Boracay day 7 and departure

Boracay night 6 (continuation of Boracay day 6), Socs and I went out on a date. Sounds weird, as the Boracay trip is pretty much an extended date, but this night was a little bit more special as we decidedly dressed up (island style) and went to the Bamboo Lounge for dinner and a couple of drinks. Food was expensive but good, I recommend the Lotus fried rice. Good thing their "Happy Hour" went until 1030pm.

Day 7 started off with a massage by the beach, and some more time to soak up the rays (yes I am now a bronze god hehehe). We had Gasthof's for brunch before heading back to the resort. I stopped by to buy a pair of board shorts, even though it was going to be our last (full) day in Boracay. I've always wanted to get another pair of a different shade of color than my current one.

Back at the resort, we rested for a bit as we had a reservation to rent an ATV. We initially thought of just renting one ATV for the both of us, however we ended up getting one each as it costs pretty much the same. We rode up to Mt. Luho to have a better view of the island. We also headed to a couple of other beaches Boracay had to offer. Little did we know it took us a little over 2 hours instead of the one hour we budgeted for (Socs was a little hesitant on the throttle). So we ended up paying twice what we planned, but we it was all good as we enjoyed ourselves thoroughly (Socs was even starting to speed up a bit on the road).



Dinner was on a low budget restaurant in D*Mall (plus a couple of isaw sticks for me) and it was off to bed as we had an early flight the next day. We had breakfast at the resort, and it was pretty good. It was done outside our room with the morning sun shining down on us. Perfect way to end the week in Boracay.

Boracay day 6

A quick recap, Socs and I went to eat at True Food Indian restaurant last night and we can probably say that it was the best dinner we had so far here in Boracay. It was a bit expensive compared to the other restaurants but well worth it. The lamb rogan josh and the motabhal combination together with their Naan is highly recommended.

Today we had a simple breakfast in one of the shops in station 3. It was cheap yet good enough to start the day. We spent most of the morning hanging out in the beach and working on our tan. We then headed back to D*Talipapa to grab some lunch. As promised we got lobster and clams.

The lobster was a little more expensive than what we initially thought it to be and the restaurant took a bit more time getting it out but was all worth it.

It was then on to more sun soaking time, this time in Station 1. We stayed there so we can get another round of Jonah's shakes (Avocado Banana is a new favorite) and take some pictures. We were hoping to catch the Boracay sunset, however the weather wasn't cooperating. We ended up simply snapping random pictures.

I did had to have a picture taken of me "conquering" Willy's Rock. It didn't quite come up as I imagined and I got more than a few cuts (that rock is razor sharp!), but at least I know it can be done... next time...

Again, I leave this entry open ended as Socs and I will be heading out to dinner in a bit...

Boracay day 5

Today started off a little slow... but it started pretty well. Around 930 Socs and I headed off to D*Talipapa and bought 1 kilo of huge prawns and another kilo of oysters from the wet market and had it cooked in one of the "cooking service" restaurants nearby. I thought we bought too much food, but it turned out to be just enough (I may have been able to eat a few more prawns or oysters though). It was a seafood craving resolved.... but we may go back tomorrow for some lobster and clams hehe

We took the opportunity to take pictures of the abundant seafood being sold in the market. Unfortunately we only took pictures using the Holga and Topeng's 350D (thanks by the way!) which is not recognized by Socs' laptop (we didn't bring a card reader either). So settle for the cooked food instead:

We spent the afternoon soaking up the sun and get more tanned (I need more color). Manong Ice cream man passed by and we had our share of ice cream to cool ourselves from the hot sun. Still no plans for dinner though, but we'll figure something out...

Boracay days 1 to 4

Socs and I are currently in Boracay and it is already Day 4, halfway through our well deserved vacation. Here's a recap of what transpired the last few days.

Day 1: After meeting each other in Ayala MRT station, we took a cab to NAIA Terminal 3. The cab driver insisted taking EDSA on the way and we ended up taking a little more time getting to the airport if we went through C5 or Pasong Tamo. In any case, our flight was delayed for an hour and a half. At least the airport was world class and waiting wasn't too bad... except for the steeply priced airport food.

