From the Philippines to CAR…

Well, my holiday is officially over, and there’s no more time to dwell on the post-holiday comedown, as I’m right back into the swing of things again!

I got back to the Philippines a week ago, and had a couple of days with my manager in Manila, before travelling to Ormoc via Tacloban. I had a nice couple of days catching up with some peeps in Tacloban over the weekend, and generally getting back into work mode. The night I arrived there was a fantastic torchlight parade through the streets of Tacloban to celebrate World Water Day, complete with fire-dancers and all sorts of fun performances.

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It’s very hot and humid now, and still pissing with rain most of the time. Apparently this is the “dry season”, and by that I mean that it’s generally a bit less wet than the typhoon season. Or as several colleagues have informed me, there are two seasons in the Philippines, Wet and Very Wet. So this would be the Wet Season.

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Happiness, and other YouTube videos…

So, while on holiday I had plenty of time to fall down an internet hole and trawl the web for fun and interesting things…

This brilliant video, courtesy of UNDP and Pharrell Williams, shows perfectly the fantastically upbeat spirit of the Filipino people, always ready to pick themselves up, dust themselves off, and start rebuilding, with a smile on their faces. I’ve already watched it about 8 times and it still makes me smile. The perfect antidote for the post-holiday blues!

While we’re on the subject of YouTube videos, here’s a few more that caught my eye.

This equally brilliant but far more depressing video from Save the Children tries to show people in the UK what it would be like if something like the situation in Syria happened to us, through the eyes of a child. Depressing but incredibly moving and sadly a stark reality for thousands of Syrian people in the last 3 years.

And on a more cheery note, this hilarious video of Things Cats do that would be creepy if humans did them. Cracks me up.

While we’re on the subject of funny things, this list of poorly chosen book titles made me laugh out loud too.

And how could I forget the fantastic Philomena Cunk’s Moments of Wonder? Genius.

So, those are a few of the things I found on the interwebs this month that made me laugh, smile, and think.

Now go watch the Happy video one more time to cheer yourself up!

 🙂

Holiday Hiatus

Sorry for the lack of posts. I’ve just come back from 3 glorious weeks on holiday, which I spent in Leura, Sydney and Perth, hanging out with friends and family, drinking wine, eating cheese, and generally having a lovely time.

Of course now I’m back in the Philippines, hidden under the smog of Manila, and suffering from a rather epic attack of the post-holiday blues, so I thought I would post some pics of my holidays to cheer myself up….

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