Club Noah Isabelle
Picture a variety of animals, rare marine life, tropical birds, flowering plants and fruit-giving trees sharing a tropical island with you. Imagine cabanas on stilts over the ocean, where you can see baby sharks and multi-colored parrotfish swim through gin clear water below the veranda. There is no television or internet, just plenty of entertainment in the form of quiet water sports by day and song and dance of the island locals at night. You don't have to only imagine it, just go to Apulit Island in Palawan, Philippines, the home of Club Noah Isabelle.

We've often dreamt about finding the perfect island paradise. We figured it would be in Fiji, Tahiti, or maybe the Maldives, but were pleasantly surprised to find this paradise in the Philippines. In Manila, we boarded a 19-seater plane for the hour and a half flight to Palawan. After flying over dozens of islands, we landed in the middle of nowhere on the dirt runway in front of an airport that consisted of two huts. Maryanne, our young, smiling Club Noah activity officer then took us on a jeepney to the shore, a dingy boat through the mangroves, and finally a banca (boat) across the open water to the dragon shaped island called Apulit. Club Noah Isabelle is the only bit of civilization on Apulit Island. The cabanas, bar and restaurant huts form part of nature's landscape so the island remains an unspoiled and rural sanctuary. Limestone cliffs frame a private bay, where palm trees give shade on a white sand beach. The water was so amazingly clear and beautiful that we must have taken 30 pictures before we even got off the boat.

The next 2 days were like a dream. We couldn't stop smiling and saying 'oh my god'. Between snorkeling through massive schools of fish right off the shore, we kayaked, took private windsurfing lessons from Eddie, sang along to David's romantic guitar tunes, played billiards and badminton, took a sunset/moonrise cruise, and sat on our cabana veranda just staring out at the clear water and distant islands. Even though there were about a dozen other couples there, mostly honeymooning Koreans, we always felt like we had the island all to ourselves. The three buffet meals each day were included in the price, and any drinks that we bought went on our tab to be paid at the end, so we never had to worry about money. One day, lunch was served barbeque style at a restaurant on stilts, one night, happy hour and dinner were right on the sand, and each evening, the staff entertained us with traditional singing and dancing. As the staff sang to us and waved goodbye when our dinghy boat pulled away from the island, Bex even shed a tear. Thanks to Ito Tuason and the amazing staff at Club Noah Isabelle for one of the best experiences of our life.

Manila - Take 4
Back in Manila, Angel and Wilma at Afro-Asian Travel and Tours welcomed us back with dinner at the new Manila Hyatt's Market Cafe. Chris, the hotel's associate director of sales, first took us on a tour of the stylish new hotel before we indulged at Market Cafe's open kitchen restaurant. Everything was out in the open, from the glass door refrigerators and shelves of dishware to the sizzling pans of food. All the food came straight from the chef's spatula right onto our plates. Thanks to Chris and the girls at Afro-Asian Travel & Tours (once again!) for an unforgettable night.