Baby Kecil and one lecherous man on the bus

After reliving my orangutan experience at a hostel in Kota Kinabalu I turned away from the computer and indulged the hostel owner by having a conversation with him. He (whatever his name) was trying to get me drunk and high in the lounge of his hostel. I was having none of it as I am very committed to updating my blog. The lounge contained some Germanic people who strongly discouraged me from visiting Brunei. That meant making alternate plans. However, by 2am I had decided that I would still visit Brunei the following day.

By 10am the following day it was clear that I could not get to Brunei even if I wanted. The one ferry that leaves for the oil-rich nation from Sabah had left at 8am. I got my backpack and took a taxi to the airport. Next stop Kuala Lumpur and then an overnight bus to Kota Baruh. I had not even settled into my seat when a lecherous man requested to sit next to me. The poor nerdy guy next to me had to move over so the stinky, dirty man could sit next to me. He looked at me with a certain disgusting look in his eye and asked me a million questions. I couldn't bare looking at him so I started talking at the seat in front of me or out the window. All I wanted to do is sleep, so I pulled out my ipod. He asked if he could listen along with me and I said no. He didn't quite hear me the first time because I was speaking at the seat in front of me. Next thing I know he's tucking me in and puts his jacket over me. I did the most appropriate thing possible: I grunted a 'leave me alone' grunt.

We arrived in Kota Bahru at 6am. The first boat to the Perhentian Island of Kecil was at 7am. This meant trying to avoid the lecherous man for an hour in a room the size of my cubicle. Basically I pretended to sleep for an hour until I had to board the boat. On the island he actually asked if I wanted my own room or share one with him. I found a place called the Lemongrass and the owner of the place was shocked when I told him I wanted my own place. Turns out he was shocked in a good way. He told lecherous man that he only had one shack and that he was going to give it to me. When lecherous man left he told me he had five shacks but he didn't like the looks of the man.

The day turned out to be amazing. I went out snorkeling two hours after checking in. Suddenly I was in the turquoise waters of the South China Sea with turtles, needle fish and sharks. Yup, so I ended up sighting the most sharks in the reef. Black tip six footers that looked the part and their tales did that thing that scares the crap out of me in movies. You know, that little wiggle. One of the girls (I think it was Rachel. They're twins it's hard to tell them apart) cut her finger on a coral and was bleeding. Then they got out of the water and I snorkeled away until I saw two six foot sharks swim toward me and one of them started circling below me. I stopped snorkeling and started swimming for the boat. Unfortunately the boat was a few hundred feet away and on my way toward it I encountered another shark.

Our last stop of the day we hit the Romantic Beach, I know, it's a pretty gay name but they make these things up as they go along. It was a nameless beach until tourists asked to be taken to it last season. The white sand beach was deserted and as we snorkeled I decided to dip down for a closer encounter with a turtle. It doesn't take very much dipping before the pressure of the water becomes intense. I got out of the water at the beach around the corner from our boat to encounter some naked ladies and naked men. They were French and trying very hard to get that tan-line-free look without burning their neither regions. Lots of sunscreen being applied in areas where the sun (usually) don't shine.

That night I had the first of three lobster meals at Coral Bay, on the other side of the island. There are no roads, no cars, no electricity and no hawkers on the Perhentian Islands. It's bliss. Turqouise waters, blue skies and friendly locals. Joe, Rachel and Annalise were island vets as they had some pretty nice sun burns to show off. We had planned to make it to sunset on Coral Bay but didn't quite make it in time as we were all applying various moisturizers to our burnt bodies. After dinner there was a fire show, the twins went to bed and Joe played some old folk songs a la Dylan. We ended up sitting alone on the beach at 2am and I told him how very sad my existence was going to become within a week.

Day two on the island involved a two hour snorkel venture one way from Coral Bay. Joe and I got to a secluded beach and hung out for a few hours with some more French people. These French people were also naked. They were also unattractive. It made making my tan lines go away a less self conscious affair.

Day three I left the beach. It was sad. At my next hostel all the men looked like sex tourists and then I was on a plane London bound. Bye bye Asia.

Get out the novelty sized martini glass...

I'm coming home! I will be at work March 1 and should have a phone number soon. For now email is the way to keep in touch.

My first weekend night I would like to experience a good ol' karaoke night to keep me warm...and to keep the depression at bay.

Suggest a place. Shall we make it our favorite on Church street? March 2, Friday, 9pm. Who's in? Post a comment.

I will be shotgunning beers in a park nearby beforehand to save on 'getting drunk' costs. I is broke after 13 months on the road. Suggest a park. I'll bring a six pack.

Paul, you're in charge of rigging up a TV/DVD system in the park of our choice so we can watch Fubar (a Canadian classic everyone should see and shotgun beer to).

