Helloooo..
So here's what I did in South East Asia..
I arrived in Pakse in Southern Laos on the 1st or 2nd of March...I was so surprised by how toursity it was! I'd come form North East Thailand and before that The Philippines where I'd see a white person maybe once every week or 2 but here it was flooded with white people! It was so weird to see tall people again..I'd made friends with a Thai guy on the bus the day before, so we decided to hire a motorbike and explore the Bolaven Plateau where there are amazing waterfalls and traditional villages and the temperatures a bit cooler. It was a pretty awesome day but my but hurt so bad by the end of it for sitting down too long on the back of a motorbike.. Anyway we visited like 5 waterfalls.. One of them took absolutely forever to reach.. we were riding down a dirt track for ages and there were plantations of trees with white blossoms that smelt really good.. But we couldnt work out what they were until the end of the day when we discovered they were coffee plantations.. So that was pretty cool.. Finally we arrived at the car park and we had to climb down a super steep ladder to reach the waterfall, so that was exciting. I walked behind the waterfall and through the cave behind it.. And so after an hour or so there went hunting for another waterfall. .But on our way back along the lane a Dutch couple (who we'd seen before at the waterfall) stopped us and asked if we could give their 2 daughters a ride to the end of the lane coz they were so tired from walking.. So the two girls hopped on and we must have looked quite a sight, a Thai man and a Western woman on a motorbike with 2 young blond kids sandwiched between us. So yep we visited some more waterfalls, at one of them there was a huge Thai tour group and some random men wanted a photo with me coz they thought I looked like someone famous, it was so funny... At about 4 o clock we made our way home, I was trying hard not to fall asleep (slightly dangerous on the back of a motorbike) and then I said I wanted to stop to take a photo of one of the villages on the side of the road... So we stopped, and we were greeted by so many kids, they were soo cute! They absolutely loved having their photos taken and couldn't stop laughing, it was so nice. Then the adults started to emerge out in the village too to see us.. Lao people are so friendly... Ok so that was just the first day.. The next day I got a bus to Si Phan Dhon or the 4000 islands which was gorgeous.. Its where the Mekong river gets really wide and there are 4000 islands where a few of them are big enough to live on... We got on a longboat where I met 5 other people around my age and after about half an hour arrived on Don Khon island.. It was soo gorgeous... Really traditional and relaxed.. We got lunch at a restaurant overlooking the Mekong, we waited for about an hour and a half until the food finally came.. But they'd forgotten mine haha.. So we had to wait like another half hour.. We spent the rest of the day chilling out.. I went for a walk round the island and then we got dinner where the waiter boy who was like 12 looked just like a mini Usher.. Then we spent the evening chilling in the hammocks and went to bed..
The next day the other guys moved to the next island and I changed guesthouses.. For less than 4 quid per night i got a big double room with a bathroom and a balcony and hammock overlooking the Mekong.. It was beautiful.. It costs a dollar a day to hire a bike so I cycled to the nearby waterfall which was absolutely gorgeous and then walked to a riverside beach and went swimming for a bit.. I climbed up the cliffs to have an amazing view of the river and surrounding area.. It was so perfect! That evening I was cycling along about to go back to my guesthouse when the guy who owns the internet cafe stopped me and asked me to join him and a Japanese couple.. who weren't a couple they were just friends.. It was really cool, we ate sushi and drank Lao Lao and Beer Lao.. I cycled home at 11 but didnt realise there were no street lights.. so I had to cycle about 400 metres in the pitch black along a bumpy track (don't worry it was perfectly safe) After about 200m I heard something beside me and I could just make out like 10 huge buffalo walking beside me! They are really huge.. You cant imagine unless youve seen them.. WHoah that was scary.. But I kept peddling and finally arrived at my guesthouse..
The next day I hired a motorbike to drive around the island, I haggled it down to about 4 pounds for 3 hours. Not bad... I had another incident with buffalo when I thought they were chasing me when in fact they weren't.. But i was so scared to go and retrieve my motorbike from near them that I beckoned some random locals and somehow communicated with them to get my bike for me.. It was funny.
The next day I got the bus to Phnom Penh the capital city of Cambodia... It was an interesting journey.. We got a long boat to the mainland.. And then had to wait ages till anyone told us where to go.. There were about 70 of us backpackers.. Then after a 15 minute walk in the heat half the people got on a comfy looking coach, but the other half of us were left on the road.. I think they'd overbooked.. Then they told us we were getting on this tiny run down looking local bus.. So everyone squeezed on.. with 3 guys on the back and absolutely no room to move inside.. and then the driver told us all to get out coz we were too heavy to move out of the dirt.. HAha it was quite amusing and very annoying.. So he backed out of the mud with the guys still on the roof and we all jumped in again, I was standing up hanging onto the back of the bus.. Then after 5 minutes the bus stopped and we had to get off again to wait for the linking coach to the border.. Haha crazy.. After that it was a pretty smooth ride.. It took all day to get to Phnom Penh.. I met a German guy - Marlon on the bus and we decided to go hunting for a guesthouse together.. We found one then went searching for somewhere local to eat.. We found some noodle soup and then got a couple of beers.. I like beer in Asia but not in England.. Is that weird?
