It's past 2 in the afternoon when we left Manlawi Sandbar and headed to our third and last stop for the day: Sabitang-Laya. The gentle rays of the afternoon sun and the cool sea breeze made up for a perfect sleeping pill which left some of my companions temporarily conked out. As I couldn't find a good spot in the boat to take a nap, I amused myself instead by gazing at the moon over a clear sky in the horizon. I wasn't being romantic or anything, I just found it a good distraction to while the time away. The moon seemed to be enjoying the attention it was getting from me that it decided to stick with us for a little while.

So it's not surprising when I found it hovering above the massive limestone cliffs as our boat finally moored at the shallow part of the shore in Sabitang-Laya. I think the connection I had with the moon affected my mood throughout our stay on the island. I didn't go crazy or anything (thank goodness), just a little weird. A little weirder than usual.

One of our companions on the other hand seemed to have lost his marbles when he climbed a huge boulder and attempted to jump off even though the water level wasn't suitable for diving. He looked like he was intent on plummeting down and I felt like his stunt would end in a tragedy - blood in the water, smashed head and all those gory stuff. I couldn't take it, so I left him before the charade reached its climax (nothing bad happened to him, thank God).

Diverting my attention to something else, I noticed a familiar spot with overgrown shrubs and grass. I realized that I saw it in one episode of Survivor US which involved a reward challenge.
The other side of the island featured a long strip of beach adorned with super fine sand. In fact, I thought its sand quality is almost akin to Boracay's. For a while, I enjoyed swimming in the crystal clear water and taking fun photos with friends until I realized that the heat had somewhat become unbearable. I could feel my face burning. Submerging my head underwater every now and then seemed to have done the trick but not for long.
Good thing there's some shrub nearby which provided excellent shade from the scorching sun. Slipping stealthily from friends who were sharing funny stories happened naturally for an introvert like me. There, under the shade, I tried building a sand castle but to no avail, so I dug a hole instead using my bare hands. As the hole got a little deeper, the sand became more compact, hurting my fingertips and snapping back to my senses. (Ang emo-emo lang, hehe!)
"Let's do this again next time, but without the island hopping thing. I prefer staying on a resort with the beach right outside our room," one of our travel companions was telling the rest of the group as they're huddled in the cool water a few meters away from me. Island hopping can indeed beat you down. We had only gone as far as three islands, and already we're tired. When our tour guide, Ivan (son of the owner of the homestay) suggested that we do a side-trip at the Shrine in Tapgon to cap off our Day 1 tour, we all decided to skip it.

Leaving the island, Survivor style

What we were really looking forward to was the suckling pig which was promised to be served to us at dinner back at the resort bar in Paniman.

Next up: Matukad Island