#but they definitely charged me half price for both of them?? so maybe i didn't read the sticker right lmao

[bigcats-birds-and-books]

Book Haul: Consolation Prizes Edition.

So I did Not make it to the finalist round for that first page contest I submitted to last month, but I did get boba and two (2) books about it, so who's the real winner here?? These both came VERY highly recommended, and I'm excited to read them one day that's not any time soon!

[ljf613]

OwlCrate Unboxed (01/24)

I just got my first @owlcrate box, and honestly, I wasn't really sure what to expect, or if this was really worth it-- I rarely spend more than $10 on a book, so the full charge of just one of these boxes (including shipping) definitely had me thinking twice. And what if, after all that, I didn't even like the book?

But one of the reasons I was willing to take a risk on this one was because the theme was clearly tailor-made for me specifically.

"Enchated to Meet You"? Regency-esque romance with magic and royalty? That soft, vintage aesthetic that I adore? Yes, please.

And I was not disappointed. While I still haven't read the book, so I can't say if I'll like it or not, what I can tell you is that before I even got particularly deep into the box, I already knew that the price I'd paid was more than worth it even without the book.

(To avoid spoilers, product images and reviews beneath the cut.)

First up, this canvas tote bag:

The design is based on a book called Once Upon a Broken Heart by Stephanie Garber. (It's on my to-read list, I'm just waiting for my hold to come in!) It's got a sweet, elfish woodland vibe going on-- I half-expect to see a tiny winged fairy peeking out from behind one of those toadstools. This bag is also has great functionality. I am always in need of a sturdy cloth bag to carry my books, and I am positive this is one I'll be getting a lot of use out of. The material is thick and durable, and it's wide and deep enough to easily hold at least half a dozen books without any stress. An all-around cute and useful item!

Next up, a reusable cleaning cloth:

The design is based on a book called Strange the Dreamer by Laini Taylor. (I'd never heard of this book before, but it looks intriguing, so I suppose I'll add it to the list.) It's kind of generic, but I do like the colors. And it does look like the kind of thing that would be perfect for dusting my desk and bookshelves. It's probably my least favorite item in the box, but I don't hate it.

Moving on to the metal bookmark:

The design is inspired by Emily Wilde's Encylopaedia of Faeries by Heather Fawcett. (I just read it a few weeks ago, and the sequel is currently sitting on top of my dresser waithing for me to read it.) It's supposed to be Shadow, the dog belonging to the stories main character. However, my first thought upon seeing a large black dog in a forest, standing on a pile of skulls, was of Ruth from The Ancient Magus' Bride-- who just-so-happens to be one of my favorite characters ever. I hope no one minds if I continue to see it that way. (No hate to Shadow-- he's a good boy!) It's a very whimsical design and I like it a lot!

And now the coloring kit:

I definitely wasn't expecting this from a subscription book box, but I am absolutely not complaining. (I've been thinking I wanted to sit down with some colored pencils and coloring pages one of these days.) The quote on the left is from Pride & Prejudice (my beloved), the top-most is from Bridgerton (read the books and liked them well enough but have zero interest in watching the show), and the one on the right is from Outlander (I think that's a show based on some books, maybe I'll look into it one of these days). The quotes are lovely, I like the simple yet elegant floral designs, and I love the soft pastel color palette (and will absolutely be holding onto those pencils).

The last item (aside from the book) is the enamel pin:

The characters shown here are Sophie and Howl (+ Calcifer!) from Howl's Moving Castle (the book, not the movie, though I love them both!). I love enamel pins and happen to have a decent-sized collection, but I don't think I've ever seen a sliding design like this. This design is absolutely enchanting, and I'm looking forward to seeing more from this pin collection in future boxes. I included the envelope it came in because I think it's really cute, and it gives me some serious Violet Evergarden vibes. (The design on the backer card is also pretty! It's really evident that a lot of thought and care was put into every aspect of every item in this box.)

And, of course, there's the book:

This is A Fragile Enchantment by Allison Saft. I'm not going to take pictures of every single customization in this one, but suffice it to say that it looks really pretty and I'm hoping the story inside lives up to everything else in here.

All in all, I'm really happy with this box, and glad that I got it.

[saltminerising]

Why Some Random Hatchery Dragons Are So Gosh-Dang Expensive

Mod note: Quite a long post, so I moved the tl;dr to the top and put the rest under a read more -🍄🍖

Tl;dr: if you want interesting-looking, unique dragons; if you're bored of the same popular XXX and XXY color schemes everyone can easily breed; if you consider yourself a fan of "matchy XYZ's"... please understand that you NEED breeders to be willing to invest in projects to make those dragons available to you. And that sometimes means paying significantly above fodder price.

(NOTE: This post is mostly for the influx of newbies, or people new to browsing hatcheries, who tend to come on here and send asks like "Why are people selling pretty typical looking XYZs for hundreds of gems on the forums?" I'm assuming at least some of those asks are coming in good faith, so I wanted to give a thoughtful answer. If you're an experienced player taking part in these conversations, this post isn't really addressed to you, so please don't think I'm talking down to you. It's also not about the cases of overpricing - I'm just guessing about half these asks refer to someone genuinely overvaluing their dragons, but the other half are likely sent by people who may not realize how valuable the dragons actually are.)

Please understand that every time you see a breeding pair with all or mostly gem genes, a highly specific but previously nonexistent or super-rare (i.e., all others with this color are exalted or in dead lairs and have completely different genes to boot) color combination, and popular (in terms of scrolls, this usually equals pricier) breeds, that means that a LOT of work went into that pair that you don't necessarily see.

