We arrived in Puerto Princesa, Philippines on the 28th of June and even though I didn't have duty until the 30th I either remained aboard the ship or cruised into town only for food. Really what I was doing was conserving my monies for the hotel that I was wholly anticipating!
I've been to the Philippines twice before in my life, once in Manila where I was very close to where my grandfather had been during World War 2, and the second in a nice city named Cebu! Both were great places filled with a friendly populous, who were intrigued by blue-eyed, light-skinned folk not unlike myself. I tried a bit of the food and was surprised by how delicious it was! But none of that would compare to what I experienced here in Puerto Princesa.
The day finally arrived that I would get to stay in my first actual bed in 2 1/2 months, on the 1st of July. I could hardly wait, the anticipation was killing me! I departed the ship with my liberty buddy, FC2 Richard Manley, and we signed out of the logbook as "O/N", or Over Night and we made our way to the buses that would drop us off in town. On it's way into town we passed the usual sights that I've grown accustomed to, the small tin-roofed, nail-and-board shops with hand painted signs advertising their fares hanging on chicken wire. Small children shouting prices for their goods, chickens running around behind said shops, and the exposed orange dirt that seems to take the place of grass in these more urban areas and is always seen underfoot of the everyman. The scene is completed with the smell that can only be associated with certain Pacific countries, the smell that will always remind me of my navy days. It's a smell that's a mix of food in various stages of preparation, something of raw fish displayed for selling, the grilling of pork, chicken, and fish on open grills...and of the ocean.
I took many pictures on my way to the town center, at which on our arrival we rented a "Tuk Tuk". The best way to describe these Tuk Tuks is to imagine a 155cc motorcycle, now fit that motorcycle with a sidecar that seats two people, one sitting forward and one sitting backwards. Now, rust over the entire vehicle and cover the whole thing with a roof and a small luggage rack in the rear. This is a Tuk Tuk. A lot of the Tuk Tuk drivers will decorate their vehicles with a plastic body that would resemble a sports car.
We took the Tuk Tuk to the hotel which turned out to be on the outskirts of town, an added bonus! No one was really around, which added to what a great find this was. We walked onto the property and found a veritable paradise, the kind of place where a sailor can go to unwind. Many of the rooms were being renovated and we were shown around the property by the owner, Mark, who as it turns out, has traveled more than most people I know. He was an incredible host keeping us company through meals, sharing his stories, and letting us put music on his sound system while we swam in the HUGE pool located in the center of everything.
Our first day at the hotel/resort was mainly filled with lounging at the pool and having a much appreciated intake of alcohol. We had a fantastic sampling of local food at the pool-bar. The dish I sampling was something that sounded like "See-See", not sure if that's exactly how you spell it though. I was told what it was until after I had taken a few bites, though even when they told me I still had more, it was delicious! Turns out it was cartilage, pork face, and some pork intestines. Yum! We left the pool after our appetizer and ate ourselves a phenomenal dinner at the huge restaurant just past the pool. At this point I had had enough of the local brews, San Miguel and Re Horse, to be feeling pretty fancy-free. I don't remember many of the pictures taken at this point. C'est la Vie, I was having a blast, that much I remember. Good fun times with good people. I went to bed that night in my REAL bed, my belly full, my spirits high, and the anticipation of getting to webcam with my wife and daughter for the first time since I left her in San Diego, California.
The next morning I woke up and flipped open my laptop and immediately jumped on Google Chat, which is our main means of communication on and off the ship. What luck! She was signed in and active, so I gave her a poke and we got things up and going on my flimsy-at-best connection. She was the most beautiful thing I had seen in quite some time...then my daughter came into view. Oh my God, how she had grown in the short time I had been away. "I can see you, daddy! Can you see me?!" She said. Choking back tears of joy I said, "Of course I can, Shelby, it's so nice to see you!". Shelby continued to dominate the conversation, which I had no problem with. She went on to show me her "Daddy Doll", and tell me that she liked when I tell her stories at bedtime. All this while speaking very fluidly and much more developed than when I had left, she's getting so smart and interactive! Laura and I seemed content to finally be able to each other in real-time again. It was good to see those pictures of Laura finally come to life to tell me they loved me in return.
After about an hour or so of talking, we had to say our reluctant goodbyes because the fellas I checked out with had plans for the day!
We met up with a Filipino buddy, LS2 Juliber Fernandez, who had some of his family come down to meet him in Puerto Princesa. His folks had set up an entire day of island hopping in one of the many catamaran boats at the local port. The trip to the first island took about 30 minutes or so, but this was where we ate the homemade meal that his sister had brought along. Pork Adobo, corn, grilled squid, pork jaw, beer, and even more food! Eating on the island beach with coconut trees around us with the salty wind blowing in from the ocean, the sand in my toes and a beer in my hand. For three hours I thought nothing of a Navy ship, nothing of the worries of the world, nothing of hate, anger, jealousy, of the hurt of being gone.
I found my Zen on that island. I was at peace, and loved so many beautiful things in the world.
I've posted pictures on my Facebook account under the folder "Deployment 2011", they'll be some of the pictures at the bottom of the list, but they'll be labeled appropriately.
Later that night after spending all day at the islands we came back to the hotel where I started finishing off the bottle of that delicious local rum. I wondered on down to the pool again where some of the local folks were splashing around, that's when I ran into four local college students. One of the girls was celebrating her 20st birthday by trading shot of the same local rum with her other four cohorts. My buddy, Steve, has never met a stranger in his life and we quickly became friends with the celebrators. The guy I was talking with was a hotels & restaurant management major. After a while I decided to buy everyone a round of beer, but before I order they asked if I would be interested in trying some more of the local food. Feeling the liquid courage building inside me, "Hell Yeah!".
I forget the name of it, something like Chi-Caron...the American version of Chicarrons? I tried some, not too bad, a little tough but otherwise very enjoyable. Turns out I was munching on some fried pork intestines again, prepared differently. I had fun with our friends that night, we exchanged stories about our different lives and how alike that we really are in more ways than we know. We all talked until the pool closed at 11:30pm and we wish each other well and good fortune in the future. I went to bed that night, knowing it was my last time sleeping in a bed that didn't have an inch-thick mattress in a coffin-like space.
In the morning we all woke up early even though we didn't have to and made our way down to the restaurant and had an English breakfast of Sunny side up eggs, orange marmalade and toast, & bacon. I went for a quick swim to get the blood flowing and to wake up a bit, then settled the bill and headed out to the ship via Tuk Tuk for duty.
I fell in love with the people and their food, and I can easily see why my grandfather loved it here. The hotel & resort we stayed at is called the Royal Olberoi.
Here's to finding Zen on your remote Pacific island.
No comments:
Post a Comment