The Great Tour in the Philippines 2023

Foreword

It is snowing in Estonia. The majestic powder snow is laying its white blanket over the grey landscape and covering the dog shit in the city parks. I’m planning another adventure in Asia in the upcoming months. I have bought the flight tickets from Tallinn to Cebu in the Philippines. Rest of the tickets I have not purchased just yet, because the second half of my journey is still too raw and the dates and exact destinations are still open. Actually I was in the Philippines in November, but this time I need to do some 1:1-s with each team member and make sure Blendit thrives.

Beside work I’m planning to visit again the island of Negros. Last time I stayed a couple days in Dumaguete. I’m planning to have a propper tour around Negros this time. Both neighbouring Cebu and Negros islands are stretched long and mountainous islands. There are many beautiful places to discover. But it could be that we will change plans and go to Leyte or Mindanao instead. 

There is also a chance that I will go to Japan for the very first time. For the most part the Japanese people are similar to Estonians in their nature - very reserved, keeping distance, afraid of others perhaps even, but deep down very warm people, but surely not showing it off or out in any means. Eunice has some work related tasks in Tokyo, Nagayo and in Okinawa. I will be plus one in this case. She also will be my tour guide and introduce me to the distant and rather exclusive culture. She has been living in Japan and therefore she knows and feels a bit and she wants me to see it all. I might not go to Okinawa, because that is a far away island and I might not have anything to do there. But let’s see. This leg is wide opened.

The 3rd leg of the journey could be India. I tried to be in Rishikesh on March 8th and witness the Holi festival. Holi is one of the biggest Hindu festivals that celebrates the beginning of spring and is world famous because of the throwing of colours to each-other. I was keen to capture this amazing site where thousands of people are painted with colours and airborne paint falls to somebody. But this time I again can’t make it to India by that time. The plan is to take a flight to New Delhi with Eunice and then start our motorbike adventure from Rishikesh all the way down to Tamil Nadu. However this plan is still very raw.

All in all it is a very promising adventure ahead. Again, I will reset my prejudices and eagerness of comparing the seen phenomenons with my experiences in Estonia or wider in Europe. Very often this approach is pointless and leaves me encapsulated and leaves out extraordinary experiences. I will write the diary in phone notes again and publish it in my blog. I hope you will enjoy the adventure and dare to dream about or even better doing something similar yourself. 

Diary

Sa01/14

I had a relatively hectic night, perhaps I was a bit excited about the trip ahead. I woke up at 9PM and prepared coffee for Jaanika and a pancake for my daughter Mirjam. Actually we decided with Jaanika that I will move out from our apartment in Tallinn and once I get back from my journey, I will rent a separate home. Long story short - in our 23 years of marriage we have grown in separate ways. 

Before anything, I measured my weight and it was a whopping 95KG. But I'm not too stressed about it, because I'm expecting to lose weight during my stay in Asia and reach 85KG in the period of returning. The magic is the warm climate and healthy food, no rice and other carbs. My big back bag was already packed and I just added the last items to my little back bag. But first I was rushing to the nearby sport centre to participate in the squash tournament. It was raining and the beautiful white snow has been melting rapidly. Additionally, the roads were very slippery. This time I won 3 games and 3 losses. Actually my 4th game was scheduled for 4PM and I announced a walkover, because I needed to get ready for going to the airport. At one point Mirjam walked into the tennis centre. She said she will not send me off at the airport and instead she will go to my mother's place. My sister Ööle would be there and another relative, Mailis and all their children. All of the kids are in the age of 1 until 5 years young. I walked home and ate a bit.

At 7:05PM I started my adventure from Tallinn. Seated right next to me was a 35 year old Estonian lady Anna who was on the way to Bishkek in Kyrgyzstan. She works in foreign affairs and coordinates education programs in Kyrgyzstan and Moldova. We had fascinating talks on multiple topics. She has a teenager son and we talked about self motivation and goal setting, also about school bullying and seeking help in relationships. She even said she knows a couple who are going for psychologists sessions once a month. It is like a preventive measure for keeping the relationship healthy. 

The cabin crew served food and I thanked Anna for meaningful conversations. She is expecting -20'C in Bishkek. At 11:15PM we landed in Istanbul. I walked down the stairs and the bus took us to the terminal. It was only +9'C in Turkey. I walked to the international transfer area and realised that my next flight gate hasn't been decided yet. I walked to the food court and ordered a kebab in Pasa Döner. It was very costly 432TRY~23€. I do remember when 20TRY was a kind of meaningful amount of money in Turkey. And it seems also the Turkish government has artificially kept the exchange rate with euro very high.

At 1:15AM we started to walk towards gate F15, that was a 10 minute walk. Marek took a cigarette break in a fish tank like cubical. I hope he made it to the plane. I walked a bit further to the toilet. The gate was already open and a massive queue was waiting there. I sat a bit and soon joined the queue. The Airbus A350-900 was fully packed and all the exit seats were taken. As a result, I was squeezed to the middle seat. Again, no complaints. The flight will take 10.5 hours. At 2:20AM we took off from Istanbul and entered the Asia air space soon after.

The flight itself was rather uneventful. I had dinner and after that I tried to sleep. A little baby a few rows away from me woke up and cried. But I used earbuds and eye blinder to block myself from noises and lights. At the toilet queue a 50 year old American Jim approached me when I asked for coffee from the steward. This is his first longer flight in his life and is going to see his Filipina girlfriend for the very first time. He said this lady is the answer to a prayer and in a funny way the long awaited significant other just happens to be from the other-side of the globe. He was very talkative and genuinely excited like a little boy waiting for the Christmas presents. At 4PM we were over China and the cabin crew served breakfast. Of course the time is a big mess on these long flights, but I usually get my sense of biological clock back in order within a few days. There were many Filipinos onboard who are returning home from Europe or in Gulf countries. Also there were tourists with kids and older European lads with their Filipina wives. I thought to myself that one day I will also be in this category. 

Little bit after sunset at 6PM we landed at the Manila airport. It took some time to dock at the gate, because we needed to wait until the previous plane left the gate. I went through the immigration and got my backpack from the baggage belt. I walked out to the arrivals and in the Smart stand renewed my 5G data plan for 60 days. The cost for total data usage of 72GB was 1500PHP ~ 25€. I walked to the end of the terminal and waited for the free shuttle bus to take me to the domestic terminal 2. I needed to wait for that bus for 15 minutes and to make good use of my time I occupied a toilet meant for passengers with wheelchairs. It is just cleaner and has more room for refreshment. I brushed my teeth, changed my shirt and made myself more decent. The bus arrived and it took 30 minutes to reach terminal 2. Amazing how vast the airport is. Actually we drove around the block and at some intersections we were stuck in the traffic jam. Luckily I had thought about it and had spare time for such a tour, at 7:15PM I started my check-in. My scheduled flight will be at least one hour and may reach Cebu at 1AM. I asked the lady at the counter to check if there was a sooner flight. And it turned out there is another Philippines Airline flight to Cebu. She changed my ticket to this and I got the exit seat as well. What a lovely lady!

