El Nido, Philippines - Spring Break 2014

What is known as Philippines' 'Last Frontier', El Nido on the island of Palawan was our Spring Break destination! Ok yes, we are in our late twenties, graduated from university almost five years ago, and by all rights should not be celebrating Spring Break with such gusto...but we can't help ourselves. Call it what you want, we all need and deserve an escape from the day-to-day every now and again. So, after hearing nothing but rave reviews about the Philippines, we were more than excited to check it out for 10 days!

So as far as travel goes, Tyler and I have always been pretty lucky; Our flights usually leave on time, our luggage arrives on the same plane, transfers are smooth, etc. So I can accept that our hassle-free travel streak had to come to an end. I do however have a bit of trouble accepting that it all came crashing down at once. *Moms...this is the point where you should skip ahead to the paragraphs detailing sunshine and boat rides :) So our flight leaving from KL was supposed to depart at 8pm Friday night, however was delayed four hours and left sometime around midnight. No problem...until we realized we had a connecting flight with a different airline leaving at 4:30am. As it is a four hour flight to Manila, this left us with a grand total of 30 min to get through immigration and onto to the next flight. We breathed a sigh of relief when we arrived at a seemingly small airport, thinking it wouldn't take long to get from point A to point B. This was until a security guard told us we needed to get to another terminal and which required a taxi. From here a series of poor decisions on our part, and a manic taxi driver would set us up for a scary morning (ok, seriously mom..skip the next paragraph)
With the delusion that we could still make this flight, we jumped in the first cab we saw. As we pulled away from the airport, we asked the price, as we noticed the meter wasn't on. The guy pulls out a price list quoting 6000 pesos (!) in which Tyler's mathelete mind quickly blurted out "WHAT?! $130?" Asking how long it would take, the cabbie answered 10 min. At that, since we had only gone 100m, we asked him to pull over and let us out, in which he refused and proceeded to drive like a lunatic through traffic. Having no point of reference, we finally agreed on 1500 pesos for the ride, feeling pretty uneasy about this guy screaming at everything out the window.
We wheeled up to the airport and the cabbie ran off to get us change. Out of curiosity, Tyler asked the next driver how much the fare would be and he quoted 150 pesos. At that, the second driver decided he would help us get our money back. As the crazy guy came back and saw that he was going to be hassled, he jumped in the car and sped off...with the car doors open...and me inside! As I was driven down the highway ramp and away from the airport with this lunatic driver he just kept screaming at me to jump out of the car. Now, I was panicking about the thought of being driven away from Tyler into Manila at 4am with a clearly unstable individual, but I am not one to tuck-and-roll out of a car on a highway. In a strangely calm (teacher) voice I just kept repeating "You have to stop the car so I can get out."... it only seemed logical that if you want someone to get out of your car, you stop moving, right? As the airport was quickly disappearing, true panic set in and I finally lost it, screaming "You have to stop the *&%^ing car!!" That seemed to do the trick, as he slammed on the breaks, to find the doors only opened from the outside. He had to park the car, get out (see...even he wasn't going to get out of a moving vehicle) and let me out. By that time, the second, justice-seeking cabbie and Tyler were hot on our trail, picking me up on the highway.

Super shaken, we got into the airport, obviously having missed our flight, booked, checked in, and waited for the next one. Upon reflection, we made some pretty big errors resulting in the aforementioned drama; Not settling a fare price before getting in the cab, not researching the airport terminals, being naive enough to think we could still catch the next flight...and above all else (the last thing both our moms tell us before we head out) we weren't holding hands. For the next ten days, Tyler would just look over at me, and in his best Liam Neeson voice say "You were almost taken!"

Finally on our way...and still smiling!

So after a delayed flight, wild cab ride, missed flight, we took the 6 hour bus ride to El Nido...only to find that our hotel reservation had been 'lost', and that we no longer had a place to stay for the 10 days. After being awake for 36 hours, we just dropped our bags, sat on the patio of our 'almost' hotel, and asked if they could sell us a beer. As the sun was near gone, we found a place to stay for two nights (high tourist seasons=no hotel rooms), played Uno, ate curried vegetables (our Asian comfort food) and hoped for a better tomorrow!

