Erika and Greg's Pad

Alrighty then!!! We have arrived safely and soundly to Denpasar this past afternoon... and we were happily greeted at the airport by our gracious hosts Erika and Greg. A short cab ride later, and we were chilling in their pad in the town of Seminyak (I think) and relaxing. This place is super duper nice - we feel like we are in a hotel. They have a beautiful pool, and a chill living space that can only be expressed by the following pictures. No we have not found our camera, we are borrowing theirs, which happens to be nearly identical to ours... maybe we'll get a memory chip and pop it in here....
In any case, without further adieu, here is where we are staying.

The first shot is a picture from the roof, of the pool and the yard. The second floor was never completed and now serves as a tanning station.



In the second shot we have a view of the pad from beyond the pool. The place is surrounded in windows which allows for plenty of sunlight.


The next shot is from inside, in the kitchen corner. The big room serves as a work area, a kitchen, a dining room and a living room. Chill music plays and keeps us relaxed...



The fourth is a picture of our suite - a nice big comfy bed, and we have our own bathroom just outside!



The last shot is our view from the bed in our room. Beautiful ain't it?

Sleepless in KL

So after a pit stop in Bangkok...we headed East to Koh Chang. One of my most memorable islands. We were lucky enough to have 1 after-noon of sun; but our 3 days there were mostly filled with rainy clouds. On the 2nd night, there was a big storm that blew down trees and we had to walk about 1K in the rain, in the dark, back to our bungalow. I was so glad to take a hot shower! On the 3rd night the storm caused a power surge at 7pm, which lasted most of the night. On the 4th day, rumors of a bigger cyclone had us leave.With our luck...we didn't want to risk it. So another pit stop in BKK and we finally left for Bali on the 17th. Our flight was at 7pm and we landed in KL (Kuala Lumpur) at 10pm. To save money...we had a 19hr stop-over in KL until our real flight to Bali at 4:45pm the next day. We were in the tinyest terminal ever - the LCC (lower cost carriage) terminal. We found a bench to sleep on outside but it was right next to McD's garbage room. On top of it, everyone smokes outside...but they smoke these Malaysian/Indian cigarettes that just wreak! 2 hours of sitting there and we nearly had to vomit. So we found a spot to crouch inside...but even after adding all my layers of clothing the blasting AC was so cold it kept us from sleeping. So we stayed up all night eating snacks and playing cards. By 10amthe next day we were counting the miutes till our flight. We checked in our bags at 2:30 and finally dozed off for a bit on the benches. We went to board our flight 1:15min. before take-off...only to be told that the plane had already left. What? It was really 4:35 and not 3:35! But the Malaysian guy last night nodded when we asked if it was 10pm! We had the wrong time and the plane decided to leave 10min early! Enough is enough...i recollected all the bad luck we've had, from the first cancelled flights in March, our camera, our 200US that got robbed...19hours at the airport...ahhh...i bursted into tears. They were gonna make us purchase another ticket for the next flight...which was in another 19hours. So now I am writing this message, at 6:40pm ( i should be in tha air). Our flight is in another 16 hours!
Well...what doesn't kill you makes you stronger right? I swear, nothing can stop us now...we've been tried and tested. On the way to the internet...we laughed...what's next...we'll be prepared...we won't fret.
it's only sunshine from hear on end...promise!

Misfortunes continued...

I think what Rachel ment I was shfitzin' but who wouldn't be in that heat? As for the burn, not too bad - not sure I made it through the "jump rope of fire" but I tried!
Unfortunately the trail has continued since - this morning I got an alarming email from my mom about Master Card blocking my credit card due to unauthorized use. I had not notified them that I was in Thailand, and I had not used my card in the past 6 weeks, so I guess it came as a surprise to both of us. A good thing because I had not checked my wallet for that. I think I saw my wallet yesterday so I am pretty sure it is there, minus one card. I hope. There was American cash in the same place, in a inner pocket of my huge bag. But the bus to and from Koh Phangang are notorious for theft, and though we were careful on the way down, I was careless on the way back. We also had our camera stolen so we will get a police report for insurance purposes. I wonder what else is missing? Anyways, we heard about the typhoon but were not subjected to any bad weather aside a few drops on a few of the nights..
Hope all is well back home! We will be back soon!

