Which season do you like best?

I know what you're thinking. "We did this one already, right?"

But it seems that Autumn is upon us and let me tell you how it is certainly my new favorite season.

I say new favorite because Autumn simply doesn't exist in Texas. There you go from blazing hot hell of a summer to iced roads and the biggest coats you can find (because everything is bigger in Texas).

Of course, I'm not really seeing evidence of leaves changing colors and falling — though my sister now lives in Seattle and she is. Jealous.

I wore a sweater and a scarf today — and I actually needed them. I think I'm probably going to have to buy a new helmet because the colder it gets the more my ears and face are going to freeze off — and apparently it will indeed get colder.

Right now, it's slightly chilly on the scooter, but nothing I can't handle (especially with the help of a cardigan and a light scarf).

I simply love the fact that I'm not sweating through my clothes before I even get to class and then sweating through my clothes all over again while I'm in class.

I know, gross/TMI.

Autumn just makes me feel young and energetic though. I know that I am young, but this is different. I guess I just don't feel like time is blurring by anymore. I don't understand how weather makes me feel that way, but it does.

Now I just have to figure out how to clothe myself for a couple of season that I wasn't really expecting. Apparently it actually gets pretty cold here (at least from a Texan's perspective).

Let the shopping spree begin?

Ni lei bulei?

Today I kept myself busy. Making a list of things to do today helped a lot.

I still woke up kind of late but it was still an acceptable hour.

I bought a ton of fruit and veggies today and concocted this crazy "everything" dish with black beans, eggs and various seasonings. It was interesting and pretty good. It would have been better with tortillas and salsa though.

I bought some okra and I'm trying to figure out what to do with that. I'm thinking I might try my hand at some curry, though I'm not real familiar with that area of cooking.

I finally went back to Chinese class with Linda tonight. We covered two chapters in the book. It helped that I had pre-read everything.

I'm actually doing surprisingly well at reading the characters. We actually went through both lessons reading only the characters and not the pinyin. I'm proud of myself.

Linda also taught me a bunch of new verbs and ways to describe people and I now know conjunctions. (Thank goodness. I love conjunctions!)

At the end of the lesson, she asked if I study at home and when I told her that I do she said she could tell. She also said that it makes her excited to teach me because I'm so in to learning and I'm trying to read and all.

Who doesn't love a little praise from their teacher?

What's the deal?

OK so here are the basics of my trip.

My college roommate came to visit me. It's the furthest she has ever been from home (of course) and the longest she has gone on a vacation that didn't involved her parents.

I already told you about our first couple of night so I'll skip to the rest.

Sunday is where the fun started.

Meghan and I grabbed some dan bing (geez, I can't get enough of that stuff) and we hopped on a plane to Manila. After a moment of confusion and stressing out over the fact that we didn't have pesos so we couldn't use a pay phone to call Meghan's cousin who was meeting us at the airport, he found us.

Thank goodness, because I get a little panicky.

Manila was relatively uneventful, which I guess is a good thing.

Honestly, it was just a little different than what I expected. We were staying with her cousin who is an American businessman living in The Philippines working for a company in Hong Kong. He has this fabulous house, amazing (and gracious) wife, two adorable sons, three maids/nannies and a driver.

That's living the high life. And thus, we lived the high life for a couple of days to.

When we arrived that afternoon, Troy and Loren (his wife) took us to Tagatay. It's an active volcano with a lake and an island in the middle.

Unfortunately, the clouds had set in by the time we made it up there, so this is what we saw.


If you squint really hard you can see the ripples in the water, but the island is pretty much impossible to see. It was still pretty and peaceful though, so we had snacks.

The next day we pretty much just hung around for the morning. We were woken up with a gigantic (Western) breakfast. Eventually Meghan and I decided we wanted to go to Intramuros.



Intramuros, inside the walls, is the oldest area in Manila, built by the Spanish, most of which was destroyed in WWII. You can still see parts of the wall, Fort Santiago and a couple of super old churches.



They have this amazing shrine to Dr. Jose Rizal. After his execution by the Japanese, the Filipinos rose into rebellion. I honestly couldn't repeat the whole story, but it's a very romantic story when you hear it told by a Filipino tour guide. Ours was actually quite excellent. He did the whole tour in a horse-drawn carriage for 250 Philippine Pesos per person. I recommend it.

