Day 3:

My day began with a quick breakfast at the hostel. Following breakfast, we all met up & went parasailing with Melanie’s family. I’d been parasailing before, so it wasn’t anything life-changing, but it was an all-around great experience with the group, well worth the 1500 pesos (roughly $30 USD). Later in the evening I was relegated to 5^th wheel duty since I was traveling with couples. I tagged along to the Hennan buffet where I spent FAR TOO MUCH, leaving dinner semi-full & already far beyond budget.

The spending wouldn’t end there. It was New Year’s Eve & we had booked a VIP table at Epic nightclub for their NYE party. The night was incredible, one of the best I’ve had in a while with a bunch of new friends. As the night was winding down, I wasn’t ready to hit the hay. Instead I decided to hop on the back of a motorbike towards the other side of the island. I had heard of a great spot to watch the sunrise & I was determined to kick of 2017 with a bang.

I was dropped off at another party, but I wasn’t about to keep drinking. Instead I wandered off towards the nearest beach. It was pitch black out & I still had another hour or so until sunrise, I found a beached boat & took a nap inside. After a quick snooze, I decided it would be fun to walk out & climb to the top of a mini-island as the sun rose. I did just that & watched the sun come over the horizon. I’m going to attribute it to a lack of sleep, but I had completely forgotten about tides, my walk back to mainland was through rising tides & my brand-new shoes were completely ruined. At this point I didn’t really care, I was making memories. I hopped on another motorbike & zoomed back to my hostel where I’d crash for the next 6 hours.

Day 4:

The following day I woke up around 2 PM & I met up with the group for a walk along the beach. We made our way towards Spider Bar. Unfortunately, we underestimated just how popular it was. Seating was impossible to find so we settled for sunset on a nearby beach. I was able to capture some cool sunset time-lapse footage, so I’d still chalk it up as a win. We all called it an early night & vowed to return the following day to see what all the fuss was about.

To be continued…

Make sure to check out the video on YouTube: Exploring the Philippines – Backpacking Asia