TRAVEL AND LIFESTYLE DIARIES

Move over old English High Tea and make room for the new ‘Filipino High Tea!’ or ‘Filipino Afternoon Tea!’ whichever suits best during the time of the day =) When I am in Cebu I always stop by at Café Laguna for some Filipino merienda indulgence. My all-time favourite here is mangga (mango), puto (sticky rice) and sikwate (chocolate drink/dip from traditionally processed cocoa tablets). My family used to have this as breakfast during the weekends eons back when we were kids. Anywho, I was about to order the usual mangga-puto-sikwate fare when I caught sight of ‘Filipino High Tea’ for only Php 310.00 on the menu, good for 2 people. Here’s what you get for the Filipino High Tea: - A pot of ‘pandan’ tea with 2 cups - Mini ‘puto’ (rice bread) burgers with shredded chicken adobo - Mini banana turon covered with caramelized brown sugar and sesame seeds - Espasol wrapped in banana leaves - Mini ‘bibingka’ (rice cake) topped with kesong puti (white cheese) and itlog maalat (salted...

So we are staying now here in Mactan Island to escape from the chaotic civilization of Cebu. It’s time for the real holiday: a holiday at the beach The view from our hotel room when we woke up this morning and the morning after next and next and next... Relaxing view from our breakfast table at BE Resorts, Punta Engano, Mactan Island (Cebu, Philippines). Although Mactan Island is far from being the paradise island for beach lovers, it is the nearest place with holiday resorts that offer sun, beach, island boat hopping, snorkeling and diving from Cebu City. A few facts here: Mactan Island is actually a coral island and in the beginning there are hardly any white sands here, moreover beaches. What most resorts did was to reclaim the beach by hauling white sand from other parts of the region to the island. So whenever you are in Mactan Island, sitting on the beach and digging your toes under its white sands... do not be fooled. Remember, it is ‘artificial beach’ =...

The journey from Mali to Marbella; from Senegal to Sotogrande; for the promise of a better life... ‘When people save for the dream of going to Europe, they don’t understand the reality of the journey or life here when they arrive. The journey itself can be fatal. Some make it as far as North Africa, but the Spanish, Moroccan or Mauritanian security forces often intercept groups of men, load them in buses and then dump them out in the desert with nothing; many die there. If they make it as far as getting on a boat, some die of exhaustion or illness and there have even been cases when security forces have overturned boats and killed immigrants.’ Source: SUR in English , an English newspaper in Andalusia, Spain. Disillusionment – ´Europe is not the way we expected it to be' The article on SUR in English, an Andalusian-based newspaper. To read, please click to enlarge. Many of the African beach vendors are decent looking, they could easily hold normal jobs back ho...