Coco Explorer Cruises

I found this website while searching for places to visit for our holiday in the Philippines this coming March. I think this is a very good idea because in 1 week one can visit a lot of beautiful islands in the Philippines. Actually, I've heard about this cruise when I was Boracay and Pandan Island a few years ago. Tourists in Boracay use it to go to Coron. For 100 USD you can get a ride to Coron from Boracay (instead of flying back to Manila then from there taking another plane to Busuanga). Anyway, it is a 7-day cruise that starts from Cocobeach in Puerto Galera, then on the second day the cruise arrives in Boracay then proceeds to the Busuanga Archipelago (Coron Island, Sangat Island , Culion Island) then back to Puerto Galera. For about 700 USD (food and accommodation) per person you can see a lot of places without so much hassle. I don't know if there are hidden costs but if it is like they say it is then I think it could be a good idea. If you have taken this cruise please leave a comment on what you think about it.
Coco Explorer
Ground Floor Baywatch Tower - 2057 M.H. Del Pilar St., Malate Manila, Philippines.
Fax (63) 2 - 526 6903 Phone (63) 2 - 523 0319 or 5215260

Italian Style Barako Coffee

Barako Coffee or Coffea liberica is a rare and exotic coffee species found in the Philippines. Brought by the Spanish from Brazil in the 1800s, it now exists in only 3 countries in the coffee producing world. Barako coffee has a strong, bold aroma and a pungent, nutty flavor that I love. Unfortunately, my beloved Barako is nearing extinction. Programs trying to revitalize the Philippine coffee industry are on their way but public awareness and participation is neccesary. So, everytime I go home I make it a point to buy as much coffee as I can carry in my luggage for personnal consumption and as a gift to my coffeholic colleages and friends. Even my husband prefers Barako to Lavazza now. Nothing can compare with Barako's powerful body and smooth flavor .
Recently, I started brewing Barako the Italian way. Ninety percent of Italian households brew coffee using the Moka machine. Brewed this way, the flavor of Barako becomes deeper and more intense. It is unbeatable! It is so much better than Nespresso. The moka machine is cheap too! No need to buy a very expensive espresso machine. For 20USD (18 sfr) and a bag of Barako coffee, you will get the ultimate coffee experience. But be warned this coffee is not for the sensitive. Afterall in the vernacular, "Barako" is a term that refers to male strength, vitality and machismo.





Barako+coffee coffee philippine+coffee moka Italian+coffee

Baler, Aurora Province

Baler is the capital of Aurora Province on the east of Central Luzon. Bordered by the Pacific Ocean on the east, and the Sierra Madre Mountain Range on the west, it's remoteness makes it wild and unspoiled. It was a big adventure to get there. From Manila we took a Baliwag Transit Bus to Cabanatuan then from Cabanatuan to Baler we took a Sierra Madre Transit Bus. The road passing through the dense green forest of the Sierra Madre was spectacular! It was a real treat for a nature lover like me. The bus stopped halfway to Baler at this small eatery which sold cheap and delicious pork barbecue. In Baler we stayed in Bay's Inn (around P600 a night, with a good restaurant) which is directly on the long, wide black sand of Sabang Beach (sorry, no picture). Sabang Beach is famous for large waves that comes between October to February. Since we don't surf, the next day we decided to walk around. I don't remember exactly which direction we went but we ended up near the Añiao Islets (I just found out recently that together with Cemento Beach, Digisit Beach, Dimadimalangat Islet and the Lukso-Lukso Islets are great spots for snorkelling).

The Philippine Cookbook by Reynaldo Alejandro

I find this cookbook great! There are some recipes here that I thought I will never taste again when my grandmother died. But it is all recorded in this cookbook. I have to tweak the recipes a little bit to taste exactly how I remember it to be but overall the recipes here don't need too much tweaking. I cooked pata estofado this weekend, and I must say it made me less homesick. The only complain I have with this book is that it doesn't contain pictures. I will try to post pictures in this blog as I cook more recipes from this book.

