Scuba Diving

The primary reason we went to the Philippines was to learn to scuba dive. We took lessons at Pacific Divers in White Beach, and I would recommend them to anyone! We had spent about 4 hours before the lesson watching Padi videos on diving and answering quizzes. It was really nice we got to do this on our own time and at our own pace, so no sun time was wasted. They were also very good about remembering who was using what equipment. Nobody's ever got switched, and we didn't have to remember a thing. 

This was the kind of conditions we were diving in. Water clear as could be, not a cloud in the sky, warm water, and white sand. Stunning! This is the famous White Beach. 

The first day was spent getting familiar with the gear and then practicing various techniques (mainly breathing under water :)) in the pool. This was a really nice, safe space to practice, without having to worry about boats, currents, visibility etc. There is a lot of gear with scuba, and it feels a bit like everything is going wrong at first: nothing fits right, my mask is fogging up, my weights are too heavy so I'm scraping the bottom, I just finned Drew in the face.... Oh yeah I have to breathe down here! It can be a bit much at first. But, eventually everything starts to feel more comfortable, and you learn the skills to take care of fogging masks, etc. The best feeling is when you are diving and everything is working right, and you actually focus on the fish and coral instead of your gear. As our teacher said "Scuba diving isn't a sport like surfing, it's an activity. An activity of floating and contemplating." He was right! 

The second day we did two open water dives. The first dive was right in the Sabang harbor. It had a flat sandy bottom, good for learning to manage your buoyancy without worrying about stepping on corals. This picture was taken just before out first dive! No one looks panicky! We also got to do the cool "do a back flip off the boat" thing to get into the water. Already pros!

On our second open water dive, we actually got to see real corals! I have never seen such beautiful, healthy corals in my life, and Karen and Brian, who have snorkeled a fair bit in the Caribbean agreed. We saw all sorts of fish, including Clownfish in their anemones. They were cheeky little buggers. If you got too close, they'd come out and give you a nip! All of the underwater pics I took from our dive shop's Facebook page. 

Schools of fish would also swim by, often times encircling you in a sort of fish tornado. It was really amazing. They were so coordinated! 

Our third day consisted of two more open water dives. The first dive that day was more practice for techniques, including getting used to a strong current and navigation. 

The second dive that day was at the giant clams. If you gave them a little poke just on the inside of their shells, they would snap shut. Of course, when I go try to touch one it shuts just before I actually touch it, startling me. Yikes!  

After three days of diving we were officially certified. The fourth day, Drew and I decided to do 2 more dives while we had the chance. The dive boat came right to the house where we were staying to pick us up for the dives. That's us in the water swimming to the boat. Pretty cool!

On both of those dives we saw a sea turtle. One was just a baby, but the other was a large one with filter fish swimming under it's belly. So cool! Luckily, Brian and Karen had also seen a turtle while snorkeling the very first day in Sabang, so they didn't miss out. 

This picture was taken on our last day, just before we left for Hong Kong. We don't want to leave! Fine, one more mango smoothy for the road...

Also, I have to say thanks to Brian and Karen for helping out with Trig so much while they were visiting. They took him out for more pee breaks than either Drew or I during that period! Thanks! He already misses you guys! 

Sabang

After a week in chilly Hong Kong, we decided to go somewhere warmer and took off for the Philippines. We flew into Manila, a 2 hour flight, then drove two hours to the southern tip of Luzon. From there, we took an hour long ferry to the island of Mindoro, where we were staying in a town called Sabang. When I heard the word "ferry" what came to my mind was a Hong Kong ferry: shiny, new, mostly made of metal, and can fit 200 people. This "ferry" held about 40 people, was made of all wood, and had bamboo outriggers for stabilization. At the end of the day it was a nice ride, but just an interesting surprise.  Not sure what Brian and Karen thought when they saw it. Probably, "where are we going again?"

The main form of long distance transportation was a jeepney, a remanent of World War 2. It had a jeep face, but the back was extended to fit 20 people jammed in like sardines or about 10,000 bananas, whatever your cargo might be. Each one was very elaborately decorated, but apparently they aren't incredibly fuel efficient. And I can't imagine spare parts are easy to come by either. But we saw hundreds of these jeepneys cruising around both Luzon and Mindoro.  

