Alison's Asian Adventure

On January 22 gal pal Alison Fiekowsky arrived in Singapore for a long awaited visit. It was another notch in the belt of adventures together for Alison and Raye which included Paris and ten annual girlfriend trips with 3 other women. This adventure included not only Singapore but also Phuket and for Alison a trip to Vietnam before heading back to the US.

Raye and Alison wasted no time and a day after Alison's arrival (no time for jet lag!!) boarded a plane for a three day relaxing trip to Phuket. They planned to stay at the Laguna Beach Resort, a recommendation from Raye's friend Denise. It was an amazing resort with a large beautiful room facing both the pool and the beach-such a deal!!!

It took no time to relax in the tranquility of Phuket enjoying reading by the pool, walking on the beach and of course getting $15 massages, and shopping for Jim Thompson silk items! Being greeted at breakfast by the resident baby elephant was a most delightful surprise!! The baby elephant was trained and did tricks that you normally think only dogs do.

One of the highlights of the trip was connecting with Pat and John Lychek, friends of Paul's Aunt Pat and Uncle Herb. John and Pat are from Canada and were in Phuket visiting their son who lives there. They were great tour guides sharing their favorite public beach and local restaurant and of course Raye ended up treating Pat (who needs a clinic when there's a perfectly good beach available!!). Raye and Alison ended up spending a large part of the trip with John and Pat. What a small world and what a fun time!

It was very difficult to leave this paradise but hey, heading back to Singapore just meant more fun!! Once they got back there were only three days left to take in as much as Singapore as possible. Raye and Alison were up to the challenge! Alison is a foodie so eating many different and interesting kinds of food was a must. Stingray at a nearby Hawker Center was fun and of course chili crab along the Singapore River. The mango shaved ice in Chinatown was an especially yummy treat!

No trip to SE Asia for this food lover would be complete without time spent in a cooking school. The Coriander Leaf at Clark Quay was perfect. Alison learned to make all sorts of Singapore dishes and with spices picked up at the wet market in Little India she was all set to delight the palates of friends and relatives! Of course they had to take in the famous Singapore Night Safari complete with flying squirrels and bats. So much to see and do, so little time! The three days flew by.

On Friday Jan 29th Alison set off for more adventures in Vietnam and the next day Raye left for the US. Such world travelers!

Hard to Get To; Harder to Leave

Our adventure on Boracay Island was nearing an end, and it was time to head back to Manila where we would spend the night before flying back to Singapore. We expected that the return trip would the simple reversal of the trip we took to get to Boracay.

We were wrong.

The first part of the trip was to take a van down to the dock at the south end of the island. No problems. Next, we boarded a small boat that would take us (and our luggage) to the island of Panay and the city of Caticlan. Again no problems. Caticlan has an airport, but no direct flights to Manila. To fly to Manila, we would need to take a two hour bus trip to the Kalibo airport.

However, before boarding the bus, we had to check in at the Zest Air cargo counter . Once that was completed, we found out we had an hour to kill before the shuttle bus would take us to the Kalibo. Our preference would have been to leave immediately to Kalibo so we could get there in plenty of time. But by now we had learned the Filipino art of going with the flow, so we walked around the small town for about 45 minutes. Twice. The bus left 10 minutes late, but still in plenty of time for us to make our flight.

The Mercedes minivan hugged the tight corners as we made our way along the seashore. The road took us up and down a series of hills, passing through many small towns. At the top of a particularly long hill, the driver suddently pulled over and stopped the van. He got out and raised the hood. Not a good sign. A quick look at the instrument panel revealed the problem; the engine was overheating. The driver got some water from one of the houses along the side of the road and we were off again.

But not for long. The cooling system had a major leak and this bus wasn't going to get us to Kalibo. And the airline didn't have a backup. To his credit, the bus driver flagged down one of the local public transport vans that was making it's way to Kalibo. However, it wasn't going to fit all five of us. So he flagged down another vehicle. After what had to be an interesting series of negotiations, Steve and Kyle were in one bus and Karen, Raye and Paul were in the other -- with our luggage barely fitting in the back. The hatch opened up twice enroute, almost dumping our bags on the dusty highway. The people siting in the last row of the van held the hatch closed until the driver bothered to stop and reclose the hatch.

Cell phone coverage was spotty at best, but we managed to let both the airline and the other 3 couples (that had taken a private van provided by the hotel where the wedding was held) of our predicament. It looked like we would make it, but just in time.