I walked through the security check and bought a coffee in the departure hall. I made a video call to Eunice and told her the bad news. Actually my initial flight was one out late and the departure was postponed to midnight. The good news was of course that I was able to change my flight and would be in Cebu at 10PM. Soon, I realised that I needed to rush to the gate, because most of the passengers were already onboarded. I took a cup of coffee, ended my call and rushed to the counter. All of a sudden I noticed I'm travelling rather lightly. My bag was missing and it was still in the café. Luckily it was nearby and I just ran back, grabbed it and walked onto the plane. We took off from Manila airport in the night sky at 8:30PM. There was a requirement to wear the face mask, but as I was drinking my coffee on that flight, I was OK for a while without the mask. I wrote a diary and completed Osolin's biography. At 9:45PM I landed in Mactan. As it was a domestic flight the journey out to the arrivals was rather quick. I got my bag and walked out.

Eunice was there to welcome me with kisses and hugs. We walked to the car, I threw the bags to back off the car and I started to drive towards Cebu downtown. We crossed the bridge from Lapu-Lapu island to the main island of Cebu. There was heavy traffic coming at us - people were heading out from the Sinulog festival and from the city centre towards north side suburbs and other towns. This festival is for celebrating the adoption of Christianity in Cebu, but mostly it is an excuse to drink a lot. We drove to my office building in Mabolo area. That will also be my home while I'm staying in Cebu. I just dropped off my bags and left the car in front of the flat. We walked to the main street. A sea of people were walking towards us from the Ayala mall and from the city centre. Party is still in full swing. We decided to take two scooters and asked them to drive as close as possible to the Mango street area. This kind of ride costs 100 pesos ~ 1,5€ per person and it was way more convenient than driving a car in a traffic jam. These little bikes were agile and slipped through narrow gaps and after 10 minutes we were in the middle of the festival.

Sinulog is a big thing. People were shouting and creating each-other by saying: "Viva pit señor!" That could be translated as Long live the baby Jesus! People were happy and drunk. Many were wearing a set of feathers like Indians and many had painted their faces into dark green or hair with white colour. Actually the festival started with the massive parade and concert where different municipalities competed in dancing, singing and most of all costumes. Arriving late in the evening, I missed it all. The main part of the festival was held in the Il Corso and SM Seaside mall area. Perhaps next time I can see the show itself and not only shout Pit Señor!, as well as high-fiving more and more people. I think this festival has the greatest importance to the teenagers, because they have been longing for that opportunity to get wasted and perhaps get laid for many years because of the Covid. Last Sinulog was held in 2020. Each time after parties are held in multiple places all around Cebu, but one epicentre was in Mango street. The masses were still in the move and Eunice was a bit of afraid of being lynched in the crowd of getting coloured. As a tall man I’m not afraid of being squeezed by a crowd, but getting dirty by flying colours would be very bad.

The whole street was buzzing and masses of people were going somewhere to party. We headed to Philly’s sports bar where we have been before. This time there was an entrance fee and a DJ entertaining people. There was also a shouter who basically shouted something all the time, perhaps aiming to cheer up the crowd on the dance floor. But again it was over-stimulated and the loudspeakers peaked in the reds. It wasn’t pleasant, really. But it seemed to be only my problem, because most of the people were drunk enough already and they didn’t notice such a small thing. We stood at the bar and ordered beers.

It took a lot of effort to scream the order and wait for the bucket of beers and the change. The DJ could be the one who is mostly running shows in Icon club, which is across the street from my home, and happened to be a daughter of one Brit that has a resort hotel near Carmen. We had a longer chat, previous year, with Jim who runs that resort and he proudly said that his daughter is a DJ in Icon club. Soon we walked out of the building and stood around the barrel and drank the beers which were cooled in the ice bucket. People were happy to see their mates and just had a good time. I think this is one part of the essence of the Philippines. Enjoying food and friendships. At 3AM we found two scooter taxis and we rode back home. We were exhausted and went to sleep very quickly. Soon lightning had started flashing and thunder started to roar outside. We were lucky to come home earlier. Surely the rain washed people home.

Cebu team leader and project manager Cherry worked the first part of the day from home and came to the office in the afternoon. Genylyn, the accountant, contributes a few days in a month, this time she came at 6PM. We discussed the accounting matters and plans ahead. At 7PM all ladies took off. However, Cherry returned an hour later with Lyneth. Lyneth is an assistant project manager and is learning the skills in the wing of Cherry. They had dinner together in Ayala Business Park and walked 10 minutes back to the office.

My presence of course made people a little bit awkward in the beginning, but once I sat beneath the table, I was less tall and not a giant in the tiny room. Dana offered a good variety of Filipino food. I ate absolutely everything and everything was delicious. Jopeth was drinking Red Horse beer on rocks. This is a stronger light beer than San Miguel, but apparently from the same factory. Birthday girl Daenarys was a bit sleepy, she was mostly in her daddy's lap and from time to time mommy or grandmother took turns. She really wanted bananas, but for some reason she needed to keep drinking milk. She was also very suspicious about me. Daenerys is a typical baby girl with pigtails and earrings. It turns out it is very common to make the holes for the earrings at a very early age. As it was getting late, she eventually went to bed. Dana is expecting a third child, and there is the eldest son Shaun who is 7. He is very talkative and good at English. This lad is very clever and well educated on the topic of sauruses. He has a toy collection of these beasts and beats everybody with the knowledge about the names of the sauruses and what they eat. Jopeth's current and former colleagues from call centre business were also present. Actually about 15 or 20 of them and most of them gays or lady boys. Again I see how tolerant the Filipinos are to the LGBT+ community. These gays were hilarious and we had a good laugh. At 10PM we thanked each other and drove back home. Cherry and Lyneth were still in office, but were on their way home. I had to put the food in the fridge before it spoils. Then we opened the bottle of red wine, Spanish Rioja of course, and it tasted really good. After a few sips, we took a shower and had some talks. Then we hit the bed at midnight.

Tu01/17

Eunice woke up at 7AM and started her courses and came back to bed at 9AM. I was not aware of that, I was sleeping like a baby after relatively poor sleep at night. We had a very slow morning and at 10AM I started preparing breakfast. On the portable gas stove, I cooked omelette with bacon, tomatoes and mushrooms. We drank coffee and talked until noon.

Later that afternoon, we drove to a nearby fruit market and bought mangos, jackfruit, pomelo and sweet potatoes. I have visited that particular fruit selling lady in my previous stays in Cebu and they know me. They live behind the fruit shop in very humble conditions. I keep coming back here, because I believe in these little connections more and being a loyal customer really benefits both the seller and the buyer too. I will never get a rotten fruit, impossible. They really care about me. Every time they offer me new fruits to taste and keep widening my taste-scape. Also I noticed they have among their birds a new cage with the rabbit, they look plump and cute. Eunice and I drove back to her garage and walked to my place. She took some fruits and walked into her office. When I arrived at the office, I feasted on mango and jackfruit. Soon after that, I had a Snapchat video call with Mirjam. 

