LittleSandyBeach

We’ve been taking it easy recently as Harry had to get some antibiotics for an infection. We checked out the local health centre and was pleasantly surprised to see a doctor for free and once getting the largest tablets we’ve ever seen he was quickly on the mend.

After a couple of days recovering from our mammoth journey from Indonesia we finally started to see our first glimpse of the Philippines. The first thing we noticed was how friendly everyone is!

The first couple of nights we ate at the famous fast food chain in the Philippines called Jollibee. Its best seller is its Chickenjoy fried chicken but even sells spaghetti!

Just opposite was a popular cake shop with the locals called AHL RICHIE AND AHL ROSE. Bakeries and cake shops are everywhere in the Philippines as they have a very sweet tooth! Tasha had to try some and for three cakes it came to only 20 pesos (25p). The favourite was the torta!

On Valentine’s Day, as the Philippines is mainly a Christian country there were lots of pop up stalls selling real and fake flowers and also small gifts such as chocolate down every road.

On our last day before moving to a different accommodation closer to the sea we tried out the local mini golf. After nearly running away because of the massive Doberman in the neighbours driveway we were thankfully escorted to safety toward the entrance!

Tasha had a flying start and was winning massively even getting a hole in one on hole 5! Sadly after that it started going badly for her…

We had a great time and they also have a bar so we stayed and had a few drinks afterwards. It’s in a lovely location looking over a locals farm with some very cute goats.

The next day we moved just 10 minutes down the road to be in the busier area of Moalboal and closer to the beach. We were very careful when sitting on the bed as it was being eaten by termites! Nothing like coming back down to earth!

Yesterday we went and watched the hundreds of tourists snorkelling and scuba diving just off the coast. Moalboal is world famous due to the year round sardine run that can be seen. After looking at how busy the water was we decided to just watch as we are going to a few other places where we will hopefully be able to see the sardines with a lot less people around.

In the evening we went to a restaurant called Lamika and tried a traditional Filipino dish called Sisig. It’s made with either pork or chicken and then mixed with onions and chilli peppers before being served on a hot plate. It comes with rice and can have an egg as well.

After our meal we headed down to the beach to catch the sunset. The first of many amazing ones here in the Philippines!

This morning we left our room at 7am for another long travel day. We first caught a tricycle for 10 minutes to the bus stop. Next we got on a bus for 1.5 hours to Bato. Then we got another tricycle to Liloan Port which took 15 minutes before getting on our first ferry across to Sibulan Port.

We then got on another tricycle for about 20 minutes from Sibulan Port to Dumaguete Port.

We finally got on our last ferry of the day to Siquijor Port which took 45 minutes. We were picked up by our homestay owners from the port who gave us a lift to our little bungalow where we’re staying for the next 5 nights. It’s lovely and very pink!

Siquijor is known as the ‘Island of Fire’ due to the swarms of the fireflies that once illuminated its mangrove forests. First seen by Spanish explorers in the 16th century. Let’s see what we can discover!