When Do I Start Missing Philippines?

"Hinahanap-hanap kita Manila, Ang ingay mong kay sarap sa tenga, Mga jeepney mong nagliliparan, Mga babae mong naggagandahan" (I miss you, Manila, Your noise that's good to the ear, Your fast-driving jeepneys, Your beautiful girls) So goes the song of "Hotdog", the band that started the "Manila Sound"... remember their other songs "Pers Lab" and "Ikaw ang Miss Universe ng Buhay Ko"?
What are you really missing in the Philippines? Is it the sound? the sights and the scenes? The stories - whether newsworthy or plain gossips? The succulent food? Our People - the super resilient Pinoys? who have weathered 3 or 4 EDSA revolutions and several coup attempts? (I was there on the streets of the 1st and 2nd EDSA's but not on the last ones.) I guessed, with that, you have already a close figure of my age in your mind. But going back to my question, when do I start missing Philippines when I live in the Philippines? I do, but I travel a lot, mostly around Asia. And when I stay in an Asian city for more than 2 weeks, that's when I start missing Philippines. What more for those many of our Pinoys staying out of the country for years, like my brother who has been working in Japan for more than 10 years now..
I start missing Philippines when I have to get bus cards or train cards when I go out to go to shopping malls in Singapore or to some shops in Hong Kong, where jeepneys and metro manila buses are nowhere in sight. I start missing Philippines, when I hear Chinese music, instead of Basil Valdez or Regine Velasquez on the radio. I start missing Philippines when I can't buy green or raw sampaloc (tamarind) in their markets so I can cook my favorite sinigang. I start missing Philippines when I can't knock on my neighbor to ask for a pinch of salt because I forgot to buy some the other day. Ahhh, so many things that will make you miss Philippines so much when you are living abroad even if for just a month or two.
So, what to do when I have a planned trip.. I bring some of the things that I will miss. Some sinigang broth, music CD's of my favorite Pinoy artists, a kilo of calamansi, 2 kilos of Philippine-made hotdog (I need to share some), chocnut, raw papaya for tinola, bagoong, instant noodles, instant pancit canton... I could go on and on. . And ten kilos of my baggage are these stuff. But food is not the only thing I miss... Lots and lots more of other things.
Hey, I created this blog just for that. Every now and then, I will be posting things that we start missing in the Philippines. We will have stories, photos, music, even videos.. Promise, I will bring some of these things here closer to you...