I dug into work at noon. First, I did accounting and wrapped up some sales. At 2PM Cherry arrived and we talked about the upcoming Drupal project and OJT or trainee program. At 6PM Lyneth arrived too. We had a project brief introduction of Blendit. Slowly she will take over projects from Cherry. At 7:30PM I walked to the front of the main building and took 10,000 PHP ~ 169€ from the ATM. At the same time, Eunice ended her work and we walked to a nearby hotel to go to its rooftop restaurant. The view over the IT Park night skyline is nice on the 9th floor. We ordered dumpling soup and a fish dish. We also had multiple drinks like Kahlua, local brandy and cocktails. There were many Americanos eating and drinking too. At 9PM we walked back to her place and even peeked into her office a floor below. And soon went to my place and at 11PM we were in bed. It's getting better, dealing with the sleep deprivation. Went to bed earlier this time.

We01/18

Yet again it was an early morning grind for Eunice. She kicked off her classes at 7:30AM and joined me in the bed at 9AM. We ate and drank coffee, later she went up to her office and I started my work too. This time nobody showed up in the office and the Cebu team worked from homes. I had many online project related meetings and did some sales. For lunch I ate pomelo and my last mango. I had a video call with Mirjam. The messages and flood of emails started to intensify by the end of the day, because working day kicked off in Europe.

Th01/19

It was a rough night. Mirjam made a Snapchat call at 2:30AM and of course I needed to pick it up. It turned out there was a proper cat fight between Mirjam and Jaanika. Main reason was the English home assignment about telling the story of the Three Bears. At one point Mirjam refused to continue studying and wanted to switch to entertainment instead. Well, it is obviously not going to happen, as duties must be done first. I went downstairs and I was able to listen to her angle of the story and calm her down. She promised to continue her studies. I went back to bed, but haven't had any sleep since then. Same happened to Eunice. We talked and tried to sleep until 7AM when she got herself out of the bed and prepared herself for the classes. This time she handled the Zoom class in my office using my laptop. I prepared breakfast and coffee for her. I wrote a diary and did the first unit of work. At 11AM she went to her office. 

At noon Kyle arrived. Soon at 1PM I had lunch with Eunice in the nearby simple lunch place. Then I had a video call with Mirjam. We returned to our offices and continued working. Cherry and Chester arrived too and I was able to do the vital talks with them. At 3PM we had a meeting with OJT-s or trainees in our office. There were 8 students, mostly 21 years old. I introduced Blendit and the OJT program. I asked each of them to introduce themselves and speak about what they already know and what they would like to learn. It seems they enjoyed the concept of the training program we presented and we will get a group of young developers. First, Cherry was a bit worried that some of these boys and girls might turn around when they see we are not like regular office buildings and perhaps do not even appear like legit corporations. But I calmed her down by just saying I’m relying on my super skill - that is public speaking without any fear - and it worked again. These trainees were eager to join our 4 month program and they want this more startup vibe and more freedom based environment than strict corporation. Cherry bought them sodas to drink too. All in all now we have a better picture of their current skills and what they would like to do. Cherry led them out and we continued working until 5PM. Cherry took Chester and Kyle out for dinner. They have been working together in a previous company too. Cherry will leave Blendit in February, luckily she will continue as freelancer with some projects and supporting Lyneth. I expected Genylyn to come and continue discussing the accounting matter, but she was not able to come and we will do it next week.

Fr01/20

We woke up at 9AM. Finally we had a proper sleep. At 2:30AM I woke up and it was very hot. I switched the AC on and covered ourselves with a blanket and after some time switched it off again. By doing that I believe we were able to sleep properly. In the early morning there was rain outside. We took a shower and prepared breakfast. At 11AM she took off to Ayala mall and drove back to her office. Meanwhile, I started my work. Later  at noon, I had a video call with Mirjam and Jaanika.

We drove to Il Corso food park in the south edge of Cebu City. As it was the weekend, it was very crowded. We waited in the queue and ordered grilled tuna belly, scallops and Arroz Caldo. The last dish is like a rice pudding or porridge with meat sauce and eggs. We had a couple of beers and I had some more and in the end I also finished her drinks. And yes it was decided, Eunice will drive us back home. The coastal breeze was nice and it was a pleasant evening. We enjoyed each-other 's company and were not in a rush. Only at 10PM we drove back home and finished the Snowden movie. At midnight we went to bed.

Sa01/21

We woke up at 6:30AM and packed our stuff, had a shower and breakfast. At 7:45AM we were on the road towards the north. We are on the way to Carmen to meet Eunice's family and witness the full program of Sinulog. We don't want to be stuck in the traffic jams and therefore we started early.

Our favourite café was closed on the opposite side of the Danao port. We drove to the edge of Carmen and parked the car beneath the big mango tree. We walked into the small world of Eunice family and relatives. The narrow passages lead to small houses which are all very closely packed. At one open door we saw Eunice's uncle, cousin, his girlfriend and another cousin with her fiancé who will be getting married next week. Of course it is overwhelming for me to remember all the names and relations. We stepped in and chatted a bit. Actually I saw previously one cousin on the passage road. I guess he quickly realised an Americano is going to pay a visit to them and ran home and put the shirt on. Nobody would like to look like a tambay. There were many friendly cats and dogs around the compound. At one terrace I saw a very tired girl, Lianne. Lianne is Eunice’s niece from her cousin. She was wrestling with her blue and white dress. It was a bit broken and needed repairing. Lianne is another niece who lives around here, actually in the next building. She knew about me and Eunice already in November when we paid a visit to Carmen. That was the time when very few people knew about this little secret. Eunice stretched her hand towards her head and Lianne took the hand and guided it onto her forehead for receiving a blessing from an older relative. I did the same and she got my blessing as well. This is a very sweet tradition. We will see her around here or somewhere in Sinulog's show, because she participates as a dancer there. 

Then we walked into Eunice’s house. This is a small house which is partly built of stones and partly bamboo mats and wood. Her father has built this house over many years and keeps on extending and renovating as funds allow. In the living room I noticed a little shrine above the door. There were little holy statues  and candles. Another shrine was in the cupboard where there were mountains of teddy bears. There were 2 or 3 tiny sleeping rooms connected to the living room. We will occupy one of those. And of course there was a kitchen and a little and simple shower and toilet. Eunice's mother Elvira welcomed us and I gave her the flowers. 

