5/30/2014 - Boracay - 90% of the Maldives, 1/3 the Price

OK, so we've made it.  We're in paradise, there's crystal blue waters lapping up against the powder white sand stretching in all directions, but what next?  It turns out there was an easy answer to that question - day trip to Ariel's Point.  After a breakfast of fruit, eggs, toast and BACON, on our patio looking out at the water we were squeezing 6 of us into a vehicle that was probably meant for 3.  We were staying in Station 3 of White Beach in Boracay.  A little quieter, more chill, more relaxing, but now we were motoring towards the clubs, pubs and action of Station 1 on the opposite end of the beach.  After checking in next door to, no joke, Obama's grill, (election slogan and everything) we sat down to mango smoothies to wait for our departure.  The time was spent joking around about how the restaurant likely changed its name every 4-8 years, Bush's BBQ, Clinton's Cantina, etc.  It should have gotten old, but didn't.

30 minutes later we were walking through the sand getting ready to board one of three traditional water bug boats for the 45 minute cruise out to Ariel's point.  This involved wading out into the water with your gear held over your head, castaway style.  With the wind in your face, a San Miguel Lite in hand and all the scenery to take in, the trip went pretty quick and was surprisingly smooth.  Once we disembarked, it was as if we had arrived at Adult Swiss Family Robinson land.  Stairs wound their way up to multiple levels
of the cliffs, scattered with tables, chairs, hammocks and foliage.  After claiming a prime spot at the top, we scampered back down to the main attraction, cliff jumping!  They had diving platforms of 5 meters, 8 meters and 15 meters.  You had to do at least the 8 meter board before they would let you jump in from 15 meters, i.e. close to 50 feet.  Jumping from 8 meters felt like you were endlessly falling with a reward of salt water up your nose for about 15 minutes.  Still, it was enough to consider the 15 meter main attraction until I saw the big red welt on someone's arm from jumping a little while ago.  I'll stick to food and beer.

The food!  Fried noodles, grilled fish, pork, vegetables and the best sausage I had had since Germany a few years back.  Like round, spicy/sweet balls of grilled flavor.  Yep, I went back for thirds and was told it was a true Wisconsin meal.  I took that as a compliment.  After some uneventful snorkeling, lots of sea urchins, a few starfish, but not many other fish, it was time to head back. The followings days were not nearly as eventful, but super relaxing capped off by some great meals.  One night we found ourselves at a Spanish restaurant, Dos Mestizos, being serenaded by some wandering minstrels.  We requested a Spanish song first, but upon finishing and learning we were American, they launched into Country Roads by John Denver. That was rather unexpected, but what was even more unexpected was the entire restaurant singing along with the chorus.  Only in Asia.

Sun, beach, water, evening drinks in the Tree House bar with acoustic guitars.  Soon, sadly, it was time to catch the next water bug ferry and propeller plane home.  The beach vacations seem to blend into each other, but the journey to get to Boracay and the ever present music in the air should help this one stand out for awhile.

5/25/2014 - Going to the extra mile for Boracay

Sometimes you have to want it a little bit more to have a different experience.  In Singapore, we kind of forget how spoiled we are from a beach travel convenience standpoint.  Hail a taxi from your condo and 3-4 hours later you can be sitting on a beach somewhere in Thailand, Malaysia or Indonesia.  If you're really lazy, you can just wander down to Sentosa Island and lounge around in the best beach man can make.  This past weekend, however, we went the extra mile.  Sarah and cohort had already made it to Boracay in the Philippines as they had flown on straight from Hong Kong.  After putting in my week in the Pulau, I began to make the journey on my own.

