Hey..Andrew, I just scored us a Tricycle for 350 Peso's!

Well, a one hour flight and a short, rickety boat ride has landed us on the island of coconuts, rum, and white beaches..Boracay!

Since our last blog, we have done everything and nothing all at the same time. Our three nights stay in Moalboal was a nice little intro to island life. The island was full of Koreans, divers, and independent travelers looking for a quiet little nook to relax in while soaking up the wicked hot sun. We didnt leave ourselves enough time to get our diving certificate, so we settled for finding a little nook to call our own. We walked the narrow "street" (more like a walkway, hidden in between shacks, restaurants, and dive shops)avoiding the many Filipino's offering their Tricycles and motorbikes for rent. We found a great little restaurant with killer chicken fried rice (Andrew of course added his specialty..hot sauce!) and fresh mango juice. The locals working on the island range in age from 8 to 80! Little girls selling jewelry, and woman cooking chicken and rice on a fire. We rented a motorbike for the day (and yes, we survived the crazy driving!) and cruised around where we were staying, Panagsama Beach, and the 8km over to White beach. We stopped at a resort called Blue Orchid on White beach for lunch, where the finish resort managers introduced themselves, and sat down for a chat. After lunch we did a little snorkeling and then dryed off in the sun.
We also found a great little spot for breakfast called The Last Filling Station, where we had fresh fruit with yogurt and muesli.

Luz and her nephew Omar picked us up on Friday, and we headed back to Cebu for the night. We tried a few strange Filipino foods while staying with Luz, such as Bibinka, which is sort of a cross between a bread and rice pudding. It is made with rice, coconut milk, vinegar, and sugar. Didnt taste too bad, but the vinegar threw me off a little. Andrew isnt picky AT ALL, so I don't think anything would throw him off ;) Chicharon is another food we tried. Widely sold on the streets, it is "crispy pig skin" as Omar described. Him and Luz were eating it like chips! It looks a little like puffed up corn chips, with a very crunchy texture. The odd piece had what we guessed was meat on it. Again, not too bad tasting.

Our next stop after spending Friday night in Cebu was the Island of Bohol. We booked a ferry for saturday, with a return ferry on Monday. Our short trip there was mainly to see the Chocolate Hills, just outside of a city called Tagbilarin. Bohol is a lot less commercialized then Cebu, and has more of a jungle feel. Our hostel there came with a motorbike, which worked out really well seeing as we were about 5 km from the main beach and strip of restaurants. This part of Bohol is called Panglao Island. Weather was again really good to us, with only a little lightening threatening for a storm one night. Andrew swore we would get soaked on our way home from supper, but the rain never came. Sunday we hired a driver to take us to see the
Chocolate Hills, and the Tarsiers sanctuary. Tarsiers are a teeny tiny bug-eyed monkey. About the size of a rat, these nocturnal monkeys are one of the main tourist attractions for Bohol. The Hills are the islands second attraction. It's hard to really describe the Hills without stating the obvious...it's literally just miles of old grassy hills, that brown in the dry season, making them look like mounds of chocolate.
We met a friendly Filipino restaurant/hostel owner, who gave us his life story over a San Miguel, and an American turned Asian traveler. We got tons of advice from our American friend, as he lived in Thailand for 9 years, and now lives in the Philippines. Over all, it was a great couple days in Bohol.

Back in Cebu yesterday, we bought a deck of cards(an essential we forgot to pack!) and taught Omar how to play the games Golf, and Crazy Eights. It was so much fun, and he caught on quick. We also spent some time showing Omar pictures of what we like to do at home. Sledding, quadding, hiking etc. He was amazed! He asked "you've seen Twilight?" we said yes, and he goes "you live in same place, like Edward and Bella!" Haha! He told us it was like looking at pictures from a movie. We told Omar he should come to Canada and we will take him to all those places :) We have even more of an appreciation for our home country after that.

Our last activity in Cebu was a big round of Tennis with Luz and her friends. Unfortunately tennis is neither mine, nor Andrews sport, so we knew it would be interesting. And that it was! After 2 hours of being coached by about 10 different men, Andrew was soaked to the bone with sweat! I sat on the sidelines at first and giggled as one man shouted "bend, bend!" while another yelled "follow through sir, yes, better sir!!" I could see the beads of sweat on his face, but a smile remained! Then of course I got a little taste of it as well, when one of the boys came over to fetch me for a lesson. It seemed every time I moved, my grip changed and I had a different guy come over and re-show we how to properly hold the raquet. The younger boys, or the "runners" caught all our side-line balls and laughed when I hit the ball straight up In the air. I caught on a little by the end, but I'm far from being game-ready. It was a good workout anyways, and one of the little boys asked us to adopt him as we left.

We loved our stay in Cebu city, and can't thank Luz and Teo enough for everything they did for us to make us feel at home. We will miss our Filipino mom Luz, and her family and friends. We are hoping that by the time we get back to Canada, she will be there too!

It's 11:55am here in Boracay, and we are itching to get out and explore our new home for the next week! We have 6 nights booked at a hostel called Isle Gecko. Newly renovated and family-owned, we have a feeling we will fit right in here. Jimmy, Joey, Jane, and Joy have already made us feel comfortable! We will fill you in on the rest to come!

Good Morning, Good Evening, or Goodnight!

Love and hugs


Ps to explain our blog title for today... Tricycles are one of the forms of transportation here in the Philippines, and act as a taxi for locals and tourists alike. After getting off the ferry in Bohol, we were looking for a taxi to take us to our hostel. We were both in a bit of a daze from the ferry ride, and were surrounded by people. After a few minutes I nudged Andrew from the side and with an air of confidence proclaimed I had found us a Tricycle for the wicked price of 350 peso's!...Unfortunately for me, a tricycle should cost no more then 100 peso's and is basically a motorbike with a rickety side car,leaving little room for us and our big backpacks. Needless to say, we ended up going with a car for 400 peso's, and Andrew and I had a good laugh about it later.