It means that the owner spent many months (and gems) breeding for perfect colors. If either parent is an imp, that means the breeder had the extra step of needing to find in-range imperials to breed, since scrolls are not accessible to most users and are generally too valuable to spend on breeding projects anyway. Once two unrelated babies of the correct color were finally secured, the owner then spent up to 3.9kg on EACH parent to apply the correct genes, assuming they couldn't be bred for (when it comes to rare colors, you usually have to take whatever you can find that's close enough in range, genes be damned). After that, assuming it wasn't possible to breed for the correct, well, breed (again, with rare colors, you can't always be picky), the owner then has to spend even MORE on breed change scrolls. In total, these pairs can EASILY cost over 10kg to create. 

This is where people will stop and tell me that breeding is known to be a poor way to make money, and you should only create breeding pairs or run a hatchery if you truly love doing it. Trust me - for the most part, we do. If someone is investing the months (maybe years) and thousands of gems it takes to create a rare pair? They almost DEFINITELY love it, because otherwise they would see it's a horrible misallocation of resources. We all know that you will never make back 100% of what you spent on a pairing like that. You might not even make back 50%. These types of projects are almost always labors of love.

With that being said? If I'm going to drop 10kg on a pairing, hell yes I'd like to recuperate SOME of the cost. Both because my savings are going to take a massive hit, but also because the higher price point shows the effort that went into the pairing is being valued and respected, and my buyers understand the hatchlings were crafted with a lot of care (well, as much as you can put into pixels you didn't draw :P) to create something rare and unique. It's insulting to ask breeders to spend thousands creating rare, beautiful dragons, then expecting them to charge 10g per hatchling like they're any old non-fodder XYZ. 

If this still bothers you, try to remember that breeders don't HAVE to put these rare dragons out there. I'm currently working on my dream dragon. I could technically stop once I get that dragon; I only need one, after all. But instead, I'm also breeding her an unrelated mate so I can breed them and put their babies out into the world, making it so next time someone wants a dragon like this, they don't HAVE to spend thousands of gems on a time-consuming and expensive project. They only have to spend a couple hundred gems on the AH.

[mymemoirs]

Unrecorded Memories and Missing Taiwan #8

This is gonna be my last post for this series because I am left with only one week worth of story. Yes, my 2018 summer exchange story is coming to an end. I'm so glad it's going to be over because there's so many things I want to write in my next post.

32) Monday came and each groups presented their presentation in front of the class. My groupmates and I presented our presentation. It went smoothly and there were no real pressure compared to my AI presentation. Unlike the AI presentation, there was no grading for our presentation and thus no recognition of who's the best presenter in our class. Well, I think this way we can just be neutral and enjoy everyone's presentation. Although, to be honest, I can't remembered any of the presentations during this class compared to the AI class.

Okay, this is really out of context, but I have to admit that the Indian students I met are confident and good presenter. One presenter in particular presented like Steve Jobs. His talk is inspiring and full of hope (well, his expressions especially) even though he's just explaining about an AI that creates lyrics for music.

Now, back to topic *laughs*. So, after everyone in the class finished their presentation, I think we were dismissed quite early. I don't really remember what I did that day. The only clue I have of that day is a photo of the 7-Eleven near the campus. I think knowing well that I will miss that place, I just took a photo of it for my memorabilia. Well, sure enough, I do missed that convenience store. They have everything! I always bought my breakfast there. Sometimes I even have my lunch or dinner there. It's such a memorable place. I really love how the convenience store really depicts 'convenient' very well. It's very different from the convenience store in my country. Oh, and I think it's open for 24 hours. Like, seriously, this is too convenient!

7-Eleven store besides Asia University Campus. Look at that infinite supply of foods with chairs and tables. I just love so many selections of foods to choose, I really miss Taiwan's 7-Eleven.

33) On Tuesday, our professor suddenly told us that we were going to have a campus tour. So, off we go around the campus with our professor as the tour guide. It's not like we don't explore the campus but after the tour, I realize how big the campus is and how little exploration I did. There were so many places, BEAUTIFUL places around the campus. But the only thing I did whenever I finished classes was to go back to my room and rest. I don't really explored much except when I get lost. I also didn't visit other friends in different dorm buildings which is located quite far from my own. Now, that I think back, it's really too bad that I don't do much exploring but that's also one of the reason why I would still want to go back to Taiwan if I had the chance. I'm only in Taichung before and there were a lot of cities in Taiwan I haven't explored yet. I'll love another chance to explore the country.

The first half of our class (before lunch) was spent on touring the campus. After that, on the second half of our class, we went to an art museum in Asia University. I think our professor was out of ideas on where to take us and since most of us never visited the art museum that was actually located in the campus. He suggested that and we all went along, although, we must pay for our own entrance fee to enter the museum. However, I think it was discounted. I vaguely remembered paying 100 NTD for that.

The museum itself is called "Asia Museum of Modern Art" located in Asia University's premises. I actually had to pass through the museum every time I went back to my dorm. It have this amazing architecture that's also one of its selling point in my opinion. The architect of the building is a Japanese man named Tadao Ando. I just have to go gaga on him after searching more about him and his works. What a talented man he is! It even shows in the museum I went.

