1. Chiang Mai in Thailand
2. Phu Quoc in Vietnam
3. Bako national park in Malaysia
4. Apo island in Philippines
5. Lamma island in Hong Kong
Wednesday, 25 February 2009
Last day in Hong Kong
Today I've been exploring on Lamma, one to the islands in Hong Kong. Quite a contrast to all the shopping centres and bustling street life of Kowloon and Hong Kong island central. Lamma has a couple of quite nice beaches, beuatiful mountains and a couple of small fishing villages. After a couple of hours walk, I and another girl from the hostel feasted on seafood: lobster, prawns, clams and squid, yummy!
I've packed my bags, found my Oyster card, and checked in online. Ready to go out one last night in Hong Kong before flying home tomorrow.
I've packed my bags, found my Oyster card, and checked in online. Ready to go out one last night in Hong Kong before flying home tomorrow.
Tuesday, 24 February 2009
5 best food dishes I've had
I've eaten so much great food, these are some of my favourites:
1. Thailand: Green papaya and prawn salad
2. Vietnam: Cau lau noodles
3. Malaysia: Laksa soup
4. Philippines: Kinilaw (fresh fish marinated in kalmansi lime juice and chili and coconut)
5. Hong Kong: Dim sum
1. Thailand: Green papaya and prawn salad
2. Vietnam: Cau lau noodles
3. Malaysia: Laksa soup
4. Philippines: Kinilaw (fresh fish marinated in kalmansi lime juice and chili and coconut)
5. Hong Kong: Dim sum
2 days to go: Feasting on dim sum in Hong Kong
I've been in Hong Kong for a few days now, and it's a great city if you love food!!! I've been eating SO much, fantastic dim sum and lovely sea food, mmmmmmmm..... Food is not too expensive here, but everything else. I went out for a few drinks with 3 girls from my dorm last night, and was quite chocked to see that a pint of beer is around 50-70 HKD (5-7 GBP)! Basically Swedish prices :S Not used to that after 4 months in cheap SE Asia. It's going to take some time to get used to the London prices again when I'm back....
Today I've been to some of the markets here, like the bird and goldfish markets. Shop after shop selling songbirds, the noise was unbelievable. The street with goldfish shops were a lot more quiet! They also had a couple of shops selling puppies and kittens, I wanted to take all of the home with me... So looking forward to go over to my sister and her boyfriend later this year, they're getting a puppy in a month or so :) Well, obviously I'm also looking forward to see my sister and Lars, luckily they'll come to London already in a few weeks time.
London...., feels so weird and unreal that I go home the day after tomorrow. In a way I haven't really been able to fully appreciate Hong Kong, because I know that these are my last days on this trip. At the same time, it's going to be fantastic to see everyone again, and I'm quite looking forward to getting on with my life in London.
Today I've been to some of the markets here, like the bird and goldfish markets. Shop after shop selling songbirds, the noise was unbelievable. The street with goldfish shops were a lot more quiet! They also had a couple of shops selling puppies and kittens, I wanted to take all of the home with me... So looking forward to go over to my sister and her boyfriend later this year, they're getting a puppy in a month or so :) Well, obviously I'm also looking forward to see my sister and Lars, luckily they'll come to London already in a few weeks time.
London...., feels so weird and unreal that I go home the day after tomorrow. In a way I haven't really been able to fully appreciate Hong Kong, because I know that these are my last days on this trip. At the same time, it's going to be fantastic to see everyone again, and I'm quite looking forward to getting on with my life in London.
