Diving with Thresher Sharks in the Phillipines

As it was Chinese New Year, Singapore gave everyone a long weekend which Phil and I used to head over to to Malapascua Island, just north of Cebu in the Philippines.

We caught the 8pm flight landing in Cebu at 1am... we then had a 3 hour drive up to Maya port, a 45 minute boat ride to Malapascua Island, then finally a half hour walk to our resort just as the sun was rising over the island.

Sunrise in Malapascua

Although it was a long way to travel, it was well worth it. I liked the Spanish vibe and it's off the beaten track making it far less touristy than other places I've gone to like Bali or Thailand.  

We did four dives over the two days we were there - two of which were pretty incredible. (We dived with Evolution Divers who I would highly recommend)

1. The Monad Shoal. We were up and in the water at the crack of dawn to watch majestic Thresher Sharks enjoy their morning cleaning session. Apparently the sharks go to the Monad Shoal almost every morning to wait for the cleaner fish to nibble all their parasites and dead skin away. Thrshers are pretty rare so I feel pretty lucky to have got the chance to see them in their natural habitat.

Here's a photo of a Thresher Shark... unfortunately I didn't get any good underwater shots of the real thing so this is a carrot version. Basically the same thing.

Thresher Shark

2. Gato Island.  We left the bright sunshine to swim down into the Gato caves where it was completely black except for the small circle of our torch lights. The best bit was moving my torch to find it land upon two 5ft white tipped reef sharks right in front of us. We also watched, mesmerised, as a huge shoal of mackerel glimmered in the sunlight like silver. I have a video, but it really doesn't do it justice:

After the dives, we wandered around the island where we saw whole rows of washed up damaged boats and rubbish from where Typhoon Yolanda had left her mark. There were lots of men building new boats and renewing old ones as their children flew their kites along the beach. 

Eventually we found our way to an idyllic bar where we spent the evening watching the sunset and drinking cocktails. 

To anyone interested in diving, I would recommend visiting Malapascua. It was a good little getaway, but with the travel time we could have definitely done with another night on the island!

My friends are here! Part 1.

I have had THE best long-weekend in Bali.

I flew over late on Friday night to meet two of my dearest friends from London. We spent the first day taking in the picture-perfect views of the beach from La Lucciola, followed by a long day of tanning and drinking at Potato Head. It was paradise. I don't think I will ever get bored of sun, sea and palm trees.

In the evening we spruced up and headed to Motel Mexicola for dinner. I've never been anywhere like it... kind of a split-level, indoor circus/market. It was raining so hard when we got there that water was streaming through a hole in the roof. In minutes the floor was wet up to our ankles, people were dancing on the tables and staff were pouring tequila into our mouths. 

Around midnight the done thing seemed to be for everyone to ditch Mexicola and jump into taxis over to La Favela on the main strip. I can see why. La Favela is a never-ending maze of a place with great music. We met some really cool people and continued on until morning. I don't think my feet have ever been so dirty.

I wasn't exaggerating...

We had pre-planned to go to Uluwatu for days 3 & 4 as I'd heard from a few people that it had breath taking scenery and beaches. They were definitely right about the views. We spent the first day at Uluwatu Temple taking heaps of photos...and just about avoiding the monkeys stealing our sunglasses.

We had booked ourselves in at an amazing villa called The Innpossible on Bingin beach. It was in a fairly remote location which meant we had to climb up and down 200 steps to get there - but it was totally worth it. We had the private penthouse to ourselves which overlooked the never ending-ocean filled with surfers morning, noon and night.

The view from our villa

I'm happy, can you tell|?

We had dinner and drinks at Single Fin just as the sun was setting over the ocean, before proceeding to have another long night of drinking, chatting rubbish and attempting to get back to our remote villa.

Sunset from Single Fin

Our last day in Bali was spent at Padang Padang beach (fun fact: this is where they filmed |Eat, Pray Love!). The waves were pretty angry so after two pairs of sunglasses had been lost to the sea we called it a day.

It was then BBQd fish and early bed ready for the early start to fly to Singapore the next day!

It was such an amazing holiday. One of the best. I was really sad to leave but exciting for my pals to see Singapore... maybe I can convince them to move over here too?!

Hong Kong

What a memorable, eye-opening and wonderful few days in Hong Kong.

I was in Kowloon, Hong Kong from Wednesday through until Sunday helping with a international school sports tour. 70 of our young sportsmen and women versed Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam and Hong Kong in what would be the third annual tournament of its kind.

