Whoa, what just happened?

There’s a lot of things that make me happy, but I believe the ocean really IS my happy place.  I’m in my element, nothing is more exciting and relaxing than having a boat bounce up and down going over the waves, while the cool ocean breeze is blowing my hair back, the ocean spray misting my face, and the hot tropical sun giving me a golden brown tan.

The first part of our trip was a 40 minute boat ride to get to the big lagoon.  The water was pretty choppy, this time some of the party was experiencing sea sickness.  Hahaha, another thing I’m not prone to.

Have you every seen such beauty in nature that it literally takes your breath away?  I feel like I’ve stepped into one those 12-month beach calendars.  I wish my friends were here with me to experience this, please come with me next time!  I promise you it’s worth it!

The gif you see below is us entering the big lagoon.   I’ll get around to getting all the pics and videos off my go pro soon.  

The best seat on the boat is at the bow.

At this stop, we didn’t get off the boat.  We just circled around checked out the lagoon and took pictures.

The gif below is the small lagoon.  Again, all the good pics and videos are on my go pro.  At this stop, we rented kayaks to get into the small lagoon.  You have to enter through a very small opening during low tide.  You’re also required to duck down otherwise your head will not be happy with you.  Anyways, only one kayak can go through at a time, this sorta causes a traffic jam because you’ve got people on the other side trying to get out.

The next stop is another island where we can snorkel and play on a beach. I think this was my favorite stop.  I found this one boulder under water that had a lot of sea life.  I had to dive down between 8-10 feet just to get a closer look and it was so worth it.  There was a bunch of anemone and clown fish hiding in them.  I saw another giant clam and lots of other fish that my friend, Stephanie, could identify.  One of the things that saddens me the most is how most of the reef is bleached and broken.  However, I am happy to see that there are small areas that are still thriving and I got to see it.

The second to last stop was Cadugnon Cave.  An ancient limestone cave carved by the ocean.  In order to get in, you have to crawl through this small opening, drop down about 5 feet, and you enter a bat cave.  They’re flying all over the place!  In order to see the rest of the cave, especially the part that has light, you have to scramble up some rock.  Legend has it, this is one of the caves that Yamashita’s gold was hidden in.

The last stop was snake island.  It’s actually a sand bar that connects two islands during low tide.  This was the spot to see different starfisheees!!!

We arrived at the resort close to 10 am.  We got settled in and checked out the resort.  Of course I would wander off and explore the rocks where waves were crashing.  I found all the prettiest seashells in this area.

My cousin, Sophie, is a pretty well known fashion/travel blogger within the Philippines and South Korea.  She had a few outfits and bathing suits that she had to model for her blog.  For her, the entire trip was a photoshoot.  I got to be behind the scenes and see what it was like for her.  

After her photoshoot, she convinced me to have my picture taken.  This was truly awkward because I don’t like to pose, but now I’ve got a facebook profile pic where I’m not doing something silly.  I still prefer the old pic from last summer, where I was riding around in a motorized cart at walmart.  There’s a great story to that picture, I’ll tell you all at another time.

After lunch, the resort staff took us on a boat ride to a nearby coral reef.  We got to snorkel around for a little bit.  I got to see giant clams, sea urchins, a bunch of colorful fish, a stone fish, I’m pretty sure I saw a stingray hiding under the sand but I wasn’t going to risk disturbing it, and sea cucumber.  

Oh, one of the things that annoyed me the most is the constant asking of whether I wanted a life jacket.  No, I don’t want one, I’m a very strong swimmer, I’m a freakin’ mermaid!  

One thing I learned about myself is how scared I get when I’m swimming over deep water.  It’s one thing where I’m swimming in the atlantic or in a lake that is brown.  If I can’t see my feet, a sense of panic over takes me. I was fine swimming in the reef, then I found myself going out too far where the depths were unknown and I couldn’t see the bottom.  I got scared and began to panic a little bit, jesus, I have got to stop watching scary movies.  

I have a wild imagination, let me tell you about it.  10 years ago I had watched Texas Chainsaw Massacre, I was camping along the C&O canal with some friends and I thought it would be funny to sneak up on them and scare them after I had peed.  I started thinking about Leather face, then I ended up scaring the shit out of myself, ran back to camp, stepped on a big rock and rolled my ankle.  

