Siargao, Philippines

I always have these grand, master plans that I'll do a seven part installment on my vacations and things that I find interesting, but they never seem to pan out. So for better or worse, I'm going to cram all of my Philippines vacation into this one post.

About a month and a half ago, I went with 9 friends to Siargao Island, Philippines.  This is one of the rare vacations where I was not the trip planner, so it was a double blessing for me.  I almost literally showed up at the airport having no idea where we were really staying or what we were really doing.  It's a good thing I trust my friends!

One of the greatest parts of this vacation was getting to see some friends that I don't get to see too often, making new ones, and really enjoying hanging out with a lot of great people.

Okay. So the trip.  If you're looking for an awesome, adventure-packed trip, I would highly suggest our itinerary.  Every day was packed full of possibilities and we totally utilized them! We flew from Hong Kong to Cebu on a miserable 1am flight (the only flight available).  Then, we had a long connection in Cebu from about 4am to 10am. Fortunately, my traveling companions booked a room at the adjacent hotel and we all got a few hours of sleep (and those hours of sleep even on the floor were SO NECESSARY).  After that, we headed to Siargao on a short one hour flight.  Things were pretty uneventful, though one of the stranger parts was sitting in a seat that faced backwards.  Takeoff and landing were definitely a strange experience. 

Awkward Backward Facing Seats.  Definitely not an experience I think I need again...

We arrived on the island and I was personally really blown away.  It is completely off the beaten path - and not very developed at all, which I love.  There is hardly any commercialization on the island and it showed.  The airport was a one terminal building.  We were picked up from the airport by the manager at our bungalows and off we went!

Jeepney to the Bungalows

The next few days were a blur of awesome activities and total relaxation.  It really was the perfect combo in that respect.  Additionally, it was awesome to have everything we needed at the bungalow.  The girls in the kitchen were so awesome and made fantastic and tasty breakfast, lunch, and dinner each day (even before we went fishing at 6am!)

The first full day we were there, I decided to try to learn how to surf.  For a really, really reasonable price, I could have a 2 hour surfing lesson and rent a board, so I thought, why not?!  The surfing part wasn't so bad, but the paddling killed me.  I at one point felt like I was going to die in the arm region.  It was a good wake up call about how pathetically out of shape I am.  After wiping out over and over, discovering that I was in fact a goofy surfer after about 30 minutes (right leg in front) and ingesting about 3 gallons of seawater, I decided to head back to dry land.  Frustrated and sore, I vowed to do better the next time.  (I'm not a perfectionist or anything...)

I did eventually get hang of the surfing, and let me tell you, the moment I stood up on the board was one of the most amazing moments.  (No hyperbole)  Surfing definitely did not come easily for me and it was awesome to finally stand up and be able to ride a wave! I caught about 10 more waves that day before giving it a rest (and nursing my at the time unrealized sunburn of the century on my legs...)

We're on a boat.  I spent almost as much time in this boat as I did on dry land.  And I loved it!

One morning, bright and early (6:00am) we all got up and went on a fishing trip.  I secretly love to fish and had never been deep sea fishing before, so again, since everything was so cheap and accessible, I thought why the heck not?!  We piled into the boat, pointed out to sea and trolled around FOREVER with nothing happening.  At one point, with the sun beating down on us, the fumes from the tiny lawnmower sized engine on the boat and the seas rolling a bit, I started to feel REALLY seasick.  I was doing moderately okay until we stopped because we hooked a fish.  At that point, my body's last remaining equilibrium gave out and I got extremely sick.  While my friend was reeling in the fish on one side of the boat, I threw up off the other side.  My witty friend thanked me for chumming the water.  It didn't make me feel better, though now I can appreciate his humor. I spent the rest of the morning laying down in the only area wide and long enough to lie down on the boat and slept it off while alternatively throwing up over the side.  Not the most comfortable or attractive of moments for me, but hey, that's life. 

Very, Very seasick.

I learned my lesson quickly, though, and ate something the moment we got back on land and immediately took Dramamine for the afternoon of trolling.  I am happy to say that I didn't do any more throwing up after that.  In happy news, my friends hooked two ginormous fish, a Wahu and a Mahi Mahi, both of which we Sashimi-ed and grilled for dinner that night.  Definitely some of the freshest and most delicious fish I've ever had!

Lawrence caught a huge Wahu!

Fresh Mahi Mahi.  I think it looks like an Alien, but it tastes AMAZING.

For the rest of the week, we went on a motorbike drive around the island one morning, headed out on a boat to a surfing break about an hour away from our bungalows and hung out.  One of my favorite days was when we went to the rock pools about an hour and a half from the bungalows.  They're only good at low tide when the ocean recedes and leaves a 10-20 foot deep rock pool full of fish that you can explore.  There is also a huge rock that you can jump or dive off of.  I love jumping from high places, so this was heaven for me. 

Other events of note: One of the guys on the trip, Kyle, played his guitar at an open mic night at one of the local bars and it was great to get to see some of the locals and other people on holiday there.  We also played lots of frisbee, got to meet some of the local kids and played games with them and just did a lot of hanging out and eating.

Making sand castles with local kids

This trip was everything I didn't know I needed - there were many moments where I looked out over the ocean at the rising moon, or the crazy smattering of stars and realized how little time I take to be in nature in Hong Kong.  It is amazing how much this has affected my spiritual life, too.   I really am an outdoorsy person, and I think I let my aversion to hot weather overpower my desire to be outside a lot of the time.  Shortly after I got back, my boss was paraphrasing a talk he heard at the Passion Conference - the speaker was saying that she felt God's presence more by watching a surfing competition out at Mavericks in California than she did in 10 quiet times.  And I totally resonated with that.  This week filled me up more than so many of my artificially induced "quiet times" in HK.  I was actually just out in God's creation, totally in awed, and totally filled with His presence.  It was pretty awesome.

It was a fantastic week and I would highly recommend it if you are looking for a great holiday to just escape for a little while.  Go while you can, though, because I doubt this island will be a secret for long! One of the problems with an upwardly mobile traveling Asian population armed and ready with passports and money to spend...

Until next time,

The Adventurer

Chingish o' the day (Tagalog-ish?)