Spring 1999 -- More Travel Fun

More Thrilling Adventures, coming soon!

Greetings!

It's Wednesday morning here, I think. We arrived on Saturday and time quickly took on that relaxed pace of a tropical island vacation. Teri is sitting with me on the porch of our room at the Nigi Nigi Nu Noos 'e' Nu Nu Noos (I swear, this is the actual name) resort writing her first postcards. Colleen and Kate are still in the loft, awake but so far successfully resisting the urge to get out of bed. This travelogue was written in fits and starts, with frequent shifts in authors, so we hope it isn't too disjointed!

Our trip started early Saturday morning in Tokyo. Since we were flying China Air to Manila we would leave from Haneda Airport instead of Narita, which handles all other international airlines. We left the house on foot at 6:30 AM to catch the train to Oimachi and then a taxi to the airport.

The first leg of our trip was on a 747 to Taipei and after a short layover we caught a 737-800 (a brand new plane) to Manila. We arrived in Manila at about 3:30 PM, withdrew some local currency from an ATM (pesos at almost 40 to the dollar) and went looking for our driver.

The reason we were headed to Boracay in the first place is that Teri's pilot friend, Ron, a Canadian living in Manila who is married to an Australian, has been trying to convince us to visit this island for about the last six months. [Author shift: Teri is writing now.] He'd promised to fly us from Manila to Caticlan (the nearest airstrip to Boracay Island) and was all set up to do so when a business trip called him to Australia instead. Ron kindly went ahead and arranged a way for us to get to the domestic terminal in Manila -- he sent his driver to pick us up. Then he convinced another pilot friend, Joy, to fly us to Caticlan. This was a lucky break since the commercial flights end at 3:30PM, and we got to the executive terminal a little after 4PM. Without Joy's help, we'd have had to stay in Manila that first night.

Joy was a little late meeting us since his charter passengers were an hour late getting on his King Air somewhere up north of Manila. His mechanics got the Baron (a 6 seater twin) ready to go while we waited for the King Air to return, so he just jumped out of the big twin and into the little one. He had a look of mild surprise on his face when he met us -- Ron had just mentioned "a family from Japan" without going into any more detail, so Joy was expecting a shorter, thinner group. I mentioned that I'm a pilot, so Joy put me up front in the right seat. He started the engines and then said, "You taxi," to me. He issued directions but I was turning the plane and lining it up on the runway. We got takeoff clearance quickly and Joy told me, "OK, push the throttle up smoothly, let's go." Once off the ground he said, "Maintain runway heading and climb to 5000. Maintain 140 for the climb." I managed that, then intercepted the 167 radial and turned to the south, towards Caticlan. Joy let me do all the flying, climbing to 9500

once we were clear of Manila airspace, including about 10 minutes inside a cloud. At one point Joy asked if I'd like to do some single engine work but I allowed as to how I'd rather not do that with my kids in the back. An hour after takeoff, we flew past the beautiful white beach of Boracay, then made a left turn. I asked Joy to do the landing, figuring this wasn't a good time to make my first multi-engine landing, and he did a very nice job, all the while complaining about the transition from the King Air to the smaller Baron. He'd had an hour to rest since I did all the flying!

Once on the ground, we were picked up by two motorcycle taxis that had an open air cab attached. We haven't seen anything quite like these contraptions before. The motorcycle took us about 3/4 mile to the beach where we boarded a water taxi for the 10 minute cruise to our hotel. Then we carried our bags across the sand to Nigi Nigi, got checked in, and met Joy for dinner. A fun day with ten different modes of transportation! (City walk, train, cab, 747, 737-800, private car, Beech Baron, motorcycle taxi, boat taxi, barefoot beach walk!) Dinner was great fun, and tasty too, and we were very entertained by Joy's stories of flying all over the world. He's had a very interesting life! We hope to meet up with him again someday.

Our room is a good-sized hut with wooden floors and walls, and a ceiling made of some kind of vegetation -- probably palm branches. Colleen and Kate are in a loft that's just big enough for two twin-size mattresses and their suitcases. They have to climb up a steep ladder to get there. Directly under the loft is the bathroom. Neither the shower nor the sink have faucets marked hot or cold -- you just turn on the water and take it as it comes, usually a refreshing tepid temperature. Drinking the tap water is discouraged, so we used bottled water for drinking and toothbrushing. (Just like Phuket and Beijing.) The downstairs area has a king-sized bed, large set of shelves, and a couple of nightstands. Outside we have a nice area for

sitting, which came in handy during the rainstorms.

