God will Provide

Vitsi julkaistu Manila Bulletinissa parisen viikkoa sitten. Nyt lausahdusta on alkanut taas kuulua sen verran usein, etta oli aika kaivaa tama vitsi esiin...

 

A young woman brings home her fiance to meet her parents. After dinner, her mother tells her father to find out about the young man. The father invites the fiance to his study for a drink.
"So what are your plans?" the father asks the young man.
"I am a Torah scholar." he replies.
"A Torah scholar? Hmmm," the father says. "Admirable, but what will you do to provide a nice house for my daughter to live in, as she's accustomed to?"
"I will study," the young man replies, "and God will provide for us." "And how will you buy her a beautiful engagement ring, such as she deserves?" asks the father.
"I will concentrate on my studies," the young man replies, "God will provide for us."
"And children?" asks the father. "How will you support children?" "Don't worry, sir, God will provide," replies the fiance. The conversation proceeds like this, and each time the father questions him, the young idealist insists that God will provide.
Later, the mother asks, "How did it go, honey?"
The father answers, "The bad news is, he has no job and no prospects, but the good news is he thinks I'm God."

Taifuunien aikaa

Viimeisin taifuuni aiheutti hiukan haasteita minilomalla Siquijorin saarella. Talla kertaa asialla oli Lawin.

Talla kertaa asuin ystavan kautta jarjestyneessa majoituksessa. Ennakkoon ystavani varoitti alkeellisista oloista. Varsinaisesti olot sinansa eivat olleet liian alkeelliset mutta melkein kaksi paivaa sadetta miltei tauotta aiheuttaa hankaluuksia missa vain. Hyvin epatyypillisesti tassa nipa hutissa oli mukavuuslaitos (ihan oikea posliinipytty, ei kuitenkaan huuhteleva malli) ja juokseva vesi, eika vain hana vaan oikea suihku! Naiden asumusten hyvin tyypillinen piirre on vuotava katto emmeka me olleet sen onnellisemmassa asemassa kuin kukaan muukaan nipa hutissa asuva. Onneksi katon vuotokohdista ainakin osa saatiin tilkittya toista yota ja tulevia sateita ajatellen.

Nipassa eleltiin sahkotta mutta eipa niita sahkoja ollut hetkeen muutenkaan kohtuullisen pitkan sahkokatkoksen vuoksi. Myoskaan kaasulietta ei ollut joten taman sateisen jakson aikana turvauduimme nalan tullen karinderioihin silla tulen teko oli mahdotonta. Kookospahkinoiden tipauttelemisesta vastuussa oleva kettera ystavani  oli valitettavasti loukannut jalkansa joten aamukookoksen sijaan litkimme (talla kertaa hyvin tyypilliseen tapaan) pikakahvia laheisessa karinderiassa. Ruokaloita on joka lahtoon mutta pari laheisinta paikkaa olivat hyvin pienia, yksi terassipenkki pienen mokin vierella. Tarjolla on tavallisesti riisia tai maissia ja kahta tai useampaa lajia ruokaa sen kanssa. Usein possua jonkunlaisessa liemessa, joskus kanaa jonkunlaisessa liemessa ja usein pienia kokonaisina grillattuja kaloja. Hyvan tuurin sattuessa kasvissyojille turvallinen ruoka on papukastike tai keitto mutta valilla joutuu joko tyytymaan riisiin tai nakkelemaan possunpalasia kastikkeen joukosta. Kohtalaisen usein valitsen jalkimmaisen vaihtoehdon.

Toisena iltana paadyimme soittelemaan kitaraa ja rumpujamme seka illastamaan JJ's Backpackers' villageen parin kilometrin paahan. Paikasta ja ruoasta voisi puhua pitkaankin mutta yritan tiivistaa. Paikka oli nalkaisen lansimaalaisen kasvissyojan unelma. Ruoka oli  tuoretta, siina oli makua ja se tarjoiltiin lampimana. Paikkaa voi myos suositella yopymiseen, huoneisiin en paassyt kurkkaamaan mutta kaikki yhteiset tilat ovat hyvana pidettyja ja siisteja ja tunnelma on kohdallaan. Ulkoa pain paikka nayttaa aivan resortilta, niin kaunista oli pihalla! Hovikuvaajani oli taas lomalla taman reissun ajan...