Friday, 20 February 2009
5 best things I packed
Because I'm getting closer and closer to the end of my trip, I thought that I would start to summarize some of my experiences. Here are the 5 best things I brought with me:
1. Torch/flashlight: To be able to find my way home along dark beaches, for when there's no electricity, and to make sure no snakes are hiding under the bed
2. Army knife: To peel fruit, open bottles, and the scissor is pretty good too
3. Sarong: Towel, blanket, skirt and bag in one handy piece of cloth
4. Duvet cover: To use as a sleeping bag for the times when the bed doesn't look exactly clean
5. iPod: For all those long journeys
1. Torch/flashlight: To be able to find my way home along dark beaches, for when there's no electricity, and to make sure no snakes are hiding under the bed
2. Army knife: To peel fruit, open bottles, and the scissor is pretty good too
3. Sarong: Towel, blanket, skirt and bag in one handy piece of cloth
4. Duvet cover: To use as a sleeping bag for the times when the bed doesn't look exactly clean
5. iPod: For all those long journeys
6 days to go: Shop till you drop
It feels SO strange to have less than a week left, I fly back to London from Hong Kong on Thursday. I've had such an amazing time so far, and it has all gone by very very quickly. It feels sad to go home, there are so many many many more places I would like to go to! At the same time, I'm so looking forward to come home and see all of my friends and family again.
I'm in Manila now, and today I spent the whole day at Ayala center's Glorietta malls. Lots and lots of malls here in the Philippines. I've almost done no shopping during this trip, except for replacing broken sun glasses etc, and was really looking forward to some retail joy. But...., first I couldn't find anything I wanted to buy! It was like I forgotten how to shop! Strange. But then it slowly came back to me, turns out shopping is like cycling, you never really forget how to do it ;)
However, certain things are impossible to buy here: I've been looking everywhere for 2 months now for ear plugs. Ear plugs are essential to be able to sleep undisturbed from roosters, traffic, noisy dorm mates, karaoke. I lost my last pair in Vietnam and have been unable to find new ones. When I asked for ear plugs in one pharmacy in Hanoi, I was instead offered valium... Not exactly the same thing. The other thing that I can't find here is a travel guide to Hong Kong. Shanghai, Bejing, Singapore, Rome, Barcelona, London, even Stockholm, or basically any major city, but not Hong Kong. Weird. Hope I can find one actually in Hong Kong. Always nice to get some ideas of what to see and information on things like local transport. I guess that if I meet loads of Filipinos in HK, I'll know why there is no guide books to buy in Manila...
I'm in Manila now, and today I spent the whole day at Ayala center's Glorietta malls. Lots and lots of malls here in the Philippines. I've almost done no shopping during this trip, except for replacing broken sun glasses etc, and was really looking forward to some retail joy. But...., first I couldn't find anything I wanted to buy! It was like I forgotten how to shop! Strange. But then it slowly came back to me, turns out shopping is like cycling, you never really forget how to do it ;)
However, certain things are impossible to buy here: I've been looking everywhere for 2 months now for ear plugs. Ear plugs are essential to be able to sleep undisturbed from roosters, traffic, noisy dorm mates, karaoke. I lost my last pair in Vietnam and have been unable to find new ones. When I asked for ear plugs in one pharmacy in Hanoi, I was instead offered valium... Not exactly the same thing. The other thing that I can't find here is a travel guide to Hong Kong. Shanghai, Bejing, Singapore, Rome, Barcelona, London, even Stockholm, or basically any major city, but not Hong Kong. Weird. Hope I can find one actually in Hong Kong. Always nice to get some ideas of what to see and information on things like local transport. I guess that if I meet loads of Filipinos in HK, I'll know why there is no guide books to buy in Manila...
Hej mormor! Del 5: Dykning och regn i Filippinerna
Nu har jag snart varit i Filippinerna i en manad, och det har varit fantastiskt! Jag har dykt massor och sett bl.a otroliga korallrev och sota skoldpaddor. Det hade ju forstas kunnat vara lite battre vader, men regnet verkar folja med mig var jag an ar. Jag har verklingen fatt anvandning for min regn poncho nu.... Jag ar anda haft en del tur, dagen efter jag tog farjan mellan tva oar, Bohol och Leyte, sa stangdes all farjetrafik darimellan pga en tyfon! Dar jag var sa marktes det dock inget av tyfonen, det var bara det "vanliga" regnet.
Filippinerna ar otroligt vackert, och nog det land som det varit lattast att resa i, bl.a for att i princip alla pratar engelska. Jag vill aka hit igen och se mer, jag har bara hunnit se ytterst fa av alla 7000 oar...