The Chronicles of Misfortunes

It's nice to get on the net again after a week. After Chiang Mai, it took us 2 days to get to Koh Phagnan...where we ended up staying a week! We haven't checked our mail since because the rates for internet use were over the roof. It's nice to see you guys kept it alive while we were out. So our 'trail of misfortunes' started once we arrived in Bangkok and I realized I forgot a bag of clothes on the bus...I had just had it washed and didn't bother packing it back in my bags before leaving Chaing Mai. Needless to say, we spent the day shopping and it turned out to be an excuse to buy more clothes. It sucks to loose items you like...but it's just 'stuff' after-all right? 15 hours later we arrived in Koh Pagnan and settled into our new nest. We were a little dissapointed at first but we ended up having a memorable time. Disppapointed cause Had Rin (our beach strip) isn't exactly charming...it's cool...but it's a party place - lined with bungalows, thai restaurants, shops and bars. It's so easy to meet people and have a good time. We rented a motorbike on day 2 and had a great day exploring the island, going to a waterfall, temples, hiking to a summit. But the downside was that Jay got the Koh Phagnan tatoo...yup..the famous exhauust pipe burn. I have 2 of them from 3 years back and he just got his. It's not so bad though...it's healing well. He also had a small fall...a mishap really - but the bike got scratched on a rock and we had to fork out the cash to pay for it. We kept our cool though cause we all know it could have been worse. We met a great Canadian couple our first day in Koh Phagnan and became good friends with them. You know when you travel you meet people of all shapes and shades...sustain small talk...share an evening of fun here and there...but it's rare to meet people that you really click with. We partied quite a bit in the past week. Thailand's beaches are known for 'buckets'...a small sand bucket that is filled with a mickey of liquor (usually whiskey or rhum), a bottle of redbull, a can of coke, and ice. One of those and your dancin all night. On day 3, we had some buckets with our new friends and had some good fun...we took some pictures of it all and even a short video of the fire shows on the beach. There were two guys turning this huge jumping rope that was lit on fire...and Jay went to skip in it! Thankfully..he wasn't burnt!Yesterday...our last day on the island...we planned to rent the bike again to go do a jungle hike. I was pretty excited about it since the only exercise I'd had was lifing my chop sticks to my mouth or rubbing sunscreen on my body..oh and a bit of frisbee. Anyway, 10 minutes after renting the bike, we're riding up the steepest hill and I downshift from 2nd to 1st, which makes the bike go faster and Jay jerked backwards, pulling me with him. We were driving on the backwheel for like 4 seconds before we fell on the side of the road. Thankfully, Jay doesn't have a scratch - cause my knee absorbed all the shock. I had a pretty big gash - I thought I saw my bone. Jay felt so bad he was shfitzin (as he says) like crazy! I hitched a ride back to the beach to take care of my wound and he drove the bike back. Alas...another day of lounging on Had Rin. We had last night of fun with Elliot and Alana and now we're halfway to Bangkok. We're planning on doing some serious shopping in the big city andpay to store a luggage in bangkok so we don't have to carry it for the rest of our trip. Next is Koh Chang...one of my all time favorites. And then Bali, where I get to see the crew from 2005! We get to stay at our friends' house in the extra bedroom. We'll surely take some pictures with their camera and post them. You just won't get to see Thailand's bewutiful coasts...but i'll make sure to post some good ones of the birthday boy in Bali ; )
oh...our bus is leaving soon so i'll cut it here. Didn't mean to sound like a downer by all this. If anything, it actually made us so much more appreciative and careful...and we're still all smiles ; )

