Rained Out, Yet Again...

Back at the home after a 30-minute walk back from the Denarau marina, on red carpets laid out exclusively for us by the fiery royal poincianas, we had kind of reconciled to the bad weather brought in by TD04...

A lamp shade in the lobby shaped like a nest...

Walking around the property, we toyed with the idea of having an early dinner or playing Uno, Scrabble or Rummy...

Oh dear, we forgot our deck of cards back home...

And here we are at the hotel shop, buying the playing cards...

The winds are fierce and the palms are swaying wildly...

Islands like these will face the brunt of climate change. Fiji already faced the brunt of Cyclone Winston in February this year causing massive devastation. Scientists do claim that the frequency of such storms will only increase with increasing temperatures and rising sea levels. And there is a horrendous possibility that island states like Kiribati will be completely wiped off the map of the world...

The rain stopped a bit, but the wind was too strong...

Buddha in Fiji!

The poolside...

Fijian men in their sulus...

A sulu is a type of kilt traditionally worn by Fijian men and women in Fiji and is regarded as national dress. It is basically a wraparound and is traditionally fastened by tying at the waist. 

Women's casual sulus are amazingly colourful and are known as sulu-i-ra, and more elegant full-length ones for dressy occasions are called sulu jaba. 

Men's sulus are known as sulu vakataga. Men's sulus, these days, may be fastened with buckles. Tailored sulus with pockets are commonly worn as part of Fijian men's business and formal wear, with shirt and sandals and optionally western-style jacket and tie. The sulu is seen as an expression of ethnic Fijian identity. While wearing a sulu is often mandatory for Fijians in traditional settings, members of other ethnicities are sometimes discouraged from wearing it...

A speedboat...

The wind doesn't seem to stop...

Settling down for dinner - that's what the "doctor" order for this cold rainy evening - a steaming hot tomato basil soup...

Seafood pasta...

And some vegetarian pasta...

And we have snorkeling on our plan tomorrow, we can only pray for a sunny day...

Mabuhay Manila!

Finally landed at Ninoy Aquino International Airport this afternoon and I am looking forward to an exciting but hectic week of meetings in Manila.

My introduction to what's happening in the Philippines began on the flight itself, with a quick roundup of news from the country and the papers were full of news on the President-elect, Rodrigo "Rody" Duterte, True to his "shooting from the lip" style, he reportedly threatened the media "Don't f... with me!"

China's aggressive posture is big news in the local media... 

And so is climate change, which is threatening the Philippines...

Indian food seems to be popular in Manila... 

Mabuhay!

The Philippine Airlines experience was nothing great to talk about. The incoming flight from Incheon was full but was relatively quiet, given the higher proportion of Koreans on board. The Filipinos, like us Indians, love to talk! And in many ways, I think that is a big positive from a social standpoint...

The leg-space onboard was terrible, and the food was absolutely uninspiring - in many ways it reminded me of the unappetizing fare that Air Sahara used to serve back home in India. The cabin crew was quite unfriendly and thankfully as I discovered later, Filipinos are indeed quite friendly - perhaps Philippine Airlines is an exception!

Landing into Manila was a great experience. Not only were the vistas from Up In The Air great, but equally exciting was the Plane Spotting at the airport, especially with the lovely livery of Philippine Airlines all around.

The Terminal 2 building reminded me a lot of the old terminals in Mumbai. Immigration was quick and super-efficient and bags rolled in, in about 10 minutes - but the conveyor belts and the trolleys were all creaky! But all over, all I saw were happy faces - really happy faces. Perhaps this is the infectious charm of the Filipinos!

Exchanging currency was quite fast and efficient - I am really impressed by the promptness of the ordinary Filipino. The Philippine peso bank notes are indeed quite colourful - the PHP 20 banknote features Manuel Quezon a president from the 1930s after whom Quezon City in Metro Manila is named. And the PHP 500 banknote features the power couple - Corazon "Cory" Aquino and Benigno "Ninoy" Aquino, Jr...

