meaning in the moving design

There was a plan. The Plan was to hike into Batad, a small rice terrace village only accessible by foot, and then spend a few days going further afield, staying in remote villages and traveling deep into the valley before popping back out onto the main highway. The Cordilleras in Northern Luzon is a beautiful stretch of eye candy; a mountainous region shining an unreal neon green. What's most amazing about this place is that its beauty is entirely man-made. Thousands of years ago, the Ifugao people of the region started hacking into the hills surrounding them and planting rice. They devised an ingeneous irrigation system and in the process created hill after valley after hill after valley of terraced neon green fields.

After almost 11 hours in transit*, I expected more from El Nido. More... or less, actually. With the end-to-end line of beachfront cottages and seaside restaurants, the barrage of signs advertising tours, and the string of Internet cafes every 100m, Nido is a lot more developed than I'd expected. I felt like I was on Any-Island, Thailand; time and that every persistant promise of profit had turned Jacques Cousteau's Last Frontier into just another backpacker haunt. After I had walked one length of town, I was almost ready to hop on the next bus and go right back to Sabang... but the draw of the beach and the islands won out.

There are at least a dozen tour operators in town, the biggest of which is the Art Cafe, which initially, I'm told, held a bit of a monopoly on tours, though business is beginning to fan out through the island. Unfortunately, everyone in town has followed the Art Cafe's lead and adopted the same utterly unimaginative names: Tour A, B, or C. Each tour consists of a group of islands, and while the list varies from operator to operator, there is a lot of overlap. So, travellers are forced into these assanine conversations about their daily activities, like
"What did you do today?"
"I went on Tour A..."
and so forth.

This is the cynical traveller in me, though, because when you get right down to it, northern Palawan is beautiful. The charm of Nido lies outside Nido, amongst the outlying islands that make up the Bacuit Archipelago. On a clear day, it's pure eye candy- turquoise water spotted with towering limestone cliffs jutting up from remote junglified islands... it's where the bush meets the ocean. The beaches and lagoons up here are incredible, and if you paddle far enough away, you can even feel a bit of that lost Brooke Shields magic... So yes, it's a bit of regimented fun, but in the end, it's just fun. So I stuffed my internal cynic under the bed, took a deep breath and just... enjoyed it. Tour A, B, and Ced it. Kayaked out to a deserted beach. Rented a motorbike for a day and outran a storm. Didn't think- just enjoyed.

Almost every morning, I ate breakfast at the small roadside canteen next to the police station, run by a sweet toothless lady named Lucy. Cheap and tasty (the food, not Lucy). My favourite was her eggy eggplant- a long skinny eggplant cut lengthwise and dipped in egg- ingeniously simple and oh so yummy! (Lucy will even shoot whiskey with you at 9 in the morning, if you're into that sort of thing.) You could easily save loads of money eating from these canteens, which are about a third of the price of the restaurants along the beach.

If you are going to splurge, go to The Alternative. The food can be hit and miss (their banana leaf curry and desserts are reeeaally good, though) but the atmosphere rocks. By far the best seats in the house are the pods that jut out over the ocean, cushioned with bean bags and designed for putting your feet up- for a long time.
As I was eating, a mini posse of boys gathered beneath my pod, all armed with fishing lines wrapped around a Pert Plus bottle in one hand, and a handful of bread in the other. First they threw the bread out, and as the fish swarmed around, they flung they fishing lines out, hoping to drag their hook along the water and magically ensnare a fish. There was lots of excitable discussion about this, presumably criticisms on Boy A's throwing technique, or Boy B's angling and what not, but the boys seemed quite jovial and brotherly in their collective confusion. No one caught any damn fish, in any case.
Amidst all this excitement, one boy climbed up the leg of my pod, poked his head through a slat and said "hello." I smiled and 'hello"ed him back. Seemingly satisfied with this response, he climbed back down and rejoined the fishing experiment. After a short while, a waitress came over and shut off my TV by shooing the boys away.

