the only real vivid memory of manila that i have is, sadly, of a sesame street on ice show, especially big bird. my mom tells me i used to understand tagalog back then, but lost it because she didn't enforce it and i went to school in the states.

i didn't go back until two years ago, meaning it had been over two decades. i felt way more like a tourist than someone who belonged, from the way i dressed to the way i walked. i was only there for two weeks, though. i wanna go back, of course.