Elisa: Balud

I totally forgot to mention this in another post- I tried "balud"! Balud, the Philippino speciality, is a duck embryo that people eat in the Philippines and that can be bought pretty much anywhere at any time from street vendors walking around. There are various stages of the embryo- I ate the 16 day old one, which is less scary than the 19 or 20 day ones that already have feathers and bones. We were just talking and hanging out with some locals at the Hayahay bar, and I mentioned, rathern arrogantly that I planned on trying it before leaving the country. I regretted that statement when I realized they wanted me to try it right then! They flagged down a cart, bought two of them for me (not letting me pay, of course) and showed me how it was done. Basically, you make a small whole in the egg, pinch salt into it, and then drink the "fluid" through the whole. It tasted like really great chicken broth. Then you pick off the rest of the shell and eat the inside with a spoon. The yolk part tasted like really moist, flavorful chicken yolk, and I actually really enjoyed it!

Melissa: Characters and Caricatures

Ane- short for Anesio. 60+ Filipino man who has lived in California for many years but just returned to his home town of Dumaguette for retirement. He likes to golf (took us to his golf course), hangs out with the mayor because of his connections through the rotary club (we got to sit and eat Sissig with the Mayors of three Filipino cities), is retired but owns a “restobar” where he eats most his meals and basically uses it to entertain his upper and middle class friends, is known as “tito” (uncle for those spanishly challenged) and was, what I have come to realize, our protectorate for a few days in Dumaguette. Aside from treating us to a few meals (in exchange for our company and assuredly the attention he got from walking around with two foreign American girls) he drove us around with personal tours telling us the history of the town and enlightening us to his perspective on life on Negros. As a member of the rotary club, he told us “you just can never do enough” and we completely understood what he meant as later we would meet a doctor who told us about the many patients seeking his attention each day, the mayor whose office was full of people waiting to talk to him and the wide-eyed, shoulder-hugging pair of young boys who pointed at Elisa’s chicken as we ate on the boardwalk wanting a little extra food. I don’t think I’ve ever hung out with an older, retired guy as much before...

Harold: We stayed in Harold’s Mansion because of a recommendation from a the Swiss couple that we traveled with. They were certainly right that the rooms were affordable (only $5 each per night) and clean (there was actually a shower curtain separating the shower from the toilet! Amazing…) and came with breakfast and a half hour of free internet use. Ane was the one who introduced us to Harold our first night and I thought it weird that I was at a bar with the owner of my hostel. Little did I know but we would be extending our intended 2 nights stay to 5 nights, would be getting rides with him to go snorkeling and diving, would eat dinner at his caretaker’s house for a “fiesta” to commemorate the neighboring towns saint’s bday, would cook him dinner in his actual luxurious house and would drink and dance with him a few more times. At 35, we decided he is just a big kid who knows what he is doing. All smiles and a laugh that seemed to conclude every utterance, his motto was “don’t feel bad about feeling good”. Maybe if he comes to Cali we can return some of the best Filipino hospitality that we have received yet.

Sandy: Owner of Hayahay (means “cool”) bar where reggae night is the big hit. He was the one we stumbled upon with Ane the first night. It just sop happened to be the opening night of his Pizza place’s grand opening and his bar was the one we spent the rest of the evening at. 31 with a wife and three kids, he has tattoos and likes to surf, opened up another restaurant with his dad and manages to stay calm, cool and collected (and party a bit himself) while operating all his businesses. The guy that everyone seemed to know and respect in Dumaguette. It really was a small place…

Britt- A 23-year-old Peace Corps volunteer from Arkansas who is working for his two year stay at the neighboring island of Sequijor but was staying at Harold’s for a vacation. He was on a quest to find a guy who knew a thing or two about bee conservation but Britt’s specialty was working with local fisherman to educate them about over fishing etc. We had a fun time squeezing a million little limes to make key lime pie (which was later devoured in roughly five minutes around 3 am) and talking about how he likes the Peace Corp, how it was adjusting to living in the Philippines and his take on the people and culture etc. I hate to say it or I will admit to the fact that he really made me want to travel to other US states because I have such a fixed, stereotype of the people in the Midwest and the south in my head that really needs so reworking.

