Vacation Check List
I realized that I've been on a good number of planes on the past 4 years. Obviously there's a whole range of experiences--the giant 747 to the dinky commuter planes that only have 1 seat on one side and 2 on the other. Anyways, I took another one of those giant planes over to the Philippines last Wednesday (and already it's Sunday...whoa). Back to the land of mango trees and banana leaves, as one of the Archi girls would say. It's the 4th time in 3 years, so my closer friends knew that I was kind of ambivalent about the trip. So when I got here I decided to try to spice it up a bit with a few games...more like a check-list really...and I really do love my lists :)
1) Eat as much local food as desired: the wedding's over now, and for the next year I'm going to be mostly cooking my own food. So I'm taking this opportunity to fatten up and enjoy all the food the Philippines as to offer. I have a lot of old favorites, like Buko pie and mango shakes, but of course I'm also up for trying new things.
2) Take pictures of as many random and interesting things as possible: I was looking at a website for things to do on road trips, and one of them was to go on a "digital safari" which sounds kind of weird, but I thought it was a good idea. And I know that I love taking pictures, but having a name/reason for taking random pictures of road signs and interesting sights makes it seem more like an assignment to accomplish lol.
3) Make sure to get some alone time: Even though I'm an only child, my extended family is HUGE. How I know I'm an introvert - being around people all the time is physically and emotionally draining. From packed vans with 18 people, to sharing a bedroom with 8, I realized that just an hour or so away from the hulabuloo every day makes such a big difference in my energy level. At the same time, even with 30+ people running around everywhere every day, there is still that undeniable sense of loneliness among the crowd...and knowing that I want to take out time for myself every day makes it feel more purposeful and less like I can't fit anywhere. But more about that some other time.
Anyway, like I said I've been here for a couple days already, and it feels like these silly things, along with trying to keep busy and occupied, have been pretty good for making the trip interesting, and having my little photo assignment has kept me looking out for unusual things that usually get overlooked. My buko pie was a bit of a disappointment =\ but in general the food's been pretty awesome and everything (including alcohol) is super cheap and easy to get.
Tomorrow I'll be going here:
View Larger Map
Boracay Island, which is supposed to be one of those really nice places that foreigners go, so we'd never been haha. But with my aunt needing a honeymoon destination and my mom thinking that this might be the last time in a little while that the family will be in the Philippines together, everyone decided to spring for the trip to this island destination.
T- minus 2 hours!
1) Eat as much local food as desired: the wedding's over now, and for the next year I'm going to be mostly cooking my own food. So I'm taking this opportunity to fatten up and enjoy all the food the Philippines as to offer. I have a lot of old favorites, like Buko pie and mango shakes, but of course I'm also up for trying new things.
2) Take pictures of as many random and interesting things as possible: I was looking at a website for things to do on road trips, and one of them was to go on a "digital safari" which sounds kind of weird, but I thought it was a good idea. And I know that I love taking pictures, but having a name/reason for taking random pictures of road signs and interesting sights makes it seem more like an assignment to accomplish lol.
3) Make sure to get some alone time: Even though I'm an only child, my extended family is HUGE. How I know I'm an introvert - being around people all the time is physically and emotionally draining. From packed vans with 18 people, to sharing a bedroom with 8, I realized that just an hour or so away from the hulabuloo every day makes such a big difference in my energy level. At the same time, even with 30+ people running around everywhere every day, there is still that undeniable sense of loneliness among the crowd...and knowing that I want to take out time for myself every day makes it feel more purposeful and less like I can't fit anywhere. But more about that some other time.
Anyway, like I said I've been here for a couple days already, and it feels like these silly things, along with trying to keep busy and occupied, have been pretty good for making the trip interesting, and having my little photo assignment has kept me looking out for unusual things that usually get overlooked. My buko pie was a bit of a disappointment =\ but in general the food's been pretty awesome and everything (including alcohol) is super cheap and easy to get.
Tomorrow I'll be going here:
View Larger Map
Boracay Island, which is supposed to be one of those really nice places that foreigners go, so we'd never been haha. But with my aunt needing a honeymoon destination and my mom thinking that this might be the last time in a little while that the family will be in the Philippines together, everyone decided to spring for the trip to this island destination.
T- minus 2 hours!
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