LAST DAY D=

SO TODAY WAS MY LAST DAY IN THE MOTHERLAND =[

We didn't do much. It was just a lot of last minute pasalubong shopping... I think I actually ate something bad here and so I didn't feel very well today. Hopefully my tummy will be all better for the 17 hour plane ride that awaits for me in the morning.

To debrief on my stay here, I felt as if it was a journey that will always stick out in my mind. I haven't traveled since I went to France the summer before my freshman year of college, and though I stayed here a shorter time and had the security of having my family with me, it was still a great learning experience. I think more than anything, this trip gave me a better taste of a culture that I have been more or less detached from for the bulk of my life. I enjoyed seeing just how happy the people are here and how they find this happiness in the most humble of lives... I can't put it anymore eloquently or simply as that.

The adventures were amazing and definitely made my winter break more eventful than anticipated =] I thank my mom for never being the kind to sit around during a vacation, and waking us up in the wee hours of the morning for a full day of activities... everything from ATV's to just overseeing the land from some high viewpoint to get a full picture of the country that we were settling our feet in...

There are so many things I'm going to miss about this place: the food, the prices =], the fruit shakes FOR SURE (Jamba ain't got nothin' on this SHIET), the beaches, the rivers, the summer weather... HOWEVER, I do miss the comforts of home. I miss all you suckers back in the states, I miss my bed, I miss my KIRBABY, I miss dancing!!... So I'll be gladly leaving behind the bug bites, the poofy hair and the extraordinary excursions to be able to bask in the mundaness (shout out to my other b log haha) of Irvine to live out my simple, but happy, life. =]

CAN'T WAIT TO SEE YOU ALL!

Villa Escudero/ Baguio/ New Years!!!

HAPPY NEW YEAR ERRRRR'BODY!!!

Sorry I haven't blogged lately. I think it's been like 4 days... So after coming back to Makati we took a day trip to this Coconut Plantation called Villa Escudero. Unfortunately I can't upload any of my own pictures because the internet we have at this hotel is only applied to one of our laptops, so I'm on my brother's laptop and it feels to tedious to send pics over (my pics are already on my lappy top and they automatically delete from my camera once they are uploaded...) But here are some nice web pictures...

Villa Escudero

This is the church on the property that was made into a museum. So this plantation is HUGE and a family owned the whole thing... even their own church. Crazy huh? There were also Carabao rides and while we were getting pulled on a wagon our Carabao, named Pogi (which means handsome) took a huge SHIT right in front of us. Yummy...

This is where we ate lunch! It was a man made waterfall where you actually sit with your feet in the water... the food was BOMB.. The water was ncie at first but after a while you actually got kind of cold...

We also watched a cultural dance show. I have a lot of pictures from those that I'll upload to facebook once I get back!

Baguio- Mines View

So Baguio is a city in the Northern Part of the Philippines. It actually suffered from the disaster that happened a couple monhs ago, but the rodes were open so we were able to go up there. It was a 6 hour bus ride going there and we were only there for a week. It was like equivalent to going to SF for just a day -_-... We left our luggage at the hotel we were staying at in Makati and so we only brought one change of clothes each that we stuffed in our Carry-on bags... I brought shorts since the last time I tried wearing jeans in the Philippines I almost died... but unfortunately, it was actually COLD up there =[ Good thing I brought a jacket.

I didn't really ask what Mines View was, but it was just a palce that overlooked the city pretty much. There were a lot of stores there that sold strawberry preserves and wine because apparently Baguio is the only place cool enough to harvest strawberries (but the strawberries here are pretty dinky).

