Palawan, The Calm Before the Storm.

Less did we know that our trip to Palawan would be our last as a couple.

In 2014, we spent a magnificent New Year’s Eve in a Bedouin tent in the midst of the Wadi Ram desert in Jordan (read our article 10 things to see in Jordan), we thought it would be cool to spend the last eve of 2017 on a beach on some tropical island. Having been fanatics about the Southeast Asian countries and having been fascinated by the natural beauty of this side of the world, our online research for a tropical destination to spend New Year’s Eve led us to Coron, one of the northern islands of Palawan in the Philippines archipelago.

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Due to our extensive online search, all our social media feeds got flooded with images of this picturesque island. We eagerly have been anticipating and dreaming of the moment we set foot on its bleu beaches, sandy shores and taking the first sip of our drinks as we relax under the palm trees.

The Plan

For those who know us, know quite well our tendency for adventurous trips rather than a laid-back vacation. (Check out our travel stories HERE.) We had to spice it up! We planned to land in Puerto Princesa, a coastal city on Palawan Island in the western Philippines, stay for a few days and drive around 240 km all the way to El Nido where we would spend New Year’s Eve on one of its fabulous beaches. On the first morning of the year, we would take the boat to Coron and stay there for a couple of days before flying back to Manila and then home. For us, it was the perfect travel plan and destination to welcome a new year and launch our travel adventure series for the upcoming year (2018).

Setting The Momentum For The Year After

New Year’s Eve was always important to Chantal. She has always expressed that it is crucial to end the year and welcome the new one in the right way as it will only set the momentum for the year after. 2018 was right behind the corner, and there we were on our way to El Nido.

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A Road Trip, Island Hopping and a New Year Right Behind The Corner

On December 30, 2017, we drove the tiny Toyota that we received upon our arrival 3 days ago, from Puerto Princesa to El Nido. We took on those twisty narrow roads and with an average speed of 60 km/hr, we arrived at CED Villas in less than 5 hours, which included several breaks along the way. At El Nido, it was a modest stay, but it served the purpose with its location in close proximity to the beach. The owners offered to all their residents a free shuttle to the city center and back at different timings during the day.

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During our stay, we explored the beaches, we took off on island hopping trips during the day and wandered at the city center at night. More details about our stay in El Nido can be found on HERE.

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After a long island-hopping day on December 31, 2017, we completed a combination of tour A&C. Since we were limited by time, we wanted to make the most of our stay, this combination of tours allowed us to visit seven islands. We came back to our residence, showered and rested a bit before we hopped in the tuk-tuk that dropped us at the beach.

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The Contrast

From where I come from (Lebanon), New Year’s Eve preparations and advance booking start months ahead (which is not the case for us by the way, but it’s the trend). Friends would ask us to join them to some overpriced club, others would ask for advice on the best places that are trending, and some would spend hundreds of dollars to celebrate on the tunes of a whiny “one-man show” until dawn. We gave up those options a long time ago and replaced them with a simple celebration at our or some friend’s place.

It fascinated me that those beachfront hotels and beach bars did not organize anything special, some of them even closed at 10:00 pm. I somehow appreciated the simplicity of these islanders.

A Serene New Year’s Eve

We started the evening with a sunset “dîner assis” at a French Bistro in Down Town El Nido, then ended it at Las Cabanas Beach to catch the last rays of the sunset where we sipped some drinks as we listened to soft music, the cool beach breeze on our face, our hands tangled, listening to several conversations of neighbors around us. As soon as the sunset and darkness prevailed, they lit some torches along the beach which gave the scene a magical sensation.

Soft music was playing in the background at the beach bar until a local band of youngsters walked by and settled in the middle. Blissfully they played and sang some Christmas songs before they moved to other children genre of music more like “sound of music” songs. They simply turned it into a cheerful and joyful evening. Just before their last song a lady stepped in and introduced them. These little guys and girls were the orphanage children. The tradition was that on every holiday instead of celebrating alone the orphanage arrange for them a tour across the island. They simply go from one place to another cheering up the local and the tourists with their songs and melodies. In return, they gather donations as holiday gifts.

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A Happy New Year

Form a distance we could hear the festive music and the loud celebrations from Down Town El Nido resonating and echoing between tens of uninhabited islands that scattered in the low tide sea facing us. 5 minutes to midnight, a young Filipino guy pulled out one of the torches and headed to a huge pile of dry tree branches stacked vertically in a form of a primitive shelter. Few dozens of tourists approached. The count down started and exactly at hour zero, he lit up a gigantic bonfire.

