wow, i’m really happy to be back to japan. had a fun trip to the philippines and i’m ready to work! people ask why i go on these short trips? well, first, to enjoy. second, it’s my vacation. and most importantly, it resets my mind. once i go back to hawaii, i will be 100% focused on my job. i think i will be more happier than my customers when we go surfing. it will make me want to work harder, make me want to live healthier, and make me want to enjoy life a lot more. i can’t wait for that!

last night, there was a little bbq festival near my hotel. i ended up eating a little bit of everything. pretty cool to see so many local people enjoying the hot manila night.

these drinks are pretty good. sweet, cool, and refreshing.

then you have the bar setup. can you believe i only drank a total of 5 beers the whole 3 nights? for some reason, i wasn’t in the drinking mode on this trip. plus, a jack and coke cost $10. no thank you.

flying standby is stressful, well, only if you let it get you stressed. i’m used to it and just go with the flow. if you get on, great. if you don’t, it was never meant to be. the flight was overbooked and sold out but i still waited in the standby line. when i got to the airport, they told me there was only 1 seat available. 30 minutes before departure, they called my name! yeah! and to top it off, i got a business elite class flat seat all to myself.

then once i got back to narita airport, i bought my favorite yama imo soba. so good!
well, the awesome love hawaii event is coming up this saturday and sunday. gonna enjoy that, then back to hawaii on monday to get back to my life. a life i love!!!!

Manila Airport.

good morning for the alive city in manila. gosh, i was walking around all day yesterday evening eating all the yummy street food. some things i didn’t even know what it was but it was delicious! 5am now and going to head to the airport. might get on, might not. wish me luck!

i’ve been studying some filipino language. Calabarzon means express bus and good thing i knew that. if i didn’t, it would have taken me 7 hours on the regular bus. this one only took me 2.

remember i told you about the 2 kids sitting behind me in the bus making trouble to me? well, there they are. one was throwing things at me, and the other was pulling my hair. and this went on for over an hour!!! their parents didn’t do anything and i wasn’t too sure what to do. haha.

third world counties really make me think. the poverty is so bad here and i’m just hoping it will get better. seeing this makes me very fortunate for everything i have, and everything i don’t have.

when i got out of manila on the bus ride, the coconut trees, banana trees, and blue sky made me excited. i thought i was back in hawaii!

i sure learned a lot on this trip. learned how to get around on the transportation system here. learned how to get ripped off too. i almost got into fights with taxi drivers because they were trying to overcharge me. imagine yelling at each other in different languages. he couldn’t understand me, i couldn’t understand him. after i got out of the cab, i was laughing to myself. but no, i will never give in to getting ripped off!
gotta get going. have a wonderful day and see you in yokohama!