Category Archives: Uncategorized

Destination, Uncategorized

Sunlight Hotel Is A Rose Amongst Thorns

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We were flying through the dimly lit afternoon sky heading towards the small exotic island of Palawan, nested between the Sulu and the South China Sea. At that point in time, I had an idea of how I imagined the island to be fixed in my mind. The stereotypical white sandy beaches with palm trees and fallen coconuts littering the shoreline. As for the city itself, I was completely clueless as to what I should be expecting.

As the captain announced that we would soon be landing, I began staring out of the window trying to see the island. I was staring, looking for the white sandy beaches with palm-filled shorelines but they never came. An island eventually came into view, a small land mass covered with vegetation with the occasional small houses poking through the tree line.

As we flew over the city, I couldn’t help but think about how rural this town seemed. After spending my time in The Philippines always travelling between the urban sprawls of Cebu and Manila, this city seemed so small in comparison. Then I began to realise how low the plane was flying at that point; I started noticing how easily I could easily see the people walking through the streets. I could watch everything that was happening in the streets of Puerto Princesa in detail, as we made our way to the airport.

Once we landed, we quickly walked from the plane got our bags, then set our focus to getting to the hotel. A young man greeted us outside the airport, then went on to offer to take us to where we would be staying, the Sunlight Hotel. I have come to realise anybody who is enthusiastically offering you a ride outside the airport is generally trying to get a bit of extra money from you.

I would love to think that I have stopped falling for these tactics, but unfortunately, this guy managed to fool me and get double the standard fare for that particular route.

After a short 5-10 minute tricycle ride we were there standing outside a multistory supermarket. Our hotel lobby occupied a small section of the supermarkets ground floor as the hotel itself held the top story of the supermarket building. As I entered the building, I let out a sigh of relief. I knew Palawan was an isolated place, so I had no idea what to expect from the mid-range hotels. But from the look of the Sunlight Hotel lobby, I could tell straight away that this would be comfortable there.

After spending the previous sleeping on the floor of a friends condo, it was nice to be in our own room again. The room was beautifully decorated and was so much bigger than an average hotel room. We were only there for a few days before going to El Nido, if I hadn’t planned other activities in Puerto Princesa I could have easily just stayed and relaxed inside our room.

The first morning I was awoken early in the morning by a whistling sound which quickly built to a loud roar, it was the last thing I had expected to hear at that time in the morning.

As soon as it had come the sound disappeared leaving the dull sound of heavy wind. I immediately remembered how low we had flown over the city when coming into the airport; I had in no way imagined that the noise from the plane would be as loud as it was. But this, for me was a minor inconvenience for our stay in the Sunlight Hotel.

After our spending several nights in Puerto Princesa it came time for us to move on to El Nido. I had loved our stay in Sunlight Hotel; I actually would have liked to stay there and enjoy it a bit longer. But our primary reason for visiting Palawan was to see the beautiful scenery of El Nido, so we had to move on.

All in all our stay at Sunlight Hotel was extremely positive. It exceeded my expectation when it came to the quality of the hotel. I liked the hotel so much that we returned there another time, but I think I will save that story for later…

 

 

 

Food, Uncategorized

Healthy Options Within The Philippines

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It’s no secret now that I have been especially conscious of the kinds of foods that I am putting into my body, I have written about it in several of my older articles now. I’ve been having gut related issues for the past year now, to fix the problem I have cut out any foods which may cause any sort of discomfort to my gut. This means I have been avoiding any sugars, soy, dairy amongst other things to let my gut rest and allow it to heal. 

Sticking to this diet would normally be quite easy if I had a permanent housing setup where I could easily cook for myself. But constantly being on the move brings up a lot of challenges with maintaining my diet. To overcome these hurdles, I resorted to doing some research on the internet to find stores and restaurants which could supply me with healthy foods and snacks which reside within my dietary restrictions.

The first store I came across was Healthy Options, which is one of the biggest health food store chains in The Philippines. After a quick visit to their store, I found that this is exactly what I was after. They offered a wide variety of teas and vegetable juices which I drink as an on the go snack during the day.

They also had coconut oil which is crucial for me, as I am not taking in any carbohydrates my body goes into a state of ketosis, which causes it to use fat as a source of energy. So the coconut oil becomes a primary source of energy for me while I am on this diet.

It was also surprisingly hard to find good quality nuts in a lot of the supermarkets within The Philippines. A lot of the nuts come soaked in artificial flavours which to me seems to erase any health benefits you might gain from eating them. But thankfully Healthy Options also stocked a good variety of nuts there too, all in their natural state, not soaked in bbq powder or some spicy chilli powder.

