Cooking on Bantaian Island

Santa Fe is a small town on Bantaian Island. There are couple of nice resorts with bungalows on the beach, restaurants and local shops. Most of the people live here not from tourism but from the sea what is perfect for those who love to eat fresh seafood. One of the best places for it is Tristana Restaurant. The small place with food and accommodation run by Nancy and her friends. The restaurant is built just on the beach where the fisherman boats full of seafood used to come back in the late afternoon from the sea. In the menu there is nothing more than ordinary dishes so you have to ask Nancy about some special. Do not ask about it too much. Just let Nancy do her best. Two guys working in restaurant are fishermen and they know what is the best from the sea and how to cook it.

That day we came to Tristana earlier to assist in everything from the beginning. Boys went fishing in the morning so we went with Nancy by the car to next town to buy some additional ingredents on the market. Just after we had came back the fishermen boat full of different creatures was on the shore in front of the restaurant. We decided to cook just on the beach. It was amazing! Tropical island, white sand, fisherman boats. It looked like some fake play arranged for tourists but it wasn’t at all. We just had a dinner on Bantaian Island with Nancy and her friends.

It was the best food ever!!! Mussels fried with cheese, steamed huge crabs, raw fish salad, baked bananas and sweet potatoes, scallops, shrimps, squids…just king size dinner in the beautiful place with charming people. I am sure it was the best in our long travel may be not strange food but the extremely tasty. I would like to recommend for everybody Tristana Restaurant run buy Nancy as the top sea food place in Philippines. But remember you have to ask about special set. It is worth any money.

Tristan's Bar & Restaurant

Santa Fe, Bantaian Island

The Secret Island

On Bantaian Island life is going easy and slow, especially for tourist. In the afternoon You lie in the hammock under the humming coconut trees. The beautiful sunset is coming. Along the white sandy beach some philippinos kids playing in the water. On your right handthere is a fisherman village on your left is also fisherman village and on the back is your nice bungalow where your friends are playing on the guitar drinking excellent local rum.



You can think that something is wrong. Beach, sea, weather, people, food and price of big bottle of rum are just perfect! You are in the best place for holiday on earth and there is only a few tourists on the whole island. Everybody are on Bali, Boracay and Phuket looking in overcrowded resorts for what you have just got. It is nice to have that kind of secret. So please do not advertise that place. Just come here for a week or two and enjoy that small paradise lost somewhere on Visayan Sea.

We are swimming during the amazing beautyfull sun set. Tommorow we are invited for fishing and lunch to our friends restaurant-Tristana (next post).

Shenzhen

The photos from one day trip to downtown Shenzhen.

Shenzhen (Sham Chun or Shamchun in old documents) is a sub-provincial city of Guangdong province in southern China, located at the border with the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. Shenzhen is a center of foreign investment and since the late 1970s has been one of the fastest growing cities in the world. It is also the busiest port in China. In the past two decades, outsiders have invested more than $30 billion in Shenzhen for building factories and forming joint ventures. (wikipedia)

The power of the Chinese economy. Golden skyscrapers, biggest mega malls, luxurious brands.

bigness

business

power, fear

frustration

and loneliness.

The one-time fishing village of Shenzhen, singled out by late Chinese paramount leader Deng Xiaoping, is the first of the Special Economic Zones (SEZ) in China. It was originally established in 1979 due to its proximity to Hong Kong, then a prosperous British colony. The SEZ was created to be an experimental ground of capitalism in "socialism with Chinese characteristics." The location was chosen to attract industrial investments from Hong Kong since the two places share the same language, dialect and culture. The concept proved to be a great success, propelling the further opening up of China and continuous economic reform. Shenzhen eventually became one of the largest cities in the Pearl River Delta region, which has become one of the economic powerhouses of China as well as the largest manufacturing base in the world. (wikipedia)

The Shenzhen citizens like to eat only fresh food. To encourage customers animals are store alive in the cages and containers with water in front of the restaurant. Everyone can make the best choice and be sure about what he will find on the plate after 15 minutes. It makes restaurant more like the pets shop but for Chinese it is the sign that they can afford exactly what they want to eat in the best quality. The guy in white with cigarette seems to be very satisfied after dinner in this place.

One of the ready to eat pet. They used to keep not only rabbits. You can find snakes, frogs, cats, and dogs, many kinds of birds, fishes, turtles and seafood as well. Big choice! Fresh stuff!

Come back to China. LONGGANG.

Abandoned mannequin and old wall with burning incense.

We have to wait 12 days in Hong Kong for the flight to Manila. After couple of days we feel jailed in micro size room in Mirador Mansion. City is like one big mega mall: extremely busy and dense. There is no sense to be stuck in one place. We are going back to China to visit the fastest developing city in the world: Shenzhen. wikipediaLike every time in China we do not know what is going on. Where we are going and who is waiting for us. We are in Shenzhen Special Economic Zone. The bus is full of people, nobody speaks English, we have a small piece of paper with some chinese signs (name of the place we are going). We came to Shenzhen in the morning but now it is getting dark and we still can't find the way to the place where our internet friend lives. The bus leaving the downtown and go faster and faster by the wide, four line highway into the darkness. Where are we going? After two hours the driver stops the bus opens the door and wave to us. We are getting off in front of new luxurious condominium where we are going to spend next few days in our friends flat. After long day of disorientation and craziness we are falling asleep.In the morning...we are in Longgang the satellite town to Shenzhen. The name means: city of dragon. It is an old chinese town in modern Shenzhen Economic Zone. In the old downtown we can enjoy our favorite places like stinky backstreets, food markets and dodgy restaurants without english menu.

Do you know what he is waiting for?

and now you know...

...but keep smiling like this hard working guy on the street in Longgang.

He is looking for a better place than a doggy market.In that shop they have gecko wine. Gecko is the small lizard printed on the label.

One of the best strange food we had in China. Fresh frogs meat in sweet and sour sauce with chili and spring onions. Excellent for breakfast.

Deep fryied baby bird on stick.

Pig on wheels.

Container for water made of basketball.

Pork laundry under the blue sky.

Hong Kong

Two months in China. Six thousand kilometers by train or bus. From the inhabited mountains on the border with Kazakhstan to Forbidden City. From the surreal Bozhou medicine market to Shanghai and more far south to the paradise valley of Li River. Every night in a different chinese hotel with all night ringing phone. Right amount of Tsing Tao (the best chinese beer) and some bottles of terrible rice vine much stronger than polish vodka. Culture shock every day: laydyboy show in the Kazakh Autonomous Region, spitting guy on your shoulder in the internet cafe, hidden, underground brothel houses in old hutongs in Beijing, every day diarrhea in a public toilet without walls between cabins, doggy market in Yangshuo.
But onthe other hand the most hospitable people during our travel like three charming angel girls from Guangzhou and their friend David who was keeping us 5 days in his little flat or everyday party in Yangshuo with crazy people from around the world and friendly chinese students (hi Iris!).
We made a decision. Good bye China. Let’s go to Philippines! Just take a flight from Hong Kong by really cheap Cebupacific Airways and try the nightlife in Manila, sandy beach on the tropical island and some strange food for sure. Hong Kong now!

Bruce Lee monument.

Halal food!

Lantau Island, near Hong Kong

Through the window of our room in Mirador Mansion. Kowloon.

our neighbours: chinese tailor, and indian dealers

and their girlfriends

siesta