leaving Boracay. Sailing to cebu. Flying home to Singapore.

We left for home Tuesday and arrived in Cebu Wednesday morning after a 14 hour ferry ride.
6 hours later i was back in Singapore... showered, buggered and tucked in bed.

Night life in boracay

The night life in Boracay is quite interesting. There are so many night clubs and pubs that open up as soon as the sun goes down. We usually headed out around 11 at night. We would sit on the the bamboo chairs with sand between our toes, drinking beer, listening to the soft acoustic music. They payed all of our soft rock favorites and sometimes some one from the crowd would join in and strum a tune them selves. I would have been in heaven if Jack Johnson or the john butler trio sat on the chair and performed their art.
We would finish off the night at a couple of night clubs, unfortunately i can't remember there names but i met a lot of interesting people from all around the world. Saturday night we met up with a couple of handsome crazy Americans.

Lucky for us we got invited to join them on the dance floor in their dance space.
It was also nice talking to some non-local with similar opinions about the Philippines.
Alot of good memories with these boys. Their genuinely sweet and it would have been awesome spending more time with them. :)

We also spent a couple of nights at cocomangas shooter bar. The craziest was the last night in Boracay.
See that blue stuff? I had no idea what it was.
It wasn't until after five shots i found my head buried in the toilet.
I was content drinking bear after those shakers/shots.
The atmosphere was awesome. Great music, plenty of dancing and a wide range of people.
It was here i also met Christoph a European travelling by himself. I remember sitting next to him on the ferry on my arrival-it had been weeks since i last saw a real blond European, even after living in Singapore for two months. We finally officially met one night later on in the week. Unfortunately it was his last night in Bora and he may have been a little too drunk when he approached me. After proposing and letting me know he wanted three children with myself i bought him some water and decided to walk him home, well to a motor bike any way. I headed off home early on the last night too, we had a 14 hour boat ride to cebu ahead of us.
I was so sick and tired of meeting great people, but having them leave the next day. I must have been cursed.

free drinks at Fridays Boracay

Ate Mira, Gigis friend works at Fridays Boracay 6 times a week from 2 pm.
We were asked to come visit Ate Mira work and ended up getting free drinks from the very cute bartenders. We were given free mango Dacaries and shots of tequila. I couldn't help but feel the boys eyeing off my two very sexy cousins. But shots of tequila and very delicious mango dacaries just was not going to do it.
Ate Mira (pictured above) is in her 30s, shes a mother of 1. We had breakfast together every morning and went out every night. She knows how to dance, drink and has plenty of friends on the island. She was there when i needed to talk and gave me advice on the little girly things when i didn't have my sister. She has a face like my mother, which could have been the reasons i felt so comfortable with her from the very beginning.

Living in Borcacay with the locals

When i first told Ate Gigi about organizing a trip to Boracay she was pretty excited. I wasn't planning on staying at a 5 star hotel, but i had my eye on some Australian Back backer places that were basic and cheap. An email later she has already organized somewhere for us to stay. Gigi has her connections and as a result i had the opportunity to live with the locals on Boracay.

We stayed on the bottom floor. There was one large room, separated by bed sheets acting as walls. It was divided into three rooms. There was a kitchen and a pretty decent bathroom.

This is Lola and she owns this house. I could never understand anything she said, but she always smiled at me, kissed me on the cheeks and always made me eat food. She also gave me a hat. I felt completely at home with Lola and didn't even feel an once of embarrassment when she would use the toilet while i washing naked. She was like a second Lola.

This is the house keeper. I never caught her name as she was deaf and mute, but she made me laugh. She showed me pictures of her children and told me stories through her hands. She would poke at our bums and grasp our breasts while we looked at our selves in the mirror in our bikinis. I could tell she was thinking back to her teens. She would quickly grab another photo album and show me pictures of her self in her sexy bikinis. She was and still remains a beautiful woman.

A group of men would always gather next door. They always asked if i wanted a drink. They sang Karaoke every night and played cards, they were gentle men. The one making a peace sign got us a cheap boat ride for the day. He also has one son, who is also his only daughter. It's amazing how he accepts the fact that his only child is a Bakla. The house keeper would always make penis signs with her hands when ever the shemale walked past. lol.

We were a 10 min walk away from white beach.

Boracay today

The last time i set foot on Boracay was 15 years ago. We stayed in an old Vila hut with our house maid. I remember swimming in the beach, playing sticks with the locals, drinking mango shakes on our deck and swinging in the hammock.

There where only three motor bikes on the island and it was common to see the real indigenous people. The beach was clean, there were fishermen and only they new about the secret caves. Dad would compromise with the fishermen, ask him how much they would earn fishing for the day and double the amount to borrow his boat. Dad would take us to his cave where i can remember the deepest water, bluer then the sky and fish more colorful then the rainbow.

Today, there are over 1000 motor bikes, large trucks compacting the earth and interesting Lady boys. Large hotels dominate the beaches and there is a local supermarket. The beaches are now full of movie stars and tourists. There are no fishermen but men sailing boats and selling Streets Icecream. It cost 1500 paso each just to get on a boat and there is a 150P fee when you enter my dads cave, now known as Crystal cove.

It's amazing what can happen in 15 years.

Boracay

My Mum and Dad fell in love on Boracay island and it was here i was conceived.
I admit, i am a bit of a romantic but i cant help but feel a connection with this island.
This was my fourth time visiting Boracay but my first by myself.

