Hands down, Boracay was the best. I remember Ayrton, Ely and Jan D.Black feeding me promises about the parties in Siargao… Well, its either these three bring the party wherever they go, or my cheap a$$ just booked a hotel in the middle of nowhere again, where the singularity of the universe becomes a dot and thus, absorbs all parties into the great unknown of dark matter.
Second option is more probable, just saying.
To be honest, I was not looking for the parties originally, but my place (ShakaBrah Beachfront hostel) turned out to be such a bummer that I was desperate for some action. I hoped to spend my last days in the Philippines chilling on the beach and swimming in the paradisic oceanic waters. Unfortunately, half of the water in the ocean consisted of seaweed, and half of the sand in the beach consisted of plastic bottles and other garbage, not to mention the beach itself was too narrow to put a towel and lie down.
The hostel had the stray dogs (well, which one doesn’t?), some mice which bit one of my friends at night, a cat who would chill on the same tabletop the food is prepared, and other Cinderella’s friends. Internet – what’s that? The shower was just a bucket with cold water – common practice here, and I would not mind if it wasn’t THAT far from my room. I once really needed to use the washroom at night, but it was pouring rain outside… Frankly speaking, before I got to the shower area, I already was all, completely and irreversibly soaked. Imagine trying to fall asleep like this… yea.
Obviously, the shower and toilet area were never cleaned. I will leave it at that.
The pretty dining table outside where I would chill, was banned for me once they realized I am not ordering anything. I am not considered a “guest” of the hostel apparently, even though I am paying for the bed and staying here for a couple of days, and thus, cannot take that table.
The staff was pretty lost, too. Although still very sweet – not gonna lie.
I was so bored and felt so down that I ended up just chilling in the Bamboo Surf Café nearby – an overpriced place with the best cortado and banana bread I have tried in my life.
There, I met David – a slim tall guy with sad blue eyes and a kind heart. He recorded a whole podcast for me about what I can do in Siargao, and it was the best recommendation list I have had. By that moment, he had already stayed in Siargao for three months for work, and was going to stay for another year. He recommended me a local restaurant called Sizzl de Carinderia, which I did not delay visiting.
Held by a couple, Sizzle’s Carinderia had only 5 items on the menu (no actual “menu”, the food was in the glass trays outside, covered with a plastic wrap), out of which my and, coincidentally, David’s favourite was the pumpkin – coconut stew. Mmmmmmm… Belissimo!
They also served homemade ice cream, with a strange, thaw-y texture, but yeah – the best ice cream I have tried in my life as well.
Another chain of boring days till I met Zanon – a guy originally from Brazil, leaving in Dubai. Turned out he was just as bored as me, so we saw the Ocean 101 (surfing beach with a lookout point) together, Ocean 9 (same shit, different name), and some other beach clubs. Ended up kayaking in the mangrove forest under the rain, turning over the kayak a few times, and just laughing hysterically for no reason (when the kayak turned over, I clinged to it like a baby monkey instead of letting go the kayak and swimming in the water like an adult).
Zanon left. Days slowly went by, with me trying to find at least anything interesting to do. I decided to rent a bike and set out on the adventure around the island on my last day – so that at least I end up on a positive note and have great memories of Siargao.
The day prior I gave up and went to see the Bugak Cold Spring. The springs has rocky bottom and is best visited some time at midday – when the low tide is in place, but not too low and you can have some fun in the water. When I don’t talk much (just like during those times), I become quite antisocial. And just like that, I found a place to quietly sit and enjoy the nature – but was almost instantly introduced to a group of Filippino teenage boys who were clearly trying to fight shyness and talk to a foreign girl.
By the way, a kind shout out to all Filippinos – please stop asking single girls where their boyfriends are, and why they have none… Its just impolite. Personal boundaries. Thanks.
These sweet boys ended up dropping me off at my place on their motorcycle – a ride I thought I would not survive, as there were four of us trying to sit in a bike’s saddle.
Later that day I also went to Sunset Bridge – tried out lots of local food at the street market, just leaving some space for the flan as dessert, but when I returned to get one, all the flans were gone. My disappointment could not be greater. Oh, flan – my stomach is so empty without your golden pudding!
Haha 😊
Finally, the Day came – and I asked to rent the bike at the reception at the rate of 350 pesos per day… And was politely told that the other girl who told me its 350 pesos made a mistake and it was actually 500 pesos. They were determined to not discount anything at all, but another lady who did the cleaning nearby agreed to rent me her bike at this price.
The bike resembles Cinderella’s carriage at exactly 11:59 pm. It would not normally start, I would have to kickstart it every time, and the engine was – poor thing – coughing and sneezing as if I triggered its allergic reaction. Nevertheless, I successfully visited the Coconut Viewpoint, Beto Springs (almost flipped my scooter there – too high of an incline, ooopsie), MagPopongko Rock Pools and Flates, Mag-Aso Rock Formation, Tak Tak Falls; and successfully ignored Tayangban Cave Pool – not because I have anything against caves, but because I have a lot against overpricing tourists for a 5 minute tour to the cave lake.
Out of all these destinations, MagPopongko was probably the most outstanding one. As far as I could tell, I visited it during the low tide – and was quite lucky, as otherwise the coral rock bottom that I walked upon would be hidden under the waters. Because it is a coral formation, there were puddles and holes, full of pretty seaweed and some poisonous looking cuties, the names of which I don’t even know. If you were to sit at one of such holes and not move for some time, you would see the dark and deep hole turn into an interactive fish aquarium – with colorful fishes sneaking all over the place.
Mag Aso Formation was very similar, and the Tak Tak Falls were too dirty to swim – but held the story of a couple trying to make their way through them, when the woman fell and lost her teeth. Thus, Tak Tak became the name for “something that someone dropped” until the Falls were officially discovered by the town mayor in 1985.
The day finished just fine; except I successfully omitted the Saigon kiss in Vietnam – just so it would catch up with me in the Philippines! When doing a u-turn, I did not hold on to my scooter properly and lost control. Fell on the bike, with my calf touching on the exhaust fume and leaving a round burnt mark right in the center of it. Oh, well. We learn from our mistakes, and thankfully no one suffered except my dignity.
I drove to the Sunset beach again to get my flans – but there were none again. I comforted myself with some mango sticky rice – but lets just say – if you want Thai food, you gotta go to Thailand.
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