December 1 - 12, 2002 - Palawan, Part 2: Puerto, Taytay, |
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Returning to Puerto after Sabang is like returning to civilization :-) We enjoyed our time in Puerto a lot, especially because of "Batang Pinoy" National Sports Championships for kids, which started on Dec. 1. That means the whole city was up - there were all kinds of happenings and performances, etc. - the city was full of life.
Nevertheless, we were also looking forward to our trip to the Northern part of Palawan - Taytay, El Nido and island-hopping in the Bacuit Archipelago, which started on Dec. 3. We first took a bus to Taytay that is approximately 210 km or 7 hours away from Puerto. Now you might think "Wow, 7 hours for 210 km - that’s slow!" - but it’s not, it’s actually quite fast compared to the 3.5 hours ride or 70 km from Taytay further on to El Nido. In my opinion, as I’ve already mentioned in my last diary entry on Sabang, the condition of the roads has to be improved otherwise Palawan will never be able to take full advantage of its potential concerning tourism.
Anyway, we reached Taytay, the old capital of Palawan, in the afternoon on Dec. 3. Sights include the ruins of Fort Isabell built by the Spaniards in 1667 and the 300 years old church. Although all this might sound interesting, I didn’t like Taytay too much. For me, this town has no flair at all – it’s just an ordinary Philippine town with a dirty beach. Of course, there are surrounding islands with better beaches but I’m not willing to pay so much for a boat to go there. Therefore we headed on to El Nido the next morning – we didn’t want to waste too much time in Taytay.
The Jeepney ride to El Nido was bumpy and very, very dusty. Luckily we brought these big plastic bags that are normally used for trash, for wrapping our backpacks. Otherwise all our stuff would have become dusty and dirty. Anyway, there was no protection against the dust for us, so we arrived in El Nido wrapped up with a thick dust layer on our clothes and skin ;-)
In El Nido we were able to find this nice cottage directly on the beach for just P 250 (approximately EUR/USD 5; "Rosana’s Cottages" in case you’re interested in...). From our veranda as well as from our bed inside the cottage we could see the rugged, steep limestone cliffs that are typical for the Bacuit Archipelago.
Have you ever seen the movie "The Beach" with Leonardo DiCaprio? And do you still remember the surroundings of "The Beach"? Well, now you know how El Nido and the Bacuit Archipelago look like – nearly too beautiful to be true :-) Man, I enjoyed this view a lot! Sometimes I was chilling in our hammock for hours and did nothing but admiring the stunning view – this picture will stay in my memory forever!
Of course, I craved for seeing more of Bacuit Bay – that’s why we made this one-day-island-hopping trip together with some other fellow travellers. We visited the small and the big lagoon that are only accessible by boat, did some snorkeling around Miniloc Island and had a fantastic lunch on a lonesome white beach. I wish this day would have never ended – it was simply amazing! White beaches, crystal clear water, colorful corals and fishes underwater, deep blue sky and bright sunshine and last but not least the steep limestone cliffs – that’s what a South Seas dream island is all about *hmmmmm*.
Another thing we enjoyed a lot while staying in this quaint little town was the parade on Mosquito-Net-Day on Dec. 5: "Mosquito-Net-Day – what’s that?" you might ask yourself. Well, on Mosquito-Net-Day people from El Nido and the surroundings barangays (village) celebrate the mosquito net and its help in the fight against Malaria, which is quite widespread on Palawan.
People design costumes out of mosquito nets and present them during the colorful parade. At the end of the day, the best mosquito-net-dresses receive awards. Funny thing, huh? Filipinos always find an occasion to have a fiesta, it seems ;-)
Apart from all that, there’s not too much to do in El Nido. Of course, you might walk to neighboring beaches, do a bit of jungle trekking or diving but else there’s not much to do - except of relaxing, of course *g*. Oli and I relaxed a lot in El Nido during our week-long-stay – swimming, reading books, playing cards, etc.