During our 2 night stay I decided to set up my hammock and sleep on the porch.  We’re staying in a villa set up for 10-12 guests and I chose to sleep outside.  The temperature was perfect!  There was a cool breeze that kept me comfortable at night.

Saturday morning, I woke up to the sounds of high tide coming in.  The waves breaking on the rocks is such a soothing sound, they were coercing me awake, “Sasha, honey, it’s 4:45 am, wake the fuck up!  You know you wanna watch the sunrise, and you know you wanna get up and pee!”  This is what I got to see when I got out of the hammock.

Once we had breakfast, we hopped on the boat around 8:30 am to start a day of island hopping!

I remember when I was a kid, whether my parents dropped me off at daycare or at a cousin’s house to stay the night, I always cried.  As the day progressed, I had so much fun that I would want to stay longer.  When it came time to go home, I would cry.

Before I left for the Philippines I cried like a baby.  I didn’t want to leave home because of all the things I knew I’d be missing out on.  I also cried because I would miss all my friends and family, and of course, knowing the comfort of home is my safe place.  Now that I’m two weeks into my trip, the homesickness has worn off.  Experiencing El Nido really helped that wear off.

I had a hard time sleeping the night before so I thought it would be a great idea to have a few stiff drinks before going to bed.  While I was out, I met a group of Filipino girls that invited me to sit with them since I was by myself.  They inquired about my ethnicity was.  I told them I was Filipino as well.  “Talaga?! (Really) Because you look like a Mexican!  You look mestiza.  Are both your parents Filipino or are you half?”  I suppose that no matter where I am, I will always look Mexican/Hispanic.  Funny thing, only Mexicans have ever guessed correctly that I’m Filipino.

Day 1

I woke up at 4:30 am, only 4 hours of sleep and I’m waking up with a massive hangover.  This was going to be the start of a bad morning.  We get to the airport at a little after 5:45 am, get checked in, and move over to the departure waiting area.  I’m being a little anxious, cranky crab, but at the same time I’m bursting with excitement.  Here’s a group picture before our flight.

** Sasha weird fact #136: I hate having my picture taken because I always feel so awkward.  I feel like my best pictures are candid.  When I am posing for pictures, I prefer to make a mean face or do something silly. **

Once we boarded the plane I was fine.  Still wanted to puke a little, but I think it was getting better since I had something small to eat.  

The picture below was taken about 15 minutes after take off.  I couldn’t help thinking how awesome it would be to skydive over this landscape.  The mountain in the distance is called, Mt. Banahaw, and is currently an active volcano.

The flight was about an hour long.  When we arrived, we just had to wait about 10 minutes to grab our bags, meet a driver who will drive us 2 hours to a pier where we will meet the boat that will take us the rest of the way to the resort.

I wore my bathing suit under my clothes because I like to be beach ready!

Here we are in the van.  For most of the party, the van ride was a miserable one.  Most of the roads were unpaved, windy, and bumpy causing some to have car sickness.  Luckily for me, I am not prone to it.  I found the ride to be enjoyable and scenic.

Terra Nova Resort!

Some of us were okay with getting our feet and clothes wet coming off the boat.  Then there is Princess Sophie getting the royal treatment.

This is the dog that resides at my aunts house. When I asked the maid what his name is, she replied with “Cheeesss.” I responded back with “Cheese?” She said, “Chayess.” And I was like, “Chase? Oh, Chase!”

A couple months ago I found this book at Barnes and Noble.  3000 random questions that I could ask myself and try to honestly answer them.  I figured this could help me learn more about myself.  Rather than going through each one consecutively, I’m going to open up to a random page and pick a question my finger lands on.  

Coincidently, I happened to open up the book and have my finger touch question #1206: How many countries have you visited? I will answer this question as countries I have actually visited, stopovers from flights don’t count.

So I had lunch with my grandma and that was rather uneventful.  She asked if I wanted to go back to the bureau of immigration to get my visa.  I politely declined because I knew she would make a scene by confronting the guard who denied my entry.  What is it with Roxas women and confrontations?  Ugh, I definitely inherited my terrible temperament from her.  My family also inherited all sorts of fucked up from her.  You think your family is dysfunctional?  Mine is definitely in the top 10, it all started with her.  Not only does this dysfunction affect her children and grandchildren, but also her siblings children.  