The next day we explored the city after finding a better, cheaper guesthouse.. We had noodle soup for breakfast for like less than a dollar... and then got a tuk tuk to the Genocide Museum.. It was pretty horrific.. It was the place where the Khymer Rouge imprisoned the pretty much innocent people, tortured and killed them.. It had been a high school but was converted to a prison.. It was horrible.. As soon as I walked in I got this really bad feeling inside of me...
In the evening we ate baguettes which were really good.. and then went looking for a bar alongside the riverfront.. There was a really cute little boy trying to sell us bracelets and he'd repeat everything we said and he followed us everywhere.. but then 2 of his friends joined us and they turned nasty haha.. coz they wanted us to buy them ice creams but we wouldnt... they followed us to the bar and just waited outside for us and kept shouting at us calling us stinky! But finally they went away thank god.. So lesson learnt - dont be nice to kids on the street! Ignore them!
The next day I went off on my own and explored some markets.. which were pretty cool.. I bought a really nice purse for like 2 quid.. In the early evening I went to a park which appeared to be the place where all the locals went to chill out.. It was soo nice.. They had music playing, men were playing football, families were just relaxing..
The day after that I got the bus to Kampot - a riverside town in the south.. I had to pay twice because the stupid tuk tuk driver took me to the wrong place twice! And it was too late to go to where I was meant to be so I had to buy a ticket for a different bus.. They always say they know where theyre going but they dont!
To be continued........
Port Barton
Sunday, April 10, 2011
Monday, March 14, 2011
1 month in Thailand!
Wow Sorry It's been too long again. ANd sorry if my spelling is awful but this keyboard is not good and im typing super fast... so forgive me haha..OK Its March now and loads has happened so I have to think and consult my diary...
So I started teaching English on the first week of February.. Is that correct English? I really cant remember how to speak english properly..and i have such a weird accent coz I had to speeak really basic english for so long and recently i've been mixing with lots of europeans so now my accent is straaaaaange.. It was sooo hard to start with... and at times throughout the whole month... At first the kids spoke literally no english! Their english teacher couldn''t really communicate with me so yeah that was hard.. When i said things like what is your name even the fourteen year olds looked so confused and didnt know what to say..Soo yes like i said it was hard coz alot of the time the teacher was translating which is pretty useless if they're gonna learn english coz they're not learning.. and ahhh yes at times it was very frustrating.. But it was fun too especially after the 2nd week... I taught the kids greetings, hobbies, the body parts, numbers, alphabet, directions and lots of things.. And i really felt they'd learnt alot by the end..
The younger students like under 12 were soo enthusiastic and cute.... It was soo much fun teaching them as long as I'd planned my lesson well.. but the older ones 13-15 were much more shy... But after a while they got used to me and really liked me.. Ahhh ok i'll tell you about a few memorable lessons... Teaching numbers 11-100 to 9 year olds.. Oh it was soo much fun.. I held like picture cards of numbers up and got them to repeat after me and they were so energetic and cute.. and really remembered well... Then i took them outside to the playing field type thing and got them to stand in a circle.. And threw a ball to each student one at a time and shouted 1 and they had to throw it back and shout 2 etc.. They loved it.. I dont think there used to games in class.. Then coz they were so good we went back to class early and had time for another game.. Where i wrote random numbers scrambled on the blackboard.. and a boy and a girl had to come to the front..Id shout out a number and they'd have to find the number on the board and race each other to circle it first.. They were so competitive it was so funny.. And my other memorable lesson was teaching 15 year olds directions.. I taught them how to say turn left turn right go straight stop etc.. by doing the action myself and getitng them to do it too.. and then we played a game where 2 students came to the front.. and each desk had a picture of a place like supermarket, church etc.. and the students had to direct me between the tables to the place i wanted to go.. it was hilarious coz they didnt say stop in time so i walked in to some tables or they said turn right instead of left and i walked into someone.. they were hysterical. Oh and another funny game which got a bit lethal was when i taught them how to tell the time in english.. I stuck pictures of analog clocks with different times around the room... the kids worked in 3s and one was the runner.. I'd shout out a time and the runners would have to race to the right clock and grab it off the wall before anyone else did.. It was soooo funny! Ok so thats the exciting stuff that happened at the school.. On my last day i gave certificates to the best students and gave everyone sweets... Sooo on the weekends when i wasn't working some exciting stuff happened too..
I learnt to ride a moped! Or motorbike as they call it here! That was cool... So i've been riding around a bit in cambodia and laos on a moped..
I learnt to hula hoop! I hula hooped every night i was in thailand for like half an hour.. but now im getting fat again coz im not exercising..
Like i said in the other blog i learnt to use chopsticks! So Thailand has taught me alot of useful skills...
Ermm what else... I had some bad experiences with frogs.. I was in the bathroom about to take a shower.. when i noticed this gigantic frog in the water bucket.. so i tried to move the water bucket outside to pour it away when the frog leapt over my head onto the door.. I couldn't believe it could junmp so far.. it was soo scary... so I got the mum i was living with to chase it away... And the next few nights there were more giant frogs hiding in the bathroom but they were more placid thank god..
Thai food is amazing! I loveee thai food! We ate lots of times at random noodle stalls which cost like 60p for a bowl of noodles.. and they served in like immediately after we ordered.. So quick!