Sunday we did a lot of swimming and walking. The island isn't very big, and our inn is situated right about in the center. So we went to the beach walk and turned right, heading north for a while and just checking out the sights. We stopped for something to drink at a small stand that turns out to be owned by a woman in her mid-30s, Nadine, who went to high school at Aragon (in the same county as Kent's high school). Small world!! Kate and Colleen got haircuts, both of which cost about 10% of what one cut would cost in Tokyo. Colleen also got a manicure and pedicure, which cost less than $3. Never mind that the polish came off in chunks later in the day... at least the haircuts didn't grow back quickly!

Sunday night we had dinner at Jony's, a Mexican restaurant that we reached via bicycle taxi. Good food, but the kids were pretty tired after all the walking and swimming. Can't really blame their sleepiness on jetlag since we're only one hour earlier than Tokyo here.

Monday we decided to walk to the left (south) down the beach walk. Kent stopped in at Calypso Diving to check things out and decided to schedule a scuba review course and dive for after lunch. While walking down the beach on Sunday Kate and Colleen had noticed several places advertising rides for 4 to 5 people on a large inflatable rubber banana. It was their ambition

for the morning to find one and ride it.

Teri located a local guy on the beach who called his friend with the banana (it actually looked more like an inflatable crayola to me) to come get the girls. I rode in the speedboat as photographer for this event though I missed the big wipeout while changing diskettes. Colleen wrote this event up in some detail, which I'll post on the website for those of you who missed her emails from Nigi Nigi's "Internet cafe."

That's it for this edition of Fun in Boracay.

Tune in tomorrow for Part 2: Scuba diving and boat riding,

not to mention eating, drinking, and all that good stuff.

-- T.

Monday, continued:

[Kent writing] After lunch Kent headed over to the dive shop for a scuba review and dive. Aunt Dorothy was kind enough to teach him to scuba dive in the summer of1969, but he had not had the chance to go since then. He wondered how much he would remember after almost 30 years. First they gave him a short quiz. Kent did reasonably well on that, but had trouble with the dive time calculations as the lookup table they handed him was in an unrecognizable language, Finnish we think. The group then spent some time with the gear in shallow water practicing regulator recovery and mask clearing and other basic skills. They finished up with a dive on a coral reef in about 30 to 45 ft. of water. The fish, plants, coral formations and other sea life were

spectacular. It was amazing to Kent how comfortable it felt to be diving again even after so many years. The kids are both intrigued by the idea of learning to dive, but Teri remains certain that her claustrophobia would override any level of interest on her part. (T'll stick to flying, thank you! -- T.)

Tuesday's major adventure was the boat trip, theoretically circumnavigating the island and stopping in on several areas of interest. Teri arranged with the banana boat guy to rent his boat and his services for 4 hours on Tuesday for the trip (hey, it's a small island). Things started well. We were picked up in the boat at the beach in front of our hotel in mid-morning.

The first stop was for snorkelling just a short way offshore. The guys brought some bread to attract the fish and there were plenty to see. From there we continued around the north end of the island until we reached some large swells. The captain decided at this point to change the plan and head back to the leeward side of Boracay. We went the length of the island then around the southern tip to a small island nearby to visit some caves.

Just as we arrived on the island with the caves, it began to rain very hard. We walked around for about 10 minutes, climbing down slippery staircases and stone paths looking at caves, but only saw two out of the three sites on the island. We were soaked after finishing the tour, but decided to wait for the rain to let up before getting back on the boat. There's a building that

calls itself a restaurant on the island, but it doesn't serve food. The bathroom facility there was ... ah, interesting. You had to carry a bottle torch (basically a Molotov cocktail) into the dark and filthy bathroom. It was not an experience to linger over. We finally decided to run for the boat during a lull, but it was raining hard again before we were all aboard. Colleen and Kate huddled with the captain under his tarp while Teri and Kent's tarp was not working, so they were completely soaked by the time we got back to the hotel.

Wednesday we got a slow start. It was past 10 AM by the time we finished breakfast at the Nigi Nigi restaurant. About 11 AM Kate and Kent went for a swim off the beach by the hotel, then Kent took off for another scuba dive while the girls went shopping.