JEST (Jungle Environment Survival Training Camp), Subic Bay

The importance of the jungle survival skills of the Aetas was recognized by the Americans as soon as they set up bases in the Philippines. Their knowledge of the jungle became even more precious during the Vietnam War as the Americans fought a difficult jungle war. The US military including Marines, Navy seals and Special Forces units trained with the Aetas at the Jungle Environment Survival Training (JEST) Camp in the rainforest of Subic Bay. When the Americans left Subic Bay in 1992 the JEST camp was converted to teach civilians basic mountaineering, fire-building, wildlife identification and other wilderness survival techniques. I was really happy to have done this course! I particularly
enjoyed watching our guide make fire out of dried bamboo. Then we went for a hike in the rainforest without food or water. Our guide identified which plant/vine we can get water from. If I get lost in the jungle now, I don't think I would be able to remember which plant it was that we drank from but it helped me appreciate the indigenous knowledge of the Aetas. It would be nice if everyone on earth would have as much commune with nature. They take only what they need, appreciate what they get and by so doing nature provides them with everything.
This trip reminded me of my highschool teacher, Dr. Tabinga, who is coming from the Cuyo, Islands. He taught us how to identify edible yams that you can find in the jungle and how to cook them without water.
For more information, contact or visit:
Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority
(Tourism Department)
Tel. No. (6347) 252 – 4123/4561/4194



JEST jungle+survival olongapo subic+bay aetas tourism travel zambales philippines

Planning your trip

I often ask myself why is it that the Philippines don't get as much or more tourist than other southeast asian countries when obviously we have a very beautiful country. The answer came to me as my husband and I were planning our next Philippine vacation for March, 2008. It's simple really. Booking and reserving anything is a nightmare. Just imagine if I am a European tourist and I have a choice between Thailand and the Philippines, the first thing I would do is contact different resorts, try to see how much the flights cost and how easy the connections would be between the different places I would like to see. If you are planning a vacation in the Philippines, this step is a nightmare! Imagine, we contacted several resorts in Boracay and Donsol and very few of them replied. Boracay Terraces took 2 weeks to reply to my email! Even when I called the resort directly, they told me to please email them instead. Then they didn't reply. I waited anyway because I had been there before and liked it's location but imagine if I would be a normal tourist who really couldn't care less if I go to the Philippines or Thailand, I would decide to go to whoever answers my mail faster and clearer! Donsol we decided not to go anymore because the resort where we wanted to go didn't reply to our email even after we called 3 times. Now, we decided to go to Coron but have a problem booking our flight with Asian Spirit. Their online booking site doesn't work. I called them this morning hoping that I could book the flight through the phone but it is not possible because if I book the flight this way I have to pay within 3 days and they don't accept that I give my credit card information over the phone. The only way to pay is to go to their ticketing office in Manila. Just one problem, I am in Switzerland! The woman who answered the phone said that I better use the online booking system. I protested that I cannot use it because it doesn't work! Only then I was informed that the site only works with Internet Explorer 6 and 7. Nowhere in their site this fact is written. Anyway, even after I used the suggested application it still didn't work! The whole thing is very tiring. Now, I understand why tourists just to go to Thailand.

Maniuayan Island, Marinduque

This island is really a big find! Maniuayan is one of the three islands of Sta Cruz, Marinduque.
If you are searching for beautiful, natural white sand beaches unspoilt by tourism then this is the place for you. There are no resorts here. Strictly for adventurers. There are some families on the island who offers rooms to tourists. We stayed with Mrs. Lucita Perlada (around 350 pesos with food). We found her quite easily because her daughter we accidentally met her daughter in Sta. Cruz, Marinduque. She overheard us ask the storekeeper at the port about her mother (the storekeeper confirmed the relationship. Everybody knows everybody in places like this.)

The accomodations given to us were very basic. We slept on a bed without mattress (papag) and ate fried fish and rice everyday. I really like this place because it shows that there are still so many beautiful, undiscovered places in the Philippines. If you want to come here, take a boat from Lucena to Sta Cruz. Then from the port where you will arrive, find a boat that would leave for Maniuayan.

best+beach white+sand maninuayan marinduque travel tourism philippines snorkelling

Pagsanjan Falls (Magdapio Falls)

Actually, for me the way to the falls is as wonderful as the falls itself. The rough ride through the gorge is very beautiful. Two boatmen will take you to the falls in their banca navigating around the rocks against the current. At some point they even carry the boat to get through some of the rocks. This is where Francis Ford Coppola shot some scenes for " Apocalypse Now". After a 1-hour plus boat ride, and a barbecue break you will see the majestic Magdapio Falls.

Be sure to negotiate the price with the boatmen first before jumping in the boat. There are standard rates that the town enforces to prevent what happened 10 years ago when the boatmen would leave the tourist in the middle of the river when they refused to give a huge tip. I think it is better to reserve the tour from a hotel in Pagsanjan or from a travel agency. It is also normal to pay for your boatmen's meal when they stop for a barbecue midway and to give a reasonable tip at the end of the trip.

pagsanjan pagsanjan+falls magdapio+falls Laguna

"Rotting flesh" flower

We were in Cambridge in September 2004 when the Titan arum at the Cambridge University's Botanical Garden bloomed for the first time in 20 years. A native of Sumatra, this giant flower (largest flower stalk in the world) is famous for it's odor--- the smell of rotten flesh. This odor is used by the plant to attract pollinators like beetles and flies. We were really lucky because the bloom lasts for only 2-3 days. This event is so rare that you can even find in wikipedia a list of all known publicised Titan arum blooms in cultivation!

