Pics and stuff

Just thought I'd drop in here some images of the boardwalk, market and general towns pics of General Luna that faces out onto the water and looks out onto Dako Island. I love taking a "bangka" pumpboat out to Dako to surf or snorkel.

Fresh crabs

So today, as I was using the Asian brooms to sweep the floor  (an aside here – on a trip to Thailand in the early 80’s my Mother bought 5 of these. They used to sit up off a cast iron cauldron in the entrance of our 6^th floor apartment growing up in Madrid, back when I didn’t have a clue they were actually useful for anything. Anyway, why hasn’t anyone made the sticks longer? I break my back sweeping with them and I am not particularly tall...hmmmm note to self: must engage in broomstick expansion venture when I return. That and import Spanish mops - such a great invention!). Anyway, as I was saying, I was proudly sweeping the floor when a lady stopped by with a bucket filled with fresh crabs and prawns. Ay!!! I do love this place. The crabs were tied up with a string of banana leaf, trying to wriggle themselves out of there. So shortly after, I found myself with 100pesos (2 euros) buying a kilo of fresh prawns plus 2 fresh crabs to have for dinner. I placed the crabs in the fridge, unbeknownst to me that would “put them in a slumber”.  As I took them out to dump them in the boiling seawater that I picked directly from the beach opposite, I inadvertently rinsed them off in tap water only to find them coming alive AGAIN desperately sensing their demise was-a-coming. That is when I had fleeting thoughts of becoming a vegetarian. It was painful to think of the cruel death I was about to put them through, blessed animals. In fact, I had a whole stream of thought about why it is so easy to eat just anything unconsciously… since we don’t experience the sacrifice of animals we eat anymore (instead neatly and cleanly cling film packed in the supermarket isle), or watch the caged hens laying the eggs we have for breakfast and all that stuff. It is quite depressing to think about and I truly do understand why people become vegetarians. However, faced with an appetite and love of food like mine, my guilt did not last long. I made a choice. I took a deep breath, dropped them in the water, and turned around to peel the prawns in the sink. Done deal. What I love about it is the consciousness and awareness of the entire process. I suppose that is what all this “conscious living” fuss is about.  The crabs were delicious, by the way. 

Yoga at Glenn's

I’m staying at my friend Glenn’s property. (Thi is the view from his balcony). His round house sits pretty in the middle of a 4000Sqm property dotted with palm trees and with a neighbouring plot of land that is, curiously, the home to 2 goats – the only ones I have seen on the island, and must admit, have dreamt of savouring for an oven roasted dinner, Ay gulay!!!!!

The house is not built on stilts but is the typical house built one floor above the ground, for no other reason than to have unbeatable views of the waves crashing in onto the Clou9 reef from the balcony. I must admit, whether you surf or not, waking up and looking out onto the water with a cup of anything liquid in your hands (in Glenn’s case a Red Horse beer will do nicely!) is perhaps one of the most soothing and motivating ways to start the day.

So after a bit of TLC, the ground floor underneath the house, usually reserved for drying laundry or parking motorbikes in the shade, has become the venue for my sunset yoga class. It’s perfect and offers me the excuse to do some house-work. I reckon I am one of theose weirdos who find sweeping and mopping to be somewhat sedative. Maybe it’s the physical aspect of it, but I’ve taken nicely to cleaning the area daily before the class, plus it gives me something to do during the late morning when the tide is low and I cannot swim. I much prefer this to hand washing my dirty laundry. Water is not very abundant here – it’s not uncommon to walk past people filling buckets with water at the local pump or well.  I had never stopped to think about anything other than the convenience of a washing machine’s capacity to ‘plug and play’ but apparently (comparatively speaking) they are quite water intensive which is why hand washing is the predominant if not the only way to do laundry here. Yep, large basin, washing board and bar of soap… off you go. So I decided to do it myself. It’s not expensive to get it done and the local women will gladly earn some extra cash from it. I suppose I just felt the need to try it out myself…perhaps the guilt of paying someone to clean all my dirty laundry by hand no less… and I’ve grown used to doing a lot of washing… I don’t know. I felt a certain curiosity to try out the washing board too. I had never tried one before and figured it might make the task easier on a newbie like me. As it turns out, I ended up with 4 blistered fingers and leaving the clothes to soak way too long in the water. Instead of that fresh laundered smell I was so looking forward to, I was left wth funly smelling clothes that needed to be washed again! There is a certain technique and art in hand washing, I know that now, and for only 100 or 150 pesos (3 euros) it certainly made me not take my fresh laundry for granted anymore. There is a reason why people stick to doing what they do best, and so they should. I am far better off sweeping and mopping… and paying for the experts to do the laundry, especially if it helps them earn a living. 

