Back Home

So ends my trip. Being back, I quickly remember why I left for the trip in the first place. The carefree ways of travel has been replaced with the reality of the real world (work, etc) and the monotony of the familiar. It’s weird. Coming back, everything felt so regular. Did I actually go on my trip? I had to pinch myself to make sure I hadn’t dreamed the entire last 3 months.

This was the second multi-month trip I’ve ever done. The first one was about 7 years ago and was longer. After coming back from that trip, life in the US felt foreign to me for the first few months back. I had seen such a different world in the still undeveloped parts of SE Asia back then (Indochina). I had become so accustomed to the slower pace of life that upon returning home, the blatant commercial marketing everywhere completely stunned me. It was such a contrast to what I had experienced the few months earlier.

That was then. Now, the world has changed. I had hoped to see that “old way” facet of SE Asia that I had seen before on this recent trip, but it has all changed. Progress marches on. Now, when I return home, I am no longer stunned. The pace of life in SE Asia is no longer slow, not even in Laos. I really miss the quaintness of non-modern SE Asia. At least I got a chance to see it, but I really miss it. I have an analogy for the progress and modernization in SE Asia. 10 years ago, we would have thought of China as a poor, developing country. Now, we see it as an economic superpower, slowly creeping up on the US. I was in Guilin, China two years back. The country had modernized so much that the middle class there visit replicas of old Chinese villages to see how the “old days” were like. That was very fascinating to me. There I was to see some old culture, and there these Chinese middle class were doing the same thing. I’m sure the phenomena will spread to SE Asia. In fact, I know it already has. Middle class people from Thailand visit Thai ethnic minorities in the mountains of Vietnam to see the “old ways”… while they can.

Regardless of the march of modernity, this trip was still fun. The food was awesome. I loved seeing the cultural differences between the countries: modern metropolis Hong Kong, tourism happy Thailand, repressive and decidedly not modern Myanmar, modernizing Laos with distinctly Indochina flair, and beach life in the Philippines. The burn out feeling I’ve had for the last several years are gone. I’m refreshed and ready to proceed with my new ventures. I’m still under the spell of the travel bug. Once bitten, it’s hard to give it up. I sense another trip is somewhere in the not too distant future.

Manila, Philippines

Manila is a surprising city. On first arrival, I expected a shabby city like Cebu City. What I saw was a rising metropolis with a lot of American big city influences. I’m staying here for 1.5 days in the Makita area. Just from this one small location, it appears to be a very livable and lovely city. I actually see joggers and cyclists on the street. The traffic can get bad like anywhere else, but compared to what I have experienced, the traffic here is very tame. It’s also very quiet on the street even with traffic and sidewalks filled with pedestrians. There are a lot of trees around, which is the big differentiator from most big US cities. The streets are wide, not claustophobic like Bangkok’s.

Like most new Asian cities, Manila likes to congregate all the shopping and restaurants into convenient mall locations. It works. These eating locations are not just your fast food or cheap food courts that you see in most American malls. Most are nice sit down restaurants and some very expensive places. It’s a different mentality. In the west, a nice restaurant should be in a location on its own. It feels more exclusive that way. There are a lot of that in Asia too, but the hypergrowth in Asia now demands a new approach to provide the conveniences that urbanites demand. More and more, restaurants gravitate to the malls as a convenient stop for city workers looking for chow. The malls here are not edifices for teeny boppers to hang out like in the US. The ones in Makati are urban structures that attempt to blend in greenbelts and gardens to target adults. The food in Manila has been pretty good so far, not great, but a big step up from Bohol.

The people in Manila are also surprising. I was prejudiced by the cost of everything in the Philippines up till now. It’s just way cheaper than Thailand and no one seemed to ever have any money on them. I expected a broken city with impoverished people. It’s not. The city is rising. The locals are doing very well. Go into the cafes, nearly everyone has a laptop or iPad. Half of the laptops are Macbook Pros. This is a well off city. The disparity in wealth between Manila and other cities in the Philippines must be huge.

Overall, I really like Manila. It has the most American feel of any I’ve been to outside the US. The hustle and bustle in other Asian metropolis is not present, yet it still feels like a place on the rise. Of course, I’ve been here only a day and a half and stayed mostly in Makita, the business district so what do I know?

Bohol, Philippines

After my one day in Cebu City, I took a ferry to Bohol. While waiting at the ferry building, I caught a glimpse of Filipino TV. The show was named Happy Yippee Yihea and they sang a song with the following words, “Happy, happy, happy, yippee, yippee, yippee, yihea.” Yeah. The show was not only targeted at kids. It was also targeted at adults. I’ll leave the readers to form their own impression.

Once on Bohol, I was approached by several taxis asking 500-600 Pesos. I ignored them, left the area and went to the tricycle line. 250 Pesos for a tricycle to Panglao Island.

There is not much directly outside of the resorts on Panglao island so everyone spends their time on the beach. The beaches here matched all the photos I’ve seen on the internet. Easily the BEST beach I have ever seen. Clean white sand, absolutely clear water, no waves. The water is so still, sand so white in the water, that looking out at the water gave me an eery feeling. So pristine that it didn’t seem real, but there it was. I came at a very good time. The high tourist season was over but still in the cooler season. There were still tourists at the beach, mainly from Scandinavia, but not enough to ruin the scenery.

I spent the next several days taking scuba diving lessons and staying glued to the internet and TV after the events in Japan took place. Scuba diving there was amazing. I found Nemo and the rest of his family. If only I had an underwater camera. Amazing scenery.

There are actually quite a lot of sites to see on Panglao and Bohol (both connected by a bridge) if you take a motorbike or tricycle. I can recommend the Bohol Botanical Garden and eating at the Bohol Bee Farm.

