The last days of the philippines

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Since my last entry, lots has happened.

The last week and a half in San Agustin was not all that busy. The weather was pretty bad, so we didn't get to do a whole lot of painting, which is too bad. Definitely did not feel very productive my last week there. We were in the middle of painting the roof, so when it was raining working was not an option. We did a lot of waiting for the rain to stop. Anyways, it was still good, and after boracay, the time just flew by. The last night on the island, Breken's host family had a big going away feast for him/kinda me cause i was leaving too... i claimed it as half mine. Whenever someone goes away, we always have so much food. it's amazing, and we look forward to it for days. One of my favourite things here has been Buko salad. Buko salad is young coconut, and you crack it open, drain the juice, and use a kind of peeler thing to slice the coconut inside. You mix the buko with fruit salad (from a can), cream, and condensed milk... it's actually heaven. So not good for you, but amazing. So we had lots of that our last night, which was perfect, cause i dont ever think i'll have it again. oh well, it's delish.

So I have left San Agustin, and am now back in manila at the dorms. I ended up leaving San Agustin earlier that i had originally planned, because i was going to leave with Eden today, but she never made it back to san agustin from manila, so i left with breken on thursday so i wouldn't have to go alone. It is not a trip that you want to do alone. 2 hour jeepney ride to Odiongan where the port is, and you have to buy your ticket, which in itself is a mission! In the philippines, lines dont work like they work at home... it's basically whoever gets to the front first is first... budding is just how people do it. For one ticket booth, there were about 3 lines of people, all trying to edge their way to the front of the line, which is FRUSTRATING.. haha. I think at one point i wanted to elbow the little old lady in front of me... that is bad. But she just jumped in front of me, and the flies were driving me mental, and you know, it was just irritating.. anyhow, we got the tickets, and made it to the boat. It leaves Odiongan at 5pm, and we arrived in Batangas around 2:30. By the time we got off the boat and onto a bus, it was just past 3am. From there, it's a 2 hour bus ride into Manila, where we got dropped off under a bridge in the rain, and it was still dark, where we had to find a cab to take us to the dorms. Definitely not a trip you want to do alone. Anyhow, we made it, and now i'm just killing time in the dorms.

The malls here are NUTS right now, cause it's christmas soon. I thought xmas shopping in canada was bad, but noooooo, the philippines is much worse. It's literally like something out of a movie... people grabbing things out of bins, yelling, shoving around, and there are hundreds of people. After living on the island and living the slow paced life, this is actually really overwhelming. I am not too fond of the city i have decided, althought it does have it's perks, like lots of food, and fast internet!!

So i have 3 days left in the dorms until i get on another plane, and head to THAILAND!! I am SO excited to go to thailand, although i have to sleep in the Hong Kong airport on wednesday night, that's ok. I'll do it. I can't wait to be a tourist and meet up with familiar faces. I'm there for christmas and new years, and then onto new zealand (hopefully). I'm on a few waiting lists for flights out of hong kong right now b/c things got a little messed up, and i couldn't get onto a flight right away. So I'm taking the gamble and hoping that the flights work out and i get one. If not, then i spend a few days in hong kong. I suppose things could be worse!!

Anyhow, this internet session is going to cost me about a million dollars, so i should go. I will write again as soon as i can.

love you!
xoxo

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