Ermm one weekend we went to the nearest big city Ubon Ratchathani.. We went to the university where we found out the night before a guy drove past in his car and shot 4 students dead.. So that was pretty scary.. In the evening we had pizza! Which was soo good which we ate with a knife and fork.. first time i'd used a knife and fork for months!.. And then we went to a bar where Pee Ann;s friend works.. There were 2 live bands which were cool. and the atmosphere was really nice.. And ihad some really nice wine which didn't taste like wine... Then at 12 the police came and shut down the bar because of what happened the night before.. So we were waiting outside and we got talking to the lead singer of one of the bands.. Tao.. who could speak english! Which was amazing coz virtually all the thais i met couldn speak any english.. so i was happy to make a new Thai friend who was fluent in english! and we all decided to go into the city to find some clubs.. BUt everyone we went to was being closed down by the police.. SO that sucked.. So in the end we decided to go to bed but not first without eating noodles at 3am haha.. Apparently norimal for thais after they drink... Then we stayed at Pinky's university room 4 of us squeezed into 2 single beds haha... It was fun...
The next thursday me, Pee ann, Tao and the other lead singer of the other band went to the Lao border to get my visa extension.. We visited this cool market in Lao then went back to Ubon and slept for a while... Before going to the bar again which shut down at 12 again! So I went with Tao to a party at his house which was soo much fun! There were some gay guys who were hilarious! Everyone was so drunk! One of them kept calling me girl after every word with his gay voice hahaa.. Oh and none of them could really speak english but they were all trying coz they were drun and it was hilarious.. And they couldnt pronounce my name coz They dont have l sounds or rs in theyre language i dont think so my name sounded like Caoooooooow! Haha .. And they had cake and lots of food which they were still cooking at 3am! We eventually went back to the hotel at like 4.. and i slept all day the next day haha..And didn''t sleep the next night... I remember at one random point backriding Tao on his moped going the wrong way up the dual carriageway type thing.. which was scaryyyyyy... but normal apparently.. Oh and we whizzed past a few elephants on the way..
Oo i hear a tuko.. Or gecko.. It makes a funny sound like tu ko...
Ok so on my las sunday in thailand we visited Ban Tha Klang and elephant village where humans live with elephants. its pretty cool. Theyre really well trained and there are thousands that live there i think... One lifted me up with its trunk and another walked over me that was quite cool...
OOo i can count to 100 in thai and lao! And i can speak like the basics thats another skill ive learnt!
Right so thats pretty much it for what happened in Thailand.. I'll write a blog about Cambodia and Laos later... Adios chicas... Sawadhee Ka!
So I started teaching English on the first week of February.. Is that correct English? I really cant remember how to speak english properly..and i have such a weird accent coz I had to speeak really basic english for so long and recently i've been mixing with lots of europeans so now my accent is straaaaaange.. It was sooo hard to start with... and at times throughout the whole month... At first the kids spoke literally no english! Their english teacher couldn''t really communicate with me so yeah that was hard.. When i said things like what is your name even the fourteen year olds looked so confused and didnt know what to say..Soo yes like i said it was hard coz alot of the time the teacher was translating which is pretty useless if they're gonna learn english coz they're not learning.. and ahhh yes at times it was very frustrating.. But it was fun too especially after the 2nd week... I taught the kids greetings, hobbies, the body parts, numbers, alphabet, directions and lots of things.. And i really felt they'd learnt alot by the end..
The younger students like under 12 were soo enthusiastic and cute.... It was soo much fun teaching them as long as I'd planned my lesson well.. but the older ones 13-15 were much more shy... But after a while they got used to me and really liked me.. Ahhh ok i'll tell you about a few memorable lessons... Teaching numbers 11-100 to 9 year olds.. Oh it was soo much fun.. I held like picture cards of numbers up and got them to repeat after me and they were so energetic and cute.. and really remembered well... Then i took them outside to the playing field type thing and got them to stand in a circle.. And threw a ball to each student one at a time and shouted 1 and they had to throw it back and shout 2 etc.. They loved it.. I dont think there used to games in class.. Then coz they were so good we went back to class early and had time for another game.. Where i wrote random numbers scrambled on the blackboard.. and a boy and a girl had to come to the front..Id shout out a number and they'd have to find the number on the board and race each other to circle it first.. They were so competitive it was so funny.. And my other memorable lesson was teaching 15 year olds directions.. I taught them how to say turn left turn right go straight stop etc.. by doing the action myself and getitng them to do it too.. and then we played a game where 2 students came to the front.. and each desk had a picture of a place like supermarket, church etc.. and the students had to direct me between the tables to the place i wanted to go.. it was hilarious coz they didnt say stop in time so i walked in to some tables or they said turn right instead of left and i walked into someone.. they were hysterical. Oh and another funny game which got a bit lethal was when i taught them how to tell the time in english.. I stuck pictures of analog clocks with different times around the room... the kids worked in 3s and one was the runner.. I'd shout out a time and the runners would have to race to the right clock and grab it off the wall before anyone else did.. It was soooo funny! Ok so thats the exciting stuff that happened at the school.. On my last day i gave certificates to the best students and gave everyone sweets... Sooo on the weekends when i wasn't working some exciting stuff happened too..
