philippines day 2

this is an interesting area. literally the only "foreigners" we've seen have been this group of norwegian people who are visiting 'stan' (i was asked if i was his granddaughter.. apparently i look norwegian), and a bazillion semi-creepy looking, vintage military tattooed, 60+ year old ex-military men who are cavorting with 20something philipino girls. it is bizarre, to say the least.

aside from the general weird feeling that that situation gives me, it's an alright place. the heat isn't nearly as oppressive as i had imagined it would be based on the forecast. the beaches are pretty. the people are nice if not a little phony.

today we had breakfast at a little place across the street. their spanish omelet could have been straight out of texas. it was lovely. then we set off for 'ocean adventure' which was like sea world lite. i'm kicking myself for not paying the $100 to do the swimming with the dolphins thing.. but there was a torrential downpour so i'm not sure if i even could have done it.

after that, we headed to a casino where josh won $5 and steve and i both lost $10 or so. then we hit up the city center and freeport zone which could have been any city in mexico.. and took a crazy 'jeepney' back to our hotel. it was like a long jeep with a cover on the back with open air windows and a really low roof. only slightly safer than the motorbike with little cart attached that the three of us piled into last night.

josh and i got swedish massages at some place down the road this evening which was really, really nice. now i'm covered in oil and baby powder but a little more relaxed. then this evening we went to the bar attached to the hotel and i got cornered chatting with this 65yr old dude, JR, from dallas, ironically. he's an ex-IMBer and if he hadnt shown me a picture of his 20yr old wife, i'd say he was a normal good old boy. he told me a lot about philippino life (the girls who work in the bars make 3 dollars a night) (the local food is gross and they love canned corn beef.. which i like) (the only spices they use are garlic, soy sauce and vinegar.. even though basil and oregano grow wild in the gutters).

so things are good. i think 3 days in subic bay is the ideal amount of time. the only terrrible thing is that the super humid, rainy weather isn't good for my camera so i haven't taken ANY pictures. tomorrow i can at least get the beach and area around our hotel, but i don't really want to take it on the treetop adventure.. we'll see.