Ok-here it is. I’ve been drinking instant coffee.

It’s not a truth I like to dwell on, but it is a travelling reality. Not every establishment has a thousand dollar espresso machine or a buyer of the best beans. I always look around for a destination bound coffee joint, but it’s important to remember the core purpose of drinking coffee-CAFFEINE! And when I roll out of bed (or my bunk bed!) I need an instant shot. I’ll take whatever the hostel or hotel has to offer…and it’s pretty much always instant.

I try and block my taste buds and usually end up wincing at what I’m still hit with….but it’s a required sacrifice. I need a morning hit. Damn that first coffee shop job I had at 18. I have a twenty year addiction to coffee, and I’m not proud. Oh I take that back-I’m proud of my addiction.

But now that it’s been over 4 weeks on the road-I’ve had enough. Those lightweight crystals repulse me more than wake me up. I salivate at the thought of walking into the creme de la crema in Vancouver. No matter how hard I try, instant does not cut it.

Wherever it is that I’m drinking can make up for it, like the Sarawak parliament building you see in the picture. As I stare at the rooftops of Kuching, I know there’s more to experience than this damn instant. I raise my chipped white coffee cup and -BLLAAGGHHHH. Friggin ell…..I just refilled it with tea.

Instant sucks. I’m comin home.

Within moments of arriving in the Philippines you are likely to spot a Jeepney. These large modes of public transport are painted in flamboyant colours, highlighted with stuck on quotes, emblems and anything that the driver chooses.

Originally made from US military jeeps left over from World War II, these extremely popular and cost efficient vehicles (I paid 25 cents for my 20 minute journey!) can be heard from quite the distance. The diesel engines pull over at the side of the road and the passengers squeeze in. Known for pickpockets, I climbed on board with a vice grip on my bag. Kids were on their way to school, moms to the markets, businessmen to the office. It was as normal as could be.

They have become a symbol of Philippine culture and still fun for the tourists to try out-enjoy your ride!

What a treat it was to discover a true Parisian cafe in Vientienne to start off the day right. As soon as I walked in the door I was overcome with the buttery smell of pastries. And there it was-the display case was brimming with pain au chocolat, flaky croissants and glazed fruit tartletts. I looked back outside to check that the dusty streets synonymous with SE Asia were still there-yup, it wasn’t a European time warp.

And then I ordered some eggs-but the baguette it came with was whole wheat and WOW-what a difference! The presentation was at it’s finest and I had (a few) pastries the next day.

Can’t wait for cereal when I get home!

It was stroooooong, it was creamy, it was divine!

-De Royalle Cafe
-along the main cafe strip just past the mosque.

The early morning super-cat service was very efficient. It was about 70% full with families, day trippers and the occasional businessman. We sat down in our designated seats and listened to the safety announcements. Actually, the Lord’s prayer came first. With a rainbow image on all the monitors the request for a safe passage was put through to the man upstairs. I seemed to be the only one that was surprised to hear the Christian influence on public transport. The announcements then segwayed into a loud action movie. I dozed and stared out the window. Occasionally a splash of water blurred my vision, but I had no doubts about the rotating arc alongside the boat. There must have been at least 30 dolphins racing to keep up with us.

As if I were in Hawaii, tour guide Grace place a yellow and green beaded necklace around my neck. She ran through the itinerary and introduced passengers to each other. I joined a Philliippino couple, an American and two Brits.

Our first stop was at the tarsier refuge. This mini mini monkey is on every postcard, and has become the symbol for the island of 1.5 million people. I’m not sure how many are left in the wild, but the refuge houses 1000 over a 100 hectare property. Back in the 60′s, parents bought their children tasiers as pets. Grace told us that she had 3 as child, but they all died within a couple of days of owning them. Apparently the smallest living primate has a suicide mission if their living circumstances aren’t right. By the 80′s rehabilitation was a big push, and now there is hope, though the population isn’t likely to fully recover. At just 4 inches from top to bottom, these night dwelling monkeys are more like rats, but their big eyes and miniscule fingers keep them in the primate family. Their eyes are actually bigger than their brains! They choose to sleep all day and run up to 2km. eating crickets under the stars.

Our next stop was the other postcard picture, the Chocolate Hills. You can understand why I was quite excited to experience this-surely they have sweet treats to accompany a visit! With an estimated 1200 conical mounds scattered across the center of the island, the sight of ‘Hershey’s Kisses’ was incredibly unique-except that they were green of course! The name was given during a really dry season I expect. Some of the bumps actually reached a height of 120 meters.

I found the legends behind the hills much more interesting than the fact that they were formed by water erosion. The first legend starts with two feuding giants that hurled rocks, boulders and sand at each other. The fighting lasted for days and put the giants in such a state of exhaustion that they forgot about their feud and became friends. When they left the area, they neglected to clean up their mess made during battle-the Chocolate Hills remained. Other legends involve sappy love stories or feces-so I think the giant option is best.