Talla kertaa matkustin djembe-rumpuni kanssa joten pyoraily sateessa ei tullut kyseeseen. Saavuin Siquijoriin viimeisella iltalaivalla ja sunnuntai-illalla maksoin tricyclelista iltataksan 150 pesoa (matka Siquijor town - San Juan/Lala-o) ja tanaan tullessa paivataksan 30 pesoa. Kotimatkalla koyhdyin viela 20 pesolla ostaessani toiselta kyytilaiselta pannukakun. Uskalsin ostaa silla edellisena paivana ostimme hanelta hyvalla menestyksella punaisesta riisista valmistetut biko-kakkuset. Pannukakku osoittautui kuitenkin kookoskakuksi, jonka mausta en juuri valita ja nyt mietin mita teen lopulle pannukakulleni.

Muutin myos matkasuunnitelmaani taman myrskyn takia ja palauduin kotiin Dumagueteen huomisia aamupaivan toita varten varmuuden vuoksi jo tanaan silta varalta, etta lauttoja perutaan. Varsin pomppuinen kyyti toikin turvallisesti takaisin eika heilutusta tarvinnut onneksi kestaa yli normaalin matka-ajankaan.  Tallaiset terveiset minilomalta mystiselta Siquijorin saarelta. 

* Rentoutuksen tarpeessa kirjoitin suomeksi. Viimeiset paivat ovat kuluneet kielisekamelskassa (kaksi paikallista kielta;bisaya /cebuano ja hiligaynon {jota muusikkoystavani puhuivat keskenaan} seka tietenkin englanti). On uskomattoman vaikeaa yrittaa ymmartaa tuota toista paikallista, jota ei ole opiskellut lainkaan. *

Nuorissa on voimaa!

Mitähän Tuomas Kyrö tähän sanoisi; Werden uusimmalla kierroksella projektit osallistavat kaikki vahvasti nuoria mukaan. Itse asiassa uusimmissa projekteissa nuoret ovat varsinaisina toiminnan moottoreina. Kurkkaapas täältä, nuorissa on nyt voimaa!

Toistaiseksi uusia projekteja on vain kaksi mutta parin tarkennuksen jälkeen luvassa on lisää. Tarve on suurempi mutta tarve on monesti niin suuri, että sieltä on vaikea erottaa pientä projektia, josta kuitenkin olisi etua ja iloa lapsille ja nuorille. Tässä on kuitenkin onnistuttu ja Werdekin oli jo mukana näissä onnistumissa alkuvuodesta rahoitettujen ja pääasiassa kesällä toteutettujen pienprojektien kautta.

Terveiset viimein sateisesta Dumaguetesta (viimeinen kuukausi on ollut kovin kuiva, tänään satoi pitkästä aikaa oikein kunnolla)!

Lee Plaza preparing for Christmas

It starts early here, even earlier than in Finland. Today I had my first lonesome morning coffee for a long time in a coffee shop at Lee Plaza super market. Christmas is obviously coming since they played a full album of Christmas Carols. Maybe December will come sooner than I could have thought...

Sukellus

Eilen oli iso päivä, saimme sukelluskurssin suoritettua!

Minulla on ikävä syksyä.

Kuvat ja viestit Suomesta saivat kaipaamaan syksyä. Tällaisissa tunnelmissa tänä aamuna...Terveiset kaikille rakkaille Suomessa. Nauttikaa syksystä!

Bohol

We decided two weeks ago to register for Bohol Marathon 2012 21k. Right after we started planning our trip to Bohol with Jm and Anne-Sophie.

We arrived to Tagbilaran port with Ilkka on Saturday evening, just before the heavy rain. We wanted to get our race kits the night of arrival since the assembly time was getting closer and closer. We had a bit of trouble finding the right hospital but were lucky after a visit to internet cafe (not so easy to find) and checking the info once again...We were lucky to get a tricycle to Panglao. We had to search for our resort for 20 minutes though but again, lucky after all the effort (I even called to Thailand to ask for directions but didn't get any...). We found a paradise again and we were very happy to end up in a beautiful and clean place - for good night sleep for 4,5 hours!