Anyways, I paid 75 pesos to get into Fort Santiago, barely made it into the fort and now grandma wants to know if I’d like to go back in there while she accompanies me.  No thanks, I prefer doing things on my own and definitely at my own pace.  We ended up going home and from there I decided to go over to the restaurant to hang out.

The really cool thing about my aunt’s restaurant is that there is a hostel across the street.  Like, literally, a hop, skip, and a jump away.  Throughout the day the restaurant sees foreign travelers coming in for a drink and some food.  I’ve met several travelers, but none of them stick out like this one guy, a fellow American and he’s from Texas.  It was the first time in a few days that I didn’t feel so alone in a country that I should be familiar with.  Also, it felt good to have a conversation with someone who wasn’t struggling to understand what I was saying. 

Most of the week was uneventful, though I did get to go up to the rooftop of a hotel down the street.

This city is so big and it makes me realize how small I am in this world.  It also makes me wonder, how many people in the poor parts of town have traveled more than 5 miles from their neighborhood?  How many people have traveled to different parts of their country?  How many people have had the luxury I’ve been blessed with to visit several countries and hundreds of cities around the world?  

Taking in this cityscape also made me feel sad.  After a week abroad I’m finally feeling home sick.  I miss being able to plop down on the couch and binge watch stupid movies on Netflix, I miss the convenience of being able to drive myself around town, I miss my xbox, I miss being able to see trees everywhere I go, I miss the semi-fresh air, I miss reliable wifi and high speed cellular data.  Jesus, I’m embarrassed that I’ve got first world problems.  

For the past 4 months I’ve been feeling depressed.  Not the suicidal kind, I may be selfish but I love life, and my friends and family too much to leave them all behind.  There’s a hole in my soul that needs to be filled.  There are two things in my life that I need in order to fill it, but neither have a place for each other.  The first one is my need and desire to be adventurous and explore the world.  There’s so much out there that pictures and stories from other people can’t do justice.  I want to see, feel, and touch my surroundings.  The other part of that hole is my need and desire to settle down and start a family.  Adventure and travel have no place when you’re tied down and held in place by an anchor as heavy as a family.  

HAHAHA, that just reminded me of people who get anchor tattoos with the saying, ”Refuse to Sink.”  Umm, anchors were meant to sink.  They hold objects in place.  Should’ve gotten a balloon tattoo...

Before going on this trip, I had a goal to go diving.  I have conquered the mountains by learning to ski and snowboard and now it’s time to conquer the ocean.  There’s another world under water that I want to see.  I’ve snorkeled so many times, but you can only hold your breath for so long when you dive down before you have to go back up for more air.  So I’ve decided that while I’m in Southeast Asia, I might as well take advantage by traveling to another country.  I figured I could get my open water diver certification in Thailand, travel to a country I’ve never been to, and this also solves my visa problem.  If I leave the Philippines and come back, my visa resets itself.  Ha!

I feel like I didn’t get too much accomplished. This past Monday, I went to “Old Manila” to go to the Bureau of Immigration. I needed to get a visa extension because I’m staying in the Philippines for over 30 days. I get a ride share called Grab (the country’s equivalent to Uber) and it didn’t cost more than $4. The great thing about this company’s fare system is that regardless of traffic, time spent in the ride, and mileage, it will always be the amount that was quoted. LOVE IT! Anyways, the immigration visit was a complete fail. They denied my entry into the building because I was wearing shorts. Well, first of all, their website said nothing of a dress code. Second, I’m on vacation, mother effers! Of course I’m going to be wearing shorts, do they not realize how deathly hot it is?! While I was in this part of the city I decided to take advantage of seeing Fort Santiago.

Fort Santiago was built by Spanish conquistadors close to where the Pasig River meets the Manila Bay. It was once a line of defense for the Spanish and now it’s a historic site struggling with its upkeep and restoration.

Sasha weird fact #284: I love the smell that historic buildings emit.

Below is a picture of the entrance to the fort.

I didn’t make it that far. I got a message from my aunt informing me that my grandma was coming to meet me for lunch.

Damn it, grandma! I really wanted this day to myself and to enjoy being a tourist. Fine, whatever.

So, I walked over to meet her at the Cathedral of Manila. Upon stepping inside I was hit with some sort of familiarity. I’ve been here before but I can’t put a finger on when.

When Grandma finally showed up she informed that this is where my aunt was married the first time. Now it all made sense, I was a flower girl in that wedding.

And yesterday I had the most delicious coconut pie I have ever tasted!