He's a King of Concrete because his works mostly uses concretes and the museum I went was made of concrete. It was also not painted and that's really interesting to see a building not painted but still exudes such a classy and modern look. There's also one spot in the museum that's very popular. Since the building is triangle, the corner of it have this eye fish effect if we took a picture from that corner. Just take a look at this picture below!

In one of the corners in Asia Museum of Modern Art.

As you can see, being in the corner allows people to see both sides of the wall, making an effect of using a wide lens or fish eye lens. I saw Tadao Ando's other work too in the internet and I am officially a fan of his work now. He really have piqued my interest in the world of design. I'm in love. *laughs*

Since it was an art museum, there were a lot of art works ranging from pottery, paintings to very abstract object. According to the guide, the museum have different arts displayed there depending on the exhibitions. I don't really remember what exhibition or what theme I am seeing when I went there but I was mostly focused on the architecture of the buildings. Walking around and seeing people taking pictures. I don't really take pictures which is kind of a bummer but I don't think I feel comfortable asking people to take a picture of me. Most of my pictures are taken in a group or by my classmate's initiative.

I took a picture of this because of the meaning behind the words which is very simple but deep. You read it downwards and from right to left, it would be translated as: "In Beauty, there are great pain and ecstasy"

34) After our trip to the museum, we can go back to our dorm. That Tuesday was actually the last night for my roommates since their classes had finished. So, we decided to eat outside and find a cafe where we can chill near the campus. The campus is actually very convenient since there's a lot of shops near it. I actually enjoyed eating around there to be honest. Ah, now I really miss my student's life. Hahaha.

When we went to the cafe, we ordered waffles and shared it among the four of us. While we were eating, the cafe owner suddenly approached us and offered another serving of waffles for free. That is actually quite surprising for us but we received it with delight. Who wouldn't like a freebies right? However, I had a feeling the reason we got that free waffle was because my roommates were attractive. Or maybe it's just because we were new customers and he wanted to gain repeating customers. Which is me *laughs* cause I brought another friends to that cafe again but we weren't lucky to receive a free waffle again. Oh yeah, the name of the cafe is 唯享时刻 (Enjoy Moments) which have a very cute exterior. I think that's the reason why the four of us is interested to try out that cafe.

Anyway, while being on the topic "being treated/ getting freebies" cause you're attractive, it's only when I went to Taiwan that I do saw this kind of thing. I mean back in my country, it's really rare to see my friends being treated or offered by strangers 'cause we're really scared if that actually happens. Heck, I even saw it twice happening with my roommates since one of my roommates were especially attractive. Aside from the cafe, there's this one time when we went to a minimart to buy our breakfast for tomorrow. The cashier actually didn't charge one of my roommate for something she brought it was as if he was treating her. It was actually amusing for me to witness that, their conversation goes like this:

Cashier: *scans barcode of the stuff, leave out an item and then says the price*

Roommate: Um, you forgot to scan the banana.

Cashier: Oh, no, it's alright. It's for you.

Roommate: Um, okay... *while giving the money* Thank you.

This is not really the exact conversation since I forgot if the cashier even said anything at all about giving it to her. I am not beside or behind her when this happened and I remembered the cashier being meek but he was definitely attracted to my friend. Because after going out of the minimart, the rest of my roommates who also went to the same class with her, tease her and said that this is not the first time the cashier treated her. And I think that's also part of the reason why they chose to shop at that minimart.

Last picture together before my roommates leave Asia University.

Anyway, back to to the cafe moment, I was really sad that we had to part ways tomorrow. Iris and Karen were going to stay in Taiwan for a while but they will go to a different cities tomorrow. Vincy, on the other hand, will be going back to Hong Kong. I can't remember every conversation we had, but I do miss them from time to time. I don't know if they feel that way towards me because our meeting is really such a short period of time and I actually rely on them as my roommates. We still had the WhatsApp group chats but it's always me who initiate the conversation in the group but even if we're not close, they really leave behind such a deep impression on me. I do hope I can meet them again.

35) The next day, on Wednesday, we have our class as usual. Our professor invited other lecturer to teach us about Fintech that day. There weren't much to mentioned for this day except that my roommates all went to their respective destination and we parted ways. I did have the chance to eat my lunch with Vincy before I sent her off in front of the campus. Aaaah, now I really miss them and the moments I had with them but life must go on and that's the thing about making friends across countries. You need to go back to where you belong.

On Thursday, the professor told us that we're going to have a farewell party and ask us to gather in a cafe near the museum. The cafe was actually managed by an alumni of the university and I think that's the reason why our professor wanted us to go there. Although, I don't know if the cafe still exists since it doesn't show up in google maps. With the pandemic that's happening, I felt it cause businesses to go bankrupt but at the same time new kind of businesses went viral during the pandemic.

During our farewell, everyone is having a light snacks and coffee, conversations, picture taking, etc. I don't quite remembered how the event unfolds in the Entrepreneurship and Creativity class farewell compared to the AI class farewell. I think the professors only gave some short speech and we also watch some videos before we received our certificates. The owner of the cafe also gave her speech about the cafe which really fits our class.

Receiving the certificate of completion from the professor.

After the farewell party, everyone is free to go. I usually hang out with my Thai friends when I'm on this class but instead of going out with them, I went out with my classmates who came from the same university as I am. It's funny that I only get close with them on the last day. I think they've told me that they felt I was not really approachable especially since I always hang out with my Thai classmates. I don't really deny that because I personally felt the time is so short to be friends with everyone and I'm the type to focus on one group of friends rather than getting along with everyone which I think is impossible for introverted me.

