Intramuros

Hello Everybody! 

Sorry for the delay in post, I was so tired when I got back last night that I crashed and slept a whole nine hours! We had a really busy day that started at the Mall of Asia. We met up with two of Isabel’s family friends who are way more capable shoppers than me for sure. It took us hours to walk the entire mall, that’s how many shops were inside! Around 5 pm we were shopped out and got to go to the historical part of Manila called Intramuros, which means within the walls. Basically it was the starting place of Spanish colonization in the Philippines.

The best part was we took a calesa tour, which is an old horse and buggy! I was so excited to be around horses. The local horses here are small and feisty, and our tour guide made an awesome joke that he was taking us around in his Ferrari with one horse power lol! 

The whole town is basically a bunch of repurposed churches, monasteries, and convents. Even the jail cells were turned into food stalls! The Spaniards were trying really hard to convert Filipinos to Catholicism which meant they put a church every few blocks in this town, but realizing that it’s now overkill, they buildings are more functional now as schools and government buildings. One crazy thing I learned was that after Spain brought smallpox to the Philippines, everyone was dying in masses. Spain wanted to send the vaccine but it was only good in a vial for 14 days and the boat takes 6 months to get from Spain to PI. So, they injected orphans and used them to carry the vaccine here as human refrigerators!

We ended our tour by going around Fort Santiago which was a mixture of U.S. barracks to prison cells and was basically their main military hub. There’s even old war cannons from WWI and WWII. But now it’s a memorial to their national hero Rizal who was executed for treason against the Spanish government. He was the leader of one of the two revolutionary groups in the country at the time and was an accomplished intellectual, doctor, and writer. We weren’t expecting to see the statue of him in the prison cell and both jumped when we turned the corner! 

All of us then went to a very touristy but entertaining dinner where we watched some of the national Filipino dances. The first was binasuan, I was so impressed when they spun around with the juice on their head but didn’t drop anything. The other dance is called tinikling where they dance between the bamboo as it’s snapped open and closed. When they asked for audience volunteers you can bet I was the first to try! It was so much fun and reminded me of the folk dance I used to do back in high school. 

Sending you lots of love, 

Aisha 

14 Hours in the Car

Hi Everybody!

Today is another short post because as you can probably guess by the title, the majority of my day was spent sitting in a car. The road trip back to and around Manila was filled with traffic, even though we left earlier in the morning. Coming down the mountain was beautiful and we even saw monkeys on the road! But that’s about the extent of excitement from our day. Once we hit the outskirts we were bumper to bumper all day. And I mean the second worst traffic I’ve ever seen, the only city worse was Dhaka, Bangladesh. Today took us 2 hours to go 5 miles this evening! On a Wednesday! 

We did make a few stops during our day at the dupe market and at the popular Bonificio High Street mall. I was too overwhelmed to shop but it was entertaining to watch everyone else haggle. The best part of the day was when we finally made it back to the hotel at 11 pm and I got to rest in a nice fluffy bed with chocolates! 

Stay tuned for tomorrow, I promise it’ll be more exciting as we’re going to the famous Mall of Asia and Intramuros which is the historical section of Manila.

Lots of Love,

Carolyn 

A Hot Day in Batangas

 Hi Everyone! 

Today started off great as we went off to explore the resort grounds. We walked the lagoon, around the pool, even made it to the small beach. However, we quickly learned that we were pretty trapped and there really wasn’t much to do. The beach had warnings for jellyfish and urchins, and I don’t know about you, but I for one was not going to mess with that kind of marine life. 

The grounds were beautiful but by midday we had explored it all. With not much else to do, we decided to go bowling and I got second place in the first game! Not too shabby for someone who frequently struggles with hand eye coordination. Also my very first try was a strike! Although it kinda went downhill from there lol.

After bowling I wasn’t feeling so well and realized a bit too late that I had forgotten to drink enough water and gave myself a lovely case of heat stroke. Especially because nothing indoors was properly air conditioned either, I must have overheated between the mid morning walk and bowling. I’m doing much better now as I’m writing this post!! And I have subsequently hydrated appropriately. Everyone was super awesome and hung out with me in our room trying to make me feel better and keep me company. I guess it’s good there wasn’t much to do anyways since all I missed out on was the evening walk. Issa and Auntie Weng took nice pictures of the grounds at sunset to share! If anything, I’m definitely dedicated to my favorite fans ;)

By the end of the day I was feeling much better and called it an early night to rest and recover. As a group we decided to cut our time here in Batangas short and are going back to Manila tomorrow so we can make the most  our last few days here. 

Sending you lots of love,

Carolyn 

Travel to Batangas

Hello Everybody! 

Today was our last morning in Boracay and we woke up early to soak up every moment before our flight. We walked on the beach and had fruit shakes and enjoyed the ocean from afar. I thought I could get in a sneaky morning swim but the wind was wild, so it wasn’t really ideal ocean weather. Nevertheless we enjoyed ourselves and laughed so hard all the neighboring loungers turned to see what was so funny. Honestly, even I can’t remember! But all I know is between me, Isabel, and Auntie Weng, one of us is always making some quip or joke and getting the other two to giggle. I think I’m going to come home with abs of steel from all this laughter.!

