Destination:
Malapascua Island.



The day before a trip is always hectic.

Bill needed to take a test to get a Motorcycle Driver's License.
I had to go to the bank to pay the bills and ask about my credit card.
We wanted to get new swim gear and shoes.
We wanted to see some of our friends before we leave.
We also didn't want to be too stressed-out while accomplishing all our goals of the day.

Things went smoothly in the beginning. We had lunch with Ben and Dorion at Mary Jane's Pizza. Then we took the MRT uptown to the DMV. I went in with Bill to do the health exam just in case he needed a translator. Turned out, he understood everything and everyone was blown away by how accurate his pronunciation was. Before the real test, Bill did the practice test a couple of times. I was a bit nervous for him after he actually went into the exam room.

The driving test was also nerve-racking. The examinees have to balance the motorcycle while driving down a very narrow path. Along the way, there are different tasks they have to perform. If you drive or step on the sensor, a loud buzzer rings continuously for 5 seconds to announce your failure. Then you have a second go at the test. If the buzzer rings again, you've failed the test this time and have to come back again in a week.

At the test, Bill and another guy were the only non-Taiwanese there. As you can imagine, all the Taiwanese were curious to see how these two foreigners would perform. Bill went first. I watched ringside when Bill passed the test with flying colors. The other dude, unfortunately, sent the buzzer ringing twice and they sent him packing, sort of speak.

We went our separate ways for a few hours and went to a night market to get some cheap T-shirts and shorts. Then we went to Brook's 33rd birthday party till after midnight. In other words, we didn't start packing until 2 in the morning.

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The day of the trip is usually exciting, but we're exhausted.
Both of us only had about 5-hour sleep and we still have to do some last-minute packing and cleaning. Nuage knows something's up and he doesn't look very happy about it.

Instead of writing, I should really finish packing and get Nuage ready to go to my mom's though.

We'll make sure to take lots of pictures, record funny travel stories, and bring back some white sand and shells.

Here I Am

I know... It's been a long while. I have two excuses.
1. I've been busy: working full time, teaching a night class, going out on weekends...
2. My laptop at home couldn't connect to the Internet.

What's new? What's New?

I'm on a 17-day holiday now (Yup! It's term break time). Though I still have to work a for a few days during the break, there will not be any long working days for sure.

Bill and I are going to Malapascua for a week on Saturday. He's going to get his advanced diving certificate. I'm simply looking forward to lying on a white sand beach sipping coconut juice.

Oh hey, we have a new President in Taiwan. President Ma. Fresh out the oven. I think he's the first and only President that held a bilingual press conference. He'll take office on May 20th.

No babies yet. I'm going back for a check-up later this week.

I'll write more when I'm in the mood to write.