[Kent] The dive was great. It took about 15 minutes by boat to reach the dive spot, Santos Place. There were 7 of us on the dive, 4 Germans, 1 Swiss, the Fillipino dive leader and me. We followed a buoy down to the up current part of a reef that was in about 30 feet of water, then followed the dive leader to another nearby reef that was 60 to 70 feet deep. This time we saw large schools of foot-long fish swimming nearby and the head of a moray eel sticking out from under a rock in addition to the spectacular variety of fish, coral and other sea life we had seen before.

I was not the first to run out of air, but a couple of the guys were down longer. While waiting for them to finish I saw at least two varieties of jellyfish near the surface, one a translucent orange about the size and shape of that fruit and the other was a similar size, but pink and more oblong with multiple chambers and long rows of lamellae that rippled like a

centipede's feet.

On the way back to shore the boat's engine gave up, but luckily we were only about 100 yards off the beach. Most of us decided to swim in rather than wait for a tow.

[Teri] Meanwhile, back on land, Kate, Colleen and I went on yet another shopping foray. Colleen and Kate had gotten their hair cut on Sunday, in a small shop right on the beach, and I decided to get a trim too. We stopped in at a tiny shop off the beach near the "flea market" street about 1/3 mile or so from Nigi Nigi. There was something ... unusual ... about the hairdresser that Kate was the first one to voice: "Mom, isn't that lady a guy?" I believe that was the first time I got a haircut from a transvestite. Vanessa, also known as Giovanne, redid Colleen's nails in a lovely shade of metallic blue; I'm happy to report that the polish stayed

stuck this time.

The flea market street was a place we visited frequently. Prices, already low by U.S. standards, and downright cheap by Tokyo standards, dropped even further as we walked away from the beach. T-shirts that cost 250 pesos (about $6.50) on the beach cost half (or less) as we walked up the street. Colleen and I both had bathing suit cover-ups made to order for about $8 each. Beach thongs (the kind that go on your feet) were about 75 cents.

Speaking of good buys, Kent and I put nightly stress on our livers during happy hour at the Nigi Nigi bar. Drinks are 2 for 1 from 5-7PM, so we'd each have 4 most nights, running up a bar tab of about $6 or $7 for all that juice and rum. Non-alcoholic drinks were not discounted during happy hour, though, so if the kids joined us for a banana shake before dinner, our bar tab could soar as high as $10. Bummer!! <grin>

Thursday morning, the kids and I went horseback riding. There's a stable on the north side of the island, featuring a dozen or so scrawny equine specimens. As Colleen said, "Now I know what a horse skeleton looks like." Kate's beast was slightly larger than a Shetland pony, with a tail that reached almost to the ground. We went along a path to Diniwid Beach, passing a huge resort on Boracay's only golf course that seems to be an abandoned development. After a short break on the beach, we retraced our hoofprints back to the stable. Colleen and Kate had to meet all of the dogs that live at the stable, and heard the sad story about the three that are

very sick. Kent tried to sign up for another dive while we were riding, but there weren't any available during that time period.

Dinner Thursday was at The Green Yard, just a couple hundred yards south of Nigi Nigi. This place features Mongolian BBQ -- you pick out a bowl full of veggies, sauces and meat, then hand it to a chef who stir-fries the whole concoction for you. Very tasty!!!

Around 3AM, Kate went to the bathroom, then fell from the ladder while climbing back up to the loft. She hit the floor with a thud that woke everyone up instantly. Luckily the only injury was a cut on her toe. The last time we woke up that quickly was 5 years ago on Menorca when Kate fell from the top bunk of a bunk bed. She's also fallen out of bed in other places; it's a hidden talent.

[Kent] A few hours later, I had my last scuba dive of the week. This time we went to a reef off a small neighboring island called Crocodile Island. The dive started in just 15 feet of water, then descended slowly to about 60 feet. In addition to the usual splendid array of coral and sea creatures there were a few special sightings. There was an eel with a light purple color that had about a foot of himself (herself?) protruding from a hole at the base of the reef. There was a scorpion fish about a foot long hiding in the rocks by virtue of his camouflage. At the mouth of a cave there was a rock fish wedged into a crevice in the coral. And leading the dive from a distance of about 10 meters was a very large puffer fish, about 6 in wide and tall and 1.5 ft. long. It was a great dive to finish the week.

After returning to the hotel and checking out, we walked down the beach for our final lunch on Boracay. At lunch we ran into Kate's 3rd grade teacher, Maeve Chambers, who was also there on holiday. (Her picture is somewhere on the Photo page.) We had learned she would be there before we left Tokyo and had spotted her once or twice during the week, but this was the only time we ended up at the same restaurant.