The journey back to Manila went smoothly, but took a while as we had to get on a boat to the airport and then had to be bussed to the tarmac. I wish I could say our traveling ended there but we actually met Isabel’s cousin (Ate Hasel) at the airport and then proceeded to embark on a four hour drive to Batangas. It was fun to get to know each other on the road. It was less ideal that the latter part of the drive was winding roads all the way up and down the mountain. Since Auntie Weng, Isabel, and I all get car sick, it became pretty quiet. 

After finally making it to the hotel we went for a quick walk around the grounds, even though it was 9 pm, just to stretch our legs. The walk rejuvenated us and we all piled in one room sharing stories and giggling until midnight! Good thing we don’t have an early wake up call tomorrow, but I have a sneaky suspicion we’ll be up early anyways. 

Love you all! 

Aisha  

The Ultimate Dream Day in Boracay

 Hello Everyone!

I just had the most luxurious day today. I actually slept in until 8:30 am and had a leisurely breakfast before going for a swim in the ocean. The water was so clear that you could see all the little fish swimming around. I spent a good hour just swimming along and exploring the shoreline with Isabel. 

Since we went to the beach earlier in the morning we seemed to beat the heat but then it got too hot laying in the sun. Instead of drying off we rinsed off the sand and hopped into the pool. We spent another hour relaxing before Isabel, Auntie Weng, and I went to the spa to get a massage and facial. It was my first ever massage and it was relaxing until the masseuse tried breaking all the knots in my shoulder! Who knew those existed? After the massage we treated ourselves to post spa smoothies. I got a lychee, passion fruit, calamansi smoothie. 

Afterwards we went to the markets to do some shopping and I bought a cute pair of pants for $6! All that walking and shopping was hard work so we decided to treat ourselves to some ube ice cream topped with ube, cornflakes, and coconut jelly. It was delicious way to beat the heat! 

After an exhausting day of hard work (totally kidding haha) we decided to head up and order room service for our last night in this fancy hotel. I can’t believe our time here is already over, but I’m glad we’re ending on such a high note. 

Up next is Batangas, I can’t wait to share more with you there!

Lots of love,

Carolyn 

Island Hopping

 Hi Everyone!

Today we woke up bright and early so we could get to the dock on time…the only thing we forgot was that we were in the Philippines and everyone is on Filipino time, which meant we got there at 8:20 am sharp, ten minutes before role call, and didn’t actually get on the boat until 10 am. Such a rookie move for an Asian lol. 

The dock was made out of plastic containers and was really hard to walk on because like a waterbed it moved with the waves, bounced with the different weight distributions, and was also super uneven. So our first challenge was actually to get to the boat without tripping! Happy to report we all made it in one piece. 

The first stop was Puka Beach and the island really didn’t seem that inhabited since it was so wild and full of nature. It really was something to see, these pictures don’t do it justice. We walked most of the beach before boarding the boat to get to our next destination. 

Our second stop was in the middle of the ocean to go snorkeling. I had a great time and there were so many fish thanks to the boat hands throwing bits of bread lol. At first I was scared to take my life vest off because I wasn’t sure how the waters were but afterwards I got brave, ditched the vest, and swam further down into the ocean so I could say hi to the bigger fish. You see the fish and I have a deal, I don’t eat them so they can’t eat me…or at least that’s what I told them before swimming closer to the reefs.

We then went to another island for lunch and immediately a bunch of local kids hopped on board to play on the boat while it was docked. This island is really poor and were it not for the tourism, I don’t think they would have any steady source of income. It was a hard reality check on my privilege, as we walked the bamboo bridges and passed the slums just to get to our lunch gazebo which by far was the nicest building of the entire village. It was so hot Isabel and I indulged in some fresh coconut right off the tree! We also had to ride a tricycle back to the docks in which we were packed like sardines in a can, I can’t believe no one fell out during the bumpy ride!

Our final stop on the tour was at Crystal Cove. We had to walk up to the cliffs only to take the stairs down to the coves. The views up top were amazing! 

The first cove had the most impressive waves but the crowds made the tiny space pretty suffocating. So we took our pictures and then quickly got out of there, especially with the waves fiercely crashing against the rocks! 

The next cove you had to crawl through a tunnel to get to, which was quite an adventure and reminded me of the time the Frenchies and I crawled and rock climbed in the bat caves up north. I loved the walk in between the coves because it was so lush and you could hear the roaring ocean as you walked through the paved jungle. Nature is so awesome, who knew that the same high schooler who faked feeling unwell so she wouldn’t have to go snorkeling again at night in Catalina during a school trip would later become someone who loved going on hikes and exploring wild spaces. Don’t get me wrong, I still strongly prefer glamping, but I’d say I’ve come a long ways since I was 16.

By the time our boat navigated back to Boracay, it was 3:30 pm and we were starving. We stopped at the first restaurant we saw in the D mall which was Italian! I couldn’t even look away from my pasta for the picture, that’s how hungry I was! 

Bellies full we decided to walk the market before catching a shuttle back to our hotel.

Despite the busy day, Isabel and I went down to the hotel’s beach patio to have some appetizers while we watched the sunset. We talked about everything and nothing, and had the best time hanging out and catching up on our lives. I ended the night feeling so lucky and grateful to be here. 

Sending you all lots of love, 

Carolyn