typhoons and sand miguel

flew in a few days ago. the typhoon that came with us was insane. it poured rain on us as we waited to try and get into our locked up hostel. the lights were off and the rain was coming in sheets. a crowd of filipino men gathered on the far side of the road. standing both in the rain and in the shelter of a small ice cream tienda kind of store.
it was a shady establishment, although the owner was kind and generous, the beds were out of the rain and the geckos all about would take care of many of the mosquitos floating about. we drank a few san miguels, which cost 25 pesos a piece. 45 pesos is a dollar. the beers were cold, we were the only people at the hostel. there was no place to go out to in the area. but in hindsight, we proabbly should have just walked about and seen what there was. the rain was not cold, tropical at best.
the next day we went to a different part of town, in manila. called malate. we met a german named daniel. he was travelling around the world, and spent the day with us. he recommened the palawan islands, where we are already planning on going. said it was the most beautiful thing hes ever seen/ we are going to rent out a boat, and island hop. explore reefs, lagoons, beaches, snorkle. im so stoked. its gonna be amazing.

also the couple staying in the bungalow next to us have a sweet little set up. they live here, but stay in the hostel to meet travelers and sell them real estate here. for very very little. a large, beachfront building here, think they said like 150 square feet maybe 200, not sure. was like 250,000 dollars. to buy a house, here, looks nice, beach front, 180. insane. thinking about buying some land here (proabbly not on boracay - but some other island, and set up a hostel, bar, resturant, activities - life goal achieved).
we walked about that night, in between the typhoon bands that plagued the city with periodic down pours and high winds. the bars int he are were though, unfortunately, filled with women of the night. we could not find a normal bar in the area. and we searched extensively. it was a really interesting experience. the moment we stopped walking, a crowd of soliciters would swoop in.. push women on us, or bar literature where they would try and push more women on us. we went to a hookah bar. but the searchfor it caused for us to pick up and elderly woman of the night who was followed us for upwards of 20 minutes, making cat calls, winks, blowing kisses and generally lewd behaviour. it was pretty funny, her persistence was laudable. albeit misguided.
we flew into boracay monday. and have spent the past two days lounging on the beach. a storm blew in today, (yesterday was clear skies and scorching heat. an amazing day).



so we sat and watched it come in on the porch of our little hut. the rolling thunder and downpour was interesting, a great way to start the day. i didnt even mind that it was thundering and raining. afterwards i went to the beach. julian took a nap. iwatched some locals start to build the evenining sand sculpture.

they build sculptures every night to celebrate the occasion of another beautiful day here. i love it. tomorrow, we will explore the rest of the island. mostly we have just been exploring white beach and the surrounding roads. the people here are the nicest people in the world. all so jovial and merry. wish i lived here. the pace and style of life is so simple and laid back. priorities are in a line with the people here. they know what is good.
best friend one. over and out.