Kayaking in the Rock Islands

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On Monday morning we signed up for a kayak tour of the rock islands.  As mentioned in my earlier post, these islands are a Palauan treasure with flora and fauna unique to only these islands.  The kayak tour took us on a close up and personal tour of the small marine lakes and bays of the islands.  Unlike our previous boat tour where we visited shoals of large colorful fish, this tour was to R Bay, a breeding ground for different specifies of fish including the black-tipped grey reef shark.  Sure enough, we saw baby sharks swimming around the bay, alone, or in small groups.  Our guide explained that the mother returns to the marine lake where she was born to give birth to her young, and then leaves them there to fend for themselves.  This was a relief as we were a bit worried about bumping into mummy shark who I’m sure is a lot less cute…  We were also looking for baby manta rays, but weren’t lucky enough to spot any.

We paddled around the edges of the small limestone islands, protected from the sun by the overhanging roofs of the eroded island sides.  Erosion is caused not by the waves (there aren’t any), but by mollusks that bury themselves into the limestone rock and slowly wear holes into the rock surface.  Then, aided by the wind and water, the rock slowly crumbles and falls away forming the unique mushroom shape of the islands and many natural arches.  The overhangs also provided great shelter from the rain.  It rained, was cloudy, sunny and rained again as the overhead clouds moved rapidly around.  Palau is said to be the starting point for many of the typhoons that affect SE Asia.  Typhoons don’t affect Palau, but the open sea around acts as a breed ground where they build strength and head westward to the Philippines, China and Japan.

The kayak tour was about seven hours of paddling around, stopping and starting to snorkel and rest.  I thought I was going to be exhausted but the pace was slow and steady and it turns out I’m a competent kayaker.  Who knew?!

Another highlight of the tour was the bird life.  As we slowly paddled around, birds would swirl around our heads, flying unexpectedly from the trees.   Our guide knew their names before we saw them by their cry.  The most common was a red heron that would sit still on a branch or floating log and, when startled, it would spread its unexpectedly large wings and soar off in front of us.  We saw kingfishers, different kinds of swallows and gulls, and plenty of others whose names I can’t remember.  Our guide also knew the names and medicinal qualities of all the trees offering cures for everything from arthritis to toothache.  The Palauans name their trees according to how they use them, and if there is no practical use for the tree, it doesn’t have a name.

A beautiful day, and a wonderful way to really experience the peace and beauty of the islands.

Introducing Koror

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We are off on Friday for a four day jaunt to Koror, Palau and getting pretty excited about the trip.  Before I dropped the blogging ball, I took some photos of our last trip, which never made it into a post.  So, I thought I’d do a quick refresher on the trip highlights so there would be some context for the update on our next trip.

Palau is an island republic about 2.5 hrs flight from Manila.  There are only two flights a week which leave Manila at 11pm and drop you in the middle of the Pacific ocean at the unsociable time of 1.30am.  Not quite literally, of course, but after flying 2.5 hrs over only water, it kind of feels that way a bit….   Last time we went it was in the middle of a huge thunder and lightening storm – scary stuff.  The flashes of lightening lit up the sky and dark cabin of the plane every couple of minutes.  The flight didn’t actually arrive until closer to 2.30am.  Perhaps the pilot was enjoying the storm…I don’t know…but an hour behind schedule we touched down in Koror in torrential rain.  No photos of that, of course, as you couldn’t see a damn thing.  However, the next morning, the view from the window was slowly and magically revealed through the morning mist:

Yes, it was a jungle out there!  In fact it rained a lot – off and on – over the four days and you could see why everything was so green and overgrown.

We did two classic Koror highlights during our stay:  We toured the Rock Islands, which are a maze of beautiful small limestone islands just off the coast.  Protected by environmental law, the Palauans are doing their best to preserve their beauty and wild life and doing a pretty good job.  Here’s a great video that Latham shot of our ride on a speed boat through the islands.  The snorkeling was amazing!

Also that day, we visited Jellyfish Lake.  Crammed full of jellyfish – big and small – the lake is safe to swim in because the jellyfish have no sting.  Without any natural predators, over the course of thousands of years, the jellyfish have evolved that way, and it is amazing to swim among them.  Just be careful not to kick them.  I touched the first one gently, not really believing that it wouldn’t cause pain and then got braver and scooped them up in my hands.  Amazing stuff!