If you are going to Nido and have company, here's what I'd suggest:
Strand yourself on a deserted island, Robinson Crusoe/Tom Hanks style.
It's what I'd hoped to do, only I was rained out on the two days I'd set aside for such an adventure. The boys at Sea Slugs, however, offered me a killer deal- P350 for boat transfer, cooking gear.. and a cook. That's right, they'll stay the night with you, if you want. Or not. Oh, and incidentally, P350 is cheaper than most accommodations in Nido. Except, instead of bad Western food and a crappy room, you get a deserted island, a campfire, a seafood dinner, and a night under the stars. Pretty sweet, no? Yeah.. it would've been.

But... onwards.

I didn't spend much time in Puerto, but here's my two cents anyway:

I'll be going back to the Philippines for one last trip in April, this time for the full 21 days of the visa. No time limit, wee! My co-workers here in Taiwan totally don't understand me. They keep saying "Philippines again??" Fact is, the thousands of islands of the Philippines are so spread out, and each island so distinct in culture, that I could easily come back dozens of times and still not get the feel of the country. But I guess I could say that about a lot of countries I've been to...

*Boring transit details- I took the bus from Sabang to Salvacion, where I had to wait another 2.5 hours for the Nido bus. The bus is a real bus and the road is fine- don't listen to the wingy English travelers that tell you otherwise. I chose not to take the boat because 8 hours on the road is much more manageable than 8 hours on a boat, in my opinion. Plus, the bus was 1/4 the price.

Other Useful Bits
El Nido
Room: P400 Single (El Nido Plaza Inn- don't stay here unless you can lull yourself to sleep with the sound of cocks crowing from 3am till morning), P300 Shared (Tandikan Cottages)
Food: P50-P250
Island-hopping: P600-P700 (includes massive lunch)
Survivor styles: P350 (tent, cooking gear, boat transport and optional guy; food separate)
Bus to PP: P350

Puerto Princessa
San Jose Terminal to town: P40-50
Room: P500, single (Amelia Pensione)
Food: a splurageous amount, Ka Lui (pretty damn good... but all the restaurants in that are looked good, so take your pick)

Jacques Cousteau once called Palawan, "The Last Refuge," a pristine island of lush rainforest, towering green-tinged limestone cliffs, and countless deserted islands and undiscovered beaches. And while Palawan does indeed have all of the above, Cousteau's vision of a remote and unspoiled island off the beaten track is well, so 10 years ago.

It started promisingly enough. My first stop was Sabang. After a strenuous week of deadlines and mad overtime, I left Taipei on a Saturday, but still had to endure two transit days (one night in Manila and one full day getting to the West coast of Palawan) before there was any fun to be had. After the bustle of planes, taxis, more planes, and one rollicking jeepney ride that left me looking the colour of dust, arriving in Sabang felt a lot like coming out of a banging club and witnessing the eerie silence of morning.

Sabang is a small, coastal town fringed with mountains and rainforest, and a famous nearby river that runs emerald green. It's literally the end of the road, and totally feels like it. Despite quite a bit of evidence of tourism (most notably felt in the price of food), the town has managed to stay pretty low key, endearingly awkward with a pinch rustic charm.

I stayed at the far end of the beach (left, if facing the water) at a place called Alpuerto Escapade. If there were an invisible set of train tracks dividing Sabang, I would say I was on "the wrong side of town." To the right lay uniform huts on manicured grounds and resort attendants busily attending to tourists. To the left, town- where the people of Sabang lived. In the center sat a cluster of restaurants, the Sabang visitor center and the town pier. Sabang reminded me of other places I had visited in Asia that were just beginning to recognize the draw of tourism and trying to perfect the formula, the one that's turned Thailand into something of a McDonald's version of backpacking. The way Sabang is laid out, I'd say they're about halfway there...

It wasn't that I chose or didn't choose to stay where I stayed. I was actually looking for a room at Blue Bamboo, but they were full (or at least that's what I was told) so I was shooed off to the place next door. I ended up with a cute little seaside nipa hut on stilts. And by seaside, I mean that when the tide came up, I was a little nervous. Interestingly, the sea-facing side of the hut was... how shall we say.. "open concept." There was no wall, per say. Just a few wooden slats going across, and no shutters or windows to keep anything out. The nice part was that I didn't need a fan, the ocean breeze kept the room extremely cool through the night. The downside was that it rained, so the ocean breeze became a bit of an ocean gale. I thought the shower curtain in the room was there as a safe refuge from peeping toms, but apparently it had more practical uses. Nothing like a little ocean spray in your sleep to keep you young! It was pretty amusing, actually.

