One of the scariest taxi rides I can remember happened in Davao almost eight years ago. I was in Davao that time with my officemate Bob (hi bob!) 
We were conducting a Survey on Productivity Awareness. I was staying with my grandmother whose house was in the suburbs while Bob was staying at the satellite office in the central district, since it had a place for visitors from the central office. On our second night in the city, I met with Kate, a high school friend who I haven’t seen for some years. We went to the mall for dinner. We stayed until the mall closed since we had a lot of catching up to do then we went to her home where we continued with our conversation. It was around nine o’clock when I finally decided to go home since I was not quite familiar with the place so I was afraid of going home very late. I took a taxi and since I was so busy saying goodbye to Kate, it was only when the taxi was underway that I saw the red eyes of the driver. It was really red like he was on drugs or a very bad case of sore eyes. I could not get off because we were already along the highway going to the suburbs. I was very afraid especially when he would peer at the mirror every so often and I would see his red eyes looking at me. Thinking back, maybe the reason he was peering every now and then was to check the traffic behind us At that time all sorts of wild thoughts were racing through my mind like was this my last taxi ride ever? Was I going to be an addition to the statistics on victims of crime? What about all the things I haven’t done yet? I was still so young and I had my whole life ahead of me. Hehe. All through out the ride I was silently reciting the Memorare until I got home without incident. I was so greatful to arrive at my grandma’s house without incident, thanks to my guardian angel
My friends and I went to Bantayan in July last year to celebrate Emily’s birthday. Yes, another friend’s birthday It was a first trip for me. Bantayan is an island off the north coast of the Cebu mainland. It’s around two hours bus ride to the town of San Remigio plus another hour or so by boat. I was almost convinced by my aunt to forego the trip because July is a rainy season and she was worried about me taking a boat trip. Good thing I did not listen because the ride was uneventful and I would have missed seeing such a wonderful place. It was off-peak season that’s why the place was barely alive with tourists. Something I found enjoyable since I’m not fond of crowded places. 
When we arrived at Bantayan pier someone from the resort in Sta. Fe, Bantayan where we were going to stay fetched us. We had a cabin near the beach front. It was quite spacious. Outside was a verandah with some chairs, a table and a rocking chair. Inside the airconditioned room were two beds- a single bed and a double bed, a dresser, a cabinet, and comfort room. It was all very nice but a bit expensive, considering that it was off season and the place was not very commercialized. But on second thoughts, considering the size of the cabin..
We were dying of hunger so that when we arrived went we straight to the restaurant to order lunch. It turned out that we had to suffer our hunger longer because the service was as slow as their rural lifestyle while their prices were Manila-like expensive. The staff were nice enough but still needed one or two Customer Service Seminars. If anyone from DAP is reading this, maybe you can consider submitting a proposal to the resort owner to conduct the seminar. hehehe.
After we had settled in, we went straight to the beach for pictorials and a dip. The beach front was littered with nature’s debris, coconut husks and leaves and seaweeds. 
It was only on our second day, that I saw resort personnel cleaning up the debris. 
As we walked along the sand bar we met a fisherman who was folding his net and he showed us some jellyfishes and an asuhos, Judcee’s favorite fish, that got stranded in the sand. 
We went exploring in the late afternoon. We decided that we were going to eat dinner outside the resort. We took a tricycle that took us around. We visited their small church then he dropped us off in one of the resorts and from their we started walking along the beach. Along the way we passed a restaurant which I thought was named Hard Rock Cafe but my friend said that it was Hard Kock and not Hard Rock. I was quite disbelieving but lo and behold when we passed by again after dinner, my friend was right.
We came upon an Italian and seafood restaurant called White Sand and run by a half-German, half-French man named Robert. He’s been in Bantayan for quite some time already. He is one of the many foreigners who went to Bantayan and fell in love with the place and settled there permanently. Robert told us that his pizza was something we haven’t tasted before. So we ordered the pizza and some pasta. 
We also saw drawings of a child in the sand. Beautiful childish drawings. He/she must be an offspring of a fisherfolk.
After our walk, we went back to the restaurant. Pasta was served before the pizza. If they served the pizza first, I don’t think I would have room for it after eating the pizza. The pizza was heavenly. Very cheezy and thick. Commercial pizza parlors in the country can’t begin to compare. One slice is enough to wipe away your hunger. And it was very affordable at just P350. We were so full already that we had the remaining 3 slices of pizza packed for take out. Strawberry shake was the drink of choice. I enjoyed mine very much. We decided to walk off the very delicious dinner back to our resort.
We left the next morning. I was thinking that we’ll be stranded in the island because when I woke up it was raining hard and the sky was very leaden. When I looked at the sea, you can’t see the outline of the mainland due to the heavy rain. Good thing by midmorning the rain stopped. The resort’s service brought us to the pier. But before that, Carlo, my friend’s boyfriend, asked the driver to drop by Hard Kock Cafe to buy a souvenir shirt. hehehe. What was strange in Bantayan was that you had to pay terminal fee twice. I’m not sure if one was for municipal fee then other for the pier itself. Anyway, the payments were just minimal. The boat ride back was speedier because we rode a fast craft.
I would have enjoyed staying a day or two longer. Unfortunately, my flight was the next day and my budget was almost depleted. Here are more pictures of the beach. 
