This will be the first of a series of memories from my recent trip to North Luzon and Boracay.  Hope its not too boring.  I'll try to add pictures whenever I can, and not all at once, so keep checking back for more:)

Here it goes....

The boat from Cebu to Manila was pleasant and cheap – a better option than flying if you are not in a hurry. For 20 US dollars (under 1000 pesos) I got myself a bed in an airconditioned hall with about 100 beds in it. It wasn’t cramped, and the temperature was just right. The boat itself is a cruise ship with full amenities – gym, karaoke, swimming pool, disco at night, and a 24 hour snack and beer bar. The 2 complimentary meals were very basic. The breakfast was way too salty (my Filipino companions loved it), lunch was fairly decent. The bacon and rice lovingly wrapped in foil for me by Ate Betty kept me full throughout the trip.

The best part of traveling by boat for me was the social aspect. Being stuck together on a ship allowed me to quickly get close with my bunkmates, although as I had expected, neither I nor they chose to pursue the friendship upon disembarking, beyond cell phone texting. Something so pointless and yet so satisfying about a passionate debate about the meaning of life, love, and other matters neither of us was really qualified enough to discuss! We drank my bottle of tanduay rhum and their emperador whiskey, chasing each shot with sweet mango juice and spoke English visaya and ilocano for the benefit of all parties present. In the end, friendship knew no language barriers.



I also got some insight into Filipino culture and its distinction from mine. Before I met my friends, I was wandering the halls of the ship aimlessly, and found a disco. The bouncer told me the disco runs from 9pm till midnight. He encouraged me to enter, “only 20 pesos sir! Please come in, enjoy yourself!” It was only 10pm so I decided to come back later. I met my friends and around 10:45 all of us came back to the disco. The change in the face of the bouncer was obvious: apparently his job was to help attract foreign men and hot Filipinas, not a group of (not yet drunk) Filipinos from such lucrative fields as iron welding and security!! He made it clear to the group that I can come in if I wish, but for the rest, “it’s really late, the disco is closing in an hour, and its not a good use of your 20 pesos”. 

At that moment, I thought there would be trouble. I remembered the day Dima and I were refused at a bar in the West Village on bullshit grounds, and how we made trouble after that (kicking the door, being roughed up by security, ah, the good old days!). That’s why I was amazed when my friends simply said ok, and retreated. Were they really not offended?

It was then that Max (the iron welder) lit up a cigarette and took a long drag right under the NO SMOKING sign outside the disco. The others followed suit, and took care to ash on the floor. Nobody mentioned the incident that happened, the appearance was made that everyone suddenly wanted to smoke and couldn’t walk 50 meters to the smoking area outside. 

Perhaps its all silly. In the end its not the disco bouncer or the boat management, but the janitor who would have to clean it all. But coming from a culture where confrontation, self-assertion, and direct engagement are a way of life, it was an interesting thing for me to observe.