I learnt to ride a moped! Or motorbike as they call it here! That was cool... So i've been riding around a bit in cambodia and laos on a moped..
I learnt to hula hoop! I hula hooped every night i was in thailand for like half an hour.. but now im getting fat again coz im not exercising..
Like i said in the other blog i learnt to use chopsticks! So Thailand has taught me alot of useful skills...
Ermm what else... I had some bad experiences with frogs.. I was in the bathroom about to take a shower.. when i noticed this gigantic frog in the water bucket.. so i tried to move the water bucket outside to pour it away when the frog leapt over my head onto the door.. I couldn't believe it could junmp so far.. it was soo scary... so I got the mum i was living with to chase it away... And the next few nights there were more giant frogs hiding in the bathroom but they were more placid thank god..
Thai food is amazing! I loveee thai food! We ate lots of times at random noodle stalls which cost like 60p for a bowl of noodles.. and they served in like immediately after we ordered.. So quick!
Ermm one weekend we went to the nearest big city Ubon Ratchathani.. We went to the university where we found out the night before a guy drove past in his car and shot 4 students dead.. So that was pretty scary.. In the evening we had pizza! Which was soo good which we ate with a knife and fork.. first time i'd used a knife and fork for months!.. And then we went to a bar where Pee Ann;s friend works.. There were 2 live bands which were cool. and the atmosphere was really nice.. And ihad some really nice wine which didn't taste like wine... Then at 12 the police came and shut down the bar because of what happened the night before.. So we were waiting outside and we got talking to the lead singer of one of the bands.. Tao.. who could speak english! Which was amazing coz virtually all the thais i met couldn speak any english.. so i was happy to make a new Thai friend who was fluent in english! and we all decided to go into the city to find some clubs.. BUt everyone we went to was being closed down by the police.. SO that sucked.. So in the end we decided to go to bed but not first without eating noodles at 3am haha.. Apparently norimal for thais after they drink... Then we stayed at Pinky's university room 4 of us squeezed into 2 single beds haha... It was fun...
The next thursday me, Pee ann, Tao and the other lead singer of the other band went to the Lao border to get my visa extension.. We visited this cool market in Lao then went back to Ubon and slept for a while... Before going to the bar again which shut down at 12 again! So I went with Tao to a party at his house which was soo much fun! There were some gay guys who were hilarious! Everyone was so drunk! One of them kept calling me girl after every word with his gay voice hahaa.. Oh and none of them could really speak english but they were all trying coz they were drun and it was hilarious.. And they couldnt pronounce my name coz They dont have l sounds or rs in theyre language i dont think so my name sounded like Caoooooooow! Haha .. And they had cake and lots of food which they were still cooking at 3am! We eventually went back to the hotel at like 4.. and i slept all day the next day haha..And didn''t sleep the next night... I remember at one random point backriding Tao on his moped going the wrong way up the dual carriageway type thing.. which was scaryyyyyy... but normal apparently.. Oh and we whizzed past a few elephants on the way..
Oo i hear a tuko.. Or gecko.. It makes a funny sound like tu ko...
Ok so on my las sunday in thailand we visited Ban Tha Klang and elephant village where humans live with elephants. its pretty cool. Theyre really well trained and there are thousands that live there i think... One lifted me up with its trunk and another walked over me that was quite cool...
OOo i can count to 100 in thai and lao! And i can speak like the basics thats another skill ive learnt!
Right so thats pretty much it for what happened in Thailand.. I'll write a blog about Cambodia and Laos later... Adios chicas... Sawadhee Ka!
Sunday, January 30, 2011
Thailand! 1st week!
Hello and welcome to Thailand! Sawadhee Ka! I've been in Thailand for a week now! Exactly a week actually.. Well 1 week and 1 hour thats quite impressive...
And I like it.. I arrived in Bangkok at midnight last Sunday the 23rd... And i slept in the airport using my rucksack as a pillow for a few hours.. Then I got a bus into Bangkok... To the wrong place... Had to get a taxi to the right place where my chosen hostel was.. My chosen hostel was fully booked.. So I had to walk for like 20 minutes in the heat with my super heavy rucksack to the next more expensive hotel... 550 baht per night! I didnt care i just needed to lay down.... ..After sleeping for a while I walked around the area and found a nice temple/wat and ate too much street food... which ended up making me sick the next day hahaaa... Anyway my 2nd day in Bangkok I visited the museum of Siam.. Which was so interesting.. It had all about the history and culture of Thailand and its people... It wasnt just a boring old museum.. Coz i dont like museums like that.. it was soo modern and nice... i learnt alot.. It even had about old fashioned and modern day toilets.. It was impressive.. Then I got the boat to Chinatown..and got super ripped off by the evil Tuk-Tuk driver.. It was my fault i forgot to negotiate a price before we left... but i was soo tired and felt ill.. So i just got a taxi back to the hotel...
And then in the evening i got the overnight train to Si Saket.. where i will spend most of my time in Thailand teaching english.. I met Pee Ann who I'm living with.. She is an English teacher in a high school.. And we went to her house which is amazing... Her dad designed.it... It is made completely of wood.. and the design is just awesome... The Mum and dad speak hardly any english.. So its interesting.. but they are so nice.. And the food is so good... My first day there i went to the high school and primary school.. the kids are soo nice...