Min absolut basta upplevelse har ar nog att jag fick snorkla med en valhaj i Donsol! Det var helt otroligt, den simmade kanske 2 m under mig! En annan annorlunda upplevelse var pa farjan pa vag till Donsol da jag sjong karaoke till staende ovationer! Karaoke ar otroligt populart har (och overallt dar jag varit hittills i Asien), oavsett om man kan sjunga eller ej. Vilket ju ar tur for mig som i princip tondov. Misstanker att ovationer hade mer att gora med att jag som enda vasterlanning pa farjan sjong an att jag plotsligt utvecklat en hittills okand sangtalang... Kul var det iaf!
Nu ar jag tillbaka i Manila, och pa sondag flyger jag vidare till Hong Kong, och sen till slut till London pa torsdag. Mindre an en vecka kvar nu, det ar konstigt, sorgligt och roligt pa en gang.
Filippinerna ar otroligt vackert, och nog det land som det varit lattast att resa i, bl.a for att i princip alla pratar engelska. Jag vill aka hit igen och se mer, jag har bara hunnit se ytterst fa av alla 7000 oar...
Min absolut basta upplevelse har ar nog att jag fick snorkla med en valhaj i Donsol! Det var helt otroligt, den simmade kanske 2 m under mig! En annan annorlunda upplevelse var pa farjan pa vag till Donsol da jag sjong karaoke till staende ovationer! Karaoke ar otroligt populart har (och overallt dar jag varit hittills i Asien), oavsett om man kan sjunga eller ej. Vilket ju ar tur for mig som i princip tondov. Misstanker att ovationer hade mer att gora med att jag som enda vasterlanning pa farjan sjong an att jag plotsligt utvecklat en hittills okand sangtalang... Kul var det iaf!
Nu ar jag tillbaka i Manila, och pa sondag flyger jag vidare till Hong Kong, och sen till slut till London pa torsdag. Mindre an en vecka kvar nu, det ar konstigt, sorgligt och roligt pa en gang.
Whale sharks!!!
I took a minivan from Legaspi to Donsol, where I stayed in a small bungalow in cozy resort, Amor Beach Farm Resort, 5 min walk away from the visitor centre that organizes boat trips to see the whale sharks. Although it is the season the see them, there is of course no guarantee. Indeed, one couple I met at the resort hadn't seen any whale sharks that day when they went out. The unstable weather the last couple of weeks have also made sighting less common than usual.
The next morning I woke up to the all too familiar sound of rain... Luckily it soon stopped and the skies cleared. I went out in bangka boat with 6 others, and then we waited and waited and waited. Suddenly we saw something! A big fin! Wohoo, whale sharks! But no, it wasn't that big a fin, it was a dolphin. Probably the only time in my life that I've been disappointed to see dolphins.... Then we waited. And waited. And waited some more. When we were almost ready to give up after 4 h on the boat, the spotter shouted that he saw one. But once I got into the water, the whale shark had already disappeared.... Luckily, we soon spotted another shark (or possibly the same again), and this time I did see it! It swam maybe 2 m under me, and it was INCREDIBLE!!!! SO BEAUTIFUL!!!! I was very happy when I returned to land :) It also felt like a perfect way to end my stay in the Philippines. I now only have a few days in Manila and Hong Kong left, then I go home....
The next morning I woke up to the all too familiar sound of rain... Luckily it soon stopped and the skies cleared. I went out in bangka boat with 6 others, and then we waited and waited and waited. Suddenly we saw something! A big fin! Wohoo, whale sharks! But no, it wasn't that big a fin, it was a dolphin. Probably the only time in my life that I've been disappointed to see dolphins.... Then we waited. And waited. And waited some more. When we were almost ready to give up after 4 h on the boat, the spotter shouted that he saw one. But once I got into the water, the whale shark had already disappeared.... Luckily, we soon spotted another shark (or possibly the same again), and this time I did see it! It swam maybe 2 m under me, and it was INCREDIBLE!!!! SO BEAUTIFUL!!!! I was very happy when I returned to land :) It also felt like a perfect way to end my stay in the Philippines. I now only have a few days in Manila and Hong Kong left, then I go home....
