Lantern festival 元宵节

Lantern Festival is celebrated on the 15th day of the 1st lunar month of the Chinese traditional calendar.

It`s the first important festival after the traditional Chinese New Year (Spring Festival), also the first night to see a full moon and it marks the end of the two-week New Year holiday period. During Lantern Festival people get together to celebrate the beginning of spring by watching lanterns, fireworks and eating Yuanxiao (sweet stuffed dumplings made of glutinous rice flour served in soup...quite disgusting to my taste buds ;)

You could think the war had started and somebody was bombing the city...Lantern festival in Rizhao is a hard-core celebration:

...colourful company floats all around the central park of town...




...masses of people...



...al kinds of snacks & drinks sold...



...balloons..more balloons :)




...fireworks (focusing on sound effects not the visual ones)all around...


and not so many traditional lanterns disappearing into the night sky!!! All I saw were these decoration lanterns.


For undisturbed and clear view of celebration ground...next morning it`s a pleasant relaxing walk :)

PHILIPPINES: Chocolate hills of BOHOL island

On one sunny day while on Panglao island we decided it was time to find the famous Chocolate hills heavily promoted as one of the top attractions of the Philippines, so we rented a motorbike and crossed the bridge to Bohol island.

Central street of Tagbilaran - capital of Bohol island. Typical tricycles cruising the streets painted with quotes praising God .."Jesus is alive" ..."May God be with us" .... some even having whole quotes from Bible nicely painted on!


First we pay tribute to an endangered species - tiny Tarsiers (primates the size of a human palm with huge eyes)...so cute!!! A philippino version of "chebursashka" :) In the Tarsier research centre there was even a picture suggesting that Tarsier might have inspired the character of Master Yoda from the "Star Wars" ;) What do you think?
Tarsier: sleeping :)

Tarsier: awake :) (those eyes!!!)



Jungle. Wild. Loboc river.


Jeepney ride: here`s an alternative to air-conditioning ;)


And now ladies and gents...CHOCOLATE HILLS!
No, there is no magical chocolate spring or , in fact, any chocolate... Their shape is something of Hershey`s kisses, so ...use your imagination ....that`s all the chocolate you `ll get there ...;)
Nevertheless, it`s not bad at all!!! :) Quite an amazing landscape!



Centre of Carmen town.
You gotta love the place names in Philippines... there`s Madrid, Valencia, Sevilla, Burgos... and many many alike.... feels so familiar :) (Love Spanish heritage!!!)


Market of Carmen. Among other kids there`s a true future heart-braker striking a pose ;)



And then there was storm..and we got stuck for 1,5 h under a roof by the road waiting and getting entertained by the kids going wild in the rain :)

Stormy weather presents a great opportunity to wash :)

Wet run!

Little beauties



Fighting the rain we made it to the flooded Sagbayan town...and whatever was still dry got all wet... I must say it`s quite chilly to ride a bike in wet clothes through the rain!


City hall :)


Fancy a bus ride? ;)


And...now it`s time to say goodbye to Philippines...
Tagbilaran airport: coolest airport experience ever!!! It`s a tiny airport (2 waiting rooms) packed with people enjoing 2h musical show.... good old songs... beautiful...relaxing and just cool!!! Philippinos are a true singing nation!



...thank you for flying with us (hope you enjoyed the "flight")......welcome (back) to CHINA :)

PHILIPPINES: house on ALONA BEACH :)

..arriving by boat to Jagna city port on Bohol island we were not sure which direction to continue - we had several options, but after asking around fellow travellers we opted for Alona beach on Panglao island..cause nobody had anything bad to say about it (nobody had been there ;))...

...and then we found THE SUN! :)
...and the perfect house on the perfect beach :)

That`s Panglao island :)
Red line = our motorbike trip approximate route
Swimming dude in the sea = Balicasag island
Sun on the coast = approximate location of Alona beach
Sun in the sea = approximate location of Virgin island

View Panglao island in a larger map


Alona beach is a great place for divers (not that I dive myself ;) as there are many dive resorts offering full range of dives. It`s also great for beach holiday (this i do :), some island hops (this I love) and snorkelling (this I did for the first time!)


The house on the left is ours: Peter`s house linked with Genesis divers
..right on the beach..
..swim as you get out..
..drink mango shakes whenever you feel like..
..snorkel right off coast..


Our room in da house :)

Home beach :)


And this is the very relaxed Alona Beach different times of day (most people come here for diving, so beach is far from being crowded ;)






After the sunset it`s night fun time...live music...dinners by the coast under the stars...tropical cocktails...beach parties...

Hawaii :)



ISLAND HOP-HOPS & SNORKELLING

BALICASAG ISLAND


..is told to be one of the best diving/snorkelling sites in Philippines for "macro" experience ;)
It`s a small island nice to wander around...and snorkelling is wow!!! :)

I had snorkelled for the first time in my life the previous day on Alona beach, so jumping into "God knows how deep" crystal clear blue water....

...and seeing the "live" wall with all those colourful creatures was surreal!!! It was a new amazing reef world for me - ALL ALIVE AND CONSTANTLY MOVING...small fish...big fish...yellow fish...blue fish.. violet fish...white fish...striped fish...Nemo...square fish...armies of sea urchins...butterfly fish...corals....squid...tiny fish...etc...AMAZING!!!

And that`s very happy & funny me on the reef :)...


And as I don`t really have underwater camera to show all the amazing things I saw...here is at least something (actually, very nice sea stars) I was able to capture in shallow waters in different places :)





VIRGIN ISLAND
This ring shaped VIRGIN island is a true natural beauty & miracle - tropical oasis in the middle of the sea!





EXPLORING PANGLAO ISLAND ON MOTORBIKE

And as usual the exploring is not complete if we haven`t rented a bike to find all the hidden gems...so we took one day to ride around Panglao island and here`s what we found..

...cool houses :) and countless villages


...breathtaking beaches in Doljo point area


...remote "postcard-like" resorts


...local youth


...different colours of schools uniforms in different areas of the island: from pink, to blue, checked and dark blue...


...sunset :)


Riding into the sunset...with almost non-existent bike lights



NEXT: Last chapter about Philippines..LITTLE PRIMATES, LITTLE KIDS and LITTLE FLOOD...again ;)