To our surprise, hundreds of similar bonfires glittered in the darkness from the little islands facing us in a distance. Fireworks invaded the dark sky and turned it into a multi-color show of light and explosions. For a moment we stood still lost in words. From behind us, we could hear tourists singing in different languages and welcoming 2018 in absolute joy. We hugged, we kissed and sang along with some of the songs that we knew. Happy New Year!

I looked into Chantal’s eyes and asked her: “Is that a nice way to welcome 2018?” she smiled and replied: “it couldn’t have been better any better”.

Shortly after 1 am we returned to our temporary home for the evening almost sober but overran with joy and hopes for what 2018 has to offer.

Different Perspectives

Chantal is a master of organization and planning while I am a “wild card”. Although we have different characters and interests, we somehow form a grounded and balanced travel couple. While I have never had more than 1 item on my New Year’s Resolution, Chantal had a list. My challenge was to stay focused on that 1 item and work on accomplishing it throughout the upcoming year. Chantal would be devastated if New Year’s Eve comes and she still has one unchecked item of her long list.

A Submerged World of Wonder

The next morning, we woke up early and fully energized. After a light breakfast and a coffee, we took off on a diving excursion to 2 of the best diving spots on earth located South Entaloula and Miniloc Island (More about our dive Here). I can still remember the tranquility and peace we’ve experienced on that first day of the year. From swimming between colorful schools of thousands of fishes to meeting the huge sea turtles, to get introduced to many types and shapes of stingrays and a lot more underwater creatures, made of it an exceptional day. It was the best diving experience we’ve ever had. The cabbage coral reef made it seem as an underworld of fairy tale creatures.

This day was the most tranquil day that we have ever felt in our 12 years together as a couple. We should have noticed the signs for indeed it was the tranquility before the storm, a storm that swept us from our feet and is still twilling and twisting us.

Is It Really Happening??

We closed our eyes that night and dreamt of the long-awaited Coron island.

With our backpacks on our back, at 6 am we were standing tall in front of the boat ticketing booth. We secured two tickets and waited at the harbor until the boat was ready to accept passengers. We were among the first passengers to embark the boat. After finding our seats we sat and the excitement was obvious on our faces.

Obscured By Clouds

An hour went by. It was past 8 am and we still haven’t moved yet. There must be something wrong. Bit by bit we started hearing people murmuring. We could hear a few passengers outside the boat talking and complaining to a policeman. Stress and anxiety started building. Our hopes of reaching Coron were fading with every minute we spend in the boat. From the window beside us, we could see dark clouds forming. The clear blue sky turned into grayish and sunlight was obscured by clouds. Gradually, droplets of water splashed and slid diagonally across the window. We realized that the weather was turning to windy.

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The front door opened and a man in bleu walked in to address the passengers, he was later on identified as one of the coast guards: “you are kindly requested to abandon the ship and return to the shore, we confirmed that a cyclone is on its way. All ships must refrain from travel”. The guy was dead serious that he left no room for any questions or comments. We looked at one another in surprise… “what shall we do now?”

Going to Palawan and not visiting Coron was to us like traveling to the Vatican and not visiting the Apostolic Palace. Our flight back home was planned to start from Coron. Now that we are unable to reach Coron we were stuck in El Nido.

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We’ve been in a similar critical situation, where we had to find a solution and take immediate action.  But this time it was life-threatening, it was expensive, and we were a long way from any airport.

We are Middle Easterns, and we rarely face natural disasters such as cyclone or typhoon. We might not have been ready for such events, but panic was not an option. We found a way to reimburse our boat ticket. We asked for an official report from the coastguard office to submit to our travel insurance agency because we were going to miss our flight from Coron due to a natural “Force Majeure”.

What Options Did We Have?

It felt like we were in a movie; what started as an amazing vacation, was now a nightmare and we just wanted to be out of the island. But how to do so when the nearest airport is 5 hours away on a good day! We walked to a nearby coffee, Art Cafe, where we tried to access the internet and find some solutions.

Tropical storm Bolaven or as it was known in the Philipines Agaton appeared to be an early-season tropical cyclone that was to affect the southern Philippines.

We had two options:

• We could stay and hope the storm would change its course and the sea traffic would go back to normal the next day (which was a possible option as per one of the experienced coast guards)

OR

• We go back to Puerto Princesa and purchase a ticket to Manila, spend additional days in Manila and then catch our connecting flight from there going back home.

