Palawan - Arriving in Palawan

In the morning, we left Cebu for Palawan.

View of Cebu from the 4th floor hotel room

We arrived in Puerto Princesa, checked into Blue Lagoon Inn & Suites, then walked to the restaurant called Ka Inato for dinner.  

Cindy and stuffed grilled squid

Mommy and Maricar are eager to eat!

Stuffed grilled fish

Eye of Typhoon Pablo passes Palawan

     As of the evening of Dec 5, Typhoon Pablo was 165 km northwest of Palawan Island.  It has a half day more before it clears the Philippines.  The death toll from Typhoon Pablo is now more than 270, mainly impacting two provinces in Mindanao, according to the NYT article.
     The scenery on Panglao Island seems untouched from yesterday and last night's storm; there was no flooding, no downed trees, and the nipa homes were intact.  Mommy made this observation while we drove the 15 miles to Tagbilaran City in Bohol via tricycle (motorbike with side care) this morning.

     The sign below confirms that cockfighting exists in the Philippines.  When I asked the driver about the sign, he excitedly said, "Yes, we bet on it.  We attach a knife to their leg and they fight until one dies."  Mommy added, "My father used to gamble on cockfighting."  I can't withhold judgement here:  Cockfighting is cruel and disrespects the animals that feed us and is a stain on Philippine culture.  Mommy says the killed rooster is still cooked and eaten.  Does that make me feel better?

Especially since I so enjoy lechon!  At the BQ shopping center in Tagbilaran, we bought lechon manok.  Manok is chicken and lechon means roast.  The butcher here is cutting up a lechon pig.  Three caucasian women walked by with a small look of shock and disgust at the butchering.  I don't think they did it intentionally, but I was offended.  Perhaps I'm beginning to identify with my filipino culture?  Just as well, how many times have I unknowingly offended the locals so far during this trip?

     The ferries started again this afternoon, allowing us to leave for Cebu this evening then take a flight to Palawan tomorrow morning.   We're very fortunate that the storm impacted us in a such minor way:  only one day delay on our trip and having to stay indoors for 24 hours.  Mommy said this happened for a reason; I'm still figuring that out.

     Here are slide shows from our time in Bohol.  The first one shows our resort at Alona Beach on Panglao Island and the guided tour of Bohol.  The second one shows photos from my morning of island hopping and snorkeling.


 

Typhoon Pablo

Typhoon Pablo wreaked it's havoc on Bohol yesterday, causing us to stay inside while gusty winds and rain swept over us.  We had planned to take a ferry to Cebu yesterday and then fly to Palawan this morning; but all ferries and flights in the Visayas were cancelled.  Cindy spent a lot of money and time to cancel hotel and flight reservations in order to get whatever refund we could.  She had used agoda.com to book our hotels, but they were less than helpful in making cancellations.  Rather than cancelling directly with the hotel, we had to cancel both with agoda and the hotel.  Lots of follow-up calls were made through skype.  Fortunately, internet remained intact most of the day.

The four of us being confined to each others' company reminded me of Sartre's "No Exit".  The internet, itune podcasts, and my noise-cancelling headphones saved me.

Nevertheless, it seems we were nicest to each other while eating.  At 7 a.m., the wind gusts had not yet started so we were able to have breakfast on the veranda.

What a sharp contrast to Mindanao.  According to a Dec 4, 2012 BBC report, at least 40 people have died so far from mudslides.  

Typhoon Pablo is suppose to hit Palawan today, which was on our itinerary.  We are undecided about our plans, except that Mommy and Maricar prefer to go back to Manila.  Palawan Island would be the highlight of our island tour because it's the least touristy, has the most natural scenery, and is known for the variety of fish to eat and to see!

 

Riding around Mt. Mayon

With an official guide Gelan and two of his friends, Cyril and Jun, who loaned us their bikes, Cindy and I road through the city of Legazpi and to the foot of Mt. Mayon.  We stopped at Cyril's house on the way for lunch.

The hotel arranged the trip and they customized it for us as no one asks to bike up Mt. Mayon.  The standard tours are trekking and ATVing on Mt. Mayon.  

The bikes were front suspension, a little heavy, and not totally fitted for us (all Gelan did was adjust the seats), but they were very rideable and at least they provided helmets.  Anyway, we felt safe.

The ride was an adventure from the start.  With it's Jeepneys, motorbikes, tricycles, pedestrians, and lack of road rules, riding on Legazpi's roads was like "playing a video game," according to Cindy.  We got used to the honking pretty fast, as drivers do not use turn signals here, they simply honk to pass you.  Gelan, Cyril and Jun road with us.  Gelan led while Cyril and Jun blocked traffic to help us cross the opposing traffic.  

