philippines + vietnam

tomorrow i leave for the philippines!!! i am so excited. my flight leaves from osaka at 7:30 pm and paranoid me is of course leaving with ample extra time. i catch a 3 hour bus ride to osaka at 9:15 am so i've given myself about a 4 hour cushion! charles will meet me at the airport in manila at 10:30 and the adventure begins. we will be staying with his family for the first few days and he is going to show me around, take me shopping and meet his family. a few days later we will head to boracay for some island-beach fun. hopefully its not raining so much but it is typhoon season so i am expecting rain. it's ok though, rain doesn't stop us oregonians! :) 

at some point we will buy tickets for vietnam and head over around july 30 or so and make plans as we go. i am thinking we will likely fly in to ho chi minh and catch another domestic flight up to northern vietnam hanoi and then go from there train, bussing or flying making our back down south and hopefully getting to see some mekong delta too. a few beaches will get thrown in, too. i am so excited to see everything, try the food, lounge on a beach, get an hour massage for four dollars, buy some cheap, cheap souvenirs and take a billion photos. 

there was talk of going to bali too so that is always on the back burner. we will have to see how the time in vietnam pans out. most of my friends here in japan are traveling too. some headed also the philippines, thailand and bali. i can't wait to see how everyone's trips went at the end of the summer. 

today i just have a few errands to do and final packing. as my reward (and deadline) i am meeting a friend for dinner  tonight at outback. we want steaks :P  tomorrow it's an early rise so i can not be rushed and leave my apartment in tip-top clean condition (yes mom, i cleaned really good) and head off for an amazing trip with chuck! 

yesterday i found an incredible shoe store and got myself a little prezzie: