We were pretty stationary today. Between Dave being sick and the rain that wouldn’t let up, we spent most of the day reading, playing games on our phones and napping.
And hanging out with Happy, of course!
Eventually, the weather improved and we ventured into town to get some food to BBQ for dinner. Before leaving, we asked Karen, one of the staff at our Air BNB, where we should go. She told us the market would have everything we need.
It was busy when we arrived so we knew it was popular
And we did find what we needed….and then some.
In Asia’s markets, you can buy dinner for tonight AND dinner for 3-4 months from now!
The thing about Asian markets is that they would be SO illegal in Canada. They’d never pass health inspections and they just couldn’t exist.
Dried fish is a staple at any market in AsiaI’ve seen dried sardines, squid, and every type of fish you can imagineOf course, there’s plenty of fruit in these markets!In this shop, you can buy just enough ground pepper, chili, ginger or garlic for 1 meal. Groceries are bought on a need to have basis in many countries. People don’t just stock up on pay day the way we did in my familyTaken on my way up to the second floor. Dried noodles and a whole lot of scales. Everything is sold by weight.Even shampoo is bought on a day to day basis. Cell phone plans too, as I recently learned!!
We were careful to choose a vendor that had a decent set up (many vendors just hit their product with a plastic bag when you walk by so you can see they are keeping it insect-free). It took us 4 or 5 shops to get everything we needed (meat, vegetables, skewers, coal), but before long, we were on our way back up the hill to our little home for the week.
Their chicken didn’t have a weird purple colour to it like many of them did
I’ll be writing more about what we made in my post about the Bee Farm (coming soon!).
Every trip we take involves hours of me reading over blogs, checking out websites and comparing hotels. I’ve become pretty good at it, and although it might seem like a lot of work, for me, it’s part of the adventure.
I took a picture of our hotel door in Cebu because I was pretty sure I’d never remember which room we were in otherwise.
Dave and I have simple but specific tastes when it comes to hotels. We usually stay in middle range places, where we can rely on the hotels to be clean, safe and comfortable.
I decided to search for “funny hotel reviews”. I was not disappointed.
Sometimes we are lucky and are able to find really good deals in our price range. Usually, I book our stays on booking.com, but recently I’ve been searching Airbnb as well, and the extra options have been great!
We’re on the top of a hill, overlooking the ocean. It’s quiet, beautiful and very comfortable!!
This gorgeous pool is a perfect place to relax after a month of craziness!
There’s a nice lounging area too, where we can read, blog and enjoy the view
For $24 a night, I’d say this is a steal of a deal!!!
This is Happy…. The friendliest dog in the world!!!
Living abroad, you meet people from everywhere. One of the best things of meeting new people when you’re abroad is that you know that at the very least, you have 1 thing in common: you have an adventurous spirit.
Seen Here: 4 Adventurers on a very small boat on a very wavy ocean.
Occasionally, you end up travelling at the same time, in the same place, as one of your friends. Sometimes it’s on purpose, and sometimes it’s by luck. By luck, 2 of our best friends had booked a holiday in the Philippines at the same time we were set to be there! A little bit of schedule juggling made it possible for us to meet up on the island of Bohol.
When they told us they would be on Bohol Island at the same time we were in Cebu city, we knew we had this make it work and meet up!
We didn’t have a lot of time together but we did a lot with the time we had! I have a special post planned for our time at The Bee Farm, but I wanted to share a little bit about our snorkeling adventure with Dedrick and Deb for yesterday’s recap. It was definitely the most memorable part of our day!
Photos of our morning adventure together
We were on a boat similar to this one
One of several turtles we spotted
The weather was a bit nasty when we woke up, but not nasty enough to cancel the trip, so at 7am, we head down to a little dive shop Dedrick had found, and set off on a boating adventure. The water was choppy and the sky looked like it might unleash rain on us at any moment, but before long, it calmed down and we were able to enjoy some snorkeling! The sun even peeped out before we left, and Dave and I both ended up with nasty sun burns too!
The captain of our first boat. Eventually we had to switch to a second boat. We had to pay for both boats individually. It’s a bit of a racket, but it was still a pretty good deal, so no one complained much
Here’s a short video on our way to the little snorkeling island. I’m actually quite bruised from all the bumping around on this boat. I was happy to get back on land when it was all over!
