Boracay

We went over to Malaysia for a quick weekend family reunion with some of dad’s side of the family, after which dad, mum and my sister came to visit us here in the Philippines. They arrived and spent a night with us in Manila, then we got on a plane the next morning to the island of Boracay. 2 hours delay with Cebu Pacific (2 hours delayed on the way back as well!) to Caticlan but we were finally there at easily the most famous beach in the Philippines.

We had been delaying this trip for a while (it took 11 months) as we weren’t sure what it’d be like… sure it has an amazing beach, but was it too commercialised? Was it dirty and seedy? My sister booked us into a lovely resort down the very very quiet end of the island, past Station 1 in Diniwid. Yes, the place is now very commercialised, but not seedy at all. The sand was amazing and in turn the water was clear and beautiful. A great spot to relax for a few days with the family.

GG Visit

Had the honoured privilege of being invited to the residence of the Australian Ambassador, His Excellency Bill Tweddell, for a function in honour of a visit by the Governor General of Australia Her Excellence Quentin Bryce. Met a wide variety of Australians working and living in Philippines; businesspeople, diplomats, armed forces as well as 2 Filipino-Australian sisters who turned out to be media stars over here (Anne & Jas Curtis Smith).

Holy Week Travels – Pampanga, Banaue, Batad, Sagada & Baguio

During the Holy Week period around Easter, the big cities clear out with some people returning home to their provinces whilst others make the most of the holidays to travel. We belonged to the latter group and planned an ambitious journey through Northern Luzon. The route saw us passing through the town of Pampanga, famous or rather infamous for its re-enactments of the crucifixions. After realizing we’d be actually passing through the exact town on the exact day they occurred, our group decided to witness this very famous Easter tradition.

We didn’t go to the large crucifixions, but instead went to the first (there are 3) re-enactments that were held in the San Juan barangay. It was a pretty surreal experience, we followed a group of men performing penitence by repeatedly beating their backs bloody (flinging blood side to side) all around the community, then finally reached the site. I didn’t know what to expect, some semblance of reflection on the meaning of Easter perhaps. In reality it was a bit of a gawk fest, with throngs of photographers clamoring up the mound to get close up shots. Not the sombre reflective experience I had in my mind at all.

We hit the road and ventured further north to the magnificent ancient rice terraces of Banaue and Batad. We spent a night in Banaue before getting a jeep then hiking into Batad. Fortunately for us the terraces were full of bright green crops. From the town itself we also made an arduous hike through the terraces and down some ridiculously steep steps (and therefore back up) to visit a beautiful waterfall.

The drive from the rice terraces to Sagada was full of fresh mountain air, and a nice crisp coolness that we hadn’t felt in a while. Sagada is a peaceful little place full of interesting lives and stories; we visited a church, some hanging coffins & a burial cave. So much history jam packed into the one place. We headed home from Sagada, briefly stopping for food at the northern city of Baguio. Our first real foray deep into the North, and we were glad we made the effort.

Donsol

March to May in the Philippines is the annual Butanding season, or Whale Shark season where flocks of tourists who may or may not be able to swim head down to Sorsogon on the  southern end of Luzon to sight and swim with these magnificent creatures.

Getting there was very easy, a short flight from Manila to Legazpi which we were familiar with then a quick trike to the terminal where vans shuttled to Donsol itself. The van driver asked for an extra 40php to drop us off directly at the resort.

We got there before the 5pm cutoff on the Friday afternoon to register, so managed to find 4 more to make a group (2 Swedes and 2 honeymooners from Adelaide) and were all set for the morning.

7am start, headed out in the boats and circled to no avail for about 2 hours. Suddenly the boatmen guns the engine and we speed off to another part of the sea. Snorkles and fins on and before we knew it we all jumped into the water. The guide pointed downwards, and as we acclimatised to the shock of being far far out in the ocean we looked down and there was a huge dark shape swimming just underneath us. Say hello to the largest fish in the ocean!

Over the next hour we saw about 5 whale sharks, the biggest was probably pushing 8 metres long. It’s a bit hit and miss and a friend went a few days later and saw nothing because of rain but some other friends that went 1 week later saw 6.

Definitely a surreal experience that you cant really do as easily (or economically) anywhere else in the world.

Malasimbo

Went to check out the local music scene by attending the second ever Malasimbo Music & Arts Festival. After hearing good things about it from friends who attended the inaugural event last year, we heading back down to Puerto Galera where the event was being held. Took the car down to Batangas then a banca boat to Sabang where we were staying with some of the other Aussies and a few Peace Corp friends. Sabang is a bit of a dive town, with plenty of tourists hanging about.

Spent Saturday afternoon swimming and relaxing then headed to White Beach for dinner before taking the festival jeeps up to the venue, an amphitheatre carved into the ground up in the hills somewhere. The crowd was a mix of hippies and hipsters and the line up was even more eclectic. Funk, groove, DJ sets, hiphop and the headline act of Latino Soul by the Afro Filipino Joe Bataan.

