July 14th: Tarsiers and Chocolate Hills

       

Hi I'm Marisa. I'm 15 years old. This is my first time in the Philippines, and I don't know how I feel. Some places are not so pretty due to the poverty and overpopulation, but in general, the country is also really pretty. This is a really new experience for me, so I'm still a little speechless.

Tito Vincent and Tita Nora in a romantic duet accompanied
by the floating restaurant's band.

Today was our R&R day for the week. I'm so glad we got this day off, because we've been going around non-stop everywhere! After an 8 am breakfast, we went to see the tarsiers of Bohol, regarded as the smallest monkey in the world! They were all hiding in the trees during the daytime, since they're nocturnal. They were so cute!

Next, we went to a place where the mountains are called "Chocolate Hills" but they didn't even look like chocolate! They were green not brown like it's pictured in magazines...honestly, I thought it was real chocolate we were looking for. The guide told us that they were chocolate colored, especially during summer when the grass are all brown. Since it rained a lot lately, only "pecan" hills were available. I heard from Bettina that there are 214 steps all the way to the top of the observatory. Apparently on Valentines Day, people would have dates at the observatory, hence the number of steps (214 or February 14...got it?). On the way down, dragonflies swarmed around us! JR tried to tame one, but there were too many to count.

We took the bus to the floating restaurant. I didn't think it was going to move, but it did. The buffet food was very good. They had calamari, BBQ, freshwater and saltwater crabs, and more. The view from the boat was nice while passing by all of the palm trees. On the way back, we watched a cultural show by the river with performers, ranging from 5 to 75! All of them were in bright pink clothes, which reminded me of costumes I wore at IP. Whenever we leaned, we thought the boat would tip over, but of course, it never happened. Victoria, Gerry, JR and I took Titanic poses at the front of the boat. I thought JR and Gerry had funny poses, because JR tried to play the part of the beautiful Rose. 

Marisa Pena

Me and the group posing at the observatory deck in front of the Chocolate Hills.

A beautiful view of the Chocolate Hills. They extend for miles without end. It's really amazing...