We reached the resort beach and walked to the beach restaurant. We ordered food and went swimming. As I was not expected to swim this weekend, I have left the swimming shorts back home. But I was wearing black sporty boxers that did the trick. There was a high tide  and the ocean was calm, no big waves. Eunice stayed with a cousin's wife on the shore and kept an eye on the belongings. Rest of us walked to the water. The surface of the ocean floor was rocky, but in some stretches also sandy. We swam for about 20 minutes. The relatives were curious about me and one asked about Filipino food. I answered that I like almost all the food, but I try to minimise the deep fried dishes and rice. 

We walked out of the water and went back to the restaurant where we started to get ordered food. Soon we were all behind the table and started to eat in a beach restaurant. All men were wearing shirts, so, no tambays as such among us. We ordered one of the Filipinos favourite dishes - Sisig, which is usually pig’s face and belly, a very greasy pork dish. I’m not a big fan of that, because I can’t stand lard, it is like chewing gum. Also we ordered genuine squid rings, liver, chicken and lumpias. Finger licking good again. After such a good meal we just enjoyed the ocean view on the beach.

At 12:30PM we started to drive back. We needed to pay the swimming ocean fee - 150PHP ~ 2€. We made a brief stop at the Huna Huna resort at the half way to say hi to Jim and Alester. They were drinking in the bar. Jim clarified her daughter’s name and her artist name is DJ Maisy. Alister is originally from South Africa, but lived in Australia and Europe too, but now more settled in the Philippines for many decades already. He was telling stories which were unbelievable and intertwined with some stuff that you can hardly believe - perhaps a Forest Gump from South Africa? 

We will catch up with them next week and promise to taste their pizza and have beers. They are having a family party and didn’t want to hang around too much, just dropping by to say hi. We rode back to Carmen and Eunice prepared and warmed up lumpias and ate her favourite Inun-onan - which is basically fish in vinegar marinade along with spices like garlic. Also for dessert, I enjoyed a fruit salad. I threw the fish leftovers to the horde of cats around the house. There were even kittens. It turns out they have their pet cats and then they also feed community cats. Their own cats are also sterilised. Then we had a little quiet time in the bed, just relaxing before going out. Besides, it was raining outside, nowhere to rush. At 3:30PM rain stopped and we started to walk towards the city plaza. We ordered a cup of coffee on the walk from the nearby café. Mirjam called on SnapChat and I showed her the festival vibe on the streets.

We walked to the church area and continued to the arena where performers were practising their acts. We saw Lianne in the practice ground. She was there with her friends, so she took my camera and started to take pictures of her friends and probably of boys who she had a crush on. She is such an adorable teenager. Something that you would not say to her directly, but I sense the transformation struggle from a girl into a woman. A teenager’s insecurity of incomplete or developing body and childish curiosity mixed together.

At one point we went to the main venue in the middle of the plaza and saw a local hip-hop group called Henz. There were genuine fans who knew the lyrics and danced around us. So Henz must be popular. We landed again in Squisito and this time the place was packed and buzzing. Surely Eunice's aunt will make a decent revenue during the weekend. We arranged two chairs and a table. We ordered French fries, nachos and beers. Soon another cousin and his wife joined our table. We drank, ate snacks and chatted on multiple topics. We went to bed at midnight.

We walked on the main road and discovered the state of madness. There were thousands of cars waiting in the jam and they said the queue was starting from Danao City. All these people are rushing to the Sinulog show. That was wild. We walked across the street and bought a matcha-espresso ice drink and continued our march to the plaza area. From the church the cars were forced to divert to the left, and the only road which was going through the town was converted into the pedestrian road.

That was nice, no more hassle with the passing scooters and cars. Many people were wearing colours on their chins or forehead, mostly national colours. From the front of the church the mass of people was not moving at all. In the middle of the street were already participants of the parade with all their gear. There was a giant motorbike, decorated fire truck and of course a Jesus Christ and Virgin Mary statues mounted on the moving platforms. Well, the crowd was not moving at all and we decided to divert to the smaller roads. We just followed other people and after walking through some backyards and narrow passages we ended up back on the main street and almost in the spot where the parade stops and dancers are performing.

We stood in the bus stand and had a pretty good overview of the passing parade. The variety of colours was just overwhelming. There were dancers and musicians. But there were also support crew to push the stage decorations on wheels. Usually each barangay or municipality group had a queen. She was wearing a massive dress and in many cases was decorated with fruits or mushrooms. I got many good shots. This was the genuine essence of the Sinulog. People want to see the costumes and hear the music, including multiple versions of the Sinulog anthem. But in a sense this was a warm up for the climax which will start in the arena at 4PM - the great show on the stage. This event in Carmen is a news headline across the Philippines. People were very friendly and I kind of sensed they appreciated that a foreigner was interested in taking photos of their beloved Sinulog, which has massive importance in their community and it has been resumed after 2 years.

After some time we decided to walk to her aunt's place- and the place was packed. We ordered beers and later nachos. The trans music mix from surrounding bars was actually quite noisy and annoying. Also the fumes from the nearby toilets were breathtaking, literally. It seems the urine started to boil in these plastic toilets. There were always some kids or adults walking to our table and offering peanuts, towels or other random items to sell. Eunice explained that there are tribes living in the Philippines which are not fully integrated into the society of the Philippines, a kind of nomadic lifestyle, like gipsies of the Philippines. Some of them used to live on the tiny islands and moved around. The government has an issue with nomads, because they don't want to pay taxes and they even in some cases don't believe in citizenship as such. So, very often these people do simple work and beg on the streets to get their livelihood. Also they are often targeted and discriminated against by police and local barangay. I noticed two young ladies selling towels. I approached them and it turned out they are part of the Badjao tribe. Angelou and Sheyian are ladyboys in their 25-30s. They were really surprised that I knew something about their way of life. I didn't feel sorry about them. That would not be necessary, I was just curious and genuinely interested in their life. In the early childhood it was clear they were girls instead and started slowly their transformation. I thanked them and gave 20 pesos, just to give something. I really was not interested in these towels that they were selling, but more about themselves.

At one point we noticed the sky was getting darker and the wind picked up. We decided to move to a shelter where Eunice’s uncle had a reunion of his co-workers from the Tax Department. He was very curious about me and at some point urged me to take good care of their relative hood's sunshine Eunice. I started to feel a pressure and a heat in my back of head. It seems they really care about her and they want her to be happy and not get hurt by the Amerikano. I promised to take good care of her. We ordered some more nachos and I was exposed to a very Filipino custom of drinking from one glass and sharing a big bottle of San Miguel or Red Horse. Everybody just takes a sip from the same glass, no snobbing or arguing about hygiene as such. All of a sudden it started to rain very heavily and life was on pause and everybody seeked shelter wherever they could. Our shelter was also crowded and people were pressed under the tent. But soon the heavy rain stopped and the party resumed. But now the ground turned from the fine dust into a clayish mud.