Our second day in The Philippines was spent traveling to and around the island of Bohol.
We reached Bohol via 2 hour ferry ride. They had the temperature so low in business class that I thought I might freeze to death!!! One passenger compared it to a meat cooler. I agreed fully!
I was starting to feel better so we rented a motorbike, and as anyone who knows us or reads my blog knows…. That’s when it really felt like our vacation starts.
This may come as news to the kitty sleeping in this picture… But motorbikes are not only useful as cat beds!
Motorbiking around a new areas is always an adventure. It’s a fast way to get around and it keeps us cool in the equatorial heat. It’s also a ton of fun!
Alternatively, you can hire a Tricycle to take you around. Everywhere we go these vehicles are called something different. In Thailand they’re called Tuk Tuks. Sometimes they’re just called taxis… But most countries have some variety of these nifty little vehicles.
We travelled around the city of Tagbilaran for a while and saw some of the countryside too. One thing was very obvious to us as we scooted around…. The Philippines is Catholic+++.
We visited Tagbilaran on a Sunday and the streets were empty. Today, on a Monday, it took 4x as long to get anywhere. We couldn’t even book our ferry tickets on Sunday because it was an unnecessary service. Sundays are a day of rest wherever possible.
We saw numerous churches and even a monestary. There were Bible quotes on all the taxis and every shop we went into had biblical quotes, paintings and status displayed. There were even reminders graffitied onto walls for people to be honest and good Christians.
I don’t think you can talk about the Philippines and not discuss Catholicism… So I figure this important part of Filipino culture deserves its own post.
I’ve really grown to love writing these mini posts while we travel. I prefer writing when things are fresh in my mind and I find these posts a perfect way to wind down for the day and to reflect on the day’s adventures.
And it gives me a chance to go through ridiculous photos I took throughout the day
Today it was hard for me to choose which mini topic to write about, because the first day in any new country is always hard for me. No matter how well I try to prepare myself and no matter how excited I am, I always suffer from a bit of culture shock when we first land. I suppose it makes sense, given that your first few hours in a new country are filled with firsts, but I always hate myself for being so overwhelmed. Dave often has to remind me to be easier on myself because I get so frustrated with my mind and body for not doing exactly what I want them to do!
2 hours of sleep is not enough to fuel me on my first day in a new country… But I still remembered to get the quintessential airport line up selfie
Although I spent a good deal of today resting, hydrating and trying to stay cool, I still did get some blogging material. 2 things really stood out on our first day in The Philippines.
#1 – Water Refill Stations
Our hotel didn’t give us plastic bottles to use while we are here. Instead, they offer a water dispenser and reusable mugs. I love this idea and strongly feel like this needs to be something practiced worldwide.
Because plastic doesn’t break down, every piece of plastic that has ever been made is still on the planet. This is a huge problem, especially for the oceans. It amazes me when I hear that wealthy countries like Canada and the US are doing so little to reduce the waste, but poor countries like Indonesia and the Philippines actually are.
I later discovered that these dispensers are all over the city. You put coins in the machine and water is dispensed. Brilliant.
#2 – “Everything Stores”
We’ve learned over the last few years that having a usable cellphone while you’re traveling is about so much more than being on Facebook or Wechat. Having access to Google maps etc when you’re on the road really simplifies situations.
This is especially true in countries where you don’t speak the local language. Some apps work without the internet, but others don’t. The internet is an invaluable tool for the modern day nomad.
Best of all, when you’re in South East Asia, you don’t need to go find a cell phone provider to get set up. SIMS are sold pretty much everywhere, and prepaid phone cards are dirt cheap.
This bad boy cost under a dollar and it comes with a bunch of freebies that will get me through a few days. In total I’ll probably spend less than $10 to have a phone for the whole week
I was looking to stay close to the hotel due to reasons I mentioned earlier, but luckily, a little store right outside our hotel sells SIMs. And rice. And flip flops. And earrings. And is a bakery….
These little stores are very popular in Asia and it always baffles me how one store can possibly hold so much product, but they do.
Look closely at my pictures and see how many different items you can find in this one tiny store! Leave me a message about the item you found most surprising in the comment section.
I’ll be back tomorrow with more stories from The Philippines!
