Lights, Cameras, Philippines!

"The sun did not shine. It was too wet to play. So we sat in the house, on that cold, cold, wet day." - Dr. Seuss.

Taiwan, Formosa, leaving for Philippines.

Instead of a house, it was Eagle Point Resort in Mabini, Anilao, Batangas. Now it is quite depressing to see the pictures on their website of all they have to offer when the sun is shining and there is not a typhoon named USAGI hanging around for three days. 

Iron Man & I at the airport ^_^

Nonetheless, the girls and I really enjoyed our stay, but it was nothing like we predicted. 
We left Taichung early on Thursday morning on the infamous Ubus that runs 24 hours all the way from Taipei (North) to Kaohsiung/Kenting (South). It took two hours to get to the airport, followed by a two hour flight to Manila, the capitol of the Philippines. We had wanted to fly to another island, but because of the time we had we decided to stay on the same island. We had previously been warned by former teachers of the dangers in Manila, so we headed as far south as we could until we hit ocean.


We were provided a shuttle service from Manila to our resort. This was a 3+ hour ride by a Filipino man who may or may not have been driving for the first time in his life! Went a bit like this, acceleration- break - foot on the gas, off, on, off, on, break, acceleration. We were all nauseated. 

I was however fascinated with everything I saw around me. Philippines is always thought of, or advertised as, white sand beaches, scuba diving, gorgeous woman, etc.  And while the resort offered this and more. I would have never predicted the state of the country we drove through. What looked to be scraps of old fashioned cars made into public transportation buses covered the muddy streets. There were also 'tricycles,' which consisted of one man riding a bike with a cargo-like seat attached for one or two more persons. 
 
We were driving through Batangas during what I would assume to be rush hour. Hundreds of working men poured out into the streets. I peeked my head out of the window a few times and the looks on their faces were priceless! There were children with no shirts on, some with no shoes, junk yards, shack like shops, run down schools, and random chickens. The buildings were painted bright colors, perhaps to make up for all the mud that consumed the area. Instantly, we all had a much greater appreciation for all we have in Taiwan.  

 
We finally made it to Eagle Point. After almost 12 hours of traveling we refreshed ourselves and headed to dinner. Inevitably, the day we had just spent traveling also happened to be the best weather we would see in the Philippines.

Raymond

Throughout the weekend I heard the phrase, "Yes, Ma'am" and "Yes Maddam" more times then I have in my entire life.  The staff was exceptionally nice and the group of us quickly took one of the resort's staff, Raymond, under our wing. Along with other greetings we had a spider in our room that was almost the size of my palm. 

The resort offered four different pools. Of course we all decided our favorite was the one furthest from our room. We went for a late night swim and rested up. 

Happy in the storm ^-^

Friday morning (Happy 3 Months in Taiwan) the Typhoon was well underway. The hotel provides kayaking, a ferry ride over to a secluded white island, scuba diving training, and snorkeling. All of which we could not partake in because of USAGI! However we DID get to snorkel in their ginormous salt water pool. There were tons of fish and even cooler, SHARKS! My personal favorite was the sea turtle. After a quick lunch, we each received a relaxing 1 hour massage. 

Later Friday night, the resort set up videokee, basically karaoke, for the guests. Overall the guests included us, a handful of others, and what we soon would find out, a whole cast and crew of a Filipino reality T.V. series. The resort also provided a 'Make Your own Cocktail' for 280 Philippino Pisos. (1,000 Php = $22, 1,000TWD = $33). We sang, we danced, we made friends. Ended the night with another late night swim and adventures on the rocks. This was not a great ideas with the high tides coming in. 

Our 3rd day, and still a no go on any ocean activities, we decided to get the good times rolling early. On our way to the pool we were asked to compete against each other in a videokee contest. We agreed, signed our names, and headed into the Bay View Room where it would all take place. 

Camera setting up.

Shortly after we began practicing our beautiful voices, a swarm of camera crews, light technicians, mentors, and a director came into the room. They "asked" us to be extras in their T.V. series Pantaxa, which means fantasy. 
Pantaxa is a series where 7 girls are put up to a variety of challenges, which they are eliminated from, until there is one overall winner!  

Kelly, Steph & I with JayCee the mentor and 4 of the Pantaxa girls.

We watched and conversed with the mentors of the show as the 7 girls performed their videokee songs and tried to impress the judges.  Later that night we had a wonderful time hanging out with the cast and crew of the show while listening to live music. A huge plus to going to the Philippines is that they all speak English very well. As a whole, much better then in Taiwan.

The language of the Philippines is called Tagalog. It is spoken by most, but not all. It sounds very similar to Spanish, but one of the ladies I met said it's very different. Mah-gen-dah means Beautiful. Salameth means Thank you. Plah-cen-cha means Sorry.  

Early Sunday morning we took the shuttle back to the Manila Airport. Kelly and I would be leaving while the other girls stayed an extra night in Manila. Our flight was postponed 4 hours. I was so revealed to be back in Taiwan! It never felt more like home. 

Update on school: Grade reports are due this week, I hope the parents don't get angry with me. Reading comprehension overall was brutal. I have gotten my students to produce one good piece of writing so far and I am working on creating my first bulletin board, which I must say is looking pretty darn good so far!
So much to do, so little time!

Haiku poems my students wrote about Fall.

My rambunctious twins had their 10th birthday on Wednesday. I have a new student in my grad class who studied for over 3+ years in England. He is quite the character! 

Now that I have health insurance, I officially bought MY scooter! 
In other fabulous news: I purchased 2 headbands, 2 scarves, a long skirt, an orange jean vest, and earrings all for $35!

--Thanks for the love! - K