Vilma's birthday celebration

Mae takes control of the banca.

Woke up at 6:30 AM today getting only maybe 4 hours of sleep because the bartenders at Oops wanted me to join to going to Pungtud Island to celebrate Vilmas birthday.

From Alona, we practically drove to Vilma’s aunt’s house which was only a few minutes drive from where I live. We were there for at least an hour before we went in a boat towards Pungtud Island. While waiting, Jolie, Joanne, and I ate a sweet Chinese style tapioca tasting dessert dish for breakfast, for only 5 pesos a bowl, which was tasty. I had two bowls.

The crammed boat ride didn't affect our happiness

For the boat ride to Pungtud Island, all of us crammed into two small banca boats where -- six people were in ours. I was surprised we could float. At first it was a little painful but after moving somethings around I was fine. The island is supposedly inhabited but nobody pay attention to the no trespassing sign. The beach is only maybe 15 feet wide but the water and sand was shallow and nice though. I avoided going on land because there were a lot of sand flies biting people. I hate sand flies.

Me holding mini Mae out of the water. Note, I'm on my knees.

Oops girls jump for joy

We stayed a few hours, ate chicken, fish, and played “Tag” in the water. It was fun and refreshing to swimming around. After about 4 hours, we went back and on the way we stopped by a seaweed farming place. The complex is built on wood pillars in the middle of the ocean. There the men laid out seaweed on the deck to dry.

Approaching the seaweed farmer structure in the distance

Back home, I just cleaned up a little around the house, took a nap, and did some laundry myself. I’m having an ant problem with my trash and have to clean up the occasional gecko poo; I don’t mind because they eat all the insects in my place. Too bad they don’t eat ants.

I used the kitchen for the first time today. I needed to first clean a bunch of dishes because I didn’t know if they were clean or not. I managed to make some rice (out of a pot) and heat up some chicken with no problem. It’s barely considered cooking but you got to start off slow and easy.

For the past four days, I’ve been getting a lot of text messages from a number I didn’t recognize. A lot of them simply said “hi” or asking if I can be their friend. Since I didn’t know who it was, I never responded or agreed to a friendship. Then, tonight, I got a text from the person giving me advice on how to get into the complex if the gate is locked. Huh? The maid?

- jason