New Plaza Hotel Baguio

... trap of all the gagdets and fanciness of the supermall - shopping, internet, video games..but i resisted the temptation of bingo...haha. When i arrived here after my very longgg day of traveling from KL, i was feeling very tired and feeling myself getting agitated or upset easily as i had waited for a taxi forever and wasn't feeling the vibe of the town...but it just took a tiny sentiment and a little kindness on someone else's part to make me ...

... Two men plowed a rice paddy with an ox not far from me. A creek ran along the other side of the dyke. Charlo-anne climbed up too and kept up with her "take picture" routine. She twirled her little girl purse around her finger on a string, and it went flying down the side of the dyke. It was retrieved. It was a great panorama but after a while I'd had enough of the "take picture" stuff. I went to see the remains of the Philippine National Museum. It used to be next to ...

... AM Yea! We're underway to Baguio (new link) after waiting on Chris since his alarm clock had a bit of a hiccup. It never ceases to amaze me how big metropolitan cities never sleep and Manila is such a city. Even at the early hours of the morning there were a great deal of people moving about whether it was driving, walking, biking or waiting for transportation. Traffic was pretty much a constant and Tony navigated the expressways with ease to get us out of ...

... City. In some ways I feel my parents have had a sheltered Philippine experience up to this point. We have stayed in very nice places, however it is important for them to see the drastic dichotomy of existence here. Which I think they did on our five-hour dive up from Manila. As the terrain switched from flat rice terraces to the steep mountain ridges my Dad was amazed and kept asking how these people make a living? I said by farming and if you could see ...

... with preventing illegal logging on their property. Even with their land title it is difficult to control such a wide piece of property (45 hectares). One way that ENCA is working to stop the continued illegal logging on their land is educating the local community about the importance of reforestation and protecting their shared watershed, conducting the tree planting's is one step towards these ends. It is always so wonderful to be at the farm and even better to get my hands dirty ...

... huge rocks below. I have huge black and blue bruises on my legs today to prove it and can now say I almost fell to my death on a hanging bridge in the Philippines. (Don't worry Mom I will be more careful next time). You would think the adrenaline rush of this fall would be all I could handle but the adventures only continued. I sat down to take a breather after my fall and somehow Adam (another PCV) and I got separated from the group and went on our only ...

... base. The guy was an American-Mexican from very southern Texas on his way to his cousins wedding in Cebu. His cousin had met a Filipino woman on the internet and flew here a year and a half before to meet her and they got engaged... sounds romantic. So the flight wasn't exactly relaxing, but it was interesting, and it was one of my first interactions with an American that wasn't in my group. When we got to Dumaguete we took a ...

... most likely not my last illness of my Peace Corps time!! (Don't worry Mom I am fine taking medicine and our PC Doctor's are wonderful). I some how got a really bad stomach virus which caused terrible stomach pains, fever and major fatigue.... and well... you don't need more details then that. Luckily we went to Baguio on TH and the PC Doctor was there and determined I have some bad stomach bacteria. So after basically sleeping the last five days and hardly eating ...

... people of Gusing Sur have opened their homes and hearts to us already which has made this a much easier transition. Both of my host brothers play on the b-ball team so it has been fun to connect wit them through basketball! I am really enjoying my host family my parents Grace and Geronimo and brothers and sisters Melody (20), Melanie (19), Roland (22) and Dominique (17). At first I was totally surprised by the age and was expecting younger kids ...

If you're looking for an oasis that offers spiritual solace, then head for Baguio, which happens to be one of the best places for retreats, meditations and soul-searchings. The lush conifers surrounding the place, coupled with the cool, pine-scented mountain breeze, makes you forget the cares of the world and calms down your ruffled spirit.

Because of its ambiance that soothes ...