Impressions

Okay so Rachel said most of it…
But having never been here I did not know what to expect… Although necessities are cheaper in general, we must take the exchange rate into consideration. 1 CAD$ was equal to 40 Philippino pesos, and here it is about 30 baht. However, we bought things for 10 PHP, because merchants liked round numbers. Here, they do the same thing, so 10 baht is actually more than the Philippines for things like nik naks and so on…
My first impression was the difference with the cars. We took a taxi from the airport to the tourist area to get a room, and it was expensive because of the tolls. But all the taxis are new Corollas… in fact all the cars on the road are new, and the roads are more than well maintained… for the city. Driving yourself would be a nightmare at first – there are so many vehicles everywhere, and many of them are motorbikes that zig and zag and generally do not follow the road rules because they can get away with it. And know how to…
Whereas for the previous 45 days we were using tricycles (motorbikes with an attachment for people), we now have tuk-tuk, which is similar, but the layout different. We sit in a bench behind the driver, rather than to the side…
As Rachel mentioned, there are many more tourists here, and there seem to have been for much longer than in the Philippines. Needless to say, getting a fair deal can be an exercise in futility. We have just been looking around for future purchases - not wanting to buy and have to carry around the stuff for another 5 weeks – and I am getting used to the way they ask and what to expect. Though it seems like they ask for a fair price at first, you know you can do better. And I am certain the good shoppers can really bargain down. No one likes to get ripped off… I have not tried but I will not be shy I think – there are a lot of vendors after all…
The heat is similar to the Philippines, very muggy in Bangkok. Up here in Chiang Mai, the air is a little drier I find. And Thailand is cleaner in a sense. I assume many of the buildings are as old, but in Bangkok, the exteriors are not as black as in the Philippines.
Lastly, as Rachel mentioned, the language. Man I took it for granted at the amount of English in the Philippines, because here there is very little. The street vendors know a little, enough to get by on in order to make a killing (I mean living!) but every meal seems to have some problems. And we are never sure if they really understand or if they are smiling and nodding to be polite. The highway signs have no English, though the local street signs are written in English form under a larger Thai dialect.
We are here in Chiang Mai for another two days so we can catch the famous Sunday Market and other markets… need to visit some wats (temples) and maybe a museum. Then we are off to the South central part of Thailand where the beaches will be pretty and the water relaxing… this is what the vacation is supposed to be all about!
So enjoy your hockey and melting snow, we will take the white sand and clear blue waters anyday!

They call it 'The Land of Smiles'

Boracay Fun! Parrot fish at the fish market!

Yes it's true what they say...Thailand is getting more and more touristic by the day and 'farang' (western tourists) are encroaching the country left and right. But it's still nice to be back in a place where things are familiar. We had taken for granted how widespread English is spoken and written everywhere in the Philippines. It's noticeably less in Thailand. And we had to get used to driving on the opposite side of the road again...just like in NZ. We got a motorbike for a few days in Chiang Mai though Jay sits behind me cause it's safer that way...hi hi. I think we'll enjoy the rest of time we have in the north here cause it's definitely more laid back than Bangkok (although it's super catered to tourists...at every other corner there's a 'tourist office' selling tours to orchid farms, snake farms, wat (temples), cooking courses...).

They just love King in Thailsnd and glorify him

with posters, emblems, and anthems...

It's nice to have some good food with real veggie options...spicy though...ooof. Jay's lovin the pad Thai and fresh mango shakes. Oh and there's a street vendor that makes these fabulous banana and chocolate crepes right near our guesthouse...for 15 bhat (50 cents)! Things are cheaper in Chiang Mai...although they're cheaper in Thailand period. Our room is 200B, our motorbike is 100B/day....affordable henh?
well...i've been sitting here for too long trying to upload our latest photos but the blog is not cooperating with me...so we'll have to keep the snapshots, jems, mems, factoids...whatever you might call them...for later. Thanks for all the comments. Happy belated Earth Day to everyone...it was pretty well advertised all over the Phillipines and Thailand...it's a good sign ; )

Laid back Buddha at Wat Pho It's a little hard asking for directions

with landmark names lie this!

On our way...

