Nic Trips

Our 2nd day in El Nido and our last full day in the Philippines, we went on an island hopping tour. They offer four different tours of the area, each going to 5 destinations and including snorkels and a lunch. We did tour A, which was the highest recommended from everyone we talked to. Our tour group was one of the largest, with 22 people. Most groups are on small boats with only 6-10. I was skeptical at first, but I ended up liking having a big group, because it meant we got an extra big boat with lots of space to move around and sit in the sun. One of the islands advertised in a different tour was Helicopter Island, named because it looks like one. We spotted it out on our way to our first destination. Our first stop was Seven Commandos Beach. It was on the same, main island of Palawan, but is unreachable except by boat. Here we had our first taste of snorkeling in the crystal clear water. Then we also had our first taste of jellyfish stings. The ...

After spending on night in Manila at the Lions Den Hostel, we woke up super early to go to the airport and catch our 7:00am plane. Because we booked a flight to Palawan so last minute, everything was full and we were forced to book a private airline called ITI that flies straight to El Nido. It was more expensive, but kind of worked out nicely because we didn't have to go to Puerta Princesa and then take a 6 hour bus to El Nido. Because it was an expensive, private airline, everything was super fancy. There was minimum security to go through, they gave us wooden boarding passes, and we got to sit in a really nice waiting area with a free buffet of fruit, sandwiches, soup and drinks while we waited. We even had our own table with name cards on it and the WiFi password waiting on a little slip of paper. When we were ready to depart, they shuttled all the passengers to the plane and we had a red carpet entrance! The flight was only an hour and then we got a red carpet exit as...

After winter break in Korea, school continues for another 3 weeks before completing the school year. This year, graduation happened a few days before the Lunar New Year holiday, so students had almost 2 weeks off before starting the new school year. Some teachers refer to this as "spring break" even though it's still February. For my time off, I looked up the cheapest place to fly from Korea and ended up with a plane ticket to the Philippines for 10 days. I arrived on Sunday, and the first 5 days I spent exploring the country by myself. Then on Thursday, I was joined by my friend Andrew for the remainder of the trip. I began with a day in Manila, as it is where I flew in. I stayed the night at a hostel in Malate, called Where 2 Next, and then spent the entirety of the second day exploring the city. That evening, I took a 10 hour, overnight bus to Banaue. This is a town in the north of the main island of Luzon, in the province Ifugao. From here I traveled to the s...