Thursday, February 23, 2006

Mom's visit - Siquijor

Mommy and Liss arrived late on a warm Pilipino evening on the 14th of Feb to a crowded airport. It was great to see them. After a late night we woke up to a lovely grey Manila day. Their first day, after a brief and annoying detour to Malate to try and pick up some plan tickets, I took them for a brief walk along the picturesque (**cough, splutter**) Manila Bay and made friends with the local wildlife (beach cockroaches). Then it was over to Makati – where there aren’t as many cockroaches to lunch at one of my favourite restaurants in Manila– People’s Palace. We are lots of yummy, fresh Thai food before hitting the shopping! We toured through the 4 counter-joining malls of Greenbelt, Landmark, Glorietta and SM where momma found one of her favourite brands - Kipling. Being good and purchasing only 1 bag, we then took the train to Greenhills – a big market close to our house. Mum and Melissa went slightly crazy J before heading home for a rest.

The next morning we were up bright and early at 4 am to catch a flight down to Siquijor. Siquijor is known for its ‘mysticism’ and witch-doctors. Somewhat disappointingly, we didn’t see any during our time there.

We spent 4 nights at CoCo Grove resort, a lovely little resort on the south west side of the island. After a taxi, plane, ferry and car ride we arrived to our welcome drinks of fresh watermelon juice – and set about immediately relaxing (after some annoying conversations with Philippine Airlines!!). We went for a walk along the beach, had a swim in the pool and took a kayak out on the water for a while. We then settled in next to the pool for the evening with gin and tonics, caprioskas and a pack of uno cards.

Manila has fostered a growth spurt in Emily


The next day we got off to a bit of a slow start – with fruit shakes, banana pancakes, Spanish omelets and American bacon. We then hired bicycles and went for a short ride along the quiet roads of south western Siquijor. As with many places in the Visayas, the local people were very friendly and would wave, yell out hello and of course stare as we rode past. We started searching for a beach that was supposed to be really beautiful and after a couple of dead ends – we think we may possibly have found it . . .but we’re not quite sure! It was nice though to spend the morning riding around.

At about 3, Neil arrived and joined us in lazing by the pool. We had a late lunch and set in early with the drinks. After 5 o’clock massages, a few swims in the pool, and of course a few drinks we had another nice dinner on the beach. That evening we enjoyed an extremely enjoyable game of cards with Neil.

The next day we headed out on motorbikes to explore the island. Motorbikes are a great way to get around on the islands down in the Visayas. You are able to see how people spend their days and stop wherever you want. And you see a lot more than you normally would in a bus. Our first destination was an old church of which there are plenty scattered around the islands. Then was a quick dip at the local waterfalls, and then we rode up to the highest point on the island. Unfortunately there were clouds everywhere so we didn’t get to see a whole lot, but it was a strange and eerie change from the areas around the coastline. After a lunch break we braved the rain for a few hours trying to get back to our accommodation! We were well and truly soaked through by the time we got home!



posted by batik billy @ 11:41 am