The next morning, I took to the trail, towards Sabang's famed Underground River. If you go to the river (and chances are, you are only in Sabang because you plan to go) DO NOT miss the trails. The peace of the rainforest, the wild monkeys, and the sound of birds and cicadas made the hike one of the highlights of my trip.

I paired up with a Finnish girl, and we did the Jungle Trail there and the Monkey Trail back. Both trails consisted of wooden or stone blocks framed by a confused tangle of vines and roots, with a few short sections up and down proper wooden staircases. The Jungle Trail (going towards the river) was a super gentle hike, capped off with a brief uphill scramble up a rocky forested hill. I really liked doing this trail to get to the river, but the downside is that the Monkey Trail can be a little difficult coming back. Come high tide, the beach disappears, so we were forced to do some innovative rock climbing. At an incredibly chill pace with plenty of stops for pictures and monkey watching, it took about 2 hours each way. If you are going to cheat, I would recommend taking the Jungle Trail there and catching the boat back. But don't cheat, it's beautiful both ways. Both trails were very well marked and blissfully empty. In fact, we didn't see anyone until we got to the Underground River and encountered the hoards of people waiting for the boat to take them back.

I was almost going to conclude this post without saying anything about the Underground River. Here's my two-cents: Yeah, it was cool.

Here are a few pics.





My only regret about Sabang is that I didn't stay longer. The rainforest in the area and the mountains nearby would've made for an incredible trek. The river falls under the auspice of St. Paul's Subterranean River National Park, and I'm sure guides are available to take you out to some of the more unexplored terrain in the area. Don't do what I did and rush out to El Nido. Trust me, Nido can wait.

The Useful Bits
Room: Alpuerto Escapade, P300
Food: Avg P150 (Go to Dab Dab's for their Fish Curry mmmmm!!)
Jeepney from Puerto: P150
Underground River: P200, more for boat transport; trails are free

*Apologies for writing like I actually have a captive audience... just thought it might sound better.

I took a trip to the Philippines last month and I did something I've always thought about doing but have never done before- I didn't bring a guidebook.

But since I was only going for a week, I decided to try it out. It seemed pretty straight forward- land in Cebu, take the ferry to Bohol, head to Panglao Island, reverse. Plus, there were a million resources online in the form of blogs. So, I'm doing this trip report, as a way of thanking all the random and anonymous blogs and forums that helped me with planning my trip*. As is often the case with me, though, things got... complicated.

So, for the sake of classification, I'll label the nitty gritty trip details as "This, That" and the long epic drama as "The Other". Do as you will, read as you want.

This, That
Everyone always wants to know about the weather, so I'll start with that. I went to Bohol at the beginning of September, the end of their monsoon season. Bohol is below the typhoon belt, so it's not actually affected very often. The first two days were overcast but it only rained at night. The rest of the week looked like this:

The coolest thing was the lightning shows across the water. Every now and again, there would be a flash of white or orange light in the distance, and the silhouette of the clouds could be seen. Im a total sucker for lightning shows, so that was pretty cool.

There seemed to be a shortage of metered taxis (unusual, I was told) at the Cebu airport so I haggled with a man to get a ride to Fuenta Osmena for 100 pesos. He was there to pick up some company's staff members and had extra seats, so he didn't care much. I hadn't booked a hotel or anything, but there were plenty in the area, so I just figured I'd find something. It was harder than I thought- Jasmine Pension House, booked; Verbena, booked. I finally got a room at the Capitol Tourist Inn for 650p. It was quite big, but kinda sucked. I had a few cockroaches, the staff was kind of rude and bad ghetto booty music blared from their rooftop bar until 3am. So... I wouldn't reccommend that to anyone unless they're into that sorta thing.

The next day, I grabbed a taxi to the ferry dock from Osmena. I don't remember the exact fare, but it was cheap, under 100p. I went with Supercat, who had a deal going on, 400p each way. On the ferry I met a young Norwegian couple on their honeymoon, and a lovely Filipina lady going to visit relatives. She had a hotel, so we hopped into her hotel van to get into town so I could change money. From town, me and the Norwegians took a motorella for 250p to stop in Dumaluan and then onto Alona beach. Dumaluan is probably a nicer beach, but too rich for my blood... rooms were in the 2000-3000p range.

