Philippines Trip / Day 4 Pt.2

We eventually pulled over to begin Stage 2 of our trip up the mountain.

The rally/baja driver in me kinda wanted the buggy when I first heard it was an option, but the idea of being completely surrounded by a breeze was far too tempting. Plus, they had the same motor but more weight. Now what fun is that?

Can't we just ride the ATVs up this?

Finally we make it to the top and what a view! And yes, that white building is a hotel if anyone's interested. They had their own shuttle service for the beach where we stayed and it should have some great sunset/night views. 

Meanwhile on this side is a resort that has built a golf course through the entire northern part of the island. Personally I'd think Pebble Beach, Hawaii or Scotland would be better suited (and less humid), but hey, sometimes you just want to play someplace different! 

Over here is where we were staying and where the white beaches are. Originally we were going to be on the beach that you see here, Bulabog Beach, which is quieter and places more emphasis on their watersports than the beach itself. On the other side is our beach, creatively named White Beach for its white sand. This is the better beach for those looking to walk around and actually go into the ocean (plus it's the west side so you can watch the sunsets). Further south is where we originally arrived and where most of the locals live.  

North of the island is Crocodile Island which once you see it makes perfect sense. 

Really? Out of all the places to place the binoculars, they chose the only place with a tree in front. 

Group shot!

Doraemon!

On the way back down we passed by some Zorb ball course which would have been awesome to do, except none of us were feeling the idea of being stuck inside a translucent plastic ball on a hot, sunny, extra humid day. Bring this to SF though and I'll be first in line!

Because Korean tourists love some Psy, right? Right? Anywho, that wraps up our last full day on the island. Next up, our less than wonderful trip to Manila!

Philippines Trip / Day 4 Pt.1

Imagine if the rides at a carnival got together, grabbed a few animals to display and decided to set up a permanent location themed with various characters someone found online. That's pretty much how this place feels, and I gotta say, it's less creepy empty amusement park and more just strange. 

Side note; how the hell is Angry Birds so popular?! It's an app game based on older games that came and went for less than a year yet I still see people rocking their merch to this day. *sigh* Well, gotta give credit where credit is due, their marketing is Beats-level aggressive and seems to have paid off. 

"Do you want to hold it?" 

No....   I think I'll pass. He looks pretty angry about being there. 

Even the roosters were pissed about being there. 

So why were we here in the first place? For some ATV action!

When we first arrived I was worried that we misread the description and it'd be some ATV ride within this depressing park, but fortunately it just happened to be the location where the ATVs were stored. Which means...

...riding through the island roads! After spending the past few days walking around, it was nice going around under our own power with a breeze in our faces. 

And what a road to ride on! Despite being the hottest, sunniest day so far, the weather played nice with us and being on the top of the mountain we got a great view. 

We weren't riding around aimlessly though (not that I would've minded). We were heading to the top of the mountain which supposedly had a great view. Let's see if the brochure wasn't overselling it. 

Philippines Trip / Day 3 Pt.4

There's something wonderful about warm nights. I grew up with them in SoCal and it's definitely one of the greatest things I miss living in the Bay Area; night life just isn't the same. 

As the sun dimmed away, the lights glowed brighter and lit up the main strip along the beach. They did a great job providing enough light beneath the palms to give tourists confidence in safety when exploring around in the dark but not so much that it's lit up like Vegas. 

Sometimes we fall back on our daily habits as if we're at home in the States.

But then we remember our time here is precious, so enjoy what you can while you can!

Okay, that's enough sunset watching, time to walk around!

The Philippines is a strange place from a linguistics POV, where it seems like 90%+ of everything is written in english, but every now and then some tagalog pops up. 

Philippines Trip / Day 3 Pt.3

Today was the best sunset of the trip so far, or at least the most colorful. With such great weather, it brought out every tourist who would otherwise be spending the afternoon within their hotel rooms. Speaking of tourists, it was surprising how popular Boracay was with the Koreans. I wouldn't be surprised if 75%+ of the tourists here were Korean, so much so that despite the area being originally famous among American tourists (and that the Philippines usually write everything in English), menus and signs have begun to display bilingual messages especially catering for the new demographic shift. 

The locals have mentioned their frustration with adapting to the new language barrier, though they did admit that the Koreans exercised great restraint from littering the beaches, a tough problem locals had several years before. Basically, despite the increase of tourists, the beaches managed to stay cleaner than ever before. 

Some of us deal with the sun without even trying...

...while others still end up getting burned no matter how much sunscreen is used. 

The beach becoming more crowded than ever, although from what we've heard, this is nothing compared to peak season where one would have a hard time even standing next to the water for a sunset picture. 

These screens were in front of a lot of outdoor seating, we think to protect against wind, although we rarely experienced any on our side. 

Some of the foreigners were playing soccer against the locals, both sides being pretty evenly matched. 

