Born in Nagoya,
but I barely know my hometown.
So I decided to Quest my hometown.
In the last episode,
I was asking around Nagoya Station
trying to find out where Filipinos gather.
After I posted the video,
I got a lot of clues saying,
“There are Filipinos in Ikeda Park.”
So I followed the clues.
And ended up in Ikeda Park.
At first, I wasn't even sure if I was looking in the right place.
I asked a Japanese guy.
I even found a police box and thought,
“Maybe they can help me find Filipinos.”😂
Then I finally saw them.
Two Filipinas.
I asked,
“Why are so many Filipinos here?”
The answer was simple.
“Because they're working here.”
They work at a bento (lunchbox) shop.
Then the conversation went somewhere I didn't expect.
“Where are you from?”
“Laguna, Luzon.”
“Mindanao, near Cagayan.”
Then she looked surprised and asked me,
“You can speak Bisaya?”
“Kamao ko mo... pero dili pa ko perfect.”
“Why you can?”
“Tulo ka years in Cebu.”
And suddenly, the conversation felt a little different.
Then I asked,
“Dugay na ka diri?”
- “Have you been here long?”
“27 years.”
I was only three years into my own journey in the Philippines.
And she had already spent 27 years building a life here in Japan.
I tried to say “27” in Spanish...
and somehow got stuck on the seven 😂
Then she suddenly started spinning a hula hoop around her waist.
So I asked her,
“Why can you be so happy here in Japan?”
Her answer stayed with me.
“Because in the Philippines,
we don't have so many jobs.”
It started as a simple Quest to find Filipinos in my hometown.
But the more I ask,
the more I realize I'm not really searching for a place.
I'm searching for stories.
And every answer seems to lead to another question.
“Where else do Filipinos go?”
"OSU."
NEXT CLUE: OSU.
Still Learning.
Still Exploring.
One conversation at a time🖖
"Mindanao, near Cagayan." — Filipina I happened to meet in Ikeda Park
I went to Ikeda Park looking for an address — some kind of proof that Filipinos actually gather somewhere in the city I was born in. What I got instead was a woman who has been building a life in Japan for 27 years, almost nine times longer than I've been building mine in the Philippines. Different countries. Different directions. Same quiet, ongoing work of making somewhere new feel like home.
I tried to say "27" in Spanish and got stuck on the seven, and she laughed and started spinning a hula hoop around her waist like it was nothing. When I asked why she could be so happy here, she just said there aren't as many jobs back home. It made me stop for a second.
It started as a simple quest to find Filipinos in my own hometown. But the more I ask, the more I realize I'm not really searching for a place — I'm searching for stories.
What I actually found wasn't a place where Filipinos gather — it was a woman who had spent 27 years building a life in Japan, while I'd spent three years doing much the same in the Philippines.
| Date | September 17, 2026 |
|---|---|
| Location | Ikeda Park, Aichi, Japan |
| Event Type | Community Search / Following a Viewer Clue |
| Access Method | Followed a clue left by viewers after posting the previous video |
| Food Featured | None |
| Cost to Attend | Free (Cycling around) |
| Rarity | 🟨🟨⬜⬜⬜ — A public park, but not an obvious meeting point |
| Bayanihan Index | 🟨🟨🟨⬜⬜ — Two strangers shared a real piece of their lives |
Whether "Osu" leads me to an actual community, or just one more single conversation, is something I won't know until I follow it.