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Published: December 27th 2008
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Day 68 - December 17, 2008
Mabuhay, Pilipinas!
He Said (Gim’s perspective)
We left Malaysia early in the morning and had a long layover in Bangkok. We bought a camera at the airport since our cameras broke, 2 of them. We had a good one, 30%!o(MISSING)ff. Then finally, we boarded our plane to the Philippines. Maria was so excited!
We arrived in the Philippines in the evening and went shopping at Duty Free with Maria's family. The Duty Free Philippines is a whole mall by itself outside the airport. One can go home and just come back the next day to shop for "pasalubong", as long as it's within a week of one's arrival date. It is customary in the Filipino culture to bring home goodies, or pasalubong, for the whole family. After shopping, we went to Maria's hometown and were greeted by 6 dogs, 3 cockatoos, 1 parrot, and a cat, as well as the Maria's aunts and uncles, when we got to their house. We had a dinner of pancit bihon (sauteed rice noodles), laing (taro leaves in coconut milk), and lechon kawali (crackling pork belly), Maria's favorite Filipino dishes, and went to sleep after packing
for Boracay Island.
Day 69 - December 18, 2008
Boracay Island, the paradise island
Maria's mom, dad, sister Judy, her sister's fiancé Sonny aka “Momoy”, and her cousin Trushi went with us to Boracay. It was a very short trip, only 45 minutes, from Manila to Caticlan airport. We had to ride a ferry to get to the island itself. When we got to the island, I was amazed at what I saw. The water was sparkling blue, the white sand so fine (like powder), the beach was very clean and long, and there was an air of festivity all around. The Philippines is so very Catholic, and so they celebrate Christmas. It has a lot of restaurants serving seafood and buffets at such affordable prices ($4 for lunch, $5-6 seafood buffet for dinner). We went swimming in the afternoon and witnessed the amazing Boracay sunset. Before dinner, we decided to have a massage by the beach. Oh, it was heavenly - having a massage under the coconut trees, the air smelling of saltwater, hearing the waves lapping gently at the beach and the rustling coconut leaves, feeling the gentle breeze on your face - it was a
great day.
Day 70 - December 19, 2008
SCUBA Day and a Nite-Out in Boracay
In the morning and early afternoon, we had 3 dives - Camia Wreck Dive, Friday’s Rock, and Angol Point. The water was choppy but thanks to modern medicine, we have evaded seasickness. We fed fishes and got surrounded by schools of colorful fishes. The corals weren’t that spectacular and the wreck was relatively “new” (the ship sunk in 2001) so it wasn’t totally covered in corals yet, but there were a lot of fishes (so friendly and used to divers feeding them) - like pipefish, stonefish, eels, angelfish, lionfish, and a lot more we couldn’t name. The water was chilly since it is the “cool” season in the Philippines, around 80 degrees F. We were exhausted after 3 dives, so we took a dip in the clear waters with Maria’s family at dusk. At night, we went to Guilly’s, tried some coffee-flavored hookah, drank some San Miguel Light (or “San Mig” light to locals), and had clam soup, shellfish, crispy shrimps, grilled squid, and rice for dinner. We did some dancing in Cocomangas Bar and finally called it a night at around midnight.
Day 71 - December 20, 2008
Massage day
We frolicked in paradise the whole morning and took pictures. Then we had another massage by the beach - we are hooked. Then we had lunch at the Greek restaurant “Cyma” in D’Mall. It was really good but somewhat pricey. After lunch, we walked around in search of “halo-halo”, a popular Filipino iced desert with milk and different candied fruits. We walked around the beach some more, had more massage, watched Momoy getting a tattoo, then finally had a dinner of pizza.
Day 72 - December 21, 2008
Back to Manila
We left Boracay this morning, so sad! When we reached Maria’s house, we rested a bit, had some dinner, then went to Greenhills for some night shopping. We watched a mini-Christmas show about taking care of the environment while we were there.
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EricK.
non-member comment
Gimbo!!!
Gim I can't believe you took off your clothes on the beach like that, well at least you have an all over tan. LOL Hurry up and get back I want to try that Scorpion Alcohol! Get Sum!