At 8:30 in the morning I got in my taxi heading for Changi Airport, my home away from home.  Needless to say, the excitement levels are a little higher when you are getting ready to relax instead of head out on a work trip.  After a stale Starbucks blueberry muffin (why are they so bad in Singapore?) a slightly delayed flight, followed by a multiple hour nap, I woke up to see a lush, mountainous landscape spread out below.  Off in the distance I could see what looked like a glorified, small town single runway airport and sure enough, we banked up a dry riverbed and came in for a smooth landing in Kalibo "International" airport.  The immigration process was two people sitting behind little more than card tables and then I found what turned out to be the first of the smiling "My Boracay" guides waiting for me.  I was escorted to the thankfully air conditioned bus and we began the winding two hour journey through small towns, more jungle and occasional seaside views to arrive at Caticlan jetty.

A new guide grabbed my arm and whisked me through the mass of people waiting to catch some of the last ferries from Caticlan to Boracay as the sun started to dip below the horizon.  Off to the left was a giant boat that had multiple semi trucks slowly crawling out of its belly.  Thinking this is where I was headed I started to tip toe in that direction when I was stopped and my attention was directed towards what appeared like an over-sized water bug.  It turned out that all the boats we would see had bamboo out-riggers on either side of them.  10 minutes later we had crossed the narrow stretch between Caticlan and Boracay and I was in a golf cart, yet again bouncing my way towards the hotel and friends.  After exiting the golf cart I started following my new guide down a dark, narrow sand alley towards what I hoped was the beach.  Off to my right, I could hear an acoustic guitar drifting down from the tree house bar that was going to be our new home away from home the next few nights. I was quickly reminded that every good cover band seems to be from the Philippines and this was probably the source of all that music.

Finally, I arrived at the Boracay Beach House and the staff called me by name saying everyone was waiting for me.  Not sure how this could be, I poked my head around the corner and it all became clear.  I had left at 8:30 in the morning and it was now pushing 7 PM in the evening, but everyone was scattered around a table on the stone patio right outside our rooms.  We had the bottom 2 rooms of a 4 room beach house, the sliding glass doors opened up right onto the beach and we had it practically all to ourselves!  San Miguel Lite and Golden Eagles (courtesy of San Miguel) raised, everyone caught me up on what I had missed out on the past few days (lots of NBA talk with the locals) and what the plan for the next day was.  Clearly, it was worth going to the extra distance this time.

5/15/2014 - 24 Hours (Awake) in Hong Kong - Sightseeing

Oh boy - those 4 hours went by pretty quickly.  What are the odds our friends are going to meet us as planned, we both thought to each other with just a glance?  They were only an hour late, which we were OK with - gave us more time to drink coffee in the lounge and wake up.  Seemed reasonable after we had somehow only arrived in the city a few hours before and were now getting ready to head out and explore.

The best part so far about the trip - we had tour guides! Friends of our visiting sister, but after the trip, friends of ours now as well.  So much so, we'll all be reconvening in the Philippines for some fun in the sun soon. We have always enjoyed showing people around Singapore, but being on the flip side sure was possibly even better. First stop, the Star Ferry to head out into Victoria harbor and get a better view of the city.  Well that was the plan at least, but the rain and mist kept our heads tucked onboard and seated in our folding wooden chairs that were bolted to the deck.  Regardless, we exited, no longer on Hong Kong Island but on Kowloon instead.  The rain had let up so it was shopping time.  Two spots on the list - the ladies market and the jade market.  The ladies market had the normal variety of trinkets we have become accustomed with in our travels and nothing directly caught our eyes.  At the jade market, however, we were in search of an elusive little jade elephant.  Alas, even after multiple people went digging through their bins no one could unearth the appropriate color.  Some pearls were negotiated and procured though and with that success, it was lunch time.



Of course it was dim sum lunch, what else would you have in Hong Kong?  As the carts made their way around the room I'm sure they wondered who these fools were that kept ordering plate upon plate of dumplings, rice balls, pork buns, more tea and whatever else caught our fancy.  Sadly, they ran out of food before we ran out of an appetite, but its probably better they did.  With the drizzle beginning again, it was just a few subway stops to Lan Kwai Fung to pop in for a few drinks to wait it out.  A few pints and waaaaay too many peanuts, I guess we were still hungry, we were on the move again, back to Kowloon to settle in for the light show.  While looking past the statue of Bruce Lee I finally realized the magnitude that was Hong Kong.  Singapore is essentially Boston to Hong Kong's New York (my opinion after the trip). The light show certainly put our humble city state's show in its place.