Okay so it is nearly 3 pm on April 20th, and we are getting ready to leave this beautiful country, and head for Thailand for the next 27 days...
We have spent most of the past 3 weeks travelling in the areas more known for beaches and sun, and have been more satisfied in the recent days with our 3-day stay in Borocay. El Nido was fantastic as well... as our pictures showed. Borocay pics will be on shortly...
Rachel has been to Thailand 3 times, but this will be my first visit, so I am slightly unsure what to expect after having been here for 42 days... I expect it to be hot like hell though. And just as busy, if not worse, in the city centers. We have a few (4) destinations in mind for our 4 weeks here, and they are all tourist destinations, and so hopefully we will meet some others to travel and exchange stories with. So far we have not come across too many that we have spent and serious amount of time with... but we are headed to more beaches so we can't complain. We just need to come up with a few more card games...
I just read the Habs lost again in Boston, and need to win game 7 to move on... well the bars must be happy about this! I hope you guys are all having a great time back home with this, I would say it is the only thing I envy being away over on the other side of the world...
Ciao for now, we'll check back in soon!

More Palawan...

Here are a few more photos for your enjoyment...

The first one is in Coron, at bistro Coron, where we had a great vegetarian pizza. Yum. We were there for seven long days, so we had a few meals here.... pricing was decent and the breakfast omelets we really good... as well as their French bread... the pancake was a little heavy but came with Philippine honey, which Rachel enjoyed, but I preferred the maple syrup (not real!) that came with the pancakes or french toast at the Sea Dive...



Island hopping in El Nido...




I forgot to edit the following one...

El Nido

If a picture is worth a thousand words, then please enjoy this 5, 000 word essay on the beauty of El Nido....




Can you spot the star fish below...?

Here in Palawan, we're away from Manila's madness and a bit closer to serenity… On our last day in the big city, the owner of the guesthouse we stayed at invited us to some undisclosed ‘activity’ at a local bar. It turned out there was a reporter from National Geographic doing a documentary on a Filipino delicacy” Baluit. Now I had seen these nasty eggs all over Asia before but I never dared to try them. They are boiled eggs that have been incubated for 18-20 days – which means there’s a chick in the shell. Once the camera was rolling, I cafefully opened my egg and disecited the critter with my hands, I inspected the feathers, the claws, the beak…I opened it up and gawked at the organs…its little heart and all. And then…I ate it! Well, at least a bite of it. Jay didn’t even want to try until I kind of pressured him. Surprisingly, it tastes like boiled it…with a little “je ne sait quoi”… Anyway…keep a look out in the nest few months for, “Jay and Rachel” –the next National Geographic stars airing on TV.

On the following day we took a long ferry to the island of Coron, in Palawan. That’s me on my bunk bed in the boat. That boat was jammed packed with passengers, luggage, dogs, roosters…you name it. It was nice to finally get off and get settled in our new guesthouse: the SeaDive Resort. We went on a snorkeling boat trip with 2 other couples yesterday. Not the best snorkeling I’ve ever done but still a nice venture. We snorkeled around ship wrecks from WW2. In fact, that’s Coron’s big attraction and there are remains and mementos all over the resort. In the last picture of Jay and I, we’re sitting in the bar with the propeller of a war plane behind us.

That night we had dinner with one of the couples from the boat trip – they were on their honeymoon. I had the best meal I’ve had in a long time – fresh crab (almost as big as king crab - in the shell) in a coconut ginger sauce. The seafood here is real good…and supposedly ‘safe.’ Though I will surely be careful about eating seafood in the Philippines since a lot of their fishing is done with dynamite, cyanide or chloride poisoning. Not only does this completely ruin the coral ecosystems but it’s got to be unhealthy for us to eat.

Anyhow…I should go and meet Jay for dinner soon. Our days on this island have consisted of lounging around in hammocks, sipping San Miguel Light, playing pool at the local bar…you know…the usual. Hope we don’t get to used to this living…we’re just so good at it. I swear our stress level’s got to be down to minus 5.