Day 2 (continued)

My aunt and cousins (Sam and Steffi) brought me along to their boxing class. I got to join in on the fun. I can’t remember the last time I had such an intense workout. Oh wait, yes I can, Prof. Clark’s Strength and weight training 1. I had to do 100 push-ups, 100 crunches, and 100 squats in 18 mins. Anyways, my arms were jello by the end of class.

After the boxing class, we got back to the house and I got ready to go out and meet up with my other cousins, Noelle and Kirk. I haven’t seen them in about 20 years. We met up at our aunt’s restaurant, had a few beers and shots there. Reunions are a great thing because you don’t realize how many repressed memories you actually have. Kirk reminded me of this one time my sister and I were threatening each other with knives. Hmm...yeah, sounds about right. We would do that. Also, I learned that I’m not the only grandchild that grandma doesn’t call by another grandchild’s name. Kirk gets called Eric, the funny thing about this is that there are no Eric’s in our family. The only other grandson of hers is named, Justin.

Anyways, as the night went on, the drunker we got. The drunker I became, the dumber my ideas. There was this guy outside guiding cars to park, rather than using a regular sized umbrella he used a beach umbrella. My mission was to steal it sometime in the night. We ended up going to this other bar across the street. They played a lot of old school reggae and dance hall music. It brought me back to my high school days. By the time we left I did not get to steal the beach umbrella. However, I did end up grabbing some random umbrella that I found by the door.

Day 3

I didn’t get to bed until 4 am. I managed to sleep until 8 am, I woke up due to a lot of construction noise. I decided to fight the hangover, go downstairs and have breakfast. Afterwards, I climbed the 5 million stairs to go back to my room and sleep a little more. I finally woke up at 1 pm and got ready to go to the tattoo parlor. I got my tattoo done, see the previous post for a picture. If you’re wondering if it hurt, no it did not. It actually tickled, truth. Yes, I know I’m weird.

I got back around 4 pm, laid down to cool off from the heat, and I fell back asleep. I woke up at 8 pm, went down stairs for a bit and came back up when I realized I missed dinner. Went back to bed and woke up at 4 am.

Okay, this is the third time I’ve had to write up this post.  I’m not doing it again so I will just list in very short detail of things I have done in the past 2 days.  Seriously, I keep losing connection and I don’t get a chance to save my posts.

Day 1

- Hardly slept

- Wanted to kill a rooster at 4 am

- Visited grandma, first she couldn’t recognize me, then she kept calling me by my sister’s name.  Also, she questioned whether Noel and James were Muslim. I’m not quite sure where she was going with that. Also, I realized that my grandma is a hoarder. I understand that she’s sentimental and what not but I can’t understand why she needs these two posters. Yeah, that’s NKOTB...

- Had Jollibee spaghetti for lunch (If you’ve never had filipino style spaghetti, I suggest you do asap).

- Went to an arts and crafts bazaar (bazaars are what we American’s call festivals or fairs).  

- Walked around the fancy shopping mall.

- Took a much needed nap.

- Had dinner at a Filipino restaurant because I wanted Filipino food.  I didn’t fly thousands of miles just to eat something I could easily have back home.

- Got a massage!

Day 2

- Went to my aunt’s restaurant.

- Got drunk at my aunt’s restaurant.

- Checked out a local tattoo shop and looked at the artist’s work.

- Went back to my aunt’s house to grab my laptop.

- Now I am back here at my aunt’s restaurant hanging out and eating lunch.

- The toilet flushing

- Bathroom doors that require you to pull on the door rather than push open.

Here we go!

2:45 am: I can’t remember the last time I used my phone as an alarm. It was a god awful noise. I usually have my Apple Watch to buzz me awake, but with the amount of sleep I knew I was getting I needed the annoyance.

So, I have this love hate relationship with technology. Just like Uber, super shuttle also allows you to see where your driver is at. Mine was towards the entrance of the neighborhood.

3:08 am: I get a call from the driver, Amadu, informing me that he is here waiting for me. Oh, this gets better! He starts grumbling about how he’s on the street, back side of my building because he can’t find the front of it. Wait, wtf?! I’m telling the dude that I’m in the middle of trying to get dressed and getting ready so that I can meet him in a timely manner for my 3:35 am pick up. I told him that if he is on the other side of the building all he has to do is drive one street over to end up on the front side. This is where my love hate relationship for technology comes in. People rely on gps too much. Amadu, if you ever see this, LOGIC, you need it.

