Last night, I attended the Iloilo Dutch Pancake Night organized by Robin Vogelaar. He travels around the world and organizes a pancake night in places he goes to. To know more about the hows and whys of this event, here’s his Tedx talk:

I first heard about this event in the CS Iloilo FB group chat. Couchsurfing events in Iloilo were kind of rare and Iloilo Couchsurfers don’t have this established community yet and no regular meet ups unlike other cities in the Philippines like Manila and Cebu. I saw that many CSers were going so I thought this was a good time to meet the people behind those CS profiles.

I arrived alone with two boxes of cheese. There were already participants digging into their pancakes. I found Robin’s counter where I met Miss Angie from the group chat.

I was introduced to other participants, not all Couchsurfers. Some found the Facebook event page. Some came in to have some pancakes and some stayed to chat with other participants.

This was a reunion of some sort for the three of us. I know Apple is coming because of the group chat but it was a surprise to see May in the event. I learned she’s staying here in Iloilo as a med student in one of the schools here.

May is from Palawan and two years ago, she went on a trip here in Iloilo and sent me a CS request to host her but I turned her down. She eventually found a host, Apple, and one night, they messaged me to meet up with them. It was a night of fun!

Stories were exchanged, more pancakes consumed, and big plans were made for Iloilo Couchsurfers. Angie told us how big is the Couchsurfing community in Riyadh. There were monthly meetups, cultural and language exchanges, and a lot more. This pancake night became somehow a start for the Iloilo CS community.

We eventually packed up and moved to Smallville, like one barangay, and invaded the place, had some more drinks and then danced the night away.

I admire Robin in organizing a very simple event like this because I appreciate meaningful travel. To meet other people or to have this kind of event bringing them together is amazing. I always look up to travelers who share a part of their own culture to other people as they travel, and it’s really one of the best things that has drawn me into Couchsurfing.

In Robin’s case, it’s his pancake night events. I’ve made an acquaintance with one of the Couchsurfers in Singapore and he personally makes tea for his guests with his very own tea set. A Japanese family we hosted before cooked for my family seafood Japanese curry. I haven’t cooked for a guest or a host, so maybe that could be one of my Couchsurfing goals in the future.

So what Filipino food could that be that is as simple to make as pancake?