Every afternoon we also saw some volleyball matches with the local kids. They must have been doing this ever since they were little because they were pretty dang good. 

Best seat on the beach. Seriously, we didn't realize until later walking the entire beach, these seats (which we effortlessly got every day) were one of the very few that wasn't blocked by anything and could also get drinks and food. Speaking of which...

Some delicious Potato Croquettes filled with cheese or chicken. 

Paired up with a great Old Cuban. Total price for the combination? Just under $5. For once the currency exchange is on MY side, woo hoo!

The crowds gather for the last moments of light. 

A lot of people chose to ride out on a sailboat to catch the sunset out over the water. 

Not the worst way to spend an afternoon.

Final part in the next post. 

Philippines Trip / Day 3 Pt.2

We continue our "hopping" experience, although at this point the only thing hopping is our stomachs from the growing choppiness of the sea.

Crystal Cove was the last small island near Boracay which was meant only as a daytime resort, someplace to go to for a picnic or private event. 

At this point we fully realize that we had been spending our time on the side of the island that was protected from the wind. On this side we were feeling the full brunt which Michael and Michelle weren't enjoying one bit. 

There still where some pretty impressive views of the island though.

At this point the seas were calming down and we were approaching our first beach but we decided it'd be better to skip the beach and just head back to our original shore to recoup some dizzy heads. 

On the north end of the island were some really impressive resorts. Is it better being excluded from the rest of the island? I'm not sure, but I wouldn't mind experiencing it to find out. 

This resort in particular was created and run by a member of Manny Pacquiao's entourage. Definitely an amazing location. 

And so ends our one and only experience during our Boracay stay out on the sea. 

Philippines Trip / Day 3 Pt.1

A new day, a new adventure, though the clouds seem to be back. 

Today we decided to do a little island hopping! See that blue boat near the center? That's our ride!

Michelle and Michael getting prepared for the voyage out to sea. 

So far all is calm, let's see if it stays that way...

There's no shortage of things to do here, the inflatables being towed seemed to be especially popular among some of the tourists here. 

Turns out the trip would be around the entire island before we eventually landed on our first beach. This wouldn't have been much of a deal except as we got closer to those dark ominous clouds, the water started getting choppier as the wind was kicking up. Uhhh, you sure we want to go this way?

Don't get me wrong though, there were still some cool views. Multiple times I was thinking "It's like something straight out of Disneyland's Adventure Land, except this is real life." This spot in particular would have been pretty cool to snorkel around. 

Not exactly what I think of when I hear the words "Boat house".

The port where we originally arrived. 

Several times we spotted these large homes hidden behind some trees. They reminded me of an evil villain's lair on some spy show. 

It was surprising that even when we were out pretty far in the water, it was still very shallow. If we had more time, we'd definitely consider scuba diving around here. 

Waves are starting to pick up...

This tiny island had a little setup for some high diving. If the waters weren't so choppy (the dock was moving around a lot more than it looks in the pic) it would have been a pretty fun place to check out. Pt 2 next post. 

Philippines Trip / Day 2

We began our first full day in Boracay with some great complimentary wagyu beef tapas and a quick dip in the water. 

As you can see, the sun decided to show itself a bit today, though from what I've been told is nothing like how the weather can be like in the summer. Considering it was full humidity at 80 degrees, I was perfectly fine dealing with this "off season" weather. 100+ with full sun blazing on top of the humidity? No thank you!

Today we spent the day mostly getting to know the area and doing a little paddle boarding.

Some interesting sandals being sold here...

There's a lot of stray animals here, both cat and dogs. Unfortunately, like with people, their living conditions here are considerably rougher than the states, so despite the high number of animals we saw, this pic of a relatively healthy looking cat will be my only post of them for the trip. For animal lovers traveling here just a reminder this ain't Europe or Japan, be prepared for some tough sights. 

Philippines Trip / Day 1 Pt. 3

Finally we're here! We are staying at a little boutique hotel called Zuzuni which despite being smaller than most of the other hotels in the area easily became one of my favorite hotels I've stayed at. 

The room was just big enough that it never felt cramped and having a large bathroom certainly helped for the numerous showers we'd have throughout the day (humidity man, it gets ya). 

Since we were staying with Michelle's brother, we needed a room with two beds. That request ended up being a room within a room with separate bathrooms. Extra set of stairs to go up (our room now being on the 5th floor) but clever packaging. 

The placement of our place was perfect, located in Station 1 just before all of the shops in Station 2. We even had a top notch restaurant and bar located on the ground floor, working in conjunction with the hotel. Very helpful for whenever we wanted a quick bite or drink. Plus they had some top notch complimentary breakfast choices, none of that Motel 6 continental muffins and cheap bacon. 

No matter where you are in the world, there'll always be a Starbucks nearby, haha. We'll that's it for tonight