Oh my goodness. We ate the bud-buds above. They cleared room at the counter for us and served us the bud-bud, a small glass of hot chocolate and scoops of rice. Inside the banana leaf of the bud-bud was a sticky rice and sweet syrup. The fork was of questionable cleanliness, as was the orange cup. But I used them sparingly. The chocolate was to die for — it tasted like a liquid chocolate bar! The sticky rice stuff wasn’t worth the calories. …And we never did get sick on this trip!
Not a place I’d choose. The tour guide in India suggested we always insist on a new blade. (cringe!)
They have alot of universities in every city. We were in the parrish/county/area of Negros.
Drove by, glad we didn’t have to stop, at the pottery with which they make a living.
Bong, our tour guide, ordered all this food for us. The fish was good, the vegetarian rolls were like egg rolls. The plate of vegs was okra, eggplant, bitter melon and morning glory. And there’s always rice.
The lady next to us must have ordered fresh crab. …and she got her choice of the squiggling crabs, before it was hauled outside to grill it to death.
I saw a lot of ultrasound and maternity medical facilities.
This was St. Katherine of Alexandria Church, having a funeral, and this was the hearse. Found the signs interesting.
more church.
Each square holds the remains of one or more family members, like I saw in Columbia.
Always repairing their old stuff.
Interesting room. I received no explanations.
The universities are always competing for students. They advertise all the famous people who attended their schools to impress those shopping for a school. This is another ad for a university. (Reminds me of the flying nun.)
Yes! If the jitney is full, people just hang on until others get off. (We did not try this.)
We took a ferry, called the Ocean Jet, to the Island of Siquijor. This was a special request I made since my research told me one of the best things to do in Dumagute is to visit the Cantabon Cave. I thought it sounded cool because he entrance was too small for heavy people to get in.
More old churches.
The plants are types I’ve never seen before!
We didn’t know it, but we had breakfast before getting to the cave. I had a banana Nutella waffle in honor of my daughter who discovered Nutella at a crepe store in France. The restaurant (bar) was very cute.
Bong did not go with us (not sure he could fit). And the two guides probably died when they saw who they were going to have to help drag into the cave. More precarious paths and slippery steps to the entrance.
click. Note the headlamps. There was NO LIGHT in the cave! And the helmet came in handy often as we continued to hit our heads.
click.
Precarious! We were lucky to get out of here without a broken/sprained leg/ankle!!
Click. I don’t remember it being this loud inside.
Fun times!! This waist deep section was only halfway through the cave. But when Tom and I heard this, we looked at each other and both said “We’re good!! We can turn around.”
The tour guides, I’m sure were relieved. She said take off your helmets. When I asked why, I found out she thought we were going to spend time swimming. I looked at her dumbfounded and said “This as wet as we are planning to get!” (I’m not a water person.) And we happily started our way back. We were in there only an hour (as opposed to 2 to 3 hours) and when we returned, we caught our tour guide and driver in the car sleeping! We were able to catch an earlier Ocean Jet ride back home in order to get a better lunch than we could have on Siquijor.
click
Thought it interesting how they serve silverware.
Here is the boat where all the divers get on to go out on the water all day to dive.
A paradise resort in Bohol! I actually got in the pool and just floated for an hour. It was bathwater warm!
The next day we went to the Philippine Tarsier Foundation, on several acres dedicated to keeping the local tarsiers alive. We were there early in the morning where 7 live in the forest. That morning they had located 4 of them. They are tiny and hide themselves well. They are very timid and cute but are nocturnal, so they are not active during the day.
On the way to the Chocolate Hills, we stopped to visit a water buffalo keeping cool in a mud bath. He had a rope strung through his nose, so he couldn’t leave. But t was better than pulling a plow like he used to in his younger years.
Women were washing their clothes in the river. And that’s how the poorer citizens actually clean their clothes. The water buffaloes were kept downstream.
Much rice is grown by the locals and once harvested, this is the way they dry it. (ish)
The Philippine people are friendly and you can stop at anyone’s home to ask to go to the bathroom.
We stopped at this home to see a normal rural homestead.
Note the ladder made of bamboo and rebar up to the top of the coconut tree. People climb the ladder and put 2-liter soda bottles beneath the coconut plants to catch the juice/sap.
Once they get enough, they ferment it into liquor. It provides quite a kick.
They had a little money tied to the house and lots of chicken, used for cock fighting.
They tie a razor blade to one of the rooster’s legs, and it slashes the other rooster. They bet on the fights. The winner is the one that lives. The dead rooster is given to the owner of the winning rooster.
Their backyard almost looks like a painting.
We had snacks on the front porch. The gramma and grampa live in the house, and the woman in the photo is the daughter and her son who were visiting.
Fried plantains, and some other deep fried banana stuff. And there’s the fermented liquor from the coconut tree.
And look what’s in the kid’s hands — a phone or I-pad. It’s the same all around the world!
This is their local chocolate covered dried mango – FABULOUS and worth the calories!!
The chocolate hills formed 2 – 5 millions of years ago from the sea. Then a million years ago, changes started and it all became limestone. The water ran down the sides of it continuing to form hills of today. They call them chocolate hills; however, with climate change and more rain, the hills are no longer brown, but green as you see them.
Yes!! More steps. But this time only 200 or so. The view was lovely.
Our day continued on the next blog (4).
If you’d like to comment, please do. I’m the only one who will see it. Linda Jeanne