Not sure of our itinerary this coming weekend, but it sure to involve lots of fish!  More pics next week!

Confessions of a Failing Blogger

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Well…here it is…the icebreaking re-launching post that I have been threatening to put up again. Can it really be late February since I last posted? I hang my head in shame. I really do want to keep this thing up and running, and the blog is almost defunct…just sitting here neglected…. I did have a number of reasonable excuses in March. Our household effects arrived and I was up to my eyeballs and above in boxes – literally – and once I dug out from that, there were some school issues and other work things going on. But really…. mid August?! There’s no excuse.

Since then, we have been on a trip to the South Pacific country of Palau, in May I was in Guam getting my American citizenship, and then we spent a wonderful six weeks in Greece. There might be content for a blog post or two in there…what d’ya think? But the grip of blog apathy had already taken hold and I somehow couldn’t coordinate the apparently complicated coordination of camera, photos, and computer and come up with content in a timely matter. Not that the timing really matters of course.. Just because I did a trip a few months back, doesn’t mean that the story is less interesting, right? And not all posts have to have photos. They make posts more interesting, but as an excuse for not posting they just result in a story unshared.

So, confession over and now comes the action part. Having spent many an hour lecturing my high schooler on the value of commitment and consistency in his responsibilities, its time to swallow my own pill. So here it is:

1. I promise to post at least once a week. I’ve noticed all the best bloggers do it at least that frequently.
2. No picture will not equal no post.
And 3. I’ll work at fixing the technical glitches I’m having that are making things worse with the camera

The start of the blogging diversions!

And to the precious few who read this…PLEASE…. feedback or support comments much appreciated. I think I need a shove!

Construction Mania

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I may have mentioned before — several times in fact — that there’s a lot of construction going on around here. Running the danger of boring everyone rigid on what has become a bit of an obsession…I thought I’d do a post specifically on the subject. Its really compelling to me that I am in a city that is literally growing up around me faster than I can keep track. There are probably as many as two dozen buildings in various stages of construction just in my immediate vicinity. And I really do mean in various stages…from the very first ground breaking, through to the final stages of fitout and everything in between. On my walk to the store this morning, I took the following photos, just by pivoting on my heel from one spot:

First groundbreaking. Two weeks ago this was just open space that we cut through on the way to the store. Now it looks like the first hole for a new building is being dug.

Here are some more taller examples. Note the sheer number of cranes and the blue/green netting everywhere that protects people below from falling materials. Sometime the city just looks half unwrapped to me:


I could go on, but you’ve probably seen enough!

This used to be the US air force base for many years, since before the second world war. It was called Fort McKinley and has been renamed Fort Bonifacio…or the Fort… and from this the marketing wiz guys have created “Bonifacio Global City” or BGC. In the last five years or so, they have taken flat open land with a few remanents of old miltary buildings into a giant plan for a new “global city”. As its the first really planned city of its kind here, its a big deal, as other areas of the city have just sprawled organically with ensuing disastrous consequences. The planners here are promising better. If you can stand to listen to the saccharin language of this promo video (you will gag) it actually gives an overview of whats going. Grab a barf bag and watch this:

The most significant building of this whole production to me is the one that is going up directly across the street. Looks like its going to be a very tall combination of residential space, office space and retail units. When we arrived in late December it was two stories high and I couldn’t figure out why the windows were all slanted. Two months and 5 stories later, its obvious that the first six floors are just going to be parking and that the “sloping windows” are doing so because of the garage ramps they are building.

Here’s a couple of comparison pics:

This was back in December.

Here is now (late Feb):

The significance to me is two fold:

1. Once this thing hits about 15 floors 50% of my kitchen view is going to be obliterated. Fortunately there are other windows and other directions, and the view of the golf course is guaranteed to remain. So its with fascination and regret that I watch it grow

2. Its the closest building to me. I can see it from my desk as I work all day and I watch the guys crawling all over it like ants….doing what they do from 6am when I wake until at least 9pm at night…on and on… From my soundproof window it just looks ants on a picnic table, but if I crack the window just an inch the noise is overwhelming. The hours and the work are brutal.

