Marriage proposal on paradise boat?

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Monday July 3rd

For the first time since I've been in the Philippines I woke up really late on Monday. As usual I had made some crazy scheme for the following days. I was to take an overnight 11 hour bus at 17:00 to Lepaszi, arriving early Tuesday where I'd hike and take picture of Mt Mayon, the world's most picture-perfect volcano. I would take another overnight bus back to Manila on the evening coming back in the capital by Wednesday morning. Wednesday I'd do a day-trip to Lake Taal about 2 hours south of Manila to take pictures of that cool volcano and then come back for 18:00 when my boat to El Nido would depart.

This meant I had the whole day to have my laundry done, relax, update my blog and walk around. I took a shower and ate the yogurt and fruit breakfast while reading the newspaper. I gave them my clothes at the laundry service at the hostel and they said it'd be ready by the end of the afternoon. I then went to an internet cafe where I spent a few hours updating my blog. I ate at some local turo-turo place and had rice with some unidentified meat that "tasted like pork" but I prefer not to ask questions as it looked iffy.

It was already 15:00 and I figured I better call the boat company now so I could get my tickets now. I went back to the hostel and asked the manager for the phone and called. However the lady who answered didn't speak english and we were both pretty confused. I tried to extract information out of her but it wasn't much use. After that conversation I sat around until I figured that I just had to ask the hotel staff to call for me. Jocelyn, the friendly lady who told us where to see the World Cup games, was there so I asked her to do it. She smiled when I mentioned the boat company and said "it is a very little boat you know" but I didn't think much of it. She called and to my surprise, the boat wasn't leaving Wednesday as it says in my brand-new guidebook but Monday at 18:00, that is in less than 2 hours. Well there goes my plan. I thanked Jocelyn, went upstairs and packed my stuff only to realize my clothes were in the laundry still so I went downstairs to ask if it was done but they said it shouldn't take too long. I waited around and by around 17:00 it was ready so I finished packing and made my way to the street to get a cab to the harbour as the guidebook said it is not the type of place you want to walk with luggage.

I got a cab and the driver started ranting about heavy traffic when I asked him to use the meter but I was in too much of a hurry and was too happy to be able to take the boat today to complain, especially since the driver was funny. I agreed to a fairly cheap price and we went to the harbour. I could see why the guidebook tells you not to walk there, the area close to the harbour is clearly the poorest and dirtiest place I've seen in the Philippines with squatter's hut, mountains of trash and dust. We eventually passed a barrier with a security guard and he dropped me in front of a boat. As soon as I got off the taxi, everyone starred at me for a few seconds and started laughing: they were gonna have a westerner on board.

I could totally understand Jocelyn's smile now. This boat was made of wood and it was so small I couldn't believe it was going in the open sea. The boat was used as a cargo ship primarily and only had 1 big room for passengers, on the second floor. Needless to say I had a split second of hesitation but I nevertheless went to the ticket office and asked for a ticket to El Nido. It costed 1080P (about 20$) for a 40 hours lovely cruise on the South China Sea, with meal included (although the wine selection was not good). The people in the office were friendly and made some jokes in Tagalog. I asked why they were laughing and an older woman said: "I was saying that you won't sleep much in that boat with all the cute girls on it. If I was younger I wouldn't let you sleep".

It was 15 to 6 by then but they told me the boat wouldn't leave for at least 2 hours as some of the cargo had just arrived and they were still loading. I sat around near the office and some guys who work on the boat talked to me. They were really friendly and we talked about the boat, Palawanese girls and Philippines in general. They introduced me to a few crew members and everyone seemed nice although it was hard to talk.

The old lady who seemed to like me came to talk to me and I realized she was not a passenger but the owner of the boat line. She told me she had a cute 20 years old daughter that she wanted to present me because I was "very handsome" and that I shouldn't look at the girls in Palawan as I might be tempted to not go for her daughter.

It was her birthday that day and in the Philippines for your birthday you have to give food to other people so at some point she gave me cake and ice cream. I was honored to have the first scoop of ice cream and first piece of cake, which was delicious. I asked her age and guessed 23. She loved that comment. I also talked with her husband and a few other people and before I knew it, it was 20:30 and I decided to board the boat as it seemed close to leaving. Before I left she gave me about 20 Bazooka gums (she literaly filled my pockets) and I thanked her for everything. She said if I ever needed anything I could just come here and ask. I love filipinos they're just so friendly.

One of the guy I had talked to showed me the way to my bed. The way it works on the boat is that there is a big room with about 50 bunk beds and no pillows, sheets or anything and you just sleep there (or try to) with your backpack as your pillow. There is also a TV in the corner. The owner hadn't lied, there were a lot of cute girls on that boat A guy was sleeping on my bunk bed so he told him to go away and I lie down on the bed I'd be using for the next 36 hours or so. I tried speaking with the guys next to me but they didn't speak much english. We tried to communicate but it was too hard as they knew only a few words. They loved the Bazooka gum I shared with them but we didn't speak much for the trip.