Once in Boracay we spent the first few hours settling the resort and had one round in Bomboms during happy hour. We slept early as we knew the following day was going to be much more fun.

Day 2 was met with rain, but that did not prevent us from exploring the beach. Boracay changed a bit from the last time we where here. Breakfast at D*Talipapa, a little frisbee time, and lunch at Jammers sums up half of the day. We then met up with some of my college buddies who coincidentally was spending the long weekend here. We had dinner in Agee's place (a friend who went Boracay local after college) and a couple of beers as well.

We then headed off to Hey Jude! to get hammered. And so we did. Shots all around, beer, dancing... more shots. Lost of fun... and lots of headaches the following day.

Half of Day 3 for me was spend sleeping and recovering from the monster headache from the previous night. At around 3 pm we were able to head out and have something to eat, as well a glass of the famous Jonah's shakes. It was back to Bomboms for a drink before we headed out to Juice bar for another night of drinking. We had one round of Adios Mother Fucker, which does bid you Adious and makes you say Mother Fucker after finishing the glass (if you do). We had a few more shots and a beer. Socs retired early, but I stayed on until around 3 am. It's been a while since I've been with these guys so I stuck for a bit. Luckily (and surprisingly) I didn't have a bad hangover the following day.

Today was spent pretty much hanging out on the beach. I needed to work on my tan so we spent a good hour and a half just sitting on the beach. Socs and I plan to work on our swimming skills while we are here so we might be heading out in a bit.

banzai!

Just a few days of coming back to the Motherland, JM and Verchie invited me to head off to the island of Corregidor. JM had some Japanese friends visiting and wanted to visit Corregidor (oh the irony), and since Socs and I have been wanting to go there for some time now we accepted the invite.

I love what they did with the island, preserving as much of the history as they could so that future generations could remember and understand what happened during World War II. There was a lot of respect for those who died, and survived the War. I could only imagine the horrors that the island went through during those times. It was a bit surreal as the island is now lush and green, with paved roads leading to the various battery emplacements, memorials and war torn buildings. It is like one huge museum... but with real bullet holes, real machine gun emplacements, caves and war damaged stuff.

My friends know I am fascinated by war, but seeing the shrapnel damage and bullet holes all over the place was awe inspiring. Makes me wonder what actually transpired during the exact moment that happened. It must have been hell.

The day tour of the island was too short in my opinion. A lot of places can be explored, do some introspection, and take lots of cool pictures. We might be heading back there, perhaps to spend the night and imagine the Japanese attacking...

banzai!

summited

August 2, 2008 2:47pm local time (-5 GMT) 4,393 ft. (1339 m) above mean sea level, summited Mt. Mansfield.

I finally did it! Although I was delayed by a week, I have conquered the highest peak in Vermont. Estimated ascent/descent time was 4 hours which was pretty decent. We (I came with an officemate) were hauling ass pretty much the entire way, either because of the weather (60% chance of thunderstorms) or we were just pushing each other. We both tried to summit Mt Mansfield on separate occassions and got to pretty much the same place. And I believe if neither one of us was with each other, we would probably have turned back sometime during the climb.

not the trail we took, but some profanity was spoken

In any case, we pushed on and reached the top. The mountain looked pretty amazing above the tree line despite clouds obscuring much of the view. The landscape looked like the Shire, for a lack of a better description. Mostly rocks, small trees, and some sort of moss. And as I have researched previously, parts of it was alpine tundra and we where requested not to veer off the trail to avoid destroying the sensitive flora.

After a few minutes resting and taking a few snapshots, we headed back down. And not a moment too soon, as the clouds started rolling in and a few drops of rain started to fall. Just before we got to the tree line it was pretty much pouring. Good thing I bought a (pretty good, I might add) rain jacket a week before. It was a bit treacherous going down a rocky mountain in the rain, but we managed quite well. There was a few slips and slides, but nothing major. Surprisingly, my knee didn't bother me until we were near the end of the trail.

I did wish I could have taken more pictures, or stayed longer at the top. But I did what I came to do and that was it.

next summit please!