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| Carmen's gift for graduating :) Thank you cousin! |
Thursday, June 30, 2011
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
buffet with my auntie May and uncle Roland (Hong Kong)
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| foie gras |
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| sashimi |
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| rosbif |
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| long leg crab and jellyfish salad |
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| best brownie ever |
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| chinese herb dessert |
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| bird's nest dessert with rice ball and red beans |
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| fluffy cake and cherry cake |
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| creme brulee |
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| fancy jello |
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| mushroom with goose liver and cheese + chocolate desserts + salad + smoked duck breast |
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| juicy fruits, pana cotta and brownie |
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| mu auntie and uncle |
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| Regal Hotel |
Monday, June 27, 2011
Sunday, June 26, 2011
Saturday, June 25, 2011
Friday, June 24, 2011
Wednesday, June 22, 2011
Monday, June 20, 2011
After these past months in Southeast Asia, there are a few conclusions which can be drawn.
Locals thought I was Thai, Pinay and in most cases, Korean (my round face probably). But never in this world would they have thought about me being Canadian. "But you look like us!" I used to think I love to read. Now, I know I'm obsessed with books (and National Geographics if someone wants to subscribe me). I love the monks and the temples in Thailand and Laos (so peaceful). In a cafe:"M'am, may I ask you a question? How old are you? 16?" Okay, confirmed, I look young not only to Occidental communities, but also to Oriental people. That was a shock. Internet is always slow on islands and can be as low as 30 cents per hour in the Philippines. That's cheap. In Montreal, you can't make a call on a public phone for that price. I miss smoked meat, poutine and cheese the most. Can't stand "tuktuk sir?" anymore. When news started pouring about the uprising in the Middle East, my first thought was:"Maybe these places will be traveller-friendly in a couple of years." I can take cold showers and pee in a squat toilet without complaining. A 4-hour bus ride is considered short. I'm still deadly afraid of cockroaches. Diving is awesome. Still disappointed I haven't seen any white or black tip reef sharks nor whale sharks. There are a lot of ladyboys and it confuses us when we say "he" and "she" in the same sentence to describe the person. The best discovery was Kanchanaburi (Thailand). The waterfalls are beyond this world. I only got slightly sick once and it was after eating a sour fish in the Philippines. Wish I could go to Indonesia instead of flying back to Montreal. Still don't know what I'm ever going to do with my life. My plan upon my return will be to catch up with friends and family, indulge myself in cooking, find a job, read read read, watch all the TV episodes I've missed since travelling (Amazing Race, Gossip Girl, America's Next TopModel, Project Runway, etc.), bike (most probably with Fred), convince Xiu to visit us by 2013 (and bring my Swiss knife).
Locals thought I was Thai, Pinay and in most cases, Korean (my round face probably). But never in this world would they have thought about me being Canadian. "But you look like us!" I used to think I love to read. Now, I know I'm obsessed with books (and National Geographics if someone wants to subscribe me). I love the monks and the temples in Thailand and Laos (so peaceful). In a cafe:"M'am, may I ask you a question? How old are you? 16?" Okay, confirmed, I look young not only to Occidental communities, but also to Oriental people. That was a shock. Internet is always slow on islands and can be as low as 30 cents per hour in the Philippines. That's cheap. In Montreal, you can't make a call on a public phone for that price. I miss smoked meat, poutine and cheese the most. Can't stand "tuktuk sir?" anymore. When news started pouring about the uprising in the Middle East, my first thought was:"Maybe these places will be traveller-friendly in a couple of years." I can take cold showers and pee in a squat toilet without complaining. A 4-hour bus ride is considered short. I'm still deadly afraid of cockroaches. Diving is awesome. Still disappointed I haven't seen any white or black tip reef sharks nor whale sharks. There are a lot of ladyboys and it confuses us when we say "he" and "she" in the same sentence to describe the person. The best discovery was Kanchanaburi (Thailand). The waterfalls are beyond this world. I only got slightly sick once and it was after eating a sour fish in the Philippines. Wish I could go to Indonesia instead of flying back to Montreal. Still don't know what I'm ever going to do with my life. My plan upon my return will be to catch up with friends and family, indulge myself in cooking, find a job, read read read, watch all the TV episodes I've missed since travelling (Amazing Race, Gossip Girl, America's Next TopModel, Project Runway, etc.), bike (most probably with Fred), convince Xiu to visit us by 2013 (and bring my Swiss knife).
Sunday, June 19, 2011
Saturday, June 18, 2011
Friday, June 17, 2011
Thursday, June 16, 2011
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
Island Hopping in El Nido (Philippines)
Annis, Math and I went island hopping today along with 4 other people and 3 crew members. The places (small lagoon, big lagoon, simizo beach and 7 commando) were drop dead gorgeous. Wikitravel says that the limestone formations look similar to the ones in Krabi (Thailand) and Halong Bay (Vietnam). Nis can confirm for Krabi since she's been there. As for myself, I would say it was prettier than Halong Bay. But this comes from someone who took a 5-hour drive to reach Halong Bay and who had the brilliant idea of going during "winter". It was cloudy and the landscape was more brown than green.
I think the best part of today's trip was the lunch. There were plenty of veggies, fish, pork, squid, fruits and rice. And we got so lucky: a girl was vegetarian and her boyfriend isn't keen on seafood. More for us :)
Heading to Puerto Princesa tomorrow. 8-hour bus ride. Urgh.
I think the best part of today's trip was the lunch. There were plenty of veggies, fish, pork, squid, fruits and rice. And we got so lucky: a girl was vegetarian and her boyfriend isn't keen on seafood. More for us :)
Heading to Puerto Princesa tomorrow. 8-hour bus ride. Urgh.
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
Okay. Travelling on a boat when it's raining and the wind is blowing is NOT a good idea. I felt sick and couldn't eat lunch while Math simply puked overboard. The sea was furious and it felt like a neverending rollercoaster ride. But the landscape was astonishing. Drop dead gorgeous. Will go island hopping if the weather gets better. Fingers cross!
Monday, June 13, 2011
Shipwreck Diving in Coron, Palawan (Philippines)
We finally went shipwreck diving! The first dive site was called Kogyo Maru, a Japanese boat from WWII located at approximately 30m deep. The moment we entered, we saw a giant batfish. Such an impressive fish, I love it! It's harder to navigate inside a wreck than over a coral reef because it's dark (even with flashlight), easy to get lost inside the ship, some rooms are small and tight, and there are more risks to get cuts and stings. During this dive, I was simply trying to keep up with the new challenge which is to get through spaces, openings and holes without touching anything. Quite hard actually... There wasn't much going on inside this wreck but the moment we came through the top, it was beautiful. Corals grew on the ship's exterior and fish were swimming everywhere. The weird thing was to see the bubbles coming out of the ship, other divers' bubbles actually. So you can spot the holes in the ship's carcass. Right at the end, we also saw a large lazy grouper chillaxing on a coral.
Before our second dive, we had lunch provided and cooked by a member of the boat crew. So yummy and hearty! It consisted of rice, beans, pumpkins, melons, potatoes and chicken in a kind of tomato sauce. We also had Sprite, Fanta and beer at our disposal. The dessert was bananas.
After a quick swim, we geared up for our 2nd dive, the Tangat wreck. This dive was eventful since we lost Annis and her buddy (found them not long after that), saw a lionfish (so extravagant), almost collide with a big purple jellyfish (Math and I were staring at this big puffy form coming towards us until I realized it was dangerous and swim rapidly away. Rule #1: be calm, swim nice and slow to reduce air consumption. Fail), Nis lost her fin (I clipped it back for her), saw 2 stonefish, a group of batfish and some Nemos, Nis went low on air towards the end and had to share the dive master's air, and last but not least, while we were waiting for 3 min at 5m deep to decompress, a small but long blue and white fish was having fun on Math's tank. It got bold and started going up, down and around his legs. I was laughing so bad (and wasting air) cos' I was pointing it to Math but he couldn't see it.
2 hours later (time to decompress), at 4:09pm, we went for our third and last dive of the day, the Barracuda Lake located on Coron Island. (first time diving in a lake!) The water temperature can go from 28 to 39 degrees because of the different "layers of fresh, salt and brackish waters" (Lonely Planet's words). What this means is that we could swim from hot to cold and vice versa and see the blurry line between them. It was a fun dive because for once, we could disobey rule #2: never touch anything at all time. The dive master went head first into the bottom of the lake which was a smooth and soft mixture of I-don't-know-what. You could really sink into it, put your arm up to the neck into it. We also had cleaner shrimp and native catfish come onto our hands and nibble at our skin. The rock formations on the side of the lake were beautiful when we were out of the water. But under, it was majestic to swim right next to it and to look up at these giant mountains. At the end, we even took off our fins and "climb" up the rocks to the surface. Yup, quite fun!
Before our second dive, we had lunch provided and cooked by a member of the boat crew. So yummy and hearty! It consisted of rice, beans, pumpkins, melons, potatoes and chicken in a kind of tomato sauce. We also had Sprite, Fanta and beer at our disposal. The dessert was bananas.
After a quick swim, we geared up for our 2nd dive, the Tangat wreck. This dive was eventful since we lost Annis and her buddy (found them not long after that), saw a lionfish (so extravagant), almost collide with a big purple jellyfish (Math and I were staring at this big puffy form coming towards us until I realized it was dangerous and swim rapidly away. Rule #1: be calm, swim nice and slow to reduce air consumption. Fail), Nis lost her fin (I clipped it back for her), saw 2 stonefish, a group of batfish and some Nemos, Nis went low on air towards the end and had to share the dive master's air, and last but not least, while we were waiting for 3 min at 5m deep to decompress, a small but long blue and white fish was having fun on Math's tank. It got bold and started going up, down and around his legs. I was laughing so bad (and wasting air) cos' I was pointing it to Math but he couldn't see it.
2 hours later (time to decompress), at 4:09pm, we went for our third and last dive of the day, the Barracuda Lake located on Coron Island. (first time diving in a lake!) The water temperature can go from 28 to 39 degrees because of the different "layers of fresh, salt and brackish waters" (Lonely Planet's words). What this means is that we could swim from hot to cold and vice versa and see the blurry line between them. It was a fun dive because for once, we could disobey rule #2: never touch anything at all time. The dive master went head first into the bottom of the lake which was a smooth and soft mixture of I-don't-know-what. You could really sink into it, put your arm up to the neck into it. We also had cleaner shrimp and native catfish come onto our hands and nibble at our skin. The rock formations on the side of the lake were beautiful when we were out of the water. But under, it was majestic to swim right next to it and to look up at these giant mountains. At the end, we even took off our fins and "climb" up the rocks to the surface. Yup, quite fun!
Well, it seems Math got a hang of reading books. He went from the guy who couldn't read a book in 5 years to the guy who went through 4 books already in just 3 weeks. Quite a progress! Maybe the lack of Internet and TV in Pulau Tioman (Malaysia) or the long bus rides in the Philippines cured him. Anyhow, I'm glad :)
Sunday, June 12, 2011
You know we had nothing to do in Vigan (Philippines) when...
... we decided to visit the Crisologo Museum.
(It's the house the family owned and that they transform it into a museum glorifying their social and political achievement)
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| looking shabby |
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| the car in which the lady got shot? |
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| vintage |
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| cooking stuff |
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| toilets |
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| old fridge and stove |
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| awesome game |
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| family pictures |
I recently watched a short documentary about a guy who was volunteering in a turtle rescue center somewhere in India and a lady learning how to take care of elephants in Chiang Mai (Thailand). At some point, the guy went like:"You can know about turtles, see a lot of pictures and know all about the abstract. But it's another thing to see the animal swimming right in front of you." That is not his exact wording, but I can totally relate to the meaning. After seeing with my own 2 eyes the incredible underwater world without a glass wall in front of me, I must say I've gained much more respect and express much more concern towards the creatures and their environment's welfare. Watching them in an aquarium in an artificial bubble gives me the feeling that humans can possess them, own them while swimming right next to them in the natural habitat (without ever touching anything), being simply a guest or a visitor, makes me marvel at the beauty, power and harmony of nature. Now, it actually hurts when I see another diver accidentally kicking off anemones with his fins or when I witness a leaking boat. Diving makes me want to buy bio products and forces me to reflect on the ecological impact of my everyday behavior.
Saturday, June 11, 2011
Restaurant Frenzy in Vigan (Philippines)
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| longganisa |
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| veggies with crispy pork |
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| club sandwich |
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| tuna mandarin salad |
Friday, June 10, 2011
It's 6am and there are only 2 reasons which can explain why I'm awake at this time. Either to catch a bus or plane, or for diving. Yup, today is the day! We're going for 2 wrecks this morning. Then lunch on the boat and finally, a last dive in a salty lake with different layers of temperature located on another island?!? Sounds weird...
Yesterday, we ended up wandering in town to find good places to eat (electricity comes and goes so sometimes, certain places close until the power is back), went up a small mountain to watch the view (supposely the sunset but we didn't want to wait for it) and bathed in a natural salty hotspring some 20 min out of town.
Yesterday, we ended up wandering in town to find good places to eat (electricity comes and goes so sometimes, certain places close until the power is back), went up a small mountain to watch the view (supposely the sunset but we didn't want to wait for it) and bathed in a natural salty hotspring some 20 min out of town.
Thursday, June 9, 2011
Awake since 8:45am, after a 10-hour sleep. Nis and Math are still dreaming. They're really going for it, catching up on all the terrible nights spent on bus trips. I'm really excited to be in Coron Town. Can't wait to have breakfast and ask:"ok guys, what's the plan? I was thinking about..." There's so much to do (island hopping, hot spring, exploring the town, diving, trekking)!
Wednesday, June 8, 2011
We were in Vigan for 2 nights, a sweet city really but with not much to do. So we ended up going to the same restaurants with aircon and wifi to entertain ourselves. Everything is buttery and salty including local delicacies such as poqui-poqui (eggplant with egg), pinakbet with bagnet (veggies with crispy pork) and longganisa (sausage). It was all well but I'm glad to be heading south towards Palawan for some beach, sun and diving :)
Tuesday, June 7, 2011
After a much heated discussion in Pulau Tioman (3 Quebecers, a British, 2 French and 1 half kiwi) about the virtues and vices of the guide books, it makes me wonder. While I didn't feel any urge to buy one before my exchange in Belgium or my travel/work experience in Austria or any short (1-2 weeks) stay outside of Canada, it was my first purchase after my flight ticket to Asia was bought and confirmed.
