Philippines: Chocolate Titties, furry gremlins, and Filipino double decker buses

S0 long story short...Siquijor (pronounced see-kee-whore hah - sometimes erik calls it seekyslut) was really relaxing and peaceful but the nightlife was pretty lame - mostly just old germans smoking cigarettes alongside their gorgeous young filipina wives. Probably the most exciting thing about Siquijor was meeting this German named Holly who owned a local restaurant. Check out his left leg. Diving in Australia...nibble nibble CRUNCH. Tiger shark. "Oh gosh that's awful!" He replied - "It was worse for the shark. I killed it." Too bad he ended up getting himself with the dagger in the leg a few times in the process...



Holly's best friend in Siqujor was an old white sweet little American grandpa named Ralph. He was so innocent, with white hair and sparkly blue eyes. For some reason, Holly only referred to him by two names (in his rough thick german accent): "Bloody motherfucker" and "white nigger"!!! Luckily Ralph could always get him back by responding "you're just mad because you lost the war."

Other than foul-mouthed germans, siquijor also has some amazing sunsets...check out our little photo sesh :)




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On to the land of the furbies (tarsiers)! BOHOL...
We stayed in this kickass place called Nuts Huts out in the middle of the jungle right along the Loboc river. Our little wood and palm hut also came with a couple of 8- and 6-legged friends so we had to use a mosquito net over our bed. The top of the canopy was COVERED in nasty old bug carcasses and spider egg sacks. I just tried to convince myself that it was a canopied princess bed...



On our first day, we hired a guide to take us on a jungle trek up to bat caves...full of thousands of beady-eyed furry flying rats and scorpion spiders. The caves were actually used as hideouts by Japanese soldiers during WWII. You can still see left over barbed wire and shattered clay jars with japanese writing on them.




The following day we bussed out to the Tarsier sanctuary. Here's one for your viewing pleasure: :) :) :)



On to the Chocolate hills or the "Chocolate Titties" as we like to call them. They still have no explanation for their booby-like formation. Erik is convnced that they are just US military bunkers covered in grass. Mobbed by a heard of koreans with cameras glued to their faces, we felt like we had left Bohol and entered Seoul.

On the way back, we got to experience our first filipino double decker bus. Once the bus has become a sardine can of filipinos, and not one more person can hang off of the side, they send you up top to the luggage racks. And you're not just up there with people, you are up there with their stinking sacks of pigs feet and potatoes. Just when you think that not one more person could possibly fit up top, 5 more squeeze in. We ended up getting pushed all the way to the end of the roof top - our legs dangling over the edge, our hands grasping on to a bucket that had been strapped in place. A man with breath reeking of Tanduay rum clammored up the ladder and sat virtually in Erik's lap. He looked Erik straight in the face and started speaking Vasaya. When he realized we were American, he got really excited and offered us ice cream from his Styrofoam. cooler. "Now??!" I exclaimed, as I tightened my grip on the bucket and ducked my head to avoid getting bitch-slapped by an overhanging palm leaf.



Lastly...CHRISTMAS! We had an awesome Christmas. Nuts Huts hosted a huge Xmas feast for all of the guests - Probably one of the best meals of my life. Pumpkin soup, coconut Hinalang Chicken (I got the recipe!), garlic bread, salad, and the most mindblowing mango orgasm-in-your-mouth dessert. At 10:30 we all ran down to the river and jumped in for a crazy late night Xmas swim.

Here we are with the Belgian owners (Chris in white and Rita in tanktop) and our Finnish friends Yari (behold his red Mustafa mane) and Ocha.




YAY Thanks for reading guys!
We are in Bangkok so we'll post another blog soon with some crazy stories about our stay on Khao San Road and New Year's. WOO!
Also, we updated our last blog on Dumaguete with pictures...so check it out :)
much love guys we miss you
erik and megan

Philippines: Harold's Mansion, Baby Cute, and the Notorious Trigger Fish

HEY GUYS!
So not many people that we talked to had been to Dumaguete - but our holy bible (Lonely Planet's Southeast Asia on a Shoestring) said that it was a big college town just a few clicks away from some amazing hiking. So we decided to go check it out - even if it would just be for a day. We ended up having such a good time that we ended up staying for 4!

We stayed in Harold's Mansion, just outside of the downtown area and the boulevard that runs along the waterfront. We felt so spoiled - we couldn't believe this place. HUGE room with 2 big beds, TV, hot shower, fan, access to a safety deposit box, 30 free minutes of internet a day, free breakfast, and optional laundry services. All for around $8. UHmazing. Beyond that, Harold is a goldmine of information on the region.

