You know you're in Japan when....

The air is clear and clean and the restrooms have a fancy toilet that's heated, has a bidet and other water wash options, the sound of running water (in case you want to be discreet) and a deodorizer all built in.

This is actually the first time I've landed at the Nagoya airport, which is where my mother is from. Much smaller than Narita, much less walking from the gate to security to the lounge and to the gate again. I like this much better!

But Narita does have a great Northwest business lounge with Mac computers and 19" screens. On the other hand, Nagoya doesn't have wireless but I have a lovely view out the window (impeccably clean of course) of a Hello Kitty covered Eva Air plane. How cute! The characters even have Eva Air hats! LOL!

This is only a two-hour layover (which really means 1 hour since boarding is always an hour before departure). Too short to enjoy the lounge, but just enough time for me to write a blog post.

What a vacation!

It's now 1:50 am and I am not sleeping tonight. I'm back in Manila and I have to take a taxi at 3 am in order to be at the airport three hours in advance as recommended. I think this is crazy, but everyone (people at work, taxi drivers, hotel staff) tell us the same thing so I think I should listen to them.

Ken and I arrived in Manila around 6 pm. I spent the morning reading on the balcony of the cottage and watching the fish below. We brought the rolls from dinner and fed them in the morning. Feeding the fish is quite an entertaining show.

After we checked out and had lunch, we took a kayak to a small beach near the hotel. It was about a 10 minute ride and spent about a half hour swimming. The beach was pretty deserted except for a local boat, a guy and a dog (sounds like a song!). It was quiet and we were able to see some birds that we had not seen before. I also heard some odd animal noises in the forest....I'm glad we didn't hike to the beach and decided to kayak instead.

The day really flew by and we were back on the boats and plane back to Manila. Once back in Manila I could feel the stresses returning....the traffic, the high density housing, the noise and pollution. I longed for the clean air and water. I miss peacefulness and slow pace of Lagen. We decided that the resort must be a great employer. So many happy employees. They all wanted us to enjoy our stay, tell others, and come back.

If anyone is interested in vacationing at Lagen, check out http://www.elnidoresorts.com/ I would recommend Lagen over the sister resort, Miniloc. Yes it's pricey, but it's an unbelievable getaway. We didn't book online, but searched and found an online travel agency in Manila that had the best rates (http://www.asiatravel.com/).

By Tuesday afternoon I will be back in Houston. I'm saddened to be leaving, but I'm also glad to return to my cats.

I hope you've enjoyed this blog. Stay tuned for more episodes. I should be in Argentina in October and will resurrect the blog!

Relax

Our third day at the resort was more leisurely. Ken decided to skip the dive so that he could sleep in. No alarm clock today. Just breakfast before 9 and catch the 11 am boat to one of the islands (Entalula) where we would have lunch, rock climb and sail.

Leisurely meant lounging by the pool for me while Ken swam laps. The infinity edge pool is long enough to get a decent workout. We were there long enough to see new guests arrive (and hear the welcome song again) and join us at the pool (as we did on our first day). Lots of families with kids. More Japanese tourists. And a beautiful Filipino girl and an older (maybe 10 years) fat Filipino guy. Ick. Luckily 11 am arrives and we’re off.

There’s no set schedule and we’re allowed to lounge, swim and snorkel (without vests) for as long as we want. The water is beautiful and inviting. There are a few people on the beach with us, but not many. Too bad they’re blaring music that’s more appropriate for a trendy hair salon than a beach.

We eat the buffet lunch (the grilled meats and shrimp are awesome) and rock climb. To go to the ledge is free and going farther is an extra 300 pesos. We watch a bunch of Filipino girls try it. The first ledge looks pretty do-able to me. The second would require some work.

I opt for the ledge. Brian (in yellow) was our teacher and he did a great job (move your left foot up to your leg…what?!). The tree that I'm grabbing is the ledge where I call it quits. Yeah, it's not that far from the ground, but I knew the second ledge is a lot tougher and this was bad enough!

Ken easily scales up to the ledge in about 10 seconds and tackles the next climb with ease (about twice as high). He then tries a different climb and got about 2/3 of the way up. It was definitely more difficult and required him putting his left foot up onto a hold that he just couldn’t find.

By this point we were pretty much the only guests left on the island. Everyone else had gone off to take part in other activities.

After a dip in the water to cool off, we decided it was time to sail or we would run out of time. It was a Hobie cat and we’re accompanied by one of the staff. There’s not much wind, but we make do. After we get moving Ken steered the entire time. It was nice being on the water without hearing a motor. I’ve always enjoyed sailing and I should try to do it more often.

We were able to lounge around for another hour before the boat came to pick us up. There was no one to bother us. The remaining staff members were hanging around talking while we read under our hut. This is the life.

Once again, we get back in time for a quick shower and a massage in the massage hut. Our massage ladies were late so we missed being able to watch the sunset. But we could still sit at the bar and take photos of the ever changing colors of the sky. This was our last sunset and possibly the prettiest. I could watch it every night. I look forward to comparing this sunset to the ones in Hawaii later in the year. The ones here are spectacular though.