The botanical garden started out with a good tour of an animal sanctuary, but the highlight was the very impressive gardens. The place just opened so I was one of the first visitor and the only one touring there. They also have a nice little museum with items from all over Asia. From the tour and the look of the high quality construction of their museum building, bakery, and cafe, I figured the Parisan owner was very, very wealthy. At the ocean view, where they’re planning a future “5 star” restaurant, I saw his docked yacht so I might be right about the wealth.

There is a tour at the Bohol Bee Farm, but it was only ok. The actual bee farming has actually been relocated elsewhere. Only the organic vegetable garden is left at the original farm. The Philippines has a bad reputation when it comes to food. I can confirm the reputation is absolutely true! I love the native food everywhere I’ve been in Asia, but I can live the rest of my life without ever eating Filipino food again. It’s not awful. It’s just not very good. However, the food at the Bohol Bee Farm and their restaurant in Tagbiluran is exceptional. Most of the food on the menu are not Filipino cuisine. I’d describe it as organic Californian cuisine. The mango tea was the best I had ever had. They actually shave real mango strips that into the tea instead of putting into mango juice. They have an exceptional garden salad that included edible flowers. Everything is homemade and organic. I didn’t have a single complaint about any of my meals in their restaurants. Very highly recommended.

I’m now in Tagbiluran, waiting for my flight to Manila. There are no good places to eat other than the Bohol Bee Farm’s 2nd restaurant at the Island City Mall. Actually, the first night here, I went to a restaurant recommended by my hotel’s staff. I ate half of it, then ask a tricycle to immediately take me to the mall where I ate at KFC. There is also nothing else to really do in town. Movies at Island City are only $2.50 USD.

Tomorrow, I’ll spend a day and a half in Manila and then leave for Hong Kong for a few days before heading back to San Francisco. Instead of Sushi and savory Ramen, I’ll be eating Dim Sum.

Initial Impressions of the Philippines

I arrived in the Philippines with the intention to learn to dive. I was influenced by 3 reasons. The first is I was in the Philippines once for 1 day before leaving so I wanted a better impression. The second is I saw shows on both The Discovery Channel and National Geographic Channel that featured the Coral Triangle, linked by the Philippines, Indonesia, and Malaysia, where the greatest biodiversity in the entire ocean exist. The last reason is because of photos I’ve seen on the internet of the most amazing beaches and sea I have ever seen, and they were in the Philippines. There are 7000 islands in this archipelago.

I flew into Cebu City from continental SE Asia. From first impressions, I wondered what I had gotten myself into. The people looked Asian, but the culture and environment did not. Also, all the businesses were locked up even though they were open for business. They were locked up with armed guards (assault rifles) inside. They have a bunker mentality here and in Manila. There are a lot of old guys (retirement age) from Europe walking around with very young filipinas. Cebu City is not an attractive city. A lot of There are not many must see sights. Just as reputed, there are not many travelers around. I stayed for one day.

I did visit the Sea Explorer office. I only had a camera with me. The guard with the semi-automatic unlocked the door and cracked it open. “Yes? What do you want?” he asked. “I’m hear for Sea Explorer,” I replied. He asked again and I replied again. I guess the guard with the gun was afraid of what I might do with the lethal Nikon I was carrying. Inside, the Sea Explorer workers was also cautious and also asked me what I wanted. After telling them and then getting annoyed, I said, “if you don’t want my business, I can go.” They loosened up after that. I then asked the guard if Cebu was dangerous. He said no. I asked them why all the caution. He said, “you never know…” The Philippines was not leaving a good impression on me. At the mall, they also had several armed guards and dogs.

This is tough. I am canceling the Japan leg of my trip

I’ve been wanting to visit Japan for so many years, but the nuclear situation in Japan keeps getting worst. I’ve been on pins and needles the last couple of days trying to figure out whether to proceed, reroute to Osaka, or abandon. The situation with reactor 1 was unnerving, but I read some reassuring articles from some physicists. Then reactor 3 with the uranium/plutonium (the supposedly scary one) mix went sour. That one got under control. Yesterday morning, I read that the containment structure (supposed to be impenetrable even in event of meltdown or explosion) of reactor 2 got breach due to workers leaving the emergency generator unattended and letting it run out of fuel. What!? Disaster unfold and they’re not even organized there? I don’t know. I’ll give them the benefit of the doubt. It’s probably very stressful there and they’re probably running around trying to figure out a solution.

I’ve been up till 2am the last few nights talking to Expedia and the airlines. Talk about stress. I am suppose to go in 2 days and Asiana Airlines (don’t ever fly with them) hasn’t been exceptionally considerate of the situation. Anyway, it doesn’t matter. I just read more info on the situation with reactor 4, the one that was offline. Reactor 4, 5, and 6 were all offline. Apparently, some spent fuel rods were stored near reactor 4 with NO containment structure!? The heat buildup from the other reactor caused fire to catch in the stored fuel rods near reactor 4. Reactor 2 is now a small worry compared to what’s going on in reactor 4. Then again, this information is coming from misinformed and sensationalist news organizations. The only one with the real info are still at the Fukushima reactors.

Everyday, the issues at Fukushima gets worst. They are now worried about the other two offline reactors, 5 and 6. I gave the professionals there the benefit of the doubt when this disaster started, but they’ve now made a few critical mistakes in a situation that calls for ZERO errors. I know that it’s stressful there, and those guys still there may have already signed their death warrants, but I no longer have faith they can stabilize the situation before some terrible consequences. Even Osaka does not feel safe now. If it turns out that everything gets under control, I can always go back. I’ll just have to buy a new ticket home. On the bright side, the stress will now go away and I won’t have to stay up till 2am in order to talk to travel agents in different time zones.