We piled back into the transit van to check off the next stop on the itinerary-a butterfly sanctuary. It’s not something I would have chosen to see on my own, so I had no expectations. The guide was very knowledgeable and full of one line jokes that he had probably said 20 times per day. Once we were in the netted area, it was like a scavenger hunt. I had expected to see bright colours hopping in the air all around, but I’m afraid it wasn’t the case. A few soaked in the sun on banana leaves, but they were sparse. Our guide placed a large black and blue critter on my nose and it ticked like hell, and I got a great photo of the wrinkles on my forehead, but that was it. I think I might have been spoiled with a similar location in Siem Reap, Cambodia. But I did learn something. And I got a cool shot of me with new wings.

I fell in and out of a light sleep whenever the van began driving, always trying to catch up with what Grace had mentioned we were passing. I heard the phrase “unnatural forest” so I was a bit confused. On either side of the road were high reaching trees with luminescent leaves from the above sunshine. It was a beautiful sight. I learned that they were all mahogany trees-all I could think of then was my chest of drawers at home. Turns out that this forest is called the ‘Man Made Forest’. The 2 km stretch is a tourist attraction on it’s own, with other writers calling it a ‘work of art’. I think these people need to come over to Canada to see the man made forest we have.

The most touristy part of my day trip was definitely the lunchtime boat cruise. From the town of Loboc, we boarded a flat bed, reed roofed boat that was propelled forward by a little guy driving a mini boat with a car engine. It was funny to watch him changing gears like he were racing around a track. With 19 cruise boats based on the river, it was a very orchestrated afternoon. Tourists took pictures of other tourists on other boats, while we refilled our plates from the buffet table. We stopped to watch a cultural song and dance which was a huge contrast to our on board entertainment. Slow songs from the 80′s are still a hit out here, and our petite female vocalist even managed to adapt the latest Lady Gaga to become have a retro elevator music style.

As much as I laughed at the cheesy’ness of everything, I appreciated the sights. I appreciated the information that our guide was able to give. And I appreciated the discount she got us at the souvenir shop. Driving through the countryside was a treat. We stopped off at another museum, a church, a statue….there’s a lot to take in when it’s squeezed into a daytrip. I’m glad to next be taking in Cebu City at my own pace.

During my travels there have been a few towns that have a flare for the wild side. This town, a former American Army base that was handed back to the Philippinos back in 1992, has since developed a shady side. I was slightly aware of this, but as a bed for the night was all I was after, I figured I could put up with a few ladies standing around advertising the local specialty. As our taxi drove down the strip towards the hotel, I bit my tongue. Building signs read ‘Friendliest Women in Town’ and windows flashed in bright neon ‘Massage’.

When we checked in the receptionist seemed quite confused when we clarified that we wanted twin beds, as noted in the original booking.
“We don’t have twin beds-only big beds,”
At that moment, a tall white haired guy with socks pulled up to his knees, walked by. He was very polite in passing, but gave me the shivers when he was gone. There had been other perverts walking down the strip, hand in hand with young girls.

Once the hotel staff brought an extra bed into our room, we closed the door and traded observation notes. We laughed as we knew it was only a few hours; our airport taxi was already booked for 6am. We checked our emails and sorted through our bags. Then we noticed the bathroom.

I considered taking a photo, but I simply could not pull off the right look-especially if my brother was taking the photo. Inside the bathroom was normal, but the wall between the bed and shower was clear glass. It was setup for a show.

We walked into the street to find a restaurant or somewhere for a quick bite to eat. My eyes darted in every direction, but at the same time, I tried to look like I was looking at nothing at all. But here’s what I saw: men. They wore baseball caps and Hawaii shirts. They had beers in hand and hung out in groups of 4 or 5. They smiled and laughed as if they had no cares in the world. 95% were white with a belly. They ruled the town.

We found a deli and ordered our Western meals with the cashier. We sat in the window and pretended the surroundings were not the center for sex tourism in the country. I accidentally made eye contact with a couple of younger Philippino men that were walking past. They had stopped in their tracks and turned back pointing and laughing. I ignored them and started a very intense conversation with Derek. I have been places where I was the only white person around, but being in a place where you’re the only white girl in town, is a little different.

Apparently, if we had walked in the other direction we would have bumped into a shopping mall and been led to the city of Angeles, a little cleaner than the red light district of Clark.

I have no idea who the dude in the picture is-but when you google sex tourism, he’s comes up.

A local girl sat at a nearby table with her older man. His back was turned to me so I was able to avoid eye contact. I glanced at her and tried not to stare. She was beautiful and could not have been much more than 15. All I wanted to do was to tell her to run away-there are other ways to make a living. Easier said than done. I settled with the motto, ‘each to their own’ for the rest of the night.

