Day 11: Watch your step and enjoy the yacht!

 Last night, as I was leaving the art cafe, I twisted my ankle at the bottom of the stairs, and fell face forward into the street!  I have a nice gauge on my knee, and a swollen ankle!  I think it was more action than this town had seen in a while, because I was surrounded by Philippino's asking if I was okay!  Luckily I was with Noa, so she snapped a picture to help me remember the moment!

This morning, I woke up at 11:30am!  I couldn't believe it!  I never sleep past 7:00am, so I was a tad bit proud of my laziness!  I got ready and slowly limped down the stairs to the lobby of my hotel.  When I got down there, I was met by the owner, his 2 sons, and their 4 workers who were all sitting at the huge table eating lunch, Philippino style!  They immediately asked me to join them, which was awesome as this was the 1st Philippino style meal I'd had since I've been here!

 

 Pork, potatoes, cabbage and bananas, all boiled together with a broth to make a soup!  It was actually really good, and so fun to eat with all of them!

This is my hotel from the beachfront.  My room is the one in the back (2nd story) with my sarong hanging from the laundry line!

 And just about 200 feet down the beach is this run down Philippino home.  This is how most of the local's homes are here... Some a little better, and some a little worse. I'm not sure how many people live here, but there are always a couple little naked boys running around in the sand in front of it, and a woman is usually yelling at them from inside.  They also have a pet monkey who they tie to the wood planks... It's actually really kind of sad.

This is Rica!  She is such a sweetheart!  She lives at Ric Son's restaurant and bar.  Her mom and dad run the place.  They let her just run around, because someone is always watching her!  Even when I'm there, all alone, they allow her to run around, because they know I will take care of her!  :)

 

At about 1:00pm, Mike, Janice, Junie and I all kayaked over to Ali's yacht to bring him some soup, cereal, and water!

 It was a little stormy today, so it was fun to be on the boat.  We rocked back and forth while watching movies, cooking, swimming, and talking!

Janice made some pasta!

 

Mike hung over her shoulder to make sure she was doing it right! :)

 Ali just sat and ate!  He's feeling much better today, which was great!  He originally thought he had Tongee Fever (sp?) but he thinks he may have just had the flu.  Thank goodness!   Tongee Fever is a lot like Malaria!

 I thought this was funny!  Ali has a life supply of sun screen on board!  I guess when you plan to sail the world for the rest of your life, it makes sense!

Most of the day was spent lounging around on the top floor (There are 6 rooms, and 3 bathrooms on board!)

 We took a nice long dip in the water!  I used a life jacket, because I couldn't use my left foot to swim!  Junie told me I looked Korean, because Koreans always swim with life jackets!

 It takes forever to upload a video on here, so instead, here's a link to my facebook page where you can watch us playing on the boat!

http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=489984749936&saved

We started watching School of Rock, and ended with Forest Gump!  Talk about a lazy day!

Janice and I on the back of the yacht... 

 After the sun went down, we all hung on the back of the boat and watched the fish jumping with a flashlight!  The guys said they saw dolphins and some sea turtles, but my eyes weren't as good. :(  I just saw water!  Around 8pm, we jumped in the dingy and headed back to shore!  

I ate dinner (Philippino stew) with Noa for 35 pesos (about 60 cents I think)!

Then we headed over to Ric Sons to meet Mike and Janice, who were strumming away at their guitars!

There was a moment, where I was sitting, listening to these 2 play the most gorgeous versions of acoustic songs, an adorable dog was laying at my feet, the lighting storm in the distance was in full effect, the mountains were prominent over the ocean, the moon was full, I had my sudoku book in front of me... 

....that I thanked God for the moment!  It was perfection as far as I was concerned!   

...Even the stray dogs were relaxed!

 I love this place!  

I love the people...  

I love the pace of life... 

I love the color of the water when the sun is shining...

I love the views...

I love the food...

and I love the experiences I am having!

Not sure what the plan is for tomorrow... I just hope this euphoric feeling I'm having is here to stay!

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Day 10: More shells than anyone really needs!

I woke up this morning at 6:30am!  I guess that's what happens when it's hot and muggy and the fan isn't running because the electricity is turned off!  Oh, El Nido how I love you... and hate you all at the same time!  I grabbed my ipod, and listened to some soft background music while I tested my brain with a little sudoku!

I opened the door to my cottage to enjoy the morning view of the beach!  Blue skies are finally here!

Around 7:45am, I had had enough sudoku and walked down the beach to Ric Son's for some banana pancakes and coffee, for $1.00! 

After breakfast, I packed up all my stuff and headed nextdoor to my 3rd accomodation in El Nido - Entalula Beach Cottages!  It's official, I'm staying here!  800 pesos a night (about $17.00)

I got lucky, because they told me the room with the best view had just become available!  My luck on this trip is out of control!   Can you believe this is what I will wake up to for the next 4 mornings!?  I can't!

After getting settled in, I walked down to Ric Son's to meet the gang for our boat trip... but unfortunately, Ali woke up with a bad fever this morning, so we all stayed on land for the day, which actually turned out to be wonderful!  I hung with Mike, Janice, and Missy for a while...

... and then spent the next 5 hours snorkeling in about 1 1/2 feet of water, searching for shells, buried in the sand!  Janice said people were looking at me like I was crazy for snorkeling so close to the shore!  haha.   I will be the 1st to admit, I think I went a little overboard with the shells!  I'm hoping my students enjoy using them as game pieces, or whatever I decide to use them for, because if not... I am stealing a lot of shells from the Philippines for NO GOOD REASON!!

This is the 3rd day, in a row, that I've seen stray dogs "hooking up" here!  

I'm telling you... THEY  ARE  REALLY  FOND  OF  EACH  OTHER!  Can't you see the look of love and desire in their eyes?!  haha!