It's a good thing that I do get along with them eventually. I am also grateful that they invited me to go out with them 'cause I don't think I'll go anywhere that day if they didn't invite me. Although, initially I think they just invited me to get a picture together in front of the campus as the representative of our university. After that, they find me approachable enough to ask if I had any plans and would like to join them. Since I love travelling and am not the type to plan most of my days, I gladly accept their offer.

So, off we go to their dorm since they had to take care of some stuff (like preparing to go out, do a little packing, pray, etc). Since, I'm ready to go out and have done most of my packing, I don't mind going along with them to their dorm. It's also the first time I visited other dorm buildings aside from my own. Their dorm rooms are actually quite different compared to mine. They had inner toilet in their rooms while in my dorm the toilet is outside of our rooms. While I am there watching them, one of the classmates actually offered to do some makeup on my face and I let her do it. Although, I don't really have a picture of it unfortunately.

Me and my classmates from Airlangga University

After that, we went downtown to get our lunch since the food in the cafe is just light snacks. It was quite late when we grabbed our food, I think around 2 or 3 in the afternoon. We went to subways since they're craving for it and I also think it's halal for them. I actually enjoyed talking with them, they're funny and expressive. However, in terms of a travel buddy, I don't think I can get along with them because they only visited shops and more shops to buy the stuff people ask them to. Of course, they charge for it which is very business minded of them but I can see they're struggling with their baggage too.

We were outside for the whole day. Since, I had no makeup remover, I had to follow them to their room to use it. Afterwards, I left their dorm because I had prior plans with two of my Thai classmates (Phoom and Benz) to eat together since this is our last night in Taiwan. I remembered only eating with both of them even though there are other Thai classmates who didn't joined us that night.

While walking to our meeting point, I actually thought how beautiful the night view is around the campus. There were couple of places I went during daylight but it looks so different and beautiful with the lights. The moon was very bright that night too. Tbh, those kind of moments actually reignite my desire to travel again and even during that time I already missed Taiwan. I'm sure people who travel or on a holiday have those kind of moments where they miss holidays even before it ends.

Now, back to our dinner. We ate our dinner in a beef noodle shop near the campus which is actually very popular because it's close to the university and it also tastes quite good. Although, I don't think we can eat that everyday because it's quite costly compared to other available options (around 100 NTD). But when's the perfect time to eat a bit costly dinner than the last day, right? I personally enjoy talking to both of them even though they are much older than me since I knew they were a master's student around their 30s. After eating, we went to a minimart where they bought beers and then we walked back to our respective dorms since my dorm buildings aren't the same with them.

36) Friday, my last day in Taiwan! Everyone who's going back that day went to the meeting point in front of the campus where we will board on a bus that's heading to the airport. We say our goodbyes to the remaining friends who's going to stay, taking pictures together and just spent some time chatting before the bus arrived. Most of my classmates are going back directly to their countries but I was heading to Singapore instead because I have relatives living there.

The moon is so tiny but trust me, it really caught my eyes. Seeing it with your own eyes does feels different.

We all went home that day. It was really a memorable month for me and I am grateful that I get to experience all of this. I have always wanted a student exchange experience while still balancing my college life and this opportunity came through. Having this summer exchange on 2018 was one of the best highlights I had during college. While on the plane back home, I sat near besides the window and I was able to see a full moon shining brightly and beautifully. Although my phone didn't do much justice to the grandeur I saw, I really wanted to share with everyone the picture of it to end this series.

- Reina

PS. Thank you for reading this series, if anyone ever read it. I really appreciate it. Even though there are certain events or timelines that I'm not completely sure of, I find writing and sharing about the memories I had in Taiwan as a fond thing to do because it's really a memorable one that I just had to write about it. I also find this process - digging up past memories - to be a good exercise for my brain.

[pbandjesse]

Im having a nice night. Today has been good. Im hanging out alone at home right now. James is at a party. I decided to chill here. I hope he is having fun.

I slept alright last night and felt cute this morning. Me and James biked together to the museum. Which half stresses me out but was still nice. He had made me breakfast to take with me. And that was an excellent decision because there was a marathon that was making everything very difficult. James left me at the museum so he could go on a long bike ride. And i went inside.

There was a lot of trouble with staff not being able to get to the museum. But we made it work. No one else could get to us either. So it was quiet for the most part.

Everyone complimented my outfit today. The volunteer, Scott, said i looked very professional. James said it looked beautiful while I was biking.

I spent some time working on figuring out a commission sheet. Since people are interested in my Furby sculptures now I got to figure out how to charge for them. I came up with a base price and kind of an add-on situation that at Max one would cost $20. And that's if you get everything. So I finished that colored it and stuff and then put it up on my Instagram. I also made an example post showing what different types would look like. What you would get and what the prices would be. So far I've had three people contact me with definite sand to contact me with possibly buying the ones that I made as examples. So it's exciting. I still got to figure out the whole shipping thing. But so far so good.

I had a nice morning now. Hanging out with Kaitlyn and then Brandon was running the last weekend workers. And they were making sculptures out of found object which of course is my thing so I made some little wire animals to put on the table. And then I mostly just hung out in the print shop.

