Hundred Islands

Inquiring what else is worth seeing here, we heard from a local friend that Hundred Islands is a nice place to visit. After researching and catching a few clips on tv, we bumped it to the top of our list and (since it looked like the FCC startup would be further delayed) planned for the weekend. Departing from the hotel at 5am Saturday, Joel drove us on the 5 hour journey to Alaminos City, Pangasinan, in the west part of Luzon straight north of Bataan. Arriving around 10:30 (after eating a second consecutive meal of McDonalds, which now makes 3 times in 3 months...not bad), we got the usual welcoming of 19 people trying to sell us cheap crap. This was a much nicer tourist trip since Hundred Islands is a national park, which basically means fixed rates so we didn’t have to bargain or worry about getting ripped off. We hired a boat with a guide named Amboy for the day, rented some snorkel gear, and went on our way.

Unlike the weather in the snowy Chicago, it was a perfect day here. The pictures can't accurately portray how beautiful this place is. (Ay pinaka magandang – I have taken up learning Tagalog phrases, which will hopefully turn into sentences at some point.) Most of the 124 islands are small enough to prevent habitation, but 3 of them have a few snack shops and picnic areas; Governor’s Island, Quezon Island, and Children’s Island. They have a Filipino version of Big Brother (which reminds me that Survivor is Steve "Sweet P" Carlson's favorite reality show. Hope you are doing well, Steve. Put your hand up for the othersideoftheworld-backhand-air five to prevent germ transfer!) called Pinoy Big Brother, and the house from one of the old seasons was built on Governor’s Island.

Hundred Islands Pictures

Anyways, we island hopped for the early afternoon and got out to swim and snorkel in two places. One was an incredible cave like you would see in a movie with bats swooping down from overhead and shrieking. The other, a coral reef with giant clams on the sea floor. Here is a picture of the cave from overhead.

After the entire day of being outside admiring the natural beauty, exploring uninhabited islands, sun-burning my pale white skin, and swimming in the ocean, we headed back to the mainland to find a hotel for the night.

We found a larger resort in Sual (pictured above), about 30 minutes away. The hotel had a pet monkey on a chain (of course), and I finally captured Joel's winning smile. After showering, we ate, relaxed with some billiards/barely-clothed band, and called it an early night. On Sunday, we drove back to the port to buy some souvenirs, watch local children play POGS, and head back to Balanga. It was another good short weekend trip. Hundred Islands was definitely worth seeing.

I feel like Hansel (so hot right now) from Zoolander when describing these trips. "Me and my friends have been too busy bathing off the southern coast of St. Barts with spider monkeys. Tripping on acid changed our whole perspective on shit." Me and Ben went snorkeling in bat caves with protected giant clams at Hundred Islands off the coast of the Philippines...I've never even been to Mount Vesuvius.