Plan B

It took us less than an hour to reach a clear decision. We were heading back to Puerto Princesa. We felt that the Cyclone will not be over in one day, El Nido did not have available hotels for us to stay in, the weather was horrible, and it stopped feeling like a dream place. Due to the weather conditions, bus services were canceled. Car renting companies were almost fully booked while others refused to rent. Our only hope was to go back to where we delivered the Toyota and ask them if we could return it to Puerto Princesa. After some negotiation and contacting the main office, the lady agreed to give us the car back but for an additional fee. We quickly accepted and we were on our way.

Through torrential rain and blustery wind, we drove back the tiny Toyota. It was a hell of a ride back to Puerto Princesa. Late that afternoon we reached the hotel which we contacted on our way.

Luckily the hotel had a ticketing desk from which after suffering from an extremely low internet speed due to the weather conditions we were able to secure two seats on the next morning flight to Manila. The next morning despite the weather conditions, the air traffic was still active. We reached the safe shore in Manila late that afternoon where we had to stay four unplanned days instead of bathing in the sun of Coron. Our plans were screwed up!

The day before our flight back home, on January 7, 2018, we checked to see what would have happened if we stayed in El Nido and here was the news: The third system to affect the southern Philippines in as many weeks, Bolaven brought heavy rains and floods to areas that had already suffered severe effects from tropical storms Kai-Tak and Tembin. Transport was greatly disrupted, with rough seas stranding over 2,000 people in various ports, and bus services canceled due to floods. A total of three deaths were recorded to have occurred due to Bolaven.

We believe we took the right choice. Although El Nido and Coron were not largely affected but all types of transportation were interrupted. We escaped the possibility of being stuck on an island, in some of the worst weather conditions with limited means of transportation and communication. A situation that no one would desire less.

A positive way to look back at what happened would be to consider that luckily, we took the right decision. The less positive way to look at things is to contemplate the lost opportunity due to uncontrollable circumstances and think that this opportunity may not repeat itself.

Is It Superstition? or Just a Coincidence?

Going back to Chantal and her belief about the way we welcome a new year can affect the whole year, I somehow agree. As told earlier, 2018 started in a magnificent way followed with major challenges which we overcame.

Afterward, that same year we were given the best news, we were pregnant with twins! A piece of fortunate news followed with major challenges. Iva and Christopher were born on August 27, 2018, at 9:30 pm. These little ones were a gift from God to us. It all started almost a year ago when the twins were born 2 months premature. Since then our lives changed. After 2 months at the hospital, Iva was discharged. Unfortunately for Christopher, it wasn’t the case. Christopher stayed for more than 4 months and went through life-threatening conditions. Thank God he is with us now and getting better and better. (read more about how it all happened in 2 of Chantal’s post titled: HOW I SURVIVED 11 DAYS OF BEDREST! OR DID I NOT SURVIVE THEM?! and IS THIS REALLY HAPPENING TO ME?!

Less did we know that our trip to Palawan would be our last as a couple.

Our next trip will be as a family of four!

During this tough year, we did not allow Christopher’s health condition to hinder us. We stayed positive, full of hope and united. We became a family! As we are still amidst the storm, we sometimes remember January 1, 2018, the day before the storm, one of the best days of our lives and smile as peace governs our souls… Soon it will be over. We will turn the page and start a new chapter. A chapter of hope and aspiration. With our new members, the fun will be double!

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Leaving superstitious aside, we know that this is pure coincidence. We believe that our life is what we make of it. But sometimes life gives you a spoon when all you need is a knife. As they say, When life gives you lemons, make lemonade. I personally believe that life is about achieving our goals and dreams. There is no better way than achieving these goals and dreams with the one(s) you love.

Reaching our dreams is like hopping on a train towards a definite destination. On your journey, you’ll meet all types of people and you will have to deal with different situations. Some are more challenging than others. Along the way, you will be forced to stop at different stations. Some stations may require more time than others. Some stations may be less enjoyable than others.  But sooner or later the train will departure full speed ahead to the next stop. It is up to you to give up and get off the train or persist until you reach your destination. Nevertheless, sometimes you might need to find an alternative route when the going gets tough and keep going forward.

As WILLIAM ERNEST HENLEY ended his famous Invictus poem:

I am the master of my fate,  I am the captain of my soul.

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