Are volunteer went home at noon and I decided I was going to play with some of the decorative blocks. I found shapes I liked and I picked out some letters and I use the proof process to make some copies of funny logo. Just trying stuff out. But that allowed me to be able to talk to people about type and type setting. Show them how it worked and that was a lot of fun. I had one guy with a little girl who had lots of questions it was really fun to explain things to her. It also helped me kind of breakdown the ideas into better examples. And then later on in the day Brandon brought her over to the break room to energize her to me because he gave her the wire sculptures and she wanted to meet who made them. So it was really cool getting to interact with her twice. She was really sweet.

Around 1:30 I went over to the shopping center to finally get batteries from the dollar store and get some nachos for lunch. When I got back to the museum I put the batteries in the Furby keychain and my pocket Pikachu. And they both work. I'm very excited. The Furby has a very deep voice which is really funny. And the Pikachu works very well as pedometer but is all in Japanese. I did not consider that. Still exciting and still works. I'll figure it out.

I only gave one tour today. It was at 2:45 and it was to the nicest family. We ended up having a very long conversation about the African-American story and how we can talk about it a little bit deeper at the Museum. And they just seemed really excited about all the history and stuff I got to teach them. It was really fun. My throat did hurt at the end of the tour because I talked a lot and it wasn't even just my regular tour it was just conversation all is well and that was really nice but it did make it long.

But we finished up and I got out of there around 4. The bike ride home was long and hot. But I got back here and ran into our neighbors and they asked if we could maybe water their plants. And that's really how you make friends. Watering each other's plants.

I got upstairs and I didn't feel so good. I was dehydrated and overheated to the point I had goosebumps. So I went to go take a shower. And I felt better after that. Marginally. I laid in dad for a while. I talked to James a little. I was thinking about going to the party but I didn't want to take Lightrail and then walk 20 minutes. I had too long a day. I'm glad that he's going to go have fun with his friends. And then we have today off tomorrow we're going to go to the state fair. And that will be a lot of fun.

I worked in my studio a little bit. Cleaned. And now I'm just chilling with sweet pea. I did some organizing of my clothes. Mr will came and fixed the closet door so it's not falling off anymore so that was nice. And it made it a lot easier for me to go through and take some stuff out but some new stuff up. I just want to wear more doll clothes. Hopefully soon. I can't believe it's the last day of August. I hope you all have a great night tonight. Take care of each other. Sleep well.

[dearchuchu]

Long version.

We awoke at 7:30 A.M. prompt so that we could make our way down to the ferry and catch the 8:30 hour long ferry back to Cebu island. Our host his us up to inform us that we hadn't paid for our scooter, and we replied that is correct. She said to please wait until 8 so that we could return our keys to her mother, and pay for our scooter.

The building next to our place is a local food co-op with very cheap rice, and lots of people coming all day. Our host mother ran it, as far as we can tell. Everyday from 8 until 5 pm there was a pretty constant stream of people coming and going in what is essentially our front yard. Right at 8, we go out, and sure enough, the mom is there.

The mom asks us for the key to the scooter, and our money. We give it to her, and then she says, "The ferry is closed." To which we are like, "What?" And she says, "Yes, no boats today. All day." We are obviously not pleased by this, and frankly a bit sceptical because it isn't even raining. We are just kind of like, "So what should we do?" And she says basically, "Check out isn't until 12, hold onto your keys until then."

It's important to note, our internet stopped working in our room 2 nights prior. The internet on this island is all basically portable Sim card hotspots. You have to load the data just like a pre paid phone, and we burned through our data very quickly. Our host said she filled it up again, but she clearly didn't. For important stuff like contacting our host to figure stuff out, we either turned on my data on my phone, or walked to a restaurant and used their WiFi.

We decided to go down to the ferry anyways to see for ourselves. It's a little over a mile walk, and about halfway we started to panic and think, "What if the boat is there, and it is leaving, and all our stuff is at the place?" So we waved down a tuk tuk and paid (slightly more than we should have) to have him get us down there quickly. Our thinking was, if the boat was running, I'd have him zip me back up to our place, and then double back with our bags and catch the ferry. Boy was that naively optimistic.

We're told the boat is closed for the day. We're told the boat was closed yesterday. We're told MAYBE tomorrow. The problem is, we have a place booked and paid for in Moalboal. After a local quotes us 500p each (it's 185p each on the ferry) we politely decline and decide to go back, get breakfast, get on the internet, and regroup. As of now, we have no reasonable price off the island.

Over breakfast we contact our host and she says, "Maybe they will reopen, check back at 11, maybe we will know more." We sort of get our hopes up, but are not deluding ourselves. We start to look into backup plans, at this point assuming we can't get off the island. Our place in Moalboal would charge us for the night if we did or didn't show up, but we decided if we couldn't make it, to contact them and tell them we ARE coming and NOT to rent out our room. Sometimes if you don't show up, they assume you just aren't coming and rent out your room.

We find a few cheap rooms on the island, so our main plan is, wait until it is completely confirmed we can't get off the island, then rent a room, and try again the next morning. At this point, the sun has come out, and it is a beautiful day. We decide, why not go to the beach? We've got nothing better to do.

We go back to get swimsuit's on, and "mom" is there, and she says "Please give the room key to this woman, thank you!" For our room keys. It's about 10:30 now, we have the room until 12. We get ready for the beach, step out, and mom is gone and the lady goes "Keys?" And I'm like,"We're going to come back." And she is like, "Keys?" Ok...

We obviously weren't planning on staying there another night, but we wanted to leave our bags there for a while, at least until we got a game plan. I ask, "Can we leave our bags here." She clearly speaks no English. I motion leaving bags and she just says, "No." Total communication failure. However, there is an 11:30 ferry, so I say, "Let's just take our bags to the beach, we will check with our host, if the 11:30 ferry runs, we will just go straight there."

