Bohol part 3

Bohol (part 2)

No Bohol trip is complete without having one's picture taken beside the wide-eyed tarsier (the world's smallest primate. Unfortunately for these creatures, some visitors are not satisfied with just taking their pictures. Strictly speaking though, even the supposedly harmless act of taking their photos is stressful for these poor creatures. Tarsiers are supposed to be nocturnal animals. Say you work at night and sleep by day, would you want to be disturbed just to have your photo taken? Poor creatures.


















The so-called man-made forest started as a tree-planting project initiated by students in a nearby school somewhere in the thicket. Eventually, the project became an annual event until the students were able to repopulate the area with trees.



















In Dauis, stories were told about a natural fresh-water spring that just popped out of nowhere. Dauis is located in Panglao Island. The story grew into a folk legend, bolstered by the fact that even dug up freshwater resources in the island can taste a little salty.




































The Baclayon Church is the oldest church in the province and possibly among the oldest vestiges of Spanish colonization in the Philippines. Too bad my camera's battery got drained and all it could spare was this single shot.

Bohol (part 1)

The Loboc Church of San Pedro is the second oldest Church in this part of the Philippines. It was supposedly built in 1602 but much of the original was reduced to ashes (the present structure is purportedly a reconstruction made in 1638).

Loboc River runs just behind the famous church. The Loboc River cruise, of course, is popular for its floating restaurants (the cruise takes about an hour or so). The food, frankly speaking, is not that impressive but the view is great. Plus, there are song and dance performances, courtesy of the locals.

More Cebu Photos

Fort San Pedro
Fort San Pedro is probably the Philippines' oldest and smallest fort. Named after one of Miguel Legazpi's ships (San Pedro) it was purportedly built to repel attacks from natives yet to be subjugated, Muslim pirates and other hostile elements. As the Spaniards consolidated their territorial presence in Cebu, the fort assumed various uses other than being a stronghold. It even served as a prison camp for Filipino insurgents waging a revolt against Spain. Of course, the fort had long been decommissioned for military purposes and has now become one of Cebu's popular historical landmarks.

More photos of Cebu Beach Club

Hong Kong

The popular tourist destination known as Hong Kong--home to many popular Chinese A-listers--used to be a significant trading port under the control of the British. After its transfer to the People's Republic of China in 1997, Hong Kong became one of the two special administrative regions (the other one is Macau) under the special administrative "one country two systems" policy. This means Hong Kong is to be left largely autonomous, with its own currency and political system even though it is technically part of mainland China. This would explain also why Hong Kong residents generally do not consider themselves as Chinese and tend to look down on their counterparts from the mainland. This also explains why those in the mainland generally despise Hong Kong residents. So, no, Hong Kong Chinese are not particularly racist against Filipinos (who mostly work as maids, do their laundry and tend to their kids); they are racist even against their own kind.

But putting aside the economic consideration (which is why mothers and sisters would sacrifice their families to work in Hong Kong in the first place), would anybody really want to be in Hong Kong? The city is nothing but skyscrapers, vehicles and thoroughfares. If you think there is no slum in Hong Kong, try passing through the alleys hidden behind the tall buildings (I know any budget traveller knows this; this is where transients usually go for cheap room rates)














Temples, a giant buddha, parks frequented by domestic workers and old monuments--vestiges of Hong Kong's past--serve as respite to the city's lifeless urbanity.

In fact, were it not for Disneyland, Chip Tsao's city would be nothing but a wad of concrete emptiness.