We celebrated my birthday on the Thursday, then early Saturday morning we left our apartment and went to the airport, ready for a week long holiday of tropical island paradise :-) The journey there was interesting, we had bought the cheapest tickets we could, which meant we were in ‘P’ class as the air attendant said, (’Poor’ class Simon retorted). This meant we were at the back of the plane, half the leg room as everyone else, no baggage space and no food. Oh, and the TV had broken. Good times! It wasn’t so disastrous really, we flew from Taipei to Manila, and then after visiting all of the terminals in Manila via a few bus rides, we finally figured out the one we needed and then boarded a tiny tiny plane with one air hostess, for our journey to Caticlan. The flight was cool, and we got to see the Taal volcano out of the window - apparantly the world’s smallest volcano. Arriving in Caticlan we made the final stretch of the journey - a boat ride to the Island. Finally we made it and man was it awesome.
Our accommodation was a little cottage made of wood with a veranda and a hammock, surrounded by lush plants. We were a two minute walk from the beach, where we were greeted by beautiful white sands, palm trees, gorgeous blue sky, glittering turqoise sea, and pretty boats. Sweet!
Over the week we really didn’t do all that much, which was how we wanted it 
The sea was beutifully warm, and because it was beginning to be the stormy season, the waves made it all that more fun. We ate some good food (seafood, mexican, indian, basically not taiwanese fried rice - hurrah for real food!), drank a fair amount of beer and coctails, and wandered around the beach and the Island. It rained on one day, but that really didn’t matter as it was such warm rain, and as it was so heavy it was pretty cool.
The highlight of the week was when we treated ourselves to a diving experience. Neither of us were qualified so we just did a basic trip where there was someone guiding us the whole time. It was amazing. The undersea world is so crazy! But spectacular! The coral is so colourful and beautiful, and the fish are also immense - some of them are the weirdest shape in the world. It’s peaceful under the sea, although sometimes a bit eerie. Loved it.
Unfortunately the day came where we had to leave, and head back to Taiwan. The week was awesome though, pure relaxation in an absolutely stunning part of the world.