A few more travel thoughts....
Feb. 13th, 2008 08:26 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
blue_lotus13Leaving Batangas and all of our friends there was difficult. We had to say goodbye to our cook, housekeepers and of course, Rico. There were a few tears during the goodbyes.
From there, we drove to Manila and checked into our hotel. Manila reminded me a lot of Jakarta. It's just a large Asian city. We went shopping at the luxury mall, where the people watching was even more interesting than the shopping. I was surprised that the Filipinos in Manila were noticeably taller than the Filipinos in the countryside. I didn't buy anything, but enjoyed my day following others around and looking at things. It made me want to stay in and explore Asia even more....
That evening, we went to a grill for supper and had the most amazing food. Karen and I each ordered a plate of vegetables with no meat and were practically weeping into our plates. I also had my final green mango shake and some amazing calamari.
Some of us lingered for a while to consume pitchers of timebombs, which consisted of two types of rum, triple sec and a splash of grenadine.
****
I ended up sleeping for a bit before we went to the Manila airport in the morning. We had about three hours in the airport, so most people wandered around. I needed to get my fix of Chinese food, so I ate two orders of ha gow chinese dim sum dumplings.
On the first plane, Rich and I were seated next to a very nice couple from Canada. They have been working as international teachers in China for the past four years. I managed to get their contact information and info about their school for my friend Ramona.
We spent a bit of time in the Hong Kong airport, which I loved. The HK airport is one of the nicer airports that I've ever been in and I find it fascinating. From HK, we flew to Vancouver. The flight was fairly pleasant and I watched "The Jane Austen Book CLub" which I enjoyed a lot more than I expected that I would.
Customs in Vancouver was a breeze. I've never had an easier time going through customs. While standing in the Vancouver airport, I wondered if I would run into anyone I knew. I did! [Bad username or site: @ livejournal.com] was passing by, and I managed to grab a hug and a few quick words before I said goodbye to my fellow travellers.
I arrived home to Grande Prairie and a balmy plus one. It's been very, very cold here, so the warmth is a blessing for everyone. I went back to work for a half-day on Tuesday and felt very loved and missed by my coworkers. Today is my first full day back, and I'm going to go play dodgeball tonight with my rec team. On the weekend, Ian, Jeanne and I will be travelling to St. Isodore, which is 2.5 hours away. We're going to check out their winter carnaval festivities. I think attending a francophone carnaval in northern Alberta should be a lot of fun.
I'm still jetlagged, but am slowly getting back into the swing of things.
From there, we drove to Manila and checked into our hotel. Manila reminded me a lot of Jakarta. It's just a large Asian city. We went shopping at the luxury mall, where the people watching was even more interesting than the shopping. I was surprised that the Filipinos in Manila were noticeably taller than the Filipinos in the countryside. I didn't buy anything, but enjoyed my day following others around and looking at things. It made me want to stay in and explore Asia even more....
That evening, we went to a grill for supper and had the most amazing food. Karen and I each ordered a plate of vegetables with no meat and were practically weeping into our plates. I also had my final green mango shake and some amazing calamari.
Some of us lingered for a while to consume pitchers of timebombs, which consisted of two types of rum, triple sec and a splash of grenadine.
****
I ended up sleeping for a bit before we went to the Manila airport in the morning. We had about three hours in the airport, so most people wandered around. I needed to get my fix of Chinese food, so I ate two orders of ha gow chinese dim sum dumplings.
On the first plane, Rich and I were seated next to a very nice couple from Canada. They have been working as international teachers in China for the past four years. I managed to get their contact information and info about their school for my friend Ramona.
We spent a bit of time in the Hong Kong airport, which I loved. The HK airport is one of the nicer airports that I've ever been in and I find it fascinating. From HK, we flew to Vancouver. The flight was fairly pleasant and I watched "The Jane Austen Book CLub" which I enjoyed a lot more than I expected that I would.
Customs in Vancouver was a breeze. I've never had an easier time going through customs. While standing in the Vancouver airport, I wondered if I would run into anyone I knew. I did! [Bad username or site: @ livejournal.com] was passing by, and I managed to grab a hug and a few quick words before I said goodbye to my fellow travellers.
I arrived home to Grande Prairie and a balmy plus one. It's been very, very cold here, so the warmth is a blessing for everyone. I went back to work for a half-day on Tuesday and felt very loved and missed by my coworkers. Today is my first full day back, and I'm going to go play dodgeball tonight with my rec team. On the weekend, Ian, Jeanne and I will be travelling to St. Isodore, which is 2.5 hours away. We're going to check out their winter carnaval festivities. I think attending a francophone carnaval in northern Alberta should be a lot of fun.
I'm still jetlagged, but am slowly getting back into the swing of things.
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Date: 2008-02-13 04:41 pm (UTC)