I'm a Barbie girl
Since I got a cold and couldn't dive, I decided to leave PB early and instead try to go up to Donsol, a village in the Bicol region of south Luzon that's known to have lots of whale sharks this time of the year. I decided to go overland as I would otherwise have to either backtrack via Cebu to take the ferry or fly to Legaspi (closest largest city to Donsol). Also, you see a lot more and meet more people going by bus. I first thought that I would have to take a vast number of different buses, vans, and jeepneys to get there, but the couple I rented my room from said that I actually could take an aircon bus all the way and wouldn't have to do any chances. Well, that obviously sounded a lot easier, and at 1 am in the morning I jumped on the bus in PB to start my journey north through Leyte, over and across Samar (Leyte and Samar is connected with a very long bridge (Asia's longest?), 2 km) and then finally over to Luzon. With some luck I should arrive in Legaspi late afternoon.
As it turned out, I must have used up my luck for speedy journeys when going to PB, because I didn't arrive in Legaspi until 1 am the following morning, after 24 h.... However, it was an interesting journey through a beautiful landscape. Most memorable was probably the 5 h on the ferry from Samar to Luzon (the ferry actually only takes 1 h, but for some reason we had to wait on the ferry for 4 h before leaving...), 5 h of videoke. Karaoke/videoke is enormously popular in Asia, you can find it everywhere in the Philippines and everyone sings, no matter if you actually can sing or not. Yours truly, who can't sing to save her life, actually did a performance with Thom, one of the Filipino guys on the bus, of Aqua's "Barbie girl"... And we got standing ovations and had to do a repeat performance!!!! Obviously I would like to believe that I suddenly discovered how to sing, but sadly I think the ovations had more to do with the novelty of the only Westerner on the ferry singing....
A couple of hours later I arrived completely exhausted to Legaspi and probably fell asleep before my head even had landed on the pillow in my hotel.
As it turned out, I must have used up my luck for speedy journeys when going to PB, because I didn't arrive in Legaspi until 1 am the following morning, after 24 h.... However, it was an interesting journey through a beautiful landscape. Most memorable was probably the 5 h on the ferry from Samar to Luzon (the ferry actually only takes 1 h, but for some reason we had to wait on the ferry for 4 h before leaving...), 5 h of videoke. Karaoke/videoke is enormously popular in Asia, you can find it everywhere in the Philippines and everyone sings, no matter if you actually can sing or not. Yours truly, who can't sing to save her life, actually did a performance with Thom, one of the Filipino guys on the bus, of Aqua's "Barbie girl"... And we got standing ovations and had to do a repeat performance!!!! Obviously I would like to believe that I suddenly discovered how to sing, but sadly I think the ovations had more to do with the novelty of the only Westerner on the ferry singing....
A couple of hours later I arrived completely exhausted to Legaspi and probably fell asleep before my head even had landed on the pillow in my hotel.
Friday 13th = typhoon....
I decided to stay overnight in Tagbilaran, and early the day after (the 12th) I started my journey to Padre Burgos (PB) on Leyte. I didn't know much about the bus and ferry connections to go from Bohol to Leyte, but figured that I probably would need 2 days, one to travel through Bohol, and one on Leyte. After 3 months in Asia I've learned to leave plenty of time for travels, you never know when the bus might break down, or you'll have to wait 3 h for the minivan to fill up etc etc. This time though everything went very smoothly, the bus from Tagbilaran to Ubay left 15 min after I arrived by tricyle to the bus terminal, the bangka boat from Ubay to Bato on Leyte left 30 min after I arrived to Ubay etc. So 4 tricycles, 2 buses and 1 boat later I arrived late afternoon in Maasin on Leyte, where I decided to stay the night before continuing down to PB as I needed some rest and also to stock up on more cash. You can hardly pay by credit card anywhere in the Philippines so usually you need to carry quite a lot of cash, especially when heading to smaller places like PB that won't have any cash machines. It can be quite a challenge to get enough cash, as some cash machines have a limit of 4000 pesos (ca 60 GBP), or might have connection problems and therefore refuse all your cards...