George and Co- George is a large middle-aged Filipino man who currently resides in Illinois with his family but comes back to Negros every few years or so for a reunion with his friends he has known since kindergarten. Somehow we chanced to be on the same small island the same sunny afternoon as he was and after he asked us we where we were from and we got to talking his invited us to have fresh fish and wine with him and his friends. He was with his 15-year-old son who seemed to love hanging out with the older guys but who was annoyed with his dad for taking so many photos (he really would click away to a point of excess). But we had a nice lunch and snorkel with them and they gave us a lift back in their car (which we were grateful for because the jeepneys here take forever, you have to stop every 20 feet to pick up a new passenger). Later that night we saw them at Reggae at Hayahay’s and they still took tons of pictures and bought us some drinks. As we walked to a different table Elisa said to me “Traveling really does actualize people’s fantasies…” commenting on how four middle aged guys were pleased to have the attention of two young girls if only just to make them feel younger.

As you have noticed, we met only guys really (and older ones at that). I guess it is a sad fact that it is easier to meet guys than girls and that the people that we did meet had some experience with living in America and were fairly well off. We were treated to so many things but ironically were in a place where we least needed the help and where so many other girls would have benefited more from the generosity. We learned a lot from the people we met, only a few points of reference, we know but we still hold that meeting local people and hanging out with them was time better spent than going to see the actual attractions of the island that we failed to go to (lakes, waterfalls etc.) Now we are in Cebu City and are getting a slap in the face in terms of going from a small, friendly city like Dumaguette to the bigger, colder pace of big city life. Sipping our coffee and planning our next move- I can’t believe we go back to Hong Kong tomorrow…

Elisa: Wonderful day, change of plans

We had a fantastic day today. Got up early, and with a bunch of other divers (6 total) and Harold (head of our hostel), headed out to go snorkeling/diving. We picked up some fresh fish, some mangoes, and some rice steamed in bamboo, and went to the beach. They went out, we went out, tanned on the beach, read our books on the gorgeous sand, deserted of people but surrounded with greenery and fallen coconuts. We grilled the fish on the beach and dipped it and the rice in spicy soy sauce with our fingers, gorging ourselves on mangoes for dessert. It was truly heaven. We drove home with Bob Marley playing and the sun setting. We were going to leave tonight, but Harold and the other guys convinced us to stay and so we are going to their place and cooking them a feast tonight to repay them in part for their incredible hospitality. Key lime pie, Quiche Lorraine, and Lemongrass Chicken wraps. They're making kinilaw, the Filipino cevich, and some Korean guys are making a Korean dish. Hope its good! We'll leave tomorrow instead.Must go cook!

Elisa: the end of Negros

our dinner at Harold's caretakers house where we were served traditional food (an odd thing they do is make super sweet spaggetti) and were invited into their house as if we had been their neighbors


Elisa dishes up a plate


our snorkelling crew (well, everyone else was diving)this was the day I saw a sea turtle!



our lunch of fresh fish with spicy vinegar, sweet mango and "hanging rice"


A view of the coast of the marine sanctuary of Dauin


flower


Britt entertains Elisa as she squeezes a million little limes for key lime pie



Inside Harold's house at his dining room table (quite a contrast to where we ate for the fiesta)


