Boarding Gate 101

My main motivation for traveling to South Korea during the winter was to do winter sports. I want to try snowboarding again, which I did in Hakuba, Japan. I was in the country for four days, and I devoted a day in the ski slopes for it, although I was only able to try skiing, not snowboarding. Around 7am on a cold Sunday morning (it was -12 Celcius) I was picked up from the hostel by the guide. There were several others in the group, including a Malaysian family, a group from China, and another from the Philippines. Our destination is the Jisan Forest Ski Resort. It is located in Icheon, about an hour or so from Seoul.  Getting our boots, poles and skis During the trip the guide gave us instructions such as where to get the ski gear, safety considerations, and beginners tips. This is my first time to try skiing, although I did try water skiing in Boracay more than a decade ago (I sucked doing that). There is an extra fee for snowboarding so I decided to just go ahea

This was my third trip to Coron and I still feel that I haven't scratched the surface of exploring the islands of the Calamianes Group fully. The trip was itself delayed for two weeks because of the cancellation caused by the APEC event, but the airline (we flew Skyjet Air) was able to rebook it two weeks later.  View from Mt. Tapyas There were noticeable changes in Coron since the last time I was here. The pueblo was busier, and there are more buildings and establishments around (fortunately not as bustling as Boracay with that Laboracay nonsense). The boat operators that give tours around the islands somehow also managed to standardized the fees and the destinations so you can just pick and choose where you want to go, like from the menu at a local burger joint.  For the first day I explored stayed around the town, with a quick climb to Mt. Tapyas, and a to the Maquinit hot springs early in the evening to soothe tired muscles after that climb. We did  Malc