By that point I was getting ready for a 36 hours of silence but a girl 2 bunk beds away from me started talking to me. Her name was Lanny and she was working in Manila and was going in Palawan to visit her family. She was interesting and while we started talking the boat finally took off, 3 hours late. We talked for several hours up until we both fell asleep at around 23:00.

The first part of the trip is on Subic Bay and the water is calm (the reason why Manila has always been Philippines main port is that the Bay is a perfect natural harbour). However after a few hours you go in the open sea and I woke up several time during the night because of big waves. It was the first time I was going on a long boat trip and I got this seasick feeling that night.

Tuesday July 4th

At around 5:30AM, I was woken up by the most annoying sound ever: roosters. That's right in the Philippines you can't escape them, they're everywhere even in the open sea. By that time the waves had died down a little bit as we were passing some islands west of Mindoro which were blocking the waves coming from the South China Sea. When breakfast came I was feeling good enough to eat (sausage egg and rice, normal filipino breakfast). The temperature rapidly started to increase and I realized that we were right next to the engine and that if I moved a few meters from where I was sleeping the temperature was 4-5 degrees cooler. Grrr. Unfortunately all bunk beds were full so I was stuck there, plus I had already asked someone to move so I could be closer to Lanny (to talk) so I didn't want to do it a second time.

The day was spent sweating doing nothing on the bunk bed. After a while we left the comfort of Mindoro for the open China Sea so we spent the whole day in the open sea with the big waves that come with it. Neither me or Lanny had the force to talk for more than a few minutes until like 16:00-17:00 when the sun died down and the temperature dropped. I was also feeling quite seasick and really had to force myself to eat lunch and dinner (it was chicken and it felt so good because I knew we were eating the chicken that annoyed us a few hours before, or so I wished). We were schedule to arrive in Coron, a small island group north of Palawan that has nice diving spots, at around 20:00 and would stay there for 3 hours, unloading and reloading cargo.

Lanny mentioned that she had an uncle on Coron and that we could stop by there and have a shower. I said yes right away as I really needed a shower after sweating all day in the tropical heat. Fairly quickly after that she told me how in the provinces, before people start dating the girl has to present the guy to the familywhich has to give their approval and if they do then they can get married. They're still very conservative and there's no "going out" phase as in the West or in Manila. I asked her whether she was more provincial or was more a Manila-girl and she said that she did go out with guys in Manila but now it was over and she prefered the provincial way. After that she kept giving me obvious hints that going there was not only for a shower and said things like "So normally you should be courting me right now" (I sorta stopped flirting after she mentioned the word "marriage", she might as well have said that she was transsexual my reaction would have been the same) or "giving a good first impression is important, you never know what might happen".

By that time I knew I was trapped. I couldn't refuse her offer now without completely offending her so I sorta decided to go along. At the same time I started thinking about the story the guy told me in Banaue, about how he and his friend were poisoned by "friendly" filipinos. I was going to this uncle guy at dark in a city I didn't know and I was starting to realize it was sorta unsafe. I figured I'd go along with it but stay slightly on the defensive if they were too friendly about giving me drinks or something.

By around 20:00 we reached Coron. We got off and went outside the harbour. As we were taking off the other girls on the boat gave me wide smiles and the guys close to me I had given the Bazooka gum to gave me the thumb up when Lanny wasn't looking. We took a tricycle to the house and we entered. Lanny had texted them to tell them we were coming so everyone was ready to welcome us. The uncle said "Welcome to my house" with a wide smile. There was also a baby, pre-teen niece and nephew, the mother and Lanny's sister which was in Coron to visit the family also. Everyone was friendly but didn't speak much english and the young kids starred at me. I took the shower first and then went upstairs where everyone was. They were speaking to each other in filipino so I couldn't understand much so I watched another wonderful filipino drama on TV and from time to time Lanny talked to me. I also entertained the kids by making funny hairstyle with the comb. She went to take her shower at some point and I was stuck there not talking and trying real hard to look as if I was having the time of my life. At some point I realized the sister spoke english but was too shy so we spoke a little. She did ask a smart question though: "what made you feel that you could trust my sister enough to come here late at night", well I guess I'm naive (it's not what I said).

After about an hour and a half (and a few squeeze on my hand by Lanny) we decided to head back. We grabbed a tricycle that was passing by and headed back to the safety of the boat. I was very much looking forward to seasickness by that point. The sister decided to come with us, to "chaperone" us I guess. We walked back to the boat, waited a little bit outside as they were still loading but then I said I was tired and said goodbye to both sisters and went on the boat. On the boat I went on the bed and fell asleep really fast.

