24th April 2011
Bunaken Village Resort
Bunaken, Sulawesi
02.12 AM
The jet lag is kicking in and I have just woken up and can’t get back to sleep. It didn’t help that a coconut has just fallen on our roof and it sounded like a bomb had gone off! It’s just gone two in the morning Easter Sunday here while I am guessing it is still Easter Saturday in England and St George’s Day? Actually, I just realised that depending on what time you are reading this and when I get internet connection to post this on the blog, I best get my various greetings out of the way now:
Happy St George’s Day!
Happy Easter everyone!
Happy Easter Bank Holiday Monday!
We are in a predominantly Christian part of Sulawesi - lots of Easter messages in the streets and there is a gigantic cross in the mountain so not quite sure whether Easter will be celebrated here in some way today. I hope so. There is nothing like a religious festival for a good celebration!
Bunaken Village Resort is in Bunaken (strangely enough!). We arrived late afternoon yesterday from Singapore having used four modes of transport to get here. All we needed was a horse and cart and we would have done the full set having got to Changi Airport by tube, we flew into Manado, then got to Manado harbour by car and then a speed boat to here.
‘Speed boat’ makes me sound like Jackie Onassis but I bet she never had to hoik her trousers up, put her sea booties on and walk 500 metres to shore because the tide was too low for us to be dropped off nearer the beach! Oh the glamour. Speaking of which, dinner on Friday night was at a Japanese restaurant (the name of which escapes me) at Clarke Quay by Singapore city harbour. It is clearly where Singapore’s bright young things (and tourists) hang out and as it was only a 5-min stroll from our hotel, we thought we would join them. A nice area but again, all a bit too clinical and built up for my shabby chic taste but good to visit all the same.
Anyway, back here in Bunaken we shared the boat trip with four other tourists, the owners of the resort, their impossibly cute baby girl and a load of food supplies. I bet Jackie O never shared her speed boat rides with fresh tuna and various bits of fruit. At least we got to see how fresh our food is. Dinner was delicious so they are clearly shopping in the right place.
The resort seems pretty informal and laid back and nicely laid out. Mat and I have been eyeing up their outdoor lighting already for our garden!. It is not as big as I thought it would be (their website makes it look a lot larger) but I think we’ll be ok here for a few days. It is very chilled although that’s about the only thing chilled here as it’s hot, hot, hot. Lots of nationalities here ranging from Americans to Dutch folk.
Mat is beyond excited to be scuba diving again. We were greeted by a turtle as we were waiting to go on-shore so I think we will be ok for seeing some amazing marine life here!
Getting tired now so bonne nuit and all that. Over and out.
24th April 2011
Bunaken Village Resort
Bunaken, Sulawesi
18.13
Just waiting for dinner at 7. I have had a very lazy day today where I have spent most of the day napping. I think it’s a combination of jet lag, fatigue from the heat and just general laziness on my part! I am on holiday after all!
Bunaken Village Resort
Bunaken, Sulawesi
02.12 AM
The jet lag is kicking in and I have just woken up and can’t get back to sleep. It didn’t help that a coconut has just fallen on our roof and it sounded like a bomb had gone off! It’s just gone two in the morning Easter Sunday here while I am guessing it is still Easter Saturday in England and St George’s Day? Actually, I just realised that depending on what time you are reading this and when I get internet connection to post this on the blog, I best get my various greetings out of the way now:
Happy St George’s Day!
Happy Easter everyone!
Happy Easter Bank Holiday Monday!
We are in a predominantly Christian part of Sulawesi - lots of Easter messages in the streets and there is a gigantic cross in the mountain so not quite sure whether Easter will be celebrated here in some way today. I hope so. There is nothing like a religious festival for a good celebration!
Bunaken Village Resort is in Bunaken (strangely enough!). We arrived late afternoon yesterday from Singapore having used four modes of transport to get here. All we needed was a horse and cart and we would have done the full set having got to Changi Airport by tube, we flew into Manado, then got to Manado harbour by car and then a speed boat to here.
‘Speed boat’ makes me sound like Jackie Onassis but I bet she never had to hoik her trousers up, put her sea booties on and walk 500 metres to shore because the tide was too low for us to be dropped off nearer the beach! Oh the glamour. Speaking of which, dinner on Friday night was at a Japanese restaurant (the name of which escapes me) at Clarke Quay by Singapore city harbour. It is clearly where Singapore’s bright young things (and tourists) hang out and as it was only a 5-min stroll from our hotel, we thought we would join them. A nice area but again, all a bit too clinical and built up for my shabby chic taste but good to visit all the same.
