The Journey Home

The last few days in Boracay was more of the same, but in a good way.
Good food, fresh mango drinks every day, sun and sand, and cable TV.
We left early yesterday morning and flew on our little propeller plane
back to Manila. This is where I said goodbye to Kate and Siggy and had
a ride waiting for me to go to a nearby airport hotel.

The Nichols Airport Hotel was pretty nice- it was a luxury to stay in
a real hotel after hostels and guesthouses. I had my own large room,
cable TV again, and I got room service. I also tried to get as much
sleep as possible because my flight was at 5:40 am, meaning I would
be waking up at 2:15 am to catch my ride to the airport.

The flight from Manila to Hong Kong was only a couple of hours, and
then I made it! I decided to send some money home since it's such a
pain to do in China- although there was still a limit much less than
what I wanted to send. But at least the nice people at the airport
spoke English.

Thus I had a lot of Hong Kong dollars and time for some shopping. I'm
actually typing on a brand new mini computer! Maybe it seems like a
spontaneous purchase but my laptop can't access the internet, which
has been crippling my lesson planning, communication, and trip
planning. I will still try to get it fixed but I know either getting
my laptop fixed or buying a new computer would be a big hassle in
China, where it was extremely easy in Hong Kong. It's definitely a
useful tool so it's a present to myself, I guess.

Well, I'm almost done with my very long day of traveling. I'll admit,
I'm somewhat ready to get back although I think the first week back
might be a bit crazy.