I have the luxury of being able to take an academic interest in all of this, while they labor on in brutal heat for little money. But these are also valuable jobs and will hopefully create an infrastructure that will bring more wealth and jobs in the long run. Some of the buildings are proudly declaring themselves LEED compliant, which is a good thing, but the city still has a long way to go to save its own environment. In the meantime, the building goes on…

“Green Thing in the Driveway” Gets an Upgrade!

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Its hard to get everyone out the door.  Making kids sit in the car and actually wait for you, while you close up, grab the shopping list and turn off the oven is the only way to go….  When I would get frustrated enough at getting a certain person to actually depart, I found myself saying “PLEASE get in the car…NOW….It’s the green thing in the driveway”  and shuffle him towards the door.  Hence “Green Thing in the Driveway” was born and lived there — in our driveway — for seven years.

G.T.I.T.D has now made a monumental journey across the Pacific and is now “Green Thing in the Basement – complete with the upgrade of (temporary) diplomatic plates.  The most modest car with diplomatic plates that I have ever seen, I might add….I think I see a couple of new dings too.

Here are some not so great shots of the car in our basement parking lot….(hey – I got it down there…it wasn’t easy…3 levels of weirdly laid out basement which are totally confusing) …

A pic for my VA friends (remember that sticker?)… Well it made it to the Philippines:

And Here’s an A.T.I.T.B (I’ll let you work that one out)  with our car:

Now the question is whether I have the guts to take it out on the road?

Yes…This is Pretty Disgusting…

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If  you read my earlier post, you would have seen that we had a very interesting trip to Corregidor last weekend.  What was missing from the post, however, was another discovery….. garbage.  A gift from the people of Manila.  Arriving by sea in a constant flow is every conceivable type of rubbish from old shoes…tyres….plastic bags…you name it…

I decided to deal with it as a separate post as I didn’t want to detract from the historical experience of the island, which deserves better.  And the garbage certainly did NOT hamper our enjoyment of the island and was limited to just the Manila-facing beaches…but pretty disgusting it was.

To be honest, I was fascinated.  We’ve all seen garbage. Every major port in the world (that I’ve ever seen) has filthy water and floating junk.  Pireaus is no exception.  However, I had never seen anything like this, especially garbage deposited elsewhere from a major port….  So I took some pictures:

However, photos still don’t capture the sheer ebb and flow and SCALE of so much rubbish.  There just had to be a video …so here it is:

A local cafe owner told us that the garbage goes away at a different time of year when the currents change.  Who knows where it goes then?  To that giant Texas-sized garbage island in the Pacific, maybe?

Weekend Tour to Corregidor

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This weekend we took our first trip outside of Manila since we arrived, which is unbelievably more than six weeks ago.  I’ve been chomping at the bit to get out of the city but with Robert’s new job and all those pesky real life details that go on, its not been possible until now.  The Embassy has an office called the CLO that takes care of community activities for Embassy employees and families.  CLO organized an outing to nearby Corregidor island, and we signed up for the overnight trip.

World War II buffs may be familiar with Corregidor.  It was an important American/Philipino stronghold during the defence of Manila Bay against the Japanese.  It is strategically located at the mouth of the Bay guarding the city from attack by sea. Unfortunately, after intensive air bombardment and loss of nearby territory to the Japanese, the island fell in 1942.  General MacArthur left promising to return (which he did in 1945) leaving the remaining 13,000 Americans and Phillipinos to their fate in Japanese prisoner of war camps.

Today the island is covering with ruins of massive long barracks, officer housing, tram lines, fortifications, tunnels, caves and storage tanks.  It even had a movie house which still remains.  All over the island are little secret bunkers or caves, dug into the hillside.  Their is a massive tunnel, completed in 1932, called the Malinta Tunnel, which consisted of a main long tunnel, with lots of side arteries coming off.  Bombproof because of the solid rock above, the tunnel was used for storage, supplies, sleeping and working.  There’s even a separate section of tunnels used as a 1000 bed hospital.  All in all, its a pretty extraordinary place.

