March 18, 2015

Doing nothing in Boracay

christinelouise Asia, Travel Talk 2015, Asia, Boracay, Drinking, philippines

Boracay, the Philippines: You know when you go on a week long holiday and just sit by the pool all day everyday and when you get back with a great tan and 5 additional kilos on your body, people ask you what you did on your holiday and you honestly have no idea what to answer? That was my week in Boracay.

Boracay is a tiny island full of activities and beautiful beaches. People come to do the pubcrawl, take kitesurfing lessons or go to mermaid school. I wanted to do all of those, but instead I ended up frying on the beach during the day, and sleeping in a way too cold room at night.

We arrive on Tuesday at 8 PM and just miss the pubcrawl. After a quick shower we head to White Beach where all the bars and resaturants are at. It’s beautiful with all the tables spread out on this fine sand beach with lanterns everywhere and good music coming from the bars. We have chicken skewers and rice, and after that, we find a bar and have a cheap rum and pineapple juice that’s a struggle to get down. We’re set on finding this pubcrawl, as some of the guys from our hostel back in Manila are on it this very evening, and we need friendly faces. We hunt for an hour, maybe two, before we see a packed bar and run into the guys. At this point, after a few drinks, I’m already feeling sick and take a break from drinking. A few people comment on the water bottle that I am hugging. We talk to a few people before we get bored, so Sophie and I go for a walk towards the other bars. Here, a very buff Aussie stops us, pulls Sophie in and convinces us to go to Epic Bar, which apparently we’re standing right in front of. It’s more of a nightclub, with only a group of unspecified asian people dancing in a circle. To their credit, they go mad hard. I finally man up and get a beer and decide to join them, which gets them so excited, I have to dance in the middle of the circle. The bar is filling up with people, and we get to talk to a few more before we end up following some guys to a silent disco. We drunkenly convince the lady handing out headphones that we didn’t bring ID, a cellphone or enough cash to deposit while we borrow the headphones, and we dance around in the sand to everything from Ellie Goulding to 50 Cents. I think. We are back in bed at 2 AM.

Our hostel, MNL Hostel is amazing. We get a clean towel and despite being in a 10 bed dorm, we seem to have so much privacy because of how the room is decorated. The free breakfast is good, too. For our 7 nights here, we end up paying a bit over 4000 pesos, but it’s well worth it.

Most of our days are spent on White Beach, frying until 2 or 3 PM, and then we take a nap. We hang out a bit with Elgin from Manila and Wade from England. We go to Puka Beach one very windy day and don’t really enjoy it. I get a sunburnt butt and bikini line. Awesome.

Finishing my new favorite book, Wild by Cheryl Strayed. RIP, Kindle (will explain in nex blog post)

With Elgin and the staff at Hobbit House

Halfway through our chill week in Boracay, I get ill. I feel like I have a fever, and my head hurts. I’m so sick and dizzy that I go back to the room early, while Sophie still fries on the beach.The next day, I have a flu. Or maybe a cold. Then Sophie gets it as well. We drink water with vitamin C tablets and chow down several pills for colds and coughs. We seem to get better pretty quickly, but then it returns. For me, at least. I also get a seriously scary nose bleed, very suddenly, as I’m sitting on the toilet one day. WARNING: EXPLICIT

Just kidding. It looked worse in real life.

On our last day, we meet Jesper from Sweden and Laura from Scotland. We hang out with them and Paul from England during the day, seeing Mount Luho, a quite spot on Bulabog Beach, and then we chill on White Beach while talking about how shit 50 Shades Of Grey is.

At night, we all go get food at Lola’s Pizza and then we start a game of beer pong. Surprisingly, me and local guy Chris win against Jesper and Paul. We then battle Sophie and Laura and almost win, but clearly we don’t. I am far too drunk to engage in two rounds of Ring of Fire and Ride the Bus by then, but do so anyway. What else is there to do but socialise?

SONY DSC Processed with VSCOcam with b5 preset

I follow them and the guys from the hostel in Manila to the bars at White Beach, but go home with Sandra from Sweden soon after, ‘cause we’re so tired and grumpy. Way to end the night.

