In September I had a phone call from Darwin, who had found our resort on the Internet. At the end of October he called again to make a booking, then recently he arrived to enjoy time at our lovely island. With him, he brought some colleagues, Jason, RS and Ronnie.
They crossed the Verde Island Passage aboard the St Paul and were dropped off at the front of our resort. On the trip across to Isla Verde, they met our local priest, John Paul, who is a Franciscan. As their school is run by a Franciscan sister, they had mutual interests and their discussions made the trip pass quickly. Father John Paul offered to bring them across to Puerto Galera on Sunday.
Arriving before noon they rested a while, enjoying some fresh buko juice from our back yard while they waited for lunch. They took lunch in their kubo so they could enjoy the cool sea breeze, then around 2pm after a rest they decided to take a walk to Sawang to take some pictures and then to Mahabang Buhangin for a bit of swimming before heading back to the resort at 4pm.
There they enjoyed a snack of Suman, one of our local delicacies. It is made from glutinous rice cooked in coconut milk and wrapped in coconut leaves, served with a cup of coffee. Then it was time for them to be off again on another adventure.
This time they went to Maliit Nalayag, which is part of the marine Sanctuary and is popular with SCUBA divers. One of our locals, Alvin took them snorkeling near our Camel Rock and they enjoyed our underwater coral gardens. Visotors love seeing the brightly coloured fish swimming in and out of the fascinating shapes of the corals and rocks. About an hour later they came back to the resort and relaxed, telling tales of their adventure.
They enjoyed taking pictures around the resort, posing with our statues and other landmarks. RS said there are lots of things to see and he loved the peace and tranquility, and just watching the sea as it was calm.
Our visitors made use of the Ofuro (Japanese hot tub) and I enjoyed watching them laughing and taking pictures of each other as they made the most of this wonderful new experience.
The name 'Ofuro' is the polite form of Furo. It is a part of the Japanese ritual of bathing, and the hot tub is not used for actually taking your bath, as it is generally used by several friends or family one after another. So before you take a dip in the Ofuro, you first wash yourself by normal bathing.
But then, the magic begins. The Ofuro is a hot tub. Sometimes if we can, we add a gentle scent to the water, usually with citrus leaves. With its deep sides of about half a metre, the person taking a dip is able to completely relax and let the warmth flow through the body.
We served dinner at 7pm outdoors at the bamboo table and our guests enjoyed their meal as the boats passed by, coming from Batangas to Calapan, Oriental Mindoro. Then it was time to relax over at the cottage swing and chat over drinks of our local Emperador brandy, after which they decided to retire to their kubo and sleep.
When we woke at 5.30pm, our visitors were already up and at the swing watching the dolphins. RS thought they were sharks and Neri, one of my local helpers explained a local belief to them, that when you see the dolphin breaking the surface of the sea it will rain.
As a thank you for being great guests I made a special breakfast for them of fried rice with veggies, cold cuts and egg. With the exercise and the fresh air they all had a healthy appetite.
Then it was time to say farewell as Father John Paul's boat arrived to take them across to visit Puerto Galera. So they had time to take a few more photos, pack their things and then they were away to the noise and excitement of Mindoro.
Before they left they said they enjoyed the island experience very much and plan to recommend our resort for a school retreat and return again with family.
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