Another belated picture of the week post - it's been really hard getting internet access in Spain. I'm surprised by the lack of internet cafes and wifi (although we finally did discover that McDonald's has free internet - go figure).  So here's my favorite picture from this last week. This one is from Barcelona which we were lucky enough to visit during one of the biggest festivals of the year - La Merce.


A few more great pictures:

From France

Lyon France - River Rhone

Lyon France at Night

Avignon, France

From Barcelona

Afternoon coffee and people watching  in the square

Strolling Las Ramblas, Barcelona

People trying to catch a glimpse of the giants for La Merce

I know it's been forever - it's been a very busy couple of weeks for me. Hopefully I'll get some time to post soon about my adventures in Hong Kong, Macao, France, and Spain. For now though, a much belated picture of the week post (from last week).

Again there are too many to choose from, but here's my favorite - a view from the top of the tram in Hong Kong.

And a few more good ones:

From Macao



And from Strasbourg France

From Cebu to Taiwan and Hong Kong, this has been a busy week! I've taken so many pictures it's hard to choose one to be top for the week, but here it is!


And here are a few of the runners up:

From Cebu

Downtown Cebu

Taking a break

Wild ride

Island hopping

From Hong Kong

A very strange spotted building in Central, Hong Kong

Central, Hong Kong

Crazy traffic in Central, Hong Kong

Cebu on day two was a very different experience from our hectic and sad view of the city the day before. We were picked up at the hotel and went straight to the dive shop where we were fitted with snorkel gear. Our boat crew consisted of three guys, the one who picked us up probably spoke the best English but it was still really difficult to converse with him. The other two didn’t say anything to us the whole trip. One operated the boat and the other was seemingly along for the ride. I think at one stop he even snorkeled with us – not as a guide or anything. Just enjoying the ocean.

We walked down a long and scraggly pier where little kids climbed on the railings and jumped off into the ocean naked or in underwear. Whole families swam between the boats that pulled in and out of the dock. I couldn’t help but think about the sectioned off pristine beaches right down the way. Locals have to settle with swimming in murky water and dodging boats because their beaches have been saved for the tourists who can pay.


We finally sailed off in a large motorized boat that probably could have held 20 people but only carried us. Salty water sprayed us as we flew over the waves, the water so shallow and clear that you could see straight to the bottom. The company we used allowed us to choose our islands – you can do anywhere from 2 to 10 in a day. We chose 4 but so much snorkeling was pretty exhausting – I think we would have been better off doing just 3, spending more time at each.

A boat just like ours

The snorkeling was the best I’ve ever experienced. Corals fanned out all along the bottom, blue fingers, wavy light pink fans, yellow corrugated mushroom-like blobs, housing fish and countless other unseen life. Angel fish with long head fins darted by, and thousands of blue, green and yellow fluorescent fishes floated all around us. We were given bread to feed the fishes on every stop and it was a surreal experience, having thousands of fishes suddenly swarming you all around and underneath where you can’t even see them, grabbing chunks of soggy loaf away from each other.

We did snorkeling at three islands – two of them were marine sanctuaries where locals aren’t allowed to fish (they do anyways but can be fined or jailed for it if they are caught). The diversity of life was outstanding. I’ve been diving and snorkeling before but have never seen so many different kinds of fishes in one trip.

In between the snorkeling we landed on a beachy island for lunch. A small grass hut was rented and our guides told us to go check out the beach while they got our lunch ready. We walked along the perfect white shore and waded out into the water. The water is so shallow around these islands that fishermen stand up on the bottom out in the middle of the ocean - a strange sight.


The meal was the best of the trip. Our table was overloaded with grilled milkfish, pork, squid and chicken legs. Accompanied by a box of rice for each of us it was definitely too much for two people, but after all the snorkeling the grilled tender meat and seafood were perfect. To top it off we had mangoes and bananas. I don’t know what the difference is between mangoes from the Philippines and elsewhere but they are perfectly sweet and tender without any of the bitterness that mangoes can sometimes have. It was my favorite food find on our trip.


