Boracay Day 3

Day 3 started off with breakfast back at Jonah's shakes, the tide was up and this was our view:

About 120php for an omelette with ham and mushrooms - looks measly but really good.

After breakfast we headed for Ariel's House to wait for the boat that would take us to Ariel's Point. The entire trip cost us 1,300php per person; it included a free flow of drinks & booze (water, soft drinks, beer, some hard liquor) as well as snacks and lunch.

Loading onto the boat - prepare to get wet. It would help to put your stuff in ziplock bags.



All ready to gooo



Rockstar Jean



le view

When we were reaching Ariel's Point, Jean spotted someone sitting on a plank on a cliff by the edge of the island. None of us knew this was Ariel's Point yet... till the boat turned around and docked. It took us about half an hour to reach A.P. from Station 1, apparently slower because our rudder hit the rocks and got broken, or something.

At Ariel's Point!

Yeah, free booze! Had watermelons and caramelized bananas (THE BOMB) for snacks. Here's a word of caution: there have been many cases of accidents happening at A.P., mainly because mixing a free flow of booze and jumping off cliffs isn't really a good combination.



View from the 12m jump. Here's how it works, there are 3 "levels" / heights where you can jump off from, 5m, 8m and 12m. You're advised to jump at lower heights till you've got the hang of it, then advance higher. Jean and I both jumped the 5m and thought that was the max we'd go. Nina stayed off the diving boards - she had a slipped disc :<



Jumping off the lowest plank was scary enough. My legs shook so much that it was probably safer to leap off the board before I fell off by accident; that's the only reason why they took me there. And you're falling for what seems like eternity, with your heart in your mouth, pretty oblivious to the beautiful horizon stretching into infinity, till your feet hit the water. (and your swim gear re-adjusts itself with the impact of the water, but thank God there was enough time to pull it all back in place before emerging to the surface...) and that was 5m. The lowest level of them all.

It was fun though - everyone got to know everyone else a little better because, let's face it, most of us are scared of heights and require a little encouragement to muster enough guts to jump off a little plank, off a cliff. We were soon shouting at each other, cheering when people managed to bring themselves to jump, chanting when we saw anyone hovering around the 15m board.

In case all this talk about jumping is bothering you, rest assured that you don't have to jump; it isn't mandatory. There were plenty others who decided to just sit and chill - Ariel's Point is a lovely place to take in an uninterrupted view of the sea. Many seats for sitting, eating, drinking and/or talking, for sunbathing, for watching the excitement, and a couple of hammocks for relaxing. You can also choose to swim in the ocean (beware: baby jellyfish! a guy got stung.), snorkel or kayak.





Hearty lunch! Buffet style. Not bad ;), accompanied by coke and rum.



Clear waters :) we snorkeled after lunch.

Our newfound friends, and yes, that's a starfish on his head.

blue starfish! that conforms to the shape of whatever it's on.

check out how clear the waters were!

We got into kayaks too. Nothing much to see though, in the waters - mainly sea urchins, little blue fish and blue starfish. Which was mesmerizing enough.

Got back to shore for more snacks, and the thought crossed my mind that I'd probably regret it if I didn't take the 15m leap of faith.

Did not want to try the 8m jump because it looked the closest to the cliffs of the 3!

The girls egged me on and caused such a commotion that others caught on to my intention. A total stranger said that if I jumped, he'd jump too - and I'd already made half my mind up that I'd jump. I grabbed another guy who had half the mind to jump as well and before we knew it, we were all standing behind the 15m dive board. I hesitated for like 5 minutes (felt really long); everyone was cheering me on, the guy who made the barter asked if I wanted him to go first, I declined knowing that it'll only make me more nervous.

Then something clicked, and i leapt.

like a flying

Now if you recall, I mentioned that the 5m leap felt like eternity. That makes the 15m leap feel like I spent eternity and a half falling. Someone mentioned to me that the falling distance felt the same. I say that's bullshit. I actually had enough time to scream till I had no more breath in me, realize that I was still falling, take in a bit of scenery, then decide that I can't handle that feeling of falling and anticipation any longer, close my eyes, and after all that, finally hit the water.

