Island Overdose

The weekend following the trip to the Island of Sumilon we went to the Island of Bantayan and as it was a public holiday on the Friday, we had a little more time to spare. This island is located diagonally opposite to Sumilon so instead of being located in the south-east, Bantayan is located to the north-west tip of Cebu. It's around the same distance/travel time from Toledo - which makes sense as Toledo is located centrally along the west coast of Cebu. Bantayan is much larger than Sumilon though, and has it's own towns, residents and several resorts to chose from.

The drive north was pretty much the same as driving south, still scenic and pretty enough to hold ones interest. There were the ususal rice paddies and some sugar cane plantation, which I hadn't seen on Cebu before. The road condition varied from mostly very good to rather dire in places but there is evidence that there is process of improvements and upgrading taking place.

I read that Bantayan is similar to how Boracay was 15 years ago before it became developed and commercialised. Currently there are none of the reknowed resort operators there and the ones that are available in Bantayan are locally owned. We had booked in advance into the Santa Fe Resort for one night and the Kota Beach the following night.

The Ferry to Bantayan Island

On arrival at the Hagnaya ferry terminal of you are mobbed by locals offering to carry your bag or to guide you to the ferry or to offer tours or show you where to park your car. You name it, they have thought of everything in an effort to earn a tip. I suppose this kind of thing is to be expected in such a poor country but really, it becomes awfully tiresome after while, especially when a refusal is met with downright rudeness bordering on belligerence. But worse than this was seemingly lack of courtesy and goood manners which really adds to the feeling that as a foreigner you are there only to be ruthlessly exploited.

The ferry ride from to the terminal at Santa Fe on Bantayan was uneventful but marred by an overly persistant tout who just went on and on and on about renting his boat for a tour. This guy wouldn't take no for an answer and his rates were an outragous price and a complete rip-off.

On arrving at the Santa Fe terminal it was more of the same but thankfully the resort had sent a jeepney to pick us up, but still there were enough people offering to carry my small, perfectly managable overnight bag the 10 yards from the ferry to the jeepney. The other problem with this mobbing is it makes you feel distinctly uneasy and you can't relax trying to keep your eye on your camera and wallet.

The Santa Fe resort is only a short hop from the ferry terminal and to be honest you could walk it in 10 minutes but wouldn't want to otherwise you'd be followed by a huge chattering entourage offering to carry your bag and all manner of other services.

At the Santa Fe Resort the hassling continued. Whilst there seems to be a rule to stop touts from entering the grounds, some still do whilst others just stand and stare from the hotel boundary or continually call from the gate and you enter and leave the hotel to the beach. This is really off-putting.

Santa Fe Beach

The beach chalets were fully booked so we took a hotel room. The room was small and poorly maintained. The shower water reeked of sewage when it was first turned on - truly a foul and nauseating stench, similar to that experienced on Sumilon. The restaurant was ok but by now my expectations aren't very high. The restaurant staff are predominantly surly and disinterested. If you leave a tip you won't receive an acknowledgement or a thank you.

There is a TV in the restaurant but the portly owner of the place pulls up a sofa chair and foot stool to within a few feet of the set, puts his feet up and sits there with the remote control (which he really doesn't need as he's so close to the set) watching it like he's in his own lounge, all the time barking orders at the restaurant staff. Perhaps this is why they are so sullen?

The beach is great and a picture postcard of what you'd imagine a tropical beach to be like but the sea is somewhat sterile with nothing to see but the waters are nice and warm.

We eventually succumbed to the touts who were offering a reasonable rate to visit Virgin Island for what we were told would be great snorkelling. Having been hassled to take the trip throughout the ferry ride to Batayan at a rip-off price of Php2500 an offer of Php500 seemed a good deal. However, when we supposedly arrived at "Virgin Island" there were no fish and no coral to be seen. After the event I learnt that we were taken to Cabulauan Island instead (there is no Virgin Island on any of the maps I could see and there is no internet available on Bantayan Island to research it) and to add insult to injury we paid the entrance fee of Php200 to enter Virgin Island, so we were royally ripped off. You may argue that tourists are fair game at being ripped off and we should have been better informed before we went but I don't go along with this. I accept that as a foreigner I may have to spend a bit more in order to support the local economy but this was downright fraudulent. This may benefit a few locals in the short term but it isn't exactly going to enamour the foreign tourists into coming to the island. Ripping off the tourists is the economic equivalent to the environmental impact of dynamite fishing, which seems to have been so popular in the Philippines: it benefits a very small minority in the short term but impacts the honest majority more severely in the long run.

