My college (and beyond) friend from the US visited me as part of her "world tour"-- a global Odyssey that included stops in London, Northern India, and finally the Phil for 6 days of fun in the sun (literally).
I'll try to give you the details while they're still fresh in my mind--- but I might go back and add more later.
Wed: Irene arrives, looking fresh as a daisy off a 24 hour flight (I on the other hand am wrung out, after working a full shift at work before picking her up), and we taxi back to the house to drop off her stuff. Then it's off to eat and have some cocktails- I picked on of my favorite places, Sala Bistro, for a late afternoon pick up of flat pizzas and mojitos. We wandered to a few bars as the sun set, while she caught me up on all the places she's visited in India and various events that I've missed in the last 3 years. We had one final cocktail at Thai Silk (lemongrass martini) and talked about culture shock and traveling, then off to bed.
A full 12 hours later, we went to Apartment 1B for breakfast, then home to pack to go to Palawan for island hopping for 3 days and 2 nights. We took a plane to Palawan, checked into the hotel, then got a beer and went for a dip in the rooftop pool. (I have exceptionally good karma when picking hotels--I'm a hotel ninja). Irene picked a restaurant from Trip Advisor, La Terrasse, and we ate a very nice meal there. Off to a small local pub for a nightcap and then early to bed since we had to be up at 6 AM for the island hopping tour we had planned for the next day.
The island hopping trip goes to three spots: A coral reef that you can swim and snorkel around, Starfish Island, and Pandan Island. Irene was totally jazzed, myself less so, since I am not a strong swimmer and I've never snorkeled, but I champed it out and tried it, and while I can't say I enjoyed it 100%, I can see the appeal.
The main issue was this: the guide asked if anyone was a weak swimmer and I was the only person in the group with the stones to raise my hands and embarrass myself. Well, if you're a weak swimmer they give you a boat man who swims with a life ring and basically tows you around. I deliberately waited until a few people from other groups had gone before getting in the water when sure enough these two JERKS from my party swim up and literally push me out of the way to HOG the life ring and kick and push me the entire time. Uh, exsqueeze me? Baking Powder? I believe I was the weak swimmer here?
Anyway, it was a snorkel mosh pit. Had I rented flippers instead of swim shoes I would have swum out on my own, but as it was I wasn't feeling super confident about my swimming so I just gritted my teeth while some entitled b**** next to me jostled me around a World UNESCO Heritage coral reef (that was very lovely, however.). I can say that next time (if there ever is such a time) I'll go on my own, or with a much smaller group.
After the coral reef, we hopped to two more islands, Starfish, where we could feed the fish, swim and snorkel, and Pandan, where there was a bar, kubos, and tables, and a large beach and swimming area. We had a picnic lunch and got some sun, while the island cats and dogs (all very well fed from left overs) wandered around. These island cats were so large they looked like a miniature pride of lions sauntering around in packs, king of all the surveyed, bopping the Labradors on the nose when they got to close, and generally looking tough.
We checked out a super cute little place called The Gypsy's Lair Art Cafe
That was Sat AM.
PM and part 2 later!!!
No comments:
Post a Comment