"I'M BEING EATEN ALIVE"

CAVITE, PHILIPPINES

Temperature: 30 Degrees Celsius

Track of the day: 'Sampip,' Parokya Ni Edgar

"I'm so tired of leaving places we like," I say to Alecs over a Filipino breakfast of longsilog at our hotel. "I know what you mean," Alecs says, "but we have liked almost everywhere we've been," he adds, "and it doesn't get easier." It's our last day here in paradise under the alias of El Nido. Kuya June, our bangka driver will be arriving momentarily as we are planning to re-visit some of our favorite spots for a different perspective and of course some new places as well. "It's been one heck of an adventure," Alecs says sipping his 3 in 1 instant Nescafe coffee as the birds chirp in the distance, "but it's coming to an end." In the midst of our reminiscing Kuya June walk up the shore to greet us, loading our snorkel gear on the boat.  "Can we visit the small lagoon again?" I ask, wanting to further explore and better photograph this popular destination on the island hopping trail. Nodding his head, Kuya June starts up the engine for the short trip to the popular destination on the El Nido island hopping trail. Donning our fins, snorkels and masks we swim to the lagoon entrance as I wildly shoot photo's, not wanting an inch of this place to be undocumented for our memories. Dodging a white jellyfish, Alecs and I swim to the centre of the lagoon where we can no longer 

see the ground. Treading water, we point out the many spectacular photo op's to each other before swimming to the edge where there is a small cave opening. Remembering what our guide told us on the first day, Alecs takes a peso from his shorts and for good luck drops it in the depths below. With our heads under water, we watch the silver coin flicker down further and further until we can no longer see it at all. We spend quite some time basking in the water and sun, hoping this day will never end, but we know we must move on. Heading to our next stop, a place we have also seen already - big Lagoon, I take the opportunity to liberally apply some sunscreen before once again facing the heat.  Big Lagoon is simply a photographers dream and all I can do is snap photo after photo. However this time around, Kuya June takes us to an area in Big Lagoon that our previous guide did not, a place where we can swim in crystal sparkling waters with visibility like we have never seen

before. Underwater, dozens of fish species perform their concerts, twirling and dancing about the brightly coloured coral. Several spikey black creatures like ocean porcupines cover the floor, their shiny eyes twinkling when the light hits them. "What are those things?" Alecs asks Kuya June. "Sea  Urchins," he tells us, "and don't step on them because those spikes pack in a lot of pain." Happy to know such useful information, we continue snorkeling about, keeping our feet firmly away from the ocean floor. The air is still, the water warm, no tourists are anywhere to be seen and both Alecs and I are having the time of our lives. Of course, like all good things, this too must end, and we board the boat once again heading to another island for our last lunch here. We spend our lunch aboard the boat chatting away with Kuya June, who invites us to his house for dinner

tonight. I look over at Alecs who is clearly thinking what I'm thinking - we always get so lucky with the people we meet. As we head

 to our next stop, Alecs and I are buzzing about having dinner with another local on our travels. Joenel tosses the anchor in the open water next to a large limestone karst and Kuya June, Alecs and I all jump in. I let go of the boat suddenly realizing how strong the waves are here in uncovered waters and I fight hard to keep myself from moving backwards. The undercurrent is so strong that the muscles in my arms begin aching after only minutes in the water. Alecs and I follow Kuya June upstream, fighting the sea all the way checking up on each other every few minutes. Alecs stops for a moment to defog his goggles and when I look up to find him he in no longer in sight. Panicking, I quickly begin swimming around looking for where he has 

gone, worried the current has pulled him under, but soon enough I find him treading water far far in the distance. I swim back to Alecs, asking him what happened. "I stopped to take some photos and when I finally surfaced the current dragged me all the way back here in a matter of seconds," he says trying to keep his head above the waves. We explore the underwater world, battling the waves and getting a fantastic workout all the while. "I think my muscles will be sore tomorrow," Alecs says pulling himself up the ladder into the boat, "I like it."We both agree that was one of the most challenging and more fun parts of today's tour and it was perfect for our last day. We stop at Seven Commandoes Beach, the last stop on this incredible island hopping vacation. A pristine stretch of white sand lines the amazing teal blue sea and we set off for one last snorkeling trip. About 10 meters from shore my legs begin itching and then I feel tiny pinches of pain all over my body. I tap Alecs on the shoulder and surface to ask him if he feels the same thing. "Ya it's little tiny jellyfis

h," Alecs says, as if I should know this, "just focus right in front of you and you'll see them." Putting my head underwater I focus very hard to see the little creatures and sure enough there

