lynnskee81

So the Korean school system is developmentally challenged. Just last week, they had one week of classes to finish off the previous school year. Needless to say, most teachers just wasted time in classes, most abandoning their classes. Or at least my English co-teachers did. It was almost good to hear the voices of screaming teenagers stampeding up the stairs. Until they got to class. The headache and deep sighs came rushing back. I guess I remember being a kid though...barely. It's funny how quickly your frame of mind gets replaced with that of an adult's. I got invited to the school retreat with all the other teachers the following week. I reluctantly said yes but since I figured I was going to sit at school doing nothing, I might as well go. At the very ... read more

Last days in the Philippines We headed back to Manila on Saturday morning. Poor Greg had barely survived food poisoning and had to suffer through a 5 hour trek back to Manila on a ferry and bus. It took us a lot longer to get back into Manila due to traffic. We eventually made it back to our hosts in Manila. Greg passed out and I went to dinner with the girls. I was glad to be away from the ant poop and comfortably tucked away in a clean bed. Home sweet home. After all our adventures in Puerto Galera, one of the perks of having great couchsurfing hosts is the "homey" effect. Albeit not our apartments in Korea and definitely not home in Canada, Liliane made it as comfy for us as possible. The next ... read more

Day 8 - Food Poisoning! It was bound to happen. After another great day of lounging in the sun, we decided to head down to Sabang beach in the evening. We headed to Captain Gregg's, which is a dive centre/restaurant/resort. All big places there work like this, especially on Sabang. It's dive central. Anyway, long story short, Greg ordered the "chuck burger" on the menu. I warned him against eating it. It's a HUGE burger with a thick beef patty with slabs of ham topped with strips of bacon. That is not normal, even if you do eat meat. About 4 or 5 hours later, he started not feeling so hot. An hour or two after that, he was dashing in and out of the bathroom violently throwing up and subjected to other uncontrollable bodily functions. ... read more

Day 7 - Tamaraw Falls, Hidden Paradise, Hanging Bridge, and Jungle Kayaking For just under $50 (2000 pesos), we decided to go on an organized tour to see the falls. Now, the falls were just falls and we took the necessary photos and left within 10 minutes. BUT the tour was still totally worth it. They drive you around the island and you get a great view of the water and jungles below. And our driver played Bob Marley so I was really feelin' it. After the falls, we were going swimming somewhere called the "hidden paradise". In my research I hadn't come across this but it's totally worth it. It's a big pool of water that runs into the river with small waterfalls that you can slide down. It's totally awesome. Sunny day, refreshing swim, ... read more

Day 6 - Encenada Beach Resort On Wednesday, I had just finished breakfast at our lovely Mexican restaurant. For anyone reading this and wondering about food on Puerto Galera, I highly recommend this restaurant, even if you're not staying at Badladz. It is a Muelle Pier and it is part of Badladz. It is just scrumptious...maybe I've been deprived of food living in Korea but I still have orgasmic daydreams about the food there. As I was tottering back upstairs from my ecstasy inducing meal, all these guests showed up at check-in. So far, there had been few guests and we had been tended to very well. Not only were these guests ancient in age, but they also looked grouchy as they were shaking their heads and frowning at the counter line-up. Now, who goes on ... read more

Day 3 Strangely enough, I didn't want to sleep on my vacation. I woke up at about 7:30am most mornings, maybe laid around in bed until 8:00am but was bouncing around as soon as the sun came up. It felt good, unlike the volatile fight I have with myself every morning here in Incheon to get up and go to school. Best thing about Badladz - the Mexican restaurant. It's HEAVEN. We must have ate their for all 3 meals every day we were there. The resort itself is situated on a pier so there isn't a beach...just boats to look at. The rooms were pretty basic but clean and decent enough. BUT the Mexican restaurant, anyone could have eaten themselves out of a depression here and that, I achieved. My feelings of despair and bitterness ... read more

Day 1 I was bouncing to go at 5 in the morning. Greg was nervous because he didn't have a multiple-entry visa back into Korea. I'd much rather be stuck in the Philippines I think. We hop on the bus to the airport and the closer I get to taking off, the happier I am. We asked the woman at information if Greg needed to get a re-entry stamp, she adamantly says no. We get to the check-in counter, the woman says he needs to go to get a re-entry stamp. That's Korea for you. We also manage to buy some pre-packaged sealed kimchi for our hosts in Manila. We stop over in Hong Kong where I manage to catch some lunch. I was SO happy to be eating! I was so excited I wanted one ... read more