Long nose on tour

---

First things first - I am not Matt - for one blog only I , Hannah , sister of Matt will be stepping into his flip flops to bring you this months thrills and spills from Lanuza. Matt sends his apologies for his blogging absence, he has been very busy of late and has even been missing lots of good waves to try and keep the Philippines in trees.

I arrived here in the Philippines with my friend Anna a month ago. We spent the best part of three weeks roaming the southern Philippines collecting marriage proposals and discovering what it is like to be famous, beautiful and yet have the nickname ‘long nose’.

Our travels went something like the following….

Flew into southern Philippines (Davao City), went exploring , ‘Hey mam, where are you going’, made friends with locals, ate durian fruit (hideous), went to a fiesta at a school, tried our first Jeepney (see photo), waded through flood water, got sun burned (same day), saw incredible orchids, ate Halo Halo (ice-cream, broad beans and all), ‘hey mam, what is your name’, tried to climb Mt. Apo - but failed to organise weather and guide, met Matt, got chased by a snake, watched a beauty pageant rehearsal, met Philippine Eagles (huge, fab), ‘hem mam, how old are you’, travelled North to San Francisco (?!?!), slept ….

…. travelled North to Lanuza ( 6 hours on unmade roads + poor suspension + synthetic undies = bad chafe) requested many ‘CR’ stops, ‘hey mam, where are you from’, enjoyed the scenery (paddy fields, Carabaw and nipa huts), arrived at Matt’s in Lanuza, visited local waterfalls and caves, had our usual massive audience, ‘hey mam, you have beautiful skin’, attempted to surf, went canoeing, cooked under the stars, left Matt and travelled North to Camiguin Island, climbed Hibock Hibock volcano, almost trod on a deadly snake, relaxed in hot springs, got caught in typhoon tail end, ate Lanzones (small, sweet fruit), bunked down for the night on an open air ferry to Bohol, saw Tarsiers (‘the cutest thing you have ever seen’), went to chocolate hills (took some tasty photo’s), saw fellow ‘long noses’ for the first time in two weeks, ‘hey mam, are you married’, went snorkelling (saw one fish, drank a lot of sea water - I understand it’s better out of typhoon weather), ate ice-cream, pancakes and buns all made of Ube (bright purple yam - very tasty), travelled to Cebu (the big city), went to the HUGE shopping malls, Anna flew home to England, I got sick, I stayed in bed for a day, and another, and another, limped back to Matt’s…..

Time has flown quickly here in Lanuza, whilst Matt’s working I’ve been keeping busy….. going to market, cooking odd veggies, messing in the sea, weaving, teaching dance, avoiding karaoke, watching a town parade (complete with pompoms, baton twirling, marching band and spangly costumes) and plenty of washing, cleaning and brushing to make me feel better about taking such a long holiday! I have also taken on two unofficial jobs, I have a couple of ongoing projects as community photographer and I am judging a dance contest this evening. We saw another dance performance on Thursday evening in a local town and if that event is anything to go on tonight’s contest promises to be hilarious. The last two dances in Thursday nights programme were ‘contemporary’ all male ensembles, the costume was minimal - kaki trunks and white gloves. The style of the dances could be best described as homo-erotic, which was explained when we met the male choreographer who was wearing 5 inch stiletto’s and carrying a handbag. Matt and I were seated in the front row of the audience and had to try very hard to stifle our laughter!

Last nights entertainment was a fundraising disco for the local barangay (community) hall, as town celebrities Matt and I were expected to attend. On arrival our entrance was announced over the microphone , ‘A warm welcome to Mr and Miss Young our friends from America (?!)’, Matt, myself and our companions (three girls who live next door) were seated in pride of place for all to see. As the dancing began I discovered that as a song begins the guys swarm to their favoured girl and literally drag them on to the dance floor , no matter how much they protest. Fortunately my white skin acted as a slight deterrent and only the brave and/or drunk plucked up the courage to ask Matt’s (!!!) permission to dance with me.

Life is literally a beach here in Lanuza - the waves have just returned after a summer break and the surf-starved borders are now feasting on waves. When night falls the surf video’s rule and there is excited discussion about the forthcoming festival in November. Matt’s friendly neighbours have a business producing and exporting bamboo boards (like Matt’s). The photo shows one of the lads at work during the ‘shaping’ phase of production.

I am here for another couple of weeks. If everything turns out as planned I will help to build a house, become a surfer extrodinaire and learn to cook green bananas (our last effort was even rejected by the local bin scavenging dogs!!).

Over and out, Han x

---

Photos

Durian fruits
Stinks and tastes grim - but the locals love it!!!

Jeepney
Marvelous form of transport - but poor suspension and a little cosy at times oh and is that a pig on my foot?

Philippine Eagle
Its big! The second biggest eagle in the world and it eats monkeys.

Special Halo Halo
Crazy pudding. Ube ice cream, shaved ice, milk, candied fruits, coconut, preserved beans, corn flakes and anything else that migh be lying around.

One for the ladies
Shaping the foam core of a surf board before the bamboo matting is applied.

Wave
The lads went surfing - Matt got trashed, Richard is much better at it.

Comments

[Nick]

...
'messing in the sea'?...urgh!