When in Palawan

You have to visit the Underground River in Sabang, frolick on its beaches, and drink buko juice to your bladder's content.

You have to dine in a seafood restaurant called Kalui in Puerto Princesa. For P400 (200Kc) you can have grilled tuna, prawns in butter, vegetable and prawn tempura, plus its oh you spicy clam soup and the ever missed fresh seaweed for starters. The dessert is on the house. Yup, you get to have fresh fruits served in style for free.

You have to go island-hopping at Honda Bay. The first island to explore is usually Panda Island. Why the name, I forgot to ask our guide. But the biggest treat is at Snake Island where you can swim with thousands of fish in different species and where you can see corals in different shapes and sizes even when the water is only waist-deep during low tide. When it's low tide, you'll also understand how the island got its name.

You have to visit the Crocodile Farm and later sweat out in the rainforest of Nature's Park. The humidity is beyond your imagination. You would be sweating buckets so better bring bottles of water with you.

You have to have insect/mosquito repellant with you especially when going to the rivers and rainforests. There can be a gazillion of mosquitos that would threaten to eat you whole.

Most of all, you have to be ready for an adventure when in Palawan. It's one of the most beautiful places in PI that I've visited and truly, it has lived to its reputation of being the country's last frontier.

From Surigao to Panglao

I'm in an internet cafe in Tagbilaran City, Bohol. We came from the island of Panglao where we had a great time doing, well, basically nothing-- just swimming, eating and not thinking of anything other than the now. That's what holidays are supposed to be like, right? Golly gee, it will be difficult going back to Prague and to work, missing the beach and the eternal sunshine. But I do miss Prague and our flat.

We spent a week in Surigao with my family. It was great--- well, most parts were. Being away for so long just doesn't make me feel like I belong anymore.

So tonight we will be taking the Supercat back to Cebu. On Thursday, it will be Palawan, baby!

From rainy Cebu

It's been raining here in Cebu. I saw the sun briefly this afternoon but the clouds overtook it, then the rain fell again. There's a low depression somewhere in Northern Mindanao so the weather is PMSing. I hope it will be fine tomorrow so we can start Exploration 101.

A had a fever yesterday. Maybe it was from exhaustion or from climate change. He's fine now. I hope he wont get sick anymore. I was hovering at him all night because I was worried sick. Hopefully it was just a 24-hour thing and wont be back to pester him and me.

We're at SM mall now. It's flooded with people. I'm itching to get out of here because just looking at the crowd makes me sick. Like sea-sick or something to that effect. I somehow miss the quietness of the malls in Prague. The ones in Cebu are so huge, especially SM, that I couldn't find Michelle [my sister]. She said to meet her at "Baktas" store but for crying out loud-- the store doesn't exist in the directory and not a single security guard knows where the H it is. Problem is, I'm back to the times when cellphones didn't exist. So Michelle has to be somewhere cursing us aloud to hell and back.

Cebu, Philippines!

I'm finally back in Cebu after more than two years, eating the food I missed, enjoying the sounds of roosters cock-a-doodle-doing so early in the morning today. So far, after travelling for more than 30 hours, no jetlag yet. Perfect!

What have I eaten so far? A and I just had a delicioussss lunch of sizzling gambas and squid. It was also a delight to know that Kenny Rogers already has a branch here at Ayala so I already devoured a piece of their oh so delectable corn muffin. For breakfast, we had a huge platter of fried saba bananas and the ever present mangoes from Guadalupe which A already demoted down into his stomach. My sister also bought us chicharon from Carcar which I couldn't stop munching. There's no doubt I'd gain a few (or maybe more) kilos here.

Speaking of food, Qatar Airways gave us really yummy meals. When we were flying from Vienna to Doha, we were so famished it was the first time ever in almost three years of marriage that I've seen A act like a pacman personified. He ate everything from Viennese chicken to sugared peas, cheesecake and even the tuna salad. Not to mention the fact that he finished my serving of Viennese chicken with rice.