The main reason is because I didn't feel safe with only my smile, my backpack and myself. While in Europe, I would just walk around the city, ask at the hostel's reception about what's hot in town in terms of activities, food, sighseeing and places to go, get a free map provided by the hostel or the tourist information and/or simply talk with fellow travellers about their experiences and recommendations, it is not so simple and straightforward in SEA.
It often happens that we don't meet any other tourist, there is no tourist information, the guy at the reception doesn't speak much English or/and there is no Internet to google an information.
Since information is often scarce and/or hard to obtain, it's good to have a guidebook so you can read ahead about the culture, the current economy, the language (essential words such as "Thank You"), the main cities, the possible activities, public holidays or festivals and some interesting facts about the country or city you are about to visit (eg. Baguio was heavily bombarded during WWII by the Americans to drive the Japanese out when they had ALREADY left).
But most of all, guidebooks are really handy with their maps and recommendations on places to sleep and transport logistics (time, price, route) from one city to another.
However, it's not a holy book, there are mistakes, it's heavy and prices change over the course of time. Restaurants and guesthouses tend to increase their prices after getting their name in guidebooks.
I think Math, Annis and I make a good team. I'm the reader so I tend to read the whole chapter on facts before entering a country and the section on each city before or during my stay in that city. Math likes it digital so he's the one who looks for online or updated info through travel blogs, Wikitravel, free digital Lonely Planets and official websites (especially the current exchange rates). He's mostly responsible for airfares and logistics because not only it's his major but also because Nis and I get easily distracted by FB, blogger and other stuff like that. (To my defense, Math doesn't have to upload any picture and keep his blog updated since he has none.) Annis is the woman on the spot that you need. Her criteria for a guesthouse are quite high. It has to be dirt cheap, clean, have confortable beds and pillows, good lighting and have a window and if possible, hot shower. If she can convince the guy to give us an aircon room for the price of a fan room or to lower the price even more, she'll go for it. Not that Math and I don't want these criteria. It's just that we are lazy bastards, visit only 3 or 4 places before choosing the best option. Nis can go forever visiting room after room until her heart says yes. So if you want to ask a random or general question about anything concerning the place, come see me. If you want to get the best exchange rate or airplane ticket, ask Math. And if you want a great place to spend the night, Nis might be the best person to help you with that.
So conclusion, the best deal is a combination of a guidebook, a smartphone, lot of patience and time, a good spirit and a nice smile.
It often happens that we don't meet any other tourist, there is no tourist information, the guy at the reception doesn't speak much English or/and there is no Internet to google an information.
Since information is often scarce and/or hard to obtain, it's good to have a guidebook so you can read ahead about the culture, the current economy, the language (essential words such as "Thank You"), the main cities, the possible activities, public holidays or festivals and some interesting facts about the country or city you are about to visit (eg. Baguio was heavily bombarded during WWII by the Americans to drive the Japanese out when they had ALREADY left).
But most of all, guidebooks are really handy with their maps and recommendations on places to sleep and transport logistics (time, price, route) from one city to another.
However, it's not a holy book, there are mistakes, it's heavy and prices change over the course of time. Restaurants and guesthouses tend to increase their prices after getting their name in guidebooks.
I think Math, Annis and I make a good team. I'm the reader so I tend to read the whole chapter on facts before entering a country and the section on each city before or during my stay in that city. Math likes it digital so he's the one who looks for online or updated info through travel blogs, Wikitravel, free digital Lonely Planets and official websites (especially the current exchange rates). He's mostly responsible for airfares and logistics because not only it's his major but also because Nis and I get easily distracted by FB, blogger and other stuff like that. (To my defense, Math doesn't have to upload any picture and keep his blog updated since he has none.) Annis is the woman on the spot that you need. Her criteria for a guesthouse are quite high. It has to be dirt cheap, clean, have confortable beds and pillows, good lighting and have a window and if possible, hot shower. If she can convince the guy to give us an aircon room for the price of a fan room or to lower the price even more, she'll go for it. Not that Math and I don't want these criteria. It's just that we are lazy bastards, visit only 3 or 4 places before choosing the best option. Nis can go forever visiting room after room until her heart says yes. So if you want to ask a random or general question about anything concerning the place, come see me. If you want to get the best exchange rate or airplane ticket, ask Math. And if you want a great place to spend the night, Nis might be the best person to help you with that.
So conclusion, the best deal is a combination of a guidebook, a smartphone, lot of patience and time, a good spirit and a nice smile.
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