This is probably a good place to talk about the food in the Philippines. Being a die-hard foodie, I did a lot of research beforehand about the local food. Lechon (grilled whole pig) seemed to be the big thing in the area. I had a pretty hard time finding much else and decided to just wing it when I arrived. Fast food seems to rule the islands and it’s hard to find a restaurant that looks safe enough to try. We did find one place offering lechon and it was pretty good – the skin crispy and chewy at the same time – almost like candy. It was served with a vinegar and red onion condiment which balanced out the fattiness of the meat well. Besides the lechon and the grilled meat on our snorkeling trip there was no other meal worth mentioning. The biggest disappointment of the trip was the food. I don’t want to suggest that Filipino food has nothing to offer. We just couldn’t find it on the island.


Overall day two was a good experience. It was a little strange to have the whole boat to ourselves but the water and the fish and the beaches were so relaxing, all I could feel was comfort and peace, a totally different feeling from the previous day wandering in the city.

I’m not sure I would go back to the Philippines. It’s a good place for people looking to be pampered or hoping to lay on a beach and drink cocktails, or for those wanting great diving. But if you’re looking for a memorable local experience and great food there are better places I can think of visiting. In fairness I only saw two small parts of one island in a country made up of over 7000, and I didn’t experience any of the waterfalls and nature hikes in the mountains. I didn’t see the small fishing villages. These could be totally worth it.

If you've been to the Philippines or had a great experience with the food and want to share your thoughts, please leave me a comment. I'd love to hear how others found the islands.

I wasn't sure what to expect when I booked our trip for Cebu. I knew very little about the Philippines but the resort websites made it look pretty outstanding. Pictures of white beaches and descriptions of diving in marine sanctuaries and staying at resorts that cater to every whim made Cebu seem like it would be a heavenly place.

The view from the taxi window as we pulled out of the airport showed a completely different picture however. Dilapidated wooden shacks covered with graffiti and coca-cola signs lined the road. Bare-footed kids ran alongside the busy street, darting in and out of abandoned fields and over piles of trash. Goats and dogs wandered into the street and the speeding motorcycles and jeepneys swerved to avoid them. It was chaotic and dirty - extremely poor.


I'm not usually a resort kind of traveler. I'd rather get out and see the places I'm visiting - eat local food, talk to people, see what the city has to offer - than lay by a pool and get a massage (which I can easily do at home) but as we hurled through the narrow streets, the city didn't look too inviting. I started to think that maybe this trip would just be a resort type of vacation - a disappointing prospect to me.

We set up a city tour with a guide for Saturday so we could see Cebu. What we were hoping for was a person that would show us the real Cebu, maybe take us to some local places and share some insight on what it's like to be Filipino. Unfortunately our "guide" turned out to just be a driver that took us to all the canned tourist spots and barely spoke.

The "tour" started with a stop at Magellan's cross. Magellan, the Portugese explorer and adventurer, died in battle in Cebu. Several markers and memorials about Magellan can be found around Cebu and Mactan Island, the island adjacent to Cebu. They are mostly crosses, but some have fierce looking statues of the warrior Lapu Lapu who killed Magellan.

Lapu Lapu

A shrine commemorating Magellan's death

After this we headed into Cebu proper, to see the Basilica del Sto. Niño and another shrine to Magellan. This was where the poverty really hit me. As we stepped out of the car, swarms of stick thin men tried to sell us  cheap trinkets and kids, some not wearing much more than underwear, pulled at us begging us for money. People all around tried to sell us candles and shells.


Inside was a beautiful old church housing a religious relic that people from all over come to visit.


In the courtyard hundreds of people gathered to light small red candles and place them into one of thousands of holders and pray. When Magellan came to the island he brought with him Catholicism and it took hold quickly. 93% of Filipinos are Christian, most being Catholic.


After the Basilica we visited Fort San Pedro, built sometime in the 1600s and used by the Spanish and later the Americans. It was really peaceful inside, with a big grassy area and plants all around. An old man sat in the corner and played guitar and it was easy to forget about the crazy streets just outside these gates.



After we left we visited some really bad museums, which basically charged us a lot of money to look at a few plaques and pieces of paper. I don't think I'd really recommend any of the museums in the area. One more quick visit to a monument, called the Heritage of Cebu rounded out our "tour".