The kids in El Nido are so sweet and charasmatic!  When they see my camera, their eyes light up!  So different from the Korean kiddos who shy away and cover their faces!

I spent most of the night at the Art Cafe with Mike, Janice, and Noa.  We were all chatting about music, so I introduced Mike and Janice to Aisea Taimani's song "Broken," and they were instant fans!  (Aisea is a friend of mine from Santa Monica, CA, who is an incredibly talented musician and singer!)  I loved the idea of being able to share his music with people living in the Philippines!

At the end of the day today, I can say that I did a lot of snorkeling, shell searching, eating yummy fruit and veggies (and banana pancakes!), talking with new friends, playing with the local kiddos, and ultimately enjoying every moment of it!  Who knows what tomorrow will bring!  At this point I'm just happy to be here, and will be happy doing anything as long as it's in this beautiful place!***

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Day 9: Kayaking across the ocean - ALONE!

I woke up this morning and decided that while I liked my hotel, I wanted an even more Philipino style place, so I packed up and moved down the road to Dara Fernandez Cottages!  600 pesos a night (about $12.00)

As soon as I saw this place, I said, "Yep, I'll take it!"

There's no air conditioning or hot water, but I can survive!

... with a view like this, I think we all could!

I headed over to the art cafe for breakfast and treated myself to a bowl of mixed fruit - fresh papayas, banana, watermelon, and a native fruit I'd never heard of.  As I was eating, I looked over to Cadlao Island in the far off distance and thought... I wanna try to kayak over there!  

I don't know where that thought came from considering I've kayaked twice in my life, and the first time doesn't even count because it was at Disneyland, but I was determined none the less!

So, I looked over at the Island and said, "Here I come!"

The beginning of the adventure was quite beautiful!  The waters were a gorgeous shade of turquoise, and I could see down at least 30 feet!

It was when I was in the middle of the ocean, between the 2 islands that I started to get a bit scared!  The waves were crashing onto my kayak, and my arms were getting really tired!

I had to do it... to prove I really made it across the ocean!

Getting back to El Nido was an interesting experience!  It was really hard to get the kayak out into the sea with the waves crashing on the shore... They kept pushing the kayak back onto the sand!  Then I finally got in the clear and was ready to paddle, turned around, and my life jacket was floating near the shore!  Eeeehhh!

After about an hour of straight kayaking, I made it back to El Nido!  Whew!  I was exhausted and in great need of a shoulder massage, but Aaron wasn't around! :(   So, instead, I grabbed my book (SEX GOD by Rob Bell - Thank you Tiffany Lyon) and read in my own private hammock outside my cottage!

I wasn't completely alone though... I had little crabby's running in and out of holes in the sand beneath me!  They were cute little guys!

After reading about 50 pages or so, I grabbed my snorkel and mask and headed out into the water in search of some shells.  Unfortunately the shells aren't very exciting in this area, so I just collected small shells that I can take back to use in my classroom as game pieces!   I think my kids will love them!

After shell searching, I walked into my cottage and saw that about 200 ants had invested my bed!  EEehhh!  So, I swept them off onto the floorboards of my cottage, and headed to the bathroom for a shower!  Unfortunately there was no water coming from my sink or shower and my toilet wouldn't flush.  It was then that I realized what these 2 buckets of water were for!   Hey, I asked for Philippino accomodations... I got em!

After "bucket showering" I headed over to a nearby restaurant for dinner... but before I got there, I snapped some pictures of the locals...

These 2 little boys were hammering random nails in the floor of their parents convenience shop!  Boys will be boys!

These "lady boys" run the local salon!  If I hadn't trimmed my hair right before I left to come here, I would have let em have a go at it!

This is this man's shop!  Hey, gotta start somewhere, right?!

Seriously... The dog's in El Nido are REALLY FOND OF EACH OTHER!  Anyone want a puppy?!

Philippino candy is displayed in these jars at every local store!

The area has numerous signs like this, so I asked a local what it meant... Apparently the government is trying to tear out all the coral in the area so big ships can dock here... :(  Very sad!

I ended up eating at Ric's on the beach and meeting Junvi, a local Philippino who plays music there most nights. Nice kid!

After meeting Junvi, I also met Ali (Allister) a 22 year old from England who's been traveling the world alone since he was 17!  He recently bought a boat in Phuket, Thailand and sailed over to the Philippines all alone!  Crazy huh?!  They both said they were heading over to the Art Cafe to watch Mike, their friend, play guitar, and invited me to come... So I went along.

It was there that I met the rest of their tight knit group, who very quickly and warmly welcomed me! :)
From left to right:

Ali - a 22 year old from England who publishes books, writes poems, and sails the world.

Me - You all know my story!

Junvi - Originally from an island near Cebu.  He came to El Nido 2 months ago and hasn't left!  He's currently working as a guide.

Mike - An El Nido local, who plays guitar and sings every night at the Art Cafe and Ric's on the beach!  At the Art Cafe he plays John Mayer style songs, and at Ric's he becomes the spittig image of Bob Marley!  Talented kid to say the least!

Janice - Mike's girlfriend!  Can you believe she's 32 yrs old!!  She's stunning, and laughs at everything!  She's also a very accomplished artists (Note the portrait that she was working on tonight!)

Noa - A 22 year old from Israel that came to El Nido 2 months ago and never left!

Tomorrow they've invited me out on Ali's boat to go island hopping with them all!  Can't beat the "FREE SAILING TOUR" as they call it!  I saw his boat today as I was kayaking and it's REALLY NICE!  9am is take off time!  I'm definitely bringing my snorkel with me and my 2 goals for the day are to hold one of the huge blue starfish and see (or better yet, swim with) a sea turtle!  Cross your fingers, please!

Until tomorrow!!
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