Thanks to Healthy Options I no longer have to worry about where I can get good quality health food. I now have a destination where I can regularly get good quality healthy snacks and supplements to help me get past my health issues.

Healthy Options is now part of my regular shopping routine as I am yet to find another store which caters to my needs as well as they do.
Food, Uncategorized

My Breakfast Buffet Induced Gluttony

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,My stay in The Philippines has now reached a tipping point. I feel I’ve been here long enough to no longer consider myself simply a tourist or visitor. Although I still have people regularly assume that I have just arrived in The Philippines. They will inform me that a new president has just been elected or tell me to plan my travels carefully as delays are common due to traffic.

With spending significant time in the country comes quite a lot of experience with living out of hotels. I took this route as opposed to renting an apartment or condo due to convenience. Earlier I had tried renting condos as the initial price was a lot cheaper than staying in hotels for long periods of time. Though I quickly realized that a hotel is what suits my needs; I am happy to pay extra for the convenience that comes with services such as the housekeeping and room service.

One thing the hotel lifestyle has made me accustomed to is waking up to the buffet breakfasts. When I was younger not a lot got me more excited than my parent telling me we would be dining at a buffet restaurant. The thought of an unlimited spread of all the food you love available to you in a supply only limited by the size of your stomach was overwhelming for such a young mind.

As I have grown older I have usually chosen to have the hotel buffet more due to the financial advantage. To get the buffet a small charge is added to the room; this is a lot less than the cost to get breakfast outside of the hotel. I usually wait until just before the buffet closes to have breakfast; having a late breakfast means that I don’t feel hungry for the majority of the day. Basically, I’m just cheap, also I hate having to eat all the time. So having one big meal later in the morning is ideal for me.

I am starting to realize that there is a trade-off between eating the buffet and dining at a traditional restaurant. What stands out to me is that it feels so informal. I walk in, I am greeted by a waitress who then escorts me to a table. Then I simply take a plate and begin helping myself to what is available. Most of the time I am too lazy to change out of what I wore to bed that evening; it usually seems like the rest of the people in the restaurant made that same decision.

The quantity also becomes an issue; a lot of the better buffets offer seemingly every type of breakfast food available. For me breakfast food is one of my guilty pleasures. I love having coffee and orange juice with a plate of crepes and some fruit. Maybe I can grab a bowl of cereal and some toast once I finish? The possibilities are all there which makes self-control important when you are in the presence of a good breakfast buffet.

One thing I do love about having the option to choose what to eat is that it allows me to grab exactly what suits my diet. Although a lot of the vegetables are not usually the best quality I still love having that option available to me. I have so many dietary restrictions, so seeing buffets which cater to a wide variety of dietary styles makes me extremely happy.

The breakfast buffet for me has become a fairly important prerequisite as to whether I book a hotel room or not. The buffet is an important part of my morning as I can spend the time waking up, getting myself into a relaxed positive frame of mind and take in the energy I need to get the most out of my day within The Philippines.

 

Food, Uncategorized

The Hunt For Healthy Food

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Within the past year, I have been pushed to be extremely conscious about the kinds of foods I have been putting into my body. In my early adult years, I would always prioritize snack food over healthy food due to my on the go lifestyle.

I would regularly buy drinks containing ridiculous amounts of sugar, then spend my evenings and weekends consuming foods soaked in fat, sugar, and salt followed by an evening of indulging in copious amounts of alcohol.

Unfortunately, this lifestyle eventually caught up with me. Combine the damage to my gut from my avoidance of any healthy food along with a few hits of heavy stress and dysentery after traveling to tropical destinations and you end up with your gut being in an extremely poor state.