Not the Virgin Island

We only stayed one night at the Santa Fe and on the recommendation of our driver we tried to book a night in their sister resort, the Ogtong Cave Resort. However, they seemingly only had one room available (after initially telling us they had other rooms available) and that it was Php18,000 a night - £240! I can't see that any place is worthy of that charge in Batayan but I suppose people do pay it. The check out time at the Santa Fe was ridiculously early at 10:00am. We already had a room at booked at the Kota Beach Resort so we figured that a couple of hours wasn't going to be so difficult to deal with.

We'd actually booked this resort a couple of weeks in advance but due to the early check-out requirements of the Santa Fe we turned up a little bit early, When we arrived at the Kota Beach we had high hopes but these were soon dashed. The receptionist had all the charm and charisma of funeral director and the good manners of a hormonal teenager and we were told that our room wouldn't be available until 2:00pm instead of 12:00 as the occupants were having a late check-out! Talk about going from the sublime to the ridiculous.

Our Beach Hut (Almost in the Sea)

As a result we were going to go to the resort next door but it was full so we had to sit it out for 4 hours until the room was available rather than tramp around trying to find an alternative. In the event, the owner said he would discount the room from the usual Php2000 to Php1600 but reneged on this and actually charged us Php1700. The chalet we were given was right on the sea front, so close in fact that the waves crashed over the verandah at high tide but the room was awfully basic and in need of refurbishment. The bed was one of the most uncomfortable I'd ever slept in having one of those foam mattresses that you gradually sink into during the night so that you end up the same shape as banana and as I sleep on my side, this gives me horrendous backache.

Kota Beach

The restaurant was ok but again the staff were surly. The location was fantastic in terms of the beach but the sea was full of sea grass making swimming not entirely pleasant as it was slimy and would stick to your face.

Actually, on leaving Bantayan, what with the travelling and hassles, I was thinking that I'd be better off spending the weekend sitting around the pool at my accommodation in Toledo.

Island Life

Sumilon Island from 10,000ft

The tourist trail was the theme for the weekend just past and the island of Sumilon was chosen as the destination. Sumilon is a small island located at the southern tip of Cebu just off the east coast (9 25 56.2N 123 23 24.13E). I'd seen it several times before during the flight's approach into Cebu's airport and often wondered if I'd be fortunate enough to visit as it looked really good from 10,000ft up in the air.

Jetty to the Island

From Toledo it took around 3 hours to drive to the jetty for the 10 minute trip across to the island by pump boat. At the jetty things were looking good. The weather was sunny, the sky was blue and the sea was crystal clear and we were greeted at the jetty with a cool drink and a chilled towel with which to freshen up with.

Sumilon Beach

Being the only passengers we had the boat to ourselves. On the island we were met by Iris who welcomed us with a seashell necklace. Iris was also the bellhop and porter and led us to our resort cottage on the sea shore, which was large and spacious, if a little spartan (hotel review here).

The rest of the day was spent swimming and snorkelling around the coral reefs watching the myriad of brightly coloured fish swimming by, lounging in the resort pool, relaxing in the jacuzzi and taking in a couple of beers. We were told (by Iris) that there would be a traditional Philippine dinner in the evening, followed by traditional Philippines dancing and show.

Resort Pool

I'm not usually one for this type of entertainment but as there was really very little else to do there was little choice. The meal was passable and the wine was expensive. Iris turned out to be the MC for the evenings events too. Similarly, she was the singer of the traditional songs (and the not so traditional songs). The dancing was done by the rest of the staff, changing out of their cooks uniforms and bar garb into the dancing outfits. By 9:00pm it was all over and we were the last people in the bar/restaurant finishing off the expensive wine with the staff trying not to look like they'd rather be doing their own thing than waiting on two half drunk guests, so we also turned in for the night.

