Anna's Next Adventure: Single ladies hit the Phillippines!

The holiday began with Uberfood cake at the airport.

That's right, the two single, sexy and sophisticated ladies of Wuxi (aka 'The A Team' - Amy and Anna), descended upon the small island of Boracay for a week of recreation and relaxation. In keeping with tradition, lots of food and drink were consumed along with some very enjoyable eye candy to entertain us as we sipped our cocktails on the beach.

The boat on the left was our transport to the island of Boracay.

Single ladies looking tired and dishevelled after a long night travelling. We chose the perfect location in the island of Boracay, a tiny island in the middle of the mass of islands that comprise the Phillippines. Boracay is only 9km long and only 1km wide at its most narrow point. It is a fairly touristy destination but the resort we chose, Asya, was perfect. Set just off the beach, it was quiet but still only a 2 minute walk to the main beach and the restaurants and bars. The resort also has a private cove for it's guests to use and we visited 'The Cove' several times when we wanted to get away from the hustle and bustle of White Beach. If anyone is planning on visiting the Phillippines, I can highly recommend Asya - the staff were wonderful, the facilities were excellent and there were many small touches (free mini bar anyone?!) that made our visit more memorable. We happened to choose a busy time of the year for our visit and there were heaps of tourists, the majority being Korean, Chinese and American. The weekends were extremely busy as many Filipinos vist the island from their home towns.

Our first glimpse of 'The Cove' - a private beach owned by the resort.

Relaxing at 'The Cove'

We spent most of our days on the beach, alternating between 'The Cove' and White Beach. There was a huge amount of action happening on White Beach which meant that there was always something exciting to look at. The Dragon Boat Festival was a highlight, which ran for 3 days, all filled with races and good looking Filipino men to look at. There was also a conference for the Othopaedic Surgeons Association of the Phillippines - not so interesting to look at. The real giggles came with the Mr and Miss Boracay body building championships - lots of men in skimpy clothes flexing their muscles, very amusing! Along the beach, there were also many promotions for various products, the big one being Nescafe. Thanks to Nescafe, we were able to watch an amazing band from Manila, perve on gorgeous models, participate in dance classes (I passed on this!) and not drink a drop of coffee!

Happy hour - 'Two for one' cocktails and beers.

Relaxing by the pool.

The Filipino people are simply gorgeous - both to talk to and to look at. Everyone was so eager to chat to us and find out where we were from, as well as try to persuade us to participate in many of the activities on offer. It wasn't uncommon to be offered a massage, parasailing and KTV all from the one person! Despite their persistence, the hawking was always done in a polite and sometimes amusing manner, unlike other irritating hawkers in some parts of the world. Many of the Filipino men showed no shame in constantly asking us if we were married, had boyfriends, why we were single, did we have company with us, why didn't we have company, did we want company? So many questions. We held our heads high and explained that we were independent women and that we didn't need any company, but that we would look for a boyfriend and return next year with them! Often, following this rather amusing exchange, the men would tell us that they were single and that they would be our boyfriends. One night, we did organise a 'date' with one of the resort staff, PJ, who Amy and I both fell in love with, but we were both so tired we didn't make it.

A HUGE sunhat!

Boracay International School - hmmmm, next international posting?!

The food. Well, Amy and I were both in heaven. As you all know, Wuxi doesn't offer a huge array of Western foods for the homesick laowai. So, it was with huge delight that we discovered the restaurants of Boracay. We spent the week gorging ourselves on a huge variety of delicious foods - fresh seafood, Greek, Italian, Mexican, Spanish, fish and chips, ice cream and beautiful (flourless!) desserts. The seafood on the beach was so amazing - you picked the fresh fish and they grilled it for and served it with a new favourite of mine, garlic rice. The squid was particuarly good, the best I've ever had. Icecream goes hand in hand with the beach, so I maintained my daily icecream quota with a huge selection from the local icecream shop, even tasting new flavours, cheese and avacado! My cravings for Western foods are now satisfied and hopefully will be until I head home in ...... only 2 months!

Sunset over White Beach.

Listening to a percussion band at sunset.

Drinks on a beach holiday are always worthy of a few words. Happy hour began at about 2pm each day and continued till about 8pm, so, needless to say, Amy and I were very happy for those few hours each day. Most places had '2 for 1' offers, so it wasn't unusual to see Amy with 2 frozen margaritas in her hand and 2 San Miguel Light (tasted better than the regular!) beers in my hand.

White Beach.

Platter and bubbles on the balcony at Asya.

Other treats that Amy and I discovered were the local deli and the Boracay Books store. In a 'normal' life, these things are taken for granted, but as we were coming from China, we were thrilled to find them. For dinner one night, we splurged on cheeses, cold meats and other deli treats, complete with a bottle of bubbles. On our last day, we headed back to the deli to stock up on some hard-to-find-in-China treats - dried apricots, chaomile tea, nut bars and curry mixes. Yum! The book store also got several visits and I left the Phillippines with 6 new books to my name for the ridiculously cheap price of 1000 pesos (about $30).

Filipino boys kayaking.

Paying my respects to Mary on Willy's Rock.

The weather was beautiful for most of our trip, but on one day when it was raining, we decided to treat ourselves to a day at the Kai Regency Spa, a new and luxurious spa that has recently opened in Boracay. We signed up for the 'Tranquility Treatment' which consisted of 4 hours of treatments - a body scrub, jacuzzi, volcanic mud wrap, massage and facial. It was so decadent and relaxing, although I did feel a little bored and ready to go by the time we got to the facial.

The beginning of our day at Kai Regency Spa.

Kayaking at 'The Cove'.

The most simple relaxation on the holiday came from lying on the beach, with a bag full of books and magazines to read. I managed to read several books on the holiday, mostly 'chick lit' novels, but I also read 'The Boy in the Striped Pajamas' and can highly recommend it as a moving book that is written in a simple but beautiful way.

Rocking chairs on White Beach.

Happy Hour again.

On our last day, we both felt a little bit flat, the week had gone by so quickly and it was time to head back to smoggy, characterless Wuxi and back to the reality of work. A week of relaxation on the beach, with blue skies was just what I needed and I've come back to Wuxi feeling refreshed and ready for the last term of my first year of international teaching. The holiday couldn't have been more perfect - the location was great, the company was fantastic (thanks to my BnF' friend, Amy!), the weather was good - what more could I ask for?! The journey back was a little eventful, with issues with our baggage at the Caticlan airport, a delayed flight, disappointment over the absence of The Body Shop at the Manila airport, flying through a storm as we approached Shanghai and then being asked about recent contact with pigs as part of the swine disease. The Cebu Pacific airline, a budget airline, was great and once again, the Filipino staff were fantastic. Each flight, when the seatbelt sign had been switched off, the staff would play some games with the passengers. You could win small prizes by doing what the staff called out, from simple things like 'Show us your 10 fingers' to saying tongue twisters over the loud speaker. A fun way to end the holiday!

'Mogito to go'?!

Paella.

I'm now back in Wuxi, preparing for another term of work. I have spent the day pottering around my apartment and doing some grocery shopping - a fairly major expedition here in China! Am now off to have a foot massage and an early night. Stay tuned for more photos of the Phillippines coming up!