I am now committed to not touching any food which may provide more work for my gut than what’s necessary.
I want to create an environment where my gut can sit dormant for a period of time to repair itself. A change from my previous habits of constantly consuming inflammatory products. This means no bread, pasta, sugars, rice, fruit, fried food… Basically, my meals largely consist of some sort of protein accompanied with a large plate of vegetables.
The challenge for me hasn’t been motivating myself to limit the types of foods I eat. The fact I ate myself into this condition is enough motivation for me to change my ways. Now the real challenge has come from actually being able to access the sorts of healthy food I need to eat to heal my gut.
I am currently living in Cebu and have little access to anything which could be used to cook my own meals, this means I am heavily reliant on the hospitality industry within the city to get the food I need.
This so far has been extremely challenging but I am slowly starting to figure out where I can go and what I can buy.
The first thing I noticed is how challenging it is to even get good quality fresh fruits and vegetables. In most of my meals, I would try and include good sources of fat such as avocado. This was extremely important for me as I wasn’t taking in any carbohydrates; meaning my body was now relying on avocado as a source of energy. If I wasn’t eating avocados my body would burn my body fat, I would then begin to drop weight, fast. So obviously to counteract this I was eating a couple of avocados a day. It seems that I arrived at a bad time because I can not seem to find avocados anywhere.
In regards to other vegetables, I found that a lot of them just have no flavor. I eat carrot regularly as a snack food, but I have yet to find carrots which haven’t got a dry, bitter taste to them. I’m sure there is good quality produce somewhere in the city, I just have to hunt them down.
On a side note, I did actually find a small juice bar/food stand in Ayala. I quickly became a regular customer there as their food fits my dietary restrictions so well. It is almost like the menu is made to fit me personally. It’s called Mooshi, you can find it on the third level in front of Rustans. The menu is full nutrient dense foods which will not cause any discomfort to your body. You will not find any sugar packed foods on the menu. This is all food which will
keep you functioning at your best.
So, for the time being, I will be using this as the main source of my daily nutrient needs. Plus their food tastes a lot better than the vegetables I have been eating from various supermarkets in Cebu.
Hopefully, over time I will continue to gain knowledge of places in Cebu where I can source good quality healthy food in order to make my stay here a lot more comfortable for me and also my body.
Destination, Uncategorized

Why I Love Manila PT II

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We were now making our way through The Manila international airport NAIA. Alongside us was a pool of passengers who had also left the flight from Singapore. Our first job was the usual checking in with the immigration department.

Then we needed to find a taxi to take us to our condo so we could finalize our journey. While walking through NAIA my head was flooded with different thoughts of the airport. It was mostly just me noticing how bare and empty it felt. We had just left Changi airport in Singapore, so after that experience NAIA seemed a little more underwhelming than usual.

As I got to immigration I became slightly anxious. I had been told that immigration would ask to see a return ticket, which I did not have. The lady at the counter signaled me through, asked for my documents, and then began checking everything. She asked how long I would be staying, I answered two weeks as that seemed like an average holiday length. Without hesitation, she simply handed me back my passport and gave me a nod.

This is it, we were finally free in Manila. We stepped out of NAIA and were immediately hit with the warm humid air, along with the dull background noise that comes with the chaos of such a densely populated city. I felt like our sweat glands had almost immediately went into overdrive. Most likely because we had just left winter in Australia, this seemed to amplify the feeling of the tropical weather of The Philippines.

Once we had left the restricted area I was immediately overcome by a feeling of entering the lion’s den.  Within seconds of leaving NAIA, we were swarmed by taxi drivers trying to get us into their vehicles. It was overwhelming being surrounded by so many drivers shouting out their prices. It was a stark contrast to what we had experienced in Singapore where we had been approached by one man who directed us toward a driver standing a few meters away leaning on his taxi.

We finally settled on a price with a driver, which I later realized was roughly 3 times the price of what it should have been. We then began our journey to the condo, this was right at the same moment I realized I was desperate to have some rest. This also quickly became the moment in which my mind was blown.

We left the immediate premises of NAIA, I felt a rush of excitement as we were finally on our way to our final destination after roughly 12 hours of flying. Within minutes my spirits were quickly dampened as we came to a dead stop. We had hit a traffic jam, cars lined the streets ahead as far as I could see. I quickly learned that this was just the current modus operandi of Philippine traffic. It also wasn’t exactly a negative experience as that is what gave me the opportunity to really take in my surroundings.

As I began to look around I began experiencing the feeling of being in another world. I was struggling to take in everything that was happening around me. I was in a stupor sitting staring out of the window in a taxi. My first shock came once we were in among the traffic itself. I had been told the driving was unique, but I never thought it would be as unique as it was. We were regularly driving into oncoming traffic, lanes seemed to mean nothing to our driver and he like every other driver on the road seemed desperate to jam the car into any space available in order to keep the traffic flowing.

My other observation was the people walking around on the highway selling their goods. Where I came from walking on the highway was illegal, so I was surprised when somebody walked past the car selling steering wheel covers, I then saw another man further down selling pillows. Something which now seems so normal seemed so crazy to me at the time.

The final 20 – 30 minutes of our drive to the condo still consisted of me having my head jammed out the window staring at the different areas of the city we were driving through. I was still trying to take in the different layout of the city as I had never seen this degree of high-density living. I loved the chaos and freedom of Manila, especially after spending my life in a quiet sheltered town. Now I was ready to shake things up, experience living at the opposite end of the spectrum. Manila certainly was able to accommodate these needs.

Manila was not able to offer a completely sheltered way of life. But it was able to offer the excitement which I was craving. So that is why I love Manila.