In weather conditions like these it is common to start the long runs as early as 3am. However, gun shot for 42k was approximately 4:20 (they were a bit late) and for our 21k 5am sharp.We were running fast to get the bananas and chocolates promised but running fast didn't help, there were no snacks on route!

After the run we walked back to the resort, enjoyed the pool and English/American breakfast and headed back to Tagbilaran right after to meet our travel buddies Anne-Sophie and Jm.

After refreshing mango shakes we started our day of exciting  adventure. Despite the sweet promises of the car rental company there was no van but a car waiting for us. We were initially weirded out by the air conditioned and smooth car ride since it was totally different from anything Ilkka had experienced during his stay.

Lunch on river boat

Ilkka, Tuuli, Jm, Anne-Sophie= Finnish-Filipino-Belgian connection

Tarsier

Tarsier

Tarsier?

Tarsier (can't get enough of these cuties!)

Chocolate hills

Zipline fun - another first time experience!

Dumaluan Beach, Panglao

Jm helped us with our open water diving course studies

Retki Valenciaan - kuvakertomus

Kohti Valenciaa

Loiva ylamaki alkuiltapaivan paahteessa vaati voimia, piti vahan levahtaa

Valencian keskusta

Vesipulloja tayttamassa

Paadyimme majoittumaan Forest Campiin 1000PHP yolta.

Forest Campin resort-alueella paasi pulahtamaan pikku latakossa.

Ilkka mietteliaana

Huonosti nukutun yon jalkeen (Tuuli vatsavaivainen ja Ilkka liian pienessa sangyssa) taivalsimme 3,5 km kylatieta ylamakeen ja noin puolen kilometrin matkan hyvin kivikkoista tieta kohti vesiputouksia

Ja tallainen paratiisi meita odotti. Olimme ainoat tarmokkaat putouksilla tana aamuna!

Matka putouksille oli aika kivikkoinen mutta suomalaisella sisulla siita(kin) selvittiin!

Ja sitten yllattava viesti lapsiystavallisessa kaupungissa...

Alaspain oli lystia lasketella...

And sice there are no good maps available, DIY and budget  travelers, please be informed that Harold's Mansion's Ecolodge is very close to the waterfalls, from the center of Valencia it is to the same direction with Forest Camp, only about 3kms further.

In Dumaguete, take to Road to Valencia, your landmark is either the gas station close to the bridge or Robinsson's Mall. When you come to Valencia, continue  all the way up the hill and take a right turn. You will pass Forest Camp first and continue the next 3 kms uphill. When you reach the intersection, take left (sign Casaroro Falls) and continue. Ecolodge is soon on your right. If you have a good bicycle you can go all the way up to Ecolodge but we were a bit tired and  had to walk our bikes.

Or just take a habal-habal;)

Black magic and karaoke - Siquijor

It is said that it's a mystical island, and that witchcraft and sorcery are alive and kicking in Siquijor. For a dumb western tourist it was really hard to find the mystique. Here's all the sorcery we witnessed:

Our travel itinerary, our route marked on the map with light red, places we stayed marked with balloons.

1. Day
We took the 1.30pm fast ferry from Dumaguete to Siquijor town. We were surprised by the waiting system. First we waited in a lobby, then in a bigger boat and about 20 minutes before the departure we transferred to a smaller ferry parked next to the bigger one.

Is it really necessary to taunt the smokers like this

What we didn't know was that there was air-con in the boat. We were wearing shorts and a t-shirt so we were freezing.

By the time we reached Siquijor we were hungry and decided to stay in town and eat a late lunch. We had a long lunch with dessert and all. Ilkka had to experience halo-halo. Unfortunately he prefers his desserts without corn and beans...

Local delicacy halo-halo: corn flakes, sweet corn, boiled white and brown beans, jello cubes, ube ice cream, ice and milk.

 It was a bit rainy and we were a bit wimps so decided to stay in Siquijor town as it was getting late and dark already. We decided to spent a night in the Das Straum guest house for the cheap price of 250 PHP.

Our room in Das Traum Guest House

2nd day.

Ilkka after about half a vertical mile on bicycle

And Tuuli after same amount of travelling, she needed a rest!

