Posts by Miel
Manila Travel Review
I landed in Washington yesterday morning, and wrote this from my hotel room in Manila, but wanted to share a few quick reviews for those traveling to Manila. I know I often look for similar guidance, and don’t often actually find it, so I figured I’d draft up a few notes that might be helpful…
Read MoreReading My Way Around The World
I often find myself with reading themes or streaks. I’ll read a series of related books until I need a change of pace, and I can’t handle another book about Africa/Afghanistan/Asia, fill in the blank. Lately I realized that I’ve been reading my way around the world, both literally and figuratively. On my last trip…
Read MoreFamilies Ties around the Globe
As a globe trotter adult, who never traveled outside of summer vacations to California, I sometimes reflect back to those first images that I have of life overseas. My mother traveled in Latin America, bought property in British Honduras (now Belize), flew in a bi-plane into a remote lake in Canada, and sailed from Vancouver…
Read MoreDriving in Manila
I’d have a hard time calculating the number of hours that I’ve spent in a taxi over the last month, but it would be fair to say that it would be well over a hundred hours. To and from meetings all over Manila. There are far worse and more aggressive drivers, but Manila brings a…
Read MoreSoft Rock Extreme
The Philippines is where soft rock goes to die a long and celebrated death. Wham! Air Supply. Lionel Richie. They are all here, and then some. A healthy dose of Christmas songs prevail, but the predominant music of choice in the Philippines is clearly soft rock. Many are very recognizable tunes, but It goes to…
Read MoreJeepneys
Introducing the incredible Jeepney! These awesome small buses were one of the first things I noticed on my ride from the airport. With the hustle and bustle of Manila, they are one of parts of the city I’ve enjoyed the most. Sorry the picture sizing isn’t what I’d like it to be, trying to work…
Read MoreExploring Intramuros Manila
Yesterday I finally had the opportunity to escape work for a few hours and explore the old walled city area of Manila, called Intramuros. Very nice to relax a bit and see something outside a meeting room or my hotel room in Manila. The Intramuros area is essentially where the Philippines was first colonized, with…
Read MoreFinnish Sauna Tribute
Today marks one of those landmark days that will always be special to me, wherever I am in the world. It is my father Wally’s Birthday, born on Pearl Harbor Day. He would have been 67 today. It feels like a bit of a time warp that it has only been two and a half…
Read MorePhilippines – Country #60
Welcome to the Philippines! Country #60 It’s taken some time for me to make progress on my country count, as I continue to return again and again to the same places I frequently travel to. It’s also been five years since I was last in Southeast Asia, which both feels like a long time ago…
Read MoreThanksgiving Abroad
It seems that racking up holidays abroad is part of the nomadic lifestyle of an aid worker. This is my sixth Thanksgiving abroad. They have varied tremendously in where in the world I was, including Finland, Ghana, Macedonia, Afghanistan, and now the Philippines. I realize as well that my husband and I have now spent…
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