We are currently at the airport in Hong Kong. Unfortunately this is all we will see of HK this time round. Lovely shops though!
We left Manila this morning, second time round the city wasnt as bad, think it was because loads of people had left the city for the beach (Easter holidays) so it was less congested. It was still hot hot hot though, we literally baked in our room last night.
So we are about to embark on the final leg of our little adventure - Japan. We have ten days to get a taste of the country and burn a huge hole in our very small wallets! Dont think we'll be on email much - too many exciting sights to see - so the next time you hear from us we may well be back in the UK!
HAPPY EASTER!
There are no easter eggs about, very depressing, where are the Cadbury Cream eggs when you need them?
Friday, 10 April 2009
Tuesday, 7 April 2009
Siquijor Island, Philippines
We landed in Manila and within a few hours I had seen a woman pissing in the gutter, rats diving into rubbish, cockroaches scuttling around, whole families begging in the streets, a woman smashing a bottle next to a man, lady boys touting for business, young Filipino girls with old fat western men... The heat and traffic were unbearable. Needless to say our first impression wasn't great. We got out of the city as soon as we could and headed for the tranquility of Siquijor, a little island in the Visayan region of the Philippines. The plan was to spend a week there and then head to another island. We ended up not moving for two weeks!
We stayed in Charisma which had just come under new management and it ticked every box for us, plusI think we had just has enough of moving about! So we actually fully unpacked our bag and got into the routine of doing nothing! It was such a treat to just read, watch the sunsets and not have anything to worry about apart from where we were going to eat (a choice of two resturants!).
Our first impression of Siquijor, much better than Manila!
It takes about two hours to go round the whole island
The pools at Charisma - we got there and decided not to move for two weeks!
The beach
One of the many sunsets we enjoyed
We both read so many books on our little holiday, from books on Salt to the British economy - what happended to the trash i used to read?!
Yes i do have a bikini on!
Fisherman coming in with his catch
The beach just goes on and on!
Sunset time again
Fresh coconut juice coming up
After a week of literally not leaving our little patch of Siquijor we got on a bike and explored the whole island. We found this little beauty spot - Salagdong Beach - which is supposed to have the best beach on the island, unfortunately we were there at high tide and there was no beach!
Salagdong Beach
Off to have a beer and watch the sunset
One of many beauties
Life's a beach
We stayed in Charisma which had just come under new management and it ticked every box for us, plusI think we had just has enough of moving about! So we actually fully unpacked our bag and got into the routine of doing nothing! It was such a treat to just read, watch the sunsets and not have anything to worry about apart from where we were going to eat (a choice of two resturants!).
Our first impression of Siquijor, much better than Manila!
It takes about two hours to go round the whole island
The pools at Charisma - we got there and decided not to move for two weeks!
The beach
One of the many sunsets we enjoyed
We both read so many books on our little holiday, from books on Salt to the British economy - what happended to the trash i used to read?!
Yes i do have a bikini on!
Fisherman coming in with his catch
The beach just goes on and on!
Sunset time again
Fresh coconut juice coming up
After a week of literally not leaving our little patch of Siquijor we got on a bike and explored the whole island. We found this little beauty spot - Salagdong Beach - which is supposed to have the best beach on the island, unfortunately we were there at high tide and there was no beach!
Salagdong Beach
Off to have a beer and watch the sunset
One of many beauties
Life's a beach
Thursday, 19 March 2009
Kuala Lumpur
We arrived at 5am in the morning having hardly slept on the night bus so we were a little tired and grouchy but straight away we liked KL. The mono rail was cool, it was easy to get around and there was food everywhere!
We had a lot of admin to do in KL, so it was good that there weren't that many sights as we wouldn't have got round to seeing them, especially as I spent two days in bed with a stomach bug. When we were out and about Tim worked out how we could move around the city through malls so we could spend most of our time in air con!
We caught up with Paul who is working in KL and were treated to a night of luxury - thank you Paul! We saw another side of the city that night, the side where people have money, and it's definitely a place I'd come back to with a bigger purse.