These Uno cards are well traveled.. 10 countries so far! Thanks Michelle <3

As a result of our journey to El Nido, it took a couple of days to truly unwind. Fortunately, El Nido is a pretty chilled out spot! We spent most of the days on the beach, frequenting a place called Las Cabanas; Building sand castles, drinking from coconuts, reading and dipping. While at the beach we would see about 20 people..all doing the same thing. We would stay until sunset and then make our way back to town for a couple Sam Miguels and call it a night. (If we were lucky, the electricity would even come on in the evenings, if not, then Uno by candlelight worked too!)

Beaches, sunsets and the ever reliable, public transport, 'King of the Road'..the Jeepney.

As awesomely chilled out as El Nido was, we were lucky to have caught some excitement at 'El Nido Fest' and had a couple party nights (it was 'Spring Break' after all) that were reminiscent of any small-town festival; You know, where the local talent is performing on a makeshift stage and carnival games and food are aplenty. We were beyond excited, as we perpetually seem to just miss festivals when we are home, always rolling in a weekend too late. So when we heard that the town's beauty pageant was to be held in the town square (the outdoor basketball court) we grabbed some popcorn and found a spot on the bleachers. Fearing that we would be witness to a Filipino 'Toddlers and Tiaras' show (thanks for the psychological damage TLC) we were pretty excited when the beautiful and confident contestants of Ms. Gay, El Nido  danced their way on stage. After the champion was crowned, we wandered down to the 'casino', made up of a series of outdoor carnival games being run, and bet on by one and all. Seriously, I wouldn't have been surprised if a C.M Coolidge painting came to life at one of the roulette tables, which would have obviously been set up next to the table run by a gang of smoking ten year olds. We bet, we chatted, and I sang a bit of karaoke (I just can't resist) until the wee hours of the morning.

The next morning we jumped on a boat bright and early for a day of diving. As it turned out to be a very choppy day on the surface, and underneath visibility was terrible, we only ended up doing two dives. That was ok with us, as the water was cold (about 24 degrees opposed to the 30 degree water we have become accustomed to in Malaysia (not too sure what's going to happen when we get back to Canada)), and we weren't loving being pounded with waves. We stopped off at an island and had a delicious BBQ lunch, and as we headed back to the mainland...our boat died. What was going to be a day on the water cut short, turned into a full day of sun and bobbing around. The waters redeemed themselves on a second day of diving that was absolutely gorgeous! Again, poor visibility, but the bonus was spending a couple hours on the most beautiful island for lunch. Apparently the island had been bought by a Japanese man, who has no plans to develop it, but simply bought it so it will remain in its natural beauty forever. *Sigh* if only to have Yen to burn.

Besides bumming around El Nido, we took a 40 min. tricycle ride to Nacpan beach. This beach was the largest, most underpopulated beach I have seen (granted, we do tend to hit the more popular ones). The whole day we saw one other napping Western guy, two little Filipino kids (who ate all our chips) and four sweet women who made it rain mango shakes all day. As it turned out, these women were all Jehovah's Witnesses and naturally, we got to talking. It was really inspiring to hear their messages of faith and devotion and of the struggles of living in a very rural location with minimal resources. It's a widely known fact that Filipinos are by and large very devout Christians. As religion and faith is something Tyler and I are both interested in, it was no surprise that we got to chatting with different individuals about their faith and perspectives on religion. At different points of our vacation we spoke at length with groups of Jehovah's Witnesses, Catholics and Muslims, and although all very devout to their own differing religions, they all spoke with an open-mind and respect for other religions, and more predominantly, about universal love, acceptance, understanding and ultimately human decency. After each conversation, the individuals left us feeling uplifted, with gained perspectives and further restored emotionally...something that we definitely needed after our experience in Manila which left us wary of all strangers. I do know it is always good to exercise an air of caution, but it was a really awful feeling to look at everyone with distrust during the first couple days of our holiday. Anyway, if you are in El Nido, take a trip to Nacpan beach, have them fire up the generator, and drink a mango shake. But don't wait too long, it's prime real estate, and I can't imagine it would stay deserted for long!

After a welcomed smooth trip home, that sadly wrapped up Spring Break, 2014! Otherwise, we are fresh into our last term of the school year and with that the rainy (and ever humid) season has returned to Malaysia. We are already looking forward to our summer vacation...which will be spent in non other than Canada! Until then, we are sending warm thoughts and summertime vibes to all those still experiencing Winter...In return, eat an extra Creme Egg for us!