Lakwatsarah

On our last night in Taipei, we decided to visit 7-Eleven for some last-minute pasalubong shopping. While deciding which food items to buy, all three of us were surprised when our phones simultaneously received an alarm. It was a security alert warning everyone to be more vigilant as 40 tourist passengers aboard a cruise ship that had just arrived in Taiwan had tested positive for COVID-19. The places they visited were also some of the places we had visited! We headed back to our accommodation, feeling anxious. We packed our things and sanitized everything so we’d be ready for our early morning flight. In an effort to help contain the spread of the coronavirus, just two days after our return flight, the Philippine government included Taiwan in the travel ban along with Hong Kong and Macau. Countries were starting to close their borders, and we nearly got stuck in Taiwan. We made it home just in the nick of time. Thank God we were able to return safe and healthy from that trip. As we le...

As a returning OFW who planned to stay in the Philippines for good, one of the things that I always look forward to is a leisure trip overseas. The year 2019 has brought me to many highs and lows, I badly needed a break and hoped 2020 would be better. However, as the world knows, the year 2020 was not just an ordinary year. The plan was to meet my friends in Taiwan on the first week of February. By this time, news about the coronavirus was starting to get seriously big in the Philippines. But there are still flights in and out of Manila, so we decided to push through with the trip and practice caution. At that time, wearing masks was encouraged in the Philippines, but it was not yet mandatory. However, it was  different as soon as I arrived in Taoyuan International Airport . How should I put it? There was this eerie vibe as every person I saw was wearing a face mask. It wasn't the usual welcome hug you get from the country you've been meaning to explore. That's when I knew ...