Saturday, June 30, 2007
Friday 15th June 2007 - The Last Supper. (not in the biblical sense of course)
I think they liked the meal! How much? ! Thorn between 2 roses
Friday 15th June 2007
Up early and start to pack then go and get breakfast. The hotel is providing the complimentary lift back to the airport and we set off at 11.30 for our 13.20 flight. The airport is not very busy but as we approach the check in desk we see a sign that says it does not open until 12.30 and it is only 11.50. Lu gets the attention of the security guard who speaks to her and then he takes our luggage and puts it behind the check-in counter. “everything is taken care of” she tells me, “ just go back at 12.30 and collect our boarding passes and give him a little “merienda” (snack) money!” At 12.30 I return and am given 2 boarding passes for seats in row 3 a and b which have extra extra (that’s meant to be 2 extras there ok) legroom and priority removal of luggage when we arrive in Manila! Not bad for peso 180 merienda money. ( I think we might refer to it, quite wrongly of course, as a bribe.)When we board the plane row 3 does indeed have extra extra legroom. It is the row behind the business class seats and I would guess that we have about 3feet leg room! Lunch is served after take off and consists of 4 cracker biscuits and a chocolate brownie type cake. There is one thing that strikes me as remarkable during our stay on Palawan. We stayed less than 2 miles as the crow flies I guess from the airport but I never once heard any airplane noise. The airfield (you couldn’t really describe it as an airport) was right by the sea and the runway ran all the way from inland to the waters edge so I suppose all flight traffic arrived from the sea and took off out toward the sea as we did on our journeys in and out thereby avoiding noise pollution. We were also told that the local govt were in the process of obtaining funding and permission to upgrade and expand the airport as they anticipated an increase in visitors over the next 10 years. Seems it might actually be a good idea to invest here if the predictions of tourism and a property boom are correct. We land at Manila 1 hour after take off and true to his word our bag is 4th on the carousel! Another traveller tip coming up. No not offering Merienda money to all and sundry, but to do with airport transport. We hadn’t investigated how to get back to ‘Hotel Encarnacion’ because we forgot to ask if Dodie could collect us from the airport on our arrival. So we headed in the general direction of a big sign that said TAXIS. It wasn’t a taxi rank but the airport’s own taxi service together with a hotel concierge service as well. So if you are lost and alone in Ninoy Aquino International Airport Manila it is a good service to avail yourself of for relatively hassle free hotel searching, booking and travelling to. The taxis are all relatively new and supplied by Nissan, Toyota etc under a lease licence. The drivers are all smartly dressed in a uniform and carry ID cards. The fare is obviously a lot more than taking an ordinary taxi but I believe you are probably a lot safer and the fare will not be made up depending on how much the driver thinks you can afford. (especially as he’s carrying a Westerner and even if he is with a fellow Filipina countrywoman) We tell the Taxi desk clerk where our destination is and she charges us Peso 870 and fills out a fare ticket which also details how many passengers we are and how many pieces of luggage we have and we are shown to our car. When we arrive at our destination the driver unloads our luggage and asks us to sign his fare ticket to confirm he has delivered us to the correct destination and with all of our luggage. Without this he says he won’t get paid his 16% commission of the fare. We leave him a tip of the change from a 1000 plus an extra 100 as he was very helpful in answering questions I asked to give you the above information. Lu says I’m so inquisitive I must be a cat, too nosey and curious and be careful coz you know what curiosity did to the cat! Meeeow so I must have 9 lives!
So here we are back to disrupt the lives of the poor put upon household of Gerald (Jing Jing), Sheila, Rain and Tita (aunty) Del but for the last night. Lu has arranged for us to visit the family of her good friend in England, Ate Matilda so we are to leave at around 8am Saturday to see them. I ask all the Encarnacion family to join us for a good old slap up feast at a restaurant of their choosing by way of a thank you from Lu and me for their overwhelming hospitality during our stay. I also mention at about 4pm that we have to be up early and we should maybe make an early start for dinner. As is always the case in the Philippines Filipino time takes over and we leave the house around 8.15. We are being taken to a restaurant called Gerry’s Grill which is part of a popular and “hip” chain and a favourite of the smart and more middle class set of Manilenians. Unfortunately it is so popular that we have to go on a waiting list as there are no tables available and you cannot book ahead. We sit down for dinner at 9.30! By now I’m starving and rashly I had previously mentioned to Sheila to order the food for all 9 of us (Jing, Sheila, Rain, Ate Del, Ate Roma, PJ, Daniella, Lu and I) ensuring it was what all the family liked. So we had (as far as I can remember because the bill is en route via Sea Mail with all my other books and souvenir keepsakes) plain rice, garlic rice, 2 Molo (soup), shredded spicy pork adobo, pinakbet (vegetable stew), pusit (bbq squid), sugpong kinilaw (prawn salad), kilawing pusit (squid salad), bbq pork, whole honeyed chicken, sisig (pan fried diced pigs face) and crispy crablets. (small or baby crabs, dipped in batter and deep fried and were actually quite tasty though the claws were a bit sharp if you didn’t chew them properly!) Plenty of drinks although the Tower of Lager we ordered didn’t arrive so we had bottled beer instead. Most enjoyable and only Peso 2287.00! We all arrived home about 11 and Lu and I fell into bed exhausted knowing we had to rise about 6 as our lift to see Marivic and the family was at 8am! Nanite.