We leave tomorrow afternoon. We’ll spend the day lounging around the pool until it’s time to take the boat back to El Nido’s airport.

They left a marketing CD for the resort in the room tonight, along with our Good Night leaf and chocolates. The leaf is a really nice touch. We get one every night...one had "good night" another "sleep well" and "sweet dreams" with our names painted on the leaf. It's the little touches like this that make us love this place.

Ken will take the CD to China with him since it’s more likely that folks there will express an interest in vacationing here (I did pick up another copy at checkout). We did run into 3 Americans at dinner tonight. They look like fraternity boys. I wonder how they found this place.

Old guys, young girls

The only thing that I dislike about this place is the number of old guys and their Filipino girlfriends. Yesterday there was an older guy (probably in his late 50’s or 60’s) beaming because his girlfriend is pregnant. There was at least a 30 or 40 year age difference.

Today a table of 3 Japanese men (50’s, and 60’s) and 3 young Filipino girls sat next to us at breakfast. It was absolutely disgusting. One of the girls could speak rudimentary Japanese. The guys spoke Japanese. Ken thinks they could have “hired” the girls for their trip. We saw no evidence of girlfriend/boyfriend like behavior. Two of the guys and all of the girls accompanied us on the snorkeling trip. Big “ewww” factor.

This is something I did not see in Malaysia. I’m not sure if it’s because Malaysia is primarily Muslim or if they’re not as poor as the people in the Philippines. I would rather be back at the Malaysian resort just for the guests.

Most of the guests here are Japanese, Chinese, Australian/New Zealand, Middle Eastern, French, Italian, and Filipino. It’s nice hearing different languages during mealtimes. Americans rarely come to Asia for a beach holiday. I was the only American vacationing in Malaysia last year and the manager confirmed that they don’t get many Americans. Too bad….Americans don’t know what beauty they're missing. This place is incredible. This photo is taken from the balcony of the water cottage one morning.

More fun in the sun

Day 2 of our vacation had us getting up early to eat breakfast and get out for our excursion. Today it’s snorkeling, kayaking and swimming with the jackfish.

We spend a lot of time on boats. It usually takes about 20 or 25 minutes to get your destination. And always, we take a powerboat to a larger boat for the trip. The time goes quickly when you’re admiring the view. The water is so blue and clear. I love to sit in the front and feel the air and sun.

Before we hit the lagoon where we would snorkel, we made a “drive by” into a smaller lagoon. There’s one guy in the front of the boat to direct the captain around the rocks. Another guy is on one of the beams to navigate around the rocks as well. This lagoon is on the scenic route as evidenced by a line of boats waiting to get in.

Then we finally get to the big lagoon where we would be able to snorkel and canoe. I’m not much of a swimmer, but we’re required to wear a life vest so I quickly got comfortable snorkeling in pretty deep water (they let Ken snorkel without one after another guy also dove in without one). There were so many fish around the reef. Colorful parrot fish, angel fish. surgeon, and countless fish that I can’t identify. Some were colorful, others had interesting patterns. I would just float and watch what was going on below me. As you can see, the water is incredibly clear and blue.

After snorkeling Ken and I kayaked in the lagoon. We made a good team and went into a smaller cove through a hole so small that it took some work for us to maneuver ourselves inside. Ken had to lie down in order to get through. We saw 2 large guys swim and push/pull their kayak instead. But it was worth the effort. Very few people were in the cove so it was quiet and there were tall rocks around us.

After kayaking we went to the sister resort for lunch and swimming with the jackfish. Mineloc is an older resort (built in the 1980’s), but they have a great lagoon for snorkeling. They don’t have a pool and only have open air dining (we have an air conditioned room and outdoor seating). The buffet is very similar, but they had a great green mango salad and blueberry cheesecake.

Our guide Chris (same guy as yesterday) left us with a lot of bread so we could feed the fish. Ken loved feeding the fish as evidenced by the photo. One of the little fish even bit his finger instead of bread.

They would swarm even if you’re in the water and just swimming. I let him feed, I would snorkel. The jackfish are HUGE! Some were a good 3’ or larger. They are mean-looking too. They just hang out in the lagoon. They don’t each much of the bread and the schools of fish clear out when they swim by. They seem to like swimming in a clockwise pattern. It was awesome.

The tide was going out so I laid on the pier. The perfect conditions…..cool water and a late-afternoon sun.

At 4 pm, they took us back to our resort. Just in time for a quick shower and a massage in the massage hut. Afterward we picked up a drink from the bar and walked out to the jetty to watch the sunset. The skies were a bit different than the day before. I think it was even better! I stayed until the last ray disappeared and the stars became visible. Just in time for dinner.

We’ve decided that this is the best beach vacation either or us has taken. The staff treats you so well here. The water is clean, the fish plentiful, the weather is warm and sunny. Palawan is very eco-friendly and we’re asked to keep everything clean as we found it. We don’t look forward to leaving in two days.

