Its long overdue but I wanted to update everyone on my first trip to the Philippines. For the past few trips everyone has been telling me I have to get to Manila and finally the opportunity has come and I am so grateful. Never having been in the Philippines I didn't know what to expect, but I was amazed with the friendliness of the people and the beauty of the country. Metro Manila is made up of 13 cities, which combined is what people think of when they think Manila. While in the country we visited, Fort Bonifacio, Taguig City, Binan, Brentwood, Makati and Manila. More than any other place I have been to the counselors at schools in Manila are here to stay. Unlike other cities the counselors describe Manila as maybe not a fun place to visit but a wonderful place to live. While I disagree with the first statement the second one is obvious as most of the counselors and teachers at the schools visited have been here 8, 10, or 38 years! While there might not be a lot of cultural or historical things to do in Manila, the city is a wonderful place to explore. One of the most shocking things about the city to me was that everyone spoke English! I mean everyone from the hotel staff to the taxi drivers, police officers and beggars. I have never been in a country like this where english is more widely spoken without being the official language. This added to the ease of travel and the stress of explaining directions. While Manila may not have many cultural opportunities we were still able to have fun! On day one we were asked by one of the counselors at our first school visit to participate in a full 90 minute, 11 on 11 soccer match against the varsity team. Being an international school the teams don't play too many matches against other schools and to start out they work up their skill and training by playing an aging staff team (which I was thoroughly a part of). While it was literally breath-taking it was also a lot of fun.
Finally our last night in Manila, Tom and I did get to have a little fun, we were able to fit in a round of golf at one of the best courses I have ever played in. Club Intramuros is an 18 hole golf course built into the relics of the old Spanish fort on Manila harbor. The walls of the fort acted as the boundaries of many holes and certain buildings throughout the compound added to the "hazards" along the way. It was also a unique experience because for the first time ever I played with a caddie who carried my clubs and made suggestions on each of my shots. It definitely was a fun way to end our time in Manila, up until the 15th hole when the nightly downpours began and unfortunately I had forgotten my umbrella! Fun times in Manila and I can't wait to return!
Well its been a while since my last post, but its the time of year for me to return to Asia for my annual fall recruitment trip. Stops on this trip include: Taipei, Taiwan; Manila, Philippines; Yangon, Myanmar; Seoul, S. Korea; Tokyo, Japan; Jakarta, Indonesia; Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; Singapore; Bangkok and Phuket, Thailand; Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam; Hong Kong, Shenzhen, Shanghai and Beijing, China. This year I have decided to not do a marathon run of 8 straight weeks, instead I'll be spending 3 weeks in Southeast Asia and coming home for a bit before returning to Asia for 2 weeks in China.
I started my trip with a whirlwind tour of Taipei spending the beautiful hot and humid day in downtown Taipei. As usual my trip didn't last long as I spent less than 24 hours in the city. I always enjoy my trips to Taiwan but they are never long enough!
I am now in Manila for the first time ever looking forward to spending the next 2 days exploring a new city! From what I have seen so far it is a beautiful country and reminds me a lot of Bangkok, Thailand. I was really surprised to find out that while Tagalog is the official language EVERYONE speaks English which makes it really easy to get around.
Another new addition for this trip is my travel companions as I will be doing all my visits with other schools. This is always fun and makes it easier to explore new cities with friends.
I'll do my best to keep you updated on my travels and hope to have some pictures up soon!
Before I talk about Hong Kong, I want to mention one thing quickly. I believe that Singapore is one of the only countries in the world where you can hail a mercedes taxi. I thought this was cool because the cost for these taxis were almost the same as other taxis and where else can you ride like this unless you are in a "limo"!
Hong Kong has been exciting. With Ronne and Erica in attendance, when we arrived on Saturday I took them on the Star Ferry across to Tsim Sha Tsui to see the light show which is a really cool show with laser and lights lighting up the Hong Kong skyline:
Afterward we returned to Central to a restaurant that was recommended and we enjoyed a lot of really good Cantonese food! For the past few days I had been trying to get Erica to agree to go out to Lan Kwai Fong, but when we finally got to Hong Kong, I was the one too tired to go out!
On Sunday morning Erica and I were able to meet with a young NU alum that has just moved to Hong Kong. We enjoyed lunch up on The Peak which was great but unfortunately there was heavy cloud cover so for a while we couldn't see the city. The Peak is known for its wonderful views over Victoria Harbor but every time I have been up there its been too foggy to see anything! This is supposed to be the view:
Our reception in the evening went really well with lots of alumni and students in attendance, unfortunately from all the visits and talking, I had no voice left for the reception, but it didn't stop me from welcoming in all the admitted students!
On Monday morning it was time to say goodbye to Ronne and Erica who I had been traveling with since Singapore. Ronne was off to Beijing and Erica back to Boston. It was a lot of fun traveling with other people as usual. Over the past couple of days I have stayed in Hong Kong visiting schools and it has been absolutely beautiful weather...for me. Its been overcast and about 75 every day which is the perfect weather, not too hot, not too cold!
I'm off to China tomorrow which means this will be the last blog for the spring. Unfortunately China has blocked blogging so I won't be able to post. Its been a short but fun trip and I'll be returning home in about 10 days!
As usual, its back to Asia this spring. This year much earlier than usual, which I'm happy about to get to some warm weather! Unfortunately I didn't know just how warm it was going to be 95 to be exact, so it was a big change from the winter weather I was used to in Boston.
My first stop this time was Bangkok, one of my favorite cities to visit. While it was only a short visit, a day and a half, I was able to see some great schools, enjoy some great weather, and have some great food. I had dinner with one of my counselors at a very good egyptian restaurant (don't worry I had thai food 3 times in the day that I was there). Bangkok is one of the most beautiful and vibrant cities in Asia and it is always fun driving around to my visits as it can take anywhere from 30 to 90 minutes to get to a visit. This spring for some reason traffic wasn't too bad and I made it to my visits with about an hour to spare, so I did a lot of reading.
After Bangkok it was on to Singapore for a few days of high school visits and Admitted Student Receptions. This spring is very different to those in the past as I am not traveling to Singapore and Hong Kong alone. We have done so well in the past few years that this year our Dean of Undergraduate Admissions has accompanied me for the trip to participate in the receptions which have been a huge success. Not only that but I have worked with our Alumni office to combine the admitted student reception with Alumni receptions so I have a lot of company! Last night I enjoyed an alumni dinner with a few alums and the Northeastern Rep at Clarke Quay a very touristy area with a lot of restaurants along the river. After the dinner I tried Durian ice cream which is from the Durian fruit, known for its extremely pungent smell.
I did not mind the taste, it wasn't my favorite type of ice cream but the durian tasted almost nutty and the smell (in ice cream form) was not bad. At the end of the night we had to make one last stop. There is a bar in Clarke Quay called Clinic and it basically looks like a hospital clinic: wheelchairs for chairs, gurney's for couches, surgical lights on the ceiling, waiters/waitresses dressed as Doctors or Nurses etc. but the weirdest thing was that they had a drink that actually came in an IV bag. Who else can say they had a drink in a place like this?
The fun in Singapore is now over and off to Hong Kong where I hope to show my travel companions the light show, the peak and maybe some local markets before our Admitted Student Reception on Sunday.
For all my canadian counselors, here is your moment of zen:
