“Don’t worry terrorist are even on vacation, its Holy Week”

On one of my final journeys on a jeepney in Cebu I spent time listening to a group of young girls chatting away. It started with ‘Don’t worry terrorist are even on vacation, its Holy Week’ but the conversation went on. Before I knew it they started talking about why Asian women look younger and how healthier they are compared to the Western society.
I have heard some interesting conversations on the jeepney,  two weeks ago involved the colour of my eyes, that I think went on for atleast 10 minutes before one of the guys finally asked me what colour they were. When I told them, he laughed at his mate and told him he must be colour blind before I knew it half the jeepney were staring into my eyes to see what colour they thought they were!

I will certainly miss the random conversations, comments and questions that I have heard or been asked during my time in the Philippines.

Some of the comments or questions I have been asked here in the Philippines include:

- You look like Jennifer Lopez or is Angelina Jolie?

- Are you Ukrainian, British, American or today it was Dutch?

- Are you single? Why are you single?

- Does it worry you that you are old and still single?

(everyone gets married young here and many would have atleast two kids if not more by my age!)

I have struggled with the old Western men who have often started conversations in random places, the worst more recently was sitting next to me on the plane over to Manila there was no escape route! I have gradually learnt to not even make eye contact with them or even acknowledge. Today, I manage to turn my back on one!

I bided farewell to the Braille Center last week, I enjoyed every moment. Whilst completing my end of assignment report I began to realise that even though it felt like I hadn’t, I had succeeded in many ways. The workshop was my biggest success, with 30 people attending the workshop on the curriculum and assessment tool that I developed. We’ve manage to find new teachers and have some stability with the classroom. I have been very fortunate to have gotten to know the students, their families, the teachers and adults of the Braille centre.

So as I begin the process of packing up my ‘shoebox’, farewell my friends and work colleagues and move onto my next adventure (whatever that will be) I will remember the community feel the Philippines has, the smiles on the locals faces no matter what hardships they are faced and of course the Filipino time, that I do hope I’ll leave behind (or I will be running late to everything)

I certainly will miss Cebu City and hope to one day return.

Finding my adventure side or it is just patience.........

Travelling in the Philippines is one big adventure to another.
Everyday I catch a jeepney to the gym and I still haven’t learnt that no matter how many times I move over to make room for the person next to me, they still tend to move closer towards me sometimes even literally sitting on top of me. However this I have learnt to handle and as it is the same route day in day out, I have manage to find my way around on the public transport systems around Cebu.

A couple of weekends ago, I made the trip down with a few friends to Siquijor, a little island off the island Negros. It takes a bus and a boat to get across to Negros and then another boat to Siquijor. It can take anywhere between 3 hours to 6 hours depending on the day and the time you leave. On the Monday, when I was due to make the trek to Cebu I got caught up and it was a mad dash to get across to the island of Cebu from Negros. It took a trike driver putting his foot down to catch the last boat across. I ended up on a local banka boat, being the only westerner on board. They had placed cane furniture such as a bed on the sides of the boat but what got me was the tarp they put up the front to stop us from getting wet. Don’t worry about the driver who had to lean to the side just to see out the front! I did make it safely, obviously but to find out that there was no van or bus waiting on the other side to take us all up to Cebu. I was told there would be a bus or van waiting for us.

I ended up catching a habal-habal, a motorbike up to the main road to wave down a bus. I had no idea which town of the island of Cebu I was in nor did I know if a bus was coming. I hadn’t had lunch and it was almost dinner time and it didn’t help much that I desperately needed to go to the bathroom. I ended up going to the local sari-sari store, when the owner kindly took me into his place to let me use his bathroom, managed to get some food and I was on my way to Cebu on a bus before I knew it.

That adventure I’m sure was just the beginning or to test my patience for what was about to come.

Last weekend, I headed up to Donsol, a little coastal town south east on the Luzon (main) island. Donsol has been made famous for the Butanding (whale sharks) there isn’t much else to do in Donsol and tourist flock to the town to see these whale sharks. I had the opportunity to swim with 7 whale sharks, the biggest measuring about 8 meters. Unfortunately the lack of reinforcing rules and regulations dampened our experience, as the following day they had about 40 boats with 50 or so trying to swim with just one whale shark.

However, the next day I was due to fly home. I woke up extra early to save a little bit of money and catch the v-hire van. V-hire vans are available across the Philippines and only go when they fill up. It was my first time catching the v-hire and knowing that it might take awhile to fill up I allowed an additional hour to get to the airport. I waited that hour and realised the van wasn’t going to fill up any quicker and the only option was to either pay for all the seats or catch two jeepneys and then a trike and just hope that the jeepney driver will drive a little faster that day!

I ended up opting for the jeepney ride and it was the slowest trip I had been on! It took forever and I had convinced myself I was going to miss my flight! After a few directions from the locals, who were so helpful, they told me to stay on the jeepney all the way so I did. It took 2 hours to get down to the airport and then another trike driver to put his foot down just so I could check-in to my flight.

I made it but just 5 minutes before we were due to take-off, my flight was cancelled! Before I knew it all the flights were cancelled and there was no way I was going to make my flight home from Manila to Cebu that afternoon. I had to think.....fast......maybe. I had a few options, head to Naga another 2 hour trip to hopefully get a flight there, wait till the next day and hope flights will be back on or catch a 12 hour bus trip to Manila and then deal with a flight to Cebu that following morning!

I opted for the 12 hours bus trip, although the reception told me it was only an 8 hour trip! 8 hours I could deal with, maybe but 12 hours, it was going to take all night and surely it did!

I meet a young Swiss girl, who decided to join me on the 12 hour bus trip to Manila. Two hours into the trip, Barbara and I got off at the stop to stretch our legs only to discover a seat was taken. The company had double booked our seats and there was a stand-off happening! We were refusing to give up our seats and the lady was refusing to leave the bus! In the end, the company found an extra seat that wasn’t taken and we were on our way for the rest of the journey!

It wasn’t till around dusk, we drove past our bus that was in the ditch turned over that I realised how dangerous travelling on the roads in the Philippines can be.

1am, we made it to the land of Chaos that of Manila and crushed at a friend’s place only to have to get up at 6am to catch a flight back to Cebu.

So travelling in the Philippines has in many ways tested my patience but all in all I have loved every minute of it, every little risk I have taken and have certainly found that adventurers sides in me!

Whale Shark Watching

One of many sightings of a whale shark



Travelling the local way

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Seven months gone by.......

It has been a seven months now, since I arrived in the Philippines.


I can’t say the seven months have been easy, I have been tested in many ways and have been faced with many challenges but in all the experience has been amazing, an eye-opener.

The other day, I was walking home from work. Walking down my usual road, when I turned the corner near the construction site and there was hundreds of people standing around, an ambulance, two police cars and all these people from the media with their cameras. I had to walk past all these people, it was a really weird feeling. I am often the amusement of the locals around here, who often stare or hiss to get my attention, this I have gotten use to but this particular day was different. I know that they weren’t watching me but were watching the scene that was going on at the construction site.

Unfortunately a 22 year old died at the construction site that day after a gas cylinder exploded whilst him and another construction worker attempted to open it. The next day, the construction workers were back working there and three days later they had all these safety signs up around the site.

The matter of ‘Safety First’ has always been an issue here in the Philippines. I have seen people climbing up make-shift ladders and people working on the 30th floor standing on the edge of a construction site, with no fear at all. It really amazes me that I haven’t seen more incidents like this.

In the last couple of months I have gradually meet the locals that live near me and it has been nice to be walking home from work or the shops and have people come out and say hello and asking how I am going. One group, which have now got the name as the ‘Bikie gang’ have offered to take me around to some adventure park. They are a lovely bunch of people, who own a mechanic motorbike shop just near where I live but I am yet to head off with them on a motorbike adventure around Cebu!

And then there is this lovely old man, who has a little side-walk store where he sells cigarettes and candy. I’m sure he lives here, as above his little store is a tree with a pillow and a cardboard box. He is always so welcoming and so happy to see me on my way to and from work!

Last week, I had my hair cut and yes it is shorter than what I had asked for and although I have had it this short before it will take a little while to get use to it! Back home, strangers wouldn’t even notice that I’ve had a hair cut but here everyone acknowledges it, even if I have never spoken to them before for the simple reason is I’ve always stood out, as being the only white person living in this area.

My work, has presented with many challenges in which I have manage to overcome to some degree. I enjoy seeing the students smiles on the faces everyday and realise that these challenges are so little compared to what these students are faced on a daily basis.

I have been a little unsure about whether to stay for another couple of months or go home when I’m suppose to go home but there is so much that I still want to do before I head back. There isn’t a day, where I think about everyone back home, the lifestyle back in Melbourne and how easy it is to get from one place to another without having to give plenty of time and worry about having change for the jeepney or taxi. However, I do know that this day will come when I arrive back to Melbourne and I look forward to that day but for now I will continue to enjoy every little moment I experience here in the Philippines.

Safety first - construction workers working on the 30th floor of a new hotel.

When there isn't enough to give

So it's been awhile since I've updated my blog, I guess there hasn't been enough to tell (or want to tell!) so I've done a little reflection! I'll hopefully add some photos later in the week!  Merry 'early' Christmas everyone!

I woke up this morning and before I knew it reality set in.

I am not home, I do not have the comforts I usually have.

I look around from my bed, there is my kitchen, and there is my bathroom.

All in one room I feel trapped, I feel stuck, I have nowhere to go.

But it doesn’t stop me; it doesn’t stop me from getting up.

So I get going, get started for the day.

Wonder what is going to be beyond those doors.

What child is going to ask for money?

What adult is going to sing “Wish you merry Christmas” again

I learn to say “wala”, means nothing

Most of the time, they give up other times and more recently they follow you ‘wala’ isn’t enough.

I walk up to the shops, pass the colourful jeepneys, and pass the young children carrying their baby siblings in over sized clothes sometimes wearing nothing at all.

I wonder what life is like for these children, I wonder what I could do to help them because I know money isn’t the answer – money encourages them to come back for more and we don’t want that.

There is a feel in the air of happiness, people are more giving and there seems to be carol singers everywhere! After all Christmas is a big celebration here.

Maybe this is why there are more people asking for money and not saying wala is not enough.

I feel and I know that Christmas is a time to give and I’ve already given to those that are in need that I am connected on a personal note, isn’t that enough!

So after I’ve made it to and from the shops, I head home to the safety net of my four walls. I tell one girl ‘wala’ as she follows me down the lane. One of the locals hisses at her to leave me alone and eventually she gives up and walks away

Reality is I can only do so much!

Chasing the kite

I had one of those moments where my heart was torn in two!
I spent the day volunteering for the children's rights festival, a festival that two of my friends (fellow volunteers) had been working on. It was an amazing day, a day I will forever remember.
The fesitval was a celebration of the 21st birthday of the National Convention of the rights of the child and saw many small NGOs, local governments and schools come together to celebrate.
There were approx. 3000 children from all walks off life and backgrounds that had registered for the event and another 100 if not more that came off the street.
Yeah I spent the day mainly pouring cups of water for children and handing out food but I did get to spend sometime interacting with some of the children including children from shelters and homeless children.
But one story that will forever stick in my head is the little boy who wanted a kite!
I had just finished my lunch and was sitting with a friend in the media tent when I was interacting with three of the street children and one little boy from a shelter. He was a lovely boy who instanly connected with me - he was being rather cheeky and kept poking me and running away! We started to play and he grabbed my hand and started pulling me away from the event - he kept running accross the oval, I followed him intrigued to see where he was going and what he wanted. We finally reached the end of the oval and he pointed towards a small cart with kites and balloons - he said in broken english: "I want a kite"
Thinking wow how am I going to say no to this one so I asked the man how much, he told me 40 pesos, 40 pesos thats 1 australian dollars, 1 australian dollar what difference was that going to make so I thought if I could make one boy smile then a kite it would be!
So together we counted out the last couple of coins I had and he took the 40 pesos to the man and bought himself a kite. His face just lit up and he run off with the kite in the air, he came running back and said "You made me happy" and then he ran off again - around and around he went whilst I held back tears.
He kept coming back throughout the day to give me a big cuddle. For the whole afternoon I kept seeing this little boy helding tightly onto his kite so he could keep a close eye on it.
I spent the afternoon wondering if I was going to end up with 3000 children from the festival also wanting a kite, thankfully word didn't get out! :-)
It was that small thing that I did for that little boy, it only cost me $1 but I know that I made a difference to that boys day!
It was a powerful day, with so many smiles on these children's faces over the simplist things. The volunteers that worked hard to get the event up and running did one amazing job!

And it will certainly be a day I will never forget!
Love Zoe

The boy with his kite!