The Twin Towers
Paul's suite at the Hilton. It was MASSIVE!
nothing like some street food
choose your fish... dead or alive! 
barbeque chicken......yum!
We had a lot of admin to do in KL, so it was good that there weren't that many sights as we wouldn't have got round to seeing them, especially as I spent two days in bed with a stomach bug. When we were out and about Tim worked out how we could move around the city through malls so we could spend most of our time in air con!
We caught up with Paul who is working in KL and were treated to a night of luxury - thank you Paul! We saw another side of the city that night, the side where people have money, and it's definitely a place I'd come back to with a bigger purse.
The Twin Towers
Paul's suite at the Hilton. It was MASSIVE!
barbeque chicken......yum!
Perhentian Kechil
We had two days of great weather and then it rained, and rained and rained. We woke up on the third day and it was still grey so we decided to leave the beach a little early and head for KL.
View from the front of our accommodation
Coral Beach
The sea was like a giant bath on this side of the island as it was so calm and quite warm
We can never tire of a good sunset
And then the rain came and didnt stop for two days
On the boat trip back we were stopped by the sea police as we didnt have life jackets on
The sea was like a giant bath on this side of the island as it was so calm and quite warm
We can never tire of a good sunset
And then the rain came and didnt stop for two days
On the boat trip back we were stopped by the sea police as we didnt have life jackets on
Penang
We were lucky enough to stay in Hotel Lau in Penang and meet up with Yong (Fiona's cousin) and his wife Wei Wei who showed us around and introduced us to the culinary delights of Penang, of which there are many! All there is to do in the city is eat. Malay, India and Chinese food is everywhere, every other outlet is a restaurant or food stall, and all of it is soooooo good! Needless to say we had a great time eating our way round the city!
Yong and Wei Wei our lovely hosts
The most amazing bowl of sweetness called 'thng yuan' - a sweet ginger soup with balls of pink and white dough filled with a peanut paste. You can choose to have white sugar or brown sugar in your 'soup'.
Sunday, 8 March 2009
Bukit Lawang, Sumatra - The Jungle
After days of not doing much we decided we needed to be a little more active. So we got flights to Medan from where we could travel to the jungle to see Orangutans.
Medan is a bit of a hell hole but we found our first large scale Indonesian supermarket so we had plenty to amuse ourselves with, namely biscuits and sweets at crazy prices. Everything was about 3p so we brought LOADS! It was raining when we finally emerged from the shoppping centre so we sat on the steps and munched our way through our purchases. We got quite a few strange looks from the locals but we were in sugar heaven and didnt care!
The next morning we jumped into the local mode of transport - a motor bike with a small seat on wheels attached to it. We somehow managed to get to the bus station even with Tim half hanging off the seat. The bus ride was long and hot but eventually we made it to Bukit Lawang. It was a total contrast to Medan - there was a chorus of animals nosies instead of beeping horns, the air was fresh rather than smoggy - we were in THE jungle, rather than a concrete jungle.
Suddenly we could see why people came here just to chill, the whole village was set along a flowing river with the jungle behind. You were practically living in the jungle but with the comforts of nice guest houses and resturants. It was a pretty long trek with the bags to the nicer guest houses but it was worth it when we ended up with a great room with a unique two storey outside bathroom at Green Hill. As we checked in we were greeted by a load of monkeys and that well known jungle creature, the tabby cat.
We went for dinner down the road and saw a huge lizard, the size of a baby aligator and then we were entertained by a little brown monkey trying to steal the resturant's vegetables. Jungle life was fun.
We signed up for a day trek in the jungle so the next day we were out the door at 8.30am with our two guides. I was a little aprehensive about the trek as I thought i was going to be eaten alive by mossies, I should have been worried about how hard core it was going to be!
