarification.

In the National Capital Region, a highly urbanised metropolitan, seeing flowers randomly is almost impossible for decades now. Thus, when we went to Ilocos Norte, Philippines a few years back, I had the opportunity to see these beautiful Yellow Bell flowers growing in the home that we went to. This was the first time I saw a Yellow Bell up close, I’ve only seen this in school textbooks.

Here are a few photos I took.

These were the photos I took while testing the camera that came with Nokia 3. These were taken in late 2018 in macro mode in Makati City, Philippines.