McCoKorea: Summer Vacation Extravaganza: Philippines Edition

A 2 week vacation was more than we ever dreamed of as former academy workers. But with a new and better job came much more vacation time, and even allowed us to go to both the Philippines and Thailand this August. In the Philippines we ate grilled bananas on the beach and went island hopping. In Thailand we took a cooking class, rode elephants, went hiking to a waterfall, went white water and bamboo rafting, and drove a motorcycle up a mountain to a temple. It was an amazing vacation to say the least. Here is a picture story of what we did:

10 days in the Philippines: Manila, Puerto Princesa, and El Nido

First stop: Manila. Delicious food everywhere you look.

And this restaurant, which we didn't try, where all of the waiters are midgets.

We rode around in some awesome jeepeneys.

The view from the open back of the jeepeney.

And we went to a bar where a dude had a wild cat as a pet like it was something normal people do.

Then we headed to Puerto Princesa, which is really just a jumping off point to other more beautiful places in Palawan. Among its many charms, the city boasts a large crocodile farm with minimal interest in safety and security. So if you're in the market for having a limb gnawed off by a baby croc, Puerto Princesa is your town. This crocodile is saying "Hi, I am your future."

Baby crocodiles in a bathtub.

Some Philipino guys airing out their bellies.

And finally we arrive at the city we were journeying towards this whole time: El Nido. We stayed at this wonderful guesthouse in a cabin right on the beach.

This is the view from the balcony of our cabin. (10 bucks a night, yall.)

El Nido at dusk.

Most of our meals were at restaurants that set up tables on the beach.

Most of my meals ended with a grilled and sugared banana.

Livin the life.

One day, Chris and I kayaked to a private island. It was beautiful and we even saw some wild pigs come to the ocean to take a bath. But while kayaking back to the mainland, a storm was quickly chasing us and we thought we might be on the next episode of "I Shouldn't Be Alive".