Up early and start to pack then go and get breakfast. The hotel is providing the complimentary lift back to the airport and we set off at 11.30 for our 13.20 flight. The airport is not very busy but as we approach the check in desk we see a sign that says it does not open until 12.30 and it is only 11.50. Lu gets the attention of the security guard who speaks to her and then he takes our luggage and puts it behind the check-in counter. “everything is taken care of” she tells me, “ just go back at 12.30 and collect our boarding passes and give him a little “merienda” (snack) money!” At 12.30 I return and am given 2 boarding passes for seats in row 3 a and b which have extra extra (that’s meant to be 2 extras there ok) legroom and priority removal of luggage when we arrive in Manila! Not bad for peso 180 merienda money. ( I think we might refer to it, quite wrongly of course, as a bribe.)When we board the plane row 3 does indeed have extra extra legroom. It is the row behind the business class seats and I would guess that we have about 3feet leg room! Lunch is served after take off and consists of 4 cracker biscuits and a chocolate brownie type cake. There is one thing that strikes me as remarkable during our stay on Palawan. We stayed less than 2 miles as the crow flies I guess from the airport but I never once heard any airplane noise. The airfield (you couldn’t really describe it as an airport) was right by the sea and the runway ran all the way from inland to the waters edge so I suppose all flight traffic arrived from the sea and took off out toward the sea as we did on our journeys in and out thereby avoiding noise pollution. We were also told that the local govt were in the process of obtaining funding and permission to upgrade and expand the airport as they anticipated an increase in visitors over the next 10 years. Seems it might actually be a good idea to invest here if the predictions of tourism and a property boom are correct. We land at Manila 1 hour after take off and true to his word our bag is 4th on the carousel! Another traveller tip coming up. No not offering Merienda money to all and sundry, but to do with airport transport. We hadn’t investigated how to get back to ‘Hotel Encarnacion’ because we forgot to ask if Dodie could collect us from the airport on our arrival. So we headed in the general direction of a big sign that said TAXIS. It wasn’t a taxi rank but the airport’s own taxi service together with a hotel concierge service as well. So if you are lost and alone in Ninoy Aquino International Airport Manila it is a good service to avail yourself of for relatively hassle free hotel searching, booking and travelling to. The taxis are all relatively new and supplied by Nissan, Toyota etc under a lease licence. The drivers are all smartly dressed in a uniform and carry ID cards. The fare is obviously a lot more than taking an ordinary taxi but I believe you are probably a lot safer and the fare will not be made up depending on how much the driver thinks you can afford. (especially as he’s carrying a Westerner and even if he is with a fellow Filipina countrywoman) We tell the Taxi desk clerk where our destination is and she charges us Peso 870 and fills out a fare ticket which also details how many passengers we are and how many pieces of luggage we have and we are shown to our car. When we arrive at our destination the driver unloads our luggage and asks us to sign his fare ticket to confirm he has delivered us to the correct destination and with all of our luggage. Without this he says he won’t get paid his 16% commission of the fare. We leave him a tip of the change from a 1000 plus an extra 100 as he was very helpful in answering questions I asked to give you the above information. Lu says I’m so inquisitive I must be a cat, too nosey and curious and be careful coz you know what curiosity did to the cat! Meeeow so I must have 9 lives!
