A Mis-Match Made In Paradise

DAY 446: Up until this trip around the world, I never really saw the Philippines as a vacation destination in the "getaway" sense; it had always been the place of my heritage, the place where you go and see a lot of relatives that overfeed you. But to the non-Filipino, the Philippines is a great travelers' destination, which Let's Go called "a budget traveler's paradise."

I was determined this time around in the Philippines to not only see relatives, but see the Philippines, and that began when I finally got off the family trail and head for Boracay, the Philippines' hedonistic beach resort mecca that Moe (Hong Kong) raved about. Boracay is to Manila what Phuket is to Bangkok, before the Asian Tsunami of 2004, that is.

I wasn't completely off the family trail though. Escorting me was my Tito Mike, who is technically not my tito (uncle), but my mother's cousin on her mother's side. Meeting us there would be my Tita Josie, who is technically not my tita (aunt), but my father's cousin on his mother's side. As I mentioned in the previous entry, some would argue that they are very un-Filipino; both are older than 25 and unmarried. My Tita Vicky (a real aunt on my mother's side) told me that when the two meet, I should try and play matchmaker.

THE TRIP TO BORACAY STARTED BRIGHT AND EARLY, as always to beat metro Manila traffic, as a driver took Tito Mike and me to the domestic airport. Surprisingly there wasn't much traffic and we got there way ahead of schedule and waited in the waiting area amidst the signs posted warning against making jokes about bombs on airplanes.

One hour-long plane ride, a motorized tricycle ride, and a short ride on a spider boat later, Tito Mike and I finally arrived on the western shores of Boracay Island, on White Beach, named after the plethora of white sands. Perfect and warm turquoise waters graced the surrounding edges of the island, while the intense greens of palm trees and other tropical vegetation swayed in the gentle ocean breeze. The sun blazed down from above, making the air warm, but not too hot or humid. It was every bit the paradise that people had raved about and I hadn't even really done anything yet.

Wow, this is the Philippines? I thought. The roots of my heritage are actually in paradise?

A porter took our bags from the boat, down the beach promenade to Club Ten, the bungalow resort Tito Mike had made an advanced reservation at. We checked into our lovely loft suite, with AC, TV, minibar, and complimentary fresh mango juice when we arrived. It was perfect, except for the fact that it was not on the beachfront, at least not anymore. As one of Boracay's original resorts, it had fallen victim to that game developers play in the waterfront real estate game: buying and developing land in between establishments and the shore, making places no longer oceanfront property but behind-oceanfront property. Club Ten knew they had fallen victim to this and apologized accordingly.

BORACAY'S MAIN TOURIST DRAG is a right on the shore of White Beach, in between the shore and former oceanfront resorts. It is a laid back sandy promenade of bars, cafes, shops and jewelry vendors, which sounds a bit too commercialized, but was actually not too bad; none of the vendors were really that aggressive and pretty much left you alone to decide on purchases yourself. North and south of the main promenade were more secluded resorts and beyond that, nothing but sand.

To get an overview of western Boracay, I walked up and down the shore, wading through the crystal clear waters, passed the sailboats and the wild rock formation known as Willy's Rock, up to the northern cove and the cliffside resort beyond that where I was awarded with a spectacular view (picture above). As one boat's Smart-sponsored sail perfectly put it, it was "Simply Amazing!"

Since it was the week after the busy Christmas week, the place wasn't crowded at all. Along the way, I noticed there were many foreign-looking tourists; something like 70% of Boracay's clientele is comprised of foreigners, mostly Germans, French and Italians from what I was hearing. Just like I had seen in Thailand, I noticed a lot of old white-haired or balding men were with young local women that I assume were escorts, feigning laughter for the old men's jokes. That's not to say there weren't families around, both foreign and Filipino. As the self-proclaimed "No. 1 tropical beach in the world," Boracay's White Beach attracted everyone, and from what I had seen so far, lived up to its claim.