Anyway, part of my job in Cebu before was to frequently fly to different cities around PI. Flying was a piece of cake. But after I left Cebu I haven't flown in over two years so I got a little bit scared when I saw that the plane wasn't really big. I was like-- how can it take us to the Middle East when it's just the size of the plane which takes you from Cebu to Bacolod? And when we took off, I was gripping my seat to calm my nerves.

Doha, Qatar was a nice experience. We arrived at almost 8pm local time and guess what, the temperature outside was 38C. When we disembarked the plane to take the shuttle to the terminal, it felt like I was being sucked in a furnace. Imagine pre-heating your oven to 250C and opening it afer half an hour. That's how it felt.

Our flight from Doha to Cebu was an hour delayed. Our ETA was at 14:35. We arrived at almost 16:00. Then there was an eternity of waiting for our luggage. My sister, who was waiting for us outside the gate, was already wilting from the long wait. Dusk was settling in when we got to the house and then there was a downpour. Right, I remember June is the rainy season in the Visayas. We probably wont get to see the sun often but nevermind, there are still a lot of great things to enjoy.

Banana bread

Sorry for the same pic, people. This is my in-law's computer so I don't have access to our picture files. Anyway, I've been itching to post Anne's banana bread recipe so I wont have to carry the paper where I wrote it all the time.

I've always loved banana bread. When I was still living in Cebu, I used to finish my usually unhealthy meal with a slice of it. I thought I'd never be able to bake one myself because before the mere thought of holding a spatula scared the living daylights out of me. Of course I was wrong. It's actually a very easy food to prepare. And when I say easy, trust me, it's really easy. :)

BANANA BREAD

-1 cup mashed bananas ( about 3 bananas. Best to let them sit for a week till the skin turns really brown. That makes them a lot sweeter.)
-1 3/4 cup flour
-3 tsp. baking powder
-1/2 tsp. salt
-2/3 cup of sugar
-1/3 cup butter (softened at room temp. or microwave-melted. It doesn't matter but I prefer it melted. It's faster.)
-2 eggs

Pre-heat oven at 175C. Beat eggs, butter and bananas. Mix dry ingredients. Bake for around 45 minutes or when the skewer ( or you can use a toothpick. A clean one, of course,hehe) comes out clean.

Blogging still

Right, I'm still blogging, and obviously, still rambling. I'm just killing time before we hit the road for Vienna very early tomorrow morning. The past few weeks were like crouching time for me, not having a single minute to just chill and not think about something. Last weekend was something different. Finally the good times are here again. :)

Last Friday was Tatka's birthday but we celebrated it during the weekend when everybody could be at their cottage. Our main treat for him was a ride on a glider, something which he once mentioned to Miša, my sister-in-law, as what he wanted to try. So yesterday, off we went to a town called Křižanov to fulfill one of his dreams.

Tatka with the pilot orienting him the glider's gadgets. The gliders looked like big toys and the controls didn't look complicated at all. I told A I don't want a car. I want one of these instead. Yeah right, dream on, Maria.
Donning on the chute. I got a little envious at these people, the pilots and everyone there. They get to earn a lot while enjoying doing what they love most-- flying.

And this is the "mini-plane" that will pull them up and would leave them gliding there. It's up to you how long you will fly. Tatka "glided" for almost an hour and he said it was fantastic. He saw a lot of towns, even saw the village where their cottage is. I will definitely try it when we get back from P.I.

Please log in to http://www.lkka.cz/en/about.html if you're interested. When Miša called there they told her to just come. The planes and gliders will be ready. We went there yesterday, a Sunday, and we thought we would be the only ones around. How wrong we were. It was quite busy there but we didn't have to wait long for Tatka's turn.

She was also told that it will be 800Kč/20 mins. Tatka flew for more or less 50 mins and we only paid 1200 Kč. A lot cheaper than we thought. So in August, glider, here we come!