Anna in Seoul: June 2009

Hi! Sorry I have been so bad at updating! I have actually been pretty busy, but I have lots of pictures to post! I think the most obvious thing to talk about is my trip to The Philippines! IT WAS AMAZING! I was really excited to go, but honestly, I had never even considered going before. But I am so glad that I did. It was absolutely beautiful. I have been anywhere tropical before, so I might be spoiled now! I don't know if Key West could ever compare to Boracay Island. We left Seoul at 1:30 p.m. on Friday May 1. After a stop over in Hong Kong we made it to Manila around 10:30. That night we just hung out and had a few beers at the hostel before we went to sleep. We woke up at 6 a.m. for our flight to Boracay. This was the smallest plane I have ever been on and it really freaked me out! But we madeit safely and were pumped! From the airport (in Caticlan) we had to take a ferry to Boracay. Then, when we made it to Boracay we had to take a trike (the craziest cab!) to the hostel. The hostel owner was z cool. He was from Australia and married to a Philippine woman. We hung out there for a bit and then hit the beach; which was absurdly beautiful! It is called white beach, which is a pretty fitting name. We had a really fun day just playing in the water and laying on the beach. Just to clarify, when I saw we I mean Jen, Katie, and me. Most of you met Jen and Katie at my early Thanksgiving/going away party. So the next day we got a new roommate in the hostel, a girl from England named Tam. We had met a guy from the Philippines at the hostel the night before named Jonas who told us about renting out boats and we decided to do that. We got a group of people (Katie, Jen, Tam, Jonas, A Korean girl, and a guy from South Africa whose names I forget) and we rented a boat. The boat took us around to other islands and took us to a small reef where we went snorkeling. I had never gone before and it was so much fun! It was scary at first, but we all had a blast. Then the boat took us to a huge cliff with these caves and let us swim. It was unbelievable! We really enjoyed it! That night (sunday) We just hung out on the beach and went dancing. It was fun. The next day we explored around the island. We went laid on the beach for awhile, then Jonas took us to Puka Beach. We loved that! Jen really wanted to collect shells and she got to there. Jen, Tam and me played with some really cute Phillippino kids there. Monday morning we said good-bye to Boracay and flew back to Manilla. In Manilla we went to Intramuros. It is a kept up part of old Manilla. It was really pretty, and it would take more than a day to explore it all. Unfortunately we had to fly out that night. Manilla was interesting because it a big city but at the same time it is kind of how you picture a third world country. Garbage EVERYWHERE and lots of people begging. It was truly an experience. That night we spent at the Manilla and Hong Kong airports. We got back in to Seoul at around 4:50 a.m. Wednesday Morning. And we all had to be at work at 10:00 a.m. Needless to say, we were exhausted, but it was well worth it. I have other things to write about, but I am going to leave this as a post just about the Philippines and try and get the rest posted before Sunday. Miss you all!! Love, love, love!