Technorati tags: Titan+arum rotting+flesh+flower Cambridge England

Bialowieza, Poland

I will never be able to pronounce "Bialowieza" but this trip is one of the best trips I have ever done in Europe. Bialowieza is an ancient forest located between Belarus and Poland. It is the only remaining piece of the once vast forest spread across the European Plain. It is a Unesco World Heritage Site and a Biosphere Reserve. This forest is home to the endangered European Bison, elks, wild horses and wild horses. Unfortunately, we didn't see any bison inside the forest, we only saw some in the zoo. Since we were there for a scientific meeting, we were lucky to have the director of the Bialowieza National Park guide us through the forest. He told us the story of a lot of trees (under some trees transpired the love stories of many Russian aristocrats). I was really amazed that he knew a lot of trees in the park by name, almost assigning them personalities.
We stayed at the Gawra Pension. I really loved this pension, it was clean, comfortable and in a style which makes you feel like you are really near the forest. The meals we had there are also excellent. I really love Polish soups!
The town near the forest is so beautiful! The houses are built in a simple style and there are almost no cars so the locals have horse-driven carriages to go around town. I really fell in-love with Bialowieza!

Poland Bialowieza Forest Unesco+World+Heritage+Site

Wine Education in Wallis, Switzerland

When I tell friends sometimes how nice the Philippines is and so they should go and visit, one of the first things they would ask me is if we have wine. A lot of them would sound so disappointed when I say that we don't have wine in the Philippines. We have no grape, how can we produce wine? It doesn't mean we are uncultured, all it means is that we have no grapes.
Arriving in Switzerland 4 years ago from my grapeless country, I had no idea about wine. I improved considerably since then but in general I just have only 1 rule, if I like it, I like it and if I don't like it, I don't. Anyway, I am not a wine expert (and I will never be) but I can taste the difference between a 4 sfr and a 30 sfr bottle but not really between a 30 sfr and 100 sfr bottle. I can taste the difference between a Bourgogne, a Bordeaux, and a Swiss wine from Wallis most of the time. I understand that I need to twirl red wine in my glass so the wine gets aerated so I can smell it's aroma. I refuse to gargle it in my mouth like a mouthwash in public. I get it that there is a high culture behind wine and wine making but honestly for the life of me, I still don't get why people need to be so snooty about it. I have a strange feeling that most of the time people just pretend to get it so as not to be labeled as uncultured. I asked a friend once who knows about wine why is it that people don't just drink coca cola when most of the time anyway a good wine taste like coca cola? Okay, I guess no one will really agree with me about my coca cola theory because in Europe in general coca cola is the symbol of non-culture.
Anyway, a year ago as part of my wine education, we went to Maurice Gay, a winery in Chamoson, Wallis, Switzerland. The Romans brought grapes to Wallis a long long time ago and from then on the locals have been making wine. We learned that the Wallis is a special place for wine because of its micro climate. Nowhere else can multiple varieties (60 varieties) of grape be planted together in the same area as in Wallis. One can also find very old varieties such as Amigne, Cornalin, Heida, Humagne Blanche, and Petite Arvine. We saw how they produce wine from when they crush the grapes to when they age it inside oak barrels. The best part of course is at the end of the tour when we tasted all their wines with our host generously opening bottle after bottle for us.


Wallis Switzerland wine chamoson

Christiania, Copenhagen, Denmark

Christiania according to the wikipedia is a controversial, partially self-governing neighbourhood of about 850 residents, covering 34 hectares (85 acres) in the borough of Chistianhavn in the Danish capital, Copenhagen. A former military camp, it was occupied by homeless people in Copenhagen in 1971. A few weeks after, it was proclaimed as a free town by a writer named Jacob Ludvigsen. Christiania quickly became associated with the hippie movement and cannabis. Recently, the Danish government has been trying to "normalize" the situation in Christiania and so open drug dealing was put to a halt.Since Christiania is partially self-governing, they are not subject to building laws. The result is fresh and eclectic furniture design and architecture found nowhere else in Europe. In the entire city, murals adorn all the building walls and raggae music plays loudly in the background.

