It's More Fun in the Philippines

It's true! and it's their logo - It really IS more fun in the Philippines. 

I think I have found one of my favourite places in this world. Before now, Bratislava, Slovakia has been one of my favourite places I have ever been, but the Philippines is up there for sure. It wasn't the scenery, it wasn't the food, it was the people that made the place. As soon as we landed, I could tell that the Filipino people are very kind! I didn't want to leave at all. 

We left on a Saturday night and flew out of Hong Kong to Clark, Philippines, which was a 1 1/2 plane ride. Once we landed, we got a bus and headed to our hotel room. As we drove to our hotel room, I got a little nervous as to what we had gotten ourselves into. The drive to the hotel was along a road with a lot of run own buildings and it seemed like a pretty sketchy part of town. Then we saw our hotel, which was like a diamond in the rough, did I mention that this hotel room cost 8 CAN dollars a night :) We got settled in, turned on the television and watched some ENGLISH T.V. Desperate Housewives was on, and even though I haven't watched it for a long time, I was happy to see and her some English language on the T.V. That rarely happens in China unless you want to watch CNN all day, which I don't, mostly because it scares the shit out of me! hahaha

We woke up in the morning and headed back to the airport where we caught our next flight to Kalibo, Philippines which was a 40 minute plane ride. We were all really excited to get to Boracay, so I was happy that the ride was a quick one! Once we landed in Kalibo, we paid for the bus which drove us an 1 1/2 to the port where we would take the boat to Boracay Island. As we drove to the port I couldn't help but think about how much the Philippines was like Cuba. The people are very similar, and the scenery is quite similar as well. 

Our view as we took the boat to Boracay 

Once we got to the port we hopped on a boat which looked something like this..... We all crammed inside, threw our luggage on top of the boat and we were off! It was an exciting and interesting boat ride to the island. Needless to say, I wouldn't want to be on a boat like this in any kind of weather! hahaha 

Our hostel.. our room was up top to the left! 

A view from the beach, a few steps away from our hostel 

Once we got to the island we took a TukTuk to our hostels which is a little truck which you cram into the back of! It was a lot of fun and cost about 3 dollars each! Our hostel was called Bonzai, and we upped for the more expensive room, weighing in at 10 CAN dollars a night.. whoaaaa. crazy eh? The room was nice too, we had air conditioning (thank God), hot water, everything you need except a comforter! haha, o well, I dealt with the sandy, dirty sheet for a week for 10 $ 

The week was amazing.. In total there was 16 of us that all travelled together. There was 7 of us that stayed here at the Bonzai hostel. While we were there we met two teachers from the states who teach in Korea, two guys from France that we travelling and one guy from Ireland who has been living in Australia for the past year and was on his way back home to Ireland and decided to stop in Boracay (what a life eh?) 

The best thing about being in Boracay for me was the food. Hahaha, who would have guessed eh? It was so good to eat whatever I want, not worry about what I am eating and eat PROTEIN (which has been significantly lacking in my diet). Now that I am back in China, I am back to eating apples, bananas, cauliflower, bread, pb, rice and noodles. Doesn't sound too bad, but it does get monotonous after eating the same thing everyday! O well, I probably need a diet like this since I gained 20 lbs in Boracay (not complaining, it was SOO worth it) 

Another thing that was great about Boracay was being around English! English signs, English speaking people, English menus, English songs at the bar, etc etc etc. You really realize how much you miss it when you are away from it for awhile! 

One more thing I loved about Boracay was being called "mom" all week. Mom, would you like this, mom would you like that.. etc etc etc.. it was cute. 

We spent most of our days on the beach, and most of our nights out dancing our butts off! :) 

A typhoon did hit us though while we were there. Wednesday and Thursday was not very fun, but we did play a lot of games of Phase 10 and got a little bit of shopping done, and I walked around to every tattoo and piercing spot on the island to get my nose pierced, but they all had huge hoops, and I just want a little one! 

A little bit of water from the Typhoon! 

Rain Rain Rain 

Shopping at D'Mall (seriously, that is what it's called)

crystal clear water 

Friday we woke up to a nice day, and decided to take a boat trip for the day! We first went to an island called Crystal Cove (yes mom, I know.. it's your name!) haha While we were on Crystal Cove, we walked through some caves and at the end of each cave was crystal clear blue water! It was beautiful! We jumped in and went for a swim! After that we went snorkelling, which was AMAZING.. saw two barracuda, and so many cool tropical fish. I forgot how much I loved snorkelling. I took some really good underwater pics too, but my camera seems to be out of commission right now, so I will show them asap! After snorkelling, we went to another part of Boracay and had dinner at a restaurant on the beach. We asked to use the washroom and they pointed to the back to we went to the back of the restaurant and saw nothing, so we kept walking, and walked a little more until we came to an outhouse out back. Kate went in to pee.. while me and Olga dropped our bathing suits and squatted by a tree! I would rather squat in nature than use an outhouse personally! hahah! We then casually walked back to the restaurant, sat down and ate like nothing had happened. PS, while we were peeing Olga says" Wow Emma, you are really tanned." I guess she saw how white I am under my bathing suit haha! When we were done our dinner, we headed back to the boat and I took the opportunity to jump into the ocean with some of the local children. They were so sweet. I picked them up and spun them around in the water.. we played ring around the rosie and then we would all go under water on the count of 3. It was too much fun, I didn't want to leave them. 

The very last day was the best day there! It was absolutely gorgeous that day. We spent a lot of time in the water which was flat clam after all the wind had passed. You could see the bottom no matter how far you swam out! We also all decided to have a nap on the beach, and all woke up at the same time being like.. ummm.. what just happened! Hahaha! after our nap, we decided to go get dressed up, take some pics on the beach, and then go to the best buffet on the island! While we were eating supper, we got up and danced, and even got the chef to come over and dance with us to the live music in front of everyone else that was eating! it was wicked! 

From left to right - Kelly (from McAdam), Patricia (from NS), Olga (from Ukraine), me, Kate (from Hampton) and Krista (from NFLD)

We also got to meet up with Sohpie while we were in Boracay.. Sophie used to teach here at ISNS in Shenzhen and moved to Boracay this year to teach there, which I must saw is a GREAT GREAT decision haha! It was great to see her, and even though I wanted to stay out all night and dance with her the last night there, I was too tired out from the week and we headed back! Sorry Soph! hopefully next time!

Boracay was an AMAZING time.. I loved the Philippines, but definitely want to go back and experience somewhere that isn't soo touristry! Don't get me wrong, it was beautiful, fun and relaxing, but I would love to go somewhere totally out of my element and do something different then a beach vacation! 

All of these photo's are thanks to Patricia! My camera decided to break while I was there, so hopefully I can get the pictures off of it soon and hopefully I get a new one for Christmast (hint hint anyone who is in my family and reading this!) haha 

There is lots more to write, but I have been in my classroom all day and I am ready to do nothing but lay on my bed and relax! for all you teachers out there - I finally have a good rotation of Daily 5 going that I am happy with, and I am officially starting Math Stations next week (it is SOO consuming making all of these games, but it will be worth it ) I also have parent teacher interviews next week so wish me luck!

We are having our Canadian Thanksgiving dinner this weekend! YESSSSSS I am so excited for turkey, stuffing and gravy and pumpkin pie and carrots and anything else that my body will consume on Sunday! 

10 weeks until I am home curled up by the Christmas tree! I cannot BELIEVE that it is already the middle of October! what the frig! but that means that I should have a new niece born anytime now! I can't wait to meet her on skype, and officially meet her in 10 weeks! <3

Hope you enjoyed! xo Em