This weekend Pee Ann (by the way Pee means older sis/brother... they use it as respect) needed to go to a town near pattaya on the coast to apply for university.. So we took a road trip! And had an interesting time... We arrived at 6am on friday morning.. And slept alot.. After waking up we met Pee Ann's friend (Ton's) sister and her friends.. and went to the beach.. We went on a banana boat haha it was soo much fun... The next day we went to the zoo Which was quite fun.. because it was a drive through zoo.. I met an elephant... And lots of other animals... And then in the evening we went to a flloating market which has food and items from each area of Thailand.. It was really interesting... And finally today we drove back to Korat "Ton's" city... Tonight we went to a night market and I bought soo much.. It was really nice.. I bought shorts and a tshirt and lots of gifts and a dvd.. Haha.. Then we ate noodles! ( I learnt how to use chopsticks!) Yay! And now I'm at pee Ann's auntie's house.. Yes the last week I've been trying to learn Thai.. Its soo hard! But fun! . And I'm gonna go to sleep! Mahal Kita! I love you all!
And I like it.. I arrived in Bangkok at midnight last Sunday the 23rd... And i slept in the airport using my rucksack as a pillow for a few hours.. Then I got a bus into Bangkok... To the wrong place... Had to get a taxi to the right place where my chosen hostel was.. My chosen hostel was fully booked.. So I had to walk for like 20 minutes in the heat with my super heavy rucksack to the next more expensive hotel... 550 baht per night! I didnt care i just needed to lay down.... ..After sleeping for a while I walked around the area and found a nice temple/wat and ate too much street food... which ended up making me sick the next day hahaaa... Anyway my 2nd day in Bangkok I visited the museum of Siam.. Which was so interesting.. It had all about the history and culture of Thailand and its people... It wasnt just a boring old museum.. Coz i dont like museums like that.. it was soo modern and nice... i learnt alot.. It even had about old fashioned and modern day toilets.. It was impressive.. Then I got the boat to Chinatown..and got super ripped off by the evil Tuk-Tuk driver.. It was my fault i forgot to negotiate a price before we left... but i was soo tired and felt ill.. So i just got a taxi back to the hotel...
And then in the evening i got the overnight train to Si Saket.. where i will spend most of my time in Thailand teaching english.. I met Pee Ann who I'm living with.. She is an English teacher in a high school.. And we went to her house which is amazing... Her dad designed.it... It is made completely of wood.. and the design is just awesome... The Mum and dad speak hardly any english.. So its interesting.. but they are so nice.. And the food is so good... My first day there i went to the high school and primary school.. the kids are soo nice...
This weekend Pee Ann (by the way Pee means older sis/brother... they use it as respect) needed to go to a town near pattaya on the coast to apply for university.. So we took a road trip! And had an interesting time... We arrived at 6am on friday morning.. And slept alot.. After waking up we met Pee Ann's friend (Ton's) sister and her friends.. and went to the beach.. We went on a banana boat haha it was soo much fun... The next day we went to the zoo Which was quite fun.. because it was a drive through zoo.. I met an elephant... And lots of other animals... And then in the evening we went to a flloating market which has food and items from each area of Thailand.. It was really interesting... And finally today we drove back to Korat "Ton's" city... Tonight we went to a night market and I bought soo much.. It was really nice.. I bought shorts and a tshirt and lots of gifts and a dvd.. Haha.. Then we ate noodles! ( I learnt how to use chopsticks!) Yay! And now I'm at pee Ann's auntie's house.. Yes the last week I've been trying to learn Thai.. Its soo hard! But fun! . And I'm gonna go to sleep! Mahal Kita! I love you all!
January!
Oh my goodness I haven't posted on this since before New Year... Woopssssssssssss.... Ok so New Year.... We had a few late nights... Until 5 or 6am.... Lots of food, karoake and a bit of alcohol :) On Dec 30 i think it was.. We had a party at Kuya Ian's house... It was soo funny... I don't reallt remember what we did.. but it was fun.. And then me and Kuya Philip and Kuya Ricky walked home.. and chatted.. And I found out that Kuya Ricky has a tattoo saying his name in trhe ancient language of the Philippines or something.. But in that language they don't have an R.. so a d is used as a substitute for the R.. So his tattoo says Dicky.. I found that so funny.. Even now i find that so funny... Ok moving on...On New Years Eve (I think it was New Years eve) I went with Kuya Impo to watch him get his first tattoo.. It was interesting... Especially the place.. Outside someone's house in like a courtyard.. and when it got darker he just had like a small lamp... Only in the philippines :) And then in the evening everyone prepared loads of food... like Filipino ham and Gulaman (Ate Daisy!)... It was really nice.. And then at midnight there were loads of fireworks! We stayed up very late agian.. I remember we were at Ann's house dancing at 4am.. Me and Paolo were dancing with red wine haha... I have these random memories that keep appearing in my mind..On New Years Day I slept alot and ate alot...
And then On Jan 2nd I went to Bohol! And it rained.. and rained... I met the family who I was going to live with.. They were so nice.. I stayed with them for 2 days.. On my 2nd day they took me to Panglao Island.. even though it was raining.. And we visited an underground cave which was amazing... and then we went to the beach.. And swam in the sea and ate alot! Oh and I kicked a sea urchin! Ouch.. I only just removed the spike yesterday about 3 weeks later hahaa..
