The Cards Explore Thrills of Manila in The Philippines
(Editor’s Note: Peter Card is a native of Jasper County who was educated in the Jasper County School System which he later taught in. Currently he teaches in the United Arab Emirates and volunteers to share his experiences and travels abroad. This is his fourth correspondence since he and his wife, Cheryl, left for the UAE in June 2014.)
By PETER CARD
International Correspondent
My name is Peter Card. I am currently teaching and living in Al Ain, Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). This is the fourth correspondence to share my adventures living abroad. I am truly amazed at where life has taken me. I hope by sharing my experiences it encourages you to pursue your dreams as well. God Bless!
Welcome to ‘Year Two’ of my living abroad experience. Cheryl and I returned to the United Arab Emirates August 19th. We had a long layover in London that allowed us to see more of the city and take a cruise on the Thames River and go up in the London Eye Ferris Wheel. Both were very different viewpoints of a remarkable city.
Many people don’t like the layovers, but if it’s not too long and you can leave the airport, I like them. It helps to break up the monotony of a really long flight.
We had a week of professional development before school began and I moved into a beautiful new school building (by far, the finest elementary school building I have ever seen), but unfortunately the same challenges have remained from the previous school. School remains quite a challenge so as usual I will talk about life away from school, which mainly revolves around my travel experiences.
Manila, Philippines
This was not a trip we had planned on taking while living here but I am always looking for flight deals and this one was the best I have ever seen. Cebu Pacific, the airline carrier of the Philippines, had a 1 Durheim promotion flight sale (30 cents) from Dubai to Manila. Yes you read right, 1 Durheim (30 cents). It turned out there were other taxes and fees and everything on the plane was sold a la carte (even a blanket), but Cheryl and I still ended up paying less than $75 total for two round trip tickets to Manila.
In Manila, we toured Intramuros, which is a large section of the city that is the remains of the Spanish possession of the Philippines. Historical buildings such as churches, forts and hotels are the main attractions in this area.
On the next day we visited Taal Volcano and Taal Crater Lake. This was quite an adventurous excursion. We began by boating across the lake, then walking up the still active volcano. It was an intense hike. At the top of the volcano is an emerald green lake inside the volcano. So it is a lake inside a volcano inside a lake. Get it?
Our next trip took us to Hidden Valley Resort. The resort is a tropical forest at the bottom of a mountain. The water flowing from the mountain creates waterfalls throughout the grounds, some of which have been used to form natural swimming pools amongst a background of tropical plants. This was one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen.
For those not into outside adventures, we also completed a food tour of Chinatown in Manila. This is one of the largest Chinatown areas in the world. We tasted 10 different dishes from eight different restaurants, including oyster cake, dim sum, sticky rice, duck, and the most infamous, cow testicle soup.
I’m glad we got the opportunity to visit the Philippines as we enjoyed all our experiences.