On Tuesday, Dec 10, we left our most favorite place on Palawan, and probably in the whole Philippines. A direct bus brought us back to Puerto in roughly 10 hours. We again stayed at "our" hotel in Puerto.
On the next day we paid IRRREN headquarters one last visit. We informed Dr. Jamelah about our experiences/monitoring/thoughts, etc. during our time on Palawan – what we liked, what we disliked, what has to be improved, etc. In a first short written report we gave her an overview of the results of our monitoring mission which will be submitted to Puerto’s mayor Ed Hagedorn. It would be really nice if our suggestions would have an impact on the tourism situation on Palawan. Our final report will be handed in as soon as we get back to Austria.
On our last evening in Puerto, we strolled along the main roads, listened to this concert next to Palawan museum and enjoyed a yummy BBQ dinner at one of the various food stalls on the streets.
Our Palawan mission is over.
We left to Manila on Dec. 12 – goodbye Palawan, Philippines’ "Last Frontier"! Although travelling was most of the time really tiring and exhausting, I really enjoyed the stunning nature, which is still nearly untouched and the outstanding, deserted beaches.
Still I don’t know if I ever return to this jewel of the Philippines – but I guess I should never say never. We’ll see.
However, Palawan will stay in my memory forever – for all the good things as well as the bad.
Talk to you again next week. In the meantime, I’m gonna enjoy my new hobby diving again! Oli and I are again travelling down to Mindoro to explore the fantastic underwater world there.
In case, I don’t have the chance to submit the next diary entry before Christmas, I wanna wish you a MERRY CHRISTMAS already now! Hope Santa Claus (or the "Christkind" for my Austrian friends) is nice to you :-)
Love and all the best from hot Manila,
December 13 - 19, 2002 - Manila and Diving again! |
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While being in Manila from December 13 - 15, we did basically nothing. We hung out at Puj's place, went to the movie theatre, did some shopping. No major things, though.
However, on Monday - Dec 16 - we again went down to Sabang Beach, Oriental Mindoro to do our Advanced Open Water Diver Course. The AOW course entitles you to dive down to a maximum depth of 30 meters. To successfully complete the course, you have to make 5 dives - the night dive, the deep dive and the navigation dive are mandatory, while the two others you can choose from a broad range of possibilities (you choose accordingly to your interests). We chose the wreck dive and the drift dive as optional dives. Following you find some excerpts of my dive logs.
Navigation Dive:
Practiced navigation: estimating distances by counting kick cycles and by elapsed time; using underwater patterns with compass (out-and-back-lines and square).
We also navigated with the help of natural navigation (pre-dive observations and natural references underwater).
Deep Dive:
Went down to 30 meters and did some exercises. We also did the same exercises on the surface and compared the times (underwater vs. surface). This is to prove the intoxicating effect of nitrogen when you breathe it under pressure. Frankly, I didn't feel anything unusual (although it indeed took me a bit longer to fulfill the tasks underwater compared to the surface).
While ascending along a wall we observed all kinds of fishes, plants, corals, a huge turtle, etc.
Night Dive:
Diving at night? In the dark open water? I was kinda excited but as soon as I entered the water, I felt really comfortable and liked it instantly. Everything looks different and the dark adds a "thrilling" aspect to diving.
We practiced navigation (out-and-back-lines) and turned off our lights to see illuminated particles. After that we explored the nightly underwater life - man, so many weird animals - very interesting! Guess I have to study fishes to be able to properly identify them (during the night dive we saw a ray, boxfish, trumpetfish, scorpionfish, etc.)
The night dive was definitely the most overwhelming dive experience I had so far.
Wreck Dive:
Explored two wrecks - the new Sabang wreck and a smaller one. We "measured" the bigger one.
Both wrecks have already become artificial reefs. Loads of fishes, plants and corals! This wreck dive was very interesting, a great experience and great fun as well!
Drift Dive:
Drift Diving is supposed to be a lot of fun but I had a lot of problems with equalizing during this dive - that's why it was not too much fun for me, although we saw some really big fishes and colorful corals. I especially liked the "Hole in the Wall" and the Canyons. Unfortunately we had to break up the dive because the pain in my ear was getting bigger.