So here we are back to disrupt the lives of the poor put upon household of Gerald (Jing Jing), Sheila, Rain and Tita (aunty) Del but for the last night. Lu has arranged for us to visit the family of her good friend in England, Ate Matilda so we are to leave at around 8am Saturday to see them. I ask all the Encarnacion family to join us for a good old slap up feast at a restaurant of their choosing by way of a thank you from Lu and me for their overwhelming hospitality during our stay. I also mention at about 4pm that we have to be up early and we should maybe make an early start for dinner. As is always the case in the Philippines Filipino time takes over and we leave the house around 8.15. We are being taken to a restaurant called Gerry’s Grill which is part of a popular and “hip” chain and a favourite of the smart and more middle class set of Manilenians. Unfortunately it is so popular that we have to go on a waiting list as there are no tables available and you cannot book ahead. We sit down for dinner at 9.30! By now I’m starving and rashly I had previously mentioned to Sheila to order the food for all 9 of us (Jing, Sheila, Rain, Ate Del, Ate Roma, PJ, Daniella, Lu and I) ensuring it was what all the family liked. So we had (as far as I can remember because the bill is en route via Sea Mail with all my other books and souvenir keepsakes) plain rice, garlic rice, 2 Molo (soup), shredded spicy pork adobo, pinakbet (vegetable stew), pusit (bbq squid), sugpong kinilaw (prawn salad), kilawing pusit (squid salad), bbq pork, whole honeyed chicken, sisig (pan fried diced pigs face) and crispy crablets. (small or baby crabs, dipped in batter and deep fried and were actually quite tasty though the claws were a bit sharp if you didn’t chew them properly!) Plenty of drinks although the Tower of Lager we ordered didn’t arrive so we had bottled beer instead. Most enjoyable and only Peso 2287.00! We all arrived home about 11 and Lu and I fell into bed exhausted knowing we had to rise about 6 as our lift to see Marivic and the family was at 8am! Nanite.
Labels: adobo, Hotel Asturia, Ninoy Aquino Airport, Palawan, pusit, sisig
Sunday, June 24, 2007
Thursday 14th June 2007 - Dinner in the mangroves
Picture 1 Covered tricycle typical of Palawan
Picture 2 Us standing outside Restaurant Badjao
Thursday 14th June 2007
Hooray. Today is a “do nothing” day. We have no plans save for a little swimming in the freeform pool and lazing in the sun for about 10 mins every couple of hours. I think I’ve said it before but it is too hot to sit in the sun, you can actually feel your skin drying out and crisping. Added to that, you dehydrate quickly and perspire ceaselessly so the whole experience is not comfortable and relaxing at all. By the time we are up and dressed it is almost 9am and breakfast finishes then, so we rush down to the restaurant and eat a slow and lazy meal of omelette and fried garlic rice to which Lu adds Danggit, a deep fried crispy fish which the Filipinos are addicted to! Lu decides we need to visit the markets in Puerto Princesa and so we take another tricycle journey ably driven by Romel this time. I should add here that all the tricycle drivers here on Palawan, that we met any way are very friendly and chatty. They also insist on giving you their cell phone number so you may text or call them should you need a ride. We did this twice, one didn’t reply and the other did and arrived within 10 minutes. We had to buy a few supplies including a little tip we had been given on the previous day’s tour. Buy a medium sized bottle of hand sanitizer(sic) and carry it with you at all times. You get dirty hands from almost everything and it’s very handy if you are about to eat something such as mango or casoy (cashew) nuts. Also, if you’ve room, carry a packet of those small handbag or pocket sized tissues and wet wipes. Another handy tip is carry a small hand towel at all times to help keep your face dry by dabbing at your perspiration! All Filipinos do it so you will not look out of place. Any how we arrive in the town centre and try a few shops for our shopping and then end up in the covered market looking for one of those rattan style woven hand fans for Ludy. We take a good walk around and find stalls selling everything you can imagine. Fruits, vegetables, rice, wet fish, dried fish, woven rattan goods like hats and fans, mats and bags and so on. The people are all friendly and we stop at one stall and buy some bags of cashews. These are grown on the island and are a good export item for the locals. They taste very similar to the ones we generally buy at home but I think these are sweeter and have an almost coffee piquancy which seems to follow in the mouth but only after you have swallowed them. The lady who sells them to us lets me take some photos and tells us she is also a part time tour guide and we spend a little time chatting to her. The market is slightly cooler than outside but has a typically fish market smell and you have to be careful stepping on the concrete floor as it is wet and slippery. Another stall we pass by the owner has fallen asleep whilst sitting on his stool and is resting his head on the table. It must be lunch time as there are loads of school children milling around buying snacks and we find some of them sitting at their parents businesses writing and doing homework. It is so interesting slowly wandering around seeing the different businesses and the different ages of vendors, ranging from kids to the ancient and wizened wise elders of the family. Looking at the fish stalls I would have no hesitancy in buying any of the fish on display. Almost no smell at all, more a bouquet of the sea, and the fish eyes are bright and shiny, a sure sign of a fresh catch of that morning. We emerge back into the sunshine and heat and buy a Kilo of mangoes for snacks later from a street vendor then cross the road and walk into Jollibees more for the relief of the air con and a drink than for hunger. Romel arrives a little while later to take us back to the hotel and we mention that we might be interested in looking at land and property on Palawan. Romel instantly knows just the person to help us and promises that they will call us later to help.
