Today is a day for rest so I tried to have a bit of a sleep in but unfortunately the dog was barking all night so that didn't happen. In the morning we sat around with Julie's Dad and his friend talking about the differences between our cultures and about family. It was really nice to just relax, talk and drink tea. For lunch today we were treated to sweet and sour fish which was incredibly delicious - I think I ended up eating 2 whole fish. In the afternoon we ...

Today we were up early and packed for our road trip up to Mayon Skyline Viewing Platform. At 8:30am Susy the other Couchsurfer met us and we made our long way up the mountain. We passed small villages and also there was an 80km marathon on which made for interesting sites - black Kenyans, crazy Jeepney drivers and wild animals running about the place. We made it to the top and had a look around the old deserted hotel and then up to the platform. The views were be...

Today Julie and I were off to a birthday Party of one of her work mates. The Party was at the local swimming pool and was an absolute blast! We brought a custard cake for the birthday girl and joined the Party. Like every Filipino gathering there is food, food, food and more food! Roast Chicken, BBQ pork, stirfry veg, tuna mornet, fried noodles, fried fish, coconut cupcakes - wow what a feast and an absolute ton of extras (something very common here always too mu...

Today I was up early ready to run up a mountain, that old feeling of being ready to jump out of bed at 5am is back and it's wonderful. I can't help but be happy and enjoy every moment: from the delicious cereal to the fresh cup of tea :) At around 9am Julie and I decided to visit the Cagsawa Ruins - a famous 1800s church that was the tragic site of a whole village being wiped out by the eruption of the Mt Mayon Volcano. Amazingly the Church Pier still stands and...

Today was a very slow start but I did get up early again to catch up on emails, planning and looking at travel itinerary. I hung out at Julie's all morning, had lunch with her Father - baby squid in ink was wonderful. After lunch Julie and I walked into the city and explored the wet market: quite interesting and once again I had every Filipino in site pointing and laughing. They are really amazed by foreigners, they call out 'Joe' - the word for white boy named...