'15 Travels -- Time for an Update!

I guess it's time for an update from the Philippines... It's hard to believe we've only been gone just over two weeks. It feels like we've done so much already. On the way here, we chose to have an overnight layover in Seoul. We were able to take a break from the 13 hr. flight and meet some of Paul's family. We had a nice meal, and hung out at a hipster Korean bar before they dropped us off at a jjimjilbang for the night. I had no idea what to expect from this, but found myself naked in front of a bunch of strangers in thus new country very quickly. A jjimjilbang is a Korean sauna. You check in, are given a change of clothes and are free to go at it. The first part of it is separated, make and female. Here you can shower, go in the hot and cold baths -- each are strange colors from different herbs, and go in the sauna. From there you dress in the clothes they gave you and can head up to the common area. There is a big open space, where you can grab a mat, put it on the floor and sleep for the night. It's a little strange and weird, and almost looks like a Korean prison with everyone in their provided clothes. Apparently, it's a popular place to sleep if you're too drunk to make it home. The common area also has more saunas - a typical western sauna, a milder clay sauna, and a very hot dome shaped sauna which basically looks (and feels) like a big pizza oven. There us also a freeze room which feels great after the saunas and refreshing after the long flight. From here we continued on to Manila. Just about another 4 hours on a plane. Getting into the city, dealing with the people and cabs wasn't as bad as we were expecting. Never felt hustled or too unsafe anywhere. We stated in the main tourist belt, Malate. It's dirty, crowded and hectic at places and makes you feel like you're back in Asia. The poverty is bad, you see many kids sleeping in the street --lots run up to you and beg for money or even water. We spent a couple of days exploring around Manila, walked through the main park, Rizal Park - or as some locals call it, Luneta Park. From there we continued into Intramuros, a walked city which still has a lot of ruins from Spanish rule. The locals all try to get you into their bicycles for a tour and we finally gave into one. It was a nice experience, mostly just for starting to interact with the local people. The Philippines does feel different from a lot of Asia as most people do speak English well and aren't shy to talk to you, or poke fun at you. Once we figured out the train system we started to explore other areas of Manila. Upon entering the station, we saw that there was a male and female area. We were confused by this until the train came, then realized you are packed into these things like sardines. The first place we took the train was south to Baclaran market. Think huge Asian flea market. We bought shirts, socks, shirts, pants, an umbrella, etc. for probably around $10. From there we took our first Jeepney ride, to the enormous Mall of Asia -- quite a change from the market. This mall is huge, building after building and bigger than anything I've seen in the states. We spent a little time there before going to our first dampa restaurant. You walk through a market and but your fresh seafood, then bring it to one of the many restaurants lined up beside the market who cook it however you like. We had some delicious chili crabs, steamed prawns and veggies with some San Miguel to wash it all down. It was quite a feast, though if we had more cash on us probably would gave gotten even more seafood! From Manila, the first place we headed was the Zambales coast. We were looking to get somewhere quieter after Manila and decided in some beach camping in a place called Anawangin Cove. It took a bus, tricycle ride and hike to get there. We hired a local 19 yr. old to guide us on this hike. He was very friendly and it was nice to spend some time talking with him. We expected an easy hike, but it was longer than we expected (there is not much info on this spot in most guidebooks) and ended up taking about 4 hours in the hot Philippine sun. It was still a gorgeous hike and great experience, though we ended up taking a boat back. The cove itself was beautiful. Crystal clear water, the cleanest I've seen yet. The beach is surround by mountains and bordered by pine trees, a very special piece of nature. We had shade to camp in, clear water to snorkel in and no mosquitoes! What more could you ask for?? From camping, we returned back to Manila. We had met a local family, by eating at their street food stand, who invited us to their family outing at the beach the weekend of Good Friday. We were hesitant about trusting them, but didn't want to pass up a true Filipino celebration. When we walked up to meet them some of the family pointed and laughed at Paul, calling him 'Jesus Christ'! Tis the season, and his hair was pretty crazy at this point. This was also after two separate peoples shouted 'One Direction' at him and just laughed as well. Kids randomly stare and laugh as well -- all quite entertaining. Anyways, we took off to Batangas with this family. Husband and wife and four kids. Ended up in Matabungkay Beach, where the thing to do is rent what they call a 'balsa'. Basically it's a huge raft, with tables and chairs, shade and even little elevated areas to sleep. We hung out on this all day, cooked, drank and swam. You can even signal to someone onshore who will swim out and deliver you could beer. The family had a local friend/semi-ladyboy there who hung out with us and eventually we ended up onshore in the neighborhood singing karaoke. It had to happen soon enough! The whole experience was a positive one. It was great to see an authentic celebration for this family. In the end, the Dad (and businessman) Bong, asked us to chip in and pay more than we were expecting (more than our fair share) but it was worth the experience, and we didn't end up drugged and abandoned anywhere -- so all was well! Putting it all into perspective, it wasn't a lot of money, and it all went to our warm and welcoming host family. From there we continued south to the island of Mindoro, where we are now. We took a fast boat, bangka, to get here. The ride arriving into the harbor is quite beautiful. Lots of lush land a little islands. We spent a night in Puerto Galera, where Paul finally got his crazy hair cut and beard shaved. It took forever, but he was tight with his barber afterwards. He even had Paul take a photo with him afterwards. There are very many friendly people, and making these small connections with people on the street or restaurant owners, etc. had been very special. From Puerto Galera we made our way to the town of Sabang, where we have been the last 5 days or so. We have been working on our PADI Open Water Diver certification. We have learned so much over the last few days, from all the scuba gear, to the ocean environment, to the more technical side of diving. This morning we finished our training, and tomorrow we have one last fun dive we get to make. There are many, many dive resorts here -- but we decided to go to one run by a nice Filipino family. Our instructor, Hobert, is a local as well. They might do things a little more sketchy than the western run operations, but I've learned a lot and we've gotten some good dives in. Still hoping to find some sea turtles, but today we passed an ocean snake which our instructor later informed us was 5x deadlier than a cobra. While passing it we had no clue! The plan is to continue down to Palawan from here, and then back to Manila and maybe into North Luzon. We leave for Bali in the beginning if May, but not before sticking around for the Pacquiao/Mayweather fight! Lots of love to everyone at home, come visit us!