March 10, 2015

Island hopping in El Nido

christinelouise Asia, Travel Talk 2015, Asia, el nido, kayaking, philippines

El Nido, the Philippines

After a 6 hour busride with annoying fat French people, we are in El Nido and check into our hostel, Our Melting Pot. Since it’s only 2 PM, we go to the beach and lay out. Here, we run into Stephen and Rosie from Sheebang, who we hang out with until we head to Art Café to book tour A for the next morning. Then, we book our bus back to Puerto Princesa.

Fat kid decided to jump the ice cream bike and try to claw his way into the box.

For dinner, we go to the beach, which by now is filled with tables and candles. It’s so cozy and so expensive. We get a beer and then go to the night market, where a basketball game is on as well. It’s full of locals cheering loudly, and we are lucky enough to witness the last 5 minutes of the game. Home team wins! I trip and nearly fall face down onto the concrete pavement, but Sophie’s top saves me last minute. I still end upwith a bleeding toe. Ouch. On our way back to the hostel, we run into Stephen and Rosie yet again. They’re heading to bed early, and we decide to do the same – but not until I’ve had a pork skewer at a stand on the street.

The following day, we get up early and head to Art Café for our tour. This one is not full of Chinese people luckily, but it is full of couples. Ugh! We get on a boat and travel to the Small Lagoon, from where we kayak to Big Lagoon. The open water is horrendous to kayak in with the big waves, though, so Sophie and I are falling way behind the others. The lagoons are amazingly quiet and beautiful though.

After the lagoons, we sail to Simizu Island and then we have lunch at Secret Lagoon Beach: fresh grilled fish and chicken skewers with rice and salad. It’s the most amazing meal I’ve had in a long time. The tour guides tell us we look beautiful and invite us out for the night, all while we’re sweaty and bloated from all the food.

Our last stop is the 7 Commando beach, and by then, we’re pretty sunburnt and tired of getting in the cold water. We sit in the shade and enjoy a fresh buko (coconut).

At night, we have the national dish for dinner – a massive plate of noodles, seafood and vegetables – and then have a crepe on the street. Mine is with peanutbutter and banana and it’s so good. I really like their peanut butter here. We head to bed not long after and have a long night of sweating profusely in our crammed fan dorm with 3-story beds.

It is our last day in El Nido, and we take a tricycle to Nacpan beach, which is almost completely empty when we arrive. We lay out on the fine white sand and I am finishing up “Wild” by Cheryl Strayed. I absolutely love this book. I guess it’s my “Eat, Pray, Love”, and reading it makes me feel like I could travel alone. Maybe even hike? As soon as I put it down I forget all about it though, and I go back to my lazy ways.

We go back and have some food and a shower before getting on the 6 PM bus to Puerto Princesa. At one point it looks like we’ve gotten a flat tire, so we stop for ages, and still manage to get back to Sheebang Hostel after 5 hours. We get into bed, when a couple right outside the window starts having loud sex. 5 times.

March 9, 2015

Bridget Jones with pink eye

christinelouise Asia, Travel Talk 2015, Asia, philippines, puerto princesa, underground river

Puerto Princesa, the Philippines: hot Aussie guy hurts my feelings

On the plane from Manila to Puerto Princesa in Palawan, I meet a nice local lady. She’s just one of many nice people who have offered advice on traveling in the Philippines. I’ll say that the locals here are much nicer than they are in most of South East Asia. They address me as “ma’am”, but pronounce it like “mom”, which I find funny. Sometimes I’ll answer them by calling them “dad”.

Since our walking tour in Manila, my left eye has been pretty irritated and runny. I conclude I have an eye infection, so I stop wearing eye make-up and constantly wipe away “tears”. It doesn’t look too bad, but it feels that way. So the following story stings just a little.