After Intramuros we headed over the The Hobbit House. This is a bar staffed almost entirely by little people. Yep. Just think Hobbit. It opened in the '70s and is basically Lord of the Rings themed. It's owned by an Irishman and therefore sells hundreds of amazing beers. Unfortunately we chose to go on a Wednesday night in October, so it was dead.

We also went to a wet market (you know how much I love open-air markets) to buy tons of fresh-out-of-the-water seafood. A restaurant right next to the market cooked it all up for us. It was such a nice night.

Then it was off to Bohol for our beach time.

Now remember all that panicking I was doing? You know how I was obsessing over the weather?

Well, it all pretty much disappeared as far as The Philippines went (though Meghan didn't have one cloud-free day in Taiwan).


Alona Beach was gorgeous and everything I hoped it would be. We had a room at an awesome resort and it wasn't crowded at all. I highly recommend Alona (on Punglao Island) if you're going to The Philippines. It's so wonderful.

The only thing that bothered me is that people kept saying that we were rich because of the resort we were staying at. It baffled me because I'm anything but rich and honestly, I found a fabulous package deal.

We could have actually done stuff cheaper, but I didn't know that at the time considering I had never been there.

I found this package that got us three nights stay, breakfast everyday, a one-hour massage and a tour of the big Bohol tourist spots. All for about $600/each. I'm happy with that. Like I said though, we could have done it cheaper, but this was safe and easy. You pay for luxuries like that.

On the tour we went to the Blood Compact site, Baclayon Church (also known as Immaculate Conception Church), Loboc River (where we went on a lunch cruise through the rain forest on a bangka), the Chocolate Hills (which were beautiful) and the Tarsier Sanctuary.


Either way, at the beach it was pretty much nothing but watermelon margaritas and San Miguel Pale, a ($5) massage every day and beautiful views.

The Philippines were amazing. The people were so nice and it was kind of nice to take a break from thinking in two languages all of the time.

Is she back yet?

OK, I have been having some severe problems with the Blogger editor and since I was on vacation I didn't want to stress over them too much. But I promise you that I have been dying to tell you all about my trip and seeing my best friend!

Alas, I have class in an hour and a half, so for now I will leave you with some glorious pictures of all our fun. I'll actually write about everything after class. (I've had a few cups of coffee today so I'm nearly positive I'll have enough energy.)

I'm so excited to get back to work today to see my babies.

Oh and one last thing before the picture parade.

I am now officially a student correspondent for GlobalPost.com. My first story went up with the pre-launch copy and now the whole Study Abroad portion of the Web site it up and running. The Study Abroad site compiles stories, photos, video and other multimedia from students studying abroad and recent graduates (ahem) who are traveling over seas.

Check out my story. Then check out some from the other correspondents.

There are some very talented young people involved in this project and I am so excited to be a part of it.

Now for the picture parade:

Fort Santiago at Intramuros in Manila City.

Wet market in Manila where we bought the yummiest seafood and had a
nearby restaurant cook it up for us and make it even yummier.

Me at Baclayon Church. The tour guide told "You are dressed to sexy," as she
started to drape me with these little satin pieces of cloth.

Loboc River. We took a little lunch cruise and it was absolutely beautiful.


The Chocolate Hills. This place is gorgeous and it goes on and on forever.

How long will it rain?

This is going to be quick because I need to go to sleep.

Meghan got here Saturday night and we've been having tons of fun.

Saturday we went to the Taoyuan Night Market and then bowling. Then we proceeded to stay up until 7 a.m. talking and talking and talking.

I hadn't seen the girl in four months and we used to be roommates. We went from 60mph to 0mph real fast.

When we finally woke up Sunday it was a little late but we made it work.

We booked it to Beitou and took a dip in the hot springs.

Hot springs are a big thing in Taiwan. They're everywhere. It has something to do with the crazy geological activity in the region.

At the hot springs there was this funny little Taiwanese man. He immediately latched on to us ("Sit here! Sit here!") and we talked to him most of the time we were there. He told us about how he used to live in California for about a year and he asked about why I decided to teach in Taiwan and how long I plan to stay.

