TRAVEL AND LIFESTYLE DIARIES

There is not much information available about Sneek’s medieval water port or gateway (located in Sneek, Friesland in the north of the Netherlands). It was believed that the port was built around 1492 by an unknown architect and its primary function was to control the water flowing into the town. Back then cities and towns are built around thick stone walls for protection from enemy invasion, and in the Netherlands because of its quagmire topography, they make use of the water as moats, serving an additional line of defence. I saw this poem engraved on a block of stone, written in Fries by Marcel van der Meulen on the trattoir just beside the water port. Fries is a language spoken in the northern part of the Netherlands, primarily in the Friesland province where Sneek is a part of. It is a bit similar to Dutch of course so I can understand some of it (written but not spoken) but not all. Here is my meagre English translation (in Fries or Dutch they actually rhyme but not in En...

The road to Bantayan Island is long, and I mean really loooooooooooong. Unfortunately, it’s not one of the easiest islands in the Philippine archipelago to get to, perhaps, the reason why it appeals, well sometimes, to adventurous travellers like me. There are a few ways to get to Bantayan Island but they only come by land and sea. Bantayan Island actually has a small airfield and the reason why it is left to rot is, well, you can surmise, that certain individuals want some grease but helaas are not getting it. If the airport in Bantayan Island is further developed and opened commercially to the public, I am sure this is going to be the next Boracay. It has lots of potential. Anyway, we chose the land and sea combi option, which is the best choice as you get there faster. I think the drive from Cebu City to Hagnaya, San Remigio took about 4 hours. It’s amazing to see how traffic has developed in Cebu when back then there were very few vehicles on the streets, this was some 25 to 30 yea...

We stayed in one of the modest resorts in Santa Fe with the whole family. Bantayan Island is quite raw when it comes to accommodations and tourism as a whole, which appeals to me in an egalitarian way as I am quite tired of the same hotel-type exclusive resorts I see invading Mactan Island in Cebu. I don’t go for a holiday to lock myself up inside the resort (I can do this at home!), I want to explore the place. So we decided to do some little outing by checking out the capital of the island named after itself, Bantayan, and go for some ‘bulad’ (dried fish) shopping as well. The island is known as one of the largest dried fishes producers in the Philippines so me and my mom were quite excited for this little side trip. ‘How do we get there?’, we asked the woman at the reception of the resort. ‘By tricycle and it’s about half an hour ride.’ Funnily, the whole family kind of enjoyed the little tricycle ride. It’s one of those things that they rarely experience so it strikes a ...