our last guest house in Cebu

Our time in Negros, in in the Philippines in general, is coming to a close. It went by so quickly! Perhaps as all time does, if spent in relaxed places with friendly company. Two nights ago, we had a rather wild night at Reggae Night, after a delicious seafood dinner Ane (Filipino American we met) kindly paid for (he's also managed to pay for two of our lunches, and drive us around the island). My favorite dish was called "kinilaw," which is basically Filipino ceviche with vinegar and coconut milk. So refreshing and incredible! I plan on making it when I return. I've also been eating an inordinate amount of "lecheflan" (sorry Juliette) which is wonderful here. Reggae Night was really fun as kind Filipinos paid for round after round of San Miguel, with lime, which tastes a lot like Corona. We danced and talked until about 3 am. The next morning, we didn't wake up until noon, and so effectively caught up on some sleep we really needed. We had a really calm day just walking around the city and going to the market to buy some fruit and try the cacao drink everyone raves about (unlike most things here, it wasn't too sweet. It was actually delicious). We eat 2 or more mangoes a day now, and carry around jugs of water to get relief from the heat and humidity. Last night, we were invited by Harrold (the really friendly, warm owner of our hostel) to a small party at his friend's house in Cebuland (the town next door to Dumaguete). The house was a small two bedroom hut with a bamboo roof, where the six members of the family lived. Despite their evidently small earthly possessions, they fed us a feast of food ranging from some kind of carrot and beef stew a pork and and cabbage soup and some fruit salad. We spoke to their daughter, who had just gotten married and was four months pregnant, and with her uncle, who has been working in Madrid in a hospital but was back to visit for the summer. After their house, we went across the street and hung out with some younger locals who were drinking beer and eating chips right in front of the beach. I talked to a guy about traveling for a really long time, and he said he didn't have a lot of money (no car, no nice clothes, no cell phone) but that since traveling had always been a priority for him, he had managed to go to 12 other countries so far. He said that mentality was very common here- very poor people make a point to travel, often because they have so much family abroad. But also because of some kind of natural Filipino "joie de vivre" and vibrant curiosity and good spirit that pushes them to explore outside their small island. It reminded me of why I love traveling so much. After a much calmer night than the one before, we went to bed around midnight and are in healthy, well-rested spirits this morning to go snorkeling with Harrold and hopefully see some sea turtles! Tonight, we are going to Cebu, the main city on the main island of Cebu, and spending two nights there before our flight leaves for Hong Kong on Sunday! Hope this post finds all of you well- feel free to leave a message (especially Papounet).

Melissa: through local eyes

Ane shows us around "forest camp"


our brief meeting with the mayors of three cities in the Philippines


A lunch of fish, noodles, rice and vegetable curry dished out to us by George and Co.
on Apo Island



Our transport back to the main island of Negros



Reggae night at Hayahay (we see the guys from Apo Island again)


I think there is a certain paradox as a traveler. Or maybe it is just me, as a traveler. You always tell yourself that you want to see a place, to discover a new way of life, a new way of processing the world but...in when it comes down to it, you want to do this from a bird's eye view or from behind a plate of glass. This is why we want “untouristy” places but also want enough Western backpackers for us to mix and mingle with. This is why we gravitate towards people with our similar backgrounds and why we use our lonely planets as bibles instead of asking the people what they recommend we do. I don't like this reality of how I have been traveling but I will at least be big enough to admit that that is how it is.


Now then, I have now entered a place where travelers are scarce, where people that come from Europe, America, Canada and Australia/New Zealand are minimal. We get stares on the street- partially because we are two young girls but also just out of plain curiosity. Dumaguette is not a touristy place, so they don't see many outsiders around this university town. But, everyone can speak English here and American English to be exact. So, this enables us to actually read street signs and navigate our way around. A simple question landed us onto a series of events that has somehow given me the unique and priceless experience that I now find myself in the middle of here. I am actually breaking my patterns. We have spent the past two and half days with Filipinos. Granted, a lot of them have lived in America for a while, but all of them were born in Negros. There is an open hospitality here where everyone you meet is family that I have rarely encounted in my life. I can understand why so many of the people (all men actually...) that moved to the U.S. decided to move back- moving to a town where everyone is related (literally) and people say hello and smile at you even if they don't know you, to a place like L.A. where you walk among the faceless, would be quite a change.

Today we were laying on the beach of Apo Island (at the snorkeling sanctuary) when a jolly Filipino man and his 15 year old son approached us and asked us where we were from and then promptly invited us to have lunch with them and his three other buddies who he has known since kindergarten. They fed us well and even gave us a ride back in their car and we have plans to see them at “reggae night” at the bar (whose owned we met). It was that simple. And we keep saying “yes” because that is just the thing to do here. Why decline hospitality when you are only going back to a place where that mode of operation doesn't exist? Dumagette would have been just another city to pass through if we hadn't met people, but instead we will probably stay here for most of our stay in the Philippines as we await what other hands will be extended for us to take. Seeing a place through the eyes of the people has proved to be a more rewarding experience that I know I should appreciate while I can. Plans for a “real Filipino fiesta” tomorrow for the real Independence Day and then snorkeling with turtles with the owner of our hostel the next day. No wonder if took talking to local people to find actual good Filipino food! Needless to say, we are well (sunburned, but well) and taking in as much as we can. Thanks for reading!