Back at the hotel we change and have a swim in the pool and Romel appears with a lady who is a realty agent and can give us help with land and property sales. What a service! We discuss the intricacies of foreign ownership which in Manila include the regulation that foreigners can own no more than 40% of any property and must have a Filipino property partner who owns the remainder. In Palawan the rules are the similar but a little different in that you cannot own more than 5000sq metres unless you are a Philippine citizen. Current land prices in Palawan range from very dear in the centre of Puerto Princesa and decreasing all the while as you head out and into the more rural areas. We were quoted at about peso 400 psqm for the land we looked at which was about a mile from the town centre but only ½ km from the beach. This evening we‘re going to a restaurant called Badjao which is unique for being on stilts within a mangrove on the coast. To reach it you walk along a raised walkway on stilts for about 100 yards with mangrove trees and bushes either side. The whole restaurant is literally in the middle of the mangroves and as you look out on 3 sides that is all you see together with the ocean. The tide was out when we dined and also it was dark so the true effect was a little lost but none the less a very different dining experience. We learnt that the tree in front of us was a male mangrove and if we looked to the side of the restaurant we could see a female. “They both look the same to me” I said and our waiter explained that the male tree bore long pointed fruits which when they fell stuck in the mangrove sand and germinated. The female fruits were more rounded and did not stick in the sand but were washed away with the tides. He told us that where there was a female tree there would always be a male next or very close by. Fascinating what you learn by being inquisitive and talking to the locals. Our food is good but the lobster I ordered turns out to be the baby that no one else wanted. It is quite late in the evening and the restaurant is more popular in the day so all the good sized prawns and lobster are eaten already. A second whammy to my potential eating pleasure is that the ’fish man’ didn’t come today so they are at the end of their supplies and naturally only the smaller crustaceans are left. Lu ordered a local Philippine fish, Lapu Lapu, and that was the size of a small whale! Obviously not so popular as shellfish. We also ordered house fried rice (enough to feed 4 to 6) and a greens dish which is like pak choi. I finished with Moist Chocolate cake which was moist, covered in thick deep exquisite chocolate, made by the owners daughter and was gorgeous. 2 glasses of wine and a coffee each and the bill was Peso1200. Ronnie collected us at 11pm and we had taken the liberty of having the restaurant make us up a doggy bag for the huge amount of rice and vegetables which were left. We presented them to him together with his fare and a tip as he had waited for us whilst we dined, with which he professed many many thanks. A very good night indeed. Packing and saying our tearful goodbyes to Palawan tomorrow.
