Blogs from Cebu, Philippines, Asia
May 7th 2012
The last time I wrote I had seen enough of Cebu City and was headed for the bus station and the southwest coast of Cebu Island. The bus system in the Philippines is really good. The air-conditioned buses are very comfortable, with some dvds showing (if you can hear them). I’ve calculate that most bus journeys cost about €1 for an hour or travelling.So if you are told that the trip will be three hours long, count on a fare of about €3. The journey was uneventful but I love taking photos of the homes and people as we drive by. I like to see them working, playing, eating together, shopping, etc. My original plan had been to go to Oslob where, it was said, one could swim with the whale sharks and dolphins. The ... read more
May 2nd 2012
Hi, I had some annual leave days to take before the end of March and I’d heard from people in Beijing that the Philippines are very nice. So I came here for twelve days only, to do a quick survey of some of the central islands. It has been even better than I anticipated. I flew with Cebu Pacific overnight from Shanghai to Manila and then south to the island of Cebu in the Visayas group of islands. I left Shanghai at 12:30am, arrived in Manila at 4:00am and the one-hour flight to Cebu arrived at 7:00am. Because the flights were short and during the transfer I had to keep moving, I didn’t feel the usual tiredness of an overnight flight or bus ride. It was a small plane and I was a bit confused ... read more
April 12th 2012
Acquired airline tickets today for 4-18-12 to Cebu City by way of Tokyo. More to come...... read more
April 8th 2012
I was planning to write an updated blog about our summer motorcycle trip. I had planned it in my head to give a constant update about our travels, our stops, and place in images on the blog, whenever we stay at a hotel to rest the night. But that did not happen because that motorcycle trip would tire us and once we get to the hotel, there’s not much energy left to write and upload pictures. We’d be on the road for hours and hours nonstop while Ivan would drive and I would be at the back of the motorcycle, holding the digital camera I borrowed from my mom, taking pictures of something interesting along the way. The moment we’d get to an inn, we’d throw off our bags, rest for a few minutes, take a ... read more
April 8th 2012
When we reached Ormoc, we spent most of our time on the road. There were few ongoing road constructions so we had to slow down. There were several holes bored on the road and we had to avoid them as much as possible with slow speeds. We got past that but the curvy roads came next. We passed twisted and steep roads before we got to the city. My cell phone has a GPS navigator and we never had to stop and ask around for directions. But using the navigator drains the battery quickly so there were times that we really had to stop to ask people for directions. We headed to Palo, Leyte to see and take pictures of the MacArthur Shrine. We stayed there for about 15 minutes and then went back to riding; ... read more
April 1st 2012
Ok. Vi ankom Denpasar flyplass ganske sent. Måtte kjøpe visum on arrival. Det står en bankomat ved siden av luka, men den tar bare mastercard. Har du ikke et slikt kort, ja da må du faktisk ut av immigrasjon (som du egentlig skal ha visum til) for å finne en ATM som tar visakort. Very clever! Og disse visum-folka er så vant til at folk betaler i dollar, så da Karina spurte hva beløpet ble i deres valuta ble de faktisk litt forundret. Vår valuta? hmm..øhh...Nåvel, Sigurd fikk hentet penger og betalt. Ut for å finne taxi. Vi kjente med en gang at dette er et sted som kun handler om en ting: penger! Du er nødt for å vite hva prisene er, ellers blir du lurt. Heldigvis spurte vi litt omkring og fant en taxi ... read more
March 11th 2012
I started this blog because there are about 10 days left before the big trip my boyfriend and i had planned for about 6 months now. This is not our first motorcycle trip but this one has got to be a real challenge for us - to go on a motorcycle trip to Luzon. I can't stop thinking about it. Twelve days away from our hometown to go and explore the northern region on a motorcycle. All I know is that I am excited, and I know that he is too, which is why he told me to start this blog to express the excitement that we feel. I can't wait to be in a new place to meet new people, taste different local dishes, and take pictures with my camera. The great thing about all ... read more
Cebu Philippine - 2012 Chinese New Year Trip
Published: May 7th 2012Asia » Philippines » Cebu » Cebu City
January 24th 2012
Jan 24th The second day in Cebu city. Cebu city is really not much to be seen.... Saw an ad about Zipline, and decided to try it out, the slow day needs a bit adventure to boost it up !! This Zipline located on the top of mountain... the view up there is just breathtakingly beautiful, I can see the macatan island where I stayed, a lot of small remote islands... the whole city view...beautiful... Took a taxi there .. cost 350 Pesos from SM mall... the taxi driver is very cunning here... finding every excuses to charge you more!!! but anyway, after all it's totally worth it when I got there and saw the view... I tried twice 400 meters zip lines, once in sitting position, another in superman position... kind of scary at the ... read more
Sinulog 2012 Baseline Street Party: Wet, Wild and Crazy
Published: January 24th 2012Asia » Philippines » Cebu » Cebu City
January 24th 2012
Baseline Party was indeed the best party I have ever been to so far. It was the wildest and craziest party ever. To those who didn’t go to Sinulog…. Where were you? You’ve just missed the biggest event in the Philippines. The crowd was fun and everyone was friendly. Strangers keep on putting face paint all over your body and the beer was overflowing. People kept throwing beer, hard drinks, and water to the crowd. The party started at 12 noon and ended up at 2 in the morning. The crowd was mostly composed of adults ages 18 to 25 which are mostly Filipinos from Manila and Cebu. There were few foreigners partying at Baseline since it is not much promoted worldwide. The street party event was like the Philippine’s Version of Tomorrowland. I and my ... read more
January 18th 2012
My year of adventures started with a very popular festival celebrated in Cebu City, Cebu. For the month of January, most Filipinos local to the Visayas region pay tribute to the Santo Niño, the baby Jesus. Different provinces have their own versions for their devotions but Sinulog is known to be the biggest and most visited. Every year, Sinulog draws in millions of visitors for a weekend of culture, food, festivities (and alcohol!) After hearing about this for years, some friends and I decided to finally experience it! It was a perfect break from the busy city. We flew in Friday night (just an hour away from Manila by plane) and went straight to where the celebrations were! Crossroads is a popular strip of bars and restaurants where the locals and visitors (mostly visitors, I think!) ... read more