Anyhow, I arrived in PB the morning after, on Friday the 13th. And this time Friday the 13th really was bad luck for some, as a typhoon came in over Cebu and therefore all boat connections to Leyte were cancelled. If I hadn't been so lucky with all my connections the day before, I would have been stranded in Ubay... The weather in PB was not too bad, some rain and wind (I'm certainly getting more use of my rain poncho than I thought....) but definitely no storm.
On Valentine's day I got roses from the sweet staff at the resort I stayed in :) Actually might be one of the few times ever in my life I got flowers on Valentine's.... Rest of the day was less romantic though with a nice dive. Unfortunately my one and only dive in PB as I got a bit of a cold the day after :(
Anyhow, I arrived in PB the morning after, on Friday the 13th. And this time Friday the 13th really was bad luck for some, as a typhoon came in over Cebu and therefore all boat connections to Leyte were cancelled. If I hadn't been so lucky with all my connections the day before, I would have been stranded in Ubay... The weather in PB was not too bad, some rain and wind (I'm certainly getting more use of my rain poncho than I thought....) but definitely no storm.
On Valentine's day I got roses from the sweet staff at the resort I stayed in :) Actually might be one of the few times ever in my life I got flowers on Valentine's.... Rest of the day was less romantic though with a nice dive. Unfortunately my one and only dive in PB as I got a bit of a cold the day after :(
Tuesday, 10 February 2009
Diving in the rain
Seriously, it's raining AGAIN!!!! Wherever I go, it rains... At least it's not snowing, like in the UK a couple of days ago, and of course at home in Sweden. Luckily, despite all the raining, have still managed to do quite a lot of diving. Life at 25 m depth quite unaffected by rain.
I'm at Alona beach on Panglao, a small island outside Bohol. It's quite a small place, with a nice white beach and loads of dive resorts. It's a little bit like a miniature version of Boracay. It also has the best mangoes ever!!! Fresh mango, mango daiquiris and dried mango, mmmmm, delicious!
Today I went out and did two dives around Balincasag island, fantastic wall dives (wall is 50 m, but don't worry, I stayed at my safe 30 m). Visability at first dive was great, actually felt a bit of vertigo going down. Feels in a way like you're flying going down... Fantastic soft and hard coral, I know this might not make sense, but it gives me a feeling of "magic forest", I keep thinking of John Bauers illustrations, but under water of course. Lots of beautiful fish and turtles :)
After Boracay I first went to Cebu city. Unfortunately, my bag decided to leave me and go to Manila... Might have been something I said, it's really been putting on weight recently.... Anyhow, we were finally reunited and took the ferry to Dumaguete, a small university city on Negros. Quite a sweet little city, stayed in very nice hostel, Harold's mansion, there. Superclean and even a TV in the dorm. After a fun night in Dumaguete, including a reggae band performing Cardigan's "Lovefool", I left Dumaguete on a tiny bangka boat to go out to Apo island. I arrived completely soaked (when I left Apo, I was clever enough to do it in bikini and rain poncho instead) to the small island. Apo has a small village, and there's two resorts. I stayed at Liberty's lodge, in their dorm. There's no running water, and electricity for only a few hours a day, lights out at 9.30 pm (guess that may explain why everyone there have like 5 kids each....). No need to set an alarm, as the rooster starts crooning at around 4.30 am, and they are loud. Roosters and karaoke, the soundtrack of the Philippines... I did quite a lot of diving, and it was amazing!!! Fantastic soft and hard coral, thousands of fishes (including a ornate ghost pipefish!), lots of turtles. Amazing, awesome, absolutely fantastic! First days were quite nice and sunny, but then it rained and rained and rained.... By the time I left for Bohol, all my clothes were very wet and smelly.