Sunset Over Neighbouring Island of Negros

And what a night! Just as we left the restaurant it started to rain lightly. By the early hours of the morning there was a thunder storm so violent like I've never experienced before. The lightning and thunder were simultaneous which led me to thinks that we were about to be struck by lightning and the thunder was so loud that it made the building shake and vibrate. And the rain was an absolute deluge.

Day After the Storm

In the morning it was all calm again but because of the run-off the sea was no longer as clear as is was the day before and it was quite choppy too, making the return trip to the mainland not something to look forward to.

Breakfast (served by Iris) was a leisurely affair, partly because there wasn't much else to do with our plans for more swimming and snorkelling scuppered by the weather. Our original plan was to spend the rest of the day on the island but as the weather wasn't so great we checked out at midday to head back to Cebu City. We were checked out by Iris, who happened to be the receptionist and our bill was prepared by Iris who was also the cashier.

I left Sumilon wondering if Iris would be interested in a job in construction?

Island Hopping

Our other project is in Iloilo (pronounced eelo-eelo) on the island of Panay. We had notice from our client that this project was to kick off much earlier than originally planned so a trip to the site to obtain an understanding of the locale and logistical problems was suddenly necessary.

Organising accommodation and offices is a difficult process. It's not like the UK where you'd go and pick up the local newspaper and trawl through the "For Let" pages and make a few phone calls. Most of what is available here, as in most countries in Asia, is usually discovered by word of mouth and by being on the ground. Even in ultra-modern Singapore, the amount of information you can glean from the internet with regard to suppliers, contractors or property is surprisingly small.

Island Hopping

Whilst Iloilo is only approximately 100 miles from Toledo (a couple of hours on a good road) what must be factored into this is in order to get there you need to cross the island of Negros. This necessitates two ferry trips and a cross-island drive of Negros. Of course, we could fly from Cebu to Iloilo but then there would be the hassle of cases, cameras and arranging transport and as an essential element of the trip would be the freedom to move around, taking our own vehicle was a necessity rather than a luxury. Furthermore, because we have a large amount of equipment to ship from the Toledo site to Iloilo it was important to check out the feasibility of the route using trucks and containers.

The first ferry from Toledo departs at 7:30am so we were up early and on the quay side by 6:30am in order to buy our ticket and join the first-come, first-served queue for the ferry. Paying for the trip wasn’t as straight forward as you might imagine with it being necessary to visit several offices to pay for various different charges and taxes. Even once you make it onto the ferry you still have pay the passenger charges and there's also a compulsory tip for which no receipt is given but I'm told you have no option other than to pay unless you want to find yourself abandoned on the quay side. I couldn't help wondering that it would be so much easier if all this was lumped into one ticket and one price but that would be too easy, wouldn't it?

Dodgy Ferry

The ferry itself, when it arrived, was rather beaten and battered down its sides as though it had been banging against a quay side during a storm. This didn't inspire confidence. As I've said before, ferries in the Philippines have a notoriety for sinking. In addition, the waters between Toledo and San Carlos, normally as smooth as a mill pond, were being whipped up by high winds. I had it in mind to stay on the top deck throughout the journey, thinking that if the ferry did capsize then I didn't want to be caught below deck in a repeat of The Poseidon Adventure.

Open Deck Sleeping Arrangements

Loading of the ferry with vehicles and passengers was surprising smooth and easy. Oddly enough, the top deck was full of bunks for sleeping on. Bearing in mind it was only a 90 minute journey I considered it strange that there was the need to provide such extensive sleeping facilities. The trip across was unremarkable and uneventful. Currently there is a haze which means the island of Negros and the Kanlaon volcano are no longer visible from Toledo, so as Toledo disappeared into the haze, San Carlos began to appear, although such is the density of the haze (gawd blimey gov, a right pea-souper, ain't no mistake) that the volcano was no longer visible.

Disembarking was similarly straightforward. San Carlos is a small and relatively unremarkable town but more pleasant and engaging than Toledo. Just off its coastline is the island of Sipaway, which is noted for its white sandy beaches, its good scuba diving and is relatively unspoilt and undeveloped. I made a made a mental note to visit some time soon.