After the hot springs we headed over to the Shilin Night Market. If you'll remember I was there last week with the roomies so it was nice to know where I was going. That and this time the entire market was open because it was actually night time.

I think we ended up just walking around and eating. I bought a pair of black shoes that are rubber-ish (so they're great for rain) but they're actually really cute.

After a couple of hours at the night market we came home exhausted. But somehow we still ended up staying up until 3 a.m. Poor Meghan and all the jetlag.

Today we woke up late again. We both set our alarms but forgot to actually turn them on.

We still managed to go to WuFen Pu and shopped for almost three hours.

I bought a couple of shirts. Meghan bought a ton of stuff but she still didn't spend very much money. That's the great thing about shopping in Taiwan.

Then we headed to Sashi Miya. I've been dreaming of going to this place ever since I found it on this girl's blog. It was so good to have real sushi again.

Also, they were super nice. The guy was concerned about us not having umbrella's (we had been walking around the the rain all day with our hoodies on and just trying to stay under the awnings). He offered to give us umbrellas.

"You don't have to bring them back," he said.

He got distracted but it was for the best because I would have felt bad just taking these umbrellas.

Then we headed over to Longshan Temple. It was beautiful.

Honestly, I see temples all of the time, but I haven't actually gone inside one. I'm always nervous and I kind of felt like it's disrespectful. But we were welcomed in (via umbrella) and we just walked around and took pictures of everything.

I wish I had thought to take video of the people in the temple but all I could think about was wanting to take a picture and how that would definitely be disruptive with the flash and all.

It was absolutely gorgeous though. I love temples because despite the fact that many of them are super old, they still look shiny and new because they're so well taken care of.

After Longshan, we took a walk over to Snake Alley. It was anti-climactic though.

It was pretty empty because of the rain (actually one guy who gave us directions said that it would be because of the typhong, or typhoon) and so there weren't any snake handlers out. We hoping it will be clear out when we get back from The Philippines so we can go back.

Meghan will have one more night and a morning in Taiwan when we get back, so hopefully we can do Taipei 101 and the National Palace Museum then. 

Until then, we will be in The Philippines starting tomorrow until Sunday. I'm not sure how the Internet connection will be there. Hopefully we will have access so I can update now and then.

I'm considering doing an individual post about each place we went during this vacation so I can put up pictures and give historical background and suggestions on visiting. We will see how that works out.

Cross your fingers that we actually get some sun in The Philippines and stupid Tropical Storm Parma leave Bohol alone. My skin could definitely use some sun!

Aren't vacations supposed to be relaxing?

It's funny how stressful the last day before a 10-day vacation can be.

I was so excited I couldn't sleep last night (and can't sleep tonight for that matter considering it's 2 a.m.).

Not falling asleep until 6 a.m. translated into not waking up until 2 p.m. when I realized, "Crap I only have one hour until the bank closes!"

I still needed to wire transfer the money for my fancy schmancy resort. They were supposed to have e-mailed me the SWIFT code and routing number for their bank, but had apparently forgotten, so I had to call them. I am so glad I have Skype for international long-distance calls.

The woman gave me a horrendous code and I hauled butt from one bank to another only to make the most stressful and unorganized wire transfer of all time. I'm still not convinced it worked (the lady gave me the wrong SWIFT code and we looked it up...) especially since I got a phone call from a strange number while I was in class.

I will have to call the bank tomorrow to make sure it went through, otherwise I'm going to tell Amorita it's their fault and they'll have to take the $60 I already have in my bank account and just wait until I get there for the rest.

Otherwise, everything with Amorita has been pleasant. I can't completely fault them for this. I did wait until the last minute. They're even giving us an upgraded room without extra charge because they ran out of the regular rooms.

Hello third-floor room with its own little "living room" and an ocean view balcony.

I can put up with a little idiocy from a secretary in the reservation office as long as the service and accommodations are actually as glorious as all the reviews say they are.

Otherwise, I continue to stress out about weather and, honestly, Mother Nature in general. She seems to be a bit pissed off at Asia.

I'm only making an observation and don't mean for it to come off distastefully but wow. Four tsunami waves pummeled Samoa and American Samoa and then an earthquake in Indonesia flattened buildings. Then there's Typhoon Ketsana that flooded Manila last week and then slammed into the Vietnamese coast.

