Bacuit Archipelago, Philippines

Following on from an earlier post here are some more pictures of the trip to Palawan. I'm taking a very close interest in the Philippines' weather patterns so I can plan a return trip.

The best meal we had during the entire trip.

Rock harvesting, part of the beach beautification project outside Four Seasons Resort (I don't think the other Four Seasons knows about this one)

Post lunch entertainment, watching the palm fish and bird bob in the light breeze.

A beach so lovely it barely seems real.

This is the same type of geographical feature seen in Halong bay, it might be even nicer in El Nido but I can only judge on that after I "do" Halong.

Manila Bags

It's indicative of the economy of the Philippines that Pawnshops flourish. It's indicative of the craze for stupidly big and overpriced handbags that this one in the central business district seemed to be doing brisk business.

Mangoes for Mayday

In what's turning into a mini thread of fruit related postings I present The Mango. A friend brought us some from her family's garden in the Delta and they were the sweetest and most perfumed I've ever eaten.

Fruit here is excellent, there are a lot of imports available but the locally grown produce is seasonal and unpredictable and all the better for that. A million miles away from the supermarket "every apple is identical" stuff I got so frustrated with in the UK.

On a fairly unrelated point, here's what greets arrivals at Tan Son Nhat airport:

Not Tesco but it looks close enough to make me look twice each time I see it. I think we're safe from them at the moment, Lottemart has corned the market in foreign owned supermarkets so far.

El Nido, Palawan, Philippines

We're just back from Palawan and Manila in the Philippines. I took far too many photographs to post here but just for a taster here are a few.

Day two of island touring in the Bacuit Archipelago, we saw a starfish, presumably dead but still pretty.

And a very alive hermit crab.

We were picked up from the front of our hotel, we had to walk back a fair bit at low tide but it was an unexpected luxury.

Meanwhile in El Nido town the local children indulge in the local equivalent of hanging around outside the corner shop.

Or chilling out, but check the hair, that quiff surely didn't get there by accident.

There are more, lots more, I know you'll be desperate to see them so will post more in the next day or two.

Fruit day part 2

In the second fruit related post of the day Stephen makes orange juice.

Hand processed is apparently best, it takes four green oranges to make two glasses of juice.

Oranges - Fivimart

Glasses - free with Lipton Tea

Squeezer - model's own.

Coconuts

I like coconuts. I particularly like the way they're trimmed here into a handy container shape and how sweet the southern ones are. I usually buy them ready opened but today invested in a coconut opener.

I was too scared of the machetes so went for the wimp option. I wasn't particularly confident but managed to get the coconut opened without loss of digits or dignity. In fact it sliced through the top as easily as taking the top off a soft boiled egg. Now I can stock up and indulge my coconut whims whenever I feel like it.

Coconut costs: 4,000 VND to 5,000 on the street, 7,000 to 8,000 in the supermarket, 10, 000 to 20,000 in a cafe and 30,000 and upwards in a posh restaurant. This one cost me 28 pence or 42 US cents.

Pickled Dugon

As promised in the title, here's a pickled dugong from the Oceanographic institute in Nha Trang.

It might go well with chips.

Tea for two

Last night I was having a cup of tea when I was joined by a visitor. This frog hangs around a lot is completely unfazed by humans, at least I think it's the same frog, there might be a whole family of them who like people.



Note the very classy HCMC mug which is a much treasured gift.

The Corner of Yersin

I've always liked this building on the corner of Yersin, it's on a triangular corner between the electrical goods emporium, Nguyen Kim and a recently opened branch of the upmarket bakery; Tous Les Jours. I expect this corner is ripe for redevelopment and hope (with little optimism) that the building stays.

Yersin is one of a handful of streets named after foreigners, the illustrious company includes other scientists in the same field, Calmette and Pasteur. Yersin is the discoverer of Da Lat as a healthy retreat amongst other things. The other foreigner often honoured in street form is Alexander de Rhodes who invented the Roman form of written Vietnamese, it's thanks to him that I can read, if not pronounce, some Vietnamese. Top linguist!

Badly dressed tourists Part 2

Faces on one dress and images of Ancient Egypt on the other, it almost makes you feel sorry for the girl in the plain black dress.



There they are again, the tourists in the non la, I'm not going to rant, just growl quietly, my reaction is tempered because the hat clearly isn't keeping him the slightest bit cool