Life on the island is traditional. I am not sure whether the challenges of not having everything at your fingertips (except for the internet!!) and returning to a more traditional lifestyle - that interestingly makes me value those mod coms even more - is what draws me so much to this place. Or perhaps it is nostalgia for times past. I suppose while I am here I am reminded of my childhood, from which I have very happy memories. It’s seeing children playing in the dusty road unsupervised, using a coconut tree trunk as a trampoline on the beachside, riding a carabau water buffalo into town or dancing over an elastic (two kids stand apart opposite each other, holding a round elastic band with their knees, while a 3^rd kid sings a rhythmic song and dances on the elastics). I feel reminded of simpler times, of when I was growing up and entertainment meant using your imagination with what little you might have. It was carefree, un-adultered fun. Maybe it’s not nostalgia, but escapism.  I am not negating the value of my life until now and everything I have lived and learned. Had it not been for that I would not be here now, which is why it is funny. After everything I’ve experienced, I seem to be walking a path to a far simpler life that I was not able to see made me so happy until now. Taking the long route has been the fun part, because whilst all roads eventually lead to Rome, some are surely more scenic and exciting than others.   

Reality sets in

Reality has set in - I am making a life for myself out on this island. I’ve been living outside of the comfort zone of my friend’s resorts. It sure is different to be on your own, organising your water and food and getting a proper feel for things out here.

So after renting out one of the cottages on Glenn’s property facing Cloud9 surf, my friend Hippie offered me to house sit at her surf shop (and house). She has a great space for yoga too so I’ve transferred the sunset classes I do daily out to her place and it’s been working out very nicely. Classes start at 4:30PM every day and some days I’ve also done a class or too in the morning either here or in one of the resorts. There’s been an average of 4-6 people coming to the classes and now finally the surfers are catching on too. It really is a perfect complement to surfing.

So last week saw the start of the yearly international Billabong surfing competition here. I wasn’t going to stay for it cause things get so busy and whacky during that time compared with the day to day the rest of the year. However I figured if I was going to get a true feel for the island life on and off season, I had to stay for the comp… well, yeah ok, AND because I do like prancing around the fit surfers!!! Tee hee. Lucky for me Sue and Gerry my friends running Sagana resort, actually organise the comp and host most of the event coordinators. And this year, I was not just some groupie hanging about to watch the eye candy but actually had something to offer: yoga classes and massage. So I’ve been getting busy with work during the past week and it’s been quite rewarding, to the point where Q TVs crew came to interview and film my sunset class at Hippie’s last night! Hahahahah really, my life is just hilarious at times and makes me smile even more. It was really cool actually cause the crew actually came and did the class with us making it easier for them to relate and interview me afterwards. So after all that they asked about the nightlife hot spot and of course that’s where I found them afterwards!! Ay ay ay…what a good bit of water and soap will do! The presenter didn’t even recognise me so then the cameras started rolling again and there I was again, talking about the opposite of yoga and mental meditation: getting boozed up at the local haunt! I don’t know when the Siargao special will air but rest assured I will get my hands on a copy of it to share with you all J

To freedom

Rum and coke in hand, with a little calamansi lemon frozen into an ice cube, finds me writing about my travels once again. To think I nearly cancelled this trip… time and thought tells me it was the fear of getting carried away again by the life of travel, of easy riding down the coast of a white island, surrounded by only sandy roads, fishermen in their wooden bangkas and the smell of Pandan fruit falling from the trees.

