On this trip, I've learned that good coffee is hard to come by. I know that I've blogged about it before, but I'm still searching. It's even harder in the Philippines than India. In Hong Kong, there were Starbucks and Pacific Roasters and Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf everywhere, but it seems that hot places don't really do coffee.
But, they do instant coffee. And the brand of choice is NesCafe. Seriously.
As a result, I've become inured to drinking NesCafe. Usually, it's nothing that milk and sugar cannot make palatable. But in the Philippines, as I've discovered in other countries, milk is very hard to come by. So, what do you get? You get instant creamer, namely CoffeeMate.
OK-I had to admit to being enough of a junkie to really not mind sinking this low. (Oh, how my pre-trip self would shudder at the thought: instant coffee! powdered creamer!)I think having it all happen in small increments has made my decent possible. But just when I thought this was pretty bad, it got worse.
Now when I ask for "coffee", I don't just get a mug of hot water and instant coffee anymore. I get NesCafe 3-in-1. That's one packet complete with instant coffee, sugar, and CoffeeMate creamer. :-( I didn't even whimper at this. In fact, I'm impressed with whomever had the guts to put it all together.
OK-so I've been drinking my 3-in-1 for a couple of weeks now, when Froody and I went to the store last night for water. What did I find in the coffee aisle? Not only did we see 5-in-1 coffee, but I even saw 8-in-1 coffee!!! As if instant coffee wasn't enough with sugar and powdered creamer, but now you can get it with powdered mushroom and ginseng and other herbal kickers!!!
Of course, I bought an 8-in-1 and had it this morning in my hotel room. Sad to say that it made me miss my 3-in-1.
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Saturday, April 18, 2009
The Philippines!
Is where we're at. I know, it's been about 3 weeks since I blogged, but there really wasn't much to say. We left Hong Kong on the 26 March and arrived in Manila in a few short hours. We spent a few days getting to know our new city. In a word, Manila is big. In another word, it's hot. We spent a lot of time in air-conditioned buildings or in front of fans. We did get away for a couple of days to the town of Tagaytay. It's main site is a lake in an extinct volcano. In that lake is a small volcano with another lake in it. It was very pretty and picturesque.
After that we returned to Manila. Why? To meet our friends from America! We really liked hanging out with people who know us for a change and they took us to some good Filipino food (we hadn't been lucky enough to find good food on our own at the time). They also invited us to attend her aunt's 30th wedding anniversary. It was fun; full of family, food, and disco!
When that was done, we finally left Manila for good. Wanting to go snorkeling, we decided to head out to Camiguin island and spend a week staying in a cottage on the beach. Sounds delish, right? Well, turns out that was Holy Week and every place on the island was booked up. However, we found someplace for that night only. It was cheap and very near the beach. The owner actually helped us out and called a relative who had room for the next night in one of her beach cottages. This other owner, Rosie, had another cousin with a private cottage who was willing to let us have it for 2 nights. So, with a little flexibility (which I was short of for a bit there) we had our first 4 nights covered, which gave us a chance to relax and get some snorkeling in.
One morning, I was sitting in front of a window, reading and watching the waves lap the pebbley beach when I realized that I was in yet another country. And it didn't feel weird or anything, like it was normal. That thought made me happy, and a little sad that our next country is the USA. (But, our travel budget is dwindling and we do like to eat and sleep in beds.)
Anyway, after our quaint cottages we got a room in a hotel on the northern side of the island for the weekend- all the Holy Week travelers having gone home- called Secret Cove. We chose it for better snorkeling and the on-site dive center. Turns out they have a really good restaurant, albeit more pricey than we wanted. It was cheaper to take a motorcycle (all 3 of us on one) into town, eat bbq chicken with rice, cokes, and halu-halo, than it was to stay and eat there. But, the food at Secret Cove is very, very tasty.
We snorkeled and even did a dive skills review. Man, diving in warm water is so different from diving in California. I can really see what all the fuss is about! You wear a much lighter wetsuit, no hood/gloves to worry about, and the viz is so nice! We saw so many different types of fishes, corals, sponges, and tunicates. We even saw a sea snake and a sea turtle. :-)
It was during our stay on Camiguin that Froody looked into the budget and was shocked on finding that our travel allowance was almost at an end. :-( After some discussion and compromising we decided NOT to go to South Korea and instead stay in the Philippines until our visas expire...on May 24.
Then, we fly home. :-)
After that we returned to Manila. Why? To meet our friends from America! We really liked hanging out with people who know us for a change and they took us to some good Filipino food (we hadn't been lucky enough to find good food on our own at the time). They also invited us to attend her aunt's 30th wedding anniversary. It was fun; full of family, food, and disco!
When that was done, we finally left Manila for good. Wanting to go snorkeling, we decided to head out to Camiguin island and spend a week staying in a cottage on the beach. Sounds delish, right? Well, turns out that was Holy Week and every place on the island was booked up. However, we found someplace for that night only. It was cheap and very near the beach. The owner actually helped us out and called a relative who had room for the next night in one of her beach cottages. This other owner, Rosie, had another cousin with a private cottage who was willing to let us have it for 2 nights. So, with a little flexibility (which I was short of for a bit there) we had our first 4 nights covered, which gave us a chance to relax and get some snorkeling in.
One morning, I was sitting in front of a window, reading and watching the waves lap the pebbley beach when I realized that I was in yet another country. And it didn't feel weird or anything, like it was normal. That thought made me happy, and a little sad that our next country is the USA. (But, our travel budget is dwindling and we do like to eat and sleep in beds.)
Anyway, after our quaint cottages we got a room in a hotel on the northern side of the island for the weekend- all the Holy Week travelers having gone home- called Secret Cove. We chose it for better snorkeling and the on-site dive center. Turns out they have a really good restaurant, albeit more pricey than we wanted. It was cheaper to take a motorcycle (all 3 of us on one) into town, eat bbq chicken with rice, cokes, and halu-halo, than it was to stay and eat there. But, the food at Secret Cove is very, very tasty.
We snorkeled and even did a dive skills review. Man, diving in warm water is so different from diving in California. I can really see what all the fuss is about! You wear a much lighter wetsuit, no hood/gloves to worry about, and the viz is so nice! We saw so many different types of fishes, corals, sponges, and tunicates. We even saw a sea snake and a sea turtle. :-)
It was during our stay on Camiguin that Froody looked into the budget and was shocked on finding that our travel allowance was almost at an end. :-( After some discussion and compromising we decided NOT to go to South Korea and instead stay in the Philippines until our visas expire...on May 24.
Then, we fly home. :-)
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