Limpag: Stiff neck and cramps in Boracay

Mike T. Limpag
Fair Play

BORACAY - It was a dark and stormy night.

The wind blew like there was no tomorrow, while the rain dropped by the bucket, for hours.


Welcome to Boracay, the climate change era.

Like Cebu, Boracay is experiencing “weather on steroids.” In the first two days, it was sunny and windy, and after you blinked, it got dark and was raining.

Short of doing the sun dance, organizers of the Nestea Fit Beach Volleyball National Finals can do nothing about this weird weather, but to, well, weather it out.

Fortunately, the weather god must have been sated the other night since it got sunny yesterday—at least until the time I
wrote this—though dark clouds are just over the horizon.

The wind, though, is making its presence felt. And if you’d go kite surfing, or parasailing, I think you might end up somewhere in New York or Mars.

For the beach volleyball player, it’s a curse. A strong wind makes the ball’s trajectory go haywire. A sideline winner goes out, while an easy reception becomes a winner.

Coach Raffy Briones of the University of the Visayas said his team prepared hard for weeks for the national finals, but adjusting to the wind has been a bitch.

As for me, I love the wind.

You may get sand in your eyes, but a strong wind opens a lot of opportunities, to put it mildly.

But whether the weather is weird or not, Boracay is as good as advertised.

I think my neck muscles haven’t had a workout like this in years. Though, I’m sure that if the weather wasn’t this bad, there would be a lot of sun worshipers exposing their body to the sun and I have yet to catch my first bikini-challenged Amon Ra worshipper.

I’m writing this in front of the Nestea sand court at Station 2, and there’s a pathway between me and the court. Because of that, I’m having trouble finishing this column.

It seems a visually distracting member of the opposite sex walks by every 45 seconds. Oops, there goes another one, and another one, and another one…

I guess, it’s a blessing Boracay isn’t under Cebu Province.

I’m here to cover the beach volleyball game, and going to the venue, you sort of cover beach volleyball, your eyes won’t stay in one direction. It’s a good 10- to 15-minute walk to the sand court, but you won’t feel the distance, even if you walk alone.

I never expected though, that Boracay will make you feel fat.

For years, I’ve been quite comfortable with my one-pack. Here, it seems the rule is if you have a six-pack, you walk around without a shirt on and you have to wear your shorts really low to expose the V formed by your abdominal muscles.

If you have a litro pack like the rest of the population, you keep your shirt on. Unless you want to spoil somebody’s lunch.
Something funny also happened to me the other day.

Boracay is one giant beach front and you walk all day. And in my second day here, my legs were starting to cramp from all the walking. Seriously. My slippers are a couple of sizes too big and my toes sort of tighten with every step.

I was looking for an ATM machine the other day when it happened. I had to stand still for a few minutes then walk slowly since it would have been pretty embarrassing to say you suffered cramps, from walking.

Maybe I should start exercising again. Reporters and editors of Sun.Star Cebu got the running bug and are planning to join a run this year and invited John Pages for a briefing on the sport last week.

I guess it wouldn’t hurt if I suggest that we’d join a run, in Boracay.