El Nido's Lagen Resort on Palawan Island

I made a promise to not go online while I was on vacation, but I can still write my blog and post it later. ;-)

I am vacationing with my friend Ken (old friends from work...he lives in Shanghai) on Palawan Island at the El Nido resort called Lagen. Getting to Palawan requires a 75-minute flight on a chartered plane (departing at 7:30 am), then a transfer to a speedboat (after a quick snack of sticky rice…basically mochi rice that you sprinkle on coconut and sugar – I had 3!), which then takes us to a larger catamaran boat, then another transfer to a speedboat again to get us to the dock. Whew! Lots of boats, but we remained dry.

We land on an unpaved runway. Yes, we feel like Indiana Jones in this airplane!

As we skim the clear blue waters en route to the island, Grace, our activities coordinator is helping us selected some activities we want to book. This is an all-inclusive resort so the activities are generally included. We agreed to the island hopping tour in the afternoon, and in subsequent days kayaking, rock climbing, snorkeling, sailing and diving for Ken.

We pass plenty of islands. Similar to those seen in Malaysia (Ken thinks it looks like Vietnam). Most of the islands are just large rocks in the water. The Philippines is made up of over 7,000 islands.

The Lagen resort is in a U-shaped cove. Talk about picturesque! There are 51 rooms in this hotel built in 1991. The landscaping is beautiful. The view from the pool is unbelievable.

We’re welcomed with a fish-shaped lei made coconut tree fronds (they make these in Hawaii too) and the employees singing a traditional Palawan march. Yes, we’ve arrived in paradise and we're being treated like royalty.

After checking in and getting settled in our water cottage (thank goodness we splurged to stay in one of them), we looked out at the fish under our balcony and I lounged by the pool for an hour while Ken swam in the water and did laps in the pool.

Lunch is a large buffet with an amazing selection. The fish was really good and the black bean crab was tasty, but too much work. There’s also a stir fry, grill, and shabu shabu station. We’re certainly not going to starve on this trip.

After lunch we took the island hopping tour. Chris was our tour guide (he's in the green shirt) and took us to a cave where we had to climb through a small hole (there are bats inside!).

Then we went to Snake Island…no snakes, but a sand bar connects two islands and the tide was out so we could walk across. We also could swim in the clear water, but Chris made us wear our life vests (party pooper!). You can see the sand bar pretty well in this photo.

And the last island was a "drive" into a small cave - yawn!

After we returned, we got a massage in the room. We wanted the massage hut, but it was already booked. We did reserve it for the next day though.

The massage ended just in time for the sunset. And a spectacular one at that. We sit on the concrete jetty and enjoy the show.

A drink at the bar, then dinner outside next to the pool (we got there early enough to ensure a table next to the water). The staff puts on a nice little show of national dances.

One dance uses two long bamboo poles and the dancers jump as the poles are being struck in rhythm. We used to learn this dance when I was in elementary school and I forgot all about it until seeing it again. After they dance, they recruit audience members to learn it. I decline, remembering how many times I used to get my ankles stuck between the poles. I’m too uncoordinated for this dance.

By 9 pm we were exhausted and crashed. We had an incredibly busy day, but at such a relaxed pace. We were just grateful that we didn’t get sunburned and can enjoy our activities tomorrow.

Alize

On Tuesday night, after a 12 hour day, we hit Greenbelt Mall for dinner and took a different route home through the mall. One of the restaurants had bottles of liquor displayed on the bar and there were some that caught our eye as being different. One was Alize (accent mark on the "e") Gold Passion. "What was that?", we wondered.

We passed another bar and they had Gold Passion and Red Passion in the window. Cool. The restaurant manager talked us into coming inside for a drink. Sure!

So we had Alize on the rocks. Brett and Emily wanted to try the Red Passion. I thought Gold would be better. Wow! It was sweet and the taste of cognac wasn't noticeable in the Gold, although it was evident in the Red. The bottle said it was 16% alcohol. Holy cow! It was a French liquor. We really liked it!


Fast forward to the morning when an email from a friend tells me how ghetto Alize is. LOL! Even better was the link to the website, which shows just how Alize is in the US. Take a look and see for yourself - http://site94.synbeta.com/ECard/

What's funny is how this liquor is marketed to blacks in the US, but not in the Philippines. We just thought it was a girly drink. The bartender told us it's best drunk on the rocks and he too said it was more for women (and at 16% alcohol it's an easy way for women to get drunk!).

So I guess we have to enjoy drinking Alize in the last night we have together in Makati City because we doubt we will drink it in the U.S.

Wednesday night is now history here.... we have one more day remaining before my team heads home to Michigan and my vacation here begins.

More stories and photos to come from Palawan Island. If you want a preview of where I'll be, check out this website - http://www.elnidoresorts.com/ I'm staying at Lagen Island Resort. They tell me that wireless internet is free so I should be able to continue posting.