Sunday, January 18, 2015

Vacation in the Philippines




After the second winter camp that was held in January finished, I flew out from Incheon Airport to Mactan Airport, Cebu City that was a 4 hour flight. I was a bit nervous about the plane ride since it was with Air Asia but the plane ride was pretty smooth, the only complaint I have was that I wish the chairs were more spaced apart my legs were cramped in the little space that was provided. I'm not a fan of plane rides because I usually get sick. I get nausea, sweaty hands, my ears get f%#&*ed up (clogged) and anxiety. I think I watch to many movies about plane crashes so I get really paranoid...I would feel much safer if I had parachute on board with me seriously, but I'm hoping that since I'm flying often my airplane sickness would go away. After arriving in Mactan Airport, you can feel the warm air welcoming us. We had to catch another plane that took us to Boracay. It was a 45 minute plane ride but it was the most frightening plane ride throughout the trip because this plane was smaller and it had more turbulence. The airline was Cebu Pacific Airlines but when I flew to Boracay I didn't check any bags in but when I was flying from Boracay to Cebu they made me check in my backpack so I had to pay 500 php peso ($12 USD). It was a bummer. The airport is not that up to date with the technology that you would see in Korea or JFK (if you been there you know what I mean) The bags can not exceed over 9 kg or else the baggage fee is higher. 


After arriving at Boracay Airport, we had to take a short car ride to the jetty-port to get to the island. The boat ride took about 30-40 minute. I was not very familiar with the Philippines besides the food but I have learned a lot about the culture on this trip. We spent 3 amazing adventurous days in Boracay. From the first day when we arrived, we meet an Aussie, we went swimming in the amazing white beach, hit up the local hot spots restaurants, participated in a pub crawl throughout Boracay and wondered cluelessly around the island like tourists. The beach was amazing and I love it. I'm a typical beach bum, laying in the soft white sand soaking up the sun. The first day was full of adventure and activities I was exhausted and sleep deprived by midnight. The next day was a big day, Ariel's point. It cost 2000 PHP ($48 USD) The event was from 10am-5pm filled with free drinks all day, a (Philippine food) lunch to go with it and free pick up from the hostel. I was so excited for cliff jumping and I wanted to do it for awhile. Since I went skydiving, I thought I conquered my fear of heights but boy was I wrong. I jumped off diving boards before and they were also really high but I just couldn't seem to get over the fact that I was jumping into the ocean. 














The next day was a relaxing day and soaking up the sun even more. We also did the banana boat which was really fun but everyone on the banana boat was holding on for dear life like myself so no one fell off which I have to say is the best part. We also got our entire body massage for $4 dollars!!! I wanted to get one everyday minus the part were they yanked my hair out. I was gonna fight that punk it hurt so bad...Anyways, It was also my first time eating Halo Halo and it was delicious!!! I loved Boracay and I wished we could stay longer but I was up for another adventure to visit Cebu. We had to get up real early because of the transportation. Southwest was are transportation pick up and drop off which also included the jetty port fee. Are pick up was at 6:30am in front of our hostel and off to the jetty port to Boracay Airport. The plane was delayed for almost 2 hours.. :( As we landed in Cebu, we were greeted with warmth by my friend's cousin and lola (grandma in filipino). We had lunch at a really good Filipino's restaurant but I was sleep deprived from the night before because we had too many San Miguels and cocktails, so my appetite was suppressed. However, my friend didn't sleep at all and she manage to be awake all day. I would have been a big grumpy b*tch, or just be dead asleep somewhere in a corner. We went to visit her family members that she hadn't seen for awhile. 











The next day in Cebu, we headed to the mall to get had lunch and get a cheap haircut. However there was something wrong with my body. I tried holding it in and hoping it would pass by but it just got worst.. I was getting nausea, bad headaches and all I wanted to do was puke. I thought it was because I didn't sleep enough but this lasted two days and I felt awful!! I had the stomach bug therefore I ate something bad. I felt so bad because I didn't want to burden my friend with my illness but she wasn't feeling well either but things were going out her rear end, so are illnesses didn't match. After lunch, I got medicine and her cousin was so nice and dropped me off at the hotel. From there I prepared my explosive vomiting in the hotel room with Gatorade and water. I never felt so sick before. I got better in the evening and we ended up going to a Miss Cebu beauty pageant. 


 The next day I was hoping I felt better but I had such bad migraines and I wanted to puke again. I ended staying in all day resting in bed which I don't normally do but I was that sick I had too. After a day wasted sick in bed I was hoping I felt better but I had severe migraines that didn't go away.. They would come and go it was horrible. I think it's from all that puking and dehydration. It was the last day and we checked out the hotel and headed to the mall to get our eyebrow f$&@&ed up. There isn't much eyebrow threading done in South Korea and if there is it is really expensive so we took advantage of this but it didn't turn out that great. I enjoyed my trip until I got sick. I'm going to be very caution next time eating.



2nd Winter Camp 2015



I have one more winter camp left before my vacation starts, however this winter camp is held in January. It started today and lasts for 5 days. I have to say this is the longest camp I have so far. This school has the smallest class size averaging about 27 students for the entire school. Yep! 27 students consisting from grades 1st-6th. I don't mind it at all, having small class sizes gives me the opportunity to work with students one on one... The students so far are a little more advance in English compared to my other two schools. They are great caring students and probably one of my favorites so far. I have not have any problems with them so far and I'm in my 6 month here in Korea. Time sure does fly by fast. The first day of camp started today and I thought it went great for the students. As I was teaching new vocabulary and talking, I was not trying to be funny but somehow it was to the students. I just started to laugh with them but it made the class go by so much faster. Majority of the students seemed really happy and amazed. I have lesson planned this camp back in December, but here is a sneak peak of it. 





The theme is Christmas, since I had another camp back in December. (I'm keeping it brief and not writing the details because that is why I have a lesson plan sheet completed):

Day 1: Camp rules, Learning about awards, Team placement, Learning each other names, Santa Knot
Day 2: Christmas Scavenger Hunt and Spelling Contest 
Day 3: Cooking Class: Reindeer Poop (Muddie Buddie)
Day 4: Science Class: Magical Snowflake
Day 5: "A wish to be a Christmas Tree", Comprehension check and bomb game.