The best thing about our Apo Reef trip was the opportunity to just chill in one place without worrying about moving to the next destination. It's about getting lost in the moment, relaxing under the sun. It reminded me of what Tim Robbins' character in The Shawshank Redemption would do once he experienced boundless freedom. Feeling the fine white sand as I lay down, feeling the rays of the sun kiss my skin while humming Weezer's "Island in the Sun"—that sounds like what island living is all about.

This lighthouse was first erected on Bajo Apo Island in Apo Reef Natural Park in 1903 as part of the Maritime Lighting Plan of Spain. Design planning for the original section began in 1896, though construction was halted during the Philippine Revolution and Spanish-American War before being completed by American and Filipino engineers. The lighthouse first illuminated the Mindoro Strait in 1906, warning incoming vessels of the shallow coral reefs surrounding the atoll.

I imagined waking up to a dream where I was a junky man in my past life. My veins stabbed with abandon by thin needles. In time's and my own passing, my earthly body reduced to ash—and grew to become a forest. That surreal scenario I played in my mind a long time ago vividly reminded me of the dense mangrove forest at Apo Reef.

"I clambered over mounds and mounds
Of polystyrene foam
And fell into a swimming pool
Filled with fairy snow
And watched the world turn day-glo
you know you know
The world turned day-glo you know"

— The World Turned Day-glo by X-Ray Spex