Elisa: Quick news from Negros

So we are now on a new island called Negros, only about an hour and a half ride from Bohol. We woke up early to go snorkeling yesterday (we didn't stay up too late for my birthday as it was pretty calm in town, but we did have a lovely, late lasting dinner with the swiss couple on the beach complete with live music- the musicians played happy birthday for me, which was embarassing...) and took a little boat out to a small island off the coast. It really looked like paradise, with brilliant turquoise and neon green trees and white sand. We found some beautiful shells on the beach (including a "eye of st. lucy"!!! My first one!) and saw some beautiful coral and fish underwater. We were with only two other people, a Dutch couple, on a big boat, and it was really great to have such a small party.
We got back around 2 and took the ferry to Negros, which was only about an hour and a half. We checked into our hostel in Dumaguete, the main city here, and were impressed to only be paying 5 dollars each per night for complimentary hot water, towels, breakfast, tea and coffee, 30 minutes of internet per day, and a very friendly staff. We went out for a typical mediocre dinner, and on the way back, met a very friendly old man who had lived in California for 30 years but had moved back to Negros, his home island, after retirement and his wife's death. He was so excited to meet people from California (his son still lives there, having attended Cal Poly Pomona) and we spent a good 4 hours with him and other people he knew, just talking. He bought us rounds of drinks, let us use his cell phone, and one of his friends even bought and showed me how to eat "balud," a Filippino specialty of a duck embryo still in the egg. I tried it without throwing up! I was very, very proud. It wasn't even bad! The embryonic liquid tasted like amazing chicken broth. (Don't barf, I actually ate it...) Anyway, it was great to hang out with locals, especially such warm ones, and we are invited to many houses for dinner already. We love Negros and plan on staying here for quite a while with all our new friends!

Melissa and Elisa: on to the Philippines...

the "tricycles" (motorbikes with a sidekick car attached) proved to be the best way to cheaply get around


a view from our hotels restaurant hut


sights from the top of our bus to the chocolate hills


it was only us a four boys that braved the highest level of seating


a view of the chocolate hills


I don't know if the clouds being reflected in Elisa's Ray Bans do them justice but just know that they were amazing


Michele and Martin- our fellow travelers for a few days


a fine catch for the day- he appeases me by holding up his future dinner or livelihood



This is what the inside of a Filipino jeepney looks like. I don't think you could really fit more people in it if you tried.



the beautiful sunset that I had to capture even though we were still frantically looking for a room for the night


elisa and her prezzies on her bday


lounging on the beach- moving with the sun


greenery


San Miguel (light) that we grew quite fond of


Elisa and her traditional dessert of "halo halo" (really gross combination of some kind of root icecream, coconut milk, corn, beans, cornflakes and jelly pieces) let's just say we didn't have halo halo again.


a view of our hotel in Alona Beach (only $10 a night- one of our bigger splurges)


