Travels

I just spent 5 days in Singapore drinking tap water, wearing seatbelts in cabs, and having cars actually stop and wait for me to cross the street. What luxuries! Not to mention that Andrew and Suzanne were such amazing hosts and tour guides. I can’t thank them enough.

Suzanne and I spent most days exploring diverse neighborhoods (Chinatown, Little India, Arab Street, etc.) and checking out sights such as the Jurong Bird Park and the freaky Har Paw Villa. I was struck by how truly multicultural Singapore is – there there are actually 4 official languages that include English, Mandarin, Malay, and Tamil.

I have to say that the real highlight of Singapore for me has to be the food, and I tried to sample as much of the local specialties as I could. Some favorites:

• Kaya Toast: Creamy egg and coconut spread on toasted bread for breakfast. I’m addicted now.
• Katong Laksa: Seafood and noodles in a chili and coconut soup. So good.
• Otah-Otah: Kind of like a fish tamale – the mackerel version I had wasn’t my favorite, but I love the name.
• “Carrot Cake”: Neither carrot nor cake, this is like an omlette made with radishes and glutinous rice and soy sauce.
• Teh Tarik: Delicious milky frothy sweet tea.
• Singapore Sling: As required, we drank these at the legendary Raffles Hotel where they were invented.
• BBQ Stingray: Mmm, revenge is sweet (and pleasantly spicy)!

I don’t feel like I have posted enough here to do Singapore justice, but I have already moved on to peninsular Malaysia. I’m in Melaka now and will be heading to the Cameron Highlands in a couple of days.

I spent my last few days in The Philippines on the small, quiet, beautiful island of Siquijor. The island is famous for its spiritual healers, and although I didn’t meet any shamans, my health finally started to improve once I arrived at my little bungalow on the beach. I finally got to see some of the underwater attractions – I went on 2 wall dives that featured an amazing variety of coral. I also saw the largest turtle I have seen to date – the carapace was probably about 5 feet across!

I am looking forward to going to Singapore tomorrow, but I also know there is so much more I want to see here – I have only been to a handful of the more than 7,000 islands. I will definitely be back!

I spent the last 4 days on the island of Bohol alternating between beach and jungle and checking out the Chocolate Hills, old churches, and tiny “monkeys” that make the island the #1 tourist destination for Filipinos.

I stayed at a great place called the Nuts Huts, a great backpacker spot that can only be accessed after hiking down a mountain about 1k and then tackling about 300 or so stairs.

While at the Nuts Huts, I ran into Simone, who I had previously hung out with back in Laos. She is the only other female traveling alone I have met in the Philippines and it was good to compare notes about our experiences. I feel like a celebrity here; everywhere I go I get so many stares and waves. The other day I swear there were about 50 people who all stopped what they were doing to watch me get out of a boat. So weird. And all the Filipinos I meet have the same questions. Are you REALLY traveling alone? WHY? Are you married? Why not? Etc, etc. I have to say it gets a little old after awhile!

Unfortunately, due to being sick and the constant rain of the last 7 days (caused by either a tropical depression or La Nina), I didn’t get to see as much of Palawan as I had planned. However, it was definitely nice to have a slow, relaxed week for a change.

After a few days of rest in Puerto Princesa, I headed out to Sabang, a tiny beach town and home to the Subterranean River Park. The town lacks internet, but not karaoke, which leaks out of various restaurants and homes once the sun goes down.

After a couple of days spent mostly napping and walking on the beach, I finally joined a group of people from my guesthouse to visit the town’s main attraction. It was a fun group, with everyone hailing from a different country: Switzerland, Finland, Taiwan, Peru, Canada, and me. Halfway though our 3 hour hike on the “Monkey Trail” to get to the river, it started pouring rain. We took cover for awhile at the ranger station where there was TV crew setting up for taping the Filipino version of “Big Brother” (which is apparently wildly popular over here). It was a very unexpected jungle encounter! When it became clear the rain was not going to stop, we wrapped up in plastic and continued the hike, which became quite thrilling as the steep trail turned into waterfalls and mudslides. Finally, we made it to the Underground River, and hopped in a boat for a ride on the river through the cave.

The 2000-year old rice terraces in Banaue are said to be the most spectacular terraces in the world, and I would not doubt it. Interestingly, the Ifugao people who built these terraces were also fearsome headhunters! I was lucky to meet a mountaineer from Colorado who was familiar with the area and led me and some other travelers on a trek across the terraces. The views were amazing, and walking on the terrace walls was thrilling and at the same time very meditative (concentrating on putting one foot in front of the other). Luckily, nobody fell in!

I am currently in Puerto Princesa, Palawan, where I have been laying low for a couple of days recovering from a cold. But I hope to be off to Sabang tomorrow to see a subterranean river and  some pristine beaches.

After a death-defying bus trip over the highest peak in The Philippines, we arrived in Sagada and the Green House, a delightful homestay run by the gracious Nora. Sagada is known for its eerie burial caves and hanging coffins. Apparently there had just been a new “burial” in one of the caves just before I arrived, but this practice is not very common any longer. I was really confused as to why the coffins were so small, until it was explained to me that the bodies are placed in the fetal position.

There happened to be a wedding in town the weekend I was there. As is customary, the entire village (including the handful of tourists staying there) were invited to the wedding. In the morning there was a church ceremony and people who didn’t get seats just hung out in the entryway or just outside. (I love how the church doors and windows stay open here, so you see dogs and cats in the aisles and birds in the rafters!) The entire village was provided with lunch bags stuffed with pancit (rice noodles) and meat, and then the band played and the villagers played the gongs and danced nearly continuously for the next 24 hours. Quite a party!

I have just returned to Manila from an amazing 4 day trip through the Cordillera Mountains of Luzon. (I saw so much in such a short time that I want to share so this is just the first of a few posts.) I began the journey from Manila with Florian, a traveler from Germany who was headed the same way. We split up the 14 hour trip to Sagada with a stopover in Baguio, the cool “summer capital” in foothills surrounded by pine trees.

Walking to the bus terminal the next morning, we stumbled upon the opening parade for an annual retreat for teachers across The Philippines. All the teachers and school principals were walking in the procession interspersed with marching bands and traditional dances. It was such a wonderful unexpected surprise, and wish we could have taken them up on their offer to “Join Us!”, but instead we just cheered and waved with big grins on our faces, then walked reluctantly towards our next 7 hour bus ride.

I arrived in Manila early this morning and spent the day seeing what I could of the city. For the first time on this trip, I hired a guide to show me a few sights, and it worked out well. Vic, a very friendly musician as well as tour guide, took me around the Intramuros, the walled city and fort dating from the Spanish colonial era.

He also gave me the scoop on José Rizal, the famous Filipino poet, doctor and martyr of the Revolution. Rizal is the ultimate national hero; so many places here bear his name and he even inspired a religious sect that worship him as a divine being.

With just a day here, I feel like haven’t really seen much, but this place definitely has character. Lots of color, pop music, and ubiquitous jeepneys in a wide array of garish designs that spew out black smoke from what I was told are used engines discarded from Japan.

It makes things easier that English is widely spoken here and people are very friendly and helpful.The grinding poverty is very visible, with many people (families even) obviously living on the street, sometimes with makeshift shelters. The juxtaposition of this street-level reality with the abundance of modern skyscrapers is really something.

Tomorrow I will head up to the mountains of Northern Luzon, where I hope to cover quite a bit of ground in the next 4 days. The travel may be a bit grueling, but we will see how it goes!