Whale sharks

As Rachel mentioned, they are a rare breed. What occurs is that you are in the boat as it rides along, and we were 7 tourists with one "interactor", the guide who gives the signal to get in and where to go, and where to look. he jumps in with us. There are 2 spotters who check the water for large dark shapes and let the interactor know there is a shark... then we jump in the water, swim to the spot they tell us and then he says look down... and the next thing you know there is a massive creature swimming towards you or next to you or even under you... and frankly that was scary for me!
The water was a little cloudy... I guess there are a lot of little microorganisms that attract the sharks to that area, but the result is that yo can not see much more than 10-15 feet down, although maybe more like 20 feet near the surface...
The water is clean out there and is a nice deep turquoise. The whale shark nearly blends in with the water which is why sometimes you'll look down and see nothing.. and then the next thing you know these spots materialize out of nowhere and there is this massive beast heading right at you... in my case, I looked down twice and it seemed like the skar was gunning me down... and I nearly freaked... I am not sure how good their sight is and never know if you might end up in their way... mostly I swam alongside it...
Unfortunately we missed our opportunity to buy an underwater camera here in Manila and by the time we got to Donsol it was overpriced... the interactor actually took photos for some people, and some really good ones that they plan to share with the whole group... as soon as we get some we will share them with you for proof... All we have now is the picture on the boat so you'll have to take our word...
We will get a camera though since we are headed to Coron and other places where there will be plenty of opportunities to take underwater photos!

Cheers for now!

Next time I'll know to save! I just wrote this nice big blog and lost it cause I went to another page without saving first. So this one will be shorter cause dinner's calling.

Good things to know about the Philippines: there are bakeries everywhere that sell different kinds of buns for 1 pesos (2.5cents). And you can buy a mickey of rum for 65cents! That beats the record from Thailand's whiskey at 2$. Although, transport and accommodation is generally more expensive than the rest of South East Asia. Like that hut in the picture with Jay was 15$ - but that's the most expensive we've paid yet. We're paying 9.50$ tonight - and we get TV with HBO and CNN...ooh la la.

As we said before, the people here are so friendly and helpful. I can't help but smile and get cheered up when I walk down the streets of small towns and have everyone say Hi..smiling and giggling.

The next picture here is on the catamaran that took us out to swim with whale sharks. It was surely one of the best activities we've ever done. We saw 7 of them. These beasts are a rare breed. They are only found in a few spots in the world and most divers would rave to see one if they had a chance. The first one you see is so exhilarating. You look below and see this massive fish swimming so close you can touch it and slow enough that you can just follow it. The ones we saw were between 9 and 11 meters long!! We saw their enormous mouths open widely in front of us...but we weren't fearing cause we knew that they are filter feeders that don't prey.

Can't wait to go check out more sea creatures in a few days....

Haircut in Manila

Okay so my hair was getting long and it's just going to be too hot as we head south to keep it all... so I got a haircut.

Other pictures include a view of our terrace up here at Friendly's Guesthouse in Manila, and a view of the Adriatico Street below, as well as some rice terraces seen in Banaue (pronounced Ban-ow-ey) while in the north,and our jeepney ridde to Bontoc...

North Luzon

We arrived yesterday in Manila after our flight from Auckland to Hong Kong had been canceled. Apparently Cathay no longer flies from Auckland Wednesday mornings and we were not the only disappointed customers. Luckily, we caught the next one as well as the next connection to Bangkok and after a little running, made it in time to catch our flight here. We landed early in the am, and headed straight up to North Luzon, and are now in Baguio. Didn't want to stay in Manila too long cause big cities aren't our thing...they're stressful, noisy, super polluted, and there's lots of poverty.
So far the Philippino people are nice...if it wasn't for a man on the jeepney with us in Manila, we would of never found our way to the bus that took us to the North. Manila doesn't seem to be so tourist friendly as far as signs and infrastructure. But at least almost everyone speaks some English.
We will do hikes and check out the rice terraces and hill tribes for the next few days and before long head back south to the lower lands and beach areas.
It is weird to be back in vehicles that drive on the right side of the road and I have been confused a little. It would be much more difficult to drive here, so we will stick to taxis and jeepneys (sort of like decorated pick up trucks) when we need it, and buses for the long hauls.
There will not be many opportunities to write any blogs, so we will when we can. The weather is hot here which is nice. We will boil down by the beach in a week or so. Longer term plans have us taking a ferry to Palawan (Coron and Puerto Princessa) and then off to Cebu...
The food here is very cheap, but I think Rachel may have a hard time finding a lot of vegetarian places... oh well. There is one restaurant here which we will make the most of at least!