I've lived in Newcastle where i have had the luxury of Australia's most beautiful beaches, but white beach in Boracay would be in my top 3. The only down fall is the Algae, but if you swim out maybe 5 to 10 m your in crystal clear water.

The sunset was not only romantic but majestic.

Bacolod

We didn't expect to arrive in Bacolod so late. We were two hours too late to catch the ferry across to Illoilo Illoilo. So we decided to stay a night. We arrived at a quite dorm, full of students and other travellers. It was too quite and the electricity wanted to play games, so we decided to go out and mix with the locals.

The night club was full of teenagers but it was fun getting ready. One thing i have learnt, is how much philippinos love getting their photos taken... It was also fun taking the photos.

These cousins are absolutely beautiful.

Our adventure to Boracay

We left for Boracay Thursday night, after six days in Leyte. We caught a jepney from Albuera to Ormoc city where we caught an over night ferry to Cebu city.
We Arrived in Cebu around 6 am in the morning and had rice, egg and sausage for breakfast.
We then got ready for our 2 day adventure to Boracay Island.

We caught an air conditioned bus that drove south of cebu city for about three hours. The winding roads wrapped around palm trees. The fishermen and locals swam in crystal clear water. The views where breath taking and their environment was paradise.
I wonder if they knew.

We arrived at a ferry terminal where we were taken to the island of Negros.
We arrived at Dumaguete an hour later.

From Damaguete we caught a five hour bus to Bacolod.

my cousins.

I have so many cousins possibly over 100 and even more second cousins. I've never met everyone of them and i can't remember every ones name. But it's great to know that you have such a big family. I love it when we all get together, especially over feistier in September. I have a few close cousins who i was able to meet up with this trip.

Others are working abroad and living in Manila.

Let me introduce you to some of my close cousins...

Gig and Jeff.
Gig in the orange is 18 years of age.

Shy, quite and reserved.
I think he is gorgeous and i can't wait to get to know him a little bit more.

He plans on studying... and i hope we can help him get on one of dads ships.

Ate Jen Jen. She's like an older sister.

She's naturally beautiful and is a mother of two beautiful children.

She should be very proud.

Jeff. A cocky little clown but quite sensitive.

He's my handsome cousin with my earrings.

Not quite emo, but a little but punk.

I hope he finds all the happiness in the world.

Afren, Gigs cousin in the pink. He's like a father to all of my little second cousins.

He is going to be a great dad and he is a great friend.

Gaga, Gigi and Myself.

Gaga is 21, shes fun out going and quietly cool.
Shes a great dancer and can capture any ones attention by using her hips.
She has completed one year of nursing but is taking time out.
I hope she finds her way, i have a feeling she will, especially with the guidance of her older sister.

Gigi. The mother hen of us three.
Beautiful and curvy. Smart and intelligent.
She is studying to be a lawyer.
She has her opinions and defiantly a voice.
She can dance, love and will be a beautiful mother.

The houses of Vilya

Vilya is quite small but Mum grew up here with her family. A lot of the people who live there are distant relatives in some way, so finding my future husband in this village is out of the question. The family owns a part of the land where they harvest copra. My lola would climb these mountains in her 70s even before she broke her hip. Mamma phems father, my grandfather built the house with his own hands. When Ate Ninneth married Jeffreys father they did Lolas house up. Previously it was made of bamboo sticks.

It's one of the nicest houses in Vilya and in these red gates hold alot of memories.

(above) My Uncle Santos built this house with his own hands.

Mum helped him buy the tin for the roof.

The floor is the earth and there is only natural light.

He is a modern Tarzan.

Some are lucky enough to have a kitchen, but even then its pretty standard.

No teak cupboards, no granite benches or a stainless steal stoves.

Only the rich have fridges. But nearly every one has a rice cooker.

Their showers consist of a tap and a bucket.

I missed the feeling of continues running water on my face and back.

Theres no hot water, but who needs it in the tropics?

Theres no toilet seat and sometimes you need the plunger.

Ate Jen Jens 26th Birthday

Ate Jen Jen is one of my closest cousins. As a young mother we don't really have much in common. But we have an unspoken history. She was there when i was born, spent time with my family in Manila and was my sisters best friend as a child.

She tells me stories when i was only a baby when Tito Steve, Dad, would take her to the parks and give her special lunch trips to Macdonalds. It would only cost dad around $10.00 for about 10 of my older cousins, but it brought them so many good memories. Something so simple like listening and spending time with them was all they needed.

She devotes most of her time two her young children Niki and Jep.
She is a beautiful natural mother.

It's her birthday today, she turns 26.

We all catch a jepny down to the local pool.

Theres a slide, a fountain and little huts that give us shade.

The little ones jumped in the pool straight away.

And we decided to have a few drinks.

The Children of Vilya

One thing i can always remember when our family visited Lola are all the children. They came from all around the village and peaked through the windows, stuck their hands through the barriers and listened to our stories. I guess we were strange, like aliens. Just like the people, but not as perfect, from TV. We had curly hair, white skin and freckles. It's not every day they saw a large man with blue eyes in the tropics of leyte.

I remember giving them lollies, our old toys and clothes as a child. It was like their Christmas. But this time it was only me. I could only bring crayons, colouring books and a limited supply of chocolate.

This beautiful girl (above) is Nicki, oldest daughter of Ate Jen Jen.
She is very smart and can already read English at a year 4 level.

I gave her the little Mermaid book and she finished reading it in three days.

I love the children of Vilya they also love to get their photo taken too!