It was such an emotional couple of days with countless triumphs, a few defeats, laughter and tears. My highlights were the basketball and netball finals - who knew a school sports game could be so gripping!? I was on the edge of my seat until our teams claimed victory in the last few minutes, resulting in a deafening roar from the rest of the students supporting.

My other highlight was during the prize giving, just as Hong Kong was announced as the overall winner. Instead of acting disappointed or groaning as most teenagers (and lets face it, most adults) would have done in not winning the gold, our teams immediately stood up to give Hong Kong a standing ovation. Completely gracious in defeat.

I think back to how I behaved aged 11-14 and I cannot even begin to compare to how these kids are. The camaraderie, sportsmanship and friendships that developed over the few days were clear to see and the students have all returned to Singapore standing that little bit taller. I was blown away by how respectful each student was throughout the trip and well they conducted themselves. It was incredible to be part of the tour and I feel so proud to work for a school who's students are such well-rounded and mature individuals.  

Before the kids arrived a colleague and I had one free evening and the best part of a day to enjoy and explore Hong Kong. We caught a boat from Kowloon to the Island where we ate the most delicious dinner at the Caprice Bar in the Four Seasons Hotel. We chose 'a little bit of everything' cheese platter along with a selection of tasting wines and port.

Once our bellies were full we headed over to the Mid-Levels. The Mid-Levels is a 3km walkway/escalator system running up the side of Victoria Peak. Apparently the escalators travel downwards in the mornings to take commuters to work, and then up in the evenings to take them back again. All along the walkway are cool bars and restaurants with people spilling out of the open doors on to the street. As it's Halloween at the moment, everywhere was decked out with pumpkins, cobwebs and bats. The whole experience of Hong Kong was a far cry from Singapore. Hong Kong felt grittier, more authentic and had heaps of history and character.

The following day we pushed our hangovers to the backs of our minds and trekked for two and a half hours along the Dragon's Back Trail. The views were out of this world - with grassy mountains, the endless ocean and then the juxtaposition of skyscrapers in the distance. The sun warmed our skin and para-gliders floated around above us. It felt so far removed from the hustle and bustle of the Mid-Levels or the fresh food market we'd visited the day before.

We ended our trek at Big Wave Bay and cooled off in the sea before heading back reality - AKA, 70 tired but excited students who had just arrived at the hotel.

I've come back to work this week completely exhausted, but with a new lease of life. I learnt such a lot in the short time I was in Hong Kong and I'm going to remember those few days forever.

The Gili Islands - 3 days in paradise

A couple of Phil's friends have been over in South East Asia so Phil and I made the most of them being this side of the world and had a little holiday ourselves.

They flew into Singapore first, so we did what I've been looking for an excuse to do in months and took them to Club 55 to devour plate after plate of cheese and chocolate. Club 55 is so reasonably priced at $48++ for all-you-can-eat. This time was even better than the last as they had a huge wheel of raclette bubbling away onto little individuals portions of fried potato croquettes, pickles and salad. Food heaven.

Not that anyone would need another reason to go there, but the view at Club 55 is also pretty special. It's on the 55th floor (if you hadn't already guessed) of Marina Bay Sands Hotel and I love seeing the expression on people's faces when they see the bay from a height for the first time.

After one night in Singapore, Phil's pals flew off to Bali whilst Phil and I counted down the days until the weekend when we were to head over to the Gili Islands to meet them. We were up at 3am Saturday morning to catch our flight to Bali where we then caught a taxi and a boat over to our first stop - Gili Air.

Advice for anyone travelling from Singapore to the Gili Islands: Don't do it this way as it's a right faff. Instead fly from Bali to Lombok then hop on a quick boat to the Gilis. We arrived a bit stressed and tired after around 10 hours of travelling, but any bad feeling melted away instantly the minute we arrived on the island.

The first thing I noticed was that there are no motorised vehicles anywhere. Instead of cars and motorbikes, everyone gets around by walking, horse and cart or bicycle which meant the whole island was quiet and peaceful. The other thing I noticed was that as there aren't really any street names. Instead the island is filled with colourful painted signs nailed to poles at the side of the streets directing visitors to the nearest villa, bar or beach.

I was expecting the Gilis to feel a bit like Bali, but it's different kettle of fish altogether.

We stayed at a place called H2O Yoga which was a lovely, idyllic little air bnb full hammocks and very fit looking yogis! Unfortunately we ran out of time to do any yoga or meditation practices, but I'd recommend H20 Yoga to anyone staying on Gili Air - yogi or not.

We spent the first afternoon on the beach and in various bars; finishing the evening with a delicious rendang curry (me) and nasi goreng (Phil) and an early night before a day of diving on Sunday.