When some friends and I went to Christiania a few years ago, we saw it with romantic eyes. Eyes of PhD students drowning in our work. What we saw were people doing what they want, when they wanted it. It made us stop and think if really so much hardwork is required in this life. Wouldn't it be so much nicer if we would be free of the strict rules of this world and free from needing to blindly run the rat race like the people of Christiania? We were contemplating this when we started chatting with an old man selling nice Tibetan jewelry. We started telling him about our romantic ideas about Christiania and how we think he is so lucky to have seen the world. His advice? We should continue slaving our ourselves because in the end what matters is that you have a health insurance and a pension. =( Doesn't that make you want to cry?
Denmark copenhagen christiania hippie

Holy hill of Grabarka, Poland

Located in the eastern part of Poland, near the town of Siematycze, The Holy Mount of Grabarka (also Holy Hill of Grabarka) is considered to be the most important sanctuary in Poland for Orthodox Christians. The most distinguishing feature of this place is the mass of crosses surrounding the church brought by pilgrims to get salvation and good health. The site itself had been considered scared for 700 years but unfortunately the monastery burned down in 1990. It was reconstructed almost immediately. What is strange though is when I went inside the monastery, I didn't have a feeling of "new".
I came here as a sidetrip of one scientific meetings I went to so I have no idea how to get there by public transportation or by car. We were nicely transported in a big bus from Bialowieza.

6 hours in London

What is the best thing to do when you only have 6 hours in London? Take the red double decker sightseeing bus!
Unfortunately, we didn't have so much time in London but I wanted to see everything. I saw everything from the outside at least. We went past the Tower of London, Picadilly Circus, London Eye, Parliament house, Buckingham Palace and the Big Ben, and of course the London Bridge. I even saw the house of Madonna!
I will go back to London for sure to see all these places deeper but I was really glad to have taken this red sightseeing bus. Made the 6 hours that we had in London quite memorable.


Technorati tags: London England red+buses sightseeing

Pizzeria da Michele, Naples, Italy

Between christmas and new year we were in Naples, Italy. The birthplace of pizza. When in Naples, it is a must to go to Pizzeria Da Michele. For Napolitans this is the best place to eat pizza in Naples, period (and therefore the world). We had to wait 2 hours in the winter cold for a table!(check the pictures) Napolitans are willing to wait even longer actually. We went there early so we didn't have to wait so long (apparently 2 hours is still quick for this place). The pizza was really worth the wait even though you can only get margerita (tomato sauce, garlic, basil, mozzarella) or marinara (tomato sauce, garlic, basil). With their secret dough recipe, the pizza dough is so soft and elastic it is almost like a crepe. The restaurant itself is very simple. People don't go there for the ambiance but for the food. Immediately after eating, one actually have to leave fast out of consideration for the hundreds of people waiting outside.

Pizzeria Da Michele
Via Sersale, Naples, Italy

naples pizzeria+da+michele pizza italy

Introduction to Filipino Food

I cannot define what Filipino food is in one sentence. Because of our history, Filipino food is a good mix of Southeast Asian, Spanish, Mexican, Chinese and American cuisines. We easily eat pancakes for breakfast, noodles for lunch, empanadas for snack and paella for dinner. Of course we altered these recipes to suit the Filipino taste. You will find spaghetti which is sweet, sour and spicy often with a banana ketchup base or sausages (longanisa) which are sweet and savoury. Then there is the pan de sal which is sweetish instead of salty as its name would suggest.
We also eat a lot of fish and seafood for obvious reasons. Most people prefer seafood fried or grilled with a tomato salad (tomatoes, green mangoes, onions). The simpler the better. Of course we also cook it with a tamarind soup base (sinigang), with coconut milk (ginataan), boiled (nilaga), with mayonnaise (con mayonesa), sweet and sour, with vinegar (paksiw) or even raw (kinilaw).
Each province and town has their own speciality. Sta Cruz, Laguna is known for the white cheese from carabao milk, Los Banos, Laguna for buko pie, and Binan, Laguna for the puto (rice cake). If we go North, Bolinao,Pangasinan is known for boneless bangus, Pampanga for tocino (sweet, cured pork) and Laoag in Ilocos one can find the orange empadana and longanisa.
The list is endless, you just have to try it!

Books I recommend

Philippines Travel Guide- This guide is from 2004 but I still find it useful. It is quite evident that Jens Peters explored the Philippines a great deal. He went to a lot of places I have never even heard of. This guide (and the Lonely Planet Guide he authored in 1997) helped us discover a few beautiful places which was not yet on the tourist radar 10 years ago. I highly recommend this guide.
Culture Shock- I learned a lot about myself after reading this book. A must-read for foreigners living in the Philippines and for Filipinos living abroad.
Lonely Planet Philippines- I didn't like the last 2 editions of Lonely Planet Philippines. I found it negative and incomplete. I still have to buy this one but if it's like the last 2 then I wouldn't buy it. Lonely planet should find an author who has an in-depth insider knowledge and a bit more love for the Philippines.