I'm back in business.

Well, over a month after my last post. Some of you thought I might have been killed over there or something, right? Well, you're wrong! Its just that dial-up connection + laziness = no posting for a loooong time. But I'm back now, safe and sound.

Whew, so much stuff happened there. I'll see if I can find some highlights.

One was waiting in Manila at the airport for 5 hours on the way there because of a long transfer time. Actually, that wasn't the highlight, it was the fact that I beat Zelda 1's first quest no deaths, no potions in under 2 and a half hours. Yeah, I was that bored. Later in the trip, I also beat the second quest without help for the first time ever and the first quest two more times both in under two hours, the second time with one death, no potions.

Then there was the Pearl Farm Beach Resort. It's an amazing resort in the Philippines and it just looks so beautiful, especially when the sun is out. There are a lot of swimming opportunities, or you can do other things like play tennis or basketball (they provide the stuff) or just kick back and lie on the beach. It's friggin' amazing there, I tell you.

More shopping than I ever planned. One cool thing about the Philippines is that music is cheaper there, $13 CAN at most (probably to combat piracy). Here's the list of CDs I bought for myself on the trip, in the order I bought them:

Switchfoot - Learning to Breathe (Poparazzi rocks)
Hillsong United - United We Stand
Music Inspired by the Chronicles of Narnia (leave it to David Crowder Band to do a song about Turkish Delight, which on a related note, I actually tried once. It tastes pretty good.)
Casting Crowns - Lifesong
Hillsong United - More Than Life (Soldier is pretty cool)

Okay, I didn't get that much, but every one of those CDs were worth it. I also did a lot of clothes shopping (*gasp!*). The thing is, I normally hate clothes shopping, but somehow I end up leaving the country with around 9 shirts and one pair of shoes. That country has an interesting color palette, I tell you. The shoes surprise me because I've never spent my own money on a pair of shoes in my life, and I just got new shoes before we left. It's gotta take a heckuva pair of shoes to not only make me want it, but search all over Davao just to find my size (and size 12 is like, mythology there) They're a pair of Converse Chuck Taylors, but it's got an interesting design on it, to say the least. I'll leave it at that. Other purchases include a semi-portable Scrabble set (for UVic), and Game of the Generals (a Philippine board game involving a bit of secrecy; it rocks my socks).

It's funny, one of the best ways to describe the Phillipines came to me after I got back and I was checking my "365 Stupidest Things Ever Said" page-a-day, as I missed about a month. August 6th had a government sign from the Philippines:

The only Catholic country in Asia! Beware of pickpockets.

And it's completely true. Over 80 percent of the country is Catholic (and it shows a little), but, with it being a third world country there, there are a lot of poor people, too.

Oh, yeah, I can drive. No, I haven't passed my road test yet (I try again on Thursday), I'm actually talking about golf. My first time holding a driver nets me a 125 yard drive, which isn't bad. My iron shots need a lot of work, though, and no, I haven't been on an actual course yet.

Well, that's all I can think of. We now resume to my regular posting schedule.