iPhone autocorrect and not on me- okay?
The night of March 2nd was our last night in Korea. After a delicious last meal of Uzbek with everyone, Conor and I headed back to our tiny apartment to finish packing. Kim came over and we all decided it was a good idea to just stay up all night. We watched Life of Pi, cleaned, packed. Very early (maybe 5am?) we got into our cab and headed to the bus station.
It was a strange feeling leaving Korea, my home for the past year and a half. Honestly to this day I feel like it was all surreal. Saying goodbye to my students was so much harder than I expected. I had such a great time in Ansan!
Anyway, Conor and I had been planning this trip since October. Our first stop was the Philippines.
It was a great feeling leaving cold Korea and entering warm Philippines. We were heading to the island of Puerta Princesa to a beach El Nido. Our friends, Jenny and Jason, had been there a few months earlier. It looked awesome based on Jenny's blog, and seemed like a relaxing first stop.
We had an 8 hour "lay over" in Manila before our next flight so we headed to the Mall of Asia, the biggest mall in Asia. To waste time we decided to go see a movie (and we had our heavy backpacks on and didn't want to walk around for 8 hours). With limited choices we settled for Jack, The Giant Slayer. Despite it's exciting tale, Conor and I passed out almost immediately in the theater. We were exhausted. After some more wasted time we headed to the tiny airport to make our way to Puerta Princesa.
After a night in Puerta Princesa, we were picked up early the next day for a van ride to El Nido. 7 hours and a winding ride later we were here. El Nido was like something out of a postcard. I was so happy and relieved to be somewhere settled for the next few days.
We heard of this beautiful beach called Napcan- so naturally we rented a moped to go find it. I say naturally because we acted as if we were moped professionals. Yes, of course we can follow this hand drawn map (we got lost). Yes, we've driven mopeds many times before (once). What! We have to wear helmets! (Helmets are for nerds!) An hour of bumpy roads and getting slightly lost we made it. Deserted, white sands, the clouds look painted- it was one of the most beautiful places I had ever seen. We found a restaurant and had a great meal where I am convinced they killed a chicken on site when we ordered and fed it to us. Nom nom nom. Side note- this trip has proven to me that chickens are dumb, ugly, stupid creatures.
The next day we went on a snorkeling tour. We mostly saw sea urchins which was just annoying because you have to be so careful not to step on them. BUT we went to some cool lagoons and had a really great lunch made by locals. It was nice to just be in the water all day.
Our trip to El Nido was coming to an end and we were heading back toward Manila. On our van ride back to Puerta Princesa we were told to sit in the front seat. You would think it would've been better- air conditioning blasting on us, front row view to the action. But I think it was more cramped and uncomfortable. We made it back in one piece and were on our way back to Manila.
Manila at night is a dark and scary place. We arrived late and our cab driver was seriously lost. He also instructed us to lock our doors once we entered a certain neighborhood, and pointed out a bridge where he "used to live under". We finally got to our hotel and were comforted by the fact that our fave show, the Biggest Loser, was on. In the morning we headed out through China town. After a bit we got in a cab to head back closer to the airport.
As many of you know, Conor has taught for two years in Korea. His first year was in Daejon and his second, in Ansan with me. In Daejon, Conor met his 'noona' (Korean word for older sister)- Nicole. Nicole ended up moving to the Philippines to work for her uncle at a fancy hotel. We were going to see her for the rest of the afternoon until our flight. The Maxxims hotel was high class all the way. I was so happy to escape from scary Manila for a bit. To say that Nicole hooked us up for the day is just an understatement. She scheduled us massages at the nicest spa I've ever been in, got a private driver to take us to the mall, took us to Shabu Shabu dinner, hired a car to drive us to the airport and had a lady at the airport speed our process up. We could not thank her enough for all she did for us that day! It was the perfect end to our first stop, the Philippines.
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