So, without further ado….some photos….

Setting off from Manila Bay

An hour and 15 minutes at sea (on a hydrofoil). Mmmm....this isn't the Med..!

Before we even get ashore.. A beach with some of those little caves...

We were driven around in little wooden trams...easy on and off...and much nicer than tourist buses

One of the many ruined barracks on the island. Built around 1913 and abandoned in 1945

More photos of ruins around the island.  Many structures were bombed out.  Others were destroyed by Banyan trees growing all over them.  The Corregidor Foundation has worked to preserve the buildings, but you can still see the roots of massive tree embedded into the walls:

Looking out to sea from one of the many Japanese caves:

Air Shipment Has Arrived!

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When you leave for post, your baggage is limited to whatever the airlines deems as the rules on how much you can take.  Usually these days this looks like 2 suitcases of no more than 50lbs each, plus a small carry on suitcase, plus a personal item.  That a total number of items per person of 4.  There were three of us, so that was going to be at least 12 items to count in and out of every taxi and transportation experience from door to door.  Then Robert’s very kind and very cool cousin (Yay! for Susie.  Thank you…thank you…) used some of her air mileage to upgrade us to business class.  This is always a great thing, but when you have 24 hours of flight ahead of you, the upgrade way surpassed “great”.  We also got business class baggage allowance which gives up to 3 pieces each and more generous poundage.  We ended up with 13 pieces total, and alot less carry-on/personal items to schlup around.  Even with all this crap in our entourage, it still doesn’t equal that much stuff to live on for up to 3 months while we wait for our household effects.  Its amazing what you really need to bring from a travel printer, to cameras, personal important documents, etc. etc. before you even get to clothes.

To help with this situation, the government provides a welcome kit for your home when you get there.  Think saucepans, sheets, towels etc.  It also allows you ship a small amount of personal effects by air.  Extra clothes, office equipment for me, really useful household stuff etc.   Anyway…the air shipment arrived last weekend!  I will gloss over the experience of discovering the packing job that was done and some of the unfortunate consequences… and just move on to how great it was to get three huge cardboard boxes full of long lost treasures from distant NJ.  Here are a few pics:

P.S.  Our main stuff is due to arrive in March.

What’s for Dinner?

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I’m not new to Asian foods or cooking with Asian ingredients, although my knowledge of Filipino food was almost non-existent before I knew we were moving here.  I’m trying to get familiar with a lot of the most common dishes that I see around.  Its very meat-based with vegetables (mostly) taking a back seat….unlike Greek food which uses a lot of veggies…so I am not as eager as I usually might be to try cooking it.  But that’s a sweeping statement and when our kitchen stuff gets here, I promise to be more creative and give it a go.

In the meantime, my quest since we’ve been here is to try all the different fruits as they come into season. Mangos and pineapples here have an excellent reputation, and for good reason…they are delicious.  Bananas come in many different varieties, large and small…yellow, pinkish and green.  Turns out a proper tree-ripened banana tastes great really ripe.  (Chicquita bananas taste starchy and weird if you let them go completely yellow…so that was a great taste treat surprise.) Giant bunches too!  Its fruit smoothies for breakfast here, practically every day.  Gunabayo (or Soursop) is an aggresive looking green fruit that is showing up in the markets.  I had to google “exotic fruits” and scroll through pictures in order to identify it.  Here it is:

Turns out Soursop is a lot more delicious than it looks and it smells wonderful.  Also, it seems to have been part of a number of medical experiments to test its alleged power to kill cancer cells and the results are very positive and interesting. The fact that you probably didn’t know that is a subject of a lot of controversy.

Tonights dinner is going to be a Capon from a free-range farm in Northern Luzon (We went to a wonderful weekend organic weekend market – post to follow); vegetable rice; green beans in coconut sauce; fresh mango salsa and Soursop for desert:

Small Calamansi limes are everywhere and add a sour component to a lot of dishes.  They’re smaller than key limes, taste “limey” but have their own distinctive flavour:

Just cut a few of them in half and squeeze away:

I used them to add to the mango salsa (look at the colour!):

And to add flavour (along with garlic) to the oven-ready Capon:

Bon Appetit!