At 4:30PM we thanked the uncle and aunt at the bar counter and continued walking to the arena. It started to rain again, but luckily not that heavily. The whole area around the arena was so crowded that we were not able to see anything or even the stage, it was hopeless. We decided to watch the show later on via Youtube instead and walked around the arena. Slowly we made our way back to the main road. The rain stopped just before sunset.

We walked through smaller roads and through the elementary school’s yard which she went to back in the days. Back home we ate some lumpias and other good dishes. I really expected nieces and uncles to have a wild drinking party because of Sinulog, but it turns out some of them started partying on Friday night and they need to be tip-top shape by Monday. So, there will not be too much partying after all with the relatives. So we decided to sleep earlier because we will have an early start back to Cebu City in order to avoid traffic jams.

But we still got some serious jams in Cebu City in the main intersections which might also be caused by some small accidents. The little girl was either eating a biscuit or banana or drinking milk. We dropped Eunice's brother's family to their neighbourhood and they continued on foot. We walked into Bo's café and ordered breakfast and coffee. We were back in the city sooner than we expected and therefore we had some spare time. She has bought me ferry tickets to Bohol for the upcoming two days. She needs to work in Cebu and have many agonisingly long meetings for preparing the courses, classes and meetings in Japan. Also we both need to make room and perhaps work ahead for a grand adventure in the beginning of February when we plan to ride around Bohol, Leyte, Mindanao, Negros and Cebu. Of course we will work online too, but we try to minimise the workload as much as possible for this trip. It would be kind of a semi vacation and we expect some places to not have any internet on this journey. 

We drove home and parked the car beneath the building. She went upstairs into her office and I was packing my stuff in my place. After that I worked a bit and had another breakfast. Then I walked into her place, gave a sack of laundry and a kiss. She gave me my printed ferry tickets, another kiss and ordered me a taxi. I took my stuff from my place, then got into the taxi and drove to the harbour. At 12:30PM I paid the terminal fee - 25 pesos and waited in the terminal. The terminal was a busy place and packed with tourists. Cebu port is a good place to take ferry trips into neighboring islands like Leyte, Bohol, Mindanao, Negros and Siquijor. There were many tourists from Europe, Korea and Japan. I was editing the phone images and writing a diary.

I got a tricycle for 150PHP ~ 2€ and drove through Tagbilaran to my Bohol office. It was drizzling rain and it was cloudy. Very close to my office I noticed the Danish man Per riding out of his yard and I asked to stop the tricycle. I paid and had a chit chat with Per. He gave me the keys of the motorbike and helmet. I will use this bike for the upcoming few days in Bohol. He said he recently needed to put down his beloved old dog who had diabetes and got very sick in the end. That dog was always very suspicious about me and even tried to bite me from my heel last time. I rode a bit further and walked up to the top floor and met my Bohol team.

The office was empty and I decided to ride over the bridge to Panglao island and to Tony's place in Dauis. I ordered a burger and two beers. There were 3 Japanese and the Italian, Tony who is the owner of that restaurant. Also there was his 8 years old son, his Filipina wife Mae and the restaurant staff. I had a long conversation with Tony. He was cleaning his early morning harvest from his metal detector hunt. He got some rusty old Philippine coins and a wedding ring. This search was on solid ground, but he is also searching the ocean floor through freediving. He said he is happy here in the Philippines and has kids aged 3 and 8 and a loving wife and business to run. Ideally he would like to travel more, but is happy overall. At 9PM I rode back home and had video calls with Mirjam and later with Eunice. At 10:30PM I went to sleep.

Tu01/24

I woke up at 6:30AM. I checked the weather out and it has stopped raining. I grabbed my tennis gear and rode to the city plaza into Bohol Heritage Tennis Club. I ordered at a little café, which is located at the entrance of the club, an instant coffee and omelette. I walked into the single court club. Many tennis players recognized me and said welcome Timm! That is so sweet and heartwarming. I sat and waited about 50 minutes, because the first doubles game only started and the helpers were still hassled with mops to dry the court.

I bought mangos and an avocado from the market and ate these during the day. 1KG of mangoes costs 150PHP ~ a little bit more than 2€, then I rode home at 9AM. I took a shower and worked on the first things. At 10AM we had a meeting with Jay and via video call with Cherry. We completed the OJT as a university trainee program plan. At 11:40AM I drove to Jay's home in Panglao. The Blendit team and relatives are gathering there. Jay's mother and his older sister have cooked and prepared the delicious fiesta food. The occasion is the local female saints's De La Paz birthday. The small Tabalong community is celebrating it in the scale that the road going through the community was jammed, luckily not for me as a motorbiker who is nimble between the standing cars. 

I reached Jay's parents house and I saw Jay there with his fluffy curly hair. I was immediately welcomed inside and to eat. The food was good and tasty. I took a little bit of rice and a mountain of pork and chicken based on different dishes. Also there was stewed pork liver with vegetables. I was really surprised how good that was, because usually I'm not a big fan of liver and would profusely avoid it. Generally people in Europe are not exposed to Filipino cuisine. Thai and Vietnamese and even Indonesian food in the Netherlands, but I haven't seen Filipino restaurants in Europe. I guess I just haven't stumbled on them. The main attraction was however in the living room - karaoke. It seems it is a national sport, nationwide and connecting all ages. Amazing! Jay's mother turned to me and requested that I sing too. I refuse politely, because I still haven't overcome the trauma in 2018 when I really tried it with the fiasco. No women, no cry was my chosen song. How wrong was I - that was a difficult song, because Marley just surfed over or jammed the main structure of the song. I saw Jay's brother John Paul, also Jay's girlfriend Erica and her daughter. Jay also offered a local rum-like drink called Tanduay on rocks. I haven't drank that for some time. I thanked Jay's parents.

I drove further south to one of my favourite beaches of swimming spots in Panglao. I parked my bike on the narrow road and continued on the muddy trail. I saw a cow's footprints in the mud. My white flip-flops were quite muddy at this point. It was a local villagers secret passage to the ocean, because like in many other places, the coastal area is sold to tourist companies and reaching out to the pristine greenish blue waters has been made a business. I avoided the diving industry spots and went for the spot that my domesticated Russian Ivan showed me in 2020. I reached the oceanside.

I walked out and got dressed. Last time in November I remember there were two cute puppies hiding inside the rock. They must have been only a few months old back then. I made friends with them and they even licked my salty belly. I didn't have any food for them. They have grown and don't need to be hidden by their mommy dog. After drying for a bit, I walked back to my bike. Again it was a very muddy enterprise. I started to drive back but before doing so I tried to call Mirjam, but I had very shitty internet coverage. One the way back I came across a town fiesta, I navigated through the fiesta traffic jam near the local church. It started to rain and I was quite wet when I reached back home. 