Wednesday July 5th

The sound of the (few) remaining roosters woke me up at sunrise. I realized I didn't feel so well so when breakfast was served I couldn't eat. Everyone thought it was really funny. Lanny woke up a bit after but we didn't speak much after the uncle thing. She mentioned that she had a friend in El Nido that could show me around and told me she'd be waiting for me at the pier. I understand that filipino really want to help but at this point I really wanted to be alone and I didn't want to bother anyone as I knew exactly where to go and what to do in El Nido. I tried to tell her that I didn't need help but she wouldn't have any of it. In the morning I also realized that other non-filipinos had joined us in Coron, there were now a few Koreans on board. For the last 2 hours of the trip they played the entire BackStreet Boys discography. I'm serious, all of them one after the other. Let's just say I was ready to arrive.

The boat finally got in El Nido at around 9AM. I wanted to leave right away but Lanny told me to wait for her and she took her time to put makeup on. I was looking out the window to the Korean backpackers and I was envying them as I was still stuck in my akward situation. After what seemed like an eternity we got off the boat and she told me we could wait around for her friend Gina. About 5 minutes later Gina came in running. Lanny had told me all along that she had nothing to do and it did not bother her to help me but it was obvious that she was quite busy. I said goodbye to Lanny and she looked sad when I left. We said we'd keep in touch. I learned a valuable lesson on that boat ride: don't flirt with

Gina and I didn't stick together for too long. She was obviously extremely busy and asked me what were my plans, when she realized I knew where to go and what to do she said: I'll meet you at 7 at Marina's (the place I was planning to stay) and I can give you tips about El Nido but now I have something really important to do and I need to go, bye. I hate bothering people especially for no good reason so I felt bad for Gina.

As I was walking through town I stumbled upon El Nido Boutique & Art Cafe. Despite the wierd name this place is the backpacker's headquarter in El Nido. It pretty much has everything you need: store selling souvenirs, clothes and everything you might (soap/shampoo etc), a great cafe upstairs and more importantly they can arrange trip or tours for you. They have a board where you can write your name and the tour you want to do (they have a selection of tours) and if more than 4 people sign up by 9AM you go and do the tour. It is great for solo traveller because it means you don't have to charter a boat for yourself only, they find the people for you.

There were already people signed up for tour A tomorrow and a sunset cruise. I signed up for both (hey, sunset might be romantic and everything but it's great picture opportunity so you don't have to be a couple to enjoy it!) plus tour B for the day after. I wasn't hungry yet so I kept walking until I found Marina's Beach Cottage, the place where I was planning to stay. I chose that place because it was the cheapest and I could now see why. The place was very rundown but it has a bed so I didn't mind too much. There was no electricity because El Nido is off the national grid as Palawan is so remote so they only have electricity from 1PM to 1AM. This meant the fan was not working. But who needs a fan when you are next to a white-sand beach? To cool down I took a quick swim in the sea which was quite refreshing but didn't really cool me down as the sun was out in force.

After the swim I was getting pretty hungry so I headed for the Cafe where I got a delicious pizza. Two of the Koreans from the boat were in the cafe and they were debating which tour to take for tomorrow. I told them tour A was the best (as I wanted to have more than 4 people for my boat tomorrow) and they should join but they seemed more tempted by tour B. I left and went to the internet cafe in a hippy place called "The Alternative" (it was past 1PM now so there was electricity). I updated the blog but also posted on Thorn Tree Forum of lonelyplanet website to say that the boat schedule was wrong. By the time I logged off some person called Judith had already answered me and told me that they had changed the schedule very recently.

For the rest of the afternoon I hung out on my hamac in front of the beach, relaxing. I went back to the cafe for dinner, it is a bit expansive but it is the place to meet other traveller. I got some spaghetti which was once again very good. While I was there a western woman came and asked whether I was Victor so I said yes. She was Judith, the woman who had answered me on the lonelyplanet forum and it turns out she is also the owner of the cafe. She said I was the first person to come to El Nido with the new guidebook and she wanted to see it. I showed it to her and she read the part about her business and she quickly complained about some of the mistakes they made.

I left to go back to the hostel as it was getting close to 7PM and I had to meet Gina at that time. I strolled around the beach a little bit and took pictures of the sunset which looked stunning and then waited in my hamac for Gina. By 7:30 she still wasn't there so I just went inside and fell asleep.

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Photos

Josille
The lovely boat. Yep, it does go on the open sea.

Sunset from my cottage
This was taken on the beach 10 steps away from my cottage's room.

Sunset from my cottage 2
From the same viewpoint

Sunset from my cottage 3
From the same viewpoint