Two weeks of adventure

Well what an amazing two weeks I have had!
I finally have had the opportunity to spend some of my time being a 'tourist' around the Philippines.
I spent my first weekend away with two friends in Malapascua Island where we spent diving, relaxing, swimming and sight seeing! Malapascua is a three hour bus ride north of Cebu and then a boat trip across. I did three dives here and have now completed ten dives! For the first time I dived with 7 white tip reef sharks, they were amazing! I enjoyed watching sun rise and taking many photographs! We had a beach side little hut where on the first night we were attacked by mosquittos! One morning, I was up at the crack of dawn to enjoy a walk around the island, I wondered through the village and watched pigs being slaughtered, which was pretty yucky but part of life here in the Philippines! They were being slaughtered for a celebration dinner for All Saints Day. A day where families come together to spend the night at the cemetry remembering love ones.
After spending three days in Malapascua we headed back to Cebu City to catch a ferry across to Bohol. We stayed in the city centre for the night before hiring a trike for three hours to go from the tasiers (little monkeys) to the Chocolate hills before finishing up at Danao. Three hours on the trike was extremely painful! At one stage we didn't think we were going to make it Danao, as the place we were heading to was off the beaten track and the driver had to keep asking people where the park was. We arrived with a couple of daylight hours left so we checked in and went on the suislide, similar to zipline but lying down. We were like superman crossing the valley! We spent the night at the adventure park and got up early to enjoy a caving and tubing. After we finished our small tour at the adventure park we caught a motorbike to the Danao to catch the bus back to city centre, much cheaper way than hiring a trike!
After Bohol it was off to Manila for me as I had to attend a teacher congress in Taygaytay, an hour trip out of Manila. Taygaytay has the smallest volcano in the world Mt Taal. The hotel we stayed in has stunning views of the volcano so atleast I got to see some views of the volcano. The congress was good, I was able to gain some information regarding working with visual impaired students. It was hard to get use to the fact that I had to share a double bed with a filipino teacher, I just meet! I found it really hard with the Filipino's shyness, as many times they would sit next to me during the conference and not say anything to me until the end to simply ask for my cell phone number, if I had Facebook and/or if they could have a photo of me!
After the congress it was off to Antipolo to welcome the next lot of volunteers - it was good to meet some like-minded people adventuring into their own personal journey but also to catch up with everyone else living in the Philippines and reflect on how far we've come!
After spending a week with the volunteers a group of us decided to trek to Mt Pinatubo, a volcano that last erupted in 1991 and the crater has formed a crystal blue/green lake. The next 24 hours was one crazy story! We decided that we would bus up to Capas, a small town near Angeles. Angeles is known for its sex bars and hotels, which we soon learnt also occurs in Capas! We arrived when it was dark and got dropped off in the main town. We had recieved a text from the trekking company to try the eco lodge so we organised with two trike drivers to take us to this eco lodge. The trike drivers were happy to take us there but they had no idea where they were going and had to stop to ask a couple of times! We finally found the place and one of the girls walked in to check out the place and the owner made a passing comment "Oh three girls and a guy!" We looked in the room and I had never seen anything like it (I wish I had my camera for this!), it had just a small double bed that looked extremly unclean and a toilet in the bathroom (nothing else). You could tell what this room was used for. We decided that no this wasn't going to be the place for us so the trike drivers continued up the road and we found a resort. Strange resort - had garage doors and again wasn't the best place but better than the first. After a small discussion and deciding that it was getting late, we needed to make a decision fast so we decided to stay there organised for the trikes to pick us up at 4.30am the next morning to take us up to the start of the trek to Mt Pinutubo. Two of us took a trike into town to get Maccas for dinner before heading back and crashing ready for our hike!
The trike picked us up the next morning, we arrived at 6am to sign for the trek to discover the place wasn't open (even when she said we had to be there at 6am!) We hadn't had breakfast and there wasn't much in town to eat! Finally the place opened, we organised food etc and got onto the 4wd to start the trek. We crossed over volcanic ash, rivers and lots of rocks to get to our starting point. We treked up for two hours, finally arriving at the lake, which was amazing! It was so pretty and so worth the trip up. We dipper our feet into the lake before trekking the two hours back to the 4wd drive. After refreashing and enjoying a filipino lunch we paid money to get into a 4wd to get to the main town to head back home to Manila. Arrived fairly late and pretty much slept!
I headed back home on the Sunday and am now facing reality, as I head back to work and re-focus on my assignment.
I hope everyone is doing well back home!
Love Zoe

Caving in Bohol

The village in Malapascua Island

Stunning beaches

One of the locals in Bohol

Chocolate Hills, Bohol

The hut we stayed in on Malapascua Island

Mt Taal

4wd up to the starting point to trek to Mt Pinutubo

Beginning the trek

The crater lake

Beyond the poor