The Philippines!

Happy Lunar New Year!! It is the Year of the Cat* and we took a whole week off of school to celebrate. We came back from Winter Break and had two weeks of school before the holiday. I know that doesn't seem like a lot of school but . . . we still needed that break. 

A group of fellow newbies and I traveled to The Philippines for a week of beaches and sunshine. It was a delight!

A small group of us started in Cebu City where we checked into the hotel after a full day of plane hopping and woke up the next day at a delightful 3:30am. Was it worth it? Absolutely yes. We swam with whale sharks! We drove to the southern part of the island and a town called Oslob. There they have a whole set up for people to swim with whale sharks in the morning. The official line is that they don't feed the whale sharks but they "lure" them. A whole system of boats has the whale sharks swimming down a path where we can swim near them. They were so beautiful and so close to us!**

The next day the group further fractured when two folks went to become PROFESSIONAL scuba divers. I'd tell you more but they're so far above my level that I wouldn't know where to start. The remainder of us sat poolside for days and read books and fully relaxed. 

We did mix it up with some delicious meals and one night with a casino visit. I lost all of the $8 that I convinced myself to gamble but we had one big winner!***

From Cebu we flew to Coron on Basuanga Island just above Palawan. We met up with the whole crew in a beautiful villa. This included a visitor from Atlanta!****

The villa came with beautiful sunset views and, hysterically, the best view of the McDonalds arches in town.

We went on a boat trip to see the neighboring islands, including Barracuda Lake, Kayangan Lake, swimming and snorkeling in the beautiful water, a giant meal on a beach, and so many vistas.

The rest of the trip was blissfully sunny and was spent relaxing poolside.

We flew back to Manila for a night and then on a a flight today that had us up even earlier than the whale sharks. School tomorrow- I'm confident we'll survive more than two weeks now!*****

-KT

*It's always the year of the cat to me. I hope to also convince my landlord of this fact and get a cat in my "no pets" apartment. STAY TUNED.
**Too close? I think yes. But what do I know. Also, there are many videos of this if you are into that. Please let me know.
***Pictures were not allowed and this one was a sneak attack.
****We'll see this scene in Au-To-Matic!
*****As in, a few of us plans for another beach in three weeks . . . 

2022 Recap!

 Hi Blog Readers!*

This blog would have you believe that it's been an uneventful back half of 2022 when that is very much not the case. In actuality, I moved to the other side of the world and have started a new job, met amazing people, and taken some wonderful trips! I wanted to do a blog catch-up because, you know what? I like looking back at the blog sometimes and remembering all the things.** And maybe that just means the AI bots of the future will also look back fondly at this time, but that's okay, too. 

So before I forget all the things, here's a look back at the second half of 2022.

HUGE NEWS!

I moved to Hanoi, Vietnam!! I arrived at the end of July for orientation with a whole crew of Newbie teachers. Spoiler alert, we're basically all the best of friends now. The experience of the first few weeks very much felt like summer camp and the first year of college rolled into one. Here are a few snippets of touring around Hanoi, the first few days at the new school, and the best Newbie crew ever.

The biggest reason I made the decision to teach at an international school is the opportunity to travel. The first chance came in August when Ana was performing in Seoul, Korea. I hopped over for the weekend and was able to see her perform and visit a few highlights around town. 

A few weekends later I went with friends to Hoi An, Vietnam, for the weekend. We stayed at the beach in An Bang and popped over to Hoi An to walk around the old town, float lanterns on the river, get clothes custom-made, take the world's best food tour,*** and eat the world's best sandwich at every opportunity.****

Taking more opportunities to see Vietnam, I also did a day trip to Ninh Binh. We rode bicycles, went on a boat ride, and we climbed a mountain and turned around.

I turned a year older and felt properly celebrated with my birthday (almost) twin!

Dad came to visit (!) and we rendezvoused in Singapore and took in a few sights/orchids.

From Singapore we went to Jakarta and visited places we had frequented when I was little and lived in Indonesia. The highlights were definitely getting a tour of my old elementary school and then eating dinner at the restaurant where we ate dinner every Sunday night for years! The queso has still got it!

After Jakarta we went to the island of Sumatra and visited Lake Toba. It was serene and lovely and remote and officially the point that has me ahead***** of AT.******

We also went to Kuching, Sarawak, better known as "Cat City." We saw cat statues, went to the wackiest cat museum ever,******* and ate/elaborately photographed their famed layered cake. 

After the grand tour, Dad came back to Hanoi with me. His visit included touring around town, a trip to Hoi An so that he could have the world's best sandwich, and him serving as my nurse when I sprained my ankle.********

I took my first field trip with the orchestra students to an honor orchestra for schools from all around Asia. This trip took me back to Seoul. We were mostly in rehearsals but did a little bit of touring around and we all wore the traditional Vietnamese ao dai for the performance. I was the sucker teacher that volunteered to play random percussion instruments for the concert- if you really need to see me rock the cymbal crash, the performance was recorded for posterity!

One more teacher trip for the semester was to Luang Prabang, Laos. Highlights (besides the company, of course) were an amazing waterfall and the most delicious meal at the most beautiful restaurant that was overlooking a UNESCO-preserved lily pond. I will definitely go back for that meal and view!

The semester came to a close and I headed back to Atlanta for winter break. A few of us********* had a long layover in Tokyo so we used it as an excuse to get out of the airport for a bit!

Once in Atlanta I visited with family and friends and took almost no pictures . . . Fortunately, the few I did reflect the beauty of everyone I saw!

I've just gotten back to Hanoi and we start school again next week. It's a quick two weeks of school before we have a week off for Tet (the lunar new year) and I head to the Philippines!**********

Will I blog about that trip in a timely fashion? There's no way to know. For my future self's sake, I will try. Until then, good luck to all in 2023!

-KT

*Yes, all three of you that occasionally ask about this
**Sorry, all three of you. This is for me. FOR ME!
***Ask me about Nancy's Food Tour! She's the best!
****Seriously. It's the greatest thing on and since sliced bread. I will go to Hoi An any time and it's basically just for the sandwich.
*****Temporarily
******I can't keep explaining this to you, dear reader.
*******Please note that, in this case, the descriptor of "wackiest" is describing the museum in general and not specifically cat museums. I have not been to any other cat museums to form a comparison.
********I would say this is proof that life isn't all glamour, but I was writhing in pain on the streets of Hanoi just as the Crown Prince and Princess of Denmark walked by so I will forever claim this story as my brush with royalty.
*********They haven't signed a release for this blog so we'll just say the Saved by the Bell crew
********** Bucket list beach destination!!! Can't wait!!

If you've scrolled this far, enjoy some bonus food photos and know that, in general, this country is delicious.