Beijing, China

After an unexpected, extended vacation to the Philippines, this reaches you from Beijing, China. I think the reality of our unattached, nomad existence is finally beginning to set in. About a week ago we said our 2nd round of goodbyes to the Kaohsiungers who made it to the Philippines for Chinese New Year. Despite our months of adventure ahead, we both felt a big loss when everyone set off for Kaohsiung. It was the kick we needed to fully realize that our time in Taiwan is over, we're not going back, and there are a lot of really amazing people we won't see again anytime soon. As sad as the goodbyes were, it was well worth it for the crazy experience that was the last 2 years. Xie xie ni Taiwan and xie xie ni to everyone who made it so fabulous.

The mass exodus of Kaohsiung from Boracay ended not only our Taiwan experience, but also a completely excessive and unnecessary 2 week bender. There is absolutely no reason why anyone not in university, not under the age of 21, not in Cancun and not on reading week should behave the way we all behaved these past 2 weeks, but it's almost unavoidable. There's not a whole lot to do on a secluded island except relax, drink, sleep and kill the remaining time by drinking some more. I have very much enjoyed the detox in Beijing and look forward to continuing it in Tibet and never repeating the excessive - albeit fun - weeks we just had.

People and gorgeaus scenery aside, one of the highlights of our trip was a bar called Bom Bom. It's run by a group of super friendly young Filipinos who happen to be phenomenal musicians. Everynight we listened to live acoustic music with amazing singers, guitarists and bongo drummers, while lying in the sand enjoying $2 cocktails. They mostly did covers of famous songs and managed to put the original artists to shame. It was a daily highlight and I'll be sad not to do it again tonight, tomorrow and the night after that.

Our nights at Bom Bom also gave me the chance to get to know a local fairly well and learn about his life in the Philippines. He says everyone comes to Boracay and thinks he leads this charmed life. He's young, educated, and on a break from school. His days are spent on the beach playing frisbee, skimboarding and kitesurfing. His nights are spent playing drums. On the surface it looks incredible, but dig a little deeper and you hear how fraught with corruption his life in the Philippines has been, how most of his friends have drug problems, and how he's seen his close girlfriends end up in prostitution. Obviously his life starkly contrasts my own and it makes me realize that I too often forget how fortunate I am. Being born Canadian has made it all but impossible for me to experience the things he has. I may not get to play on the beach everday, but it's well worth the security of being Canadian.

Steph and I are now getting ready to board our flight to Chengdu, China, where we'll see some pandas and take the 2 day train through the mountains to the highest civilization in the world: Tibet! I'll write more from Chengdu about the amazing experience that was seeing Tiananman square, as well as the highlight of all my travels so far: climbing the Great Wall of China.