Trip report no 3 by Oskar

Hello!

The Philippines

After Kiwi dive resort we travelled to a city called Dumaguete where we stayed for lunch. Really chaotic town/city or whatever you want to call it (it lives half a million there). After lunch we went down to a little village, and from there we went to Apo Island. If I would define the way we travelled I would call it “Filipino travelling”. 

Squeezed?

A tricycle!

On the bus

First we went on a tricycle to the bus station (witch is a motorbike with a wagon), at the bus station we came in the last second for a bus and of course we also had to take a small boat out to Apo island. When we arrived at the resort (Apo island dive resort, Apo island is an island with focus on diving) we met the dive master (guide) who was very nice. He was called Keken.

That’s right it’s me! This is the view from the hut.

All five couldn’t live inside the bungalow so mum and dad slept outside. But otherwise I think we had the best bungalow at the resort. Already at the first dive, Apo Island showed us the best side. We (mum, Keken & I) saw an eagle ray, plenty of turtles and a potato grouper. 

Dive stuff

The dive boat

Later Keken told us that the grouper is delicious. After five terrific nights we had to move on because we had only one night left in the Philippines. On the boat back to Negros (the closest bigger island) it started to shower (a heavy rain, not a shower floating in mid-air) I suppose Zeus was crying or something. Back in Dumaguete we found a hotel and stayed there for the night. The next morning we went to the bus station and we took the bus to a pier. From the pier we took a boat to the neighbouring island called Cebu, and of course we had to take the bus again to Cebu City  (man I get tired of buses). From Cebu city we flew directly to Singapore.

Singapore

When we had landed at the airport we had to show our passport and all the usual stuff, but you know what? We got sweets! Talk about get a god first impression. Mum had booked a hostel in Chinatown so we were pretty much in the centre. At the first day we were just walking around in Chinatown and little India. We went past a place called Kim Chee Guan (the chefs name I think) the queue was about 150 meters! We asked a man in the queue what they were buying, and he told us it was sliced pork. The man had been waiting since 5am and the clock was then about 10am! Later the staff at the hostel told us that it’s a tradition to eat the pork around Chinese New Year. Also he had calculated how much they earned in the month before New Year, it was around three million Singaporean dollars (around 25 million kr). But the main event of the day was we found a great food court! 

Happy eater at the foodcourt

Sugarcane juice!

The gyoza’s was amazing (fried dumplings) also I tasted something called sugarcane juice witch was also terrific. The next day we went to the zoo. It was really good but I think Kolmården is better. For lunch I took something called “Laksa” it was great but it was almost flaming hot (spicy not warm)! That night we ate at a dim sum place wich was amazing.  The remaining days we mostly ate at the food court.

Guess what’s the most popular thing in warmer countries? No not sweat. The right answer is air-con

During the days we were looking at famous buildings, the concert house looked like a durian fruit sliced in two (It’s quiet smelly, the fruit not the house) 

The giant smelly Durain

another building looked like a spaceship. 

The spaceship has landet at the scrapers!

Another day we just took it easy and didn’t do much (except school). And then just bits longer than a golf competition goes on (4 days) we were on the flight to Auckland (via Sydney).