There were also some large sculptures and installations created by local artists dotted around the venue. Getting there at dusk and with pretty free reign to walk anywhere during the sets made me fall in love with low light photography all over again.

More relaxing and swimming Sunday morning then took the boat back to the mainland.

Shanghai

My very first trip to the Motherland aka China. I’d like to think I had a nice balanced preparation for the trip, first going to Hong Kong then Taiwan prior… so it was almost like I was easing myself into the culture shock that could await in China. We also decided to just go to Shanghai, which would be far more Westernised than other parts of the country.

Initially greeted by a long missed force of nature, otherwise known as the cold. We spent the weekend over in Shanghai catching up with old friends an colleagues, eating things off sticks (highlight was getting lost for a while in some backstreets and coming across a popular lamb skewer stall by the side of the road), and marvelling at the craziness that is Shanghai architecture.

We were also blessed with a very rare clear blue sky for most of our time there, and explored the Shanghai Museum, the Urban Planning Museum, East Nanjing Rd (shopping strip), The Bund, Tianzifang, Marriage Market (fascinating!) and Pudong.

With that under our belts, maybe we can venture further into less Westernised China. I might need to learn some basic Mandarin first though. When buying tickets to the Urban Planning Museum, the ticket lady decided the appropriate response to me saying I couldn’t speak Mandarin was to speak Mandarin at me… LOUDER.

Pinatubo

Woke up early on Saturday morning in February and piled into the car. We left Manila at about 5am to get to Tarlac to meet some 4WD tour operators at the foot of Mt. Pinatubo. I have vague memories of the 1991 eruption that was so huge that it messed up global weather patterns for a bit!

We met the tour operators and got into the national park before the 7am cut off. The trip started out with a bit of 4WDing through streams and ash plains. Finally we got to a drop off point and we began our hike. 12km each way, but thankfully it wasn’t a steep route. Although it’s still a large active volcano, most of the top blew off in ’91 so that its now a relatively flat walk all the way into the crater lake.

Unfortunately it wasn’t too warm so we didnt swim, but ate our packed lunch on the shore of the crater lake. A 12km hike back to the waiting 4WDs and we were back to the base camp by 2pm. A great trip that is very achievable in a day.

Cebu

Two weeks after Sinulog and we we’re back in Cebu again, care of some cheap Cebu Pacific tickets which we had bought much earlier, even before deciding to visit Cebu during Sinulog. This time around we visited some of the historical sites of Cebu; Fort San Pedro, family homes of some of the early Spanish residents and Magellan’s Cross. This signified the first European landing in the Philippines, as it is a wooden cross which encases the cross that Magellan planted on the shore upon arriving.

We also got a chance to visit an authentic Lechon restaurant, unlike the prior trip where we only finally managed to find some when leaving at the airport. Big lines, cleavers flying everywhere, plenty and plenty of roast pork. How very Filipino!

Sinulog

The first thing that hit us when landing at the port from Bohol was the noise. Trumpets, xylophones and drums, lots of drums. The Sinulog festival celebrates the saint day of Santo Nino, the child Jesus. When Magellan landed they brought some relics over, later on when the Spanish returned through Legaspi, one of the images of Santo Nino was rediscovered in a village.

The festival occurs on the 3rd Sunday every February, streets were lined with people from the morning. We spent about 9 hours in the heat weaving through crowds, watching the parade and seeking refuge every now and then in the shade. There were large groups of dancers and musicians, each troupe usually lead by a beauty queen dancing whilst holding a statuette of Santo Nino. The bands loudly played marching rhythms and a catchy Sinulog melody. The trip will be remembered for certain sound grabs; the Sinulog melody, the Cebu! tourism song, shouts of Viva Pit Senor! amongst much others.

Definitely a very different way to spend the weekend!

Bohol

One of the things we decided to try and do whilst over here was experience some of the Philippines’ cultural festivals that happen all over the country. One of the biggest and most colourful is the Sinulog festival, but more on that later. So in the middle of January we headed south to Cebu, but decided to visit the island of Bohol for 2 days before heading over to Cebu.

The little island of Cebu is packed with plenty of unique experiences, which can be accessed  by hiring a driver for the day. We were picked up from the airport, dropped our bags off at one of the Pensione Houses in Tacloban then started our day tour of the main island of Bohol. The tour hit all the main sites including the Tarsier sanctuary (the worlds smallest mammals that sort of look like ewoks), the Chocolate Hills (renamed after WWII because they resembled giant Hersey’s Kisses), old Spanish churches, a river tour for lunch and the Blood Compact site.

Day 2 saw us up early to head to the island of Panglao, a small island off Bohol connected by a bridge. 5am start to take a banka boat to initially spot dolphins then head to the beautiful island of Balicasag. A brilliant day of snorkelling, swimming and visiting pristine islands. Bohol; a great little spot full of unique experiences and sites, and only 2 hours by catamaran ferry to Cebu.