With the Fitbit telling us we had taken 20k+ steps for the day, we closed down the night in a hawker centre that certainly made us feel at home.  A menu was placed in front of me and we started rolling down the list - deep fried squid, fried noodles, prawns, green leafy vegetables.  Its kind of odd that this type of food almost seems more familiar than the Western fare we have left behind.  Needless to say, when we all woke up the next morning we skipped breakfast as we were still full from the night before.

Before heading back to the airport, not sure how it was almost time already, Victoria Peak and the tram were the only must do's left on the list.  It was yet again a misty, rainy day.  Kind of amazing that we have only had bad weather on a few of our trips these past two years, but not enough to deter us this time.  After the tram climbed to the top of the hill, kind of like a roller coaster going to the top and then not having the big release at the end, we arrived to spectacular views, even with the fog.  Incredible that some people lived up here, talk about a view and certainly a relief from the heat in the summer. After soaking it all up and suddenly having a cloud come rolling in, totally obliterating the view, it was time to take the tram back down and ultimately the express train back to the airport.  I'm not sure if we we even were awake for 24 hours in HK, but we certainly saw enough to claim we were.

5/13/2014 - 24 Hours (Awake) in Hong Kong - In Transit

As the days move forward, the travel checklist looms larger and larger.  On the plus side, this past weekend brought the opportunity to go soaring on another one of Asia's budget airlines and arrive in a locale that I had not been before.  The trip did not get off to the most auspicious start when Hong Kong Express sent me a text message moments  before arriving at the airport that our flight was delayed 2+ hours.  We were already scheduled to arrive in Hong Kong at 11 PM, so this wasn't exactly welcome news.  Thankfully, the Penang airport finally put in an acceptable place to kill some time and we nestled into the Kaffa Coffee shop for a cappuccino.  On the downside, we realized we were going to need something to eat prior to getting on this flight and the evening of waiting in lines was about to begin.  The lesser of multiple evils is the McDonalds in the airport.  In this case, fast food meant a 30 minute wait when only 8 people were in front of me.  I guess that meant my chicken nuggets were freshly (fingers crossed) made?  Either way, it was moderately paced food at the quickest.

The flight did leave a little after 9 as promised and the extra $20 we paid for the additional leg room was looking like a steal.  A nap seemed to be in order with the inevitable later arrival and I fully reclined my seat for a change, no one was behind us, and passed out.  The sound of the captains voice woke me up a few hours later - turns out the weather that caused our flight to be delayed was still wreaking havoc with the airport, not to mention we were probably pretty low in the pecking order for a landing slot.  So we started the time honored tradition of circling an airport, but hey, we at least had the lightning dancing amongst the clouds to entertain us.

When we finally did land, safely, it was close to 2 in the morning. Thinking we were going to luck out from an immigration standpoint because we were in the front of the plane, our heads hit our chests when we saw the massive line that everyone was in. We did get a momentary uplift when we spotted the little sister further ahead.  Turns out flights from everywhere were delayed so as always, misery loves company.  At least our luggage was waiting when we made it through the gauntlet of incoming travelers.  What we were not prepared for was the equally long taxi line.  The recommendation of the airport was to take alternate transport into the city - thanks, no other options at 2:30 in the morning.  Finally, about 40 minutes later, we did settle in for what I hoped was a quick ride when the g forces practically plastered us into the back seat. This guy meant business.  Going through the tolls he was using Kareem Abdul Jabbar sky-hooks to get the money to the toll taker.  Even better was he somehow managed to continue shifting the car while using the same arm to grab cash and work the gear shift simultaneously.  Highly possible he had a third arm.  When we did arrive at the hotel it was rather humorous to see people checking in after us that had clearly gotten in taxis before we did, but didn't have a combination of NBA Player and Indy Car Racer as their chauffeur.