Like other poor, developing, highly populated places, people live wherever they can.  Consequently, getting to Mt. Mayon hardly felt like riding in the wilderness.  We road from city to rural area to the "danger zone" where noone is allowed to settle.  The danger zone is where lava can potentially flow when Mt. Mayon erupts.  

There was a bit of single track --- trail bordered by palm trees and made bumpy by coconut shells and lava rock.  The most challenging part was not technical; rather, it was kind of a suffer-fest, riding uphill on ashes dotted with lava rock, in the heat and humidity.  I may do the ride again:  the views of Mt. Mayon in the clouds were well worth it!

Enough said, read what wiki's got on Mt. Mayon, and enjoy the photos from our little adventure.

Swimming with butanding

Butanding is tagalog for whale shark.  They are kind, large sharks that inhabit warm tropical areas like around the Philippines.  They can be as long as 18 meters.

Whale shark with a snorkeler.  Picture is from http://www.sharkdivingphilippines.com/sharkgallery/whaleshark1.html.

Today, Cindy and I took an excursion to the town of Donsol, to swim with the whale shark.  We took a 1.5 hour van ride south to Donsol and then cruised in a boat searching for a whale shark.  Peak season is May to March where one can see as much as ten different whale sharks in one three hour trip; we're way off peak season.  After four hours of cruising with no significant sign of a whale shark, we decided to head back.  On our way back, we spotted one whale shark!
On our first jump, I swam four meters above the whale shark's trunk for about twenty seconds before I lost him.  The guide had pointed him out to me while he held onto my wrist and pulled me along.  My ability to keep up with the whale shark was severely limited because I'm essentially a non-swimmer and had a life vest on.  But, I swam with the fish!  Once we came up, I saw Cindy's disappointed face.  She had totally missed it because she was looking in front of her but not below her.  Doh!
Fortunately, there was a second sighting of the same shark minutes after we boarded the boat.  We took a second jump and swam with it again but only for about ten seconds.  Cindy said she swam above it's head.  I caught it's tail.  What an experience. 
Swimming with the giant fish is definitely worth the four hour boat ride!  We snapped photos and slept to help kill the time.  Click on the slideshow below to view it full screen. Enjoy...

Kawa-Kawa

Bobby and Marivic drove us to Albay's capital city Legazpi.  On the way there, we stopped at the religious hill called Kawa-Kawa.  Cindy and I walked to the top of the hill, while Maricar and Mommy stayed near the entrance.  Maricar bought a cross with a bloody Jesus on it and another bible. The life-size stations creeped me out a bit, but the views from the top were pretty - you'll see why in the photo album below.
After Cindy and I got back, Bobby treated us all to a big traditional filipino lunch.  I had the best barbecue pork ever.  Cindy found her dream car.

Uncle Totoy's in Balugo

Balugo is the neighborhood in the town of Oas in the province of Albay in the region of Bicol in the Philippines.

Uncle Totoy lives in a house on the property where Nanay and Tatay Olayon raised their children.

Here are photos of people we met during our visit.  


Here are photos taken around Uncle Totoy's house.  


Here are photos taken around Balugo.  

Some History

The purpose of this trip is to take Nanay's ashes back to Balugo, the neighborhood in which she was raised and raised her own children. Here's where she is now:


While in Balugo, we (I) learned a couple things about our family and visited some graves.
Balugo is the neighborhood in the town of Oas in the province of Albay in the region of Bicol.
Nanay Olayon grew up here in Balugo. Tatay Marcelo grew up in the town of Sipocot in the province of Hamacamarines Sur.
Mommy doesn’t know how they met since they are from different provinces. Their marriage was arranged.
Tatay moved to Balugo, since the original land he owned was taken over by squatters while he was in the army for 30 years. When Tatay died, his property was still under litigation to take it back from the squatters.
According to Uncle Totoy, Tatay was in WWII 1941-3. He survived the Bataan Death March. He didn’t attend church but would read the bible daily at 3 a.m. while sipping his gin. He liked gin so much; he’d buy it by the case. When he died, there was a dozen unopened bottles of gin left.
Uncle Totoy bought the land underneath the house from Nanay and built his current house there (unfinished after seven years). There are still coconut and rice fields under Nanay’s name. Uncle Totoy is power of attorney, and Mommy told him he can keep the property for his children.

On my list of places to visit...

I must visit the Philippines before it becomes the next Phuket. 

NYT article:  the next Phuket?