We take all our bags down to the beach to lay out and relax until we hear if the ferry will run. A local stops us at the beach, sees our bags and says, "Going to Cebu? I take you, I have a boat." I ask, "How much?" He says "2,500 pesos." We both start laughing and then just walk away. The ferry costs us both USD $7.40, he quoted us $50.

On the beach we start formulating a plan. The side of the island we are on is the side the ferry approaches from. We decided to just slowly move up the beach and watch for the boat coming, if we saw a boat, we would take off to the ferry. We also planned on checking in with our host periodically. We never saw a boat, but finally our host told us, "The ferry will start running at 1:30" Fantastic.

A brief short rain came over the beach, so we took shelter at one of our spots where we had been eating and drinking. We had a cocktail, then the owner came over and said, "Excuse me, the boat left Cebu, it's on its way." Perfect, confirmation that indeed, we are getting off of this island, and we may just make it to Moalboal today after all!

The ferry is a shit show. It hasn't run in a day and a half now. We are not the only ones stuck here. The line is long, people are impatient. The boat takes forever to dock, and then it has to unload all the people that needed to get ON the island stuck on Cebu. All in all it took about an hour to unload and load, but then we were off. (With the 1:30 boat leaving after 2:30)

This picture is of the bunk beds on the second level of the boat. We were happy in chairs, but got a little jealous of everyone lounging on the hour long ferry.

Getting off the ferry would be the same shit show, so we decided to come up with a game plan so we wouldn't get stuck at the port. A bus was how we got here originally, it's 370p and a little over 3 hours to Cebu City. The bus stops in Cebu City North bus terminal, but we have to get on the bus at the South bus terminal, so we would have to take a taxi there. Once in the South bus terminal, we catch the bus to Moalboal. Sounds easy right?

The problem is, this boat is full. There probably aren't enough buses for everyone. We have to move quickly and decisively to get our spot. We also talk about finding a private car directly to Moalboal, which would be way faster, but way more expensive. We agreed we would be willing to go to 2,500 on a private car, which is about $50. Quite a lot, but we would definitely make it to Moalboal in time to check in.

Oh right, that's the big factor. Check in stops at 10 (or 12 depending on which website your on) at our place in Moalboal. We're running at least 7 hours behind. We're not even sure we can make it. Once we land a guy approaches us and asks if we have a ride set up, we ask, "How much for a car to Moalboal?" Online says 40 to 50 USD, we were willing to go to 50. He says "4,500" or $90. We're like, "No. That's way too much." Then he says "Private car straight to South bus terminal for 1,500" That is tempting, we say we will think about it.

We get pushed off like cattle, everything is confusing, we can't find the buses, then that guy finds us in the crowd, and he is like, "What you think about what I say?" And I'm like, "Too much, too much, we're going to take the bus, where is the bus?" And he says, "Bus back there, take 5 hours, you don't want bus, take van! Much faster!" I go, "No, too much, too much" and he says, "Same price, same price, hurry!" I say, "Same price? Sure."

He rushes us through the crowd, pushing his way through, gets us to the last van, a sprinter van, and by the time we sit down, it's full. Hell yeah. That dude really came through. It was indeed the same price, and it was way faster than the bus. We didn't factor in rush hour, Cebu City is very big. After 3 and a half hours of almost hitting more scooters than anyone was comfortable with we made it to our destination. Sort of.

To be continued after I go to the beach.

[kazlifeadventures]

Cruising to the end!

This cruise was a last last minute decision, encouraged by my friend Jas in Trini (and some of my friends back home). I'd cruised before, but never solo. Let alone solo in a foreign country! The over night ferry cruises to get to Germany last month don't count..

Any way turns out cruising Americans love that Aussie accent to.. somehow I met this amazing couple from Maryland on the first night. We clicked and ended up spending at least part of each evening together. Great minds think alike (and have the same drink/bar tastes)...

This cruise was a 7 night Eastern Carribean adventure taking in 3 ports out of Fort Lauderdale.

Sint Maartens / St Martins island was amazing. It blows my mind that such a tiny place is literally split in two. France owns the 53km sq northern side of the island where it's known Saint Martin with its capital Marigot. This area is wholly part of France, and as such they are part of the European Union. The currency is euro (although mist places will also accepr US dollars) and the people speak French as well as English.

St Maartens, on the Southern Dutch side with its capital of Phillipsburg is the smaller portion of the island at 34km sq. Where it's small in stature is made up by controlling the largest port and being able to accommodate the large cruise ships. This section is technically one of four constituemt countries that form part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. Here they currently accept the Netherlands Antillean guilder (this is changing soon!) as well as US dollars.

The island itself was discovered in 1493 by Christopher Colombus, and at one stage was major producer of salt via a multitude of salt ponds some of which are still visible (but no longer used) today. The division between the 2 countries dates back to 1648, where the Dutch and the French finally agreed to split the territory via signing the treaty of Concordia. As you go from one side to the other it's clear how much emphasis on looking after the country has been placed by their respective governing bodies. Fun fact - as small as it is, it is still an international call to call from one side to the other! Oh, and the main airport on the French side is the one where they fly over you on the beach and you have to hang on to the fence to stop blowing away...

