I woke up after 9:00am this morning, so realizing I had missed breakfast at the clubhouse, I grabbed the cupcakes from the fridge, and the leftover fruit from 2 nights ago and went to town while watching The Office, The Price Is Right, and David Letterman... all shows that were staples for me when I lived in the states! But, I haven't watched any of them on TV in over a year and a half! It was a treat, for sure!
Then I took the hotel shuttle to White Beach and took a nice long walk down the shore. I spotted these police officers, who were ON DUTY! Talk about living the life!!!
This man was building a sandcastle, which would be his income for the day! Many local Philippino's do this in the morning, and then charge money for people's pictures to be taken in front of it throughout the day.
I played with these 2 kids for a while! They were like little monkeys, climbing all over the bamboo walls of their dad's accessory shop on the shore...
As I was walking, a lady politely asked, "Massage ma'am?" It was as if my voice could say nothing other than, "Of course!" So, for $7.00, I had myself a 1 hour massage on the beach!
By this time it was lunchtime, so I ordered some pizza and a diet coke and enjoyed it at my table with an ocean view! (It's worth noting that my lunch was $3.00!
After lunch I went on a mission to find the hotel that Aaron stayed at last summer, when he came to Boracay! It was actually quite an adventure! The tryke driver didn't know where it was, so I got a bit of a tour of the island while he figured it out! It was worth the wait to see where he stayed! Good choice Aaron! Very charming, and cool location!
This was the beach in front of Dave's Straw Hat Inn where Aaron spent his summer vaca last year...
As I was leaving Dave's, I spotted a nice man, selling water sport packages in front of a nearby hotel. I ended up walking away with a ticket for helmet diving! What's funny about this, is... I saw a commercial for helmet diving one time and remember laughing and saying, "That is the dumbest thing I've ever seen!" I will tell you now, I should eat my words, because it was awesome!!
I will upload a video, and pictures, of me, underwater with the fishies tomorrow! :)
We headed over to Bolabog beach to catch the boat which would take us over to the helmet diving area of the ocean.
I met these 3 Philippino's on the helmet diving trip! They live in Manilla, and we hit it off right away!
(Dan, Me, Carla, and Janelle)
After jumping off the boat and seeing these darling Philippino boys, who had made a little pool of water for their miniature fishies they were harvesting, I shared my candy with them, which made us automatically friends!!
When I got back to town, I grabbed some melon ice cream! For 23 cents, I couldn't pass it up!
As I was waiting for the shuttle back to the hotel, Lindsay saw me and picked me up in her golf cart! Lindsay is dating the owner of Fairways. *** I accidentally said earlier that Dolly's husband was the owner - He is actually the developer of the luxury homes, not the owner. (Just thought I'd clear that up!) Anyway, we sat and chatted for a long time over drinks, fries, and a margarita pizza! She's from Canada, but has lived in Boracay for a year an a half!
I asked her a lot of questions about the Philippines... and she told me very candidly what it is like living here and what it's like for the Philippinos. She told me that the Philippino's working at the resort make about 200 pesos a day, which is only $4. Can you imagine trying to live on 4 dollars a day?!
She also said that no food is wasted in the Philippines. If you eat at a restaurant and don't finish your meal, the staff will probably either eat it themselves or take it home to their family!
She said her housekeeper will take home the heads of shrimp, or the chicken scraps when she eats them at home. They give them to their families who eat the little bit of meat that is left on them! She said they get really excited when she gives them scraps because otherwise their family may only eat rice for the day... I was shocked when I heard these things, and my heart when out to the people here.
She also said that no food is wasted in the Philippines. If you eat at a restaurant and don't finish your meal, the staff will probably either eat it themselves or take it home to their family!
She said her housekeeper will take home the heads of shrimp, or the chicken scraps when she eats them at home. They give them to their families who eat the little bit of meat that is left on them! She said they get really excited when she gives them scraps because otherwise their family may only eat rice for the day... I was shocked when I heard these things, and my heart when out to the people here.
Yesterday I was paying for a coke at the front desk of the resort and I said, "I'm sorry, 500 is the smallest bill I have," (which is $10) and the concierge said, "Wow, you're rich, aren't you?"
Being here has made me realize how lucky I am to have a job that allows me to travel, eat out, buy things I want, and have a roof over my head... I hope I never take those things for granted!
Tomorrow I am heading to Palawan Island, but not before I play a couple holes of golf with Lindsay on the resort course! I'm hoping all that screen golf with Aaron will pay off for me tomorrow!
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