Orangutans and scorpions

After a day of snorkeling I ran (literally) to the bus station to get a ticket for Sepilok. The bus departed at 7:30 pm and dropped Leanne and I at the junction about 50 km from Sepilok at 11:30pm. We waited in a restaurant and out of the corner of my eye I noticed a large insect. I walked over to my bag and moved it away from the insect to discover that it was a rather large black scorpion. The staff at the restaurant just panicked. The women did their high pitched shrieks and out came a man with large tongs to take the little creature outside.

The bus pulled up at midnight. We immediately hit a checkpoint. All locals have to carry ID in this part of Malaysia. One woman was pulled off the bus. Some large guns pointed at her and she started crying. Our bus pulled away from the checkpoint a few minutes later without her.

Leanne and I got dropped at another junction. This one was 3km away from the Orangutan sanctuary and guesthouse. Our conversation about S21 and the Kmer Rouge as we walked down a dark, lonely highway was a bit eerie. The dogs came out to greet us with their barks. The road got darker as we walked down. Twenty minutes late we found a guesthouse and checked into a dorm (after waking the staff).

At 9am it was off to the sanctuary to see orangutans which translates into man of the forest. The aboriginal communities of Borneo believed that people turned into orangutans when they died. The place was a bit of a zoo. Hundreds of people were crowding the feeding platforms to get a look at the apes. They would swing into view and some even walked down the wooden path toward us. Leanne and I took a walk along the path away from the crowds when I had my very own personal encounter with one of the apes. It walked up to us on our way out and when I sat down next to it the orangutan started to scratch my arm with one of its fingers!

Tonight we sleep in Kota Kinabalu after a long beautiful bus ride. Mount Kinabalu was covered in fog displaying it's eerie, imposing side.

Sibuan Island

My last day in Semporna I noticed the rather beautiful mosque in town. Bill agreed to stick around for another day for a 'no action day'. Some of the other divers joined us. It's hard work convincing a type A personality to do nothing!

Sibuan Island was the destination for the snorkel trip. It's a beautiful island of palm trees and Sea Gypsies, the fishing community that lives here. The kids came out to hang around for some treats and we took some pictures together.

We walked around the island and discovered that the military had decided to set up shop here. In 2003 some Filipino pirates boarded Sipidan Island and took the tourists there hostage. Since then the islands have been closed off for overnight stays and tourists require a permit to enter. I had to pretend to be Anne Douvesville from France for the day when I arrived on Sipidan yesterday. The permits have to be applied for two months in advance and the hotels use the names of guests from two months ago to aquire them.

The snorkeling on Sibuan was beautiful as well. Sipidan is in a class all it's own and nothing can compare to it. Sibuan was nice too. We watched three turtles swim into the blue depths of the sea. The coral was amazing shades of orange, green, brown and blue! The fish were colourful and abundant. At one point the water was so shallow that I was seriously concerned about making it back to the beach without scraping my entire front.

I should have been more worried about the sunburn I was acquiring on my back. It is red, hot and painful. Wearing my backpack hurts. The last two snorkels I managed to find an extra wetsuit to wear into the water.

Borneo

I left the Pinos behind for the Celebes Sea on Malaysian Borneo. This is one of the world's top dive sites and probably one of the most beautiful places I've seen above and below water. The sea creatures here are astounding. I swam with four large (five foot) sea turtles.

I did not have an underwater camera but obviously someone who used this computer before me did. The pictures of the turtles are not mine but it's just the way it was in the water...only more amazing.

The island experience wasn't all that easy. A toothless Malay fellow took a liking to me and the German couple I was snorkeling with had to pose as my parents and their son (the dive master on the boat) had to be my brother. Apparently the toothless fellow was insisting that I stay on the island for the night.

The snorkeling was amazing. The variety of fish you see here is just great. The divers saw three types of shark including a bull shark and a feeding (which is rare).

Aside from heavenly turquoise warm water and a toothless local there were monitors on the island to keep me entertained. It was hard to get out out of the water here but eventually I had to.

Back on the mainland at Semporna we went for a Chinese New Year dinner and drinks. Tomorrow another great island awaits... along with a hang over.

More shots on my flickr site.

It's all about the jollification. Happy New Year!

My dear buddy Sunny of Lhasa fame wrote me this lovely little email:

"happy new year!!today is the first day of the Chinese Spring Festival,there is much happiness and jollification anywhere in china,everyone says "Gong Hey Fa Choy to others ,no matter strangers or friends.it's very interesting.ok, follow me and say it again "Gong Hey Fa Choy"(it means wishing others to get rich)."

