The past couple of months have been flying here in Korea. I celebrated Christmas very different from years in the past, but everyone is in the same boat so we made the best of it. It was a very green Christmas here. My company had a big staff party on Christmas day, so I did manage to have turkey for dinner. I rang in the New Year and my 1 year anniversary in Daegu with some friends which was fun. Daegu is a bigger city, and more to do than Gumi. I also thought it was fitting because that is where I rang in 2010 as well. The local foreign bar here has started Wednesday trivia night, so we have been religiously going to that which helps break up the week. We can have teams of 2-3 people. We have a group of 6 friends who like to make it a fairly competitive event. So far the 6 of us have finished in the top 2 teams every week, so its a fight to defend our titles now. I have been crossing off my bucket list things and preparing for my return to Canada. The countdown is at 46 days, which gives me anxiety. Part of me is ready to go home, and part of me wants to stay. I am sure my departure will be bitter sweet.

Happy New Year 2011

I have finished my South East Asian travels this week. I took a trip to the Phillippnes with a couple girls from here. It was a great trip, and nice to get out of the cold weather for a while. We were only there for a short time but covered a lot. We arrived in Manila late on Wednesday night and headed to an island Puerto Galera for the beach part of our vacation. We spent a few days there on the beach, snorkeling, para sailing, and partying before heading back to Manila to do some shopping and sight-seeing.

Melissa, Chantel, and I

The beach was nice, the water wasn't as warm as Thailand, but a comfortable temperature. It is still "winter" in the Phillippines so it was the coldest time of year. The temperature was still around 26 degrees, and the sun was great. We did a boat tour which took us snorkeling and the amount of fish was amazing. We took some bread to feed the fish and hundreds of tiny fish would surround you. During the evenings we hit up some beach side bars. They all have lady boys that work and entertain. I have to say I was very entertained by the lady boy and fire shows at night. We had a chance to ask some of the lady boys our questions, and I have to say some of them were very convincing females. We also got to try some balut while on the beach. Balut is a fertilized egg, and is known to be one of the worst foods in the world. I had a VERY small sip of the liquid, but couldn't eat it.

Balut

We spent a couple days in Manila before coming home. We got to do some shopping, which was much better than Korean shopping. We even got a few grocery items which you can't find here. The Phillippnes has a much larger selection of American goods, which are like luxury items for us. We also went to Intramuros which is the oldest selection of Manila which was built by the Spaniards. There are lots of old churches and buildings here, but the original heritage is not well preserved. Beside a 16th century church you can find a 7-eleven.

Interamuros

Overall I had a great vacation, and was happy to do it in great company before heading home. Even managed to get a bit of a tan.

My next adventure is in a couple weeks time. I will be heading to Japan to do a tour of the island. We plan to hit up Osaka, Hiroshima, Mt Fuji, and Tokyo. Should be another fun vacation.