So today was not really eventfull.. I can say it’s easily compressed into : had breakfast, got on the boat, had a really great fun drive in a minivan back to cebu, walked around a shopping mall for a bit, and checked in to the hotel where my luggage was waiting for me. So far, so good… So isn’t there anything to say? Well… There was some frustration after I checked in.

It was pooring when we got back to Cebu. We were in a mini van and pretty crammed together… in the end there were 17 paying customers, the driver and the bus boy in this tiny van.. don’t forget that some of us had big luggage too. The funny part was that they plaed lovesongs for the whole 3 hour drive. It was hilarious since half of the songs we sung a long. Think. Backstreet boys, N sync, ‘ ‘knuffelrock’ . Traveling together with 20 something people always get’s a different energy flowing.

When we arrived I Cebu we were dropped off at a big mall. I saw the bank I can get money from, but there was a long line so I decided against waiting. After walking around for a bit I said goodbye to the 2 girls left and took a cab to the hotel. Checked in, went to the room, put on my rain coat and walked back out… since there’s not a good ATM coverage on all the islands (Malapascua didn’t have one) I know I need to get money as often as I can to make sure I have enough at the end of my trip when there;s no ATM for sure. So I walked to the BDO bank… and of course… the machine was out of order. After that I spent an hour walking around and trying 7 (!) different ATM’s, none of which would give me any cash.

Obviously frustrated I treated myself to some fried chicken (again) with spaghetti, rice and.. sweet corn. It was a feast! I did some simple shopping (beer, crisps and some cookies) to make sure I have something for Genevieve when she arrives.

The rest of my plans? Sitting in the hotelroom and wait… since the weather is not really friendly and I’m a lazy person.

So I thought I might share some of the things I’ve learned about the Philipinos. They are very friendly, as I mentioned before. There has not been one moment where I felt unsafe or cheated. They are genuinely nice people even if they are very very poor.

There ‘s a big difference in the wealth. There are a lot of people living in shacks all through the country…but they still look happy. And today at the mall I saw a lot of people as well who basically live a life like a Westerner… Shop and buy the same way we would… or worse. They all seem to get along though.

Philipinos are very religious, over 90% of the country is devoted Catholic. I’ve seen a lot of signs like ‘ Jesus is lord of our city’  or on boats ‘ We dive with God’ . There are a lot of churches and people often make the sign of the cross. It also means they celebrate Catholic holidays. Last week apparently was ‘ all saints’

And they have a favorite holiday… By far this is Christmas. Apparently as soon as September start people are putting up Christmas trees and ornaments. This feels kind of funny to me but they  are really really into it. Check out my picture below. And.. there’s already alot of christmas music going on… I already heard’ Jjingle bells’ !

Another thing is that they like food, mainly pig and chicken, but roasted of fried! So I’m really having the time of my life when it comes to food.

Now It’s time to watch a movie and wait for Gen to arrive… I am so excited… as a Philipino would be for Christmas 🙂

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