Back to the Philippines

Manila has become a home away from home since I keep coming back, and Carlo’s family has been so kind to let me stay at their place each time.

Boracay (March 5-8)

Carlo invited Jon and me to join him and his friends to experience the beaches of the Philippines. I had such a great time getting to know Carlo's friends. While we were out and about on the beach, I also met friends of friends. I learned that the more people you know here, the more fun you can have at the beach!

I thought it would be easy to compare the beaches of Thialand to the beaches in Philippnes, at least the two beaches where I visted. Yes, they both have sand and water, but the experiences were different. The beach in Thailand was much more secluded whereas Boracay was busy and even had its own outdoor mall (D'Mall) and tons of restaurants. Koh Samed had more older couples and Boracay had younger groups of people, but that may be a matter of my timing. Many of the students in Thailand were finishing classes the week after I arrived, and I’m sure they packed the beaches. Lek suggested we be adventurous, but I was happy sitting under the sun and reading. Boracay had more activities to choose from such as zorbing and wind surfing. Our group of 12 people decided to go "fly fishing," which is not what you would expect. Instead of catching fish, we were the fish swinging in the air, as you can see in the photo. We split into two groups so there were six of us behind the boat at a time. I held on the entire time, but I was swinging around. This was definitely a bonding experience. Koh Samed had an awesome evening fire show which I mentioned in a previous post, and I couldn't get enough of the fresh seafood and fresh fruit. I will say that Boracay has a place on the beach with delicious fruit drinks. Jon and I stopped there about once a day. Both beaches had sellers walking up and down the beach. Boracay mostly had pearls, hats and sunglasses. Koh Samed had pashminas and fresh fruit. Ultimately, I have to be diplomatic and say that I enjoyed both beaches for different reasons. Both made me happy!