【講師コラム】グレイス講師 No.5

オンライン英語スクール Englishbuds 管理人 Mommy Kayo です。

先週末の４連休、

久しぶりに各行楽地に少し賑わいが戻ったようですね。

わが家は子どもが部活だったり

主人は普通に月・火が仕事で４連休ではなかったため

どこへも出掛けず、ステイホームしていました。

コロナ禍の影響で外出自粛が求められる生活が

長く続いています。。。

あぁ、そろそろどこかに行きたいよ～～～！！！

We all need a holiday!!!

という感じではないですか？？？

今日はグレイス講師が

フィリピンののどかな島の光景を

心地よい英文で描いてくれています。

文面でリゾート気分味わってみてください♪

These days, I have found myself seeking the comfort of nature more and more. Back when we were still living our “normal” lives, my dog Chloe and I would visit my partner’s poultry farm in an island called Bantayan, which is about 143 kilometers from my city. Today, I would like to share some of the wonderful experiences I had there.

Bantayan is a small island north of my province. In order to get there, we have to take a three-hour land trip on a bus, and then ride a ferry for about an hour or two to reach the island. At the dock, it’s another 15-minute trip to get to the “City Proper”, where the markets and commercial areas can be found. Our trip, however, stops at the dock, where someone picks us up to bring us home to the farm.

The island is quiet and peaceful. Although it is considered to be a tourist attraction, it is easy to enjoy the island by visiting during the off-season. The air is crisp with the scent of seawater, and good winds thankfully help to keep the heat at bay (and there is A LOT of heat!). As expected, the island is just full of beach resorts. There are a lot of excellent local places to dine in outside these resorts, too, so there is never a shortage of delicious food. Personally, we have not visited the expensive beach resorts because they always require prior reservation. Instead, we visit small resorts to enjoy the beautiful beach and white sands while skipping the huge crowd. Considering the beaches are literally next-door to one another, we still enjoy the same beautiful sight.

A couple of years ago, my mother came along to visit the island, too. This time, we tried to visit as many spots as we could! First, we stayed at a beach resort so reclusive that only one another family was there. Together with my mother, I watched the sun rise for the first time in my life, and I wondered how I had been missing this beautiful sight all these years. We visited more fun spots over the next few days. One of them was Obo-Ob Mangrove garden. At the time, its renovation had not yet been completely finished, but we enjoyed watching the beautiful plants and marine life just thriving in that sanctuary. We also visited Ogtong Cave, where we swam inside a tiny cave with very cold water. Apparently, there was still quite a bit to see deeper inside the cave, but it was a bit of a swim and the area was so dark. We decided not to push much further. The resort itself was pristine and such a beautiful sight. We visited a newly renovated wildlife park as well, where we saw a few adorable animals and got to try a fish spa. It was a very interesting experience. The fish nibbled strongly on our feet to eat away the calluses and dead skin. It felt very nice!

There are still a ton of things to do and visit, but since we were always there for only a few days, we never had time to plan our outings properly. I am excited to see the world go back to normal, and I really look forward to planning a full vacation with no time limits so that I can enjoy more of this beautiful island.

社交辞令かもしれませんが

グレイスに

「フィリピンに来たら私たちの農場に連れてってあげるから

早くフィリピンに遊びに来てね♪」

と言われているのですが、この島のことですかね？（グレイスに聞け）

是非行ってみたいなぁ～～～💛

社交辞令と気付かないふりして

厚かましく将来行きたいと思います！

グレイスにも

「新婚旅行で日本においで。奈良でシカに触らせてあげるから。」

と奈良公園のシカを自分のペットのように紹介している私ですが

グレイスも真に受けて是非来てくれないかと思っております(^^)