Island Hopping

Day 13 of 24If you had only one choice to island hop at in the Philippines, island hop in Palawan. That shit is just hands down beautiful.BJ & I and maybe Sistine got food poisoning from something we ate (probably bad sushi). I haven't really been in the mood to write stuff lately especially after Lola, so I'm just going to post pictures.We went island hopping and my favorite part was snorkling over a coral reef site in between small baby mountains.[wpvideo JYB7jVVu ][wpvideo CSsGeTkP ]

Lola Lourdes

Day 12 of 24We attended the 6 AM mass before heading out on the 4-5ish hour drive to El Nido. We were in the middle of mass, and I thought it was quite odd to see BJ go up to my parents and whisper to them something. During "peace be with you," my Mom finally turned around to try to whisper/mouth to us what happened because I and the rest of the family were sitting in a different part of the church.Lola Lourdes had passed away.Lola (pronounced lou-lah, Filipino for grandma) is my Dad's Mom, she was 91 years old. Visiting her was the first part of the trip when my parents and BJ first arrived to the Philippines. They stayed 5 days with her in Manila. I was going to see her when we got back from Palawan. Everyone kept saying she was just waiting for Dad & BJ to visit.The family is doing well. My Dad's a G. He decided that we should continue with our trip, because there's nothing we can really do right now at this point. Sadly, he's right. When it comes to moving forward, my Dad is the strongest in that arena.The rest of the Vivares siblings are arriving towards the end of the week. Currently Lola is in Manila and will be taken to Cagwait, Surigao where she will be laid to rest next to Her husband Lolo Nino.When we were growing up, Lola would spend a year in America and a year back in the Philippines. When she was in the US, she would stay with us. Growing up, she would make us rice and eggs for breakfast, read us bible stories at night or tell us ghost stories (whichever we were in the mood for) and she would always get mad at Dad for over disciplining us. She loved to sing and had a distinct laughter. Lola was always laughing. Sometimes when she stayed with us, it would be the same time Mom's parents would stay with us as well. Lola and Papa Rudy were like best friends. Always laughing, buying lotto together and they always kept us fed. Not only will she reunite with her husband, but she'll see her bff again.Lola never remarried when Lolo Nino passed away over 45 years ago. She was a very classy lady. She liked the finer things in life and always expected the best out of you. She focused on her health and always took her vitamins. She was loved by many and will always be remembered by her great smile and beautiful voice.Most of the pictures I have with Lola are from film cameras. This is the only digital one I could find right now. Like the Matriarch she was, she's the lady in right in the middle of the family. This was taken in 2010 when my Dad and I visited the Philippines and we took her with us to Cebu.Rest In Peace Lol, say hi to Papa Rudy for me.

Palawan

Day 11 of 24Cue: Ocean Floors by Headphone ActivistsThat song perfectly played as I got off the plane.The plane trip from Cebu to Palawan was fast AF! Plane rides are so much better than boat travel. Then when you have to walk down stairs from the airplane and walk to the gate, it always makes you feel like you're important. The air was fresh and the place is very clean.We were warmly greeted by Father Art who is our gracious host in this beautiful place! He got us a van with a driver and a tour guide. We grabbed a quick breakfast at Jolibee and we met up at his Cathedral where he introduced us to the Bishop.Then we were off.... from the airport to the Underwater Cave, it's about a 2 hour drive, but our driver made it an hour and a half trip. After waking up at 2 in the morning to make a 4 AM flight, you would think I would sleep in the van.Nope.Our driver was so intense and the road to our destination is not easy to navigate. The ride literally felt like a children's rollercoaster ride. You know... the kind that doesn't have loops or spins, just a lot of fast curves that whip you around and you feel like you're going to have whip lash at the end of the ride. That's how it was for an hour and a half.... one hour and thirty minutes we were sloshing around in the van. I sat in the first row - right in the middle - so if we crashed, I would have been the first one to fly out. But like the rest of my near death experiences here so far, I survived. He really was a good driver though, he just drove fast af (taking curves at 40-50 mph) and he didn't GAF about how his passengers would fair out. I noticed that Filipinos honk their horns not because their pissed at drivers, they honk their horns at people on the road to let them know they are blazing down the street, so you better get the F out of the way!! Our driver honked a lot.We got to Puerto Princesa. Another beautiful beach but with a mountainous view. The back drop reminded me of that one scene in Moana were Te Fiti is laying down and I was just waiting for her to awaken from her nap.Our driver dropped us off at the pumboat docking station, it was a pretty touristy area. The streets were lined with souvenir shops and little huts trying to entice you with their fresh fruit shakes. The pumboat took us across the Listerine green/blue water to another beach that was home to the 7th Natural Wonder of the World, an underwater cave.After the that excursion, Sistine, Miyake and I went down the zip line. Just getting there felt like an adventure on its own. We road a Jeep, similar to what you would take on a tour at Jurrasic Park. The road was bumpy and the scenery looked like Jurrasic Park. Then we walked across the beach to the small mountain that the zip line started from. Once we got there, it was over 600 steps to the top. Yes, all that trouble was worth it. The views were breathtaking.We got back to the city and had dinner at Baywalk Palawan, which is basically their version of a boardwalk. We ate at this restaurant that had the freshest seafood that you can pick from and they cook it on the spot. It was so fresh, all the items had been fished that morning and the crustaceans were still alive. Man, best meal I've had so far.One of my career goals is to be able to run my businesses from any beach around the world. I need to hurry up and make that happen already.