White Tiger tours SE Asia

Sabang Beach, Phillipines

After spending a few days in Manila, I decided to head to one of the 7000!! islands of the Phillipines, and the location of Sabang beach -- a popular scuba diving resort area.

The trip to Sabang beach was a 3 hour bus ride, followed by a 1.5 hour boat -- not bad considering my last travel adventures in Vietnam

For this leg of the journey, I traveled with a new friend of mine from Sweden that I had met in Bangkok earlier in the week. Mike had been working in Koh Tao, Thailand for the last three years as a dive instructor, and has now decided to change things up a little - this journey was intended to check out the possibility of working as a dive instructor in the Phillipines. He had already been there once before, so he had many of the logistical details already set up -- this made things a little easier and eased the concerns of my worried mother (she was not enthused by my trip to the Phillipines due to some of the violence and kidnappings; however, I learned that this was all in the south -- read, I was in the north -- and I literally had zero issues)

We truly had a great time together, as we both have very similar mentalities, and laid-back traveling personalities. You can see that the beers were already flowing on the boat ride over, and unfortunately for the both of us, it didn't stop for the next several days!

a view of the boat

..and finally, after the 4.5 hour journey, we arrived at Sabang beach, a small beach town nestled into the mountainous backdrop.

Our main gathering spot in town was the 'Big Apple' -- a restaurant, a bar, and of course, A POOL HALL!

The bar opened up right on to the beach, which made for a great setting. Mike is pictured below, and is a strong player as well; however, I must say that I took the last five games from him over the final 24 hour period! (He may be coming back to Bangkok for short visit for this reason alone)

For one of the days in Sabang, we headed over to another beach on the same island -- i.e. White Beach. It is very similar, but a little smaller; however, it contains a volleyball court, which I guess makes for a regular outing for the Sabang crowd on Mondays.

We engaged in a few small-sided games, before beginning some of the WORST 6 vs. 6 volleyball that mankind has ever witnessed. Honestly, if I even tried to pass the ball to a member on my team, they would look at me like I was crazy. One touch over the net was absolutely mandatory in these games. After5 years of top class 2v2 volleyball in South Bay, this was not really my idea of fun. In addition, the average IQ of most of the male members on the boat was at a pathetic low. As a result, Mike and I spent most of the time in the bar....

...where we had a great view

this is the bar. Oddly enough, this bar was packed, while there was not a single soul in the 20 or so bars nearby. I just followed the crowd, naturally.

by the end of the day, the excessive drinking combined with 48 hours with little sleep (i.e. he had taken the red-eye over the day before, and we did not sleep our first night) had taken its toll on Mike. This was such a horrible shot of him, that I just had to show it. He would be proud! Notice his shirt where he bought in Bangkok -- it states, "TAKE ME DRUNK, I'M HOME!" I didn't find it all that amusing at first, but couldn't stop laughing at the misplaced words as the day wore on. It still brings a smile to my face.

However, after a quick nap, Mike and I were back in the saddle. He is captured here with a few of the friends that we met in the bar -- from right to left: Jocelyn, Jazz, and Myjoy -- all very welcoming and friendly.

One of their friends, Annabel, was an absolute character. Honestly, I don't believe that I've ever met anyone whose laugh and smile were more contagious. She lifted the mood at every party, and to her credit, she was the only girl to join Mike and I to watch the Super Bowl.