Philippines & Malaysia

 Philippines

   I’ve heard so much about these islands and seen so many picture perfect postcard views of its islands that my visit was inevitable. So far, the best advice was; when you fly into Manila, fly out again! And boy, was that good advice. What a filthy, polluted city. And the traffic… It's basically a parking lot. I did spend a day and went to visit the old Spanish colonial section, called Intramuros. It’s walled off from the mayhem of the rest of the city and still has a few preserved colonial buildings. It was nice but if you’re really into old Spanish colonial towns, you’ll find better preserved ones in the new world, i.e. Mexico, Colombia, Peru, etc. 

   I flew out to go swimming with the whale sharks. It’s advertised everywhere. In retrospect, this experience foreshadowed what was in store for me for the rest of my time in the islands as well as highlighting the “get it now” mentality of most people / companies in the tourism industry. 

   In the early morning, you gather at the port and board these massive catamarans. There are multiple companies that go to the whale shark feeding grounds but, do you think that they’d organize themselves? Of course not. They all arrive at the same time, dump hundreds of tourists into the water, collect them after sorting them out and take them home. It’s absolute chaos. If the tourists are Chinese or Korean, then most don’t know how to swim, so they splash around in mild panic while trying to take their selfies. Why can’t the companies stagger their arrivals, say, in 30-minute increments? Because they all want to get there first. Oh and the whale sharks? You can’t see them because the water gets all aerated and murky from all of the furious kicking and they quickly swim away from all of the chaos that’s on the surface. Truly ridiculous. 

   Next stop: Siquijor, the island of brujas and voodoo! Didn’t meet any witches; didn’t really look for them. And truth be told, I didn’t feel any supernatural vibe. It was a pretty place, though. There were quite a few rivers that were set up for canyoneering. This is where you slowly climb up the sides of rivers, sometimes the river itself, then once you’ve reached the top, you float, drift, slide and fall down the river going back down. It’s a hoot until someone breaks a leg or an arm. Now that I’m slightly older and I emit grunts just trying to pick up a pair of socks, nah, no thanks. I was very content watching others do it. 

   Did some snorkeling. It sucked! The corals are mostly bleached out and dying. Tiny fish flit about and sea urchins are everywhere just waiting for a stray hand or foot to come their way to jab you. Later, I spoke with some divers who’ve been all over and they confirmed that it’s a worldwide phenomenon. Back in the day, any reef would have been teeming with fish and be a riot of color. Now, if it’s not bleached, then it’s on its way. Pollutants in the water, overfishing, algae blooms, it all adds up. But more on pollutants later.

   You know what? Let’s not wait. Let’s go right into it, pollutants on the island of Boracay. This is the postcard island that advertisers use to promote the Philippines: the white sand beaches, palm trees swaying in the breeze, water, every hue and color of blue. But this place got so over-developed so fast that they were killing everything off in the pursuit of the not-so-mighty peso. In fact, it got so bad that when the former president came for a visit and saw open sewage draining into the sea, hawkers all over the beach and shoddy construction mere yards from the water, he shut down the whole island. That’s right: the WHOLE island! Yep, the military patrolled all access points and he told everyone that they had to either fix or forgo. All temporary structures were to be removed; Buildings had to be at least 50 yards or so from the water’s edge; Sewage had to be treated… etc.. etc.. After 9 months or so, it reopened and what a difference it made. The beauty was restored.

   Alas, that was over 7 years ago and complacency has crept back in. Trash is starting to accumulate again and the most disgusting part is that the sewage still isn’t being completely treated. All along the shallows, green algae is blooming. The water isn’t very warm so it’s feeding off of sewage, and the tourists and kids were playing in it! Yech!! It was absolutely revolting. What I found even more revolting was the lackadaisical attitude of the locals. They didn’t care. They don’t swim so let the tourists have at it. They don’t comb the algae off of the beach, so it remains on the sand, seeping into it, slowly turning it green. All they want is to make a few pesos to buy booze or food or whatever, not realizing that they are ruining this beautiful place, and once it’s gone, so are the tourists and the dollars, pesos, yens, yuans… 

   The final island I went to was Siargoa. This is the surfer’s island and it does have some wonderful reef breaks. But this place is a snapshot of Boracay before it got shut down. It’s being completely overbuilt, without any planning or oversight. The power goes out almost every night and the water pressure is intermittent. (I’ll spare you the sewage observations.) However, since so many tourists are coming to this place, it’s build build build! The roads aren’t even paved. Hard packed dirt with potholes become mini ponds after the rains allowing mosquitoes to breed like crazy and then they wonder why outbreaks of Dengue Fever or other mosquito borne illnesses keep occurring. Yeah, that’s a puzzler, that one. This was my last attempt at liking and/or finding some redeeming quality to the Philippines and I was left lacking.

   Nearing the 30 day mark, I had to leave the country in order to not overstay my tourist visa. I looked at flights and the nearest, cheapest destination was Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. I planned on staying the weekend but…

Malaysia

   This place is a revelation. As I mentioned above, I wasn’t planning on coming here, pure happenstance, but am so glad that I did. Kuala Lumpur, as a capital city has all of the usual accoutrements, but for a south Asian city it’s incredibly clean. No graffiti, no trash. It’s quite pleasant. So, I decided to check out the rest of Malaysia and ended up staying 3 weeks. (Good thing I only buy one-way tickets.)

   After KL, as Kuala Lumpur is known, I went up to the island of Penang. I rode the train up the coast (and country) to Butterworth Station. (My now all-time favorite train station name.) Upon arrival, I uttered my first “wow” in regards to the country’s transportation system. As you exit the train, you follow signs and covered overpasses to the ferry boats that take you to Penang Island. It’s a 10 minute walk and you’re at the boats. No bus, no taxi, no street crossing… you just walk from train to ferry boat. Now that’s efficiency! 

   Penang was the original capital, specifically George Town, established by the British East India Co in the early 1800’s. The town had some nice features. It’s also a big attraction for expats who take advantage of Malaysia’s “second home” program to attract foreigners to come and live here. An investment or a property purchase gets you a resident’s visa and the cost of living being so much lower than North America or Europe, you bump into a lot of them.

   Then the recommendation of the nicest beach on the north shore, was a bit of a let down. Brown-green sea water, grainy sand with remnants of charcoal from the evening fire shows litter the beach, and the worst is that the warm water is festooned with jellyfish…yuck!! My personal nightmare! 

   After Penang, I headed south, past KL to the town of Malacca. This was established by the Portuguese in the early 1500’s and remained under their flag for about 130 years. It has a lovely river, bordered by cafes, boutique hotels, restaurants and a very vibrant Chinatown, with beautiful temples on every block. What a darling place! I really liked it.

   My second “wow” at the transpo system was upon my return to KL. I overnighted across the street from the main train station because my flight was early the next day. And to get to the airport, all I had to do was board an express train that takes you directly. 28 minutes! No muss, no fuss! Oh, and they have a monorail too. 

   So ironically, the place I really wanted to like, the Philippines, I didn’t and the place that I had no intention of visiting, Malaysia, I liked. Just goes to show you that when travelling, be open to every opportunity to explore. You just might discover something or someplace wonderful!