The following day I went to the island of Camiguin... And gues what.. It rained so much! I met Tita susan (the lady I stayed with) at her school... She made me feel really comfortable.. then we went back to her house and I met all the family and ate Lechon baboy... A whole roasted pig! For the first time.. It was sooo nice! The next day Tita Susan toured me around the island.. it rained most of the time.. But I could still see it was soo beautiful.. One day I will go back there... I fell in love with the place.. We visited a cold spring.. and the sunken cemetary.. And a hot spring.. .Then we went back home..
And the next day I returned to Bohol... Thank god the weather improved.. And the next day I toured Bohol with my Boholano family again in the sunshine! We had a picnic on the beach, visited a hanging bridge over the Lomboc river.. it was amazing... The river was like you see in movies in the jungle... And then we went to the famous chocolate hills.. and it rained! Just as we drove up to them.. But after about an hour and a meeting with a crazy drunk man whose English was sooo funny it stopped... And we visited the Chocolate hills... Very nice... The next day I said goodbye to my lovely family..
And got the boat to Cebu... Where... I met my friend Beverly (from Launceston, England) who was coming back to the Philippines on vacation! She invited me to stay with her family for a few days.... The first night I was there we went to mass at Santo nino church.. it was amazing.. there were so many people... it was just awe inspiring... The next day we went to the mall and then ate in this crazy outdoor bbq place in the centre of Cebu city.. There were hundreds of tables undercover but outside surrounding by loads of bbq vendors.. They gave us plastic bags to use as gloves and we ate hanging rice and bbq chicken and pork... It was really delicious but my eyes were watering from the smoke from the bbq... The next day we planned to tour the south of the island and its beaches but that plan failed haha.. Somehow I dont know how... And so I went to a cockfight instead.. It was so exciting! There was soo much energy and enthusiam from the people watching... I went with beverly's brother and cousin.. And they got me to choose which cock i thought would win and they bet on it.. And they won 6 times in a row! My instincts were good!
And then that night I got the plane back to Manila... It was soo nice to be back on the looban again and see so many familiar faces... That week I don't remember much what I did.. But I mainly stayed at home and chatted with everybody.... Ok I'm sorry i don't remember what happened up until the 17th or something.... In the evening me and Kuya Philip and Kuya Impo and some other people went into Manila to buy flowers for the fiesta... It was like a market just for flowers... Really cheap and beautiful :) After we found the flowers we ate at a food house... and I had the best ever halo halo ever! OK thats all for that.. haha.. The next day was the motorcade.. When lots of cars and motorcycles parade round the whole of Pinagbuhatan.. For most of the journey I back rode on ryan's motor (moped as we British call it).. for about 3 hours... Haha my but hurt so bad when i got off at the end.. But it was really fun.. Everyone was shouting out to us in the street.. There were so many people about...Ermmm the next day was fiesta! And I got at 6am (so painful!) so that we were ready to parade the streets again.. this time on foot.... It was soo fun... We got soo wet! Everybody chucked water over us.. and lots of people picked me out specially to get wet.. so i was soaked.. And some random guys danced with me in the street... some other random guy kissed me on the cheek.. and another scary guy stalked me hahaaa... So all in all it was exciting... I'm not very good at describing it sorry.... The next day Friday 21st we went to the mall.. and then Saturday i think i stayed at home and prepared my rucksack and everything.. Coz my plane to Bangkok was the next day.... And sooo Sunday was my last day.. It was sad.. I was so sad to say goodbye to everybody but excited about my trip to Thailand.. :)
Okk i'll make a new blog about thailand.. Im sorry if this was boring.. it's 1.30am and I can't be bother to make it more exciting haha.. I love you
I might top this up later when I read my diary in case i forgot something interesting or funny....
And then On Jan 2nd I went to Bohol! And it rained.. and rained... I met the family who I was going to live with.. They were so nice.. I stayed with them for 2 days.. On my 2nd day they took me to Panglao Island.. even though it was raining.. And we visited an underground cave which was amazing... and then we went to the beach.. And swam in the sea and ate alot! Oh and I kicked a sea urchin! Ouch.. I only just removed the spike yesterday about 3 weeks later hahaa..
The following day I went to the island of Camiguin... And gues what.. It rained so much! I met Tita susan (the lady I stayed with) at her school... She made me feel really comfortable.. then we went back to her house and I met all the family and ate Lechon baboy... A whole roasted pig! For the first time.. It was sooo nice! The next day Tita Susan toured me around the island.. it rained most of the time.. But I could still see it was soo beautiful.. One day I will go back there... I fell in love with the place.. We visited a cold spring.. and the sunken cemetary.. And a hot spring.. .Then we went back home..
And the next day I returned to Bohol... Thank god the weather improved.. And the next day I toured Bohol with my Boholano family again in the sunshine! We had a picnic on the beach, visited a hanging bridge over the Lomboc river.. it was amazing... The river was like you see in movies in the jungle... And then we went to the famous chocolate hills.. and it rained! Just as we drove up to them.. But after about an hour and a meeting with a crazy drunk man whose English was sooo funny it stopped... And we visited the Chocolate hills... Very nice... The next day I said goodbye to my lovely family..
