August 6th Philippines - Cherie M Daniel -Moved to Malapascua Is.

August 6th Boat Ride from Maya to Malapascua Island

We ate breakfast and chatted with the most adorable Philippino ladies that ran the D&N Lodge. Albin shorta looks like Thor, so when the host that is in the picture above first saw him she squealed and put her hand over her mouth in excitement. It was adorable. She explained to us that Thor is her grandson’s favorite character. So of course, she had to take a picture with him to show him later. She was so kind and told us how much we should pay for the boat ride and she let me eat all the bananas I wanted. I didn’t know that they could taste different…. but let me tell you the small bananas off a tree are to die for. I really contemplated moving there just to be able to eat more of them.

Before we left I tried to give them a tip and she was almost insulted about it. I learned from another travel later the best advice. To have them except the money just explain that in my culture it is customary for us to give a tip and rude not to.

We walked to the boat ramp and bought our ticket for the boat ride. To get to our boat we had get on a small motor boat. There was not enough room to take everyone in one boat so we had to take turns. My friend Rebecca took the first boat with others travelers. I wasn’t looking forward to the little boat all I could think about was that small boat tipping over and my bag going to the bottom of the ocean with my laptop and camera. When it was our turn, they asked us for 20p. That is double the amount that our host told us we were suppose to pay.. I argued and was not going to pay it. They were getting pissed. I said it isn’t the amount it is the principle they are ripping us all off. I ended up paying it, but it was bull shit. I felt if I didn’t pay these guys were going to beat me up and I didn’t want to end my trip over 20p. When we finally all meet back up on the big boat I found out they forgot to charge the first group of people they took so they charged us extra to make up for it….. grrr! Jerks! The boat ride was pretty short. I loved the ride there were dolphins jumping and flying fish everywhere. When we got to Malapascua Island I was really excited and ready to experience island life.

Destinations

Did I mention that I learned the hard way not to go to Southeast Asia with a suitcase. Well if I did I am going to say it again I learned fast that I hated traveling with a suit case. There isn’t nice sidewalks to drag your suit case behind yourself. So I paid a local to carry my bags across the beach to Slash Gardens, not because I wanted to but the it was so hot and honestly my arms were dying.

We got a killer deal online at Slam’s Garden Resort for a room for 2-4 people. I was ready to get in the room, but the lady across the counter was trying to make us pay more because we had four people. I tried to explain to her that 2-4 people means we wouldn’t have to pay extra unless there were more than 4. She keep arguing and being very rude. There was a customer service line so I called and they agreed with me. I had to have the lady I spoke with on the phone call the lady behind the counter, because she didn’t want to hear anything from my phone, like I was tricking her. We all sat in the outdoor restaurant and watched from a-fair. I could tell when she was on the phone with their customer service it wasn’t as she though just by her face that was getting angrier and angrier. Lone and behold she had to let us stay with out charging us extra for the night. She hated me! Not because I was mean to her, but she wanted me to pay more. She also ended up also being the cook….. (I’m doing a spoil alert, but I got a parasite about 2 weeks later…I’m assuming it was from her. I guess I would have paid more in the long run if it would have prevented me from getting a parasite, as I will tell you later it was the worst experience.)

We put our bags in the room and went for a swim. It was amazing. What vacation should feel like. I was so happy and it almost didn’t feel real to me. I found it amazing how so many people in the Philippines are poor, but so so happy and most are the nicest people in the world. They make me feel so blessed for what I have had in my life in the states.