Last night, I went to Cebu's Bon Odori Festival wearing a Luffy costume.
I thought I was going to a Japanese festival.
Somehow… it ended up feeling more Filipino than Japanese.
I arrived around 8PM, starving.
But the second I entered the venue, people kept stopping me. Photos. Shouts. "Luffy!" Random conversations.
An entire hour passed before I finally managed to eat something.
And after all that…
the first thing I ate at a Japanese festival was sisig 😂
Not takoyaki. Not ramen.
Sisig.
At this point, I think my body has fully adjusted to carinderia life.
For almost 3 years, I've been eating pinakbet, monggos, puso, BBQ, and whatever turo-turo spot I randomly find around Cebu.
Honestly… Japanese food doesn't even feel like my default comfort food anymore.
One funny thing though—
Last time I posted myself eating while wearing the straw hat, people kept telling me:
"Remove your hat while eating."
So this time, I actually remembered 😂
Later that night, when the festival reached its peak, a friend involved with the event suddenly found me in the crowd and said:
"Come inside."
Next thing I knew, I was watching the performances from the VIP area, right beside the stage.
That already felt unreal.
But then something happened that honestly stayed with me the entire night.
Someone passing by looked at me and simply said:
"Thank you for being in Cebu."
I didn't really know how to respond.
People have complimented my videos before. People have recognized me before.
But I think that was the first time someone made me feel grateful just for existing here.
Not for content. Not for views.
Just… being here.
That hit me harder than I expected.
Some people there also already knew about my crazy "King of the Philippines" vision 😂
I know it sounds ridiculous. Maybe even arrogant sometimes.
But what surprised me was that they didn't reject it.
They smiled. Encouraged me. Treated it positively.
And honestly, that meant a lot.
Because Bon Odori is supposed to be a place where Japanese and Filipino culture meet.
But somewhere along the way…
I think Cebu started changing me more than I realized.
At the end of the night, I rode home in the back of a truck…
still dressed as Luffy.
And weirdly enough—
that felt completely normal now.
Still learning. Still exploring.
Somewhere between Japan and Cebu now 🙏
I showed up at 8PM expecting the smell of dashi, the sizzle of takoyaki, the warmth of something familiar. Instead, I got sizzling sisig — and I wasn't even disappointed. That's the part I keep coming back to. The fact that I wasn't disappointed. If anything, it felt right. A sizzling plate of sisig at a Japanese festival, in a Luffy costume, surrounded by Cebuanos shouting my character's name. This is my life now. And it doesn't feel like a compromise.
The moment someone said "Thank you for being in Cebu" — not for my content, not for my numbers — I felt something shift. The event itself was designed to bridge two cultures. But somewhere in the middle of a hot plate of sisig and a VIP pass I didn't ask for, I think I crossed a bridge I didn't know I was standing on.
The "King of the Philippines" dream still sounds absurd out loud. But the fact that people here smile when I say it — genuinely — tells me something about how this place receives big, ridiculous ambition. Maybe Cebu doesn't shrink it. Maybe it expands it. I'm still not sure what I don't yet understand about that. And I think that's exactly why I keep coming back.
Bon Odori Festival exists to connect Japan and the Philippines. But last night, it reminded me of something more personal: that connection isn't always between two countries. Sometimes it's between the person you were when you arrived — and the person you've quietly become.
I am here to document Cebu. To preserve what's disappearing. To tell stories that deserve more attention. But somewhere in the process, Cebu started documenting me. Changing my palate. Rewiring what comfort means. Turning a truck bed and a plate of sisig into something that feels like home.
I don't fully understand yet what it means that a Japanese festival in Cebu made me feel more Filipino than Japanese. But I think that's the point. Some things you don't understand until you've already been changed by them. And I'm still not sure how deep that change goes.
| Date | May 17, 2026 |
|---|---|
| Location | Puregold Open Lot, Cebu |
| Event Type | Bon Odori Festival (Japan–Philippines Cultural Exchange) |
| Access Method | Public Entry… then suddenly VIP (???) |
| Food Featured | Sisig (first food eaten at a Japanese festival) |
| Rarity | 🟨🟨🟨⬜⬜ — A recurring annual event, but the personal experience of cultural displacement is singular |
| Bayanihan Index | Crowd welcomed a solo Japanese visitor as one of their own — strangers shared food, stories, and a truck bed ride home |