Thank You 2019

Grateful for...

• vacation leaves, my job (aka my travel fund), and my team for not bugging me about work while I am on vacation.
• travel buddies! I miss having company (most of my trips since 2016 were solo trips).
• free snacks at Haozhan Hotel, our hotel in Taipei.
• although it rained most of the time we were in Taiwan, the light rain never turned torrential.
• Taipei foodtrip with friends! We stuffed ourselves at Mala Hotpot twice, and discovered some good local haunts too.
• traveling in a group. When we missed the train to Ruifang (from Shifen), we decided to chip in for a taxi rather than wait for the next train, so we could get to Jiufen before dark.
• free Taipei walking tours through Klook.
• my friend for treating us to a daytrip to Sumilon Island.
• catching the sunset at Iho Tewoo Beach in Jeju.
• the ladies on the bus who were concerned my friend and I might get off at the wrong bus stop so she helped us figure out how to get back to Jeju City from Jeju Light Art Fest (which is not frequented by the local bus).
• having company while waiting in a dark and lonely road in Jeju so late at night.
• beautiful sunny days for Jeju Olle hikes around Udo Island and Gapado Island.
• grey skies but no rain while we were at Osulloc Tea Fields (it only started to rain while we were waiting for the bus back to Jeju City).
• my travel buddy for being game to do all the hikes on this trip—we did five: Geomun Oreum, Udo Island, Gapado Island, Gamcheon Village (we followed the entire walking route on the map so we could collect stamps!), and Igidae Coastal Walk.
• JungIn and JeongHun for spending time with us (and for lunch!) on our last day in Busan.
• my sister for letting me join their roadtrip to/foodtrip in Bacolod.
• Cebu Pacific's schedule change to my Narita flights (I had booked it 10 months early and there was a change later in the year). Why am I grateful? Because I got to rebook it without any fees and to the weekend I originally planned (it wasn't on promo when I purchased the ticket).
• a flight schedule that arrives at Narita International Airport when their post office is open. Why? I could have the rented pocket WiFi mailed there instead of the hostel, thus I could have my trusty Google Map to help me get to the hostel.
• the lone customer at the stand-up noodle shop in Asakusa for helping me order from the machine which was in Japanese.
• the noodle shop owner for squeezing out all the hidden Tagalog words from his brain when he found out I am from the Philippines.
• Hiromi for picking me up at Takasaki Station, welcoming me to her home in Maebashi City, feeding me, taking me around Gunma, and driving me to Isesaki Station so I could catch a train to Tochigi. How can I ever repay you?
• God for giving me analytical skills to figure out the detours in the Senjogahara Marshland trail maps (in Japanese) and for keeping me safe during my solo hike through bear country in Nikko.
• having a pork bun handy when I missed my bus in the middle of nowhere and had to wait 30 minutes for the next one...I was getting hungry.
• friends for joining 2/3 of my Kanto (Japan) trip and for setting their alarms at the appointed time (we started our days early).
• my friend for booking our hostel in Asakusa (Oak Hostel Fuji), and in Odawara (Tipy Records Inn).
• the chance to see the special exhibit of Van Gogh's works at the Ueno Royal Museum.
• beautiful late afternoon sun when we visited Sengokuhara Pampas Grass Field.
• awesome views of Owakudani below the Hakone Ropeway.
• clear skies for a view of Mt Fuji from Komagatake.
• stopping by Amazake Chaya: the amasake was indeed worth the stop!
• my friend for letting us use her credit card at the last minute to secure our hostel booking at Hotel Own Tokyo Nippori when the system didn't accept mine. Wahhh!
• my friend for letting us try the steamed (and expensive!) king crab she bought at Tsukiji Outer Market.
• not getting drenched in the rain while we were in Hamarikyu Garden without an umbrella!
• my friends for not complaining when I walked too fast.
• the Keisei Nippori Station staff for letting me enter without a ticket so I could check in advance where the ticket exchange window was (I needed to exchange my voucher into an actual ticket first thing on the day I leave).
• the person manning the ticket exchange for letting me get a Keisei Skyliner ticket six days in advance though the instructions I had read was that vouchers were to be exchanged for tickets only on the day of travel.
• my friend for being game to rent costumes at Iyashi no Sato, and for being patient when we got on the wrong bus (well, it was the correct bus but in the wrong direction).
• great weather for our Fuji-overload trip.
• enjoyable ride on the chairlift to Mt Takao. Instead of taking the cable car down, we decided to take the chairlift again. It was that enjoyable!
• Anju for meeting me for dinner despite her busy work schedule.
• Yumiko for showing us around Kawagoe and for treating us to lunch.
• my more than 7-year-old luggage for holding on until the last day (on the way to the airport, the rubber on one of the wheels peeled off).
• discounted deals in Klook. I availed at least one activity for each of my three international trips this year.
• Casa Gorordo Museum's free guided tour. (They had free guided tours every Sunday of October to celebrate the Museums and Galleries Month.)
• Casa Gorordo Museum's interesting and free talks (with free snacks)! Was able to attend one about the excavations in Boljoon. The speaker sure had a knack to keep his audience hooked.
• my sister for the Anjo World passes. I did not think I would enjoy it, but I did! And my nephew and niece had fun too!
• Hannah for booking Emerald Suites CDO (really good location!) for a bunch of us.
• my officemates for the laugh trip at Dahilayan Adventure Park and Dahilayan Forest Park.
• leave credits to take the last two work days off. I finally had time to write some blog articles after more than a year in hiatus.
• friends and readers for encouraging me to keep this blog alive.