All of that inside of a week.

Then right this very moment Typhoon Parma — at a whopping Category 4 — is ravaging Luzon Island in the northern portion of The Philippines. Hopefully Manila doesn't suffer too badly from this one. It looks like Bohol Island is merely getting a light rain so that's good.

Then there's Typhoon Melor. It's hard to tell what that one is going to do. It's up to a Category 4 in Western Pacific right now. To me, it looks like Melor is headed straight for Taiwan, but the forecast says she's going to make a funky U-turn and wind up beating on Japan's southern (eastern?) coast.

Can you tell I've been obsessing over the weather?

In fact, since I couldn't sleep last night, I looked up videos of tsunamis. I wanted to know what they're like.

I always imagined a gigantic tidal wave that crashes onto beaches (You know, like The Day After Tomorrow Style) and those who were hanging out in the sand or playing in the water had no chance at getting away... Really, it seems that's not always the case. You could potentially be standing on the beach and manage to get far enough away or high enough up to be safe. Though I suppose the flooding afterward is a whole other thing.

In fact, as far as what I could see in the video, the real dangers seem to lie in all of the stuff that could get swept into you or the building you're in (i.e. cars, boats, glass breaking, furniture moving with the flood waters and trapping you into a wall).

Though I obviously have no idea and I certainly don't know what the recent tsunami in Samoa was like. I suppose it could have been like a tidal wave. I did see a picture of a rather large boat on the side of a highway. That's telling.

And frightening for that matter.

Point is someone needs to take my Wundermap away from me before my head explodes while trying to think of all the variables involved in our potential vacation ruin.

I'm supposed to be relaxing now that my vacation technically began five hours ago, right?

Ni jiao shenme mingzih?

One more day and then I'm on vacation!

One more day and then all the teachers have a two-day weekend!

One more day and I get to see my best friend again!

I spent all day catching up on America's Next Top Model Cycle 13. I know that's ridiculous but last night there was a bit of a "party" on the roof at the dorm. We just listened to music and drank and talked.

But staying out so late (not just staying up late in bed) made me feel like death today. I suppose the vodka probably didn't help.

Anyway, sometimes I forget just how crazy Tyra Banks is.  It's funny though, because sometimes my kids look at me the way the models on ANTM look at Tyra.

Not the I-want-to-be-you-and-I'm-hanging-on-every-last-word look (though I get that too), but the You-are-the-craziest-woman-who-has-ever-stood-before-me-why-don't-you-feel-like-a-complete-moron-when-you-do-that look.

Today I had my super quiet WOW class. They're all tweens and teenagers. Some of them can be really rude and others are just embarrassed because, honestly, who wasn't embarrassed to be anywhere between the ages of 11 to 14.

Anyway, I tend to act really goofy in my classes if for no other reason than it keeps me from getting bored. Usually it helps get the energy up in class and the kids participate more. I don't mind giving up a few cool points in front of some kids to get them to laugh and then play along.

There is this part in our book about folk music and how some is soft and gentle and some is really violent and loud. My kids didn't understand "violent" as an adjective describing music.

So I demonstrated.

I starting jump up and down and beating on the desk in front of me like I was playing a drum in some African tribal performance you would have seen in Ace Ventura.

You should have seen the look of bewilderment on their faces and then they burst into laughter.

Unfortunately, while I did get them to laugh and loosen up, they're still quiet as can be. I'm not sure I can win with those ones.

Oh and I found out my favorite favorite student isn't going to be in that class anymore. She went back to the other school she came from. That makes me so sad!

After class I went to Tina Coffee for some grub and to study Chinese. One of the waitresses speaks a little English and she was super sweet. She helped me with a couple of the words I didn't know how to pronounce and she and I talked off and on for the hour or so that I was there.

It was funny because we were going back and forth between Chinese and English because neither of us knows enough of the others language to just use one language.

It was also really cute because I asked her what her name is (in Chinese) and she told me just to call her Rabbit. Apparently that's the nickname her friends gave her. Isn't that adorable.

Anyway, I think I have a new friend. I'll be going to Tina Coffee a little more now that I have something to look forward to.