Boracay, Aklan, Philippines

Boracay. There is a lot of hype about this place but it is what you would expect it to be = beautiful, busy and extremely touristy. Our tricycle ride over was filled with unexpected hitchhickers, all of a sudden I heard a lady's voice, turned my head and we had another one. While we were walking the beach strip to find a place to stay, Ed savagely but unbeknownst to himself knocked a little girl to the ground and she hit her head. The father was completely unimpressed so we just smiled and waved . . . not actually though. Poor Kelsey was still really sick so Ed and I went on a chicken noodle soup run for her. He thought we'd find it but I knew we wouldn't (it's Asia) and although Boracay did have a lot of westernized cuisine options there was no chicken noodle soup to be found. However, we did have a very entertaining walk down the strip. There are restaurants, bars, nightclubs, food vendors, singers and flame throwers everywhere with "Yes ma'am" and "Yes sir" being thrown at you from all angles as some sort of tourist greeting. A toothless woman asked Ed if he wanted a massage and he asked her if it included a happy ending. All of the ladies were like, "Oh no sir" and laughed and they asked him who I was and I replied, "His wife!" and pretended to slap him. They were quite entertained. Lately we have been pretending that Kelsey is Ed's girlfriend but I'm his wife. Kelsey doesn't like it but it entertains the locals. Since the strip was quite busy Ed decided to play his "put on a crazy face and pretend to be a weirdo" game to get people out of the way. He definitely scared a few of them including a woman who he danced up on (the poor overweight Asian woman did not know what had just happened). That night Ed and I went on a nightlife adventure which included getting unexpectedly drenched and wading through the ocean while salt water hit us in the face and waves crashed against the shoreline. There was an electrical storm and flashed of lightning kept lighting up the sky. I have decided that no bar-hopping is complete without a need to wade through the ocean to get there. We finally ended up at a club called Epic, which turned out to actually be epic and we danced for hours.

The next day we had breakfast at Epic - my first eggs benedict on the trip so I was over-the-moon. And then Ed and I coaxed Kels to not stay in the room and come to the beach with us. The beach here is so gorgeous with white sands and bright turquoise waters and it's supposed to one of the best beaches in the world. It was incredibly calming and relaxing gazing out at the water.

So that night Kelsey was sick again and Ed and I somehow turned a seemingly boring and low-key night into a crazy all-nighter. We started by just walking the strip and while we were pondering to just make it an early night we got side-tracked by some people watching. We were observing a drunken group of people and after speculating for awhile for how they knew each other we decided to find out for real and ended up hanging out with them for the entire night. It turned out that they were all working together in Manila and were just in Boracay on a weekend trip. I decided then that that is the best deal - live in Asia while making a salary in your own country's currency - you could live like a king and save so much at the same time! So Ed and I had an amazing time partying and dancing with our new friends-for-the-evening. At one point we all went out to the beach and played around in the ocean and then stumbled back to our hotels as the sun rose.

And I definitely made the most out of the next day by waking up at 3:00pm. Kels and Ed got up early to finally get Kels some medication for her hurting tummy and then they went back to sleep as well. When I got up I went back to Epic for another eggs benedict. It was amazing although the strobe light testing that they had going on did wonders for my hangover. That night we just walked the strip and I went dress shopping. Ed and I played a game in the ocean where we got owned by large waves. We thought that since we've done Epic for breakfast and clubbing we may as well try it for dinner and it was really good - my first cheeseburger in Asia that was not at Jollibee's (the most popular Filipino fast food restaurant - more popular than Mcdonald's!) Kels and I played a game at dinner that involved pretending you were at a club and a guy tapped on your shoulder and you have to give him the most unattractive face when you turn around. We were crying laughing and holding our stomachs because they hurt so much from our new brilliant game. The three of us also witnessed this horribly drunk girl dancing onstage and being escorted away by six 'tourist police' only to fall over onto a bunch of stools before drinking some more. Overall, Boracay was an awesome experience. Oh and I realized that I have a soft spot for all living creatures when I felt sorry for a cockroach that was flailing on it's back and I helped it flip over. Never thought I would be helping a cockroach. I guess traveling really is full of new experiences!