Cebu, Philippines

Dear Family and Friends,
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
I decided to go by myself to a little resort called Cebu White Sands at Maribago Bay, located on Mactan Island in the Philippines.  So much has happened over the last year that I was feeling really overwhelmed and I needed a retreat to sleep, read, pray, meditate, and let God speak to me.  The resort itself was quaint, about five hecters in a lovely park like setting, with two outdoor pools and a small beach area.  There was great snorkelling if you walked aways in the water. More about that later.  I had not watched tv since I got to Hong Kong so the television in my room was like a novelty.  All the channels were in English and there were plenty of sport channels so I enjoyed watching that.  My room emptied out into a lovely courtyard that had antique furniture around a pond filled with Koi.  It was awesome just to sit on a rocking chair and read.  I found the filipinos quite nice.  They all spoke great English, it was an American colony so american english is wide spread, would always greet me with a smile and a hello and there were many times they would put their right hand over their heart while saying hello.  I thought that was nice.  I ate well and since the weather was always @ plus 30 I ate outside on the hotel's restaurant's veranda.
I explored my surroundings a bit and went through a bout of guilt as a result.  The resort was surrounded by favelas, intersperced with nice hotels and houses.  Still seeing all that poverty amongst all that wealth was sobering.  Kids should not have to beg.
I thought the jeepneys were so interesting.  Little covered trucks with benches in the back.  I rode in one and it was pretty tight, but for 7 pesos, or five cents Canadian it was a deal.  I also rode on the back of a motorbike and overpaid the guy 50 pesos about a $1.10 Canadian.  Crazy the disparity between us rich Westerners and the poor of the Third World.
One day I went on an island hopping tour.  At one island there was a marine sanctuary and I snorkelled with giant angel fish and dozens of other varieties feeding them bits of bread.  It was amazing.  Then it was off to another island.  While on route I saw a herring ball.  Crazy how the herring whirl  around forcing those on the top out of the water.  That was amazing.  After a decent barbecue meal on another island we headed back to the resort over wild water that made the trip feel like a roller coaster.  It was great fun but the Koreans that I was with turned green.
I took a tour of Matcan island and Cebu island as well.  The sites: a fort, a couple of churches, a monument were good, but I found the traffic and the way the filipinos lived much more interesting.  Chaotic is a good way to describe it.  Everytime we came to a red light there were beggers.  One was a blind man playing a little guitar.  He was guided by what looked like his mother.  It was so sad.  Another was a little boy holding a little girl begging away, looking real sad.  That was tough.  I eventually went into a favela and prayed for a rundown day care center and gave a financial donation to appease my guilt some what.  A worker at the hotel said that without the tourists things would be much worse.
Anyways the biggest highlight for me besides the rest and a chance to pray and think barefoot on a lawn,  was the snorkelling.  Wow.  Every time I went I saw fish I had never seen before.  I swam over thousands of these grey fish that when they tilted a bit the sun would reflect off them and they would turn silver.  There were yellow and orange angel fish, purple snub nose ones, these long stick fish and see through fish that swam nose pointing down.  Huh?  The fish and coral were every hue and color under the sun.  I saw Nemo and his dad a lot. Some of the fish were so bizarre and funny looking I had to laugh.  God has a sense of humour.   It was truly amazing and I have a new favorite sport:  Snorkelling.
It was at times tough being alone.  Yet calls and emails from home helped.  Still it was weird being alone at Christmas.  On Christmas eve there was a wonderful buffet with a variety of seafood and turkey with all the trimmings.  I stuffed myself good.  They had a filipino dance troupe.  One dance had them hopping up and over bamboo sticks that were being pressed back and forth by people on the ground.  You make a false move and your foot would be crushed.  No one got hurt.  The funniest dance was the coconut dance.  Three guys had coconuts draped over their back, front, hips and thighs.  They also had a little stick in their hand.  They beat the coconuts with their little stick while dancing.  Pretty goofy looking but they had rhythm and it was pretty fun to watch.
Then a filipino band came on and played Christmas chorals including "I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas."  Had to laugh at that one as I sat in my shorts in plus 25.  Most filipinos have never seen snow at all.
The next day I went to Christmas mass at a church in the slums.  It was packed and some of the kids there were awestruck by the huge white man in their midst.  It was a good service.  The filipinos love Christmas and they make lanterns out of plastic bottles and other materials.  It is impressive.  And the manager scene called a Belen are everywhere.  The newspapers were full of stories about Christmas and the emphasis was all about the birth of Jesus.  That was great.
Anyways, all in all it was a wonderful trip.  I am glad I did it and I am looking forward to exploring more of this region and beyond in the upcoming months.
God bless you.   Till next time.

Adios,

Dirk