We returned to the hotel, I brushed my teeth and climbed into bed. This is certainly one for the experience log. I never felt in danger, although I did feel disgust. I’m actually glad to have experienced the 12 hours in town…but maybe next time I’ll just go to the mall.

The boat full of day trip divers and tourists clinging on to cameras were wide-eyed and ready. During the one hour journey to Mabul we passed stilted housing, fishermen pulling in their nets and miniature white sand islands that high tide covers up. The chatty English staffer that sat beside me spoke of eagle rays and scalloped hammerheads which made me smile with anticipation. 30 minutes later he was still talking about world dive spots even though I had clearly zoned out of the one way conversation. It amazes me when some people just don’t pick up on the ‘uninterested’ signals. I zipped and unzipped my life jacket while looking about and prayed that the next island in view would be my stop.

I could see the greenery behind the beach with a few red rooftops poking out as soon as we pulled up to the jetty. My bags were shuttled along and I was instructed to change into my suit and collect my snorkel and fins before we set off again for our day of snorkeling. I had considered taking the 3 day study/exam to get my diving license, but I’m afraid my timing was off. Another country another time.

The boat took us to a reef on another island that had top notch chalets sitting a few feet above the water. Our guide mentioned the $800 per night cost as we swam over their reef. I vowed to one day experience the luxury when the cost wouldn’t bother me. My mind was swirling with what I could spend the same money on, but then I re-adjusted as it certainly wasn’t the time to think of finances. I plunged my face into the shallow waters and saw studded starfish that had formed arcs and circles on the sandy bed below. Although these were not the colourful fish I had set out to to see, I was mesmerized. I couldn’t believe the concentration of the five armed creatures . I began counting them and got up to 32 when I realized I had floated away from the original spot.

Like my quick snorkelling experience off the coast of Kota Kinabalu, I was enthralled by the colours that darted all around me. Neon blues the size of a quarter compared to an arm length fish that had the full spectrum of the rainbow across his back. The coral spread out the same length of my body and I saw peacock shrimp crawling along the solid arms. If I focussed hard enough I could make out camouflage creatures pretending to be rocks. The fish weren’t bothered by my ogling them, it was just another day.

We hit three other dive spots over course of the day, and each location was so unlike the previous. For our afternoon dives we actually stayed close to the island of Mabul. As divers talk about the sights around Sipidan Island as being the holy grail because of large aquatic life, the spots around Mabul are considered the world’s best ‘muck diving’ -meaning, it’s the richest single destination for exotic small marine life. Mabul is the yin to Sipidan’s yang.

I was thrilled when my guide pointed out the hawksbill turtle below. It was the creature I was most hopeful of seeing. With its’ rounded shell and oval flippers, the reptile was like a ballerina floating amidst the corals. And perhaps like an omen, that turtle was just the first of many spotted throughout the day. I was staring at a barracuda when a small green turtle floated past. Had I been diving as opposed to snorkeling, I may have seen cuttle fish and blue ringed octopus and gobies and frogfish and moray and snake eels and and and–the list goes on. But I discovered the true joys of snorkeling. I saw longnose stick pipefish and batfish and lion fish and and and. I experienced flying as the current took away the need to kick my fins and I could just look at the underworld passing below, like a bird soaring in the skies and looking down at me. It was magical.

When I returned to the resort, I found my brother Derek swinging in a hammock. The relaxation mode spread and I slipped into my book. And then I slipped into a light slumber. This, is what a holiday is all about.

We decided to explore a bit more of the island and walk along the shoreline. Naked children shrieked with laughter as they chased their friends in and around the housing. Groups of men were returning from the mosque built inland. Women sat in the window of their small storefronts, offering bottles of water or small trinkets for the couple of tourists that had ventured outside of the resort areas. The 45 minute walk around the entire island was just a partial glimpse of the real world on Mabul. It was clear that the needs of the locals were simple and the smiles were genuine.

At the end of the Scuba Junkie boardwalk there was a protected turtle egg area. If locals see a turtle laying eggs they are paid by the resort to report them, and then biologists relocate the eggs to the protected area. There is a security guard sitting in a hut 24 hours per day. Giving the eggs a chance to hatch in an location free of predators, has increased the endangered population within the area. It was a good feeling to know our resort has a conscious.

Before boarding the afternoon boat back to Semporna, I passed a few hours on the beach, in the water and thinking about how lucky I am to be seeing this part of the world. It is affordable, and it is worth it. The only unfortunate sight, was the offshore oil rig. Refurbished into an accommodation targeting divers, the 3 level platform above water sits just off shore. It may be a unique and interesting place to stay, but it’s an eye-sore that’s out of place considering the island paradise.

