Friday, August 12, 2011

Boracay, Philippines Part #2

Today is August 12, 2011 and my day off.  I am going to update my blog as I have managed to squeeze yet another trip in back to Boracay.  2 wks just wasn't enough, so I ventured back again.  This time however, I flew my daughter Morgan in from the USA and she was my travel companion throughout.  We really had a wonderful time together....  I'm going to skip right over Manila as we only stayed one night the The first couple of days in Boracay were filled with sunshine and hot weather.  On day #2, we rented a sailboat/catamaran with hired driver ofcourse, and spent the next 4 hours cruising the crystal waters.  We went completely around the whole island.  The locals know where the best snorkling spots are, so we took three stops for swimming with the fish.  This time, I knew better and brought a couple loaves of bread along.  The boat driver and his help mate, threw pieces of bread in around us in the water.  This ofcourse, swarmed the fish all around you.  Morgans' favorite was to hold bread in her hand and the fish would come and eat right from her.  The waters were crystal clear and the fish........wonderful colors!  All topical fish, blues, yellows, clown fish, it is just like swimming in a fish tank.  It's become my favorite past time.  This swimming is very similar to the coasts of Phuket Thailand.  It's just an experience you will never forget.

The above picture was taken a couple days later.  We rented "dune buggies", and yes Morgan had her very own.  I was a little apprehensive because to get to the trail head, our guide had to take us on the main road through town for about 1/2 mile.  She is 11 yrs old!  And driving her own "car" on the streets of Boracay.  She did just fine though, and I knew she would be.  She has no problem handling my 400cc quad back home.  So, we ended up on the highest point of Boracay.  It rained on us pretty hard as the picture shows....we still had a blast.



And then, that evening, absolute disaster struck!  You would think that we just got news from NASA that a comet was found hurdling towards our planet, and to expect impact in 2 hours.  Well, it wasn't quite that, but back at the resort Morgan found out that her "hair straightening iron" (whatever that is) was broke!  Oh my God!  What are we going to do??  Dad!!!  Oh Dad!!  What am I going to do???  As she flopped herself onto the bed.

Guess where we ended up?  Yep.  A hair salon downtown where she spent the next 3 hours getting some sort of "pre treatment", and then finally they "straightened" out her hair.  She found the lady boys funny :-)  Gay as a 3 dollar bill.  Very very friendly folks though.  Morgan made friends very fast with them.  She had a fun outing there......


Not sure which day this was, but gong through the main section of town, there was this sushi place.  She said "Oh Dad, I want sushi. Can we?"  Now, I'm not a big fan of sushi.  I never knew she was either.  Maybe she's been watching too many movies/tv where it seem to be the chic thing to do.  As far as I'm concerned, sushi is for Bears.  They eat their fish raw.  Man discovered Fire for a reason.  So we "ate".  Barely.  We ended taking most of it back to her friends at the salon.  :-)  they were very please for the treat.

One of our fav places to eat was called the "Hobbit House".  I'm sure you can google and find it, as it's a pretty famous place.  Yes, the theme is based J.R.Tolkein books, and ALL of the workers are midgets.  I'm not talking just short people, I'm talking the shortest of the short!  So short that they had to reach UP to serve you at your table.  I tried to help them, but they shooed me away.





I don't need to add to much more to this update, as my last update was much the same, as it was the exact same place.  I had a wonderful time swimming, playing, talking with my daughter.  Shes' my buddy.  I am considering my next trip for September to be China.  We'll see where the wind blows me too.....

Qatar is going fine.  It seems like I've been gone over a year already!  I packed it with such activity I hardly can believe I've only been gone from the States for 5 months.  Seems so much longer.  The hottest temps of the year are in July and August.  Right now we are in the thick of it.  On average during the day it can get to 50-54C (up to 130F)  Humidity is very high here too at times.......









I should add this picture too.  This is pretty much how you get around the island.  They are called "trikes".  They operate all hours of the day and night.  Very cheap to get around.  If you find the right guy, you can get them to start racing with another trike.  It can get very exciting :-)  As you can see, the rain was here again.  We still had a blast.
Okay, signing off for now...............I'll update from my next destination.  Just need to throw my dart at the wall map and see where it hits  :-)

Dont forget, you can click on the pictures and they will enlarge for you if you wish......