We did some last minute shopping then headed back to the Nigi Nigi for one more trip to the bar before heading back. Teri decided to get a pina colada in a coconut as her final drink. She was still finishing it as the boat on the beach was loaded with our bags, pushing our island vacation right to the last second.

We spent our last night in the Philippines in Manila, where prices looked more like those we'd pay in Tokyo. Back home on Sunday, we took a few hours to enjoy the blossoming of the cherry trees, which are now at about full bloom.

Hope each of you had a good Spring vacation or at least a chance to relax and note the changing of the season. Write when you can and let us know how you are doing.

Regards,

Kent, Teri, Colleen and Kate

Colleen's Reports from Boracay:

Mon, 29 Mar 1999

Well, we made it through one whole day without actually turning into lobsters, (this is a very hard task because everything is sunny and the white sand does a good job of reflecting everything). It is Monday and I am using my 20 minutes of time on the Internet to write this.

Today we did a banana ride. You're probably wondering what that is, well I will try to explain. Picture a very long inflatable tube. Now attach two much smaller tubes to each side to rest your feet on and for balance. Then put five handles on it so that five people can stay on. Attach that to a boat like it was someone water-skiing. Add movement to the boat and five screaming people on this "banana" and you've got the best explanation that I can give of a banana boat ride. Dad didn't go because he wanted to take pictures of Mom, Kate, and me. There were 2 other people who I never figured out where they were from but they were nice. We all had a good time screaming as much as we could and once everyone fell off in the beginning and had to get on again which took a little time. Kate didn't like that part so much. The water here is very clear except there is a lot of moss in it. Today we found a place without moss and swam after the banana thing. We had a good lunch of Italian food but my mom could fill you in on that better than me so maybe tomorrow I'll let her go online instead of me. Right now my dad is going to take a test so that he can dive again and he is going to be diving the rest of the day. He is supposed to be going to a really pretty place but we couldn't find a camera that will go down that low so we aren't going to have pictures unless they have special cameras there. Gotta go now, type at you all later, 20 minutes are up. BYE!!! (-:Colleen:-)

Tue, 30 Mar 1999

Hi everybody!!!

Yesterday we went on a boat ride "around" the island. It wasn't really around because the wind picked up and we couldn't get to the other side. We ended up going to Crystal Cove that has 2 caves and a lot of paths around a really small island. It is a very nice place and I'm sure that it is much nicer when it isn't raining VERY HARD on you as you are trying to climb down some very steep and winding steps into a cave. Well it was raining a lot and with the second cave we couldn't even get in because the tide was so high. Oh well. Then we had to wait it out until the storm subsided, which didn't happen. We ended up going out to the boat at a point in the rain when there wasn't too much falling. Of course as soon as we got outside it started to rain again and we had to go in the rain. This is a rainforest so this was major rain we're talking. The guide had told us that he had a tarp that he could put up just in case it rained. What he didn't tell us was that he wasn't going to put it up because it had holes in it. Mom and Dad had to sit in the rain but the guide gave Kate and me a seat under his tarp. Unfortunately we only got to put our heads under it, not the rest of us, oh well. After that adventure, we were soaked. We were about as wet as you can get. It was a natural shower (I think I've stayed dryer in the shower than I was right then). Mom couldn't stop laughing because we had gotten so wet. Today it has already rained once and I am sure it will rain again. Dad is going SCUBA diving again at 12:30 I think he's going to a place called Crocodile Island, but I could be wrong. Oh yeah, before it started raining on that trip yesterday, we went snorkeling and it was magnificent!!! I never knew that there could be sooooo much coral in one spot!!! Kate even liked it, WOW!!! If I think of something I will say it but I have to go get some sunscreen on and do something that you can only do on a beautiful tropical island. Gotta go!!! BYE!!!

(-:Colleen:-)

Wed, 31 Mar 1999

Hi!!!

Well, today we went horseback riding and it was OK. It was VERY hot and we all were glad to be back in the shade.Dad decided not to go so he hung out on the beach instead (such a hard life on the beach, NOT!!!) The horses were very bony and by the end of the ride I told my mom that I had a much better idea of what a horse skeleton looks like!!! Kate had a very small horse and it was slow so she got to have a stick to get it going. Mine, on the other hand was "dangerous" as the leader puts it. I think that mine was just easily spooked. In the beginning it almost passed the leader and he grabbed the reins just in time! My biggest fear when he went fast was (because he was fairly small too) that he was going to hurt himself. Mom didn't say much of anything about her horse so I guess it was OK, hers was the tallest of all of the horses we rode.

