Translation:
Shirl: Thoughts & Shots
Rowan: Paroxysms
Year-End Card & Shows Watched
Saturday
Oct222011

The Honeymoon Suite at Barefoot White Beach Resort in Moalboal, Cebu, Philippines

So we are now ensconced in a lovely place right on the water.  There have been activities around here, like the governonr of Cebu and all the mayors visiting the resort almost next door, a huge contingent of kids who checked in for a night last night, and many, many friendly Filipinos saying, "Hello" [we want you to buy this...].  The waters here are the clearest you ever wanted to see, especially in the morning, and there is a wonderful place down the way to eat.  We could have come on this mode of transport:

but we really needed a driver who knew where the resort was.  It is, indeed, down this path which does not list it [it does, of course, list a funny diving group called Aquaholics]:

Inside the resort, you finally know where you are:

And now, our room, the only part of the resort directly at the edge of the sand.  Here is our dining table and "rest area:"

great kitchen with utensils when you ask for them!

and a great sitting area

and a beautiful bed

 

and a nice set of storage places

nice bathroom

We are served beautifully by Arnell (on left) and Abon (on the right):

and we can work on the internet in the villa

 

Friday
Oct212011

On the way to Moalboal, Cebu Island, Philippines ("Mo-wall', bo-wall'")

Singapore, the city of clean modernity where everything is available and there is no poverty, spelled backwards, is Cebu City.  We left Cebu City on Friday, October 21, for Moalboal and the Barefoot White Beach Resort, located across the island of Cebu and south of the city by about a 3-hour drive.  We were driven to Moalboal by Noel (Christmas, of course, in a Roman Catholic country) in a beautiful new air-conditioned SUV, shown in front of the cafe.  We stopped for lunch at a beautiful bluff cafe, the Palalong Place.  [Alternative: non-air conditioned bus.  Uh, nope.]

(Hey, kids, can you spot the ongoing themes in Aunt Shirl's entries?  Here are some hints: What do you see in the names of places?  Is there a beautiful view?  What is Uncle Rowan's favorite sauce? And of course, which animal appears, usually hungry, wherever we are?)

The name of the place is a double entendre - take your pals along to Palalong

There is a beautiful landscape to view as we eat our bountiful and inexpensive lunch of grilled cheese sandwiches, crab and corn soup, and bao fish soup.  By the way, beware of chilis isguised as green beans in your "fish" soup! 

There is ketchup for Rowan of a unique type.  Good for someone who loves bananas. 

or is it cats-up?  This is Ming, happy to have met Rowan and his bao fish.

Tuesday
Oct182011

See You in Cebu

A quick update to all our fans (yes, both of you, we don't play favorites on this blog):

Remarkably helpful young lady in Cebu City outside our posh hotel.We left Singapore Tuesday afternoon for a three and a half hour flight to Cebu, in the Philippines, our fifth country so far. Rowan went out to take a quick shot of the hotel and this pretty young girl materialized out of nowhere to find out if Rowan was alone, where the wife was, would he like a massage (since the wife was not nearby), and would he take a picture of her? (No, Upstairs, No, Yes.) The women are just so considerate here in Cebu City! This is not Singapore anymore.

Speaking of not being in Singapore...Below is a shot of our current digs. It's a long way down from the ibis Singapore Hotel but also about one-fifth the cost (about $35/night) so perhaps there is a link between what you pay for and what you get. But lots of cable channels, a fridge, free wi-fi, air con, and extra pillows. Tomorrow morning we find out about the breakfast, which may not a buffet.

Sunday
Oct162011

Food! Glorious Food!

One quality Singapore has that we'd taken for granted and now are enjoying: Cleanliness! Yes, as previously mentioned, not only can you drink the tap water, you can eat salads! And have weird fruit drinks. With ice! So even though Rowan is not feeling well due to a chest cold that appeared shortly after the Bali Belly Bug was eradicated, our hungry, veggie-deprived duo has swung into full gastrointestinal overdrive to make up for the month in Bali. (Seriously, for anyone reading this blog, if you eat any fresh fruit or uncooked vegetables in Bali, you'll be sorry.)
Two Asian Lobsters for Five Bucks? Yes! (Click for larger view.)Singapore is so clean that the little eating kitchens stuck everywhere you look, are all safe to eat at. When we first arrived, we were just plain hungry (after our hotel's awesome buffet breakfast wore off), so we went in search of the hawker stalls that serve up just about everything you can imagine. Ironically, Rowan did not imagine seeing the wonderful flathead lobster he discovered first in Brisbane, (thanks to Colin) then again up in Yeppoon. In Australia, these bugs were expensive, to the tune of US$25-35 for a meal of a couple of the little critters. Here, Rowan got two for US$5 plus noodles and veggies. The hawker stalls are definitely cheap!
Salads, Singapore StyleBut our engorgement did not stop there. While it took some venturing out, the next day we found a salad bar where Mrs I-Will-Kill-For-a-Caesar-Salad, had, appropriately enough, a big Caesar Salad. The Mr had some amalgamation of various veggies, and the killing spree was averted. Whew!
This all vegatarian restaurant was outside an entire arcade of vegetarian places.Rowan has been holed up in the hotel room nursing his low-grade fever and hacking cough, like Howard Hughes with drapes pulled shut watching Pink Panther reruns on the Singapore Cartoon Network. Fearing Rowan would be donning Kleenex boxes for slippers, today Shirl hurled him back into the Singaporean heat to eat at an amazing Japanese restaurant entirely vegetarian. They had everything that looked like sushi, chirashi, and even burgers, all completely veggie. The photo shows the menu, some of the food, and then this sports team either going to worship at a Hindu temple, or, a group of Hindus going to play sports. It just was not clear what they were doing but Singapore is at the intersection of many worlds and thankfully they all have good food here.

Wednesday
Oct122011

Singin' the Singapore Song

We have escaped the world known as Bali, with all its enchanting ways. Rowan got Bali Belly (a stubborn intestinal bug) that required Cipro to get rid of. This was from the simple act of eating some lettuce in a wrap in a restaurant that thousands of other westerns eat at, so that does not bode well for a boat-load of tourists. But he's over it like a bad suntan and none too soon either. It doesn't seem possible that we spent a month in the alleged Shangri-La of Indonesia, leaving behind four dogs, a cat, and the bamboo house that we've written about previously. We had a nice sunset dinner (top picture), looking out over the lagoon where fishermen cast their nets until they can no longer see in the darkness. We set sail with our (now regular) driver to take a KLM flight to Singapore before our visa ran out. As we weaved among the scooters, street construction, exhaust, and other taxis, we saw this little black dog on a girl's scooter.
A few hours later we arrived in Singapore, to be met with ultramodern conveniences, a ferris wheel of epic proportions, and tap water you can actually drink. Salads, here we come!

 

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