We had breakfast in the Jollibee (the Philippines equivalent of McDonalds) and then headed off for the cross island drive to the town of Bacolod for our next ferry connection.

Rice Terrace

Waterfall

Almost immediately Negros had a different feel to it. On the plains at the foot of the mountains there were fields of sugar cane, which I haven't seen growing anywhere on Cebu. As expected, the drive into the mountains was quite scenic, and even spectacular in places. The sugar cane fields quickly gave way to corn fields and then rice terraces, with the volcano of Kanlaon serving as a back drop, although due to the haze and low clouds the peak was never visible. High mountains, winding roads and deep river valleysmade the 50 mile drive interesting enough and as we weren't pushed for time we were able to stop and take photographs at our leisure. In one location there was an area that looked to be set up as a rest or picnic spot but was in fact a viewing area for a quite impressive waterfall that looked like something from The Land Time Forgot.

As the mountains gave way to the plains surrounding Bacolod there were fields of sugar cane as far as the eye could see. We arrived in Bacalod in the middle of a tropical downpour. This was probably the fringes of the typhoon that was battering Taiwan at this point in time. We had just missed a ferry that was due to depart and, looking at the condition of the sea and the visibility, I was quietly relieved and hoped that in time the weather would settle down.

After a wait of 3 hours for the next ferry the weather did indeed calm down considerably. The crossing from Bacolod to Iloilo was also unremarkable and took around 90 minutes as well.

We arrived at the ferry terminal of Damangas at sunset and as the terminal is quite a distance out of town and the road into the city is severely potholed it takes longer than expected to reach the city centre. By the time we arrived there, it was already dark so we found a budget hotel, had the local speciality La Paz Batchoy for dinner, and then called it a night.

The next day we were up early and went to visit the site. This took a while to locate as the power station is being constructed on the site of some old fish farms and the access roads are not clearly marked. There is quite

some controversy over this power station. Greenpeace has organised several demonstrations in the city and participated in disruptive action to protest what it calls "dirty" coal and the supposed impact on global warming. Personally, I think that for a third world country there are very few other options. Certainly, the ridiculous windmills being constructed in the UK wouldn't work. Nuclear isn't an option. Expanding the present facility, which is diesel fired, is surely more harmful and certainly more costly than the coal option so I'm not sure what the other alternatives are? Candle light perhaps? Besides, apart from the CO2 issue, which may or may not contribute to global warming, coal fired power stations have FGD (flue gas desulphurisation) units which deals with the acid rain issues and the discharge from the chimneys is barely visible. I remember working in Gravesend in 1984 and seeing the huge black cloud belched out by the chimneys on Tilbury power station across the Thames at times of peak electrical demand. Nowadays, you wouldn't even know the plant was operational so there have been significant improvements since then.

There wasn't much to see at the site as the construction work had only just started on the boiler house and site of the chimney was just a open area of reclaimed land.

After visiting the site and meeting our client we went back to Iloilo City for some exploring. We drove around looking at potential properties for rent, checking out hotels, suppliers and generally just getting a feel for the place. Interestingly enough, and as pointed out by my driver, there are no traffic lights in Iloilo and despite it being a busy and bustling city, the traffic seems to work just fine without them. We also went to have a look at the local golf club and the newly constructed Iloilo airport. Iloilo seemed to be a pleasant enough city with more of a street side cafe and restaurant culture so I reckon I'll be happier in Iloilo than Toledo.

Ferry Cargo

The following day we were up early again and heading to the Damangas ferry terminal at 6:00am to catch the first ferry to Bacalod. This was scheduled to leave at 8:00am but were told on arrival that it had been cancelled and the next ferry would be at 11:00am.

RoRo Ferry

There was little point in going back to the city so we just waited it out on the quayside. When the ferry did arrive there was quite a crowd waiting to board but it appeared that everyone was squeezed on board. There was no seating on the regular decks so I went topside and found a seat under the window of the bridge. Although it wasn't particularly sunny, in fact it was mostly grey and overcast, this didn't stop me from getting a very sunburnt face and arms.

