Goodbye, the Philippines! Hello, New Zealand!

It's always a weird moment when you realise you're going to sleep in another country from the one you woke up in.

A quick round-up of my time here.

Weird foods tried: 3

Facebook friend requests accepted: 38

Number of friend requests I accepted out of guilt because I have a hard time remembering people's names: 13

Mayors' hands shaken: 1

Celebrities met: 1

Events where a lechon was present: 3

Events where I was forced to have a picture taken with a lechon: 3

Money stolen from me: 100 USD

Massages had: 7

Dentist visits: 3

High fives received: too many to count

Hours until I'm back in New Zealand: 17.5

It's been real, you guys.   We should do this again sometime.

on love.

My home base here at the university is at the Engineering Resource Centre, and on Wednesday the director of the Centre had organised a 'Philosophical Colloquium' on love.  We spent a few hours in our conference room with a ragtag group of engineers, philosophers, sociologists and doctors and talked about things like love being a choice, the transcendent, sacrificial love, and people being pretty on Facebook but not in real life.  Names like Descartes and Plato and St Augustine floated through the conversation, catchphrases like 'spiritual orgasm' had the room howling with laughter, and I gained huge respect for the people I work with.

nips for all!

I am bringing these back as souvenirs for all of my friends.  ("I saw some nips and totally thought of you.")  Also in the Top 10 list of Things You Wouldn't Expect To Buy In A Pharmacy: gin, chocolate biscuits, and eggs.

RICE AT KFC! YES.