On the island

On Sunday we left the nuttiness of Manila and flew 45 minutes to Kalibo. After a 2 hour drive we arrived in Catican. We then boarded a Mad Max-style watercraft for the 10 minute trip to Boracay.

The island is ticky-tacky tropical but lovely nonetheless. The beach is gorgeous with fine white sand and crystal blue water. There are no cars on the island, instead people travel by “tricycle” – a motorbike with a sidecar welded on.

There wasn’t a lot to do really other than rest, read, sit on the beach, get massages, eat unimaginative vegetarian fare and then make excuses for not going to my daily yoga class. I had some vague ambition of trying to get certified as a scuba diver, but someone told me it requires some kind of math examination component. I try not to be dogmatic but NO MATH ON HOLIDAY is one of my most treasured principles.

It was a terrific vacation. We returned to Manila on Saturday and then made it back to Shanghai yesterday afternoon.