The first couple of hours were great, the track was quite easy to follow and it wasnt too strenuous. Our guide Amin had followed Orangutans for a year in the jungle as an observer so knew his jungle stuff and pointed out rubber tress, natural coffee and mango plants. We also got to taste Quinine from the bark of a cinchona tree. Quinine was the first effective treatment for malaria. It was so bitter I had to eat an orange to get rid of the taste!
We got to a little clearing and were told we had a choice, the short route or the long route. The long route took us deep into the jungle and gave us more chance of seeing wild orangutans. I found the idea of the short route more appealing but Tim was up for a challenge so we went for the long route. It was VERY long and VERY hard! We basically did a two day trek in one day! I have never sweated so much through heat and fear! Most of the time we were walking along a thin, slippery path which had a deep drop to the side, one foot wrong and we would have been tumbling down through thick forest.
The 'path' (there wasnt really any path I have no idea how Amin knew where he was going) was mainly uphill for the first 3 hours. I was using branches and roots to pull me up. We were swinging from branches and using roots to absail down steep drops, we were turning into right little monkeys! At one point I brushed against a tree and got a whole colony of termites on me - nice! Eventually we made it to a steam. We took our shoes off and with the help of sticks made it over the slippery rocks. Tim and I both fell over but we were happy just to be able to cool off in the water and have a break and some lunch.
Feeling much revived after friend rice and loads of fruit we were told we had another 4 hours at least of treking. So it was back into it straight away with a harsh half hour uphill hike. Then it was down hill which was actually more difficult as it was so slippery. We all slided and slipped about and it was starting to turn into a mission to get back alive rather than a mission for Orangutans!
Despite all our efforts and going deep into the jungle we hadn't actually seen any animals apart from insects! We had heard gibbons, smelt Orangutans, seen Honey Bear tracks and heared Horn Bills, but no sightings. Finally after eight hours of treking we saw our first jungle creature...a tortoise!!!
Amin decided we would go to the feeding platform as sometimes Orangutans hang out there after feeding hours. Luckily we did as we saw a wild Orangutan and a semi wild Orangutan. Hurrah! We watched the orange ones in their natural habitat for a while and then started the final leg of our journey home. By this point I was really tired and didnt trust my legs to actually keep me up, even Tim was looking pretty tired. We cleared the forest and got to the main river and then we had to wade through the river to get to the other side! My legs were shaking, I was filthy, Tim and I both had cuts and bruises but we had made it back and we had certainly had a jungle experience!
Our guide Amin showed us how locals got rubber from the rubber trees
Guys walking past with the rubber they had collected from the trees. The rubber absolutely stank! It was enough to make you want to gag.
Big tree and our first little break
The black lump on the tree is a termites nest
Going down into the depths of the jungle
Ha, this photo makes me laugh! I look like an old woman with that bun and stick! (I totally felt like an old woman the next day I could hardly walk as my legs were so sore from all the trekking!)
Medan is a bit of a hell hole but we found our first large scale Indonesian supermarket so we had plenty to amuse ourselves with, namely biscuits and sweets at crazy prices. Everything was about 3p so we brought LOADS! It was raining when we finally emerged from the shoppping centre so we sat on the steps and munched our way through our purchases. We got quite a few strange looks from the locals but we were in sugar heaven and didnt care!
The next morning we jumped into the local mode of transport - a motor bike with a small seat on wheels attached to it. We somehow managed to get to the bus station even with Tim half hanging off the seat. The bus ride was long and hot but eventually we made it to Bukit Lawang. It was a total contrast to Medan - there was a chorus of animals nosies instead of beeping horns, the air was fresh rather than smoggy - we were in THE jungle, rather than a concrete jungle.
Suddenly we could see why people came here just to chill, the whole village was set along a flowing river with the jungle behind. You were practically living in the jungle but with the comforts of nice guest houses and resturants. It was a pretty long trek with the bags to the nicer guest houses but it was worth it when we ended up with a great room with a unique two storey outside bathroom at Green Hill. As we checked in we were greeted by a load of monkeys and that well known jungle creature, the tabby cat.