And got the boat to Cebu... Where... I met my friend Beverly (from Launceston, England) who was coming back to the Philippines on vacation! She invited me to stay with her family for a few days.... The first night I was there we went to mass at Santo nino church.. it was amazing.. there were so many people... it was just awe inspiring... The next day we went to the mall and then ate in this crazy outdoor bbq place in the centre of Cebu city.. There were hundreds of tables undercover but outside surrounding by loads of bbq vendors.. They gave us plastic bags to use as gloves and we ate hanging rice and bbq chicken and pork... It was really delicious but my eyes were watering from the smoke from the bbq... The next day we planned to tour the south of the island and its beaches but that plan failed haha.. Somehow I dont know how... And so I went to a cockfight instead.. It was so exciting! There was soo much energy and enthusiam from the people watching... I went with beverly's brother and cousin.. And they got me to choose which cock i thought would win and they bet on it.. And they won 6 times in a row! My instincts were good!
And then that night I got the plane back to Manila... It was soo nice to be back on the looban again and see so many familiar faces... That week I don't remember much what I did.. But I mainly stayed at home and chatted with everybody.... Ok I'm sorry i don't remember what happened up until the 17th or something.... In the evening me and Kuya Philip and Kuya Impo and some other people went into Manila to buy flowers for the fiesta... It was like a market just for flowers... Really cheap and beautiful :) After we found the flowers we ate at a food house... and I had the best ever halo halo ever! OK thats all for that.. haha.. The next day was the motorcade.. When lots of cars and motorcycles parade round the whole of Pinagbuhatan.. For most of the journey I back rode on ryan's motor (moped as we British call it).. for about 3 hours... Haha my but hurt so bad when i got off at the end.. But it was really fun.. Everyone was shouting out to us in the street.. There were so many people about...Ermmm the next day was fiesta! And I got at 6am (so painful!) so that we were ready to parade the streets again.. this time on foot.... It was soo fun... We got soo wet! Everybody chucked water over us.. and lots of people picked me out specially to get wet.. so i was soaked.. And some random guys danced with me in the street... some other random guy kissed me on the cheek.. and another scary guy stalked me hahaaa... So all in all it was exciting... I'm not very good at describing it sorry.... The next day Friday 21st we went to the mall.. and then Saturday i think i stayed at home and prepared my rucksack and everything.. Coz my plane to Bangkok was the next day.... And sooo Sunday was my last day.. It was sad.. I was so sad to say goodbye to everybody but excited about my trip to Thailand.. :)
Okk i'll make a new blog about thailand.. Im sorry if this was boring.. it's 1.30am and I can't be bother to make it more exciting haha.. I love you
I might top this up later when I read my diary in case i forgot something interesting or funny....
Wednesday, December 29, 2010
The following days up to New YEar
Well me, Kia, Kei, Paolo and Camille left early for the party so that we'd be there on time! For 6pm - not Filipino time! But all the other guests were running by Filipino time so they didn't arrive till nearer 7pm! The place was really beautiful.. On the 11th floor of a building in Makati.. The elevator had an amzing view over the Makati skyline.. And the venue where Ann's party was also had an amazing view over all the skyscrapers at night...Soo first we ate lots of food.. really good food.. Then there was a band... Ahh i've forgotten what happened.. There were some games aswell.. And 18 roses.. Which is when the debutant (Ann) has a dance and a rose from 18 of her closest male friends and family.. And then there are 18 candles... When 18 of her female friends and family hold a candle and give her an inspirational message.. and then the 18 gifts! Which I was part of.. We had to go up to the front to Ann and explain why we bought the gift for her and give her the gift... We were all nervous about what to say but it was ok.. Then afterwards there was more music.. And then the Cruz (family) band played.. And then it was midnight and time to go home (I probably forgot something.) We wanted to buy cornflakes so we could make choclolate crispy cakes (yes after midnight) but they didnt have any cornflakes in the 7/11s.. So we got a taxi home.. the 5 of us crammed in again.. And Camille wanted to treat us to Mcdonalds.. But they didnt have anything available there.. So much for 24 hours Mcdonalds! So we just went home and Kei and Paolo went ot buy tapsilog (fried egg, rice and beef) It was nice. especially at 2am... We all slept over again at Camille's grandads house (he wasn't home,) We started to watch a film but after 10 minutes i'd fallen asleep.. And we didn't wake up till 11am! Then we decided we wanted to make chocoalte crispy cakes... But I couldn't find any syrup.. So we went to one supermarket and they didn't have it.. then we went all the way to another one which was far away.. and they didn;t have it.. Then we got home and i looked again in the kitchen and i found the syrup! So we made a mess in Tatay Tony's kitchen making the cakes... And then we burnt the chocolate but fixed it again! And after 5 hours in the refrigerator it was ready! It was soo nice.. much better than my last failed attempt on my birthday! And everyone on the looban liked it.. Yay!
OK I think thats it for now.. Tonight I'm going to another party! I need to sleep!
Monday, December 27, 2010
Christmas in the Philippines!
