Bohol, PH -- island life 101. when it's a weekday and you're stuck at work, it's not a lot of fun to be in the middle of summer. the heat is oppressive, you feel like taking a shower 3x a day (or more), and you wish there was life beyond staring at your computer screen.
thankfully though, today is different. instead of heading to the office before 6 a.m. i joined the family on a flight to tagbilaran. we took zest air ("asia's most refreshing airline"), the dad's employer, to the land of tarsiers and chocolate hills. by 11 a.m. we were on the road to a yet-unspecified location. we ended up at amarela, a resort that's not very close to the famed alona beach. it's all good though, this place is fantastic. it's a relaxed confluence of asian and spanish touches (nuks). the place reminds me of this quiet and secluded villa we stayed at in bali (it's not as cheap though). you can see clearly see what the owner is passionate about: even before we met him, we concluded he was an art lover, a voracious reader and a music aficionado. his resort had shelves filled with books (including a couple on bali), its own art gallery, and carefully selected songs were softly playing in the dining room. when my dad introduced him to me i was surprised to hear him call me compañera (i was not in lawyer mode). turns out he retired from the world's most-maligned profession 4 years ago and was now engrossed in running amarela full-time.
so now it's still hot but the sun seems to be gentler. the bogged-down office airconditioning has been replaced with the endless crashing of waves. and instead of refilling my water at the office pantry, i'm enjoying my citrusy welcome drink. is citrusy a word?
