TOURISM 101
I am now listening to Carole King's It's too Late. (Such a powerful song!) I dream of having Gemma Cruz-Araneta's work for the Department of Tourism. What a blast! I'm sure the her beauty title would be a plus too. Anyway, just to let you know what i did on Holy Week. I went to Palawan, Coron. It's the north of Palawan on the Busuanga Island with mon amour. I have this feeling that i want to be a poster of the WOW Philippines and promote this blasted beautiful country. AT least i served my country well, even i was just a tarpoline with attitude.
Chapter 1: GOING THERE
There's a Superferry trip. And believe me, riding the SuperFerry reminds me of my ogle moments with Ate Shawie and the movie Titanic. Frenchy was Jack aka Leonardo DiCarpio and i was not Rose aka Kate Winslet. I was Lydia DiMagiba from the province of Polomolok---- it was my first time and i was on the third class where everybody was there and sleeping like a third world country. There's this teeming longing to be with the masses and to be identified as dukha within my personality. I just like the drama of struggling and going from rags to riches then to the dishes. 10 hour trip honey. It felt like titanic since the first class people were in cabins like the ones in the movie. My lungs can't stand too much aircon and too much fragrance from that side of the ship. And there's beer on board too. Leila said that they watched I amSam and the Punisher on board the Negros Navigation for 60 pesos while they came from Boracay to Manila. Come 4:30 am, you can now the feel the mystic islands of Coron and they are looking at you as if they've seen your nipple peek out. Very enchanting. I think the Coron Islands are male by nature.
Chapter 2: BEING THERE
It's quite cheap there. The rooms go from 300-500 a night. You need a pumpboat (1000-1500) to go from island to island. And yes, while travelling by pumpboat to go to the islands i imbibe the PAL song in the 80's: "The beauty of the Philippines come shining through... the Philippine airlines... come shining through... tralalalala. i hummed that in Eva Peron mode while she was on her way to Buenos Aires with matching fluttering hair and exposed legs. But beware of the sun dahlings, they can really scorch and flake our beautiful skins while travelling on pumpboats. I was sunburnt even before getting to the beach and i did apply some sunblock but its really UV rays with the capital U and V without us knowing it. So right now, I am as dark as the night and looking like a bangkera. At ang paa ng lola mo, talaga namang highlighted na highlighted ang nail polish in rich white platinum!
Chapter 3: THE ISLANDS
It is beautiful. Period. The Cayangan lake makes you want oxygen. It's the cleanest lake in the country and makes you wonder how the hell such a thing existed here. The place was so pure it makes you want to be like Adam and Eve if your jowa is with you ( syempre we fell on that category) or the serpent for that matter (kung mag-isa ka lang at bitter). The sands on some parts of the beach were as white as bond paper. Too bad for me beacuse i don't really know how to swim. Frenchy says how can i live in such in an archipelagic country and not know how to swim. That's a good point. I think i drowned in my past life but at least i can project knowledge in swimming. There's also the Calawit area 2 hours away from Coron. This is where you can hobnob with actual zebras and wildlife imported from Kenya during the Marcos era. But of course, we didn't have enough money to go there so it remained a hearsay. Samner, my prodigal roommate, told me that they went to this underwater cave in the middle part of Palawan in Purto Princesa.
We practically blew our money to get the most of the islands there. The total gastos per person can be 5,000. We just brought 8,000 for the 2 of us so that's why we're a bit short. I came back to Manila with just 2 pesos and 50 centavos. I never felt so poor since i just ate Skyflakes for dinner. I was a rat. A happy rat, if i may add.