Cheers all!

More pictures

Since you requested more, we felt compelled to comply!

This photo is of the landscape on our way to Mt Cook from Te Anau, taken in a small valley called Lindi's Pass.
Next is a shot of Mt Cook, Autralasia's tallest peak at 3755m.

This would be a closer shot... not sure how to edit the photo to make it easier to view... sorry!

View from the top of the Devil's Pass at Mt Tongariro. The weather on top was too harsh to continue our journey, and we decided we would probably not have seen the craters in the fog anyway... oh well! Mordor was fun nonetheless.

Mt Tongariro from outside the park...

Pictures!

Here are some of the recent shots taken along our trip, this part being the South Island.

So in the first photo, we can see some Lake at the bottom of a hill in Queenstown. It was a steep up, but well worth the view it provided.

Next up is a picture of the Southern Alps as we made out way from Te Anau to Milford Sound, early in the morning as the fog still lingered around the mountains...

Next we have a shot of the famous Mitre Peak, known in a ton of shots of Milford Sound. It would have been cool to go for a kayak toour around here, but it is pretty cold here in March. A hike around here is impossible unless you book a hut, and the huts were booked through to April. Let that be a lesson to all!

Om our way back from Milford, having done only a small hike, we decided to do the Divide, and up to Key Summit. This is actually the end part of a 3 day hike known as the Routeburn trail. We began on the trail 2 days earlier from the other side of the Alps, while we were staying in Queenstown. Needless to say, the views were better on this end...

Same shot from a bit higher... can't seem to delete it!

End of NZ?

For now anyway...
But this is how we spent the last week...
After the glaciers we visited Queenstown which is basically a touristic central where a lot of activities begin... we travelled to Glenorchy to a nice hike in some warm weather. We did part of the RouteburnTrack in Mt. Aspiring Nat Park and took a little sun. Next was off to Te Anau, the closest town to Milford Sound which we headed to for some beautiful scenery. And we were not disappointed. We climbed the end of the Routeburn track, known as the Divide, to Key Summit and had some spectacular views of the valleys, mountains and glaciers!
We then headed northeast to Mt Cook where we luckily caught a few sun rays in a short walk before the clouds moved in and blocked most of Australasia's highest peak (3755 m) and the following pictures shall show it in all it's splendor!
Quick driving brought us up to Kaikoura, then on back to the North Island where we attempted Mt. Tongaririo (also known as Mordor from the Lord of the Rings Trilogy - scenes from the 3rd movie likely!). Unfortunately the weather was not so compliant and though we tried, the wind and cold got the best of us... after having completed a perilous ascent in the Devil's Staircase. With a quick stop off in Taupo, we have made it back to our base of operations, Auckland. Rachel and I fly out of here Wednesday morning on 3 flights which end in Manila! Philippines, here we come!

So here are a few more recent pipctures of ours...
First off is a seal pup jumping towards its mother in Abel Tasman...











Next is a shot of one of the bays in Able Tasman..















3rd is a shot of the Pancake rocks in Punakaiki... the sun was still out for the 4th consecutive day (a new record!)















And the last 2 are shots of Franz Joseph Glacier... what a sight!

Picture Gallery

Here are a bunch of photos to let you know what we get to see here on a daily basis... except the sun which we saw in Abel Tasman... what beautiful water don't ya think?

First off is Rainbow Mountain in Rotorua... then Rachel next to Redwoods in Rotorua as well... Then some scenery on the way to the far North... Then A shot of Wellington from the ferry, and finally, split apple rock in Abel Tasman! Cheers!