And speaking of family, my Tita Josie showed up around four at the suite at Club Ten, and I was back on "the family trail" again -- except this time it was a bit different. Josie and Mike were not related to each other at all, other than by the distant link of which my brother and I are. Immediately I saw that there would be no sort of matchmaking, as the two were polar opposites: Tito Mike, at 52, was a gentle, humble religious man who read prayer books; Tita Josie was single, forty-something and fabulous -- definitely the savviest of my dad's cousins -- a half-Filipino, half-Chinese party girl and manager of a shoe factory that had contracts with Fila and Nike, who had a lot of rich contacts and friends. To bring parallels from American pop culture, matchmaking them was as impossible as trying to hook up Samantha Jones (Kim Catrall) from Sex and the City with Mr. Rogers.

Tita Josie, who was quite the beach resort person, had been to Boracay six times before and led me on a stroll down to the southern area of White Beach until the sun went down and the magnificent sand castles that people had built were being lit up. We made it back to meet Tito Mike back at Club Ten, and we went out for seafood at one of the many places serving up fresh shrimps, crabs, oysters, and wild lobsters. There was an uncomfortable silence at the dinner table as I ate with my two distant sides of family; it felt like, from what I'm told, being an only child having dinner with two alienated divorced parents.

Later that night I vegged in the room trying to catch up on Blog duties, only to fall asleep on the sofa. I was happy to be awaken up by the voices of my two relatives, finally having conversations over cigarettes -- if there was anything they had in common, they were both big smokers. I knew that there would no match in paradise, but in a laid-back place like Boracay, that thing was the last thing on my mind.

SAVE THE DATE; DAY 503 IS COMING. MARCH 5, 2005, NYC.
DETAILS AND TRAILER COMING SOON...

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Posted by Erik on January 11, 2005 03:50 PM
TrackBack | Category: Philippines

Gorgeous place.....Willy's rock will now be my new wallpaper replacing the one off the back of the boat when you went diving in Africa. One observation that I have also noticed with the country is alot of the pic's show they seem to be deeply religious with many crosses and religious pic's everywhere. Comments?

Posted by: Rose on January 11, 2005 11:07 AM

man, that's beautiful! sure wish i was there! well, i'm not sure how much snow BC got, but Heavenly Mountain got 19 FEET of snow in the month of January! it's been snowing pretty good up at Vail as well :) Also if you didn't know, 24 is back on and Jack Bauer would like to tell you what's going on "but he doesn't have the time!" enjoy your stay! N :)

Posted by: nikkij on January 11, 2005 11:30 AM

Hypothetically speaking, let’s say I can come on Mar 5. Would I fly into Newark, JFK, or La Guardia? And are there any special accoms for the Trinidad Show convention?

Posted by: Td0t on January 11, 2005 04:26 PM

TDOT - You can fly to anyone. If you fly to EWR you can easily hope on NJ transit train into the city. If you fly to JFK you can easily hope on the airtrain and take the subway back into the city. If you fly to LGA, you can take a taxi in...

I could investigate a hotel and room rate, but I would need to have a decent size block to get anywhere...

Posted by: markyt on January 11, 2005 05:37 PM

ERIK: it is such a challenge balancing relatives, isn't it? i go through that each time i go there. i always get stuck at 3 places and that's it. i almost had to go through that again when i was there in april...trying to explore the country at the same time seeing everyone else. i love the family and all, but...good thing this april, the family planned a reunion where i could see everyone at once...left more time for exploring.

boracay is "simply amazing"! the beaches, the food, the sunsets, the warm waters, the cheap prices...ahhhh...i love that place and i would go back now if i could and stay for at least a month! darn you corporate america, darn you!!!

Posted by: stephanie on January 11, 2005 06:14 PM

Erik,

Just to correct your "family tree", your Mom is our niece by our second cousin, Artemio. So the kinship is on the Rivera side. That makes you our grandnephew but I don't want to be addressed as "Lola" (Grandma)!...hehehe...

Posted by: Auntie Connie on January 11, 2005 07:54 PM

TdOt, are you considering heading to NYC for the homecoming? I have put the word out to Rose to consider....perhaps a carpool would be in order for us Canadians!

Posted by: Lisa on January 11, 2005 09:44 PM

passerby: pix is amazing... my sister and now brother in law went to the phillippians for their honeymoon... they absolutely loved it!! i'm a newbie here... do you do this for work??