Oli and I really enjoyed the diving a lot, thanks to our diving instructor Cenon :-) Man, thanks a lot for your patience!
I'm already looking forward to our diving in Thailand - it's said that they have a lot of nice diving sites there as well! However, the Philippine underwater world will always be special to me!
By the way, our Christmas plans underwent a change - we are now heading up to cool Baguio instead down to Talisay. Anton was so kind and organized a place to stay for us (at his family's house) - thanks a lot for that, Anton!
Especially Oli will enjoy Baguio a lot as it is a lot cooler up there compared to Manila or Talisay. With me, the heat is not a problem at all - I enjoy it a lot!
Ok, that's all for today! I wish you all very nice Christmas holidays!
All the best,
December 20 - 26, 2002 - Manila and Christmas in Baguio |
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Hey people! Back again :-) How was your Xmas? Just got back from Baguio *hmm* - nice city, above all, very cool!
However, before writing something about the past week, I have to tell you one more thing that really bothered me when we went to Sabang last week.
While on the boat between Luzon and Mindoro I observed the following: The Filipinos in the boat threw all their garbage into the sea (like the Indians threw everything out of the train). It seems that the sea serves as a huge trashcan for them. While shipping to Sabang, they threw cans, plastic bags, simply everything into the water. What do they think when they do that? That the sea swallows everything, leaving no trace behind? Man, I was really disappointed and upset. We separate trash like crazy in Austria but here nobody gives a shit about their environment. I have the impression that Filipinos don't value their country; it's a paradise they live in, but still they don't treat it right. It's really a shame.
Anyway, I just wanted to let off steam…because such things have to be made public. It can't go on like that. However, I'm just a tourist here, I can't do anything about it, I can just state my opinion frankly.
Anyway, let's change the topic.
On Sunday, December 22, Oli and I left for Baguio, the so-called summer capital of the Philippines. Although I've been there before, I looked forward to it as Baguio is around 10° C cooler than Manila. For those, who are freezing in Europe or anywhere else, this might be hard to understand but 25° C much more pleasant than 35° C :-)
So what did we do in Baguio? Well, nothing special in particular - strolling around, hanging out at Burnham Park, taking long walks, etc. My most favorite place in Baguio is definitely the City Market, which is an experience in itself - an encouraging experience for all senses ;-) We spent really a lot of our time in the market - just strolling around, soaking up the busy but somehow still relaxed atmosphere.
While being in Baguio, we stayed at Anton's family's house. Manang Imelda and her family took care of us during our stay. They even invited us to join them for the traditional Filipino midnight Christmas feast. Oli and I appreciated that a lot… it gave us an insight how Filipinos celebrate Christmas.
On the 25th we again left cool Baguio for our last day in Manila. We spent it with Puj and the rest of the boys… man, thanks for the great time with you!
Tomorrow we are heading on to Singapore - the "Philippines" chapter will finally be closed. On the one hand, I'm looking forward to moving on but on the other hand, I'm a bit sad to leave the Phils as I really enjoyed my time here. Moreover, I don't know when let alone if I ever come back to Asia's sunniest.
Concluding, I wanna thank everybody at Wolf's Lair (Puj's house), at the Austrian Trade Commission, at IRRREN, in Baguio and all the others (our dive instructor Cenon, Manja, Lisa and Rollie, Etienne and Colette, etc. - even if we met just for a short time) for making our time here in the Philippines so meaningful.
Salamat.
Next time live from Singapore or Malaysia.
Merry Xmas and a happy new year 2003!
December 27 - 31, 2002 - Singapore and New Years Eve in Melaka, Malaysia |
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On Dec 27, 2002 at 10:50 a.m. we left Manila and the Philippines on the Philippine Airlines flight to Singapore... my head filled with loads of stereotypes about Singapore: "Singapore has the ambience of a supermarket checkout lane"; "Singapore is just sterile and dull"; "Singapore is the most boring city in the world". Nevertheless, I was really looking forward to seeing this city as I didn't believe in the aforementioned statements.
