Happy New Year. It was wonderful to be in such a lively place as Manila for New Years eve. The city sounded like there was a war going on. Fireworks louder than pipe-bombs are readily available on the street for sale. We rolled from our Hotel to the Malatay area of town on the Manila bay, had dinner and then went to a rooftop restaurant. from which we watched the fireworks display that the city put on. It was an impressive show to rival a "symphony of fire" display. The trip to Malatay was great we took a tricycle taxi. A motorbike with a side car. Three girls in the sidecar, the driver on the gas tank, Adam on the front of the seat sitting sideways, and me sitting backwards off the back holding on for dear life. As we rode along kids were throwing firecrackers into the road in front of us. At one point we drove over an exploding package of M-80s. Kinda like driving a minefield except with a smile. Yesterday afternoon we quickly got up rushed to the airport and flew home. Still wearing my shorts and tan I got to Incheon and dug through my bag for my jeans.
Back here in Seoul it is a nippy -3. I stayed in bed most of the morning not really wanting to deal with the cold. But this is the new year so it needs to be dealt with.