We didn't do much in Baguio except this and going to another park that had a Lagoon and lots of colorful Bicycles... haha... then it took us seriously like 9 hours to get back to Makati because of the traffic. I will NOT miss Filipnio Traffic.

~~~~~~~~~~

So tomorrow is our last day here in the Philippines O_O. I can't believe that it went by this fast... A part of me is sad because there are definitely things about this place I'm going to miss, but another part of me is ready to get out of my mom's radar again hahaha =] For our last couple days we've pretty much just been shopping around for souvenirs and stuff.

We went to a NYE party at our hotel... it was pretty fun. I got to dance a little which was much much much needed =] and I'm not going to complain about the complimentary drinks they had there eiter =]

HAPPY NEW YEAR AGAIN!!!

Boracay pt. 2

So Christmas Eve and Christmas Day were my last two days in Boracay... D=... I'm really going to miss it there. Hopefully I'll be able to go back sometime in the future for a nice vacation =] Anyways, now we're back in Makati, and we'll be visiting Baguio in a couple days before we get back to the states. It's amazing how 3 weeks can fly by so fast!

I definitely missed the warmth amongst the cold during Christmas... little things like a delight of hot chocolate and popcorn while watching a holiday movie, or wrapping presents. I missed having it actually feel like Christmas, decorating a Christmas tree, and viewing everything in a mild golden glow... but this Christmas, though unconventional, was also very nice.

Sand Sculpture =]

Picture Taken from the Ocean Facing the Shore

SHOUT OUT TO THE BIG MAN!

Mount Lohol

We rode ATVs up there... and they also had some wildlife for viewing there as well... there was this monkey that I saw attack a puppy. =[ It made me sad, but my mom reassured me that the monkey was just trying to get the fleas from the puppy and wouldn't have bitten him if he wasn't cooperating.

Another Sand Sculpture

This was actually dug by the some little children asking for donations during Christmas. The space that's glowing is actually hollow underneathe. It was really beautiful...

Last Night...

So I spent my last night in Boracay/ Christmas laying in this water watching the sun go down... I don't think too many people can experience floating on their back in the ocean looking at the moon on a regular basis... so... I am thankful for that.

=]

Boracay pt. 1

Greetings from Boracay! I've been here for like 3 whole days now but I haven't been blogging because 1. not much has been happening and 2. the internet here is really bad. HOWEVER, Boracay is freaking gorgeous and it's been a drastic change of pace here. Pretty much... it's all beach. The sand is white and powdery and the ocean is BEAUTIFUL. Also, there aren't like any waves this time of year so swimming has been very relaxing. I've been getting dark...

I really haven't been doing much... we're either walking around looking at all the stores that pretty much sell all the same thing, swimming, and getting pampered (pedicure, manicure, facial, AND I got my eyebrows THREADED for the first time and Big is right, that shit hurts as hell but it's super clean)

Anyways, that's about it. Tonight for Christmas Eve we're going to this fancy buffet and I have no idea what we're doing for Christmas... maybe more beach laying =D

The View

D*Mall Shopping Center

PENIS TSINELAS!!!

Dinner at the Bamboo Lounge

This fire dancer is actually a guy... lol.

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVE!!!

Boracay!!!

So after waking up at 4:30am...

Arriving at the Ferry dock at 6am...

Departing the Ferry dock at 7am...

Arriving at Cebu at 9am...

Checking in at the airport at 11am...

Getting our flight rerouted and delayed to Calibo at 2:30pm...

Taking a shuttle from Calibo to Caticlan at 3:30pm...

Arriving at ANOTHER smaller ferry at 5pm...

We finally made it to Boracay and ate dinner by 7pm =]...

Bohol pt. 3

So today was my last day in Bohol. I have to say, though I feel exhausted from being in the province, it was a humbling and eye opening experience. The first thing I notice here is with the many activities that we did we encountered people who put in so much in what they do... I mean, even our guide through the butterfly farm the other day seemed like he loved butterflies so much. Everyone has a smile on their face and they speak with so much enthusiasm that I am able to build a sense of appreciation for even something so simple as an organic farm.

It makes me think... 1) the privileges that I have have been extremely humbled because of those here who are obviously struggling (today I had two little boys sing me the saddest rendition of "We Wish You a Merry Christmas"for 5 pesos each), it almost makes me feel so undeserving for what I have... but I guess that's good because we should never feel like we deserve anything and should only feel blessed by those things in our life that we do have... and 2) those people who seem to get by, they inspire me. It made me think that excess monetary security probably only makes our lives more complicated... imagine if we didn't have the extra money to buy our leisurely things... imagine if we were in an environment where that was just a fact and not so much a misfortune... then we'd have more time to focus on the greater things in life aside from those things you can buy with money... maybe if our country wasn't so set on mass production and corporate expansion, the cows that we'd eat would be munching on grass, the chickens would be different colors aside from white and obese (btw, their cows look SO much happier than california cows), and we'd have more of our land and scenery to appreciate besides those national parks that need strict reservation policies to keep people from ruining them.

So despite the bug bites and the heavy heart... Bohol has been a great trip. Tomorrow we're taking a ferry to Cebu, and then a plane to Boracay (apparently there's no direct flight from Bohol to Boracay).

Here are some pictures =]

Wahig River

So for those of you who have heard my stories about the multiple times I've gone river rafting of some sort and I always tend to fall out... this isn't me falling out... this is my getting out to pull my boat through some of the strong upstream current since paddling was getting me no where... The water guide's assistant was the one who took all the pictures (they're huge on service here)... I liked this one =]

This is an upshot from a sky-lift that went over a canyon. Scary as shit, but a nice view.

Organic Farm

So the key to organic is actually making an all natural compost to fertilize your plants... so when you buy something labeled "organic" that's what it means.

Magaso Falls

Today we went to Magaso Falls. I actually swam up to the falls =] The water was so clean and refreshing!

Random Cave!

So our driver, Jun (the guy in the green shirt), took us to this cave near where he lives. The water there was even cleaner. He said that it was clean enough to drink. The cave is huge, about a 15 minute journey, but we didn't have flashlights so we didn't go any further than that. He said there's an area that's so big inside it looks like a church... I wish we'd have more time to explore there!

Castillo Des Vicens

This is an old lighthouse. Behind it is a great view of the ocean =]

That's all!

Bohol pt. 2

So today I did quite a lot of things... we woke up at 5am in the morning, and one of the drivers here at the Inn we're staying at was going to take us on a tour of Bohol. I won't do much typing, more pictures since I know that's what everyone is interested in... I won't upload albums until I get back to the US because the internet is really slow here haha...

Here it goes:

Chocolate Hills

Our driver recommended that we ride these! During the test drive my mom ran into a gate hahahaha...

Chocolate Hills. They looked like little green hershey kisses =]

Butterfly Farm

DID YOU KNOW? Females are dominant in insect life... =]

Sevilla Hanging Bridge

I was actually scared for my life. But in this picture I seem to be enjoying all the creaking and swinging of the bridge.

Loboc River

We actually ate lunch on a pontoon boat as we coasted down the river. We also enjoyed a cultural dance or two from some of the neighboring village people! I didn't get a picture of that though =[

Tarsiers

Tarsiers are the smallest marsupials in the world!

He looks like Yoda!

The Baclayon Church

This is the second oldest church in the Philippines.

The Blood Compact

The Blood Compact was the first treaty between the Spanish and the Filipinos. Pretty much they cut their hands to expose blood and shook them.

As you can see, big day in Bohol, and another one awaiting for me tomorrow!