Flying (so luxurious isn't) to the Philippines tomorrow and as usual, we absolutely know nothing about the country we are about to visit. As we travel, we learn so much stuff including geography (the main cities or provinces for example), local dishes (some places like Singapore have such an extensive menu, it's hard to remember everything), history, economy, customs, popular artists and personnalities, etc.

So while we were trekking in Pulau Tioman and out of breath, I quiz my fellow travel companions to assess their knowledge about the Philippines.

Results? Not much.

Math went:
- I heard it was a great place for durians. There are maybe 9000 islands? The country was conquered by the Spanish and the English. Hummm, the last edition of the Amazing Race Asia was won by a team of Filipinos.


Annis tried:
- The capital is Manila. There are rice fields. People are supposed to be really outgoing and like to party.


It was harder for me since I was last:
- People are really Catholic. There is a chicken feet dish called "Adidas", named after the shoe company. Euhhh, the singer of the song "Pyramid" is Charice, a young Filipina.


Not sure any of this group knowledge will be useful for the next 3 weeks but we'll do our best to learn more.