DAHELLL??? It must feel really scary to commit suicide. Especially if you know the end point is hard concrete...

Don't regret it, but wouldn't say I'd do it again.

Was very proud of myself though I shook like a leaf a good hour after. Still, I felt so brave that I agreed to try balut.


P.S. The guy who said "if you jump, i'll jump"? He ended up not jumping. Turns out they made a bet amongst their friends and he bet that I would't take the leap.

TAKE THAT, ANG MOR.



There was this dude called Oliver who was super bubbly and pleasant. He jumped the 5m and 8m boards and guess what - he can't swim! He had 3 dedicated "lifeguards" who all jumped before him and waited for him at the bottom to make sure he'd be okay; every single time he wanted to jump. AWW?

Our new friends:









Set sails back to Station 1 at about 4.30/5pm. Everyone was a little euphoric from diving / booze / music, whatever, but it was really fun. Loved this trip! We left as strangers, but came back as friends!

Here's the beautiful sunset we were met with on the way back:





And now... balut time!



Thanks to low lighting conditions and a general feeling of disgust amongst us, I don't have many pics of the opened balut eggs. 2 locals gave us a treat. I forget their names, so let's refer to them as "She" and "He"! There was another foreigner who had worked in the Philippines for about 10 years coming, but had never gotten down to eating balut. And he wasn't going to.

So she calls over to a man peddling balut along the beach (they carry big styrofoam boxes), and we head over to a sheltered area under coconut trees to indulge in our eggs. She went first, explaining how to eat the egg - first, you crack the shell, then you drink the "soup", then you peel off the shell, sprinkle a bit of salt, and eat the rest of it. There's a white "stone" that is too hard to be ingested - throw that out.

Simple enough.

He and I proceeded to start eating our balut. I cracked open the shell and drank the "soup" - not too bad. Then peeled off the shell, sprinkled salt onto the rest of the egg (didn't take a good look at it), and stuffed the whole thing into my mouth. and chewed. it tasted like a normal egg to me.

Nina gave up halfway through eating it - because she doesn't really like the taste of boiled eggs in the first place.

Jean didn't touch the balut at all.

He ate three of them, including Nina's partially bitten balut. With his last balut, the was dissecting it and educating us on the different parts - ie: "This (shows us the part), is the duck. (eats it.)" Jean has it on video somewhere.

I ended up feeling pukey for the next half a day or so.



On to the Calamansi Muffins we ordered the day before from Real Coffee. After hearing everyone rave about it, we thought we were in for a treat (and to wash down the taste of balut). It was meh. Average. Floury. Dry.

Next.



Posted this pic on Instagram which got a few people guessing if it was a real tatt or not. Here's your answer: it's not! It was a temporary henna tattoo that's all faded and ugly now. Cost us about 120php cos it's relatively big.

Our tattoo artist.

Yuh, we all got the same one. lol.

Some random guys who were getting hennaed the same time as we did.

One guy asked if any of us could draw a penguin. So I did. And the henna artist copied it onto his arm. it looks... so strange.

I am slightly exhausted from blogging already ah.

So finally! We had dinner. Yes, after balut and muffins and all. Dinner at Andok's - bbq chicken, fish and sinigang. There was a dog that would not leave. I fed him our leftover chicken. Walked around at D'mall after in search of aloe (we were pretty burnt...), arrived at a froyo place, and had a good heart to heart which lasted into the night.



Nina shot some hoops for the last time before we retired.

Jyeah. THE END OF LE BORACAY TRIP!!

Loved every single bit of it, except for the travelling bits! THE TURBULENCE DURING RED EYE FLIGHTS. TRYING REALLY HARD TO SLEEP ON BUDGET CARRIERS. THEN TRYING REALLY HARD TO SLEEP IN THE VANS TO & FRO KALIBO & CATICLAN (uncomfortable seats, and had the blazing sun shining down on me during the entire ride back). WAITING. AND WAITING. AND THE MANY HIDDEN COSTS!!!

Other than that, it was uhhhhmazing and super fun. Also thanks to my 2 girlies that made it all the more enjoyable!

Read about Day 1 here. And Day 2 here.