Ultimately he probably saved us an extra half hour of sleep and when we checked into our room - quite nice, but quite small, we collapsed into the bed.  The alarm clock was going to be ringing in 4 hours and we had a full 24 hours of scrambling around ahead of us.  The weekend promised to be eventful if not relaxing.

5/4/2014 - South-east Asian Reunion Tour - Part 2

As I sit here on our sofa, listening to the thunder rumble off in the distance, questioning where the weekend went, I suddenly realized I had left the reunion tour hanging.  That will happen when you throw a two week trip back to the US in the middle of your Asian life.  You spend the first few days on the front end wondering where you are and a few days on the back-end just trying to stay awake past 4 in the afternoon.  Alas, another month of our life has rolled on past and we are contemplating movers, flights home, cars to purchase and places to live.  The good news..... plenty of action to come before we make the trans Pacific flight again. That being said, back to our story.

"Trip" #3 - Asian Pancake Breakfast Rewind

The original plan was to go back to Vietnam this weekend.  However, when we were getting ready to purchase tickets, something just seemed a bit off.  My spidey sense was tingling if you will.  My internal clock had finally realized that this was NCAA Sweet 16 weekend and I needed to be firmly planted in our apartment with access to college basketball.  After having to listen to Wisconsin win their Sweet 16 on the radio (rookie mistake, I had brought the wrong iPad to Penang) I was locked and loaded for the Elite 8 game and a Final 4 appearance on the line.  Banana Prata - check, extra strong coffee - check, viewing area set up on the porch - check, extra small screen to make you feel like you're at home - check.  It wasn't the usual cold tile floor and cabin in the middle of nowhere in Wisconsin, but if you watch a basketball game sitting on your porch in Singapore you end up sweating almost as much as if you played the game yourself.

Its been a month since then, but I'll never forget bouncing around our cramped apartment and causing what I can only imagine was utter confusion for our Italian neighbors.  Given that it was before 10 AM I'm sure only added to the lunacy.  I even tried to get Sarah involved in the excitement to which I was ultimately rebuffed, "I'm not a part of this," but she was at least happy for me that they won.  The only issue now, oops, we're off to Bangkok during the Final 4 where I ultimately watched the season end from our hotel room.  Sad.

Trip #4 - Bangkok

If you didn't think we'd make another trip back to Thailand, then you are clearly a new reader to the blog. Sadly, this was likely the last trip, but if it was, we went out with a bang.  We practically ran through the Bangkok airport and through customs to try and make it to the hotel for the free happy hour in time.  The irony of having a free Singha Beer saving us 50 cents not withstanding, its the principle of the matter.  We did get that free drink and then when our friends arrived, found another hole in the wall Thai restaurant for a great meal as always.

The next day found us back at the weekend market on a mission to finally find our elephant end tables.  It was a hot and sticky few hours in which we first purchased an antique map - "Be very careful with this," the store owned warned us, "they are very old and fragile."  We smiled politely as we saw about 50 more of the same map sitting behind him.  Next it was past the animals for sale, puppies looking for new owners (keep walking) or does anyone want a pet tortoise?  Finally, we tracked down our end tables, not 100% what we wanted, but pretty close to looking like this guy.  The DHL stand was near at hand and they did a great job shipping them back to Singapore.  Of course they should have, the shipment ended up being 2/3 of the total cost, but hey, they showed up at the door.

Last item on the list was hunting down a tailor.  As you walked down the street there may have been hundreds of them.  Thankfully, TripAdvisor to the rescue and the gentlemen at Paul's Bespoke Tailor were measuring me for the seersucker suit I've been constantly seeking as well as a few jackets.  I guess I had a goofy look on my face, because Sarah thinks I have now been ruined for life, "yes I would like 2 buttons on the coat, please do put double vents on the back, yes, make it flat front pants."  The fact that neither of us likes to iron probably kept the damage to a minimum and no shirts were procured.

 All in - another 2 successful weekend.  Hong Kong and the Philippines are on the horizon as the days continue to count down.