Blogs from Romblon, Romblon, Philippines, Asia

Arrived in Manila on Wednesday afternoon, took a cab to the hotel … It was an interesting experience. For you guys who know how much I like the rules you must follow when you are driving and how mad I get when people doesn’t follow them, well let me just say that I would not be able to drive a car in the Philippines because NO ONE is following any rule what so ever… On a road with two lanes there were four cars driving next to each other. Anyway I was sad to see how some people have to live here (even worse than Peckham). Anyway we arrived to our hotel after sitting in a traffic jam for 30 min. When we checked in they said that they were going to give us their suite ... read more

We begin this blog by expressing our grief and condolences at the shocking news of the tragedies visited upon the Philippines by Typhoon Fengshen. Scores of people died just off the coast of Sibuyan when a boat capsized. Islands like Illoilo, Sibuyan and Romblon suffered devastating damage to homes, farms and livestock. We feel the pain. The indomitable people of the Philippines will remain in our thoughts and prayers. For the record, our visit was pre-Fengshen. Spur Of The Moment It was eerily quiet outside the Ninoy Aquino International Airport in Manila. But, then again, it was only 5:45 am. A guard, with a welcoming smile, pointed out the way to public transportation and we headed off. Clambering into the ‘jeepney’ after us was Raymond, a Ghanaian. He, like us, had no idea where he was ... read more

Laine's been pestering me to contribute to this, but I just havn't been filled with inspiration, especially with Filipinos reading over my shoulder in the internet cafe; they seem to have a very different understanding of privacy on the internet, possibly because few of them have email or personal pages that wouldn't necissarily be open for every passer-by to scope out. Oh well, such is life when moving through another culture - another thing to take with a grain of salt, shrug, and smile. I have found this approach essential when dealing with Filipinos, who (I'm sure Laine has already mentioned) are perhaps the most disorganized and ambiguous people I've ever met. I'm learned very quickly that in the Philippines the saying "everything is relative" becomes the golden rule - there seems to be no objective, ... read more

Ahhh. Finally internet that works well, expensive but it’s all right with me. Where do I start… I left Puerto Galera heading to Romblon, a place that wasn’t even in my lonely planet book(a friend recommended) so I had no information on how to get there and ended up traveling all through the night. I enjoyed it though because they sardine you into these Jeepneys and in the day she’s scorching, but nice and cool at night. I have realized now that you really don’t need to do any planning, just tell anyone where you want to go and they send you to the next step of getting there. Travel here takes quite a long time to go a short distance with a combination of Ferries, pump boats, Jeepneys, and tricycles all working together to get ... read more