Hope y'all get rich!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Filipinos take this day very serious. I found this out when the personal security of the President of Singapore wished me a Happy Valentine's day. Then he asked me to cross eight lanes of traffic. I only crossed four and once I had made sure that no sniper would think me a threat to whoever the president is, I crossed back. Strolled through the walled city of Intramuros where more people wished me a happy valentine's day. Then on to Chinatown where more random people wished me a happy valentine's day. Then I noticed that most of the people that wished me a happy valentine's day were security guards and police officers with big guns and German shepards and big smiles. Then my dentist remarked that I looked like a single woman. It must show in the teeth.

There's a few things people here love more than Valentine's Day. Singing and diesel fumes. Videoke cafes are everwhere and today, even the sales lady at the mall sang along with Shania Twain as I asked her a question.

Not all is lost. I have a hot date with Daniele's dad tonight. Ha ha ha. I'm kidding Daniele! But I am meeting him tonight for a stroll along the boardwalk.

A slice of Africa

The alarm went off at 2:30am. I closed my eyes for just a second and the next thing I know there's a knock on the door. It's 3am. I overslept. Today is the day of our African safari in the Philippines. It only took three days to organize this event. Seems that most people skip the safari in favour of the beaches. At the door I find my sleepy eyes confronted by two drunk Filipinos. This is the jackass crew that will take us out on open water. The captain is a short stout man with most of his teeth missing. His deckhand reeked of alcohol from four feet away. Yay for me.

First thing on the boat a squabble breaks out between the captain and deckhand. I stayed out of it even though it concerned where I was to sit on the boat. The deckhand offered me the captain's plastic chair. The captain didn't like that much. Once settled in our seats it took the deckhand only thirty minutes to start the motor. We floated under the stars and a crescent moon that hung like a bowl in the sky.


The sea was calm but soon enough we hit rough waters in the dark. I didn't feel all that confident about our crews ability to navigate the waters in their condition. For one, the captain kept falling asleep and steering straight for dark islands! We didn't hit any islands but did get stuck on some rather beautiful shallow corals. By the sounds of it the bottom of the boat must have gotten pretty scratched up.


Four hours later we arrived in Caluit island where a slice of Africa awaited us. However, we had to wait for our slice. Seems the only truck available for the safari had just left with a load of Club Paradise guests. We watched the 36 staff members on the island sing the national anthem and raise the Philippine flag. Then one of them walked over and took us on a tour by foot while we waited. We saw some rare species of animals such as the endangered wild boar. I gasped at its beauty...well, maybe not.

Then we looked at bearcats, deer and porcupines and visited a giraffe in quarantine for medical treatment. Zebras were everywhere and I photographed them like a madwoman. The scenery and heat was definitely reminiscent of Africa. Not that I've ever been there but judging from all the movies I've watched it's an exact replica. Apparently this is why this island was chosen for the safari. The trees are all native to the Philippines.

All the zebras and giraffes here are island born. The original batch of animals shipped here from Kenya in 1976 has already died. Seems that reproduction isn't a problem as several of the zebras were pregnant. All the animals survive the typhoon season year after year. Ostriches, elephants and antelopes are scheduled to arrive over the coming years. No predators will be brought onto the island.

We headed back to wait for the truck. As we lay there in the shade, Claire and I decided that we didn't want to take the truck tour since we had already seen all the animals on our walk and just then, trailing a huge cloud of dust, the truck pulled up.

Back on the ship the crew had slept off their booze binge. The waters were rough. Our boat kept raising up several feet into the air and slamming down onto the water. On the way to our snorkel destination we saw some jumping tunas and sea snakes. Then the crew saw a large fin of sorts. The jackasses talked about tiger sharks in the water and then they expected me to jump in to snorkel around the sunken WW2 warship.

I got into the water. Looked down. Saw the coral twenty feet below me. The water was cold. Visibility was not so good. The waves were capping. I started swimming away from the boat. Then I panicked. All I could think of is sharks. The conditions were perfect. I'd seen Jaws many years ago. I'd heard about that surfer who got attacked a few weeks ago. Mind you he was in Australia but the Pinos ain't so far from Australia. All these random thoughts made sense in the water. They added up to a shark attack in my mind. Ron swam toward me. I guess he could see that I was not doing so well. He told me to relax and float. "Kick with your legs and let's go look at the wreck. It's worth it." Having someone else in the water with me was reassuring.

The wreck was in very shallow waters. Parts of it were only four feet below water. The coral was extremely colourful. The fish were numerous. It was eerie to think about how many people must have died on this ship as it sank. The water was still choppy. I was still creeped out. I decided to head back but Ron insisted "swim around the other side. It's better over there." I did. He was right. I was still scared.

Back on the boat our crew decided to take a look at it too. Surprisingly enough our captain did not drown. ...Am I being harsh?

Despite fears to the contrary I did find a way off the island the following day. Asian Spirits still had seats on their flight to Manila. Score.