I had a call with Jaanika and talked about Mirjam related matters. Mirjam might be missing me already, but as she is already an early teenager, she is hiding it very carefully, but deep down and subconsciously she really does. As a father this is hard to hear when your child is suffering. This is clearly the downside of my travels, being away from her. I took a shower and ate the last mango I have. I chatted with Charley about projects and new recruits. I offered Estonian candies to Charley and to the OJT-s. I talked with the students of Holy Name University and explored the possibilities of the different options we have in terms of technologies and coding languages. I also explained where my tiny country is located in Europe and that it is very cold at the moment. I wrapped up my stuff and returned the bike to Per. His wife picked the keys and their new happy puppy licked my knees. I waited for a local mass commuting transport jeepney, but one tricycle offered me a lift to the plaza with only 30 pesos ~ half a euro. The sun is losing its burning capabilities and it was pleasant to walk to the harbour. I took another 10,000 PHP ~ 180€ from the ATM and reached the port.

I wrote a diary. The sea was quite rough and windy. It was pitch black around the boat, only a few lights in the distance. I took out my motorbike travel windstopper jacket with hood. I still prefer to stay in the open air seats and not in the AC compartment meant for VIPs and sold at a higher price. I arrived at the port of Cebu at 8PM and I walked to the SevenEleven store nearby. I said no to all offers for taxi and mototaxi. I bought beers and walked around the corner to Eunice’s car. I put my stuff on board, kissed her and we started to drive towards IT Park. We went to the food park and ordered a seafood platter and later squid rings and beers. I had one call with a potential client and later with Mirjam. The food was good and we drove back home at 10:30PM. We had a Smirnoff, a sweet drink and headed to bed.

We01/25

We opened our eyes at 9AM and had morning chats in bed. The sun was already burning and the heat was radiating in the bed through the windows and I needed to turn on the AC. I prepared breakfast. At 10AM the doorbell rang and I let Joy in, she provided us with the cleaning service and she started her once a week cleaning mission in my office. She had with her 5 years old adorable daughter Alliyah.

We let them do the work and drove to the Robinson mall and walked to the immigration office. While I was hassling with the Philippines visa extension, she went to the grocery store to buy some supplies and printing paper for her office. EU citizens can be in the Philippines as a tourist for 30 days visa free. After that you need to extend your stay by applying for a 30 days extension and paying 3030 PHP ~ 34€. She got back and I was still waiting for the return of the passport. But soon it was noon and the officers went for lunch. There was no point waiting alongside Amerikanos and Indians. 

We drove back to my place and soon to the other side of the city to an agency dealing with the Japanese visa. She did the talking with the people there and I meanwhile had a video call with Mirjam. I was able to clarify the requirements for entering Japan. They have lifted the PCR test requirement. That is nice. In two weeks she should get the passport back with the Japanese visa sticker inside. We drove back to Robinson mall and I got my visa paper and passport. They just completed that at 1:45PM. So, it was a very good decision not to wait there and do the Japanese papers meanwhile. We walked to a Japanese restaurant and ordered a ramen set.

I also took a look at the birds in the cage. Some birds already knew me there and rushed to the edge of the cage to get tender touches to their beaks. I drove all around the block, basically all around the territory where the golf course was in the middle and mostly very slowly because of the traffic jams. It is generally a bad idea to drive in the middle of the day and with the rain, because the traffic slows down dramatically and creates additional jams. I offered jackfruit to Kyle and Michael later in the office.

Soon Genylyn and Cherry arrived and we discussed the accounting matters and changes in the company structure. At 6PM Genylyn stated she was starving and we went out to the food park near the IT Park with Genylyn and Eunice. We ordered seafood, chicken skin snacks and beers. We were talking about Blendit matters, but also about Genylyn’s sister Nina who might go to New Zealand to be together with her boyfriend. Nina used to work in Blendit. Also it turned out Genylyn just got engaged. Genylyn went ahead to meet her boyfriend and I continued drinking beer while Eunice had Smirnoff Mule. 

There was a very talkative American lad Braden in the next table who later joined ours. He seemed to be a shit magnet type of person from Michigan. He had basically whole body covered with tattoos. Among many other statements there was a cannabis leaf and Fuck the Feds. He has been in prison quite many times too. He had very strong opinions on many topics and he was constantly referring to 3rd party or not mainstream media and Vatican scam. On many occasions I said: “Dude, I’m losing you…I’m not into US politics too much.” That helped in some cases. He stayed in Cebu for a half year. He was kind of an intense type of person. We said bye-bye and we started to go towards the car. My baby was heavily tipsy,so I needed to support her. This is the first time seeing her going over the line. While I was supporting her to sit in the car seat, the door rammed a bit to the next car in the parking space. Immediately one guy popped out from somewhere and started to investigate the area with the mobile phone torch. He took the dust away and confirmed there were no scratches. I just monitored him from the corner of my eye, because I was still hasling with my baby. We drove home and went to sleep. I guess she just ate too little after all and the Mule drink is a strong and sweet drink with a cunning kick.

Fr01/27

We woke up at 9AM and had breakfast and coffee. She walked towards her office and I did my first unit of work. At noon I walked to Fe's massage place. On the way back, I made a video call with Mirjam. Along the way I bought a banana que. I worked some more and wrote a diary. I packed my stuff for the upcoming weekend and prepared papaya and pineapple for the car trip. Lyneth arrived at the night shift. Actually she will have her last day at her current work on 6th of February, but meanwhile she is being mentored and getting briefed by Cherry.

I changed my wife-beater shirt into a more appropriate shirt and did 10 minutes of work. She took money from an ATM. We drove a bit back and parked the car beneath the mango tree. We walked through tiny yards and on the narrow passage roads to Eunice's parents home. I said nanay  aka mother to Elvira and we walked in. As it is custom in many countries I took off the shoes. I reached out my hand and gently took Elvira’s hand and guided it to my forehead for her blessing. That is a Catholic custom where younger people are seeking elders' blessings. I like that tradition. We sat a bit and soon Elvira served us dinner. We ate pork belly and fish with rice. The leftovers I had, I gave to about 5 cats in all colours and sizes who were waiting for the feast. These are like semi-domesticated or community cats. These cats were afraid of me, but eager to get the food. So, I was able to touch them and they didn’t mind that. We packed our stuff in a tiny room, the same room like last week. I washed the dishes. That itself caused a bit of panic, but I was reassured that this is usually the only domestic work I do and I really like to do dishes, because I can see immediate results, instant feedback if you will. We were preparing to go out. It was a bridal shower night. I was planning to stay at her parents house and read a book, but instead she persuaded me to hang around with bridesmaids. 

We drove to the wedding venue just north from Carmen on the seaside. On the way there we picked up 2 bridesmaids. One was Kristines best friend from the school and the other was niece. The Seaside mansion belongs to one of the relatives and most of the weddings have been held in this luxurious villa. I was prepared to just read a book and girls would do their crazy stuff, but no, they didn’t have any plan and nothing was going on. There were no limousines and stripers. They were just doing some photo shoots, tried on the dresses and just laughed hysterically. I was sitting on the balcony and enjoying the cloudless night sky and the bright stars and writing a diary. At 10PM we went down to the poolside. Initial plan was to go swimming, but again it would be potentially bad for the bride to swim a night before the wedding. Actually nobody knows what the bad is, but surely none would dare to test it too. So, no swimming. 

