Matchy matchy!
I asked the staff at Lotus Garden if the city would be doing anything for New Years. We were told the if we went down to the Baywalk near the water there would be a countdown there or we could stay and celebrate with the staff at Lotus Garden. We opted to go to the Baywalk. We all got ready in our room while watching American TV (so bizarre!) and then ate at the restaurant there. We knew that Nate, Chuck and Elliot would be back in Puerto Princesa that night as well, but the Lotus Garden didn't have a great wifi connection so we weren't sure if we would get to meet up with them.
We took a trike down to the Baywalk and felt a little out of place being (from what we saw) the only foreigners there. They had a huge tree set up, as well as a stage where people were performing. We witnessed a horrible performance of "What did the fox say". They also had a big digital countdown set up and we decided to stick around. We sat along the path next to the water and guess who we spotted? - Nate, Chuck and Elliot! We all grabbed some beer then headed closer to the countdown clock as it was almost time! They were with another couple (whose names escape me) so we hung out with them as well. It was a bit of a weird experience for me to celebrate New Year's without certain friends but it was still a blast.
As soon as the clock struck midnight, fireworks went off literally above our heads. It was so cool to be that close but also a bit freaky because pieces of the fireworks were falling at our feet! Happy New Year!
We then sat down for a bit and had some more beer. This was when the guys decided that they would try a Filipino food - Balut, which is chicken egg fetus. Each of them were given an egg and told to crack it open and just swallow and chew. It was disgusting. You could tell it wasn't easy for all of them to do, but the Filipino people around us cheered and laughed them on.
We eventually headed back to the Lotus Garden and headed to bed to get ready for a long day of flying home the next morning.
Here are some pictures of our room at the Lotus Garden - which I must add, had an outdoor bathroom - so amazing! If I ever live somewhere that is warm all of the time, I must have an outdoor bathroom. Amazing.
The next morning we walked to the airport and got on our first flight. We had a stopover for a couple of hours then took another flight to Cebu. Then took one last final flight to Incheon, Korea. It was a long day of flying but these flights seemed better then the ones going to the Philippines. A few shorter flights verse a 12 (?) hour layover. For one of our flights we were on a propeller plane!
Last leg of the trip
Thankfully we got back into Incheon with enough time to catch the last bus back to Suji (this saved us from taking an expensive cab ride). We were all pretty exhausted, Chuck and I were hungry. So after dropping my things off I headed to his apartment and he made us food and we watched TV. I am lucky to have made so many great friends here. Back to work the next day!
While this vacation was nothing like I thought it would be, I would not change it for anything. It was filled with so many ridiculous moments and so much fun and laughter. So many moments that I will never forget. I had such a great time with Chris and Sarah and all of the other people we met throughout our adventure.
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