Blogs from Negros Oriental, Philippines, Asia - page 3

Hi, On the boat from Cebu Island to Dumaguete on Negros Island, the older gentleman who had told me about the Seniors' discount also recommended the Bethel Guest House. He said it was on the sea front, of a high standard and owned by his friend. It was very near the heart of Dumaguete which has a cathedral, bell tower and park. It took a jeepney and then a tricycle to get there and the Bethel was a very nice hotel, hardly a guest house. It is located on the famous seafront Rizal Boulevard, named after the national hero Jose Rizal who once made a stop in Dumaguete on the way to Dapitan City where he was deported. A single room with air conditioning (A/C) in the Bethel was €13 after discount. Unfortunately the WiFi ... read more

Well, I guess I’d better apologise in advance. After the previous few blogs that contained such wonders as snorkelling with whale sharks, swanning through deserted islands and of course the Mother of All Festivals, this edition will likely seem quite tame and relatively uneventful. I hadn’t really stopped much up until now - I had been moving every few days and doing lots of amazing things, but with the impending prospect of teaching eighty kids looming quite large, I relished the chance to just stop, relax and let my salt-encrusted and now quite natty hair down... After the festival and with the cacophony of drums still ringing in my ears, I embarked on a fairly uneventful bus trip south across the island of Panay. I arrived in Iloilo City, took a quick look around at this ... read more

5.11. Pelkkää juhlaa Aamulla lähdettiin taas sukellukselle ja oli todella kiva eka sukellus. Heti tuli vastaan mustekala, sitten upealla koralliriutalla isoja groupereita. Mantis shrimpejä useita jnejne. Upeaa korallia taas joka paikassa. P sai myös tehtyä kurssinsa valmiiksi, koska iltapv teki vielä loppukokeen. Onnea P! Sukellukset vain paranevat jatkossa... Parin sukelluksen jälkeen käytiin lounaalla resortissa ja kevyen keittolounaan jälkeen kävin pikaisesti kirjoittamassa ja julkaisemassa edellisen blogin. 3 sukellus oli erinomainen ja mukaan tuli tänään saapuneet 4 jenkkiä. Nähtiin taas merihevosia, mustekala, blaahblaah. Todella nautinnollista tulla väsyneenä veneellä samettista vettä pitkin auringon laskeutuessa saaren ja sen palmujen taakse. Levättiin hetki ja P lueskeli vielä koetta varten. Oltiin sovittu, että lähdetään kaupungille dinnerille – taas samaan paikkaan kuin ai... read more

30.10. Saigon Kävin brekkarilla kattoterassilla ja samalla katsomassa näkymiä. Oli muuten ihan jees, mutta aamupalan palvelu oli kyllä niin hanurista, ettei mitään rajaa. No lopulta sain munakkaan, phota, ananasmehua ja tuoretta mangoa eli ihan tyytyväiseksi jäin. Piti lähteä kaupungille, mutta P nukkui vielä. Ajattelin myös itse ottaa pienet jatkopäikkärit, jotka sitten venyi 13.30 asti. Lähdettiin pikana Ben Thanin markkinoille ja sitä kautta reunification museoon. Aivan järkyttävän kuuma päivä ja askel askeleelta meno hidastui. Museo oli tosi kiva ja varsinkin huonekalut olivat aivan huikeita. Kunnon kommarimeininkiä muutenkin, suosittelen. Siis museota... Sieltä jatkettiin kävelyä hienoon ranskisten tekemään postitoimistoon ja notre damen katedraaliin ja sitten kahville/ilmastoinnin pariin. Ihan kivaa hengailua ja hyvin ehti, vaikka nukuttiinkin pitkään. Käytiin hotellissa suih... read more

Dick expected to die in his sleep and he didn’t mind a bit, in fact he was quite looking forward to it. After several months of dithering, he finally had taken possession of a motorized bicycle. He had never driven a bike before. He didn’t even know if ‘drive’ was the correct verb, or if it was proper to call it a ‘bike’ at all. He wanted to call it a scooter, but that made him feel like Dennis the Menace, so he called it ‘the fucking bike’. The owner had taken him down to the beach, showed him more or less how it worked and issued dire warnings against the power of first gear, which would later be repeated by Dick’s genial neighbour. He tootled around for twenty minutes, coughed up 12,000 pesos and launched ... read more