A week in Siargao island has enchanted me once again. Perhaps this time more because I realize that with a little bit of saving, I can buy some land and build a house eventually… or maybe even a spa and restaurant – which is missing on the island and has been a business idea on my mind for a while. The more time I spend here, the more local I feel. Yes, I wish to be part of the others who have chosen this as their seasonal home. I fear that if I do not act soon, others will take over, mass tourism will turn it into a makeshift Boracay, and the charm and magnetism will be lost. It really is a pearl in the orient one wishes to keep precious.

Billabong sponsored the surfing competition there this year, which has helped the island get massive coverage and millions worth of publicity. They have a 3-year contract so I envisage myself there this same time next year, cheering for the young 20-something year old surfers who ride the waves in style and make it look so simple, and then sharing beers and a night walk on the beach during a blackout with the older surfers, who may be overshadowed in the water by the younger guys, but have nothing to envy them when night falls. And so life goes for the traveling single female who prefers to sit in front of her computer at her leisure and share snippets of how her alternative life unravels.

To freedom
(pictures to follow)

Fresh Buko

Growing up, I never liked coconut; mind you, I grew up in the mountains of Spain so I could hardly taste the real thing. It was either dessicated flakes placed on cakes or desserts attempting to imitate the flavour, in a sickeningly sweet way.

My first encounter with fresh coconut was at the kidney cleanse I did in Chiang Mai. I was becoming delirious after days of no eating and drinking mostly parsely juice, when the staff brought out a dripping cold glass. It had near freezing fresh coconut water with slabs of fresh coconut floating inside. I remember feeling bliss as I put it to my mouth but then again, I was starving and delirious so anything seemingly sweet and fleshy would've felt like heaven anyway, right?

Well, my full fledged love affair and veneration of fresh coconut has happened in Siargao. The coconut trees grow all around and so, when we want a fresh one, Romeo, who works here, climbs up and picks them off from underneath the tall palms! Now I understand why the trees have these step-looking cut slabs in the trunk. They are young, smooth and green on the outside. (I learn the hairy brown ones just mean they're old). They are filled with water and the meat is smooth and delicate - sometimes like a thin film. And so we grab a knife and slice the top off. Water spurts out and we collect the overflow in a bowl to chill for later. And with a special knife we cut the insides in circles to make fresh spaghetti-looking shapes. As I look out onto the clear waters before me, and the mangroves surrounding the house, I eat fresh coconut, or buko, as it is known here. Breakfast, dessert, snack ... it is a pure and healthy indulgence I feel I cannot live without now. How lucky to be able to drink nature's juice as it was intended.

Discover Siargao

Why is it that the harder and more arduous the journey, the more rewarding it feels? Why is it we all want to feel like we've discovered a place? At some point, you want to discover a place that is isolated, hard to get to, un-beknown to mass tourism and authentic. There's a place in the Philippines called Siargao that I like to think is this way. It used to take 2 days to get there from Manila... now it takes half a day. That's still a stretch for some. However, once you've weathered the plane and boat rides, you sail slowly up the turquoise waters to the white sandy beaches, dotted with leaning palm trees and nothing but mangroves in sight. When you walk down the sandy roads, you get a glimpse of life within the small cottages made of wood planks, and tended with little flowers and coconut shells as makeshift fences. Children will run out to see who's coming and offer you a cheery "hello" and "goodbye" as you pass. As you sit out, you may see the fishermen diving for mud-crab, the tastiest island specialty, or a great surf wave beckoning you into the water. Whether you think you like fresh coconut or not, when you see the man climbing the tree to pick it for you, cutting it open and offering you a taste of nature's own, you won't think to say no, and believe me, it will taste like heaven. Then at night, you'll catch yourself hearing your breath, the silence only interrupted by the slow drift of the wind among the palm leaves above, or the faint lap-lap of the shallow waters at low tide. You'll look up and thank all your lucky stars for being alive and experiencing this beauty and peace. You'll want the clock to stop. You'll want to stay forever.