The way that Harold's Mansion came about is actually a pretty interesting story....after receiving his 4 year degree from the local university in Dumaguete, he left the Philippines behind to go pursue the "American Dream" in California. He never imagined that a 4 year undergraduate degree would earn him no more than a job cleaning pools for rich old whities. HAH it's like "hmmmm I'm not sure if you are quite right for this job....but ya know...now that I think about it....I have a pool in need of some cleaning...." Can you imagine? Anyway, Harold headed back to the Philippines and, after traveling around to learn more about what makes a successful backpacker's hotel, he borrowed a huge loan from his parents and launched the now extremely successful Harold' Mansion. Beyond that, he has several other properties that he rents out, and is perhaps one of the most well-connected people in the Philippines. Not a bad person to meet...

On our first day there, Harold suggested that we go check out Casaroro falls. We took a Jeepney to Valencia and hiked up this steep road surrounded by little makeshift houses nestled between groves of palm trees. Street dogs snoozed on the hot pavement...cows teathered by their nostrils grazed on the side of the road...and of course, even here up in the mountains, VIDEOKE. (video karaoke). Do you know how bizarre it is to hear ABBA's "Dancing Queen" blasting from a a little shack in the middle of no where? Anway, two hours later, we reached an entrance point to the falls - where you pay the woman that lives there 10 pesos as a visitor's fee. Because the falls had become so popular, they had constructed 300 concrete steps that lead you over the slippery rocks to the waterfall. It was funny, walking along the paved pathway, surrounded by dangling jungle vines, and the sound of the rushing water below, it almost felt like standing in line, waiting for the Indiana Jones ride at Disneyland. HAH Until you hear ABBA again and you snap back to reality. Anyway, the waterfall was amazing!! 100 feet tall! Check it out:



That night we went with Harold to listen to some live music at a bar/restaurant on the waterfront called Hayahay. Had a couple beers, ordered a pizza. Then went to another local bar where you sit on pillows on the floor. Then we met Elain. Comes stumbling drunk out of nowhere, looking at me glazey eyed...he was a friend of Harold's. He said "My name is Elain. It's French." Erik and I introduced ourselves. He told us that he had been drinking since 5pm because he went to a Christmas party. In the Philippines, Christmas is literally celebrated for 2 months, with someone hosting a party nearly every night. His short stature and round face earned him nicknames like "Danny Devito" and "Baby Cute". He dropped the F-bomb every other sentence, even if he didn't mean it. "You are from America? Man, fuck America. Fuck the Philippines too. You are going to Bohol? (the place with all of the cute little furby-like tarsiers). Man, fuck Bohol." After that, he invited us to come diving and see the hoards of barracudas that live in the deep waters just outside of his house. Pointing to himself, he said "This is the man that will show you the barracuda. I want to show you my barracuda." I said, "Hey baby cute, we just met, I don't know if I want to see your barracuda." Behold the drunken Devito (in blue):



The next day, we went snorkeling with Harold, his sister, his niece, and a more sober Elain. People don't go there so much for the beach (black sand), but for the amazing coral reefs. So much better then Moalboal. Angel fish, all sorts of others in psychadelic colors, a turtle 4 feet long (which apparently was "a small one"), huge grouper fish, and the notorious trigger fish. When Erik saw one, he dove down to take a closer look, only as he cleared through the murky water, he realized that the beast also had beastly razor-sharp teeth. As soon as he spotted them, he looked up and saw a Filipino frantically waving his hands. Luckily frantic waving means the same thing to most people in every language....Erik booked it out of there and luckily still has all 10 fingers. I guess they take pretty nasty lock-jawed bites. Yiike.




We had planned on leaving to catch the boat to Siquijor at 6PM, but once we started drinking a couple beers with Harold, and he invited us to stay overnight at his personal mansion, we couldn't refuse. 1 final night in Dumaguete :) We went back to Hayahay to listen to another live band. Harold was so excited that we decided to stay another night, that he kept drinking his beers like water and ended up getting absolutely shitfaced (see pic below). After he fell asleep at the table, Erik and I started trying to figure out how we were going to get the 3 of us back to his place. We didn't even know where he lived. We ended up shaking him awake and throwing him in the back of his car. I would drive him home. But the thing is, this wasn't just a car. This was a beast. A humongous SUV. I could hardly see over the dashboard. Luckily there was hardly any traffic on the road. One of the men from Hayahay helped me back it out so I wouldn't cream the frail old Filipinas selling Balut (eggs with 21 day old chick fetuses inside UGH) on the street. Luckily we could wake Harold up enough to give us directions to his place and we made it home safe. We fell asleep like babies in a cozy bed, spoiled in a nest of down pillows, and caught the boat to Siquijor the next morning.


