I finally found a good lodge. I forgot its name—it’s been two years.  It was not exactly the best mini hotel in the area BUT it was clean, and it is definitely worth recommending. The rooms were spacious and air-conditioned,  the wooden floor was brown and shiny, the beds were big and the sheets were clean and crisp, the windows were wide, the comfort rooms were clean with big windows facing the east, thus enjoying the sea breeze and the sunrise while comforting ourselves, pun intended.It also had clean, white tiles. The owners were very accommodating and polite. Above all, the lodge owner allowed me, after much prodding and begging and explaining, to cook our meals inside my bedroom. As usual, Lee and I would have separate rooms. He would come to my room only during meal times and he would “go home” to  his room after each meal and play cellphone games,  leaving me with the pile of dirty dishes. It’s not that I’m complaining; I am just describing the whole thing. Haha.

I promised the lodge owner  that I wouldn’t cook anything that would make the draperies smell bad, that I would segregate our wastes and throw them at the gigantic garbage bin outside the building, that I would clean the space by myself and above all, that I would be very extra careful so that I would not set the building on fire, and I would not make a mess.

When everything was okay, I called Lee from the Avanza.  As usual, I made him choose which bedroom he preferred. Fortunately for me, he chose the smaller but cozier one. I did not want a cozy room; I wanted a room big enough to accommodate our butane stove, food, and other ingredients. We left our money in the car.

Another fortunate event was that, the owner of the accommodation house also owned fleets of boats, the same boats that would be used for our island hopping the following day. The “departure area” was also right behind our accommodation house.

After a quick lunch, Lee and I decided to take a nap and we agreed that we would later go to Alaminos public market to buy the food that we needed for our island hopping the following day.

In Alaminos Public Market, they had everything. We bought prawns, pork, and I don’t even remember what else. On our way back to our accommodation, we stopped by a convenience store. Lee bought some cans of beer and I bought some cans of pineapple juice.

The lodge we were in was only a few meters away from the park. After our afternoon nap, we took a walk in the park, admired the giant Christmas tree with changing colors, watched the people who were also watching other people, and watched the drones flying over us. The sea was calm and the people were merrily chatting.

I climbed a tower and Lee followed. No sooner had I reached the top than I heard a bellowing voice—demanding that we go down because there were some dangerous wires on the top of the tower. My legs shook when I imagined the sight of me being electrocuted.

When it got dark, the live band started performing. Lee bought beer in can and I drank—what else? canned pineapple juice, as usual.

When we got tired listening to the singers, we walked home. We exchanged good nights and called it a night. We had to take a rest early for our island hopping the following day.