The main form of short distance transportation were these tiny tricycles. You would see whole families fit in these things, with mom and the kids inside the car while the dad sat behind the driver. It was amazing those little engines could move so much weight! In the end, we never had to experience a ride in either the jeepney nor the trike, as we had Gerry to drive us everywhere, and boy am I glad for it! I don't think I'd fit in that tiny cab. 

Sabang itself is a small touristy town filled with dive shops, restaurants, bars, and discos. We had a great time trying out new places and new dishes. Filipino food is absolutely delicious. Lots of pork, seafood, and rice with the most delicious sauces. The two most popular dishes are chicken adobo and beef caldereta. The first is a sauce of soy sauce and vinegar, while the second is a sauce of tomato and peanut butter. Both delicious!

                                                                                     

On Christmas eve, Brian and Drew had some fun sitting on the back of our truck and throwing out spare change to the local kids. They were so excited and snatched it up faster than you could blink. Brian and Drew also were yelling out Merry Christmas to everyone, to which we almost always got a Merry Christmas back. The Philippines is primarily a Christian country, so they were celebrating as much as we were. 

 

Our dive shop was located at White Beach, about a 30 min drive from our house in Sabang. The drive was worth it though. White Beach was stunning, with a much better beach than Sabang. It was nice before and after our diving lessons to relax in such a beautiful place.

Merry Christmas Everyone!

Casa Buena Vista

Our home base while in the Philippines was a house we found using airbnb called Casa Buena Vista. It was perfect. It was a real house with real amenities, like hot water, a full kitchen, and a backup generator for the constant brownouts that happen in the smaller Philippines towns. 

While the best part of the house was having good quality family time, the view was second to none. The house was situated on a cliff, so we had a gorgeous view of the ocean beyond. The house also sat above one of the best coral reefs in the area, so every morning heaps of scuba divers would come to the waters right by the house and dive. It was fun to watch them come and go. 

The house also had about 200 steps down to a small beach where the owner has a storage room for his own scuba gear and a launch for a small boat. This guy thought of everything! What a setup!

The second night we were there, Brian went to the fish market at 6 am (which was a zoo apparently) and got us two beautiful red snappers which he cooked up for us that night. The price of this fish was about $3/lb. Pretty good huh! And it was delicious. 

Here Brian is cooking with Drew and the house's caretaker Bina in the background. Bina, her husband Gerry, and their 6-year-old son Xyrus lived in an apartment attached to the house, and they took care of the place. Bina would clean and cook if we asked, while Gerry drove us to town for dinners whenever we asked. It really made the trip more relaxing (especially the transportation part). And, they were an incredibly friendly, charming family. 

Xyrus was very shy, but by the end, Brian and Drew had him smiling and saying hello. Brian and Karen even bought him a Christmas present, some Spiderman action figures, which he started playing with immediately. 

 Here, Drew is eating a mango. That's the smile I fell in love with! It was deserved, as those mangoes were the best we had ever had! Drew and I ate about 2 mangoes per person per day. :)

While we only saw one or two cockroaches while we were in the Philippines, the boys were prepared with electric fly swatters!

We did really well with putting on sunscreen the whole time, except for the last full day. Drew and I were out scuba diving, so Brian decided to go snorkeling near the reefs by our house. He put on sunscreen, but I think the water washed it off too fast, and picture tells the rest. At least he was wearing a life vest! Ouch! We were in the habit of getting $12/hour massages in town every other day, but I don't think his massage that night felt the greatest. 

Yay for Casa Buena Vista!

Food and Views

Hong Kong did not disappoint Brian and Karen with its cuisine. They each had their favorite dishes by the end, so we made sure we went back one more time to satisfy any final cravings. We started at a Sichuan place, which is a province in China known for spicy food, in particular this spice that numbs your mouth and creates a tingling sensation. While Brian and Karen weren't too hot for the numbing spice, they did love the dan dan noodles, especially Karen. 

We also took them to Tim Ho Wan to try the famous char sui baked pork buns. The restaurant was so busy, we ordered the food to go then sat on the floor just outside the restaurant and ate our pork buns! Funny enough, we weren't the first people to think of that idea. We still had a hard time finding somewhere to sit :) 

Dinner was at the Dining Room, a place known for xiao long bao, (or dumplings filled with soup) in a more modern setting. Here we found the winning dish of green beans with minced pork. We ordered and ate three dishes of these green beans they were so good.