On Alona I stayed at Playa Blanca Huts. They wanted 800 but because I was staying for the week, I talked them down to 650 pesos. The room is really basic, but I had my own bathroom and a cute little balcony. I prefer the huts to the sterile cement rooms, of which there are plenty on Alona.

I had one single objective for going to Alona- dive, dive, dive. I chose Philippine Fun Divers, mostly because their equipment is brand spanking new. Dive prices on the island are pretty standard (approx. US$20/dive) but the annoying thing is, if you are renting equipment, all the dive centre equipment charges are per dive, not per day.. which makes it closer to US$30.

Our dive guide at PFD was Toto, an obviously experienced hand who knew exactly where to find all sorts of little critters. our trip to Balicasag was especially awesome- a beautiful island to chill on and a lot of action going on underneath. Lots of nudibranches, an octopus, an eagleray, sea turtles, and quite a few different species of shrimp and crab. It was my first introduction to the macro world, and I found it fascinating.

The only complaint I have about PFD is probably a plus for most people. The staff insist on assembly all your gear for you, all you have to do is strap in and jump out. This is partly because the boat is too small to be muckin about, but also because PFD considers it a kind of service. For a relatively novice diver like me though, it important to do it myself, as I need all the practice I can get.
After diving for a few days, I decided to take a "dry day" and go out to see the tarisers, which are pretty much my favouritest animal in the whole widest world. I rented a scooter for the day at 350 pesos (I haggled, and if you try, you can probably get it for cheaper). The route from Panglao to Corella (where the tarsier sanctuary is) is very straightforward, and generally a beautiful chill ride along the countryside, aside from a bit of a dusty, hectic bit getting through Tagbilaran.


Back to Panglao. On the north end of the island in Dauin is the Bohol Bee Farm with a restaurant and a shop. The food is organic, freshly grown and reasonably-priced. And so so tasty! They serve their soup with freshly baked bread and homemade spread (pesto, mango, honey etc). The restaurant overlooks the shoreline so it's got a great view. It's a awesome place to chill, eat yummy fresh food, and occasionally look up to stare at the sea. Highly reccommend.

Final thoughts about Alona Beach. I'll echo the sentiments of the blogosphere: Only go to Alona is you are a diver. It's a resort island, very touristy (it was low season when I went so it wasn't crowded, but judging from the end to end restaurants, the massage ladies and the general vibe, I think I would've hated it in its high season) and not the greatest beach. There are bancas and dive boats shored up close to the beach, so you're basically swimming between boats. The food on the island is mostly crap, with the exception of the seafood. That said, there's awesome diving right off the coast and Balicasag is beautiful and well worth a visit. Even if you are a diver, I still wouldn't recommend going in high season, because judging from the number of dive shops, I bet the dive sites would be swarming with way too many divers.

The Other
Alright. That's it. And well... I know it's my blog n all, and I can blathe if I want to, but I'm feeling self-conscious about the potential length of this rambling. Maybe I'll feel like telling the story some day, but for now, here's a cryptic list of lessons learned and things discovered:

1. Good luck and bad luck are secretly in bed with each other, there is some divine play at work there, a very intentional balancing act. Good luck knows to appear when bad luck hits, just so you end up feeling kinda neutral about the whole thing. Maybe it's just a consequence of watching too many Jean-Paul Jeunet films, or being a coincidence detective long before I Heart Huckabees came out, but it's true what they say: Life is about timing, good and bad. And if the universe strikes the right chord [which I believe it usually does], the good always cancels out the bad. Nothing lost nothing gained. Wait- I take that back. Most of the time, I'd say that what is lost is temporary, or just evaporates into a good story. But what is gained stays with me... most of the time it stays. and it's pretty humbling.

2. So maybe this is why I'm not afraid to travel. Maybe it's this stubborn belief I have, that no matter how bad it gets, it won't kill me. The universe will provide. For all the bad, I'll get to see the good, specifically the good in people; their unfailing ability to help me when I need it most. It's worked so far... or maybe it hasn't and I'm just in denial about being the worst-lucked traveller in the world.

Meh.

*I have to thank this woman especially. I'm in absolute awe of her dedication. It's an amazing resource for anyone interested in diving in Asia.