Finally Perfection

Finally after waiting and waiting the wind has changed and our summer begins here in the islands.  The wind on Boracay Island, in the Philippines (which is where I live) changes directions exactly twice per year.  For folks on Boracay that means that from about June until October the wind is blowing from the west and with it comes the monsoons effectively ruining the picture perfect beaches of the west coast line.  When the wind changes back to the east it is a dramatic change.  The sea becomes flat as a pond and the dirty beaches change to brilliant white.  That time has finally arrived, good for me, not so good for the kiteboarders.  With the change comes the tourists and I can see them already piling in.  That doesn't effect us much as we are on the quiet end of the island, but getting on and off the island is miserable.  I am probably just being unrealistic and whinny because up to now we locals were able to just grab little cargo boats over to the mainland and not deal with the circus that is the jetty port of Caticlan.  Chaos is the norm here in the Philippines and the attempts made to organize the masses just end up slowing the process down.  In Asia the line or cue does not exist.  I am not sure about the north east (China and the Koreas, Japan and so on)  but in South-East Asia the line is only a recommendation and little old ladies, children and men alike will crawl under or over or around to get in front of you, even if you just look away for a minute you'll lose your space-its the same with driving.  One has to learn to aggressively maintain their position in the line.  For us Americans this is hard at first because it directly conflicts with our tendency to respect those in our immediate vicinity and maybe even let the person behind you move up if they have less groceries or are in a hurry. This does not work in the Philippines because the locals can smell the indecision and reluctance to just dive right in and they push past every time.  Its nothing personal that's just the way things work around here.  The fun flip side to this oddity is when traveling directly from South-East Asia to America and watching the dramas unfold as Asians try to push past uptight Americans-priceless. The baffled Asians just don't see what the big deal is.  But assuming one gets through the crowded jetty port and on to the island they will be amazed by the picture perfect little island.  The beach here was just rated the best beach in the world by a major travel magazine and during this time of the year it really lives up to the hype.  So come on over to Boracay and feel free to contact me via the blog for advice and assistance getting a place to stay and what not.