Philippine Travels

Hi to those that have passed by. Its time for an upgrade and a few more travel stories to be added. Bookmark and I will add a few more trips I have done over the last two years. Most of these trips have been down to the south islands and time spent in Cebu and Palawan.  Back soon with great trip reports and photos. 

The age-old Chinese proverb “give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime”.  --  But I can't help but feel that there is something wrong with this proverb. As human populations continue to boom at a rate of over 100 million people per year, the need for increased food productions stands a foremost concern for sustaining our future’s growing appetite. I have already been to islands that suffer from the lack of fishing stocks, and to stand on the shores and look out at the vast ocean and see the boats come home empty is a shocking experience. It is that the local islands people that will go without this part of their staple diet, as it seems to lead to an ever increasing reliance on the pig as the gap fill which then leads to increasing heart disease within the island communities. But I digress as we want to learn more on our trip to the Igang Marine Station (IMS) of SEAFDEC Aquaculture Department (SEAFDEC/AQD) and what the...

The Philippines is a lot of things, but one thing is consistently true: Filipinos are inherently happy people and genuinely compassionate towards others! and believe me after living in China for five years, its been so refreshing to jump a plane and head here for my vacations and time outs. So when it was time to leave the working life of China the Philippines was the natural place for me to come and unwind and soak up the smiles British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) proves this even more in a documentary released a month ago explaining the “Filipino factor” and what this beloved country of ours has to offer despite the “third-world country” tag. “The Filipinos are incredibly generous people, always welcoming, always entertaining and happy to give up their time to the outsiders,” the documentary concludes. Forget politics for a moment and give this BBC documentary a watch.

All credit goes to Scott Ruffenr for this Classic handcrafted piece of writing   Flat gray light obscures the horizon, merging the sky and sea into one vast expanse from north to south along the undulating La Union coastline. Low green hills trap the early morning smoke from trash fires; giving one the impression of steam emanating from the thick rain soaked trees and brush. Perhaps it looked like this for the invading American infantry sitting offshore waiting to assault the Japanese occupiers some 60 years ago. You will see no evidence now of that titanic conflict. The small barrios dotting the coast seem to have been completely undisturbed. No testimony remains to the conflict. No statues of heroes, nor any monument or markers to the soldiers remain, only San Miguel Beer and Coca-Cola signs signal commerce of the 21st century. Jeepneys and trikes ply the belt highway, moving the seemingly unlimited amount of school children on their way to classes. They all wear uni...