OK December 18th was my birthday! We had a party in the evening... We had soo much food and loads of people came.. We just chatted and ate and then later did karoake! at midnight we went to Ann's house, it was also her birthday and Paolo's aswell! They're 18th! We played a few drinking games and watched the weirdest movie ever - Teeth! Haha it was a good night.. But by 2am I was so tired and went to bed...
On Sunday night we were going to go swimming but a private party booked the place so we couldnt.. So insteaad we went to Ate Lorna's house and ate all the junk food left over from my party... And then went to Guia's house where I stayed overnight and didn't sleep until 5am... So I spent most of Monday sleeping! Ok I forgot what I did on the days after that.. But on Thursday night (23rd) (I think it was thursday) lots of us spent the night at Tatay Tony's house... Me, Kia, Kei, Camille, Paolo, Trixcia, Kathleen and Ann (They are all cousins around my age) It was fun! We played uno and some crazy card games with vodka hahaaa.. And then we watched some really weird scary movies... I'm not good with scary movies so I was hiding a lot of the time haha... We didn't sleep till past 5am! Everyone was like sardines... Camille, Kathleen, Kia and Ann slept in one bed and me and Trixcia had a single mattress and Kei slept on the floor... I was so sleep the next day but I still managed to go to the mall with Ate May..
On Friday (24th) we went to Greenwoods (a subdivision type thing) because Tatay Tony wanted some cassava.. SO they dug up the cassava and got some sugarcane and bananas too! IN the evening we celebrate nochebuena! It was soo much fun........ We had lots of chairs and tables outside on the looban with lots of food and also the karoake! We played some party games and ate too much and sang lots! Then we exchanged gifts in monito monita (secret santa.) Lots of people went home after midnight but Me and Kei, Ann and Kathleen, Kuya Ricky, Dante and some people I don't know stayed up past 5am doing karoake and palying card games and drinking (a little!).. Haha it was soo funny.... It would never be allowed in England.. The karoake was sooo loud and they were still singing outside until 5am.. I don't know how the neighbours slept!
I had 4 hours sleep and then it was Christmas Day! Loads of people visited.. they come to see their godparents to ask for money every December 25... I just stayed at home on Christmas Day and chatted with everyone.. And exchanged gifts.. OH and I also tried to organise our trip on December 26...
On Boxing Day we went to Laguna to see some of the family as there was a wake... They live in the countryside.. it was a nice place.. and then we went to Daranak falls... And another waterfall whose name ive forgotten.. It was soo nice.. The pools at the bottom were turquoise and beautiful.. We went swimming.. The water was cool and soo refreshing...
When we got home Kei, Kia, Ann and me watched Avatar at Ann's house...... We ate loads of chocolate from the duty free so it was like English chocolate and loads of crisps.. I stayed awake through 2 hours of the film but fell asleep and missed the last 20 minutes haha... I was soo tired..
Yesterday (27th) we planned to go to the mall at 10.. at 10.30 i went to Kei;s house and there lola (grandma) said they were still sleeping hahaa... So we didnt leave till 12... We needed to buy gifts for Ann's 18th birthday celebration.. And also dresses and a shirt for Paolo! Haha Paolo was soo slow at choosing... he didn't buy a shirt untill 9pm! He's so picky... By that time we all wanted him to hurry up and choose so everytime we saw a shirt we acted like a salesperson and tried to persuade him to buy it.. It was soo funny...
Ooo and we ate so much food... They have awesome food in the mall... We had pork steak and rice and iced tea for about £1.70.. And amazing icecream for P15 which is like 30p i think... In the evening we had like beef in a wrap with vegetables and asauce.. then we bought nachos.. and siomai.. and crepes.. and jolibee fries... We were sooo full! Then finally after that Paolo found a shirt and we went home at 10pm...
OK thats it! Thats my Christmas! Tonight is Ann's debut! SO i need to prepare for the party!
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
Back in Manila!
I've had a busy week so far since I arrived back in Manila. Maybe thats why I'm so tired.
On Monday I woke up so early again at 4.30am! Mum I hope your proud! (I hate early mornings!) So that I could go to Santolan high school with my friend Gian for his religious organization on a kind of medical mission thats free for the kids. He taught me how to test for people's blood type.. so during that morning I tested lots of kids blood types! It was fun.. The kids were so lovely... they were all scared and kept asking me Masaket? Is it painful? In the afternoon I got interviewed by the tv crew ahhhh it was scary! And the interviewer guy - whoah he was a bit scary.. He had this hugeeeeeeeeee smile and the whole time I was speaking he was putting on this hugeeeeeeeeee smile and kept nodding - it was quite off putting.. haha..
Yesterday I got up early again! Filipinos love early mornings - so that I could go to Erien's school to watch her perform in her Christmas show.. Afterwards me and Ate May went to the centre of Manila to get my visa extension - it only took half an hour! And then we got the ferry back to Pasig.. There were loads of kids swimming naked in the river and waving at the ferry - haha they were so funny........
Last night we went to a place whose name I can't remember to watch Erien perform with her choir and Coleen sing solo in a Christmas competition.. All the kids were sooo talented! I've never seen so many good young singers! Even on Britain's got talent!
Ok wow! I think thats it.. I've finished! I've told you everything I've done so far! I hope it wasn't too boring! Sorry if my grammar and spelling is bad hahaa!
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