I'm trying to decide what I'm doing tomorrow, my plan was to just relax on the beach but it's been raining since late this afternoon and weather prognosis is not promising... Might head to Tagilaran on Bohol instead and stock up on some essentials (mosquito repellent, sun block (for when the sun actually is shining, have a very red nose at the moment), books) before going over to Leyte on Friday (happens to be the 13th, not that I'm superstitious but..., let's just hope that I don't break another toe or miss the only ferry or some other stupid thing). I'm going to Padre burgos in Leyte for more diving. I hope for two things: OK weather (please, no more rain! Or strong winds), and whale sharks. Would be totally amazing to see whale sharks!!!
After Leyte I'm heading back to Manila for 2 days before going to Hong Kong, and after 4 days in Hong Kong I'm going back to London. Can't believe it's only 2 weeks left! The time has gone so quickly, at the same time it feels like I've been away forever. Weird.
Time to go and celebrate that I did my 20th dive today with a mango daiquiri! And maybe have a pizza. Not much else to do when it's raining....
Btw, the pizza restaurant I'm going to tonight has this slogan "No pizza for 7 days makes one weak" I agree!
I'm at Alona beach on Panglao, a small island outside Bohol. It's quite a small place, with a nice white beach and loads of dive resorts. It's a little bit like a miniature version of Boracay. It also has the best mangoes ever!!! Fresh mango, mango daiquiris and dried mango, mmmmm, delicious!
Today I went out and did two dives around Balincasag island, fantastic wall dives (wall is 50 m, but don't worry, I stayed at my safe 30 m). Visability at first dive was great, actually felt a bit of vertigo going down. Feels in a way like you're flying going down... Fantastic soft and hard coral, I know this might not make sense, but it gives me a feeling of "magic forest", I keep thinking of John Bauers illustrations, but under water of course. Lots of beautiful fish and turtles :)
After Boracay I first went to Cebu city. Unfortunately, my bag decided to leave me and go to Manila... Might have been something I said, it's really been putting on weight recently.... Anyhow, we were finally reunited and took the ferry to Dumaguete, a small university city on Negros. Quite a sweet little city, stayed in very nice hostel, Harold's mansion, there. Superclean and even a TV in the dorm. After a fun night in Dumaguete, including a reggae band performing Cardigan's "Lovefool", I left Dumaguete on a tiny bangka boat to go out to Apo island. I arrived completely soaked (when I left Apo, I was clever enough to do it in bikini and rain poncho instead) to the small island. Apo has a small village, and there's two resorts. I stayed at Liberty's lodge, in their dorm. There's no running water, and electricity for only a few hours a day, lights out at 9.30 pm (guess that may explain why everyone there have like 5 kids each....). No need to set an alarm, as the rooster starts crooning at around 4.30 am, and they are loud. Roosters and karaoke, the soundtrack of the Philippines... I did quite a lot of diving, and it was amazing!!! Fantastic soft and hard coral, thousands of fishes (including a ornate ghost pipefish!), lots of turtles. Amazing, awesome, absolutely fantastic! First days were quite nice and sunny, but then it rained and rained and rained.... By the time I left for Bohol, all my clothes were very wet and smelly.
I'm trying to decide what I'm doing tomorrow, my plan was to just relax on the beach but it's been raining since late this afternoon and weather prognosis is not promising... Might head to Tagilaran on Bohol instead and stock up on some essentials (mosquito repellent, sun block (for when the sun actually is shining, have a very red nose at the moment), books) before going over to Leyte on Friday (happens to be the 13th, not that I'm superstitious but..., let's just hope that I don't break another toe or miss the only ferry or some other stupid thing). I'm going to Padre burgos in Leyte for more diving. I hope for two things: OK weather (please, no more rain! Or strong winds), and whale sharks. Would be totally amazing to see whale sharks!!!
After Leyte I'm heading back to Manila for 2 days before going to Hong Kong, and after 4 days in Hong Kong I'm going back to London. Can't believe it's only 2 weeks left! The time has gone so quickly, at the same time it feels like I've been away forever. Weird.
Time to go and celebrate that I did my 20th dive today with a mango daiquiri! And maybe have a pizza. Not much else to do when it's raining....
Btw, the pizza restaurant I'm going to tonight has this slogan "No pizza for 7 days makes one weak" I agree!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