I did a bus tour to both sides of the island taking in the crazy iguanas in trees... seriously those things were huge and everywhere! I then spent the remainder of my day in Phillipsburg exploring it's gorgeous little streets and architecture, hanging on the fabulous beach, drinking beer and eating jerk chicken...I like to call that 'full immersion '😁

Then we were off to overnight to our next stop. San Juan, Puerto Rico. This one was an oddly short stop, which I found out later may have been due to some very high port costs (apparently US port areas charge steep fees based on time in port making it less cost effective to stay longer). Anyway we technically had about 6 hrs in port. After a leisurely start that saw me trying to convince myself to get off the boat, I wandered ashore with half a plan and ended up walking around the old town and city area for a good 2.5 hrs. Puerto Rico is classed as a US territory, so rather than being governed wholly by the US and it's constitution, it's kind of like the US over sees what goes on but the country govern themselves and follow parts of the US constitution. It's really complicated to explain fully, so go look it up and it'll make more sense! Anyway the city of San Juan was founded by Spanish colonists in 1521. The city lays claim to some of the most extensive preserved examples of Spanish coastal fortifications, as well as some amazing historical buildings. You all know how much I love a good fort, and here they were dotted along the cliffs of the city. Fort San Felipe Del Moro, Fort San Cristobal and La Fortaleza. No, I did not climb all over them... I wandered to each of them and marvelled at he ingenuity, but refrained from needing to climb to the top (I'm blaming time constraints ...🤣) anyway the gorgeous Santa María Magdalena de Pazzis Cemetery, a colonial era cemetery dating from 1863 is located just outside the walls of Fort San Felipe Del Moro and together the two form a breathtaking break in the skyline to the shore. Luckily for me a tourist from one if the tours warned me to get off the wall overlooking the ceremony as apparently you get a 500 USD fine for standing on it! No signs telling you that, so hey, dodged a bullet there! Later back on the ship, I overheard some fellow passengers stating they thought San Juan was a poor and dirty city. I guess all this travel has allowed me to see past that without realising. I thought it had a charm about it, (some of its residents thought they had charm too - queue guy trying to chat me up as he drove next to me in his car...🤣). It wasn't any dirtier than any other city I've visited (in fact there have been a hack of alot of places that were way worse, as were parts of LA - which I was yet to see) It's well known the country is struggling immensely with corruption and the vast divide in income for its citizens. The people I encountered were well versed in Touristing (again, like every where!) I really liked my time here, and would have liked longer in order to have been able to venture out of the city to see some of the natural wonders this country possesses.

Off overnight again, this time to the port of Labadee, a resort port on the island of Haiti that is owned by the cruise ship company. What a perfect Carribean stop, beaches, bbq, cocktails, sun and the glorious water of the Caribbean. I had only intended a multi beach swim /lunch/ then back on the ship stop, but ended up meeting a lovely young couple of newlyweds from Florida who wanted to spend the day 'chatting with the Aussie cause your accent is amazing'. 😂 hey I learned alot more about America and the music in Nashville (the husband was originally from there), and found out what 'dip ' is so it was a win-win. Btw 'dip' is like a tobacco but you don't chew it you stick it inside your bottom lip and then spit every now and then... kinda gross, but hey whatever floats ya boat!

Haiti outside of the resort area is a mess. A real mess. It's a country in financial crisis, with an unstable government and a collapsing infrastructure struggling to cope with the lawlessness of some of its inhabitants. I didn't do any of the tours as they didn't leave the safety of the resort bubble, so you weren't seeing the 'real' Haiti. I did end up buying a bracelet from a local artist and somehow being given 2 necklaces by another two artists...don't ask me what happened but to my relief, having them on seemed to deter other hardy salesmen. The people of Haiti still gain an income from having the ships come in, so for that I was grateful. It's not enough to fix their problems though....

All too soon we were back on board and off for our last night at sea, and for me, off to LA. Rather than doing the 6hr or so worth of flights followed by the big one back to Aus, I'd opted to fly to LA and spend one night there, leaving late the next evening. Synchronicity saw me receive the email for my free night of accomodation that I'd earnt earlier at one of the chain hotels in the US. This meant my last night was a freebie, go me! I got in late the night before, so literally had a day in LA. Jumped a tour that took me out to Marina Del Ray, Little Venice, Venice Beach, Santa Monica pier, Hollywood, the walk of fame, Mann's theatre... all the biggies! As much as I'd have liked to do the studio tours, no time. I will say I was underwhelmed by most of what so saw. Maybe I have been awed by too many things, but I thought LA was not worth the hype. The Hollywood walk of fame needed a bloody good clean, Venice Beach was just a beach with a whole lot of over priced tourist traps... I dunno. I'm hoping this isn't all of the West Coast because I was intending to go back and make it happen... (once I can convince someone to join me and share driving cause this one needs a co - pilot!)😁

I finally have to go back to Australia and make a decision about my job, where I'm going to live...pretty much have to go back and adult again (gosh darn it!).

How much has this adventure changed me? Immeasurably. I am so grateful I had the opportunity to do this. I am so proud of who I am and what I've achieved. Am I glad I did it - hell yeah! Would I change anything? Hell no! Everything that has happened, happened for a reason, changing it would change where I am now. I have learnt some amazing things about travelling, hints and tricks for booking places, how transport works in different countries, whether it's cheaper to buy tickets early/last minute. Logistical lessons most definitely. What I've learnt about me, could fill a book....

If I could encourage one person to take the step and travel solo and feel this joy and strength...even the smallest step, the shortest of time..just do it.

