Yosemite Hike - 2011

Tuesday, August 19, 2008

A LONG WAY FROM HOME!

DAY 11 – TUES. AUGUST 19, 2008 (Manila > Caticlan > Boracay)

Let me explain the title of this post. It’s not that I haven’t felt we are far away from home thus far, but after taking countless modes of transportation, a few different flights, shuttles and even boat rides, I feel very far away from home!

We arrived bleary-eyed in Manila and checked in to The Swagman Hotel. Even at midnight that girls were comforted to see a KFC, Pizza Hut and 7-Eleven on the corner. However, when Scott ventured out, he soon realized what people have said about Manila is true, there are very few nice parts of town at least from what he could tell.

Even though it was midnight, we all rallied around the t.v. as it was our first access to real Olympics Coverage since Opening Ceremonies – the downside to being in a foreign country during the games! I tell you, I’ve never been happier to see Bob Costas!

Our wake up call came at 6am and we were at breakfast soon after. Scott managed to find pancakes for the girls and I was in heaven with my first dose of fresh fruit since being out of the US! All the mango & pineapple my heart desired.

By 7am we were loaded in the (1) taxi on our way to the airport and Boracay bound, or so we thought. When we arrived at the airport for our Asia Spirit flight, they wanted to see the credit card we purchased the tickets with. Since VISA is the “proud sponsor” of the Olympics, that’s all we had with us. There was some talk of re-purchasing new tickets and crediting us back and the next thing we knew, Scott was being asked to follow a worker to a office somewhere.

Apparently in said office, other foreigners along with Scott, were being put through the same deal; your flight has been cancelled, you have to re-book and you'll get a credit for the original flight on your credit card. Time will tell!

Next came the even more exciting part – We had missed our flight! Try telling that to Sydney at 7:30 in the morning! Apparently, our flight had been changed but since we booked flights on line we were notified via email which we hadn't been able to check for the past few days. They assured us we would be on the 10:40am flight so off we went through Security (again, this time having to pay a per person fee) and proceeded to kill a few hours reading and playing War.


A small plane from Manila to Caticlan and then a boat ride to Boracay. Boracay is a tropical island in the north Aklan Province and one of the Philippines most popular destinations. Our hotel is The White House www.whitehouseboracay.com

Boracay here we come... A view of the island from the (2) plane.

Baggage claim at the airport

Boarding a (3) boat to take us to Boracay

Choppy waters but excited and enjoying the adventure.

A VERY small covered (4) truck to take us to our hotel.

We have already been overjoyed with the white sandy beaches and clear water and our room is adjacent to the pool which the girls spent hours in today. It’s off-season here so the weather is not ideal as it’s quite windy and tends to rain in the afternoons but we’ll take it. Hate to imagine the heat and humidity without a little breeze. We are one of 2 families staying here and have the entire suite, pool, and bar to ourselves for the most part and who can beat a hotel with "Happiest Hours" lasting from 7am – 7pm with great Malibu Rum and pineapple juice drinks and $1 beers!

Self portrait on our patio

View of our room from the bar

The bar!!!

Tonight was pizza from Yellow Cab Pizza Co. It dawned on me today these restaurants wouldn’t be around if there weren’t other folks eating at them so it’s not selling out to get pizza delivered to our room. It’s a vacation! And truth be told, I don’t think I would have been excited at 7 or 5 years of age to venture out to a Philippino Restaurant. Heck, we’ve earned pizza delivery after all the taxi rides, walking, being flexible and eating piecemeal on the go!

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE DAY:
Getting to our hotel and beach! Wandering down the beach and discovering a path that went right along a ledge over the ocean, complete with rope to hold onto! The girl’s wanted to press on so we explored and it was awesome!


FUNNY FORTUNE STUFF: Hearing the girls talk about the suite we have vs. small hotel rooms and having a swimming pool with a waterfall right next to our room.


SEEING THINGS DIFFERENTLY: School is in session on the island and all students wear uniforms and most walk to school.

DAILY FAVORITES:
Shelby – Swimming in the pool, going to the beach, going in the ocean.
Sydney – Getting to the beach and seeing Boracay Island from the airplane.
Jana – Walking on the beach with my family, watching Kerry & Misty beat Brazil and Scott joining us again after going into some "office" at the Manila airport to get us on our flights.
Scott – Having a room right on the ocean for four days!


OLYMPIC UPDATE: Great day for volleyball! Funny to see the canned NBC broadcast at night from the day before. We have already seen all the races, matches, and events prior to seeing it on NBC. Misty and Kerry won easily over Brazil. Only the gold medal match against the top Chinese team. Misty and Kerry have won 106 straight matches, which is quite incredible. They would gladly give up that record for one more match to win the gold medal.

Watching Vball in bed

The women’s indoor team upset Italy late last night in a five set thriller. A great quarter final win, as they are in the medal round and play undefeated Cuba. Brazil and Cuba are the two top teams in the games and to win the gold USA will have to beat both. So far, they've handled the pressure really well.

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