You know how when you go away with a group of friends to a destination wedding, it's always a great time. I mean, you got sun, friends and tasty bevvies - it's awesome! Add flying half way around the world with about 30 of your friends and it feels extra special!
After our stint in Tokyo, we headed to the Philippines. The wedding was on Cebu island which is where the bride's family is from. We stayed in Cebu City for a few days where we did an excursion out to Oslob to go swimming with whale sharks, had a picnic on a beach and checked out an awesome waterfall. The bride and groom also hosted a rooftop party our last night in Cebu which included amazing food and of course, karaoke. We then headed to the swanky Shangri-la Mactan on the coast for the wedding. We were all asked to wear white for the wedding, and I have to say, it looked awesome! The wedding was so much fun and it was really nice to be a guest for a change.
A couple of days after the wedding, we headed to a small island called Siargao. (The "s" has an "sh" pronounciation.) I have to say, it's my favourite place in the Philippines. What I loved about this island are too many to list. It's still pretty raw, the only paved road is the highway that goes around the whole island, and even then, there are still sections that are still dirt roads. We stayed at a really cute and laid back place called Kermit Surf Resort. It's an awesome place, run by an Italian ex-pat. They had AMAZING italian food thanks to the owner's mother who taught all the chefs how to cook authentic Italian food. And after 1.5 weeks of nothing but fried everything and too much rice, it was a very welcome change. So were the mango shakes, that I think I had almost every day :)
We met some awesome people traveling from all over the world, enjoyed empty beaches, toured some cool caves, island hopped, went to a cock fight for the first time in my life and even surfed a little. We rented a scooter one afternoon and as we rode around the island, kids from the various neighbouhoods would come running up to us just to say hi and high five us. It was an experience I will never forget!
While it's a bit of a trek to get to Siargao, I highly recommend visiting Siargao. If for no other reason than you will likely have the entire beach to yourself :)
