Too small an update.

I've got a draft saved of the epic story of my trip to Baras, but it's not finished after a few days of spotty internet, so I decided to write a quick update instead for now. After a week or so in the Philippines, and a long weekend in Taiwan, I've now joined the Philippines Board of Tourism for a weeklong trek to some scuba diving hot spots to learn about the joy of diving here! This morning we did our first 2 dives, but rain and cold slowed us from a third dive. it was cool because we dove off a tiny island (Balicasag) off the coast of a small island (Panglao) off the coast of Bohol, a bigger, but still fairly small island! And so far the diving is fantastic! Just a few meters offshore, there was a massive wall dropping off and covered in all sorts of interesting life! I went down 130 feet and still didn't hit the bottom!

Loving this trip so far, of course! The diving is great, the food is great, the sightseeing is great... It's so lucky to get to see some of the allure that would draw tourists to this country that I've grown to love so much even having never seen the tourist side of it. Manila was a fun time, and of course Baras was. I needed more time in Taiwan, but I saw some familiar faces, took a load of pics at the Lantern Festival, and even got a souvenir pillow from my favorite underground lounge!

Anyway, internet is a bit slow tonight and I'm paying six times the amount I normally do out here for an hour's worth of connection, so I'll cut this off now. Suffice to say, life is good out here! :)