We partied so hardy in Dumaguete, it feels good to be in quiet little Siquijor now. Harold hooked us up with this amazingly sweet woman named Fides. I have such a hard time saying her name without cracking up because her name is pronounced like "Fetus". Beyond that, the beautiful little cottage that she owns is called Hambilica - which is said "Humbilica" and DEFINITELY sounds like "Umbilical". Hah I crack myself up sometimes. Staying at Umbilical with Fetus. oh goodness...

Anyway...it is probably the best place we have stayed so far...located on a cliff looking over the rocky shore below...surrounded by manicured gardens of local wild plants...little chicks run along the seashell pathways that weave through the gardens. A fatty gecko likes to stick himself to the wall above our door. It's like a little couples' get away. Plus Fides is giving us a great price - 600P per night (about $11). We've just been taking it easy...listening to music, reading, playing cards...we'll probably go swimming later. Just loving the easy life right now. :)

More soon!
Thanks for reading!
xoxo
megan and erik

Philippines: Stink water, the Hugh Hefner of the philippines, and finding Nemo

So Bantayan island was amazing. We stayed in this awesome little bungalow on the right on the Budyong beach. For 500P ($10) per night, we had a double bed with a porch and a private bathroom. The only problem was that every once in a while, the water that came out of the faucets and shower would smell like sulfer. We'd say "Oh no, the stink water is back..." But other than that, we loved our little beach home!


Bantayan is a really laid back town. You don't see many foreigners (or "pale faces" as one foul-mouthed Scotsman named Gus calls them). We would usually bum around the beach during the day - swimming, playing frisbee in the water, reading in the shade...but at night we always find the party.

One of our favorite hang out spots was a placed called d'Jungle. It is owned by the virtual Hugh Hephner of the Philippines - a 72 year old French man who claims to have many beautiful filipino girlfriends. One time he had a one too many San Miguel beers and we overheard him trying to woo a young lady by saying that he was "the smartest man on Bantayan Island". What a character...





We also hung out with locals at the karaoke bar, singing your standard Bon Jovi, Bed of Roses over rum and coke...Afterward I hopped on top of Don Don's tricycle and Erik climbed on the bike and we drove Don Don around the streets....







We took a ferry from Bantayan back to Cebu and stayed with Chen and her roommates for one more night. The got up at 4am the next morning and the 11 of us hopped on a bus to Moalboal. They brought along mangos, pineapple, and a bunch of meat to BBQ on the beach. After our yummy feast, we got a bunch of snorkeling gear and went out in the water for a couple hours. Only one out of the 9 of them knew how to swim! Unreal right? How do you grow up in the philippines and not know how to swim? From what I gathered, for them at least, it has to do with wanting to stay away from the beaches to keep from tanning. Chel said in her most innocent voice: "When we go to the beach, we burn, and we don't want to turn into little negritos". Crazy stuff.

Anyway, we went swimming along a coral reef for a couple hours - saw a couple nemos, floated around. We taught them how to swim with their goofy life vests on. It was great!

When we parted ways at the end of the day, they gave Erik and I Moal Boal t-shirts that they had bought for us on the beach (which were so small that they practically came up to our bellybutton haha) and a couple other little souvenirs. SO SWEET. Filipinos are probably the nicest people I have ever met.





Erik and stayed overnight in an amazing private room at Cora's Palm Court - it had its own porch looking out directly over the ocean. And because the shower suddenly stopped working and we ended up having to do manual showers from a bucket, she ended up knocking it down to 500P for the night (about $10).

To poop or not to poop....

This story starts with a little conversation that we had with a couple of Canadians on Bantayan island over a $2 fifth of rum mixed with $1 bottle of coke (please note: never drink filipino rum. There is a reason it is $2). Okay the conversation goes like this:

Erik to John the Canadian: Hey, do you guys know of a good place where we can get some fresh fruit and vegetables?

John the Canadian, whispering as if about to make a deal under the table: You guys are lookin' for some fiber, aren't ya?

I don't get it. Filippinos are freaks of nature. Literally all they eat is meat (on a stick, in a soup, in noodles) and bread (rice, baked goodies). They hardly ever eat fruits and veggies. We came all prepared with our tums and cipro prepared for diarrhea galore, and now we're stuck with cement bricks in our guts.