3:57 am: umm, I paid for a shared shuttle. Where are the the riders needing to be picked up? We’re already on the Dulles access road about 10 mins from the airport? Whaaaaaat?! This is an awesome score. Now I don’t have to deal with my anxiety and making sure I get to the airport in a timely manner. Also, it’s nice to know I just saved $30 if I had requested a private shuttle or Uber.

If it was so dark out I’d record this dudes driving. The access road to the airport has a lot of construction going on with concrete barriers taking up both shoulders. He’s so afraid of driving next to them that he is LITERALLY driving in the middle of the road. Luckily, it’s 4 in the morning and there’s no traffic.

4:40 am: got my baggage checked in, emphasized to the counter lady how important it was that the tags specified Manila. Yes, thank you, I know how insane I am! I also managed to get through security check point!

4:50 am: Found my gate, B76.  I need to find a starbucks!

5:33 am: While sitting here, I met a man, his name is Miles, 38 years old, waiting for his flight back to Atlanta.  His stay was brief in D.C. because he went to visit a friend staying in a local hospital.  He had a heart attack and passed away.  His friend was also 38 years old, a sports medicine doctor.  Things like that really make you think about how life is so short.

Well, after more repacking and unpacking and repacking, I’ve finally got it all down to two check in bags and one small carry on.  That’s one stress out of my system.  

A few things I have done today: 

- Checked my purse about 5 million times to make sure that my passport and wallet are in there.

- Constantly checked my wallet to make sure all my credit cards and cash are there.

- Panicked and stressed about my connecting flights especially the connecting flight from Seattle to Tokyo.  I land in Seattle at 10:23 am and board for my next flight at 10:44 am.  Ha, of course I have to travel from the B terminal, gate B3 (Level 5) to the S terminal, gate S2, which requires taking the light rail (Level 2).  I don’t know about you, but I like to be well prepared for a lot of things I do, traveling is one of them.

- Took a shower (this will be the last time I’m able to for the next two days), and finally washed my hair (for the first time in 3 days). 

- Wondered if I could actually fit into luggage without amputating any arms and legs.  Yup, I totally fit!  Jen, if you're reading this, this answers our question from the other day.

I managed to squeeze in a day hike last week with Katie and James. The last time I did this hike was in 2002.  I remember doing a 2 mile hike to see the falls and it was just a trickle of water coming down. I wanna say it was the most disappointing sight I’d ever seen and decided to never go back.

Fast forward 16 years later: I was rather impressed with what I saw. Due to the heavy rains from the night before, the water was flowing pretty hard.

James had this brilliant idea to go off the path and hike to the top of the falls. It was worth it, if you ever go, screw the signs that advise not to climb on the rocks. DO IT!! If I ever make it back there I’m gonna go swimming even though it says that swimming is prohibited. Rules were meant to be broken, sometimes.

Well, I got off work about 2.5 hrs ago. I am now sitting here in my room re-packing everything I packed the other day. Oh.my.god. This trip is happening. I leave in two days. I was excited at first and now I’m not. Why? Travel anxiety is hitting me hard. Am I going to forget something? Am I going to wake up late and miss my flight? Am I going to die? Am I going to flip out on someone at the airport or on the plane? Am I going to be asked whether I want lasagna or the fish, request for lasagna only to be told that they are out of lasagna and then I settle for bread rolls because I hate fish.

If there was a way to let you all take a gander inside my mind, Jesus, it’s running a mile a minute. There are ten million things I’m thinking about and I can’t focus on one thing. I think my biggest concern and cause of anxiety is the airlines losing a suit case and I’ll be without my clothes. Yes, I understand I can always buy new clothes. I’d rather have spending money on things I want to do than things I need.

Back story: I went to the Philippines back in 2004 and my luggage was rerouted to Hong Kong and lost for 3 months because the lady at the Korean airlines counter fucked shit up. I was without my belongings for about 2 weeks, I had to buy clothes and borrow clothes. It sucked.

So, here I am. Do I pack clothes in all my suit cases just in case or stick with what I had originally and clothes stay in one bag, shoes and toiletries, and random stuff in another?

I’ve decided that drinking a glass of wine might help ease the anxiety and summon the packing fairy.

Because alcohol makes things better?