Paddle Boarding

I thought I’d have a lot of time to blog during the Christmas break… guess I was wrong! You should expect, however, a new blog nearly everyday as I’ve done quite a number of exciting things in the span of one week since then. We’ve had a full schedule of activities everyday and I don’t get to do much of anything else. Kinda tired, really. I even got sick and now, I have no voice. But today, we’re relaxing. (Yes!) MOVING ON…

The day I got back from school was also when we left for Boracay. We stayed for 3 full days and 2 nights at this little inn called Isla Gecko in Station 2. It’s a lovely little place with super powerful WiFi, great service, awesome management, very affordable rates, and has a location that’s right beside d’Mall. The best part of staying that that hotel, however, was the 30% discount when you rent a paddleboard for a few hours. They have 10 in different colors (I picked green and blue).

You can rent it for 1 hour to a whole day, depending on how much time you have. We rented 2 paddle boards for 4 hours (6am to 10am). The water was warm, the sun was just about to rise, and there were little to no people on their highly popular beach (mark you, that was during peak season).

I used to be a competitive gymnast so balancing was never a problem. You have to start on your knees and work up to your feet. It’s much like surfing, except without waves and with a paddle.

Take caution of the current. During those wee hours in the morning, the tide was going out and my cousin and I were carried out to sea when we had paddled too far from the shore. the waves were large, the current was strong, and the water was a very dark blue. Scary stuff. We had to catch and hang on to a bangka for dear life as the owners of the craft very nicely brought us to shore.

Despite that little bump in the road (or wave in the sea.. he he), the over-all experience was totally amazing that challenged my motor muscles. If you aren’t an athlete, I suggest to stretch before paddling. Highly recommended for anyone who wants something a little different during their BorAdventure (Yes, I made that up.)

Unwind

I stumbled upon this book one evening when I received a notification that one of the people I was subscribed to on YouTube had uploaded a new video. It was a short film inspired by a chapter from this novel I’ve never heard of: Unwind by Neal Shusterman. I gave it a look and was instantly hooked (HA! That rhymed!). Watch it here.

We live in an era where dystopian books rule the bookshelves, a fact exemplified by the commercial successes of The Hunger Games to Matched to the Divergent trilogies. Though Unwind falls under the same genre of literature, it takes a more gruesome, horrifying twist in society. If you’ve watched the video until the very end (which I sincerely hope you did), you may still be haunted by how eerie it was. You’d know what I mean.

Setting: Set about fifty years from now, a civil war over abortion had taken place. The conflict, however, was quelled when a scientist suddenly found a way to harvest every part of the human body, which he won a Nobel Prize for. Both sides of the war agreed over the logic that though you’d stop living after being harvested, you wouldn’t actually die as you would live through the people, who will have received your body parts.

It’s about three teenagers, Connor, Risa, and Lev, (16, 15, and 13 respectively) who live in a twisted world where it is acceptable in society for parents to hand over their kids, aged 13-18, to the government to have their body parts harvested for later use. It’s a story of survival as they struggle to hide from society and stay in one piece until they each turn 18.

With the milieu in mind, it’s easy to understand why it’s classified in the “Horror” section of the bookstores.

The main reason why I love this book so much is because it has the perfect amount of adventure to keep it exciting, but not too action-packed that it’s trying too hard. Neal Shusterman created such a vivid, believable horrifying world, that makes you wonder what would happen if it actually came true. The scary part is that with all the current technological advances, the idea becomes rather feasible in the near future.

Plus, there’s also a cute love story for Connor and Risa too. (BONUS POINTS!)

As I have no patience (or cash) to go to a bookstore, I once again read it online as a pdf. If you share the same predicament, you may read it here: http://tinyurl.com/cvq7hp3 (I promise it’s not a virus!)

I apologize for my lack of blogging! I’ve been rather busy with school and what-not. However, don’t be discouraged by my lack of posts as I read every single comment (which totally make my day, by the way!). Rest assured, I have a lot of good stuff that I’ll be sharing with you soon! Thank you for all your support! 🙂 x