Where tricycles aren’t just for kids – Nech does the Philippines

There I was, passing through security with Sebastian, Johann, Jesper, Maximillion, and another Sebastian en route to Boracay, the Philippines’ premier beach island. The security guard inspected out passports and chuckled, “Four Germans… and an American?!” (To be fair, we also had a Swede.)

We arrived in Boracay wearing our matching SEAIR tanktops we had just purchased on the airplane. Leftover typhoon rain later forced a wet retreat from the ocean; that day we started drinking at 3. 6 hours later I was getting beaten in foosball by some guy Filipinos (the girls, though, were easy). 5 more hours later I was playing drums at a bar on the beach (I only played for one song; Max, who was much more drunk but still much better than I was, played a dozen).

The next day, after an oil massage, we took our first tricycle ride across the island on the way to pick up our ATVs. These vehicles are brave but weak; we almost had to get out and push to get up some of the hills. After riding the ATV’s to a hilltop, we walked up some steps only to be greeted by a cockfight (don’t worry – no metal claws) and monkeys. By the end of Saturday, I think I was the only member of the group not to have danced with a prostitute or transsexual (or both).

After a lot more beach, sailing, and snorkeling on Sunday, we returned to Manila for Monday. Our only experience thus far had been our first night in the Philippines before our transfer to Boracay, when we met a very friendly cockroach named Alex who seemed to want to assist us in our vintage (a large bucket of water with a smaller pitcher inside) shower. The rest of the city was not much better (except for the street urinals), so after 2.5 hours of driving around the city, we elected to wait at the airport instead for five hours (where I learned about the German school system). Still, Manila is the only place I’ve seen that has fully uniformed security guards in a 7-11.

On the flight home I won a very precious Cebu Pacific backpack and luggage tag by being the first person to correctly answer “Lord of the Rings” in the movie quote game. I’ll let you guess what the quote was.

Stay tuned for next week – Nech does hiking with the Yo-hoo Club (after Shabbat dinner with Brian at the Einhorns).