3 things that i did for the first time

traveled halfway across the globe alone

a two-week international assignment  meant that i had to endure the 23-hour travel time from manila to lexington, KY by myself. having gone through the whole ordeal once before, my dread over traveling alone eclipsed my excitement of visiting the US again. but except for feeling sick and tired during the 11-hour flight from nagoya to detroit, the whole trip was not as bad as i had expected.  at least i did not arrive in lexington totally wiped out.  i welcomed any conversation that came my way – from chatty pinay teachers to burly old australian businessmen – just to avoid cotton-mouth. long flights will never be on the top of my list of fun things to do, but i came to know that travelling alone is kind of an adventure by itself.

the tunnel at detroit airport - the lights and music concert

that's 11 hours of being stuck in the middle seat for you.

tried out white water rafting

friends from work invited me to go white-water rafting at Cumberland Falls, Corbin. We were four people  from four different countries  in one car, so conversation was interesting (to say the least) i think i did pretty well going over the Class3 Rapids. at least i didn’t fall off and got swept away i wasn’t able to bring the camera with me on the raft, so i have zero pictures of the ride. all i have to remember everything by is the sound of southern drawl permanently stuck in my head and a semi-serious back injury from all those rowing (sports injury: another first for me hehehe )

sheltowee trace outfitters - the rafting place (www.ky-rafting.com). the sign says "if you're smoking in here..you had better be on fire!"

cumberland falls - the "little niagara" of KY. we rowed as close as we could to the falls. photo taken from the sheltowee website.

malaysia, philippines, usa, nigeria

sunshine on my shoulder

jumped 15-feet off  a huge rock straight into icy cold water

on the trip downstream we all stopped at a nice diving site called “jump rock”. the plunge looked like death to me but if i chickened out  i would surely never hear the end of it from my officemates.  i was so scared, my knees were quaking.  a nice lady saw how terrified i was and offered to jump off the rock with me. i took her up on her offer, closed my eyes, and screamed all the way down. i hit the icy water a second later. it was so fun, i got up and did it again