Travelling with best friends
Trip Start
May 26, 1999
1
3
8
Trip End
Jun 20, 2005
Cebu City,
Philippines
Thursday, June 17, 1999
The thing with the Philippines is that there are two sides to it. There's part with white sandy beaches and crystal clear water, and then there's the part with impoverished families, whose children come begging for money, and polluted waters. We didn't really encounter the latter unless we were going to the cities or getting approached by lots of people trying to sell us seashells (they'd swamp your boat once you stopped)
01 - Lapu Lapu shrine
.In addition to touring factories and resorts, we visited several historical sites, like the Lapu Lapu shrine, Fuerza de San Pedro, Basílica Menor del Santo Niño (the first Christian church established in the Philippines), and Magellan's Cross (which was next to the church). We travelled on boat part of the time and got to swim/snorkle in the ocean. A lot of the experiences made the creature adventurer in me happy. For example, I got to hold and feed crickets to a tarsier, which is a tiny primate with huge eyes, soft fur, and sticky padded feet. They jump really far and move quickly. The feet are kind of weird because the rest of tarsier is so furry. While snorkling, I saw the fish that I had in my salt water tank at home in their natural habitats, which made me excited. There were also hermit crabs everywhere. Once, I was pretty sure that I saw a sea snake before getting into the water on a beach. I freaked out, and everybody went back to where the parents were sitting. While walking back, I saw a sign that said "No swimming allowed." Oops.
Being a picky eater, I was ambivalent on having the same food over and over again. There were a lot of mango- and coconut-flavored items, which I did not like (I was happy whenever we could have soda instead of coconut milk). On the other hand, I love sea food so having crab for lunch was nice. The main course for dinner was usually a giant roasted pig, which completely weirded me out.
Anyway, hanging out with my best friend was awesome. I stayed with Daphne and her older sister Angela, and while the parents kept an eye on us, it was more freedom than I was used to at 13. My favorite part of the trip was staying at the beach house. I think it was on a private beach because no one else was with us (besides our guides) and the water was amazingly clear. Oh it was like paradise! Angela, being the oldest of the kids, was shown how to drive a jet ski, and she wound up taking me and Daphne along. While it didn't go as smoothly as when the guide took us one-by-one, it was just fun to have the 3 of us cruising along. When we weren't jet skiing, I was swimming, looking for various marine animals, collecting shells and dried pieces of coral, and exploring the rocky formations nearby. I wish I could go back!
