Blue Tuesday
Day 5 of 24I've been getting dead sleepy tired around 7pm and then I'll wake up around 2am. Still jet lagged a bit, but at least I'm staying awake for the most part of the day. Worked out perfectly for today though because we had to be on the ferry at 4am.
What was supposed to be a 2 hour ride, turned out to be 3 dragged out hours. It wasn't exactly a fun ride because trying to get into a comfortable postion was nearly impossible. The seats were more like benches instead of individual seats. Even with the bench layout, we apparently still have assigned seating. So the boat attendant made sure we were seated in the right area. There is about 20 of us and so there was a lot of moving around and shifting. It was really annoying how the people on that boat and at that port made everything so difficult. Anyway, I'm venting because I hated that part of the day.Upon exiting the ferry, we were greeted by motor cab drivers asking us where we were going. They were like ants scavenging at the site of food when they saw all the passengers come off. We had a quick meh lunch at a near by restaurant and were off again, this time traveling in an air conditioned 12 passenger van & the rest of the group was in the Toyota Hilux that was ferried over.
We had no idea where we were going, we just knew we weren't going to our "resort" and we were headed somewhere to swim. When we arrived at our destination about 40 minutes later, they told us we were traveling this time by pumboat, basically a gas driven canoe.
The ride to our destination was beautiful, loud af because of the engine, but the views were amazing. We went through mangroves that were sitting at the edge of small mountains. Then when we got closer to where we were going, it was like being in a Discovery Channel episode. You can really see the indigenous island people living in bamboo homes along the coast, underneath a canopy of palm trees. It was pretty cool to witness that in real life and not on TV. The colors of blue and green were absolutely breathtaking.
We ended up at Sugba Lagoon. It was really beautiful. It's a blueish-green lagoon that is surrounded by mountains. The little docking port for the pumboat was like the visitor center where we ended up renting a kayak and a paddle board. I was too excited to get into the water, so I forgot to take pics, except for the one below. It was really nice to be surrounded by so much nature.
Then we were off to lunch. We had a late lunch on Magpupungko Beach. It was a beautiful beach known for its tide pools. The waves there were perfect barrels, but I don't think they're safe to surf because it crashes right into the rocks. We got to use the full face diving mask and I just wanted to snatch all the coral fish and put them into an aquarium.Anyway, I'll let the pictures finish this post.
After a stressful check-in at the airport (our hand carry got denied because it was filled with bottles of face wash, shampoo & lotions) we finnally got to our gate. Man, the sun was relentless. It was so freaking hot.These island travels are always on smaller planes, so we had to get shuttled to the plane. Usually those kind of planes scare me, but this wasn't too bad. Small planes always bring back memories of how famous people died like Ritchie Valens (the La Bamba guy), Aaliyah, DJ AM & JFK Jr. Thank God, we made it. 🙏🏼 
Dad's old childhood friend picked us up from the airport and he kindly took us in. He housed us for the night at his rental homes, which have beautiful views of the water and the mountains of Leyte. For lunch he fed us some interesting fish. Apparently it's a trigger fish. After our meal, he opened up a bottle of Johnny Walker Blue Label and we just chilled until it was time to go to the beach. They have a little doggie that looked like Caramel & just sat around lazily like her too. RIP my little G. 🙏🏼 
The rest of the evening was spent at Looc Pebble Beach. The entire beach was of pebbles, big & small instead of sand. The water was clear, cool and refreshing, like a lake - only salty. Of course the views were amazing, especially as the sun was setting. Locals were out swimming around. Most of the people around here or anywhere really in the Philippines who live near the water, don't realize that they live in paradise.
Then the drone spazzed out and took a nose dive into the water. It was heartbreaking to watch, but I was able to use my 360* view full face diving mask. I'm not a strong swimmer, so Mom pulled me back in and was able to talk to one of the island kids to try and find it. After about 20 minutes of holding our breath, he finally found the drone. Its critical fate is still yet to be determined. The drone is currently trying to recover in a rice bath.Dad's friend told us the ferry for Shur-gow leaves at 5am, so tomorrow our next adventure will start at 4 in the morning.