Tagatay, Philippines

I still can't figure out how to upload my photos onto the blog so I'll just give a recap and then add photos later...

Anyway, after hiking the volcano, our group headed to a resort situated along Taal Lake called Club Balai Isabel. It was breathtaking with the lake and mountains as our primary view in the background. After checking into our rooms and eating a locally made Filipino meal (chicken adobo with fresh stir-fry vegetables), we all scrubbed off the pounds of dirt caked on us from the hike and then headed to the pool for a much needed swim.

The water felt amazing! It was exactly what we needed after 6 days of clinic and the volcano hike. The best part was that the pool had a slide that we each took turns going down. A few times we teamed up and went down in groups "banana-boat" style. Adam was the biggest fan of the slide and probably went down it 30 times Wednesday and 20 more on Thursday. To say the least, it was entertaining to watch his excitement for the slide!

A few hours into our swim it started raining so most of the group headed back to the rooms to relax. A few of us--Dusty, Emily, Kati, Adam, Abby, and myself--headed out to take a swim in the Taal lake. The water was really warm, almost comparable to a bath. But with the cold rain coming down on us, it made the water feel amazing! The biggest shock factor of the Lake was the amount of seaweed along the bank. There was so much of it! It felt like we were walking through some sort of netting. Either way, it was fun swimming in the lake with the cool rain coming down.

For the evening we had another locally made dinner of grilled fish and stir-fry vegetables with mangoes for dessert. It may have been the best meal we've had since being in the Philippines. It was absolutely delicious! After dinner, our group decided to stay by the resort and so we spent our evening sitting on the dock looking at the stars. Some of the more adventurous ones (Anu, Abby, Emily, and Adam) decided to jump off the dock into the lake and take an evening swim.

Friday was a relatively chill day. We woke up and lounged around the resort until checkout. The boys played basketball and swam while the girls laid out to watch. We then traveled to a park in Tagatay known as "People's Park of the Sky" to see the entire area in panoramic view. We could see all of Tagatay including the Taal Volcano from a higher elevation. It was beautiful from the top!

After a long jeepney ride back to Manila, we decided to spend our last night doing karaoke. We went to Music 21, a karaoke restaurant, and rented our own room to sing some tunes. Also during this time, Hope Worldwide rewarded our group with certificates thanking us for our service in the Philippines. The final count of patients treated was 2,160 patients.... in 6 days!

Well today is our last day in Manila and the other group has already departed for Kuala Lumpur. We leave in 12 hours for Jakarta on Cebu Pacific. If you'd like to follow our flight, we are on flight number 5J-759. The link is:

Anyway, we miss everyone at home and can't wait to update you with more stories from our trip. We hope you are doing well and please note that the comments are loved and much appreciated.