Sunday Richard took us on our first trek around the outside of the island. It was amazing. The journey consists of a mix of mild rock climbing, swimming, snorkeling and hiking. It is truly not for the faint of heart! Along the tour you are able to check out the series of natural caves that occur on the island as well as more of the interesting wildlife, both on land and in the sea. Unfortunately we were not able to get any pictures because a water proof camera is required…definitely something we will be purchasing ASAP! The trek takes about 1 ½ hours if you are fast but when stopping for sightseeing the amount of time varies from tour to tour. We will be leading a French couple on our first sans Richard tour today. The ability to safely complete the journey is very dependent on the tides because as you round the tip of the island you are travelling along the South China Sea. We timed the tour today for low tide!
Monday we took our first trip to Coron. The water was flawless on the way over and it took only 1 ½ hours.
Flawless
The Approach to Coron
The Docking Area in Coron
The "Tri-Cycles" waiting to pick up arrivals
Upon arrival we followed Jun Jun (one of the boatmen) around the town to complete our various errands. We were driven around town in a “tricycle”. It is essentially a small motorcycle on the driver’s side with a little buggy built around it for carrying passengers and goods. I will make sure to get a close up picture next time.
We started by heading to the market to hand over our shopping list to Perper, our contact in Coron for food purchases. We text her a list the night before our trip, then bring her a paper copy and she travels around the market, doing her best to gather everything that is available.
After that we head to the “laundry”. We have no washing machines on the island so we have to send out all the linen/towels to be laundered. Apparently it keeps disappearing but we are installing machines in the next month or two so that won’t be an issue soon (another first, we get to hand wash ALL of our own laundry :) ) Of course when we go to the laundry, they speak with Jun Jun in a form of native dialect and we have NO clue what they are saying…and the missing laundry is nowhere to be found.
After laundry, we head to the “hardware” store. It is a very unique hardware store as it contains everything from random nails, screws, parts etc. to kitchen utensils and equipment. It doesn’t appear to be organized in any sort of logical manner and they also speak minimal English. Richard tells us they just built the store in the last 3 years and before that there was no other option locally so we are learning to adapt and take what we can get! After a quick stop by the pet food store we parted ways with Jun Jun for a half hour so we could grab a few snack items and explore the market a bit ourselves. While we did that, he went to collect our shopping items from Perper. We then loaded up the cargo in the bottom of the boat and headed to Sea Dive Restaurant to meet our new guest arrivals. We picked up 4 new guests (a German couple and a couple from the UK) and headed for Mangenguey.
The wind had picked up and we were heavy with cargo so the trip back to the island almost 2 ½ hours. Not only was it a long day, we enjoyed another first…sun burns. Crazy because we probably spent maybe 45 minutes in direct sun? Oh well, we learned our lessons for sure. Luckily because of the humidity we don’t seem to be peeling at all and we blend in a little better too!!
In preparation for their departure, Helena and Richard have begun backing off a bit with food prep, bartending, guest relations etc. and handing the roles over to Trevor and me. They decided I fit best in the front of house so I have been practicing my bartending and schmoozing skills. Of course we all have to be able to handle all aspects but we seem to be falling more into set roles. Trevor manages the facilities and finishes the execution of most meals (Ane preps everything).
Ham Croquettas
Filet with Bernaise Sauce and Mashed Ube
Berry Shortcakes
I have taken on a Resident Manager/Guest Relations/Bartending role. It seems to suit us fine…I just have to keep remembering to introduce myself as “Kiku” (Helena thinks is fits the environment better than Jessica and I have always liked my slightly more exotic middle name anyway :)) We also need to get scheduling down a bit more so we aren’t working from 6 – 9!
Reuben returned on Wednesday. It was our first time meeting him and he is very nice and friendly. He is a long time friend of Helena and a master of décor and design. He is also Filipino and able to help us with our communication. Especially after our trip to Coron it has become apparent that we have to start focusing more on learning the native language if we want to accomplish all that Richard and Helena need us to do.
Helena and Richard left this morning so we will be handling everything until they return. We have an endless amount of tasks to work on while they are gone but so far have no guests after Monday morning. We are excitedly anticipating another first….a few hours off!!!
There are always little geckos running around the ceilings at night. These two seem to be in love :)
Pandak, One of the 3 Island Dogs