Posted by: sue on January 12, 2005 01:24 AM

NIZ ALERT - This just in via a mobile text message:

Due to an itinerary out of my control, I will be in the NIZ for an unforseeable amount of time.

---end of transmission---

Posted by: markyt on January 12, 2005 10:20 AM

NIZ!!! Oh well. At least I have these pics of Boracay to keep me in dreamland for a while.

LISA: Unfortunatly, the chances of me making it to NYC are slim to none. But if by some twist of fait, I can go, I'll probably fly.

I've been scarred for life by an "over roadtriped" childhood, so anything over a 5 hours a flight for me.

Posted by: Td0t on January 12, 2005 02:58 PM

It is probably faster for all Michiganites to drive through Canada....you can pickup Rose & I on your way through! Let's rent an RV! LOL

We can call ourselves "The Global Trip Groupies" or TGTG

Posted by: Lisa on January 13, 2005 01:06 PM

LISA you may be correct about going through canada being faster. i've driven through penn going to NYC before and it wasnt too bad. i have never gone the canadian route (pronounced like "root" for u canadians). as long as someone is on elk/caribou/moose watch it sounds like a fun trip!

Posted by: scott on January 13, 2005 01:40 PM

Scott, sorry to disappoint you but the route/root from Detriot through Windsor on through Southern Ontario to Niagara Falls/Buffalo is the most boring trip ever. Actually all you will see is farm country cows....or snow right now.

This route is also further South than most of Michigan! Did you know that when you cross the border from Detroit to Windsor you are actually heading South.....seems strange to enter Canada to the South? I know the first time I realized I was heading North to Detroit when I crossed the border into the States, that it felt weird, almost wrong! LOL

Posted by: Lisa on January 13, 2005 03:39 PM

TdOt, yes I am in Muskoka.....Rose is in Windsor and she is my aunt. I was also born and raised in Brantford! I would be willing to meet in the south (that is Ontario South) to carpool!

Posted by: Lisa on January 13, 2005 04:56 PM

hi!
i am near the latest blogs these days, stuck in nov atm;). the phillipines soudn really sweet but i am looking forward to your adventures in indonesia, since i am thinking about going to bali, lombok and such in june and july.
have fun and see you around..
Dennis

Posted by: Dennis on January 13, 2005 08:18 PM

TGTG, The Global Trip Groupies - I love it! Seriously, you guys should really go! If I was there I would be in like flint! To see Erik in the flesh - and actually see "the hole in the leg." Now that's cool! BTW, Erik, how is your battlewound?

Posted by: Janice on January 13, 2005 11:10 PM

NIZ Update - This just in via a mobile text message:

I am in dialup hell and can't connect, but should have a batch up for the WHMMR.

Posted by: markyt on January 14, 2005 01:56 PM

AR5 was the first one that I watched and I was thinking the same thing. Maybe its just hard to watch someone get emotionally and psychologically abused every week.

Posted by: tjw on January 14, 2005 09:32 PM

TDOT: If things go according to the going away party before TGT2, we'll have a suite somewhere in the city for people to crash at if need be.

Otherwise, CALLING ALL NYer VOLUNTEERS who don't mind someone crashing that weekend! Can you spare some room?

Posted by: Erik TGT on January 15, 2005 01:16 AM

STEPHANIE: SO GLAD you can relate and you wrote about it; I debated for days whether or not I should post that last entry, thinking that some people would mistake it for some anti-family rant, which was not my intention at all.

Posted by: Erik TGT on January 15, 2005 01:20 AM

AUNTIE CONNIE: Thanks for clearing that up; I was wondering why people call "Tito Mike" "Lolo Mike." I really need an Excel file of my mom's side of the family!

Posted by: Erik TGT on January 15, 2005 01:24 AM

SUE: Hey, welcome aboard... It's never too late to join The Fellowship of The Blog!

I don't do this for any official business, but keeping this Blog maintained is more work than I ever did at a day job...

Posted by: Erik TGT on January 15, 2005 01:35 AM

TJW: "And the only way I'd ever let you have my bag is if you pried it from my dead, lifeless fingers, okay? If you can get it from my kung-fu grip then you can have it, okay? Otherwise, step off, bitch."

Posted by: Erik TGT on January 15, 2005 01:43 AM