The Gilis have got to be THE best diving I have done. We saw black and white tipped reef sharks, hawksbill and sea turtles, rays, trigger fish, unicorn fish, parrot fish and about a hundred other types. The visibility was about 20 metres and it felt incredible.

We were on such a high after diving (and the espresso martinis we had afterwards) that we then spent the rest of the evening dancing and singing along to a band called Old Town who were playing in one of the restaurants. Old Town are one of the best live bands I have ever seen or heard (sounds like an overstatement, but I'm not kidding)! I don't remember how many drinks were drunk, but I do remember feeling zero embarrassment when dancing barefoot in the sand in front of a restaurant full of people for hours on end.

Old Town

We met the guys on Gili T the following morning - just a 30 minute, $4 boat ride away. Gili T has a slightly different vibe; a younger crowd, a little busier, and a few more loud bars and souvenir shops. Someone summed the three islands up perfectly: Gili Meno is perfect for honeymooners, Gili T is perfect for young backpackers, and Gili Air is a perfect combination of the two.

We spent the day snorkelling in the crystal clear waters and spotted another huge sea turtle just 20m out from the shore.

We rented bikes and cycled the whole circumference of the island, stopping on the west beach to watch the sun set and take a few obligatory swing photos...

Sunset swinging

We didn't meet the couple that own the air bnb we stayed in on Gili T, but it was so beautiful and their bio has inspired Phil and I. The owners are an Austro/Italian couple who upped sticks and left Europe, and moved to the Gilis to start their air bnb - Rumah Cahaya.

It just shows; when the 9-5 job (or more likely, 8-6 job) and city life ever gets too much, there's always an option to leave it all behind to lead a relaxed life on a little island in paradise.

Diving in Tioman

Day 1 - morning
After a 5 hour bus ride and a 3 hour ferry ride we arrived on Tioman island, Malaysia at 4am.

I'm writing this on the boat at 9am, after only 3 hours sleep. I feel half dead but am so excited for diving this weekend!

Day 1 - evening
We just got back from our first day of diving. Four dives today around Paya Bakau, Renggis and Genting; the last one being a night dive! The night dive was actually a bit spooky as I couldn't see anything other than where my torch was pointing.. Had some issues with my mask being a bit steamy on that one too which didn't help!

Earlier in the day we did a bit of peak performance buoyancy, drift diving and fish spotting. We spotted a 1.5m black tipped reef shark which was awesome! 

The only slight issue today was that there are 8 people in our group, four of which hate sticking to formation and kicked me in the face a few times.

Off to bed now, another early start and 5 more dives tomorrow!

Day 2 - evening
Such an amazing day! Went to some incredible dive sites (La Bas, Malang and Soyak) where the reef looked like someone had come along and turned the saturation up on everything. We saw loads of blue spotted ray, giant moray eels, barracuda, angel fish, clown fish, bat fish, bumpheaded fish, cornets, file fish, trigger fish and best of all - a 1.5m hawksbill turtle. It took my breath away... which isn't the best situation to be in at the bottom of the ocean. 

We also did some basic navigation; practising using a dive compass and dive computer. I've learnt to maintain perfect buoyancy upside down now too which is fun, especially when looking around all the nooks and crannies of the reef.

Bed now. 6.30am start tomorrow for our final 2 dives.

Day 3 - afternoon 
I'm on the coach on the way back to Singapore. We did two dives this morning: the Sipidan Wreck and another leisure dive at Renggis. The wreck was cool, we went down to 25m and swam around fish spotting, although it was pretty murky down there - maybe 2 metres visibility max.

It's been a great weekend and Phil and I are now qualified Advanced Open Water divers - hurrah! Someone was telling us about a war ship wreck in the Philippines where you can see the bomb craters and dive down through them into the ship! I think that's out next dive trip sorted already!!

A birthday in Bintan

We spent two days, two nights on the Indonesian island of Bintan, just one hours ferry ride from Singapore. 

We arrived at our villa - Trikora Beach Club - quite late, so aside from a few fairy lights winding their way around the palm trees, our surroundings were completely dark. We went to bed and the next morning I woke up another year older with a big, fat smile on my face. We were staying in a little hut right on a long stretch of deserted beach. The skies were blue, the sea was calm and it was perfect. 

Trikora Beach

We spent the day drinking champagne and paddle boarding - absolute bliss.

A friend had recommended that we check out a fishing village and the fireflies whilst we were over there. Just before sunset, we headed out on a little boat with a guide who showed us the different fishing boats for sting ray, squid and tuna, and told us how the tuna fisherman would head out to sea for ten days, collect their haul, then spend another ten days travelling back to sell the fish at market, before repeating the whole journey again.