We went for dinner down the road and saw a huge lizard, the size of a baby aligator and then we were entertained by a little brown monkey trying to steal the resturant's vegetables. Jungle life was fun.
We signed up for a day trek in the jungle so the next day we were out the door at 8.30am with our two guides. I was a little aprehensive about the trek as I thought i was going to be eaten alive by mossies, I should have been worried about how hard core it was going to be!
The first couple of hours were great, the track was quite easy to follow and it wasnt too strenuous. Our guide Amin had followed Orangutans for a year in the jungle as an observer so knew his jungle stuff and pointed out rubber tress, natural coffee and mango plants. We also got to taste Quinine from the bark of a cinchona tree. Quinine was the first effective treatment for malaria. It was so bitter I had to eat an orange to get rid of the taste!
We got to a little clearing and were told we had a choice, the short route or the long route. The long route took us deep into the jungle and gave us more chance of seeing wild orangutans. I found the idea of the short route more appealing but Tim was up for a challenge so we went for the long route. It was VERY long and VERY hard! We basically did a two day trek in one day! I have never sweated so much through heat and fear! Most of the time we were walking along a thin, slippery path which had a deep drop to the side, one foot wrong and we would have been tumbling down through thick forest.
The 'path' (there wasnt really any path I have no idea how Amin knew where he was going) was mainly uphill for the first 3 hours. I was using branches and roots to pull me up. We were swinging from branches and using roots to absail down steep drops, we were turning into right little monkeys! At one point I brushed against a tree and got a whole colony of termites on me - nice! Eventually we made it to a steam. We took our shoes off and with the help of sticks made it over the slippery rocks. Tim and I both fell over but we were happy just to be able to cool off in the water and have a break and some lunch.
Feeling much revived after friend rice and loads of fruit we were told we had another 4 hours at least of treking. So it was back into it straight away with a harsh half hour uphill hike. Then it was down hill which was actually more difficult as it was so slippery. We all slided and slipped about and it was starting to turn into a mission to get back alive rather than a mission for Orangutans!
Despite all our efforts and going deep into the jungle we hadn't actually seen any animals apart from insects! We had heard gibbons, smelt Orangutans, seen Honey Bear tracks and heared Horn Bills, but no sightings. Finally after eight hours of treking we saw our first jungle creature...a tortoise!!!
Amin decided we would go to the feeding platform as sometimes Orangutans hang out there after feeding hours. Luckily we did as we saw a wild Orangutan and a semi wild Orangutan. Hurrah! We watched the orange ones in their natural habitat for a while and then started the final leg of our journey home. By this point I was really tired and didnt trust my legs to actually keep me up, even Tim was looking pretty tired. We cleared the forest and got to the main river and then we had to wade through the river to get to the other side! My legs were shaking, I was filthy, Tim and I both had cuts and bruises but we had made it back and we had certainly had a jungle experience!
Going back up, before we went down again and up again and down again and up again....
Our first jungle animal, that scary creature the jungle tortoise!
Jungle view
I'm smiling as I've just been told we only have about another 30mins until we reach the Feeding Platform and then the nightmare would nearly be over!
A wild Orangutan
A semi wild Orangutan called Sophia
There she is again 
Monkeying about
Just hanging out
Waterfall
The final leg of our trek - we had to wade through the past flowing river to get to our accommodation. I was totally knackered by this point and kept slipping over so Amin give me his trainers to wear in the water and helped me across. The current was pretty strong in parts so Tim also got a helping hand
This spider was HUGE. It doesnt really look it in this picture but I have never seen a spider so big before it was bigger than the palm of my hand and I swear it had fangs. It came out every night to say hello in our bathroom and would hover just above the toilet.
Just hanging out
Waterfall
This spider was HUGE. It doesnt really look it in this picture but I have never seen a spider so big before it was bigger than the palm of my hand and I swear it had fangs. It came out every night to say hello in our bathroom and would hover just above the toilet.
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