A separate morning, before an afternoon of street shopping in Mongkok, we stopped at the Australian Dairy Company for breakfast. Despite a long line and drizzly weather, we got a delicious breakfast for about $4/person. This was Brian and Karen's first experience of getting sat with unknown people to complete a table. It's all about efficiency!

After several days of rainy weather, the skies finally cleared and we got some sunshine. We took advantage of this good weather right away and went straight to the Peak for the views. This was new for Drew and myself too, as we had never been there during the day. The view couldn't be better!

After the Peak, we drove on to Stanley Market, where we took Trig for a walk. There were fish swimming off the end of the pier, and Trig saw them. I was a bit concerned he was going to just jump right in after them!

A few days later, we had a really nice dinner at a place called Hutong, which is known for upscale Beijing food. We tried all sorts of stuff, from fish cheek, to prawns in red chills, to spit roasted pork, to ribless lamb. While the food was great, the view was amazing. We were on the Kowloon side looking back at Hong Kong Island. 

After dinner, we went for a stroll around another nicely decorated area called 1881 Heritage Square. A beautiful Christmas bell! And notice the lady taking ANOTHER glamour shot :)

Kirchner Christmas Trip in Hong Kong

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year everyone! The delay this time was due to a long vacation with Karen and Brian over Christmas. They came to visit us in Hong Kong for two weeks. The first week we spent showing them around Hong Kong, while the second week we went to the Philippines to learn scuba diving. What an amazing time! This post will be about their first fews days with us while in Hong Kong.

Despite Hong Kong being a mostly atheist place, Christmas is celebrated with surprising vivacity, probably because it encourages gift giving and shopping, for which Hong Kong is famous. There are more malls here than one can count, and so these malls try to outdo each other by having the biggest, brightest Christmas displays. Some really are quite beautiful, while others don't make a lot of sense. It was rainy and cold the first few days of Brian and Karen's trip, so we did a lot of indoor things, including going to the malls on a decoration scavenger hunt.

The picture below is taken from the display outside of Times Square. There were lots of forest animals, (and cats) celebrating with different musical instruments. This squirrel had a Christmas bell. Yes it's weird, and no it doesn't have a lot to do with Christmas, but it was funny none the less.

Having all of these Christmas decorations about reinforced the stereotype that Asian women of all ages love to have their picture taken in various glamour poses. There would be lines at the Christmas decorations to have a chance to have your picture taken in front of it. And its never the couple together or a mom and her child. It's the girlfriend striking a model pose while her poor boyfriend drags around a huge camera to capture that shot from several angles. It begs the question, what on earth do they do with all of those photos? They can't possibly put ALL of them on Facebook... or do they? Again, it's just a stereotype, meaning it's not true for every Asian lady, but man did it seem like it this Christmas season. The picture below is a great example. You just feel bad for Charlie Brown...

Another mall had a really creative display. It felt like the game Mouse Trap brought to life. There was a conveyor belt lifting colorful bowling balls to the top of a shoot, then the ball would roll down the rails, flipping different levers making other things happen, and changing the path each ball would take. It was mesmerizing, and took up an entire mall's lobby. Quite impressive!

Inside that mall was a store with its own winter scene, complete with penguins, mechanical polar bears, and a snow making machine. This is as close to snow as Hong Kong will ever get, sadly. It never really dropped below 50 degrees the whole time Brian and Karen were here. Granted, it does feel much colder than that, as the apartments don't have heat and most windows are single paned. However, a few blankets and a cup of tea still makes it feel cozy. 

This was an outdoor display that was supposed to look like seeding dandelions. What do dandelions have to do with Christmas, you ask? I have no idea. 

We also did a lot of eating while they were here, but don't worry, there will be a food post soon. These photos were taken at the restaurant called Bloom. While it was in the fancy and expensive area of Soho, it was tasty, especially the oysters! The picture below was hysterical at the time. Somehow the lights were hitting Brian's glasses in a way to create a funny shadow on his face that looked like severe evil cartoon eyebrows. I think this is about as evil as Brian gets. 

 

Merry Christmas everyone!