Leisure Suite

A Blast in Boracay

I was leaving mass in Bulacan with my aunt and cousins and this beggar approached me. It's a casual occurence since this is a third world country, but this guy was a little different... a persistent little bugger he was. The typical beggar asks for money and if you shake your head or say 'no' he usually leaves you alone and pursues the next person. It's not that I wasn't going to offer him money, he just never gave me a chance to do much of anything since he kept following me, closing in with each step we took. I could practically smell the alcohol in his breath. SO uncomfortable. I looked at my cousin Sabrina standing several feet away watching- and laughing at me and my predictament and even moreso my utter disbelief that this guy has no shame in invading my personal space. Finally my aunt gave the beggar 20 pesos to back off of me and leave me alone. It worked. That was this morning.

Yesterday we got back from Boracay and the trip was a blast. It is sooo beautiful there. We went snorkeling, sailing, layed out on the beach, and my favorite- went parasailing. I also had the very best mango shake ever. I did, however, see far too many speedos on old nasty men with breastacles. That was the downside. Trying to make lemonade out of lemons, and at the risk of looking stalkerish- I seized this opportunity and specifically sought out older men with speedos and took their pictures. I had to be sneaky. It will be titled Hot Boys of Boracay so don't miss it.

Every day in Bora was a near death experience.....

On the way there, our little Asia Spirit plane experienced severe turbulence. This wasn't your normal turbulence. This sucked so much more. I seriously felt the plane plunging for five to ten seconds all while it violently shook back and forth. My stomach was in my throat by the end of it. Everyone on board was terrified, especially these two Korean girls sitting opposite of us. As the plane rapidly descended they both were holding onto the armrest so hard that they ripped it from the seat at which point they started freaking out. It was hilarious.

It sounds crazy, but the plane ride was worth it. Bora was amazing. The only downside was the transportation. Anytime we had a water activity (i.e. snorkeling, sailing, parasailing, etc.) we had to dock from the other side of the island so we had to ride a tricycle to that area. A tricycle is basically a motorcycle attached to a sidecar so several passengers can ride. You can comfortably seat four in a sidecar of a tricycle. Tricycles are common in the Philippines- some call them 'rats of the street' which is an apt description. Christine and I were in the back of one when I finally found out the true meaning of 'oh shit' handles. That's because driving here is CRAZY and we were going freakin fast on a busy street with oncoming traffic, pedestrians, animals, everything. I glanced at the spedometer to see exactly how fast we were going but it was broken. Go figure. No seatbelts, no doors, just two bars of metal to hold on for dear life.

The shopping was great, too. Everything was so cheap. A pretty shell necklace and earrings for less than three dollars. You could get a massage on the beach for like five bucks. I would've but I was burned. Besides, I got my massage fix on one of my last days in the Philippines (more on that later when I recover from the trauma)....... And one of the coolest things about Bora was this restaurant called "The Hobbit" where all the waiters were midgets. I'll post more pictures when I get them, which will be soon.

posted by mellokitty007 @ 10:39 AM