Life here in Palawan... well it continues to be a one big adventure. We did end up going to Honda Bay, it was great! We went with 4 guests from the Pension house and of course Maam Ian and Maam Lyca! 2 of the 4 were a couple from Manila, Julie and Jason, and they are super nice and are runners! They were very inspirational to chat with and they are running 42 Km next week. I can't imagine running over 5k alone 42!!!! We of course we are all friends on facebook and they have been keeping me updated on their training and races. I also have been taking in as many sunsets here as possible they are absolutely breath taking (see photo)! I never really took notice of sun sets before but they are super beautiful!
Story time: Saturday night I received a text to go dolphin watching with Lyca and Ian. Obviously saying yes before asking any questions I soon found out departure time was 3:30 am! Wow thats early... ok, So myself and Alicia gear up and hop on a trike to meet the girls (going on 4 am). We arrive on the side of the road, Lyca and Ian are there and told us we are waiting on some other people.... so we wait... and we wait.... oh Filipino time. Finally they arrive (going on 5). Alicia is not feeling the greatest and the thought of being out until 4pm with limited bathroom availability encourages her to make the decision to call it a day and head back home. I stay on this epic adventure. We all hop on a trike and head to this sketchy back alley street to pick up food (please note it is dark and I am now the only native English speaker of the bunch and I am super tired). Around 6:30 (3 hours after I have started my day) we walk down the alley and onto the dock. Well I actually cracked up laughing because my pension house was about 15 mins away from this dock. I could have easily slept in and met them there, but hey no harm done. We board the boat with tons of food and one student brought a guitar! Exciting! As soon as we head out to find the dolphins it starts to pour! I held a sarong out trying to shield myself and some others from the wind and rain. The waves start pounding too... I think if I wasn't a Newfoundlander I would have started to be worried. (In true Asian style there was not enough life jackets per person). After 2 hours of chasing rain...er... I mean dolphins the rain ceased and we hauled into a bay to swim and cook. Finally the day started to become enjoyable. We cooked a bunch of Filipino dishes on the boat, swam and just relaxed. It was nice... we arrived back to shore around 5. I said my thank you after a 'good bye' prayer headed straight to the pension house to tell Alicia how dolphin watching became rain drop watching with a side of swimming and eating.. hahaha. Better luck next time I hope!
Work is slow paced these days, everyone is very busy with the start of the semester that meeting with people is very difficult. My brochures are coming along and Friday we are heading to Binduyan to work more on the community side of the 'eco tourism master plan'. I have been picking away at the climate section... but progress has been limited. Tomorrow Alicia and I get to do a presentation on Canada and Newfoundland. We are stoked!! Who doesn't love to talk about home... especially when your home is so AWESOME! I can't wait! I was tempted to screech them all in... however I think I would be fired for giving students booze on campus! haha
In other news I found a GREAT gym to finally start going to. 2 months living here and I swear I have walked every street in Puerto Princessa on my hunt for a gym. I couldn't handle the last one, two workouts with zero aircon and manually pushed treadmills was enough for me. The treasure hunt is finally over! The gym is about a 20-25 min walk from my place, the people are friendly and there are working treadmills, bikes and weights! Im only 4 days in but if feels so nice to be back to a gym... kinda gives a little to routine to life here also I hope it will help balance out all the delicious treats I get to snack on! hahaha
Also in exciting news, I will be heading to China over Christmas break!!! Yeeeee haawww!!! Yes I just did that! I will knock another item off the bucket list and see that Great Wall! So excited :) The plan is to fly into Hong Kong, get the train to Beijing then fly back to Palawan from there. It should be epic!
I have to admit I am starting to miss home a bit. I think its all the Christmas talk around the office and making a slide show of home doesn't really help! Anyways I must get some rest, busy day tomorrow. Ignat -Take Care in Tagalog :)
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| Sunset from the roof top of my Pension house |
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