I was already overwhelmed when we arrived at Changi Airport - it took as a mere 20 minutes from touchdown to baggage claim. Characteristically called "accelerated passenger through flow" ;-) From Changi Airport we took the Metro to Bugis (MRT station).
While in S'pore we stayed at "Hawaii Hostel", which is located at Bencoolen Street.
On our first day in S'pore we already checked out some areas like Bencoolen and Waterloo Street, Little India and Arab Street. You know, just strolling around and getting a first impression. Well my first impression was quite good, I've to say: S'pore is really neat and clean (even compared to Austria) especially after the Philippines :-) I was also delighted when the cars gave me way to cross the street - in the Philippines they rather knock you down than to let you pass the street. Talking about cars, the traffic is bearable (not bad at all!) and the air is not really polluted. People seem to be more helpful and they really give you useful answers to your questions (not just "yes, ma'am"). Moreover, everything is really well organized (public transportation, etc.). Above all, it's a whole lot cheaper than Hongkong (although I always thought, S'pore is the most expensive Asian city).
Well, that was my first impression. It might seem that I talk bad about the Philippines but that was not my intention. But if you spend two months there, certain things start getting on your nerves... though that doesn't necessarily mean that I don't like the Phils. The contrary is true but after a while certain things really bothered me and consequently I was glad to get to some place else.
So what did we do in S'pore? The usual stuff, I guess. We checked out the ethnic quarters like Little India, Chinatown and Arab Street, but also Singapore River (Boat and Clarke Quay), the Central Business District (CBD), Colonial Core and Orchard Road. Well, I guess it's not hard to imagine which area I liked most... do you know? Little India, of course! Man, I didn't know how much I've missed India! Little India is a center of Indian culture, commerce and leisure, awash with the scents and sights of the Subcontinent. When strolling around Little India you pass by flower stalls, textile shops and Bollywood video shops... all this mixed with high-pitched Hindi music, whiffs of jasmine and other spices, not to forget the incense sticks, beautiful Indian women in colorful sarees and Indian men with the typical moustache create a dazzling and colorful effect. I think the Little India in S'pore comes quite close to the real one.
Of course, I also liked Chinatown, Singapore River, Colonial Core and Arab Street a lot. The CBD is nothing special in my opinion, just like any other business district in any American city. At least I liked Orchard Road - it's just another shopping street, full of up-market shopping malls.
By the way, don't forget to check out the Bird Singing Contest at Tiong Bahru Road if you happen to be in S'pore. It's quite funny to see those middle-aged and old guys sitting there watching their birds singing and discussing about them.
Furthermore, S'pore is definitely a place where you can sample through different Asian (and other) cuisines. With such a medley of people - Chinese, Malay, Indian and European -, S'pore must have the greatest concentration of eateries on the planet. Oli and I really liked the food at the different Hawker Centers - it's cheap and it's delicious :-)
Well, time flew by in S'pore quite fast and on the 31st we found ourselves in the bus to Melaka, Malaysia. Now you might ask yourself, why we didn't stay in S'pore over New Years Eve or why we didn't travel up to Kuala Lumpur for the celebrations. Well, we don't like the masses of people that are running around on nights like this - it's always crowded and normally a hassle to move around (like in Paris last year, too many people). Melaka is a quaint little town 4 hours north of S'pore - the perfect place to spend a nice and quiet New Years Eve.
So, we arrived in Melaka around lunch time. During the afternoon we explored the small town with its striking Dutch colonial core and it's bustling Chinatown.
In the evening we were served a delicious Malay dinner at our hotel "Eastern Heritage". Later we celebrated with some other travellers and the hotel staff New Years Eve - you know, a bit of drinking, chatting and having fun. Nothing special in particular but nice.
On the next day we travelled further on to Kuala Lumpur (KL) - more about it in the next entry.
Hope you had a great New Years Eve and you safely reached the brand-new year 2003! I wish you all the best for the new year!
With love from Malaysia,
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