MIKE AND JESS' TRAVEL DIARY

Mike and I were getting breakfast alone today, so we decided on yet more ramen. This time, a different restaurant, though. It was not nearly as good as the first place, but we still enjoyed ourselves.

Mike went to bed quickly and I headed to the nice cinemas that I knew would be closed the next couple days. It is Holy Week for the country, so many places will be closed Thursday and Good Friday. I got a ticket to the only movie that I had any interest in, which was Beauty and the Beast. I had no idea what 4X meant, but apparently this movie was shown in it. The seats were strange but I assumed they would recline or something.

After a few seconds into the movie, the seat shakes as if someone behind me had kicked it. Except that there was no one else in the theatre (theatres were the same as malls in that no one actually goes). The seat shook again and I, a little too slowly, realized this was one of those multi-sense movies. They seemed to be popular for about a month in the states and died out. The seats shake, vibrate, lean, and move to the movie. When Belle is in the flower market, perfume was wafted into the theatre to smell like flowers. When water was kicked up into the camera on the movie, I got a not-so-relaxing spray of water in the face. (A little concerning in a country where the tap water was not safe to consume.) Air was shot at my feet when a mouse ran by in the movie. And during the wolf scene, I had the 3D snarl in my face, the cold air blowing on me to simulate the wind, and a firm jolt in the seat to spook me. It was not the most relaxing film experience, but an adventure nonetheless. I was curious why the ticket girl asked me if I was pregnant. Makes sense now.

I headed back to Manam and thoroughly enjoyed the crispy pata, a slow roasted pork leg, deep fried so the super crispy skin and meat falls off the bone, garlic rice, and halo-halo. Their popular and regional dessert is halo-halo. It is strange to say the least. The ingredients layered into the glass are; unflavored red Jell-o, bright green something I still have no clue, shaved ice, sweet garbanzo and kidney beans, caramel flan, coconut shavings, purple yam ice cream, and rice crispies. Seriously. The garbanzo beans made it a bit difficult to eat. Tried it once, and now I am good for life.

I spent the rest of the day hanging out, reading my book and drinking coffee. Tough life I lived here.