The people I have met have added something to each stage of my journey. No matter how small our interaction. For that I want to say a massive "Thank you", to each and every one of you. You have given me so much more than you would ever know or understand.

This isn't the end. It's only the beginning. There's a whole lot more of the world out there that I'm itching to explore ... I'll have to do it in pieces though as I've yet to discover the magic formula to allow me to continue to finance myself to keep travelling...

Where to next? Not sure yet... choice is an amazing luxury! Some of my trips I'll need a co-pilot to make it easier so that in itself will take time. Not sure how many people could handle travelling with me!!😉

[pbandjesse]

Today has been a steller day. Its raining outside and I just feel really cozy and good. And I get to go home tomorrow!! Im really happy.

I slept okay last night. I didnt want to get up. But James was up already and we both had to go to work. I went and got dressed. My hair was bad because of the humidity. But i still felt cute.

James left and I finished getting myself together. It was raining but only a little. I put on a rain coat and headed out. I went to mcdonalds and had breakfast. And got to work right on time.

I was mostly training today. I got to learn about game making and the group was really sweet. A Jewish school and the kids taught me some words in Hebrew. It was neat.

Half way through the class I got a phone call. I missed the call but he texted me right away. I called him back but he didn't pick up. So I texted him and then he called me again. And it was Marshall's manager from the actual teaching position. And he offered me the job. They got the funding. I'm so excited. It just like all feels like it's settled in side of me that everything is okay. Like this is what was supposed to happen. So I just got to be like wildly excited but very soft way if that makes sense. Like I don't feel jumping around the room excited. But I feel like yes this is what was going to happen.

I went back to the class and told to other girls I was teaching with and they were so excited for me. I emailed my manager there to let him know that my schedule will change again. And going forward I'm going to be working at the BMI Tuesday Wednesday and Thursday mornings. Feels nice to have and idea of where my schedule will be.

Today was also really good there because I got to see my embroideries in the shop for the first. And that was really cool to see. There are three of them there and I took some pictures of it so that James can put them on the Etsy Instagram. All of my coworkers are also really supportive about it.

The rest of the day there was good. I got to assist with the balloon powered car project. And then I got to lead one. I still have trouble getting the class to hear me in that big room. But all the kids were very sweet and we actually got more done in my class then we had in the one I shadowed. So that was nice.

Once the kids were gone I didn't really know what to do with myself. There wasn't really much supplies to be done. I had my salad. And then I cut some straws and then I left. So I actually had time to come home before my planned interview with the Walters today.

I got back here at like 2:15. And I made a hot dog. I was so overheated. So I fix my makeup and try to cool off. I'm really glad I ate. And then I walked over to the coffee shop.

I never been in the shop before because it looks really really fancy from the outside. But the prices are actually very reasonable and I think I'll definitely go back. They have lots of vegetarian food on their menu. I knew I was meeting with Annie but I didn't exactly remember if she was the blond woman I talked to you before. So I Googled her and I found her LinkedIn profile. Turns out yes she was exactly what I thought she was. And then she walked in the door not long after that.

I was straight up with her. I had got a job today. She bought me an iced tea. And we talked. We talked about art and my background. My passions. Things I love to do and the things I love to share with other people. We looked at some of my art. And I showed her the video of me firing the cannon. She asked me a million questions about working on historic ships. And honestly I would love working with her. But I'm just so busy. And now that I have this other job plus I've moved historic ships just to the weekend. She kind of was like let's just keep an open conversation about me possibly coming on at some point. And I felt good about that but then I asked what day of the week would be best for her. And she said Saturday or Sunday. And I said I can work with that. So right now if I do get an offer from them. Or a second more formal interview. I'm going to ask historic ships to add me scheduled Fridays and Saturdays. Including a Saturday overnight. And then I will work at the Walters a couple Sundays a month. I'm going to try my best to always have that one weekend a month off so that I don't die. Or just get burned out. But I really think it's important that I get into the Walters. And maybe at some point all transition more over to there. She said some really really nice things about my passion for programming. And she really thought that that was something I should do. That it's not as scary as I have built it up to be. And that She understands where I'm coming from with my insecurities about it. About being in charge. But she made me feel very confident.

I left an interview with really good feelings. I was so jazzed. And I came home and felt really really good. I talked to Dad for a while. And then I went and worked in my studio. I'm almost done my diorama for this week. I'm actually going to go down and paint a few more things that should be dry now. Cuz I really need to be done tonight. There isn't going to be a lot of time to do it tomorrow.

I vacuumed and hung out. James came to give me hugs and congratulations. He picked up his laundry in his bag. And he headed back home. And I've just been chilling since then. I took a shower and wash my hair. I've made sure that my bag was all the way packed. And it's really just been a really nice night.

I'm working historic ships tomorrow but it's a weird shift. I'm only working till 1. But I think that's fine. It actually works out really well for me because the new job wants me to come in to sign paperwork. He hasn't sent me an email yet to tell me when I'm supposed to come in. So I'm going to email him in the morning if I don't hear from him. He said around 2. But he also said somewhere between 2 and 4. So I'm not entirely sure which end of that Spectrum. But it'll be really good practice from getting downtown over there. And then around 6 me and James are heading to Philadelphia. Us. So that'll be good with me and not here alone for 4 days. I'm really excited for this whole weekend. I think it's going to be really nice. Even if James is very nervous about meeting my parents again.

I hope you all have a great night tonight. Sleep well. Stay dry out there. And have a nice day tomorrow