All journeys in the Central Visayas region seem to lead back to Cebu City, and so we found ourselves there for one night as we prepared to leave the Philippines and fly onward to Vietnam. Similar to Manila, Cebu has an old fort to visit which now features some attractive gardens within its walls, as well as a fairly non-stressful vibe for a large city. We decided that the last order of the trip for the final evening was to have a semi-classy seafood meal overlo...

Sounds maybe like a new ride at Canada's Wonderland? This is what we dubbed Troy's opportunity to scuba dive with the thresher sharks off the coast of the tiny island of Malapascua. We travelled from Bantayan to Malapascua using our own perceived skill and strategy, and had a somewhat frustrating journey. After ferrying back to Cebu island, we got on a bus that was supposed to stop at the bus station in the town of Bogo. When we arrived in Bogo, the drive...

For this return to southeast Asia, we each invested in a filtered water bottle to try and cut down on all the purchasing of plastic water bottles. They weren't cheap, but Troy did some math and estimated that we could potentially save around $300 CAD over our 5 months by using our own bottles instead, in addition to the obvious bonus of cutting way down on our plastic use. Interestingly enough, we have found that a lot of places in the islands here have water c...

…remember that there is a reason why you are only paying $10 CAD per night (our cheapest private room with bathroom accommodation we have had in the history of our travelling.) It means that although you booked it because it was in the centre of town and you assumed there would be some transportation options to get around the island, you will in fact be quite limited, and will end up wandering the town looking lost and forlorn for 3 days straight. This Sa...

Cebu has an excellent bus service running throughout the island, and what makes it fun is that you simply flag down a bus whenever it is coming towards you. For a very reasonable fare, you get an automatic seat on the bus, a helpful conductor, and if you have managed a lucky flag-down, a bus that proudly boasts a loud 80s pop playlist up on the TV screens. We noticed this last year and we are seeing it again: this country is playing 80s songs, everywhere, all the...