That's when we came to the line of traffic caused by an accident further up the road. There was no telling what happened nor how long it would take for traffic to begin moving again. We waited, and waited, and waited. That's when the van driver got a creative. He backed up the van, and took us down a tiny unmarked unpaved road that bypassed the accident and the traffic.

We arrived at the Kalibo airport right at scheduled departure time. Miraculously, the plane was still there. Forget that "gates close 10 minutes before departure" story: we were rushed through check-in and security like VIPs. They closed the hatch and fired up the engines just as soon as we climbed up the stairs. It was a miracle we made the flight, the last one of the day to Manila. If we had to wait until the next flight in the morning, we would have missed our return flight to Singapore. That would have been bad.

But our day of travel surprises was not over yet. There was one more waiting for us in Manila: all of our luggage made the flight.

The 3 Hour Tour into 2010

New Year's Eve is a pretty big deal in the Philippines, and this particular one was going to be an especially big deal because of the beginning of a new decade. While there are many cultural traditions and superstitions in the Philippines, the use of fireworks to scare off evil spirits is the one that is the most obvious. One of the people in our group suggested that half the Filipino GDP is consumed in the fireworks that are set off at the stroke of midnight.

On Boracay Island, the fireworks extravaganza takes place along the beach. Each resort or restaurant puts on its own display all along the west side of the island. The challenge for us was to pick the best location on the beach to see the best show. But where?

One of the Divas, Faye, spotted a yacht moored off the beach in front of our hotel. A bill would be the perfect solution. We could move easily up and down the beach to get close to the best show, while having the entire show in view. It was a perfect solution. And incredibly, when she happened to ask the owner of the restaurant where the bridesmaids luncheon was held about the boat, he explained that he owned it. And even more remarkably, it was available for chartering on New Year's Eve!

With six couples sharing the cost, it was an affordable splurge, and arrangements were quickly made. For convenience, we also arranged with the yacht/restaurant owner to cater the evening on the yacht. Everything was all set. A van would pick us up and take us to the southern tip of the island where a dinghy would take us to the yacht. Even though the yacht was moored just offshore from the hotel, the small boats were not permitted to pick us up on the beach.

Our excitement built all day. We made a trip into town to buy the requisite alcoholic refreshments: some wine, champagne, and a bottle of the $3 local Filipino rum. We enjoyed the new year buffet on the beach elegantly provided by our hotel as the sun was setting and the full moon and tide was rising. And at the appointed hour, the van showed up, and we were off to our new year adventure.

As we pulled up to the poorly lit dock, we could see a boat was there, waiting for us. However, while it wasn't the yacht (of course), it was certainly bigger than the transport dinghy we were expecting. Our puzzlement turned into astonishment when a look inside the boat revealed a table set up with the catered food. This boat wasn't the yacht we'd seen, nor was it the dinghy. However, it was apparently the boat we would be spending the evening on. Complete with the captain, 3 boatmen, and someone we assumed was our "party coordinator" (in the red dress and tiara).

After lots of debate & discussion (including an intense conversation about insurance, safety and licensure), we figured we'd been had and decided to make the best of it. The money was gone, all prepaid. We all got on board and motored off to begin our party. Except there was no power to plug the boom box into; the inverter was broken. The only music available was the local Filippino radio station. And there was nothing to heat the food in; it was cold and the length of its time on the boat since being cooked was unclear.

All that was left to do was to enjoy each others company, some snacks we'd brought along, and of course the refreshments. It was a beautiful evening. The beach was all lit up with revelers as a full moon illuminated the sky.

We counted down the end of 2009 without the help of TV or Dick Clark, and the fireworks started at the stroke of midnight. And we had the remarkable view that we'd all hoped for. From one end of the beach to the other, the sky was ablaze. We could see it all, and our captain maneuvered the boat for some great views. And it stayed that way continuously for 40 minutes before it began to wind down.

We waited to be certain the pyrotechnics were completely over (after all they had been shooting them off in our direction). Then the "SS-Pinnochio" took us as close as to shore as it could go. There, we crammed onto a very small outrigger vessel that took us onto the beach. Walking down the skinny gangplank into the surf (or in some cases being carried down), we arrived on dry land for the first time in the new decade.

The party was still going on up and down the beach, with very kind of music, from reggae, to big band, and even some classic rock. Somewhere, off in the distance, I do believe I heard that old classic from The Who: We Won't Get Fooled Again.

But that didn't mean we wouldn't get surprised again...