Whale Sharks and Disaster Relief Work

The blog entries will be backwards. So, this happened before I got to the island of Busuanga (where I am now and am currently trying to find a way off the island to Manila. It's harder than you think.).

I arrived in the Philippenises after a two hour flight from KL and headed straight up to Baguio where I got stuck for the night at the YMCA. There was some misinformation involved and I was told that there was no more buses running for the day to Banaue in the north. It would have been all good but then the power went out and it was freezing cold in the room overnight. I wore two sweaters, a t-shirt, three pairs of socks, two pants and a blanket and I was still freezing! On the upside, I did get a two dollar haircut at the mall and saw tons of men taking leaks all over the place. Public urination seems to be a bit of a problem in the Pinos. Many a driveway will have a hand painted sign that reads "please don't urinate here".

Further up north, I spent a night in Banaue where I was transferred from the basement dorm room to a more cozy little place upstairs because the owner felt uncomfortable having a young lady on her own in the basement. I met a Filipina-old-Swiss-dude couple. The story of their get together sounded a little shady because she kept mentioning that he was a friend of her husband's...I'm not one to judge but I think she was doing the nasty with the old white dude. I caught them holding hands but apparently they had seperate rooms... right.

We took a jeepney out to Batad the following day. Located at an altitude of 1500 metres (that's over 4500 feet) the rice terraces here were handmade by the Ifugao people over 2000 years ago. Some of the terraced fields are sloped at an angle of 70 degrees, forming a steep stairway. The jeepney dropped us off at the top thetrail. The bowl shaped valley of the terraces was still a 45 minute hike over a steep ridge from the top of the trail.

The wet season is still in full swing up in the north. Mud marked the way along the hike. Each field is prepared by a famer that trudges the mud with his feet in the field and then forms a protective wall around the terrace. I nearly slipped at every step and our guide, a local teenage girl, trekked ahead of us in flipflops, almost skipping, as if she were in a field of daisies and not at the edge of a muddy wall that dropped off 40 feet!

Back in town I headed straight to the bus terminal to purchase a ticket to Manila. Then it was on to the internet cafe to book a flight to Legaspi. I asked the guy next to me what date it was and within ten minutes I scraped my flight plans, choosing instead to take the bus with him to Legaspi. Tim told me about the volunteer work he was doing as part of the Hands On Disaster Relief team in Legaspi after their devastating typhoon season last November. I pretty much decided within a few hours of the conversation that I would head there to help out for a couple of days. Helping would mean shovelling lahar, volcanic ash, and transporting large pieces of metal to and from worksites.

Our bumpy journey took over 24 hours with a switch in Manila and some roosters crowing me awake on the bus at noon. We finally arrived soaked to discover that the entire Hands On crew was invited to dinner at retired a retired Peace Corp and volcanoligst's house by the sea. It was lovely to meet everyone there over a relaxed meal. The fifteen volunteers are made up of Americans, a guy from Cameroon, an Englishman and Canadians. Everyone knows Solo in town because he is the first and only black person people in this part of the country have ever met. They love him!

Legaspi sits in the shadow of Mount Mayon, the world's most active volcano. It erupted last fall and the ash from its surroundings along with more than a few boulders were blown around town burying buildings, vehicles and sadly, people when the typhoons hit in November. The landscape is devastating, dotted with palm trees that look like a million sad candles swaying back and forth as far as the eye can see. Roads were destroyed. Roofs blown away and the town buried in volcanic ash.

On my first day to the work site I was informed that a baby had been found in the debris a few days ago and that an elderly man is still buried there. Flies were all over the place as I started digging out the kitchen.

On my way back to the work site the women (everyone works to rebuild here) called out "sexy lady" and "are you from Pakistan?" after me. The 'sexy lady' part was probably due to the fact that I was wearing a tight white t-shirt. It doesn't take much when you backpack to pull off 'sexy' in a town devastated by a natural disaster.

Hands On also agreed to help rebuild a school in nearby Alimsog. This meant transporting the raw materials to the town by boat. Mainly it meant loading and unloading the boat for half the day from 8am to 3pm. The towns people and kids were excited to see us there.

All this work did not distract me from my initial objective: swimming with whale sharks. I had decided that this would be a must before I ended my trip. Dan, Susie and Tim decided to join me. It was one of the best experiences of my life! Whale sharks are the largest living fish. We did five jumps. On our first two jumps I swallowed half the sea and by jump three I had the snorkel gear all figured out. Tim, Susie and I swam with whale shark number four for over fifteen minutes. Right at the head! It would dip down and then reappear and change course and we'd follow along. These fish live up to 100 years and the one we swam with was 30 feet long. I couldn't take any pictures underwater but here is what these beautiful creatures look like.