I guess this is a pretty serious issue for some people. John the Canadian advised that we tote cans of fruit in our packs for those shitty (or shit-less) moments. He and his girlfriend, Angela even resorted to buying a can of beans and attempting to heat it with the hot water from their shower. They ended up with a nasty luke-warm watery bean mess. They tried to choke it down but didn't get very far. Hey, desparate times call for desparate measures.

Finally, after praying for 3 DAYS to the poop god, our prayers have been answered. Fiber pills! YES we finally found some. Now that we are finally staying in a big city, they have actual pharmacies with all kinds of supplements. As you can see, we are verrrry happy:

Philippines: Beachbumming, Karaoke and Meat on a Stick

Okay so we actually ended up having to blow all of our American cash reserves on a plane ticket from Cebu to Bankok before arriving in the Philippines to show that we would not be there for more than 21 days without a visa. Luckily, we met a Filipino girl on the plane named Chenera (Chen for short) who, within 5 minutes of talking to us, immediately invited the two of us to stay with her 7 friends in their 3 bedroom apartment. It was pouring rain when when we arrived at the Cebu airport. We hopped in a taxi with Chen and a few of her friends and waded through the flooded streets. It was 5am and we were exhausted, but crammed into a taxi with 5 people and all of our luggage, the rain pounding down on the roof, and dancing queen blaring from the radio, we were kind of delirious. So we just kind of went with it.

We arrived at their apartment 15 minutes later. It was very simple but actually pretty big. Plastic furniture, air matresses, a tiny 10 inch TV with 2 channels. We came in and Chen offered us mugs of warm milk and a loaf of "American recipe" white bread. When you come through the front door, you take off your "outside" shoes and slip on a new pair of "inside" sandals that you keep on while you're scooting around the house. But you can't forget to take them off when you go into the bedroom - you leave your shoes in a big pile outside the door and tiptoe around barefoot.



All of Chen's friends were soo nice and friendly - always laughing and goofing off. One of the best parts was when we the 10 of us went for dinner to a filipino BBQ. This is no mom and pop throw the weiners on the grill with the lighter fluid type of BBQ. You enter into this huge venue - the whole place if filled with smoke. In the middle are rows of tables. Each table is connected with a different BBQ stand. Their owners jostle to get you to sit at their table, and once you pick one, you head over to select what meats you want BBQed. Duck liver, pig intestines....they all come on skewers. We stuck with your basic chicken breast and BBQ pork. The food was SO GOOD. You suit up with a plastic baggie on your eating hand to keep from getting too messy. It looks goofy but hey it works! You also get these little rice balls that come wrapped in palm fronds - you take them and dunk them in a mixture of soy sauce and chillies. YUM



After gorging ourselves on filipino BBQ, we headed for our first experience of filipino karaoke. Filipinos are OBSESSED with Karaoke. It's cheap - maybe $1 per hour for a private room, a big color TV, and a song book. But Karaoke in the philippines is totally different from Karaoke back home. Like, you know back home, when people sing karaoke, it's usually after getting hamsauced at a bar? This is different. Karaoke here is serious business. You don't drink. You don't sing Pour Some Sugar on Me. You sing ballads. And you do your very best to sing. No one laughs if someone is a bad singer. In fact, we've heard stories about people getting shot in the head for laughing during a karaoke performance. Not funny anymoreI think I'm finally starting to get into it. My rendition of "Three Little Birds" by Bob Marley was a pretty big hit last night. I even sang it with a little Jamaican accent. HAH Erik and I were laughing inside, but they were eating it up.



The next day Chen and her friend Irene woke up at 6am and helped us get on the bus to Bantayan. As the bus started taking off, she handed me a little anklet made of shells. So sweet! Hey, I guess I'm a real backpacker now. I got my first official anklet. :)


It took us 3 hours by bus, and a 1 hour ferry ride to Bantayan Island. A guy named Don Don ended up offering us a ride on his "tricycle" (a bike connected to a carriage for 2) and he took us to sugar beach and helped us get a place to stay on the beach for 600P (about $12). Bantayan is really quiet. The beach is gorgeous with white sand, blue water and palm trees. In the market you can get street meet for less than a buck and sing karaoke for 5 pesos per song (about 2 cents). Wherever we go, Erik and I get constant stares and people are always saying hi, wanting to chat and find out where we're from. I think for Erik it's more about his height, and for me it's my eyes. It also has to do with us being lighter skinned. There is actually a multimillion dollar industry surrounding skin whitening in the Philippines - because darker skinned filipinos
generally work out in the fields.