Today, I'd like to share with you some of the best (and funniest) things that we have said on this trip:

When asked where the bathroom was, my mom replied: "It is just over there, see???" When Kate said she didn't see Mom said: "Just turn left past the parrot, you can't miss it." She then promptly started laughing her head off. The explanation is that there are two large bird cages just to the right (or left if you're facing it instead of facing away from it) and one houses a pretty large parrot (it is very eye catching too because it is red). Mom didn't think about it when she said it, but it sure sounded silly!!!

Another very similar line was inspired earlier today. Coming back from our ride, I asked Mom: "Mom, to get to Nigi Nigi [our resort] do you turn right at those water buffalo?" I was correct, but some of the things you say on vacation are just a little wacky.

Speaking of wacky, the parrot I was talking about earlier likes to imitate the horns that are on the bicycles here. This means every morning while we are peacefully enjoying our breakfast, this red parrot is imitating a horn. It can be rather annoying. It also does a pretty good impression of a squeaky door. Don't ask.

Mom, Kate, and I have also thought of the stuff that we have done the most on Boracay, here is what we came up with (1=most 10=least).

1. Being in the sun

2. Reading

3. Getting rained on

4. Drinking banana shakes (Kate and me only)

5. Shopping

6. Swimming

7. Eating

8. Sleeping

9. Riding boats (banana or boats "around the island")

10. Being bored (we just aren't)

And always having fun!!!

This will probably be my last broadcast from the lovely Island of Boracay but my Mom and Dad are preparing their own rendition of this little adventure and will send it from Tokyo when we get there. I must go out and enjoy the lovely beaches and go swimming because we leave tomorrow. Thank you to all that have written me and I appreciate your notes!!!

I think that my favorite thing that we have done here is shop because everything is so CHEAP!!! And yet I never can have enough to buy (you know me, I'm a teenager, I'm like that). I wish you all a Happy April Fools Day, if it can be happy (I couldn't come up with a joke, so this is as good as it gets). Have fun till I write at you again,

BYE!!!

(-:Colleen:-)

21 April 1999, 9:30PM

Hi, folks. Today was a very interesting day!

I'm sure I've bored all of you with stories of the women's group I joined early last year, the College Women's Association of Japan. Today was the 50th anniversary celebration of the founding of the group and I have to admit it was a lot of fun. Over five hundred party-goers showed up at the Hotel Okura, which is close to the American embassy and the center of where most of the foreigners hang out in Tokyo. (For more information about the group's activities, check out www.cwaj.org in your copious free time.) The goal of the organization is raising money for scholarships, and it was inspiring to hear of its origins in the post-war era.

The highlight of the day for me, though, was seeing the Empress of Japan and hearing her speak. Her picture should be in the dictionary as an integral part of the definition of "Dignity." She spoke for about ten minutes, in slightly British-accented English, giving a tribute to the association's work as well as reminiscing about her connections. Nineteen years ago, as crown princess, she was the dignitary who opened the annual Print Show, and she joked that, "The perfect event was marred only by my difficult cutting the ribbon." She later said she was pleased to be asked to participate in the 50th anniversary celebrations, especially "when I heard I would not have to cut another ribbon." That got a laugh.

When she entered the ballroom, everyone stood and applauded. She gave a slight regal nod of the head to the tables full of celebrants as she walked by, and many of our Japanese members gave her a deep bow. Her speech was greeted with a standing ovation. I felt sorry for U.S. Ambassador Tom Foley, who had to follow her act. His speech was also a nice tribute, but it sounded so bombastic and aggressive compared to the Empress'. Very interesting contrast, and he was rewarded with polite, but seated, applause.

There was a group of photographers set up across the ballroom from the head table -- about 40 strong. It was funny to look over and see all these huge telephoto lenses aimed at a single face. As the Empress was speaking, whenever she looked up from her notes, two dozen cameras would go off, and the flash and whir of the auto-winders punctuated her remarks. That went on throughout her entire speech. In contrast, only a few pictures were taken of Ambassador Foley. He's just not as cute, I guess.

As the Empress left after lunch, all 500+ attendees rose to see her off, this time silently. As she left the ballroom, she bowed deeply, and everyone bowed back! Yes, even me, I was caught up in the moment.

I'm heading to California tomorrow, arriving Thursday morning on the Pacific Coast of the U.S. Hope to see some of you in the next week!

-- T.