But also there is a stress about whether two families would start matching each-other. Bernard’s family arrived for the wedding from New Zealand and it seems they have lived there already for quite some time. His sister speaks English with the ANZAC accent. So, for Kristine a good strong drink was a good relief. Other girls stayed in the mansion’s rooms, but as it was already overcrowded, Eunice opted for sleeping in her parents home instead. We drove back to Carmen and soon went to bed.

These guys have been living around Catmon for more than 2 decades. Dalton has a house in the mountains nearby. He needed to flatten the terrain a bit to have a little farming space there. He is used to farming in Canada too. He said it was so hilly that there was not even enough space to put your coffee jar without knocking it off - so tilted was the landscape. He said I can buy his place. Perhaps one day, but not now, I'm not stationary yet. It was very interesting to hear their thoughts. Alister brought out his Canon camera kit and tried his fisheye 15mm lens. It was a nice toy. He let me keep it until we checked out. I might try it out in the church. We were talking until 2PM.

Finally the bride Kristine, one of Eunice's favourite cousins, in white dress walked in from the church main entrance and walked delicately in the idle to the front of the church next to Bernard. She also got blessings from her and Bernard's parents. Priest gave a speech in a more fashionable way. I didn’t understand much to be honest, but he was like a standup comedian to some extent. People were laughing and he surely enjoyed himself in front of the altar. There was also a singing crew and assistant priest and perhaps nuns.

We all headed to the Seaside mansion. I made a proposal to all the girls in the car that we should eat before we drive to the wedding party place, because I was pretty sure there will be a long delay before the couple arrives and when the food would be served. We were all starving and we drove to our accommodation in Huna Huna. We ordered a regular size pizza with half suitable for teenagers - that is Margarita - and the other half with olives, mushrooms and ham. Eunice stayed in the restaurant to alert us when the pizza was ready. I showed the girls our room and Niña said she would like to have her birthday held in this place next time, because of the nice views, pizza and pool. Mirjam called in and I introduced Mirjam to Niña and Lianne. They politely said hello to each-other. Then Eunice called in and she was furious - it seems I was totally wrong and they actually started the show on time at 5PM.

There was a saying grace and soon we were eating. The food was all delicious Filipino food. There was no alcohol and they served only fizzy soft drinks. The program was so tense like an action movie. All the time the announcer said something and something happened. They seemed to rush somewhere. The only slow time was eating. At one point Eunice was asked to sing a duet with somebody from the groom’s side and luckily they had the same two songs to perform. They were like karaoke pro’s, at least to my critical ear. Also there was one thing that I haven’t elsewhere in the weddings. A money dance was like a fundraising event where guests can attach an envelope with cash inside to the belt which was over the couple's clothes. I added our gift in this manner.

The climax of the party was the fireworks at the poolside. The support crew started to wrap up the cables and red carpets. It was still drizzling and we sat at the tent in front of the mansion. We drank San Miguel beer from one glass and shared it with uncles and cousins. After an hour a cousin arrived with Tanduay rum bottles and then the real afterparty started. We sneaked away, because we really would like to spare ourselves from a heavy hangover and wasted Sunday. We thanked the uncle, Kristine & Bernard and drove back to Carmen. We went to bed soon.

We had a plan for cleaning the car before we were taking guests onboard. But it was raining and it was pointless to wash the car. We drove to Danao and stopped at the coffee shop. We drank a cappuccino and ate a club sandwich. We continued to the city and somehow didn’t face any major traffic jams. We drove home and made ourselves ready for dinner. Then later in the afternoon, drove to the Banawa or Guadalupe area which is located in the south on the hillside. And picked up fellow Estonians Andres and Paula and started our journey to Busay. Andres is my client and they have been travelling in South East Asia for months already, climate refugees if you may. Actually Paula was the one posting a question about the Philippines in the Estonian Digital Nomads community. We started to chat and after many months it turned out she is the partner of Andres. As we drove uphill to Busay, we were stuck because there was a street festival with a parade, stage, dancers and musicians. I’m happy they saw this festival with all its colours, dancing, religious procession, street food smells and music which is very important for the local community.

We reached the highest point and parked the car. It was still drizzling, but the view to the city was still quite good and the whole city along with Mactan and even further Olango islands were also visible. We ordered delicious Filipino cuisine with seafood and roasted pork. We drank hot calamansi tea and beers. We had a very good time and we made a list of travel destinations in Cebu. It was my turn to pay. It was all together 2785PHP ~ 48€.

We drove down the mountains on neutral gear until the fiesta again. We stayed in the queue for about 40 minutes. But it was all fun, perhaps even so fun that I laughed my panties wet. Girls were sitting at the back and Paula tried to explain the complexity of Estonian language. At one point she pronounced the last letters of the alphabet, they weird ones, in the Estonian alphabet Õ Ä Ö Ü. It really sounded strange and I added and reassured Eunice that Paula does not have verbal or mental handicap and these letters just really sound so strange. I guess we haven’t laughed hysterically for a long time. We passed through the festival again and we opened the windows to let in the festival vibe along with drizzle. We decided to drop the couple off in the IT Park in order them to have a chance to discover this area. This area is like an IT hub like many across the Globe, but also like Ülemiste City in Tallinn. There are major IT companies, banks, back office services and cafés. Andres promised to have a part two in February. We drove home and completed the Parasite movie and went to sleep at midnight.

There was a friendly red female community cat that even jumped into my lap and ate most of the fat pieces.  Mirjam called me and I showed the cat to her and to Jaanika. They both are big fans of cats and I hope they silently appreciated that I was feeding the street cat. We walked back to the office and she drove to the bank and to the visa office. Then I proceeded to work and wrote a diary. I worked on sales and projects, had  beer and had another meal. It was drizzling again.

At 5PM Cherry and a bit later Lyneth arrived. We talked about the upcoming OJT or trainee program, projects and open positions. At 8:30PM Eunice came by and we walked to a nearby small food park and went for beers in the craft beer joint called Turning Wheels. They sold US craft beer from taps. First I asked the barman to pour all different choices into test glasses. Eunice didn’t like any of those and went for sangria instead. I started with pale ale, continued with stout and finished with ipa. We also ordered a pizza from the neighbouring spot. There was a friendly dog who was fond of me and asked for more scratching by touching my leg with its foot.

We might go back there another time. We started to walk home and Cherry and Lyneth had gone home. We went to sleep at midnight.

