A Peek into the Philippines

I've been on a travel rampage lately. Krakow a month ago, the Philippines two weeks ago and Ohio this past weekend. On top of earning about 1 million airline miles, I've had some pretty great times. So, a little more about my trip to the Philippines. 

My trip was specifically for work to Manila. I've mentioned before that I have a team of people I work with down there so I go about twice a year to visit and check in on things. If any of you have Filipino friends or have worked with any before, you know what an amazing group of people they are. So generous, friendly, caring and fun. I honestly can't say enough about them and their culture. 

Manila is a big city that reminds me of some type of combo between Mexico and the rest of Asia. There is a ton of Spanish influence in Manila which is why I suppose it reminds me of Mexico. I haven't been super impressed with the food when I've been there though. Probably much to do with the fact that I work the night shift and eating "lunch" at 1am doesn't really offer a whole lot of quality options. 

Most of the pictures I've posted are obviously not from Manila though. Over the weekend, I went to an island called Palawan with two of my coworkers, Mark and Manolo. Palawan is like no where I've ever been before. It's what I would call third world paradise. We landed in a small town called Puerto Princessa and took a 5 hour (death) van ride up to El Nido beach. The ride there was unbelievable. The island is filled with farms, houses made of bamboo and sticks, and tricycles (which all 3 of us stuffed into many a time).

Once in El Nido, we stayed in a hotel right on the water. The hotel was not the highlight of the trip. Let's just say that. The highlight of the trip was our day of island hopping. We got on a bangka which is an "outrigger canoe" which you'll see in pictures below. We spent the day hopping around tiny islands and snorkeling the reefs. Amazing. Our captains grilled us lunch on one of the islands with fish and fresh fruit and veggies they had packed on the boat. I hope you guys enjoy all the pictures. It was a trip I probably will never get to go on again!

*Photo cred is shared with Mark and Manolo for everything posted on here