loading up the boat for snorkeling excursion #1


It took us a looong time to get from our hostel in Bangkok to our guesthouse in Bohol. We went to the airport around 10 pm, took a 1 am flight to Manila, waited 3 hours for our connection to Cebu in the southern Philippines, than took a cab to the ferry, which took us to Bohol, then a tricycle (yes, a tricycle- more like a motorbike with a side kick car) to our guest house called Nuts Huts. It was highly recommended, and was extremely beautiful- huts in the middle of the jungle (1.5 km from the road) next to the river, but it was very secluded and had few people to talk to or meet (it is low season here). So we quickly grabbed some food and went to sleep at 4 in the afternoon. We were planning on waking up for dinner that night, but Melissa had a difficult time with our new alarm clock so we woke up around 11pm and decided to just keep sleeping. We were exhausted to the point of delirium.
The next day, we got up early and had breakfast, where we met a very nice swiss couple (there's pretty much only couples in the Philippines. Yippee.) We decided to go with them to visit the Chocolate Hills, these famous land formations that look like really big...hills. Kind of a letdown. But the transport made it all worth it- we managed to flag down the public bus, and were told to sit on top rather than inside of it, making for a windy, terrifying, yet very beautiful one hour ride to these disappointing hills. We made sure we got a seat inside on the way back... As quaint as this public transportation was, we got a little jaded with it when it took us 3 hours to get to our next hostel, in Alona Beach. If we had hired a taxi, it would have taken us 1 hour. We may need to splurge next time (by splurge, we mean shelling out 3 extra dollars. Tough choice). Alona Beach is beautiful (white sand, turquoise water, palm trees, the whole bit) but we had a bit of a hard time finding a hostel as it is a 3 day weekend for Filipinos as their Independence day is Monday. We managed to get some lounging hours in on the beach today, and as it is Elisa's birthday (yay! 21!) we are going to go out for a yummy dinner (though this might be hard, as food in the Philippines doesn't compare to Thai food) and especially yummy drinks tonight. The national beer here is San Miguel, which is cheap and quite decent. We have plans to go snorkeling at 9 am in the morning, so we won't go tooooo wild... probably. This won't be too difficult as the disco we went to last night was filled with old white men with young Filipino women (sex tourism is really pronounced and blatant here). We managed to find the only young Western travelers and hung out with them. We're still traveling with the young Swiss couple, who are very nice, but we will part ways with them tomorrow as we take a ferry for Negros, another island, tomorrow night. Also, we both agree that the clouds here are incredible. We don't really know why.

Elisa and Melissa: Thailand re-cap

street alcohol (something you just don't see even in liberal Berkeley)


we rest in the grass to get away from motorbike fumes


i had a large appreciation for this dogs life philosophy

As we have left Thailand and are now in the Philippines, we are reflecting upon our often quirky experiences of the last two weeks. Here's some quick stats for you:
# of massages: 4 (each)
# of tuktuks (mini cars with pushy drivers) accosting us: 100+
# of fruit shakes consumed: 1-2 daily
# of hours of ground transportation, total: 33 hours, plus many metered and unmetered taxis
# of guest houses/hostels stayed in: 6
# of cooking classes: 2
# of maps in Lonely Planet guidebook that were helpful: 0
Average amount of sleep per night: 4-6
# of mosquito bites: lets just say more than we'd like
# of accommodations where travelers just sat around watching movies: 3 (50% of places we stayed!)
# of old white men with attractive, young Thai women: umpteen
# of times we did laundry: 2
# of times we tried to learn to say "thank you" in Thai: 5
# of actual Thai people on Khoa San Road: only the vendors
# of meals that cost us more than $5: 2
New food we tried: banana flower, rambutan, lychees, mini pearl-sized Thai eggplant, durian, dragonfruit, sugarcane

Melissa: Rushed

us in our girly aprons on our second cooking class (veggie this time)


a sample of some local fruits


our twirling instructor who made us sing with her "sap sap sap sap sap!"


the massive amount of food that was for the taking after a few hours of cranking out dishes that once seemed so complicated to make

when you have no more 10 baht coins and you have six mintues left on the computer, your reflective pace must be brisk.

Here is a quick positioning for you:

full of mango and sticky rice (and feeling just as sticky as it is really hot here now)
plans to walk to chinatown (yes, I know I didn't leave China to go see more of China)
a back pack chilling in a guest house that carries my life around but if stolen would not be crucial
mentally saying goodbye to thailand
thinking a lot about people from home and my upcoming semester (about YOU people)

ok, two min. left. gotta go.

Elisa: Bangkok, round two.