Eventually he gave in and asked the manager. He came and I explained the complexity of our travels. Eunice's passport is in the Japanese embassy and we can't show the original passport to them. Also I ask why they need a passport in the application phase and why won’t  they just accept the photocopy of the passport. It turned out they will collect all the documents, do the biometrical scan and fingerprints and send all to Manila. That really explained it. Soon the manager of the manager also showed up and assured her that it was all cool and we just needed to eyeball the options. I thanked them and we walked back to the car. Eunice was entertained, she would never dare to do it. For me these are all like hurdles in track and field. One hurdle at the time. My aim was just to clarify the procedure and ask why. 

We drove back to my office. She made a call to the Japanese visa agency and was informed that her passport is still in Manila. I made a Skype out call to the Estonian embassy in Tokyo in Japan. I was able to speak in Estonian and asked about the possibility of having a Schengen visa in 2 days, because Eunice is going to be in Tokyo on 23rd or 24th of February. As she said they can process it within 7 days, I thanked her. My call expense was only 10 euro cents by Skype. Now we are kind of stuck. There is still a chance for her to travel to Okinawa without a passport and using a photocopy of passport. If this is the case, we might still file in the documents and passport and get the visa in the passport on time to continue the journey to India. So, currently it is very unclear as to what we will do after Japan. 

Later that day, Eunice went up into her office and I started working too. At noon I walked to get a massage. After Fe's treatment I had a video call with Mirjam. She had her first badminton training and she used my racket. She seemed to be very proud that she used my racket. I walked to the food park and I showed her different foods. I'm looking forward to bringing her here in the Philippines and exploring food and culture. She did a good job in India with me in February 2022. Ok, she was quite picky about choosing food because of her appearance, but this is common to most teenagers. But she at least eats rice and noodles. So, she won't be starving too. I ordered siopao, a steamed pork bun, another deep fried snack and a hot matcha + espresso + milk drink. A lady named Alyana was very curious about me and it turned out she was the small entrepreneur and manager of this joint. It was drizzling a bit and I stayed a bit longer in this spot. I wrote a diary. I walked home. 

I worked in another unit. I had a client video call at 5PM. Soon after Cherry and Lyneth arrived. We worked together until 9:30PM. I went to the shop to buy tea and found an Indian minimart like a Quickymart in Simpsons. I bought masala soft drink, roasted chanas and tea. I made tea with Cherry and we chatted about global politics and the complex landmine fields of national interests of major countries over smaller countries. Cherry still has a cough and therefore she does not want to use AC and the office quickly turns very hot and humid. I went upstairs to take a shower and continue working and writing a diary in my bedroom. Eunice came late night, she had a long working day. And we went to bed soon.

We02/01

We woke up at 8AM. We had very little food left in the fridge. Basically I fried the remaining eggs and prepared coffee. We decided to drive to SM City mall to chase camping french press for morning coffees. But no luck, even the camping gear store was not selling it. Next time I need to bring one over from Estonia. We bought snacks for our upcoming trip and toothpaste, then drove back home. She went to her office and I started working too. At around 3PM I made black Indian tea with chopped ginger and Estonian honey. I poured tea into one ceramic mug and brought it to Eunice in her office. She was alone in her office and had an ongoing online English class. She has got a bad cough lately and hoped tea would help a bit. At 4PM we had almost everybody working in the office. We had a kick-off meeting with new Drupal developer Dennis. Eunice ended her work at 7PM and as Lyneth and Cherry were still working, we decided to have dinner outside. We drove to a nearby Japanese restaurant. She kept on educating me and preparing me for diving into Japanese culture. We drove back home and soon went to sleep.

The Grand Tour in Central Visayan Islands

Th02/02

We woke up at 7:30AM. This is the first day of our motorbike grand tour into multiple islands around Bohol. We took a shower, ate the remaining eggs and drank coffee. The fridge is almost empty now, only soju left. It seems I can't stand this Korean made beloved strong sweet alcoholic drink which is made out of sweet potatoes. For me it is too sweet and it tastes too much of a raw alcohol. We packed our bags and decided to leave out quite many things , because after all it would be a motorbike trip and we have limited space available. I parked the car in the garage beneath the main building and it will stay there for two weeks. I walked to a small humble hut on the corner of the street where Eunice had already ordered pancit noodles and fried eggs. We ate and returned home. She ordered a taxi and at 10AM we drove to the port. We paid 196PHP ~ 4€ and walked into the terminal. Face mask was still a requirement for entering the terminal.

We worked some more and soon we drove for a coffee and a cake at Mai Tai café. This place is built of sea containers. These ladies already knew me from my previous visits. There were friendly cats walking in the café and expecting you to cuddle them. Joseph was kind enough to lend us his tent again. It turned out Eunice had bought a new tent recently and we somehow left it behind in Cebu. We then drove to Momo Beach in Panglao island. I had a meeting planned at 5PM, but as the internet sucked at the beach, we decided to drive instead to Panglao poblacion or central area.

We went to La Familia restaurant and I got local wifi access and was able to do the online meeting at 5PM. We ate our dinner and headed back to Momo Beach and arrived on time. We experienced a very colourful sunset. We sat on the tree which was partly leaning above the waves. Later we repositioned ourselves to a fisherman boat. Truly magnificent explosions of orange, purple and pink colours over the Cebu mountains in the distance. As it was still very high tide and we were not sure how high the edge of the sea can reach at night, we decided to set up the tent later. Instead we drove to Alona Beach.

He came to the bar counter and I approached him in the fashion like it is common in the bars. It turned out he is the bar owner Davis’s father DJ Steven. He was a fascinating Brit and he was packed with amazing stories. He has been enjoying life in the Philippines for 18 years. He is doing the shows in this bar just for fun and his son is not paying him for that. What a nice and cool guy. At 10PM, Eunice and I drove back to Momo Beach. We found a spot at the beach entrance of an abandoned resort which belongs to some Chinese nationals. We needed to clear the sand, branches and trash before we were able to set up the tent. It was quite dark, but a mobile phone touch was enough to light up the area. We made ourselves comfortable in the tent, although we were hassling a bit to get the sand out and keep the sand out of the tent. Our tent was also tilted towards the sea and it was obvious that we would be sliding to one corner later on. At midnight we slept already.

But this time it was nice, no jellyfish. But unfortunately there was no flock of sardines. One local diver guessed perhaps the fish didn’t like the construction of another diving resort staircase that reached all the way to the ocean. Perhaps the noise and pollution of the cement disturbed the sardines and they migrated to somewhere else. I used to swim inside this flock of sardines. Such a great experience. But this time I made some deep dives into the cliff crack which was covered with colourful corals and fish, all the Nemos and Dorys were there. I struggled a bit with my mask, it quickly fogged, perhaps leaking air because of my hair. But all of a sudden my peaceful swimming was interrupted by an arriving boat with Koreans who started to jump on top of me to discover the same cliff crack. I even had a sub-water collision with one diver. I had half an hour of fun and I returned to the shore. We made our way through the bush on a very muddy track to the bike and drove to Tagbilaran.