Pahuway!

If lying in the sun, taking strolls around the island and feeding yourself well on regular

interwalls isn't relaxing enough try out the malapascuan speciality massage. The Malapascuan massage lady assosiation consists of 25 self-employed women who've trained in massage and practise on thebeach or come to your habitat. the full body swedish-style massage takes just a bit more than an hour and gets you relaxed from head to toe.

An added bonus is the sand -that on Malapascua beach is
so fine it gets everywhere- in between your skin and the lady's hands so you get a gentle all-body
scrub for the same price and if you prefer to smell delicious for the following day get the
coconut oil instead of unscented baby-oil (my boyfriend said i smelled of fresh waffles, not necessarily bad..) My prescription would be 2-3 times a week, at the sunset before dinner. Wash all the activities ofthe day away, get your sunburned skin soothed and wake up an hour later as a new you.
And if that isn't pampering enough, get one of the manicure ladies to join. She'll co-work with
your masseure and voila -manirure and pedicure done at the same time! Just remember to pick the color of the nailpolish before dozing off :)




At the moment the going rate for both services seemed to
linger around 300 pesos each. I got the massage and pedicure for 450p total, but i believe in the
heat of the high season the prices could be 50p or so more.
Anyway, a great massage, nails done, bodyscrub and a relaxed holiday mood for less than 10 euros is more than worth the money. The women are also a fun bunch to hang out with, they taught me to play cards and some words of cebuano. Talking about families and life in general, meeting the kidsand sometimes the husbands. I talked to some of the tourists also about how great this system is. To my surprise someseemed to feel embarrased to get a treatment and felt that they're demeaning the women by making them work.
People! these are professionals, trained in their skills and want to make money of it. They work for themselves,keep the money they make and are independent women with good jobs. The best you can do is consumethe services provided and enjoy while at it.
Pahuway-just relax!

Malapascuan style

Malapascua, the island of beautiful beaches and great diving. All that is true but having traveled quite extensively in asia, I must describe Malapascua as the island of warmth -both in temperature and in peoples' behavior.

I met a couple who said it hasn't changed a lot in 10 years, which is a true miracle during todays tourist industry that has turned places like Koh Samui, Phuket and Bali into something quite different from a decade ago.
that is not to say that the local teenagers don't entertain the quirks of todays fashion and global music scene but the feeling all around is still true Malapascuan.



One can find all the necessities in life on the island. There's a bakery, clothes shops, convenience stores, lodging for all budgets and good restaurants and diveshops all over. The only thing lacking is medical services alltogether so stock up on everything you might need in that area. I usually travel with at least some basic painkillers and antibiotics and already a pack of penisilin has saved us a day-long trip to Cebu.


It's also fun and interesting getting to know the people. Everyone is generally friendly and don't seem to mind sharing a few moments answering questions. The kids I spent some time with during a celebratory lunch among neighbours are eager to learn about everything and already know a good deal - the education system here is great and at least the 12-yr olds seem to know a lot more about life than I did at that age.


More info coming up soon about this lovely place, so start plannig your trip!