Tomorrow begins my sojourn back to the Philippines, the first in almost a decade. Half the time, I can hardly believe it.

As much as I hate the term “Developing Nation” (there’s nothing wrong with calling it a Third World Country), the moniker is incredibly apt. Metro Manila has been developing at a near-exponential rate, and in the past nine years, the topography of the cities has changed drastically. It will be a homecoming to an unfamiliar place.