The Philippines today is a very different country to that in the 1980s, when the capital Manila was a decrepit, low-rise city plagued by random bombings; buses and errant policemen ruled the roads; and taxis were held together with string. Outside Manila, the provinces basked in undiscovered splendor and poverty. Reefs Resorts Revolutions Requiems takes up aspects of life in the country through the eyes of a visitor who arrived in 1980 and stayed through revolutions and attempted coups, traveling, climbing and diving, and making observations spanning 1980 to 1995 on Philippine culture, life and death that make up the stories herein.