2nd Day

Second day started early with a gargantuan uphill climb to San Antonio where we were supposed to find a local faith healer. After Ilkka barely making it all the way we stopped in a guest house for breakfast. It turned out that the only thing they had was instant coffee and to the horror of us Finns the poor innkeeper took a motorcycle to somewhere far away to fetch us some bread. We had our bread and coffee with the delightful company of several dogs and cats, a single scorpion and a huge orchestra of garden gnomes. The couple that ran the guest house were totally nice but when it came to the subject of the faith healer they were surprisingly tight lipped for some reason so we mounted our bikes and continued our search.

Getting closer...

San Antonio Guest House

Breakfast in San Antonio Guest House, note the 3 in 1 coffee sachet!

Ilkka's favorite: garden gnomes! They had the whole orchestra!

In the next village we asked around and a nice lady agreed to take us to the local faith healer. He lived in a relatively big house with a lot of home electronics and after a short interview he agreed to heal Tuuli's feet from mosquito bites. Unfortunately we do not have a video of the healing process but it included a lot of whispering to Tuuli's feet and rubbing coconut oil on them. Now, fully protected, we headed on south-east for a hotel or a resort.

We visited a faith healer's house in Cang-Asa. Tuuli got her feet cured.

Fish treatment for feet by the Balete tree. Kirsi, the one we had was luxurious. We were too afraid of these relatively big fish so didn't go for treatment this time.

In the way we encountered some stunning scenery, exhilarating long downhills and a hundred years old tree with it's own donation box. We stopped shortly in Lazi to have something to eat and to have a look at the local convent / catholic school. There was also a huge church in Lazi but it looked too intimidating to enter so we carried on on our journey.

Lazi

Old convent in Lazi

There must be times when it's not this quiet around here:D

Church in Lazi

And down we go! Beautiful scenery!

Later at the afternoon, we arrived to a nice looking beach resort with beautiful view to the ocean and decided to spent the next two nights there only to realize that it was some kind of almost 24 hour non-stop karaoke party for the locals. Later we found out that it's a government owned place and it is best to avoid the area specially during the weekends:D Room at Hotel Agripino was 1,300 PHP a night.

Relaxing by the sea in Salagdoong

After hearing such classics as 'My Way', 'I started a Joke' and some Shakira songs get absolutely butchered in full volume time after time and realizing the restaurant did not serve any real vegetarian food we promptly walked to the reception and cancelled the reservation for another night. We had some good times watching the sunset from a top of a small hill and having dinner with a American/Australian couple who were also backpacking in Siquijor. Full ten points to this couple. They were riding Harold's Mansion's pedal bike with no gear and they went all the way to Lazi the first night (while we wimps were staying safely off the rain in Siquijor town...).

Sunset in Salagdoong

3rd Day

The 3rd day started with a minor disaster as Tuuli's bike broke down and we did not have the know-how or the tools to fix it. To top it up, we had to send her all the way to Siquijor City to get it fixed since apparently it was the only town with a capable bike repair shop. Luckily a pedicab was around to take her and the bike so we did not have to walk all the way.

My bike in repair - again!

After the resort we were in the 2nd night we didn't have such high hopes for the accommodation for tonight. Tuuli looked up a promising place on the Internet and it turned out to be...not quite what they promised but nonetheless a very nice resort with most excellent view to the ocean and hammocks(!) that hung above the water on high tide.We were also very pleased with the little stone villa with an actual fridge and stone steps that went from our porch straight to the beach. The room cost 1400 PHP only and was well worth it in our opinion.

Every day I'm hammocking!

Our beautiful bed in Casa de la Playa in Sandugan.

Tuuli's breakfast/lunch after the 15 km ride in scorching sun!

The restaurant in the resort had the word 'verde' in it, hinting strongly of a wide selection of vegetarian food. However, the selection was quite poor although the food that was available was quite delicious and served uncharacteristically hot. We had a nice bowls of mungo- and onion soup, sizzling pork and a plate of mouthwatering french fries. 

 

Despite of the German owner it lacked eco-consciousness (we could not fill our water bottles but had to buy plastic bottles instead). Otherwise we would recommend this resort to anyone who wants to relax and enjoy the beautiful island of Siquijor.

Random pics:

It felt like home with the tuko.

Last lunch in Siquijor