Paradise island

I had a full day off today, so I decided this would be the day I would bring Monica to Paradise island. If you look at a map of the Philippines, Davao is way down at the bottom. there is ocean on one side, gulf on the other side. Paradise island is in this gulf.
I worked all night, but the shift was almost dead. We had one lady with blood pressure of 180/120 (if I remember right) We transported her. So we (Monica was over at the clinic with me, all dressed in her scrubs) pretty much slept though the night. So we got home at 6 am, ate a healthy breakfast and got ready to go. We got a taxi to get there, it only cost 54 pesos or about $1 to get there, but taxi's are the most expensive way to travel around here. But we wanted to make sure we didn't end up lost trying to save money. Monica wanted to go on motorcycles. As that is one form of transportation. I just wasn't up to that. The taxi driver actually used his blinker a few times. He seemed like one of the safer drivers. Every time I go anywhere I am amazed, shocked, scared, etc of how the traffic flows, how no one gets hit, at least what I have seen. The children hanging close to cars is the scariest thing for me. 18 mo old 1 foot from the car, the taxi driver just honks and drives on with little children all over. I know I've said this before, but I'm still amazed that a big city like this can go with out stop signs or lights. I've never seen one in a city of a million people.
So we got to the dock and paid 7 pesos each (14 cents) to get across this gulf. It was beautiful. After the awful smog of the city to be out on the ocean was very refreshing. It was only a 6minute ride. So this is a resort area. A restaurant on a beach with tables and people serving you. The water was beautiful, clear and warm. The sand was fine and they have people cleaning constantly. We even saw someone sifting sand.
So we swam and snorkeled. It was so fun,. I had never snorkeled before. It was great, you could see fish swimming by our feet, I even saw a crab once walking in it's shell. Amazing. Then I sat on the beach and read a book, slept a little and we ate. We ordered pineapple and they gave us each a whole pineapple cut up. then we ordered BBQ chicken, it was really good. they couldn't believe we were not going to order rice with it. Monica got a fruit shake and it was served in a hollowed out pineapple.
So we finally were ready to leave about 4 and we realized that both our towels were very sandy and wet. So when we went to shower and dress we had a little problem. We also didn't realize that we were sun burnt. People had told us being close to the equator that the sun could be aggressive. Well I used a little sun screen, but I don't think that stuff is healthy so I didn't use lots. Well I can't even tell I used it. We are both burnt. It's sort of nice for the white Montanian to get some sun.
So on the way home we decided to try a Jeepny. They are only 9 pesos each to one spot and then I would take a tracy cab from there for 6 pesos. So for 24 pesos or about 50 cents we would get home. Well that was an exciting trip. I suppose I needed to experience it once, but next time I think it would be worth the extra 50 cents. The Jeepney fits in as many as they can squeeze in. They constantly stop and try to talk people in to getting on their jeepney. Even if it's the middle of the road they just stop and stop traffic. No one honks or gets mad. The only time they honk is when they need to tell people they are there. Which is often, but it's not the same kind of honking like in Chicago or NY. During this whole ride the exhaust is so bad in the city, that many people have a hanky they carry around to cover their mouth and nose. So by the time I got to Victoria plaza I was nauseated and didn't feel good at all. So we stopped in the mall to get a few grocery's and a pair of flip flops. We sat down and drank another one of those wonderful fruit drinks. this time I got mango and melon. I like the pineapple in it though. A whole fresh pineapple only cost 40 cents American. So we can eat as much as we can, but carrying them home can be a challenge.
So it was a wonderful restful day. I work 2 shifts tomorrow, and Monica is going to school with Josse. She goes to a Christian school that is mostly missionary children.
So I'll post a bunch of pictures of our day on the next post, because I'm having issues with the computer and Internet here.