At sunset, we get some cards out and start playing a drinking game at Sheebang Hostel. We call over a Danish and a German guy, DJ Awesome and Schlager, and they join us. Suddenly, two guys sit down as well, making us play Ring of Fire. Both are from Australia, and one of them is the most gorgeous man I have seen in ages – despite being the opposite of my usual type, having tattoos and a manbun. We play the game and I am snake eyes – which means no one can look me in the eyes – and Viking King, because that is just a no-brainer. Suddenly, this intimidatingly good-looking guy looks me straight in the eyes, smiles and says: “have you ever been told you look like a certain celebrity?”

I have. Back when I was pretty I could go for Lauren Conrad, if you squinted your eyes a bit. But now I am sitting here in the candle light wearing unflattering Ali Baba pants and no make-up and a runny eye. I am curious to hear what he says.

“Bridget Jones.”

What the actual fuck!? Bridget Jones, who no one finds attractive? I look like a chubby, unattractive Brit? OK, I guess I had that one coming. But still, it hurts.

We go back to the room and meet our new Irish roommate, Bernard. We’re not drunk, but I’m definitely feeling buzzed. We have silly conversations just before bedtime, and then Sophie and Bernard sing me Soft Kitty. You know, the one from The Big Bang Theory.

Very very early the next morning, we get on a minibus and start our long journey to the Underground River. Then we take a boat. Then we wait to take another boat into the grotto. The “beach” around the grotto is amazingly beautiful and overrun by Chinese tourists, who takes group photos by every single sign. Every single one. A group of Philippinos ask for group pictures with me “for a project”. Right.

Waving goodbye to the Chinese tourists

Just helping some guys with a “project”

The grotto tour is about 30 or 40 minutes, and Sophie and I are in the front of the boat, so we get stuck with the responsibility of holding the flashlight. It’s very dark and quiet inside and full of bats, but definitely very cool. We get back to the hostel, and I decide to go hunting for some eye drops for my supposed infection. After visiting 4 pharmacies and a hospital, I give up.

Back at the hostel bar, we meet Stephen from USA and Rosie from England – what’s up with all the English people these days!? – and we start playing Cheers to the Governor. DJ Schlager and Bernard sit down with us as well and we just chill until it’s time for bed for me and Sophie – which is pretty early. We’ve got a 7 AM bus to El Nido.

March 6, 2015

Walking around Manila

christinelouise Asia, Travel Talk 2015, Asia, manila, philippines

Puerto Princesa, the Philippines: They say it’s about the journey, not the destination. I say bullshit.

Get up at 4 AM. Taxi at 5 AM. Wait for the check-in counter to open at the airport, then wait hours for the gate to be listed on the boards. Get an entire row on the plane for yourself, until an old Philippino guy decides to steal one of the seats and stare at you the whole time while you’re sleeping, with open mouth and all. Land, go through immigration and get the luggage, then go through the stressful find-a-taxi task, arrive at hostel, Our Melting Pot. Then, I sit here, waiting for Sophie.

This Sophie I met through TravelBuddy. She’s actually the reason I’m travelling to the Philippines in the first place. I was going to go wherever the wind – or cool people – would take me. That was Sophie. She’s from England, and we seem to agree on a lot of things travel-wise. She arrives a few hours later than me, so I get a shower and slather aloe vera all over me – this time, the sunburn is on my front. She walks in, we talk and then we walk out to do some exploring.

We get lost. We don’t know what to do or where to go. We search for a good restaurant, a bar, anything, and end up empty handed. Eventually, we go to bed early – 9-ish.

The next day, we sign up for the hostel’s free walking tour. Our guide, Boodie (pronounced Booty) is awesome and has a perfect American accent, despite being born and raised here. We are supposed to walk around for 5-6 hours, but end up spending 8+ hours. We aren’t too interested in the things we see – Intramuros, Rizal park, National Museum, Fort Santiago and Mall of Asia – but we are very interested in the Danish flags that are everywhere in this city – apparently to welcome a Sovereign from Malta. Massive fail, Manila.

We get back and go out with Caroline and Bryan from the tour. We start with beers with other hostel guests at the night market across the street. Then we go to a hotel sky bar and I have a Long Island Ice Tea with sprite instead of coke, and we bond with aussies and british as we tell people we met on Tinder. Then we head back to the hostel to pack and get some sleep – our flight leaves very early next morning.

