This was officially the first day of our vacation in Bantayan Island, and let me tell you, there’s a big difference between a "workation" and a "vacation." For the last few weeks, it’s been all work, but today, I’ve scaled things back to the bare minimum—just handling web shop shipments and publishing videos. That’s it. I even set up a makeshift "office" at our resort, but the real focus today was on one thing: food.
The plan was simple: head into Santa Fe town, hit the local seafood market, and buy enough food for a massive feast that the resort could cook for us. But first, I had a personal mission. It’s incredibly sunny here, and as a man with a "bald" scalp, the sun is not my friend. I’m not a cap guy—I just can’t bring myself to wear them—so I needed to find a decent sun hat before my head turned into a lobster.
Jessa, Liam, and I started with a "simple" lunch at one of our favorite local spots. I say simple, but we ended up with scallops, clams, pancit, and even some pork for Liam, who was apparently in a "pig" mood instead of a fish mood. The dipping sauce Jessa makes with extra chili is the secret weapon—it works with everything.
After lunch, we braved the local fish market. If you’ve never been to a Philippine wet market, it’s an experience. Jessa went into full "expert mode," picking out fresh fish, a kilo of oysters, a kilo of clams, half a kilo of shrimp, and four massive blue crabs. I was a bit worried we were trying to "eat the whole world," but Jessa pointed out that seafood is so much more expensive back in Cebu City, so we might as well go big here.
The total cost for all that seafood, plus some fresh mangoes and watermelon from a fruit stand, came out to about 1,250 pesos. That’s less than $25 USD (or about 220 Norwegian Krone) for a mountain of fresh food. In Norway, that might get you the crabs if you’re lucky, but here, it’s a full-blown feast. We paid the resort another 400 pesos to cook everything up for us—about 100 pesos per kilo.
While we waited for the food to be prepped, we finally got some "beach time" in. The water was warm, the breeze was perfect, and it felt great to just let Liam run around and play. I even managed to find my sun hat, so my head was safe for the moment.
The evening was the real highlight. We set up a table outside as the sun was going down, watching the local fishermen out in their boats with their nets. The "food platter" they brought out was honestly insane—crabs, shrimp, clams, oysters, grilled fish, rice, and fruit. We didn't even really need the rice with all that seafood. I tried my first oyster in a long time; Jessa called it an "aphrodisiac," though I’m still not entirely sure I know the "proper" way to eat them! We just dug in with our hands and enjoyed the good life.
It’s been a long time since we had a proper vacation where we weren't constantly "on the clock," and sitting there by the ocean with Jessa and Liam, I realized we need to do this more often. We’ve worked hard, and it’s important to enjoy the "fruits of our labor" every now and then.
We ended the night exactly how a vacation day should end: full, relaxed, and ready to zone out in front of the TV.
See you in the next one!
