Jul 18, 2017 - Masbate

To say that Kairo and I got up early would not be accurate. We went to the late showing of "War for the Planet of the Apes," came back to the guesthouse to pack up, and caught an uber to the airport at about 1 a.m. Dave went to the movie with us and hung out until we headed out for the airport. By some stroke of good fortune, all of the flights--Kairo's flight to Gen San, my flights to and from Masbate, and my flight to Bali--would all come to Terminal 3. Nice. Plus, Terminal 3 had a left luggage center. For about $7, I could leave all my...

Jul 16, 2017 - Manila, Week 2

Fortunately, one of my mentors, Rick Yount, wrote a book on Educational Psychology. This is very good because for the second time, AGS has asked me to teach Educational Psychology. Since this is not an area of particular expertise for me, I decided again just to teach Dr. Yount's book. I guess I should have some sense of how to teach the class since it is really an application of psychological principles (I did do all but a final project for a Masters degree in counseling) to education. By using a combination of lecture, case studies, group...

Jul 8, 2017 - Manila

Arrived in Manila on Saturday evening. Took a bus here from Baguio. It was a nice bus, potty on board and all. And it was direct. No stopping to pick up lolas (Filipino grannies) with live chickens for tomorrow's adobo. It made for a nice ride. As we winded through the mountains around Baguio, I intended to read, but was taken by the mists swirling around the trees, terraces, and distant hilltops. Eventually, the mountains gave way to the faster and flatter roads to Manila. The mists yielded to rice patties with plows pulled by Carabou...

Jun 30, 2017 - Baguio

Everyone was worn out from the trip to Macau, so I didn't wake anyone until I was ready to go. Mom seemed sad I was leaving. I was glad Kim was with them. I had planned to take the subway to the airport. However, when I got to the subway station, I found a sign with "hours" posted and the subways wouldn't be running for an hour. There were a lot of bus stops nearby, so I thought I might be able to find a bus going to the airport. When I saw a guy with a suitcase, I followed him to a particular stop and asked him, "Does this bus go to the...

Jun 2, 2017 - Las Casas Filipinas De Acuzar Bagac, Bataan

No Regrets! no regrets in spending much money for a very Awesome weekend experience at Las Casas Filipinas De Acuzar ("The houses in the Philippines of Acuzar"). This hotel/resort was a brilliant idea of Jose "Gerry" Acuzar, the owner of San Jose Builders. He decided to rebuild different mansions from the Spanish Era. He bought most of them from different places in the Philippines such as Manila (Tondo, Binondo and Quiapo), Quezon City, Bulacan, Pampanga, La Union, the Ilocos and Cagayan. He dismantled each houses brick by brick from their...

May 14, 2017 - Back to reality

And here I am,back to the UK, so this is my last journal. I probably don't have to tell you how do I feel. I actually feel confused and a bit down. When I landed today, I left the plane and the whole thing was so surreal. To see 'normal,modern' people, the train,just everything. People were arguing and being inpatient...it wasn't like this in Asia. People are kind,patient and helpful there. I travelled by train...there was no train there. Or it was for a very expensive price. So we used the cheap but very dodgy buses. Sitting on a...

May 8, 2017 - Beautiful Philippines

We are in Siquijor in the last 2 days. It's a small island Southwest from Bohol. We heard about witch crafts and woodoo but we haven't noticed anything unusual. As it's my last week,I decided to treat myself and get a bit better accommodation. So we are in a beautiful house on a beautiful beach. We arrived yesterday about 1pm from Bohol,Tagbilaran. The ferry ride takes about 1.5-2 hours and it cost 700 pesos/person one way. As soon as we arrived to the port,we bought a ticket to the way back because I wasn't sure if it won't be full...

May 6, 2017 - Bohol

After my complete breakdown 2 days ago,I have to say I'm a bit better. Bohol is a really nice place and it has a lot to offer. Yesterday we rented a motorbike for 500 pesos (£1= 64.71philippine pesos) and just went around the island. We visited the tarsier sanctuary first. Tarsiers are the smallest primates in the world and they are extremely cute. They can stress themselves out so easily, they commit suicide. So for example if we would have go around talking loud or shouting,it stresses them out, putting them in the cage,stresses...

May 3, 2017 - Final destination

And here we are...my final destination,the Philippines. In the last few days I didn't think to write cos we basically travelled. From Maumere,we flew to Lombok,from Lombok to here via Kuala Lumpur and Manila. One tip for you...Rich had a hard time in Kuala Lumpur cos it turns out that the Philippines need a ticket out from the country,otherwise they won't let you in. So we had an hour to book something. First we thought we get a cheap ferry but there is no such a thing so in the end he bought a flight ticket back to Indonesia and...

Apr 26, 2016 - Boracay Island, Philippines

We island hopped from Tablas Island to Boracay Island, our last destination in Philippines. We now know what to expect - females to one side, males to the other, luggage on the ground, pat down, sniffer dogs - finally board the ferry. (Never did find out what they were searching for!) Even though this was just a short 3 hour journey, we were still assigned a bunk where we could leave our backpacks and a prayer was said to ensure a safe journey. Boracay is an Asian tourist destination, only 7 km long and 500 metres wide at its "waist", with...

Mar 31, 2016 - WOOFIng No. 4 Tablas Island

We arrived on Tablas Island on Saturday and after checking into a lodge, walked into town to find an ATM to replenish our funds. The two banks in town would not accept our VISA card. There were no hotels or restaurants there either where you could pay anything by VISA! This was a first for us, as up to now, any ATM seemed to accept our VISA card. Plan number two! - cash the US dollars that we had been carrying around. So off we set to a money lender to find out that they only accepted $100 notes and the largest one we had was $50. They...

Mar 27, 2016 - Romblon Island

Off we set again heading south this time, by bus 4 hours to Batangas where we caught an overnight ferry to Romblon. (I don't think I have mentioned that on the "better" buses, the seats are plastic covered - to keep them in good condition?? - but they are not so nice to sit on for long periods of time.) The ferry was an experience in itself and the way so many Filipinos travel between the islands. We were early for the ferry, so purchased our tickets and went through to the waiting room, after having our luggage scanned. Here we had dinner...