Ninoy Aquino, after whom the airport is named, was a senator who had put up a severe opposition to the dictatorship of Ferdinand Marcos. He had been sentenced to death by a firing squad but ill health had forced Aquino to seek refuge in the United States in 1980. After he recovered, he rallied expat Filipinos against Marcos and ended his exile in 1983. He flew in, into this airport on August 21, 1983 and just as he was being escorted off the China Airlines plane, he was shot in the head and died instantly on the tarmac. Despite convictions of the shooters, no one has actually figured out who ordered Ninoy Aquino's killing, and that too despite his wife, Cory Aquino, and son, Benigno Aquino III, both being presidents for a term each. This had given rise to conspiracy theories and speculations, which live to this day...

Watching the sun set over Manila!

The thing that delighted me most about Manila was that everyone spoke English here, impeccable English! There was no need for me to reach out for my phone and open the Google Translate app. Being understood and being able to understand is such a luxury - that's something I realised after living in Korea for the last 10 months.

The ride to the hotel was smooth and we passed by crowded and chaotic roads which is a lot like India! But there was a definite pulse to life as I observed it, despite being poor, people appeared happy which is a lot like in India.

The Filipinos seem to be productively "living" their lives, that's why the say Mabuhay or "live" as a greeting!

Jejudo - The Hawaii of Korea

And here we are at Jejudo, the Hawaii of Korea. Located nearly 100 kilometres off the south-western tip of Korea, Jeju island is a unique place. 

Jeju is a volcanic island formed by the eruption of an under-sea volcano 1.2 million years ago. The island has a humid subtropical climate, warmer than that of the rest of Korea. The good thing - winters aren't that harsh here. That's why most Koreans call Jeju their Hawaii!

Cute Korean kids outside the airport, waiting with their parents...

Given its relative isolation from mainland Korea, the islanders evolved a different culture over the centuries. The society in Jeju is matriarchal and speaks a different dialect of Korean. 

Jeju is also unique as it is a test ground for environment-friendly technologies. There is a proliferation of renewable energy generation, electric and CNG cars and electric charging stations all over the island. But the island lacks a viable public transport system forcing visitors like us to rent cars...

As we drove towards our hotel, we came across another enduring symbol of Jeju - dol hareubangs. The dol hareubangs are large rock statues found on the island and are considered to be guardian deities and are regarded as symbols of fertility. Dol hareubangs are carved from porous basalt and have distinctive features - bulging eyes without pupils and a long, broad nose. These statues were traditionally placed outside gates for protection against demons...

And I suspect Giorgio Tsoukalos of Ancient Aliens hasn't yet visited Jeju else he would have claimed that these are representations of aliens wearing a spacesuit who visited Jeju some eons back!

Politically Jeju is a self-governing province unlike other provinces and has a higher degree of autonomy. And the good thing for tourists is that Jeju is visa-free for most nationals except for those from a handful of countries - the usual suspects are on that list. So, I am told, when a foreigner (or an alien, as Korea officially terms us) travels from Jeju to the mainland, she has to show her Korean visa! We'll see that when we fly to Gimpo on Monday! Till then, we are here to enjoy Jeju!

Postcards From Paradise... Part V

With our incredible tour of the Rock Islands coming to an end, it is time to return...

Heading back towards Malakal...

The blues are so soothing...

Clouds start appearing on the horizon...

Another lovely rock island...

Rock islands are of varied sizes, some tiny and some huge...

Leiner predicts rain this afternoon...

Picture postcard perfect view...

When I see this beauty, these natural vistas that make you feel the peace, I wonder whether we humans have really gone wrong somewhere in our evolution that we actually act like crazed creatures...

As we were heading back towards Malakal, we came across a natural archway - the result of millions of years of erosion on a rock island...

The natural archway is west of the Ngeruktabel Island, where we had been earlier today, at the Milky Way Lagoon...

Indeed nature never ceases to amaze...

After this incredible day on the boat around Palau, the Rock Islands will always have a special place in our hearts and we pray that this ecosystem is preserved well into the future...