Now that I have experienced the beach, the jungle, the mountain and the city sights of Sabah, I am joining my brother for a few days in the Philippines. I had intended to spend my time away from Canada just on the island of Borneo, but sometimes a situation presents itself and it’s just too good to pass up.

So Philippine bound!

But there are areas of hope! At 560 km. long, the Kinabatangan River is Sabah’s longest river. The green corridor represents 17% of Sabah’s land area, and 85% of Sabah’s wild orangutans, elephants and rhinoceros. The forest running alonside the twisty waterway is estimated to have the largest concentration of wildlife in all of Malaysia and it is only one of two known areas in the world where 10 primate species can be found. I have arrived at my happy place.

In between modes of transport (van to longboat) I popped into the local store in the village of Bilit. I think it’s important to look into the shops when travelling (even supermarkets) as it helps to understand how the local people survive. The 7foot x 5foot room had five tiers of shelving on three walls. The products ranged from toothpaste (3 tubes), mini oreos (12 packets), tins of sardines, candles and baby powder. I treated myself to an ice cream alongside my bottle of water. And reminded myself not to complain when my local supermarket is out of my favourite granola.

Taking in the breeze as the boat cruised past water rooted trees, I already felt revitalized, as if the pure quality of my surroundings rid me of the shameful palm trees. Houses along the shoreline were simple, with corrugated tin roofs and a front patio. Rubber boots lined the bottom step and I saw chickens scurrying around the side of the house. The couple of locals we dropped off from our boat were full of laughs the entire journey.

Our boat pulled straight up to the steps of a long boardwalk surrounded by trees. Ferns had rooted in all possible nooks while white butterflies danced through the horizontal shafts of sunlight that made it through the canopy. I pulled out my camera when a black and blue butterfly, the size of my outstretched hand, rested on a branch-but of course, he took off as soon as I was ready.

Richard, the owner of the Kinabatagan Jungle Camp stood on the large wooden balcony welcoming us with his smiling staff. Richard’s wife runs the Forest Edge that we just left in Sepilok, so I’ve tapped into the best support system I could have asked for. We dropped our bags into our rooms before an extravagant lunch of peppered beef, green beans, sweet and sour chicken, shrimp salad, barbecued fish with rice and noodles. Having consumed so much food, a short rest was definitely called for, in order to be ready for our afternoon riverboat tour.

I woke to thunderous vibrations and the sound of torrential rain hitting the ground and streaming into little rivulets all around the property. The lightening caused an eerie effect within the trees that dripped and swayed in the quick winds. This thunderstorm was unlike any I’ve ever experienced, and I know I’ve said that before-but it was! It also meant our boat cruise was cancelled until it cleared. I searched for my rain poncho in the meantime, realized I had left it to dry on a chair after the mountain climb-damn I hate the forgetfullies!

Our tour set off when we could see through the rain. I wore an extremely large garbage bag that kept me perfectly dry-perhaps entertainment for the monkeys I was hoping to see. The brown river remained flat though the water seemed to be moving at quite a pace, unlike our boat ride earlier. Our driver directed us around the u-bends as we studied the trees looking for wildlife. We saw one long tail hanging off a branch and then realized that the entire tree was filled with monkeys. And these monkeys were certainly unique as their big noses jumped out even from 50 feet away. Not only does the male proboscis monkey have the biggest monkey honker known to monkeykind, but apparently he’s notorious for gas as well (eating too many greens ya see!)

Our guide’s eye was sharp and he was able to point out snakes, moniter lizards, double hornbills and numerous other birds that I had a hard time keeping up with. The drizzle seemed to bother none of them and I was pleased we managed to get out despite the storm. We returned to camp a few hours later for more glorious food followed. A few wild pigs had strolled onto the property but I was too busy stuffing my face with food that I left my camera out of reach. But they were big black pigs. You can imagine what they looked like.

The morning boat tour set off at 6am and I crossed my fingers that we might be one of the rare and lucky tourists to spot a couple of the 200 known elephants from the area. We headed off to different mangroves and grassy edges that had us ducking our heads under a few leaning branches. It was a more confined water way that made me feel like I was starring in a thriller movie as some crazy tribal warrior was surely hiding behind a tree. A hidden lake opened up and lilly pads covered the surface of the water. We saw plenty of evidence that elephants had been near as the green growth had been trampled down. But we saw no elephants.

We saw the curve of a crocodile’s tail as he plunged beneath the water. We saw more birds, more monkeys and even a baby orangutan building a nest in a tree top (thanks to binoculars). We returned to camp and had some more good food and talks with the team. And then the time came to keep making tracks to the coast, so we made our farewells. I think this is when I might have lost my camera case….with a full memory card of photos. Gulp-my worst nightmare. Luckily, I had backed up all but the morning boat tour. I blame my lack of gooooooood coffee for the recent bout of forgetfullness.

The next blog entry will be covering Semporna & Mabul….otherwise known as beach and diving paradise!