March 5, 2015

Back in Kuta

christinelouise Asia, Travel Talk 2015, Asia, bali, indonesia, kuta, Sunburn

The white blisters on my hips are getting bigger. I am constantly ripping out burnt skin from my scalp. Being back in Kuta for a few days alone, I think I am going to stay indoors and let my skin consume unheard of amounts of aloe vera.

At least that was the plan. Pete and I arrive pretty late at the hostel, Kayun Downtown. I convinced him earlier to stay with me a couple of hours and get food, instead of going straight to the airport like 6 hours before his flight. I am stressing out, but the quesadilla supreme at The Balcony and a honey lemon juice at the bubble tea place that Pete is obsessed with, is making me feel better. We sit down in the TV room at the hostel and I put on 22 Jump Street. A few people join. Halfway through the movie, Pete gets in his taxi to the airport and I am alone again.

It starts to rain heavily, so much that it’s pointless to watch a movie. The people in the TV room start talking, but we can’t hear each other very well. German Pervert, or Tom as he is actually called, the Canadian guy Kyle I was rooming with at Gili Backpackers, and one of the English guys from last time I was in Kuta are all here. By the time the rain stops, we put on Taken 3 and make commentary about how Liam Neeson’s set of skills must involve being able to call from a pay phone without any coins, and how it’s actually the bagel that he brought over to his ex-wife that’s been taken by the cop who eats it at the crime scene. We have beer and find out that the TV can play karaoke, so Sophie from England asks reception for karaoke CD’s and brings back Katy Perry, Aviicii and Deep House. Confused, we put on Katy Perry. It’s just a normal CD. So we sit there, basically just listening to Katy Perry, singing along every now and then. While the rest try to get me to go to Skygarden, I am just dying to get a shower and some sleep.

The next day, I get up to cross the street and buy a yoghurt for breakfast. I eat quietly in the TV room when Sophie appears and asks me if I want to go to one of the temples I was talking about yesterday. We end up planning on going to Uluwatu to see the sunset, when the travel guide from the hostel interferes and tries to get us to come on a day trip to see two beaches and then the temple. Tom tells us about a party that happens at a nearby bar, Single Fin, every Sunday. Canadian guy, Kyle, wants to join too. So a group of us sets out to get some lunch at Fat Chows and then ask a taxi driver if he can match the (expensive) day trip we have been offered at Kayun.

At two o’clock, Sophie, Tom, Kyle and I get in a taxi that we have for the rest of the day for 400.000 IDR. First, we go to Padang Padang beach. It’s small, neat, and very crowded. I worry about my sunburn, but luckily I am not in too much pain. We stay there an hour, then we head off to the temple.

Besides the view from the cliff full of aggressive monkeys, the temple is nothing special. We go to Single Fin and get slightly drunk and chat with some Aussie girls and enjoy the sunset. Then at 7-ish, we go back.

On our way back to Kuta, Sophie and I are feeling drunk while Kyle aka. DJ Tough puts on some music for us to fist pump and sing along to. It’s pretty hilarious for us, but the guys are probably hating us so much right now.

The next day, Sophie and I go to the beach. Despite my sunburn. We listen to music on her speaker, chat to local surfing instructors and check out ridiculously pale women on the beach. Then we go for lunch and meet Sam for England on the way, who’s looking for a hostel. Obviously we lead him to Kayun Downtown. We hang out in their pool, I go pack my stuff and then we head to the beach for sunset with Kyle,Sam and a Swiss girl called Sophie. The local guys from the surf school the others have been at all day are super nice, and one has Popeye tattooed on his belly, his navel being Popeye’s butthole. He lets me put my finger in there. I go for dinner with Sam as I realise the dynamic of our group just isn’t working because of one certain person. Even though you can hardly call me a solo traveler, it’s a very important lesson that these past days have taught me: just because you’re alone, doesn’t mean you have to hang out with people you don’t like.

I watch a movie and Skype friends, then I go to bed; I’m getting up at 4 AM tomorrow.

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