Sunburn

As we had arrived much later in Bacolod (1:00pm) than originally planned we had no time to hang around and so had to head off immediately in order to catch the last ferry to Toledo, and so a rapid cross island dash was necessary in order to make it back to San Carlos by 3:00pm and back to Toledo for 5:50pm.

Bits and Bobs

The weekend in Taiwan was followed by a weekend in Singapore/Johor Bahru. Two weekends in a row in very pleasant and relaxed places makes coming back to Toledo all the harder. It was good to be in the company of friends and colleagues from the MBS project (where I previously worked) and it was relaxing to be in JB.

The night before I left Singapore to return to Cebu ended up as a bit of Guinness binge. Nothing over the top but the conversation was flowing and the beer was going down nicely and we ended up having around 8 pints each. But it was all nice and steady so it's not really fair to call it a binge.

Being in the company of friends and others of my own ilk and nationality reminded me that the lack of meaningful conversation can be one of the most difficult aspects of working oversea, especially if you're the only expat in an environment full of locals. It can heighten the feeling of isolation and remoteness. The ability to share humour and in particular banter is difficult, if not impossible to find in those that speak a foreign tongue. Whilst the locals may speak relatively good English, the conversation is usually functional rather than living, possibly because we don't share the same interests or culture. Attempting humour with those that don't speak your language is risking embarrassment or at worst, offence, so it's best avoided in my experience.

During the early hours of the morning before my flight to Cebu I awoke several times with the sore throat from hell. Was I developing swine 'flu? Where had I caught it from? Was it that little uncontrolled brat in the Cebu departure lounge coughing loudly and openly without making any attempt to cover his mouth? Actually, I call him a brat but he was with his father who made no attempt to control his actions, which to my mind makes his father much worse. I was hoping that my hosts in Singapore that night didn't catch it as well as they were heading to the UK for a family holiday and I don't want to be the one responsible for ruining their trip.

At the airport the sore throat persisted and flu symptoms were developing. Hot sweats, cold sweats, runny nose, sneezes and body aches were present. I'd read over the weekend that Swine Flu usually started with a bad sore throat so I'd convinced myself that I'd picked it up in Singapore, having also read that there had been a number of local fatalities, although the 'flu was a contributing factor to those who were sickly and in ill health already. I'd also read that for healthy people it was usually over in 4 to 5 days so even if I did have it I wasn't particularly concerned.

But what did concern me was the controls in place at airports throughout Asia, checking for those potentially infected. If the heat imaging thermometers at Cebu Airport picked me out as a potential H1N1 grim reaper, what was to become of me? They couldn't send me back to Singapore where I came from as I don't belong there and Singapore was unlikely to accept any 'flu refugees from other countries. I had visions of becoming a persona non grata, destined to be placed in isolation in a sterile plastic bubble in the no-mans'-land between passport control and the flight gate until I was cured.

However, my fears were unfounded. As I walked past the thermal imagers I glanced back at my image and I'm sure I was glowing brighter than everyone else but there was no attempt to stop me. I was also given a health declaration to fill out and sign stating that I was feeling no ill effects. Sore throat was one of the conditions that had to be declared but I convinced myself that they weren't referring to the type of sore throat I had.

This week tropical storm Jolina has been present in the South China Sea. The result has been not one iota of sunshine for over a week, grey skies and copious amounts of rain. This kind of weather makes an already bleak place pretty wretched, especially the site which now resembles the Somme on a bad day.

I've now managed to buy some CDs that I've transferred some music onto so I no longer have to listed to my driver's Blah, Blah, Blah music. However, with this has come another downside. As my driver doesn't know the words to the music now playing he can't sing along so he whistles. His singing wasn't great but his whistling is dire. Firstly, he can only whistle one note, secondly it's at pitch similar to finger nails being dragged down a blackboard and thirdly it's all completely out of time with the music.

It would also appear that he has developed Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, similar to those that can't tread on the crack in the pavement, except my driver can't drive over cat's eyes on the road. This means he veers suddenly when crossing the centre of the road to avoid driving over the cat's eyes. So my journeys these days consist of being thrown violently about from side to side whilst listening to his torturous whistling.

Really, you can't win.