SE Asia 2018, June 7-11 - Day 5, Oslob

June 11.

Probably my favorite day of the entire 4 that I spent in the Philippines was this one.  We left around the same time we left to go to Moalboal a few days earlier and arrived at our destination at about the same time, if not earlier.  The only pit stop was for a half-hour Jollibee run, because you're not in Asia without going to Jollibee, which is basically fast food, but instead of getting fries with everything you get rice.  You may be able to order fries too, but you basically get rice.  Because it's Asia, and it's not a meal unless there's rice.

Anyway, we made the drive down to Oslob, a trip complete with inside jokes, made all the better by the fact that the days of the week in Cebuano are the same as they are in Spanish, so that was fun.

I'm still a little hesitant about this entry because it deals with the apparently controversial topic of swimming with whale sharks, so if you absolutely believe that swimming with whale sharks is bad even though you are not a certified marine biologist, you can let me know.  Or don't.  I kind of don't really care.  I just know it's controversial, but as someone who's had a thing for whale sharks and marine life since I was a little kid, and after seeing the experience first-hand, I have some thoughts about the pros and cons of how the Oslob whale shark experience is handled.  If you are a marine biologist and have your opinion as a trained expert in the situation, you are even more welcome to share your opinions.

SE Asia 2018, June 7-11 - Day 4, Cebu City

June 10.

After the craziness that was the trip to Moalboal the day before, Sunday was a day for relaxation.  Kind of.  We stayed local like Friday, exploring a few more places, like a Filipino shopping mall at the SM Seaside and Sirao Gardens.

There's not much to say about the mall; the SM Seaside is basically a Filipino version of Westfield malls, since it's high class (they have a Benefit store if you're a makeup junkie, only it's one of the few stores where the products are more expensive than they are in the US) and massive, and they have them all over the country.  I actually really enjoy the shopping experiences abroad though, and I'm not one to complain that I'm taken to a mall when I only have 4 days in a country.  SM Seaside is big but comfortable, as there's actually a rooftop park with jungle gyms and play areas for kids as well as walking paths and views of Cebu. It's places like this that really make you feel like you made the right decision in hanging out with locals.

Plus I got a new phone case and tempered glass screen protector for my Galaxy S8 at a fraction of what it would cost in the US.  So there's that.

SE Asia 2018, June 7-11 - Day 3, Moalboal

June 9.

I was told that it would be an early morning, but since I didn't need too long to get ready, I was woken up shortly before we were ready to leave.  I'd been told that there would be multiple family members going, but when I opened the door to confirm that I was ready to leave whenever everyone else was, I saw that the entire family, almost literally, was coming with us, and we weren't riding in a caravan.  We would be traveling Filipino-style, which means everyone piles into the back end of a truck with benches, towels, pillows and blankets, and enjoys the drive to wherever we're headed.  It wasn't something I expected at all, because we just don't do it that way in the Western world, but far be it from me to complain about something that the vast majority of the world seems to do without blinking an eye.  And hey, when in Rome.  I'm not one to complain about things being different, or weird, I just simply accept that things are different in other places and I'm perfectly okay with that and will happily go along with it.  It didn't feel any more dangerous to be on the back of that truck than it would in a normal car, and besides, I was with people legitimately having fun and enjoying themselves, and who was I to ruin their fun?  So I got into the truck, sat down, and enjoyed the trip that ended up taking way longer than an hour and a half (not like I was counting, or complaining).  So there I was, in a truck with 29 other people (no lie, we were 30 people), headed to the beach.

SE Asia 2018, June 7-11 - Day 2, Cebu City

June 8, 2018.

Thanks to jet lag and an early sun, I woke up at about 6 am the next morning.  In the daylight I got to meet my friend's family, and we walked across the street so I could meet some more ants and uncles as well as her grandparents, was offered some Filipino coffee (which I am now currently obsessed with), and began plotting out the day.

The original plan for this morning was to head up to Malapascua and Kalanggaman, two islands with stunning beaches that are pretty well-known in the Philippines, but due to weather (the Tropical Storm I'd experienced in Hong Kong) it was postponed.  This then changed to Bantayan, another island with great beaches that is well-known in the country, where we'd planned on going the next day.  Today was just going to be exploring Cebu City and some surrounding areas.  Cebu is the oldest city in the Philippines and is called the Queen City of the South.  It was "founded" in 1521 by Ferdinand Magellan, sailing for Spain (despite being Portuguese, as many of us well know, not that it ultimately makes a difference).

SE Asia 2018, June 7-11 - Day 1, Hong Kong

Day 1, June 7.

I got back from my week-long trip to Southeast Asia (Hong Kong and the Philippines specifically) on Tuesday night, and have been steadily recovering from jet lag ever since.  It's actually not as bad as I was expecting considering the 12-hour time difference and 15+-hour travel time both ways, but it's there.  It wakes me up at 4 in the morning, makes me want to crawl into bed at 5 pm, and other awkward things, but it's really not too bad.  It's incredibly worth it considering the absolutely amazing experience that I had for the very short week.

The trip had been in the works for about a year, when a Filipina co-worker mentioned that she was going to be going home this summer and was looking at flights.  We'd become pretty good friends, and I'd mentioned always wanting to go to the Philippines due to having a grandfather who served there as a medic during WWII as well as having a very close friend who's of Filipino descent.  It's a country that I feel that I owed it to myself and the people in my life to visit, and I loved the idea of visiting someone on her home turf.  Most people might think that's a little weird, and most people probably wouldn't even understand my eagerness and willingness to take this trip, but again, I wanted to go for personal reasons.  The main problem of course ended up being timing, both in the season I'd be going (the rainy season in most of Asia lasts from June through August, as I attested to in India last year) and the duration of the trip (5 days off work, 7 days give-or-take total).  But I didn't care, because the opportunity arose and I knew I'd regret it if I didn't take the chance.

So once my friend told me her tickets were booked sometime in March or April for most of June (since she'd be there for 3 weeks), I began seriously looking at tickets myself.  I'd told her I'd visit her early on in our conversations, and I think part of her may have doubted the seriousness of my desire, but in the end, she became very excited that I really was serious and that I was looking at flights.

The best and most convenient tickets were through Hong Kong with Cathay Pacific, and when I saw that I had two options for layovers: 4 hours or 11 hours, I decided to go with the 11-hour layover for the flight out, since it meant I could check another country off my list.  So I booked the tickets, and the planning began.