Philippines

I only went to the Philippines for five nights, because our school vacation was from Thursday to Wednesday, and flights were awkward on those days. Almost immediately after I booked the flight and room, my boss changed our vacation to Monday to Friday, but I couldn't get a new flight, so I had to leave two days early from the others' vacation and make up the two days before the other foreign teachers came back. I was pretty pissed about that whole situation. I do need to save money, though, so three fewer days of vacation is financially to my advantage.

It actually took me 22 hours to get from my door to the hotel, since I had to fly out of Incheon, and the airport buses were booked early. So I had to bus to Seoul overnight, take a taxi to get closer to the airport and wait for the subways were open at 5:30, then take a subway to the airport. I had two flights into Manila and Cebu, then a three hour drive to Moalboal, the little town were I stayed.

Here's me totally alone in the corridor under Gimpo Airport in Seoul, from which I could enter the express subway to Incheon Airport. I got there around 5am, and met a gate at the end, which wasn't opened until a few minutes after I got there.



Here's my room at the resort:








The bathroom was Korean-style, but better. The shower head actually had an area of its own, so I'm not showering in front of my sink and toilet and getting them all wet.



Here are some shots of the resort:








This is the restaurant I ate at the whole time. It was right next to my room.




This is the office for the adventure tour company I used (owned by the same guy who owned the resort and the restaurant). It was right next to the restaurant. Everything was so convenient.




On Saturday I went out to some recliners overlooking the ocean and hung for a bit.

Then I noticed a kitty nearby. Find the kitty:




Here it is. I don't know how long it was there before I noticed it, but it seemed to really enjoy that little hole. I tried to go over and pet it, but it ran away.



The only major problem with the resort is that while it is right on the ocean, there's no beach, and the water wasn't that great, either. It was filled with plant debris and the ground was all either grassy or mucky. I only swam in it once briefly.




These show what little sand there was on the shore, and its just rocky cliffs above, with a stone staircase going down from the resort area. The local children seemed not to mind this beach, though.