Our guide also pointed out a row of houses on stilts in the water who belong to what he termed 'Sea People'. The Sea People are the fishing families who maintain old Bintan traditions; living on the sea, fishing without any modern technology (such as GPS), collecting rain water for washing and drinking, using petrol generators for electricity and teaching their children to become fisherman as soon as they are able instead of going to school. Their homes in the little village were beautiful and it was fascinating to hear how differently and separately they lived to the other land fisherman. 

We continued on the little boat towards the mangroves, and as we did so, the sky was set on fire by the sun. I've never seen anything like it.

We continued up the mangrove lined river and as darkness fell, the trees around us began to flash. Thousands of little green and yellow fireflies were signalling to one another and it was as if we were surrounded by rows of Christmas trees. It was so pretty and peaceful, and as we returned back down the river it felt as though we had seen something magical. 

Bintan was the perfect birthday retreat, and I would definitely stay at Trikora Beach Club again. The staff at were so friendly and welcoming, and they even made me a huge cake and gathered around to sing happy birthday to me in the evening.

Happy birthday to me!

My only negative is that they only stock Bintang beer, so if you're a wine or cocktail drinker like me you'll have to bring some bottles along with you or be left a little thirsty.

For anyone living in Singapore - Bintan is such a quick and easy place to get to and it's definitely the place to go if you're looking to relax and get away from the built up city for a day or two.  The only thing to watch out for is the expense - it's similar pricing to Singapore so if you'd prefer a cheaper villa, drinks and dinner you'd be better off heading further afield to Bali, Krabi or Phuket!

Four days in beautiful Bali

This week we went to Bali. Two nights in Seminyak and two nights in Ubud. I can say without hesitation that Bali is the most beautiful place I have visited in Asia and four days was definitely not long enough. Every Balinese person we spoke to was friendly, warm and welcoming; every restaurant or bar we went to served scrumptious (and cheap) food and fun cocktails; the two villas we stayed in were perfect and both towns had this wonderful dichotomy of old art and architecture mixed with the new, trendy and modern. 

Seminyak has such cool places to eat and everywhere was buzzing at breakfast, lunch and dinner. We had three stand-out meals in Seminyak - the first was brunch at Sisterfields which a couple of friends had recommended to us, and if we had more time I'm sure we would have eaten there again.

Braised short rib, brisket and black
bean chilli @ Sisterfields

We also had a great brunch at a place called La Lucciola which had beautiful views of the ocean and the morning's local fisherman casting their rods from the shore.

Brunch with a view

The final one I have to mention is the dinner we had at La Laguna. Getting there requires a short taxi ride as its not on the main strip, but well worth heading the extra distance. Phil and I had never been to a restaurant like it - the place was right on the lagoon with lots of floor seating, old carriages, statues, bridges and rivers running through the middle. We had a great cocktail there called 'Herb & Spiced' which we need to recreate with vodka, chilli, lemongrass, basil and lime. The Balinese seem to use basil in almost everything and it's something we are definitely going to take away with us - especially as we now have a little herb garden growing on our balcony in Singapore!

We only had one full day in Seminyak which we used to lie on the beach and surf. Phil was amazing and stood up almost immediately, I on the other hand was not so good, and probably managed to stand up for about half a second in the two hours we were out at sea...

I annoyingly wacked my head whilst surfing and got a bit nauseous and headachy after that - was then very unwell when we reached Ubud the following day. Popped in to the medical centre (as now seems to be tradition whenever I'm on holiday) and was prescribed some meds to get me better. A day was wasted, but luckily I felt completely well again for our final half day in Ubud so Phil and I hired a taxi driver and went to the Sacred Monkey Forest Sanctuary, the Tengenungan village waterfall, and the Jambe Asri coffee plantation. 

Being in the Monkey Forest felt like being in The Jungle Book. The trees and ancient statues were amazing and we are really glad we went.

The coffee plantation was also well-worth the visit. We each tried lots of local teas and coffees before having a cup of Luwak coffee. Luwak Coffee comes from beans which have first been eaten and excreted by a mongoose, before being dried, roasted and ground. Sounds a bit gross but something about the fermentation in the mongoose stomach makes great coffee, and it was one of he best cups of coffee I've had.

Luwak Coffee 

We want to spend more time in both Seminyak and Ubud, and also head to the Gili Islands and do some more diving. It's a fairly short flight from Singapore (2.5 hrs) so we are hoping to find a weekend in the next few months to pop back!

It is such a beautiful, relaxing place and there is so much more we still need to see.