they are in the hundreds. I try to bravely push on and follow Alecs who seems to be unfazed by the bites but after about ten minutes I can no longer take it. "I'm being eaten alive," I say to Alecs, scratching my neck, "I'm going to go sit on the beach." Alecs nods and we part ways and as I swim back I decide it's high time I built something in the sand. Finding a nice piece of beach where I can see Alecs snorkeling about the coral reefs I begin building my creature. After three quarters of an hour Alecs makes his way back to shore to find my masterpiece in all it's glory - a hammerhead shark made of sand. "Hey that's awesome," Alecs says taking some photos. "Woe, what happened to you?" I ask Alecs pointing to his back which is covered in hundreds of tiny little bite marks. "The jellyfish," he says casually, "is it really bad." Lying, I tell him it's hardly noticeable when in fact his entire back has little red pin marks creating a connect-the-dots of jellyfish bites. "Time to head back," Kuya June says starting up the engine one last time, "dinner will be ready at 7PM." We arrive at the beach in a matter of moments and we quickly walk to our hotel to shower and prepare for dinner. As we walk down the small streets of El Nido, the smell of drying fish fills the air and walk in silence feeling the warm air surrounding us and the cool sea breeze blowing

across our faces. We arrive at Kuya June's little home near the pier and he and his wife welcome us in for a delicious meal of fried chicken, veggies and of course - rice. "I love making friends with locals," I say to Alecs when we arrive back at our hotel, "it just makes the experience so much more authentic." Kuya June was a fantastic guide and friend, and like our tuk-tuk driver in Cambodia, he is someone we will never forget. 

Morning comes all too soon to the early-to-rise community of El Nido and we have to catch a 7AM bus back to Puerto Princesa, the capital. Kuya June picks us up from our hotel, walks us to the bus stop, convinces the driver to give us the best seats up front and bids us farewell. The bus is a crowded metal box with makeshift seats, no windows and definitely no air conditioning. We both pull out our Cambodian Kramas making good use of them as we plow through dirt roads, dust flying into the bus. We make it to our first pit-stop with the bus breaking down only three times and Alecs climbs out of the bus to get some ice cream. As I sit on the torn raggedy seat I am reminded of a bus

we took in Cambodia. During that bus ride we stopped six hours into the trip and found some delicious homemade ice-cream in a waffle cone and excitedly headed back to the bus to enjoy it. 

Standing at the door to the bus was a thin little boy asking passengers for food and without hesitating Alecs handed him his chocolate ice cream casually boarding the bus. As our bus pulled out of the terminal i got a quick glance of a happy little boy, his face covered in chocolate - reminding me why I love Alecs so much. Today, however there is no little boy asking for his ice-cream and Alecs enjoys Ube, a purple ice-cream on a very hot day. "You're hair is white," I say laughing, "the dust actually makes it look like you have died the tips of your hair." After nine hours we finally arrive in Puerto Princesa making our way to Kawayana Resort, an inexpensive little place with more charm than we could ever want. Momentarily after arriving we shower and crash on the bed, falling asleep without having eaten anything but ice-cream. The next day is spent lazing

around the resort, sitting in the small nipa huts by the pool catching up on our e-mails, banking and phone-calls. "I'm excited to see my family," Alecs

says as we dig into a gigantic meal of squid, rice, sinigang and french fries, "but it's sad that this part of the trip has already ended." We recount all the amazing things we've seen and done and think of the many other places we want to visit. "Goodnight," I say to Alecs, rolling over in my bed, "pleasant dream."

As usual the sun rises all too soon and we are already on the plane bound for Manila where Alecs' cousin Ate Anna, her son Joel and his other cousin Kuya Bong will pick us up. "Ate," Alecs says opening his arms to embrace her outside the airport, "musta na (how are you?)" We all stop to admire her fancy new car before Kuya Bong drives us to a very fancy mall in Makati (part of Manila) where we wait around for Tito Noel. We stop at Jollibee (Filipino McDonalds)

for lunch and as we wait for our order I notice a scale next to the fries. "Alecs look look," I say pointing to the scale, "they weigh the fries." One of the clerks weighs my order of fries and removes two of them before handing them over. "Talk about cost cutting," Alecs says as we all laugh about their cheapness, "at least it's delicious." Tito Noel and Tito Hans arrive around 5PM and we jump into his air-conditioned SUV catching up on lost time. We stop at a party before heading to the new house in Cavite, which has been all the buzz for the last year. Unfortunately it's dark and we cannot see all the details of the house until morning, but we both look at each other in awe of the sheer size and grandeur of the amazing house. We are given our own room in a separate wing of the house and feeling like pampered kings we drift lazily off to sleep.

Until next time,

Alecs and Meg in Cavite, Philippines