The Philippines

Hellllllo You!

We just got back from a wonderful time in the Philippines. It was 5 days of blissful adventure.

Day 1:

To start, our flight had an overnight layover in Manila, so we spent the night in the airport. Chayla hated it more than a toad hates being called an frog. I, however, loved it because they had a 24 hour Wendy's.

Because I was afraid of being mugged, I spent the night awake reading and on guard. When our connecting flight was available we roamed down and boarded. Upon boarding I immediately zonked out.

After a few hours of sleep we arrived at our hotel, the Deep Forest Inn. It was a quaint place that felt like it came out of a "Very Brady Sequel". There were giant, painted, wood carvings everywhere. But after getting past the rather funky decor, we realized the room, staff and amenities were top notch.

Later that day we kicked off our vacation right with a few to many San Miguel brews in the jacuzzi with some new, Navy folks from the US.

Day 2:

We woke up and had to be in the lobby at 7AM for an Island Hopping excursion. Driving through the city reminded me of Mexico in some aspects. People there live in very simple, hodgepodge accommodations, but everyone seems so happy. Also we noticed all the kids were wearing school uniforms.

On our island hopping in Honda Bay we stopped at 2 islands: Pandan and LuLi. On Pandan we did some amazing snorkeling and got a $6 hour long massage after sipping coconut milk. For a second I thought a sea snake had bitten me and I had went to heaven. Then, after using the bathroom which had no toilet paper or water to flush, I realized this was not heaven as my facilities would be fully stocked. Most of the public restrooms didn't provide toilet paper.

Day 3:

We visited the world's longest underground river cave and took a tour. The site was a 1 1/2 hour van ride away on  some jungly switchbacks. Chayla's heart dropped into her stomach several times, but thankfully nobody's stomach dropped out of their mouth.

We had to approach the cave via scooter boat that had to land on shore because docks aren't allowed in the state park. There were also monkeys living near the entrance of the cave. They went about stealing stuff out of women's purses for nourishment.

Bright, happy, airy, cheerful. These are not words I would use to describe the underground river. The cave also had more bats than Bruce Wayne's basement. That being said, the cave had some of the most amazing natural formations we've ever seen and it was amazing to think that this was its own self contained ecosystem.

Day 4 & 5:

From all of the excitement over the last 3 days we decided to relax a bit. There was a lot of pool, drinking, eating, and sunburns. Chayla also did some shopping for pearls which were increadibly cheap (like earrings for $.40 cheap. That's $ point four zero.) We also went out on the town one night and listened to two phenomenal live bands. And I mean phenomenal. Move over Katy Perry.

Now we sit in our cold, Korean apartment and dream of happier, warmer times lying on the beach and drinking coconut milk and beer. :(

P.S. I'm not expecting any sympathy from you Minnesotans.

In Other News....

We are being transferred for work! We will be joining another school in Bundang. We will be moving out of our apartment as soon as they get the new one for us there (in the next 2 weeks). Our new home will be larger than the one we are in now, thank goodness! Also, we will be moving to the outskirts of Seoul. Tomorrow we will spend the day there to check things out. We just found out today, so we will keep you posted on more details soon! It sounds like a great area, so we are excited!