Day 41

Rina, Aix, Denise and I decided to check out BIA (Boracay Island Adventures) which is just down the road from our hotel to see what other water adventures they can conjure for our budget.  Rina and I decided to do para-sailing while Denise and Aix chose jet skiing again.

Mind you, this was the perfect time to do this as the NBA games and Pacquiao-Bradley fight were being televised live and most of the folks were watching.  We got to our designated area and got strapped right away to a harness and being briefed at the same time for proper hand signals to etcetera.... I'm just excited and wanted to go up right away!

The speedboat had a three man crew, navigator, safety guy and our personal assistant to do our videotaping and/or picture taking.  We were airborne pretty quick as the speedboat sped off and we were about 100 or so feet above sea level.  Its like parachuting but being suspended mid-fall.  We can see the island from our vantage point and it was pretty serene up there.  It was just us, the rushing air and the deep blue sea way below us..  The pictures give no justice as to the breathtaking view and sensation of the experience.

It was AWESOMELY AWESOME!!!

We got back to the hotel with enough time to shower and pack.  We got picked up 12 sharp and loaded all our bags and being into the cab for our next phase of transportation - the boat ride to the main island.  Reaching the main island, we boarded our chartered van to take us to Kalibo International Airport for our flight to Manila.  We were (the guys) listening intently on the Pacquiao-Bradley fight and we were about midway when they announced Bradley's win.  Silence filled the van then after a few sighs - instant analysis!  Oh well, this could only mean a rematch and maybe this will smoke Mayweather out of her (yes I said "her") cocoon to finally have the courage to fight Manny.

After checking in for our flight, we went outside the terminal to have lunch - it was a totally native experience - the place is set in a rice paddy field and memories of spending summers during my youth in the province just brought back fond memories of my lolo and lola.

We reached Manila an hour late due to traffic and got to the house before darkness fell over the metro.

This was a sweet fun weekend - truly a highlight of our trip to the Philippines!  Thank you Yey, Roselle, Aix, Anthony, Eia, Denise, Jason, Heart and Ronald for the great times!

Day 40

We have an activity list for today - fly fish, banana boat, Zorb, zip lining, para-sailing,  kite surfing, jet skiing, helmet diving, snorkeling, island hopping.....and we ended up doing... drum roll.......more DRUM ROLL.....
walking, shopping, swimming and eating!  Oh, after much coaxing from Rina, we ended up jet skiing.

A half hour, 45 MPH Sea-Doo ride around a set pylons which were sometimes impossible to spot due to glare and waves. We rode tandem with Rina going at it first but after a couple of rounds she asked me to take over.  It was pretty hard to control going full speed and when the craft starts planing and skimming over waves.  It was in a turn when I started easing off on the throttle to make a smooth right turn on a pylon mark when a freak wave broadsided us starboard making me lose my grip on the throttle thus slowing the craft down considerably hurling Rina over my left side and into the drink.  It took a couple of tries to get her back on board as we were laughing so hard.  We finished our half hour with more respect to the craft and the element.

Kudos to the Boracay Island Adventures crew who were on the scene immediately to render assistance.

That night, we bought a bottle of tequila thinking that it'll be enough to get us at least giddy before hitting the clubs - oh how wrong we were!  Oh well, its already day 41 (Sunday 12-ish AM) so we decided to head on over to Epic.  Yey, Roselle and I elected to have a full body massage first to get us loosen up - it was a half hour of pure heaven - I wanted to hit the sack after that but the music emanating from Epic was so inviting so we hooked up with the rest of the gang, ordered myself a mojito and danced away till 3AM.  It was a fabulous end to a long fun day!

All suited up

Rina learning the ropes

...and off we go!

Ronald, Jason and Heart waiting for someone to start dinner

Last round (drop)!

Need to get something to cool us off

Epic Mojito!