Life's Big Adventure: A little piece of paradise!

Boat to Boracay

Our welcome to the beach

This whole keeping up with a blog thing is getting kinda difficult. There is just so much going on, writing about my life is the last thing I think of doing. Soccer is now starting at school, and despite the amazing effort these kids put into the sport...lets just say I am surprised they can run and kick the ball at the same time. They really do try, so at least I don't mind coaching. I have always said you can improve skills, but only if the effort is there.

Enjoying the view!

As for the fun stuff, I recently got to spend Chinese New Year, yes it is different from the other New Year this is based on the lunar calendar, in the Philippines. I can say this was as close to paradise as I have ever been. I had two fun traveling partners to keep me company, John and Bruce. The whole time we were there, people did not know what to make of us. It is this blonde hair girl with a 60 year old man and a semi Asian boy. It was a constant explanation of how we are just co-workers/friends traveling together, and even after that we still got the "I don't understand" look.

My favorite sunset

The first sunset

Our first stop was in Manila. We had to stay there for a night before we caught a plane to Boracay. Manila is a place I could live without visiting again. To say it was a crap hole would be a nice way of putting it. But, thankfully we were only there to sleep, then we got to visit the most amazing beach I have ever been before in my life, and you should know how I feel about the beach by now. Upon arriving in Boracay we were greeted by one of the most beautiful sunsets I have ever seen (the other ones would be the other nights we were in Boracay). Sitting on the beach drinking a beer, we were all speechless and knew this was going to be a great trip. We filled our time in Boracay with a lot of sun, food, boating and of course a little partying. It was a place where I could see myself getting sucked into the lifestyle and living there forever. While it was not a nice fancy resort, it included everything I need to be happy!

Island hopping

Watch out!

Cave walking in Boracay

The town of Donsol

After 4 days of paradise we got on a plane, then another plane, and arrived in Donsol. Not really knowing what to expect, we just knew we were about to swim with whale sharks (Butanding)! Yes, that is correct, whale sharks in the middle of the ocean I would willingly (paying money to do it) swim with. On our hour taxi ride to the "resort" we were lucky enough to get a great driver who showed us around the "city" a bit. This was one of the poorest places I have ever been in my life, but the people were all laughing and smiling. It was a humbling experience. There was only one instance I felt even a little apprehensive, we got stopped in traffic on our road, Jojo the taxi driver, got out of the car to see what was going on. Turns out it was just a cock fight in the middle of the street, but as Jojo was telling us what was going on, he was also locking all of the doors in the car...

Rainbow on the walk

Donsol

A few of our friends we met

There was nothing in Donsol, at all, so we took a walk around the city and I have never felt like more of a celebrity. Children followed us around, every wanted to talk to us, say hello. It was a great experience. The second day we were there was our whale shark experience. I can say without a doubt this was the coolest thing I have ever done before. We were on a boat in the middle of the ocean, our guide said "go" and we jumped off a moving boat into the ocean to be greeted by these massive creatures the size of a school bus. We were then able to swim along with these gentle giants in the ocean. Words can not do it justice. This was the time of my life with incredible people. The video clip below is just a glimpse into what we saw.

Without a doubt this was one of the best vacations I have ever taken. I love having these experience. They are things I will take with me forever.