Elisa and her street food pad thai (less than a dollar)


us at my lovely birthday dinner (we contemplated walking out with the nice golden shawls they gave us to fight the strong AC but decided it wasn't very fitting with going out to such a nice place...)


me on khao sahn road- the tourist infused street of Bangkok


my delight!



one of the many large temple structures we passed

We got to Bangkok after an exhausting bus ride which allowed me to sleep about 2 hours, max. I talked to a nice English guy the whole time, but by the end (6 am, after a 12 hour ride) I was much less friendly and talkative. We got a cheap hostel close to Khoa San Road, a really wild and fun street, took a quick shower, and went off to explore the city. After wandering around for a while, stumbling across some markets and some watts, we took a cab to a worthless shopping center, did some shopping on Khoa San Road (everthing is really cheap! I got 2 dresses, a shirt, earrings, and a dress fixed at a tailor, all for less than 30 dollars!), got a massage, and signed up for a cooking class for this morning. I then took Melissa out for her birthday, quite belatedly, and the restaurant was really really fancy, which was a wonderful change from the dirty, cheap, wild lifestyle we've been living. They gave us cashmere scarves to keep warm and warm jasmine-scented towelettes between courses. The duck curry with lychees was amazing, as was the beef salad with mint and eggplant. The coconut ice cream was mindblowing, even though we were way too full. We got cocktails (I had an amazing mojito) and were basically treated by royalty by several staff. We decided we couldnt live like that all the time, and that the contrast is what made it great, but it was still a little sad to come back to a dark, dingy hotel room with no sheets. Off to the Philippines tonight- no more time on the internet, so I'll write more then! Leave a message!

Melissa: Something I thought I would never do...

Wow. Just back from one of the most enjoyable things I have done yet in Thailand. Against our better judgment, the knowledge that our parents would most definitely disapprove and our rationally structured educations…we rented motor bikes and used them. Elisa and I had never been on one before but managed to take them from the shop and return them a day later with not a bruise or scratch on our body. This is why I feel I can write about this- because we made it alive. The countryside around Pai is absolutely breathtaking and, once I got more comfortable on the bike, I was able to look around with the wind in my hair and the sun on my back. We failed at actually finding the canyon and the waterfall we were looking for but, honestly, it was really about the drive and the scenery. Sigh. So yes, now I have 10 lychees in my bag that I got from a local market while Elisa was getting a salty crab coconut milk dish for her lunch and we are about to make the 3 hour drive back down to ChiangMai (which I have spelling wrong this whole time!) where we will have three hours to explore the town some more and actually see some Wats (temples) before we make our final descent down to Bangkok on our “VIP bus”. 11 hours and we will arrive in Bangkok at 6 in the morning with two big bags and high hopes for the two days ahead. Pai surely offered us what we were looking for. We got some good rest (we went to bed at 11 last night after a late night Thai massage we were exhausted). I managed to take a two hour yoga class with “mam” a very upbeat and vital 60-year-old who posted old beauty contest pictures all over her wooden house. 10 girls and I ended the session with a light lunch of fruit and Indian rice cakes and some discussion about the people of Pai. I was thankful to get some exercise and stretch out my sore and aching thighs (that trek in Chiang Mai really did me in). Best dinner in Thailand so far last night (who knew I loved banana flower salad?) and the promise of more edible delights to come. We say goodbye to our fellow travelers from Norway but know that with the wonderous connections of facebook, we will be able to see each other again if we should so happen to migrate towards each others side of the world.

Elisa: Adventures

Being in Pai is a lot more chill than being in a bigger city. Within a few hours, we knew all the street names and had no problem getting around. Taxis and tuktuks are unnecessary in such a small town. Yesterday, our full day here, we had a very relaxing morning. Melissa and our Norwegian friend Maria did yoga in the morning, and I walked around town. I bought a nice black skirt and some ponchos to protects us from the rain (we keep getting soaked everywhere- very refreshing, but our clothes smell bad and take for forever to dry in this humid weather). We met up afterwards, rented scooters, and did a nice easy drive through the countryside, visiting a watt (temple) and a cute Chinese village where we had tea, dried fruit, and talked with a nice Irish traveler until the rain subsided and we could keep driving. That night, we went out to an amazing restaurant where we tried: pork and green eggplant salad, banana flower salad with chicken and shrimp, steamed fish curry pudding, and shan pudding for dessert (a custardy coconut thing). Everything was phenomenal- our favorite meal so far. I loved it so much that after our drive around this morning (which was really beautiful- gorgeous, extremely lush rainforest terrain with clouds coming down on the mountains around) I went back and got some crabs in coconut milk to go. I'll eat it on our bus on the way to Chiang Mai (in 5 minutes!)