This morning Don Don actually helped us relocate to a new bungalow in a more secure location on Budyong beach (our old place had a front door that had obviously been kicked in before. yikes). Now for 500P we have our own bungalow. Double bed. ON the beach. surrounded by palm trees. We spent the whole day playing in the water :) We're having such a great time, I think that we are pretty much planning on being beach bums for the next 4 days until we head back to Cebu to go to Chen's Christmas party.
















Well guys, the beach is calling!
Hope you enjoy the pics! :)
loooove
megan and erik

Singapore: NO SPITTING

Hi guys!!
Wow 20 hours in the air is a looong time. But we finally made it to Singapore! And, we had the added bonus of experiencing Japanese toilets - where electronic buttons allow you to powerwash your behind ("SPRAY"), gently splash from below ("BIDET"), or play the sound of a flushing toilet to disguise those noisy moments ("FLUSHING SOUND").



We ended up meeting a couple on the plane (Syy and David) and took a taxi together to our hostel (the Fernloft on River Valley Rd.) at 4am. Singapore is REALLY expensive compared to the other places we will be traveling- so luckily we were able to book a 4-bed dorm room to share with Syy and David. Singapore wasn't that exciting so I'll keep it brief: the best parts were eating in "hawkers stands" where local food comes relatively cheap (about $3.50-$4 per person), getting caught in downpours that put Seattle to shame, and visiting the Singapore Zoo. The Zoo there was THE BEST we have ever been to - it has a completely open layout with nothing more than a knee-high bamboo fence keeping you from getting mowed down by rhinos, pygmie hippos, white tigers, meer kats, and any other animal you could possible think of. And the animals looked so much happier and healthier than the ones we're seen before locked up restricted areas. Anyway, it was awesome.

















Also somewhat surprising coming from Singapore (considering the fact that you can get caned for spitting and axed for drug trafikking), is just how nice people were. There was one time when the four of us were walking around downtown and wanted to catch the metro to the zoo - we stopped and asked this old man how the metro system worked and which stop to get off at. He walked us 3 blocks to the metro, took us down to the underground station, and then, when we went to the electronic ticketing machines, he even poked all of the buttons for us and fed coins into the machine for each one of us. Erik and I were pretty shocked - we couldn't imagine someone in Seattle going that far our of their way to help some tourists...

On our final day in Singapore, we said goodbye to Syy and David and exchanged information so that we might be able to meet up with the two of them in Syy's small Thai village (only 24 people) for New Year's.

All in all, Singapore was crazy busy ((it is the most densely populated country in the world) and a real money sucker - kind of like an Asian New York. Not really our style. But we definitely made the best of it. We just can't wait to get to hot weather and beaches in the Philippines!

More to come soon :)
looove
megan and erik

5 weeks and counting!

It’s finally hit - I’m starting to get butterflies just thinking about it. Just 5 more weeks! Erik and I have been working like crazy trying to finance the trip and save enough cushion for when we get back next June. Today he’s working with ‘the crazies’ from 2pm till 8am tomorrow morning - and is doing the same on Saturday. It’s exhausting and we don’t get to see each other as much as we’d like - but payoff is just around the corner. It feels amazing to know that everytime I have to romance Joey’s Ahi Tuna Tacos to a table (”Seared rare ahi tuna, served a on a shredded asian salad tossed in a ginger soy vinaigrette, drizzled with lime wasabi aoili and served in a crisp gyoza taco garnished with sesame seeds red bell peppers and green onions, served with a cilantro ginger vinaigrette”) - it means one more day in the surf with my favorite man in the world. And everytime Erik puts in extra hours at the Community Psychiatric Clinic to prompt for meds, clean up vomit, scold crazies for smoking pot in their rooms or pissing on the side of a building, it was all working toward this goal that we have been aiming for for the past year. Plus, when we finally leave our Northgate apartment at the end of November, I don’t think we’ll be missing it too much - not with its diarrhea carpets and the sketch-ass creepers hanging out at the front door (if you’ve been to our place, you know EXACTLY what we mean). Don’t get me wrong - life is great right now - we have each other, we have Kar bear and Patti Cake, the D-train, Kwizzle, B.C., B. Shor, Sid, and Ryan “the porn Godfather” Adams, plus our crazy “30 pack of Milwaukee’s best is not enough” neighbors. And our families have been super supportive of the trip - even though we’re going to be gone for a whole 6 months. But we are so pumped for the trip. Whenever I tell people about what we’re doing, and they’re like “Gosh that’s awesome”, I’m like “I know…we basically rule at life.”