Anyway, back here in Bunaken we shared the boat trip with four other tourists, the owners of the resort, their impossibly cute baby girl and a load of food supplies. I bet Jackie O never shared her speed boat rides with fresh tuna and various bits of fruit. At least we got to see how fresh our food is. Dinner was delicious so they are clearly shopping in the right place.
The resort seems pretty informal and laid back and nicely laid out. Mat and I have been eyeing up their outdoor lighting already for our garden!. It is not as big as I thought it would be (their website makes it look a lot larger) but I think we’ll be ok here for a few days. It is very chilled although that’s about the only thing chilled here as it’s hot, hot, hot. Lots of nationalities here ranging from Americans to Dutch folk.
Mat is beyond excited to be scuba diving again. We were greeted by a turtle as we were waiting to go on-shore so I think we will be ok for seeing some amazing marine life here!
Getting tired now so bonne nuit and all that. Over and out.
24th April 2011
Bunaken Village Resort
Bunaken, Sulawesi
18.13
Just waiting for dinner at 7. I have had a very lazy day today where I have spent most of the day napping. I think it’s a combination of jet lag, fatigue from the heat and just general laziness on my part! I am on holiday after all!
Mat had a couple of dives this morning where he saw a number of large turtles, various fish and nudibranch - he asked me to write this, so I haven’t gone all Jacques Cousteau on you. I may be tempted to go snorkelling tomorrow as it’s meant to be awesome.
We had a wander down to Bunaken village earlier where the people were super friendly. Lots of very cute smiley kids and their parents saying hello. As it’s Easter there seems to be lots of festivities going on. We watched a ‘sports day’ like event going on at a local school where the children were going mad cheering each other on during a ‘fetch the balls into the box’ game where the winner is the one with the most balls in his/her box. As in any sport, there’s always the one who’s really slow and comes last and I was cheering him on but he was hopeless. And ever so slow. Never mind, it’s the taking part and all that.
I am getting the impression that some of the Indonesians we are meeting are not quite sure what to make of me. I think some of them think I am Indonesian and expect me to say something Indonesian and are disappointed when I don’t, whilst others think I am a bit of an oddity with my close crop and oriental features. And Essex accent. Odd bod or what?
It is very much like some parts of the Philippines here and the language sounds similar.
We had a wander down to Bunaken village earlier where the people were super friendly. Lots of very cute smiley kids and their parents saying hello. As it’s Easter there seems to be lots of festivities going on. We watched a ‘sports day’ like event going on at a local school where the children were going mad cheering each other on during a ‘fetch the balls into the box’ game where the winner is the one with the most balls in his/her box. As in any sport, there’s always the one who’s really slow and comes last and I was cheering him on but he was hopeless. And ever so slow. Never mind, it’s the taking part and all that.
I am getting the impression that some of the Indonesians we are meeting are not quite sure what to make of me. I think some of them think I am Indonesian and expect me to say something Indonesian and are disappointed when I don’t, whilst others think I am a bit of an oddity with my close crop and oriental features. And Essex accent. Odd bod or what?
It is very much like some parts of the Philippines here and the language sounds similar.
Dad - Bunaken village reminds me a little bit of some parts Manaoag but smaller.
We didn’t see any local restaurants or bars in the village so food and drinks wise it looks like we are the captive guests of Bunaken Village Resort for the moment but not really fussed as the food is delicious here. Speaking of which, best post this and fill my belly. Mat has now stopped chasing lizards on our porch and taking pictures of snakes and has passed out on the hammock. Best wake him up for feeding time at the zoo.
We didn’t see any local restaurants or bars in the village so food and drinks wise it looks like we are the captive guests of Bunaken Village Resort for the moment but not really fussed as the food is delicious here. Speaking of which, best post this and fill my belly. Mat has now stopped chasing lizards on our porch and taking pictures of snakes and has passed out on the hammock. Best wake him up for feeding time at the zoo.
2 comments:
Greetings from Barbados! Keep up the reports as they are our daily read over breakfast. Great to hear you're having a fab time. Kps
Hello you glamourous pair! Fantastic to hear from you :-)
I was just thinking about you two and hope that you are having an amazing time. I am sure you are - you can't really fail not to in sunny Barbados! Look forward to catching up soon. Take care both! V&M xx
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