I just got back from the Philipines yesterday evening and it was by far the best trip I have been on.....although I really loved Hong Kong and the city atmosphere, and it was the most fun of all my trips, the Philipines was absolutely unbelievable. We (Me, Carli, Aanchal, Aurelie, Matt (from UC), and Micheala (Aurelie's friend, from Germany) started off in Manila on Friday afternoon and spent the day there at the Mall of Asia (largest mall in Asia) and Intramuros, a small spanish town in Manila. That evening, we met up with Matt who had taken a later flight and made our way to the bus station that would take us up to Banaue, or at least we tried to and got lost along the way. Basically, it was a repeat of the KL trip (as me and Carli would describe it) with us running through the streets of Manila with our big backpacks, trying to find the bus station before the bus left. Unfortunately, when we did finally get there, the bus was already full. Luckily though, there was a bus leaving an hour later that would take us part way to Banaue and then we would have to take a Jeepney (kind of a mix between a jeep and small bus -they're very common in the Philipines, in the small villages and in the big cities) the rest of the way. The bus was really cold the whole ride so we didn't get a whole lot of sleep and we arrived in a some small town right at sunrise and from there we took a Jeepney up to Banaue where we arrived around 8 am. We set out for the rice terraces right away and got a Jeepney to drop us at the top of a mountain, which we then climbed all the way down (over 1000 metres in elevation) and back up again. The terraces and the waterfall, at the bottom of the mountain, were so beautiful though and definitely worth all the effort, despite the fact that on the way back up, we thought Aanchal almost wouldn't make it becaus she was so dizzy and her feet had totally given out on her. Anyway we made it back up and the weather the whole time was gorgeous, perfect blue skies warm, but not too hot and not humid at all. It was unreal to see the 2000 year old terraces and realize that people had built them so long ago, and I think they were definitely one of the amazing things I've ever seen in my life. When we got back up, the Jeepney took us back to the town and we boarded a bus at 5:30 to take us back to Manila, which we reached around 3 am. We then took another bus to the nearest port to Puerto Gallera and then took a boat around 7 am (Sunday morning) to the island. Once we reached there, we sorted out accomodations and ended up choosing a smaller beach with huts right by the water. It was great because there were little straw gazebos and swings in front of the huts and it was all so beautiful, it looked like a postcard. Also, we had the whole beach to ourselves most of the time. As soon as we had settled into the rooms, we all showered because none of us had used a proper washroom since we left Singapore on Friday morning. Then we chilled at the beach for a while and headed over to the main tourist area of Sabang to hang out and have dinner. The next day, I got a massage on the beach from one of the ladies who sit at the beach and make bracelets and give massages. It was so relaxing, with the sunshine and waves rolling in and out, especially after that trek up and down the mountain on Saturday that I actually fell asleep. Later in the afternoon, we went snorkelling and it was so cool, all the fish were so colourful they almost looked fake. That evening, we headed over to the beach next to ours and hung out there for a while, laying on the sand, listening to the music from the restaurants and stargazing. The sky was littered with stars and I can't remember the last time I've seen that many. The next day, I got another massage (it was so relaxing, I couldn't resist getting another one) and we all just lazed around on the beach and played volleyball in the water. In the afternoon, me and Aanchal decided to try out the banana boats (these long tubes that you sit on top of and hold onto with a handle while it's pulled by a speedboat). It was really fun for a while and we were told that if the banana boat tipped over, to let go of the handle and just let yourself fall off. So the first time it tipped, it was funny cause we all fell off, and the second time it was just me and the other guy at the back who fell off. The third time, I was thinking okay, this salt water keeps getting in my mouth but the ride is fun so I'll deal with it, and the fourth time I fell off, I tried to reach up to pull myself to the surface of the water and all I felt was the bottom of the banana boat because I had fallen under it, and the feeling of the boat on top of me and not being able to resurface for a few seconds was so scary that I just asked if we could be taken back to shore. Once we got back, it was time to shower and pack up because the boat taking us back to the port town was leaving at 5:00 pm. On the boat, we got to see the sunset over the water, and it was probably the most gorgeous sunset I've seen. It was so beautiful and the last few days had been so amazing, we were all pretty sad to leave. Once back on land, we had to take another bus to Manila and arrived there close to 9 pm and found a guesthouse to stay at. Everyone really wanted to eat Philipino food except me and Aanchal, so we found a really authentic restaurant (and by authentic I mean not so clean karaoke restaurant), so everyone ordered their Philipino food there and me and Aanchal went next door to the Italian restaurant and brought Calzone's over. Wednesday was our last day in the Philipines and after eating breakfast at Starbucks, we headed to the bus station to get to Clark, which was where our returning flight was from. Unfortunately, Matt forgot his wallet in the taxi on the way to the bus station, but luckily he had some of his cards on him, and not in the wallet. We go to the Clark airport (which was really just an airbase) around 1:30 and by the time we checked in and ate lunch and stuff, it was 3:00 and time to board our flight. There ended up being 3 different groups of exchange students including us that were on the same flight so there were lots of people we knew on the flight. Overall, the Philipines was so much more than I expected, and although I'm sad it was probably the last trip I'll make on this exchange, it was defintely the perfect "final trip."