This is my final entry for now as I arrived home safe/sound. But prior to going back to work.... I arrived in Manila Friday morning and after 1/2 day of touring the city was ready to go home. While the people are friendly, the city is not. All the traffic lights we hate, I wish Manila had - not that anyone driving really pays any attention to the traffic lights that are present. The general rules of the road are: the bigger vehicle goes first; you are considered a vehicle. Honking is a courtesy... Collectively pedestrians serve as a vehicle when [View Full Entry]

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Happy New Year!!! The drive to from southern to northern Leyte was very beautiful and then I got to Sogod, which is quite the bustling city. Rather than wait for another jeepney, I took a van, which meant being crammed into the back of one with about 15 other people for 2.5 hours. I am glad I did though, since the roads were not good - especially at the top of the mountains where the roads had been partially washed out by rain water and rock slides. The day I was in Tacloban, it rained off and on, and I walked [View Full Entry]

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I hope you all had a great Christmas. Mine was spent diving at the southern tip of the island of Leyte after arriving at Pete's Dive Resort one day prior to Chrismas. I was not a stow-away on the ferry from Cebu City to Hilongos for long since the ferry tickets were collected shortly after departure. I simply paid the fare with all the other passengers who also had paid extra to get past security without a ticket. Jeepneys and vans were waiting when the ferry arrived in Hilongos at 4:30am, so it was just a matter of transferring rides until [View Full Entry]

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Hello Again - I left Puerto Galera after several great dives; took a 4-hour public commute to Roxas; spent the night. The next day, I traveled by boat to Borocay. The trip was not too exciting and was uneventfull, except for watching the local 10-13 year old boys from Roxas jumping 30 feet off the ferry boat to dive for your spare pasos. Boracay is quite the Philippino and international destination. The beautiful 4km white sand beach is palm tree lined and full of bars and international restaurants. People sail board on the east side of the island. The beach front [View Full Entry]

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Hello Everyone I made it to Manila Friday evening as the sun was setting and after 28 hours of travel (26 hours of flying; two 1-hour transfers in Taipei and Singapore). I do not know how much I slept on the flights, but I was not overly tired. Manila is a pretty busy and smoggy city, especially at rush hour, but my taxi driver got me to my chosen hotel in the Ermita District. Getting from the airport to your hotel may seem a small feat, but it seems as though taxi drivers always have a better hotel in a better [View Full Entry]

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Hi Everyone - Just a note to let you know that I will be trading the So. California beaches for those in the Philippines over Christmas and New Years. It will be my first major vacation since joining CH2M HILL 1.5 years ago. Luckily, my supervisor travels for weeks on end overseas as well!!! Many of you said you enjoyed the narrative of my trip through Central America 2 years ago. With this site, I can add pictures and videos of my travels to Manila, Puerto Galera, Cebu, and Coron Bay. I am thinking of also going to Leyte, where General [View Full Entry]

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