I'm spending the week here

I'm spending the week on a tropical island in the Philippines. I leave tomorrow morning.

I'm going with some friends from school. Although, technically speaking, I'm not actually going with them. I'm just meeting them there. They left five days ago to tour around Manila before island hopping in the south. I wanted to skip the urban part of the trip and head straight to the beach. So I will fly into Manila and then hop on a small propeller plane flying 300 kilometres south a few hours later.

My friends will already be on the island by the time I arrive. It's hard to believe that this time tomorrow we'll be enjoying a drink on the beach after a sunset swim in the sea.

I'm looking forward to a week of rest and relaxation in a place where the most strenuous activity I plan on partaking in is snorkeling. All I want to do is swim, read and go for long walks on the beach. I don't even really want to do anything for New Year's. I don't like crowds and nightclubs so maybe I'll just ring in the new year by reading a book in bed. That might sound lame to you but it sounds alright to me.

I feel calm, happy and content for the first time in a long time. I don't need to do anything big to mark the passing of one year into another. I have a feeling good things are going to happen in 2010. I'm ready for a new decade to begin and I'm ready to start doing things right. I want to stop bending over backwards to please other people. I want to start putting more value on my needs. I want to be stronger. I suppose that's my New Year's resolution in a nutshell.

But for now, I'm just going to paint my toes and pack my bags. And wish you all a happy New Year. I'll be back in Japan next week.