Hooray. Today is a “do nothing” day. We have no plans save for a little swimming in the freeform pool and lazing in the sun for about 10 mins every couple of hours. I think I’ve said it before but it is too hot to sit in the sun, you can actually feel your skin drying out and crisping. Added to that, you dehydrate quickly and perspire ceaselessly so the whole experience is not comfortable and relaxing at all. By the time we are up and dressed it is almost 9am and breakfast finishes then, so we rush down to the restaurant and eat a slow and lazy meal of omelette and fried garlic rice to which Lu adds Danggit, a deep fried crispy fish which the Filipinos are addicted to! Lu decides we need to visit the markets in Puerto Princesa and so we take another tricycle journey ably driven by Romel this time. I should add here that all the tricycle drivers here on Palawan, that we met any way are very friendly and chatty. They also insist on giving you their cell phone number so you may text or call them should you need a ride. We did this twice, one didn’t reply and the other did and arrived within 10 minutes. We had to buy a few supplies including a little tip we had been given on the previous day’s tour. Buy a medium sized bottle of hand sanitizer(sic) and carry it with you at all times. You get dirty hands from almost everything and it’s very handy if you are about to eat something such as mango or casoy (cashew) nuts. Also, if you’ve room, carry a packet of those small handbag or pocket sized tissues and wet wipes. Another handy tip is carry a small hand towel at all times to help keep your face dry by dabbing at your perspiration! All Filipinos do it so you will not look out of place. Any how we arrive in the town centre and try a few shops for our shopping and then end up in the covered market looking for one of those rattan style woven hand fans for Ludy. We take a good walk around and find stalls selling everything you can imagine. Fruits, vegetables, rice, wet fish, dried fish, woven rattan goods like hats and fans, mats and bags and so on. The people are all friendly and we stop at one stall and buy some bags of cashews. These are grown on the island and are a good export item for the locals. They taste very similar to the ones we generally buy at home but I think these are sweeter and have an almost coffee piquancy which seems to follow in the mouth but only after you have swallowed them. The lady who sells them to us lets me take some photos and tells us she is also a part time tour guide and we spend a little time chatting to her. The market is slightly cooler than outside but has a typically fish market smell and you have to be careful stepping on the concrete floor as it is wet and slippery. Another stall we pass by the owner has fallen asleep whilst sitting on his stool and is resting his head on the table. It must be lunch time as there are loads of school children milling around buying snacks and we find some of them sitting at their parents businesses writing and doing homework. It is so interesting slowly wandering around seeing the different businesses and the different ages of vendors, ranging from kids to the ancient and wizened wise elders of the family. Looking at the fish stalls I would have no hesitancy in buying any of the fish on display. Almost no smell at all, more a bouquet of the sea, and the fish eyes are bright and shiny, a sure sign of a fresh catch of that morning. We emerge back into the sunshine and heat and buy a Kilo of mangoes for snacks later from a street vendor then cross the road and walk into Jollibees more for the relief of the air con and a drink than for hunger. Romel arrives a little while later to take us back to the hotel and we mention that we might be interested in looking at land and property on Palawan. Romel instantly knows just the person to help us and promises that they will call us later to help.
Back at the hotel we change and have a swim in the pool and Romel appears with a lady who is a realty agent and can give us help with land and property sales. What a service! We discuss the intricacies of foreign ownership which in Manila include the regulation that foreigners can own no more than 40% of any property and must have a Filipino property partner who owns the remainder. In Palawan the rules are the similar but a little different in that you cannot own more than 5000sq metres unless you are a Philippine citizen. Current land prices in Palawan range from very dear in the centre of Puerto Princesa and decreasing all the while as you head out and into the more rural areas. We were quoted at about peso 400 psqm for the land we looked at which was about a mile from the town centre but only ½ km from the beach. This evening we‘re going to a restaurant called Badjao which is unique for being on stilts within a mangrove on the coast. To reach it you walk along a raised walkway on stilts for about 100 yards with mangrove trees and bushes either side. The whole restaurant is literally in the middle of the mangroves and as you look out on 3 sides that is all you see together with the ocean. The tide was out when we dined and also it was dark so the true effect was a little lost but none the less a very different dining experience. We learnt that the tree in front of us was a male mangrove and if we looked to the side of the restaurant we could see a female. “They both look the same to me” I said and our waiter explained that the male tree bore long pointed fruits which when they fell stuck in the mangrove sand and germinated. The female fruits were more rounded and did not stick in the sand but were washed away with the tides. He told us that where there was a female tree there would always be a male next or very close by. Fascinating what you learn by being inquisitive and talking to the locals. Our food is good but the lobster I ordered turns out to be the baby that no one else wanted. It is quite late in the evening and the restaurant is more popular in the day so all the good sized prawns and lobster are eaten already. A second whammy to my potential eating pleasure is that the ’fish man’ didn’t come today so they are at the end of their supplies and naturally only the smaller crustaceans are left. Lu ordered a local Philippine fish, Lapu Lapu, and that was the size of a small whale! Obviously not so popular as shellfish. We also ordered house fried rice (enough to feed 4 to 6) and a greens dish which is like pak choi. I finished with Moist Chocolate cake which was moist, covered in thick deep exquisite chocolate, made by the owners daughter and was gorgeous. 2 glasses of wine and a coffee each and the bill was Peso1200. Ronnie collected us at 11pm and we had taken the liberty of having the restaurant make us up a doggy bag for the huge amount of rice and vegetables which were left. We presented them to him together with his fare and a tip as he had waited for us whilst we dined, with which he professed many many thanks. A very good night indeed. Packing and saying our tearful goodbyes to Palawan tomorrow.
Labels: Badjao Restaurant, Danggit, Lapu lapu, Palawan, Puerto Princesa
