Day 323: Rememberies

New Year's Day! Welcome 2005!

How does the time go by so quickly? I can remember New Year's 2000 like it was a few months ago...and here I am half a decade later...crazy!

The girls had "spa day" today so I went off to get my own pampering. I decided to opt for a beach-side shiatsu massage, which turned out to be one of the best investments of my entire trip. I had an hour and a half massage performed by this blind masseur that was absolutely incredible! He worked by body over from top to bottom and god did it ever feel amazing. I was in a half-daze the whole time, as I was so completely relaxed. Today was our last full day on the island so I thought a lot about the great memories we had made in our visit to Boracay. Here's a list of some Boracay Rememberies:

-all the eye candy covering this island from top to bottom. Seriously, it was ridiculous how many gorgeous people there are here. We kept joking that we must've accidentally stumbled into a reality show or something, as if we unknowingly wandered into 'Temptation Island 4: Babes In Boracay' or something!
-the friendly locals. The Filipinos are easily hands down the friendliest people I've ever met in my life. So warm and genuine, such big smiles, such sincere happiness. And so kind to all the swarms of visitors who visit their little piece of heaven.
-going along with this, how every Filipino addresses you as "sir" or "ma'am" except they pronounce it like "mom"...hehe!
-the FOOD! God I can't remember the last time I ate so well, for such a long stretch. The cuisine here is cheap and utterly delicious. We had something different every night - Mexican, Greek, Thai, Indian, Filipino, Italian, French, German....we're talking major yum factor here. and totally cheap too! The three of us ate huge gourmet meals for less than $20 - altogether!
-breakfast! we had delicious meals every single morning (more like brunch than anything) and for 5 of our mornings there we ate at this amazing French creperie that made the best crepes ever. We even went back in the afternoons for dessert crepes. My personal fave - nutella.
-fruit shakes every day
-drinks at this one bar we went to every night, get a load of its name - Nigi Nigi Nu Noos E Nu Nu Noos.
-pina coladas and mudslides everyday
-swinging in hammocks between palm trees
-the 'Ewoks' Resort Hotel that Katie and I found behind this cliff just past White Beach one night, which was literally a vertical hotel on this hillside that looked and felt like a little Italian village. We snuck in to the private villas and had a drink at the bar!
-talking to this random guy cause he had a 'Be The Reds!' Korean shirt on, and it turns out that he used to teach at my POLY school like six months before I got there! What a small world!!
-the little geckos running around everywhere
-the animals we met and named - Chang The Monkey who was on a chain next to our apartment, T-Bone the bull in the field next to our nipa nut (along with half a dozen noisy roosters) and Alfredo the cat at Nigi Nigi's
-watching the sun set every night into the Sulu Sea
-being able to pick out someone speaking Korean half a kilometre down the path, out of all the languages being spoken all over Boracay. Apparently my ears are atuned to it as much as they are to English?
-hearing Bob Marley, UB40, and the Black Eyed Peas every single day, everywhere you went. The three of us decided that we need to burn a CD when we get back to Korea, so that we can have our own little 'soundtrack' to remember all the theme songs from our trip.

Later on we regrouped and went swimming in the waves - for one last time - just before sundown tonight, and were all feeling quite sad that tomorrow morning we would be flying home. What an amazing time we've had!