In some ways I guess I did get a bit of a feeling for the real Cebu. As we drove through the streets I saw people getting together at tiny tables set outside shacks to eat. I saw a few men jostling with a whole roasted pig on a spit (lechon) trying to get it up onto a counter by the side of the road. I saw kids playing and women washing clothes outside their homes.

 I also got to see where Cebuanos worship and how important a part religion plays in their lives. I saw young teenage boys praying by their lighted candles. I saw old women standing in a line that had to be at least an hour long to visit the relic.


Overall I got a picture of Cebu that was very different from what the resort and tourist websites represented. There is so much more to Cebu than beaches, scuba, and massages. It doesn't seem like a particularly safe place, and many people are definitely lacking what I would consider to be necessities. It's hard to see the poverty and not feel guilty when you know you have a high end luxurious resort to go back to right down the road.

This is only one face of Cebu however. We decided we would give the other side a chance so we booked an island hopping tour for Sunday and planned on resting and relaxing - doing the resort thing - to see if the place really deserves the title of "third best island in Asia" In my next post I'll talk about our experiences as island-hopping resorters.

A jeepney - the top transportation choice in Cebu

This week we didn't get out a whole lot. The rains have been relentless although I think we're safe from typhoons for now. Last Saturday we did head out to buy some electronics at a huge outlet here called Nova (yes that's my name too!) It was quite an experience - a ton of little shops all within a 4+ story building selling cell phones, computer parts, and anything else you might imagine.

Walking back home we saw this scooter. This isn't an unusual sight here. Everybody takes dogs and kids and large packages and whatever else they need to transport. We were just lucky enough to catch it on camera finally.


I wonder if our dog Ripley would like to ride on a scooter. Not quite the same thing as sticking her head out the window :)

I'm also going to post a new video for this week. Every weekend in Taiwan you can find kids getting together for dancing competitions. I don't know how many times we've seen something like this. The video quality is a little bad, and I think they were just warming up so I'm not too sure about the quality of the dancing either.




What was the best thing you saw this week?

A new post is up on my food blog Raining Potatoes. Read all about my new favorite - tonkatsu, pure Japanese deliciousness - on my new post You Had Me at Sushi. It will make your mouth water and your stomach ache. 

Overall August was a pretty slow month here in Taiwan. It started out with a fantastic and eye-opening trip to Malaysia (you can read about it in my four part series starting here). We ate ourselves silly, saw some sights, and had a great time with old friends.

Hawker center - Malaysia

We spent the rest of the month in Taiwan trying to stay cool. It was definitely hot in a way this Arizona girl was not used to. We only ventured outside when we needed food. We did find several new good restaurants near our house which was fun, although I'm hoping next month I can be braver and try out some of the less English friendly but very yummy looking food stands by us. I've developed a strange addiction to all the bottled drinks you can get at the convenience stores around here. Milk tea, green tea, jasmine tea, juices of every variety. What's not to like? I'll definitely miss this when we go back home.

Boba and Lemon Teas - two more new favorites

The month ended with almost a full day without power. I've never appreciated air-conditioning so much in my life. At one point we sat around in our underwear and stared at the ceiling. We also decided it would be a great idea to trudge down our 17 flights of stairs to go to the grocery store, stupidly thinking the power would be back on for sure when we got back. It wasn't and I got to fulfill a long standing dream of being a shirpa, lugging our bags back up the 17 floors. (I exaggerate a bit. It really wasn't that bad).

September is looking like it's going to be one heck of an exciting month! Right now I'm scheduled to hit 6 different countries. We're leaving this Friday for the Philippines, where we'll be doing some island hopping and daiquiri drinking on the beach, then a quick trip to Shanghai to see a friend and check out the world fair. Three days later it's off to Europe for me. I'll be meeting two girlfriends and driving through Germany, France, and Spain, eating and drinking and sightseeing and doing other generally girly things. It's my first girlfriends-only trip which I'm really excited about it. What a month I have planned!

Keep reading - I promise to update whenever I can (assuming I can get internet in all these places). And have a good September! Here's hoping for cooler weather.

A girl can dream can't she?