It was a nice boat ride away from the chaos of Cebu. A little getaway trip to the island of Bohol.

Some things never change. Cebu’s port still smelled of diesel and salt. The water still an incomprehensible blue painted by layers upon layers of chemicals and long lost summers of youth.

And I’m still the same person who silently says goodbye to the city as soon as the boat slowly heaves itself out of the dock. Backing up and away from my island home into another island two hours away that also feels like home.

We were bound for Tagbilaran, Bohol. Not our usual route, but I was excited just the same. It’s been a while. (More than five years?)

The good thing is that there are several fast crafts operating back and forth Cebu and Bohol. The bad thing is that “Tourist Class” usually equates to “airconditioned” which usually equates to an interesting aroma of hard boiled eggs, instant noodles, and body sweat.

Open air and frizzy hair is where I chose to be and I wouldn’t have it any other way.

First order of the day as soon as Jeff stopped talking the tricycle driver’s ear off was lunch at The Buzzz Cafe, where we had a lot of food and Dennis ordered seafood soup that came in a bucket. He needed it for his hangover — the soup to replenish his electrolytes; the bucket, for in case…

I had a scoop of charcoal ice cream in a cassava cone for dessert and it was delicious! A unique taste I can’t exactly remember or describe but it was actually quite good.

Bohol Beach Club was stunning. I had never been. May-ann shouted us a room so it was definitely a fancy little treat to a paradise of well-manicured lawns and amazing hospitality one can expect from the genuine genteelness of Boholanos.

(Like my aunt used to say, if you want a nice, gentle man, marry a Boholano. Something my mom and my older sister did. I trust neither of them regretted their decision.)

The beach was even more stunning. It really was, with its fine white sand and coconut trees and the occasional starfishes you can find here and there. Raven was out there playing with her cousins in no time. Jeff and I had to pry her off there to get her ready for our next itinerary:

Maribojoc firefly watching.

You can either kayak on the river or hire a boat. I wanted to do the former, but I had Raven and Jeff had his camera so we couldn’t risk either of it getting wet so we went for the boat.

Of course, Raven wasn’t too happy to see the rest of the group in their life jackets and excitedly getting in their respective kayaks while we had to wait a fair bit for our boat to arrive. While they were out there paddling out into the darkness, we stayed at the base hut reapplying mozzie repellents on our arms and legs, listening to the muted sounds of crickets and motorized boats traveling somewhere along the river.

The firefly watching, in and of itself, was truly enchanting. It was magical.

As the motorized boat carried the three of us deeper into the river, the tour guide talked about how fireflies have a life span of only 60 days. He also shared how male fireflies have bigger and brighter lights compared to the females’, as well as some other trivia that went in one ear and out the other as I was too mesmerized looking at the blanket of fairy lights amidst the silhouette of a mangrove tree like a spectacular silent fireworks display.

Meanwhile, Jeff kept throwing the word bioluminescence around when he wasn’t discussing solar power and power stations with the tour guide who happened to be an electronics engineering student.

I didn’t care. I was happy to be left to my own devices where all I wanted to do was stare stupidly up the tall mangrove tree and just marvel at the beauty of nature right in front of me. It was a very peaceful feeling. It’s one of those things that you really have to experience for yourself. Pictures don’t do it justice. Either that, or my phone just takes shit pictures.

Twice, Raven got to cup a firefly between her hands, helped by the future engineer who gently placed them there. She was so thrilled and I was low-key jealous. I thought she was gonna freak out but surprise, surprise. She was actually pretty calm the whole time, marveling at the the glimmering little creature right in front of her before she released it back into the shadows.

It was truly a sight to behold. And there was something about the experience that felt raw and pure. Perhaps it was the stillness of the night and the gentle lapping of the river against the boat. Or the lightning strikes on the horizon threatening of rain. Perhaps it was just me and my tendency to romanticise such moments, stirring the sleeping poet within.

We capped the night just in time to make it for the last call at the resort’s restaurant. Raven didn’t even get to eat anything. She was knocked out by the time the food arrived. Again, a lot of food. If there’s one thing guaranteed when you’re with Dennis, it’s that you will never go hungry. He’s the guy you’d want on your team when it comes to food trips.

Or any trip, for that matter. As evidenced by our trip to Japan. But more on that later.

*Raven at 7 years old