We’ve been back a full day and are feeling mostly recovered so I can’t procrastinate any longer. We got off to an early start last Monday, left the house at 6am, drove to Sharon’s who took us to Angouleme in time for our 7:30 train. We got to the airport around 10:45 and since the flight didn’t leave for another three hours, we figured we’d have loads of time to kill but French efficiency had other plans. Although we’d checked in the previous night, we still had to wait an hour before checking our bag. Then there was a long line for immigration and and even longer line for security so by the time we got through all that, we only had about 20 mins to kill before boarding. We found a bar, grabbed a drink and a sandwich and then got on the plane. While queuing to board, we were behind a very cute young Frenchman and as luck would have it, he ended up being our seatmate. I encouraged Will to strike up a conversation but neither party seemed interested in becoming friends so we didn’t interact much. We did notice that he ate and drank at breakneck speed so it’s just as well nothing happened since it would have been over in the blink of an eye.
We landed the next morning around 7am and breezed through immigration, collected our bags and then caught the express train to the city centre. We got a cab to Paul and Karmen’s flat and then had a quick shower before meeting up with them in town. They had just been to the registry office so were officially married when we met them for lunch, along with Paul’s mom Carol and Karmen’s mom Fannie and her husband Isaac. We hadn’t slept on the plane so were both a bit tired but still enjoyed a meal of dim sum that included a lobster meat dumpling, seasame covered pork balls and a number of other Cantonese specialties. Afterwards, we made our way to our hotel and slept for a few hours.
That evening, we met Paul, Karmen and Carol for dinner at a restaurant that was new to them and came highly recommended. It didn’t disappoint and qualifies as the best Chinese food I’ve ever had, the piece de resistance being Peking duck with the usual trimmings that was other-worldly. Also on the menu was wasabi beef, crispy pork ribs and lightly battered tofu. After dinner, Paul and Karmen went off to spend a little time alone so Will and I took the ferry to Kowloon which is part of Hong Kong on the mainland side. We walked along the promonade and enjoyed the great view of the city with all its skyscrapers lit up and then enjoyed a pint of Stella. We took the ferry back and rejoined Paul and Karmen at a Mexican place that has hundreds of types of tequilla. We had margaritas, then made a brief detour to our hotel to enjoy some of the local produce and then headed back to the bar. It was getting late so our hosts left us and although we considered finding a gay bar, it was nearly 2am so we contented ourselves with McDonalds instead. We had a bit of trouble finding a taxi to take us back to the hotel; one stopped but sped away when I went to open the door so this constitutes the first time we’ve been racially profiled.
On Wed, we had a list of errands to run along with some sightseeing. We were going to take the tram up to Victoria Peak but it was holiday that day and also, a holiday week on the mainland so the queue was staggeringly long so we decided to wait until Monday, our next sightseeing day. We both got haircuts that included a shampoo/scalp massage and both barbers were jedis with mine using scissors instead of clippers. He also used a technique that involved finding various points on my skull and then cutting according to his measurements and I don’t know how it worked but the end result was a near perfect cut. Afterwards, we decided to find a Pizza Express and it just so happened that we were standing about 50 metres from one so that was serendipitous. We did a bit of shopping in the afternoon: I found a cotton shirt for the wedding (€13) and we got a card to go with the wedding gift we’d brought along (various tins of fois gras and some Nontron cutlery). That evening, we had Malaysian takeaway over at Paul and Karmen’s that was very tasty and we also sampled a number of strong Belgian ales that Paul keeps stocked in the fridge along with a bit more local produce. We had an early start the next day so were back to the hotel and in bed by midnight or so.
A car collected us from the hotel Thurs morning around 6:30 after picking up Fannie and Isaac and we all met up at the airport with Paul, Karmen, Carol, Alex and Jasmine (Paul’s two kids) and Ivy, their housekeeper. The flight to Cebu, Philippines was uneventful and we were met at the airport by a team from the Abaca resort who greeted us with cool towels and bottles of water before taking us all there. This set the tone for the entire weekend in terms of the great service we received from all the staff there. As you can see from the pictures, the pool area is beautiful and the moment you sit down, you are given ice water and a cool face towel and these are changed every hour without having to ask. The Abaca is a boutique resort with six suites and three villas and most of these were taken up by the wedding party. It actually started as a restaurant and then grew from there and the reason for this success is apparent in the food they serve. The head chef is Australian so it’s mainly Western dishes such as pizza and sandwiches (including chicken salad and tuna melts) for lunch and a larger selection of mains for dinner. Breakfast is bountiful and they make the best Eggs Benedict I have ever tasted: the hollandaise is a perfect blend of butter, lemon and herbs; the eggs are cooked to perfection and served on top of crisp bacon and a very thin slice of bread. I only discovered it on the second day so sadly, only got to have it twice. Oh and they make great cocktails including mohitos (“I don’t think it’s a gay drink”) and frozen margaritas; plus, they had raspberry Absolut so Will and I indulged in a few of those too.
In the afternoon, after a bit of lunch Paul and I took the kids jet-skiing. I’d only done this once before but there’s nothing to it so Jasmine and I had a great time cruising around the bay. We went out for dinner that night at a Mexican restaurant called Maya, also owned by the Abaca, about a 45 min drive away. This was one of the few times we left the resort and the contrast between it and the outside world is stark. The streets are teeming with people using a variety of modes of transportation including foot, bicycle, scooter, car and bus. They also have loads of jeepneys, a converted jeep that holds about twenty passengers in the back and works sort of like a taxi. Traffic moves in a free-form manner to put it mildly with people using every available inch of the narrow roads. We passed a scooter holding a small family of three adults and a baby, people walk along and across the road so it’s chaotic to say the least. The restaurant was in the city of Cebu itself which doesn’t look much different to the area where we stayed except that the buildings are a bit bigger and constructed of more durable materials than the shacks that line the road near the resort. At the restaurant, we enjoyed more margaritas along with a great meal including pork ribs, ceviche, chicken burritos and some lovely sauteed beef. We had a drink or two back at the resort and then called it a relatively early night due to our early start.
Friday morning involved lounging around the pool for a bit and then a big group of us spent the afternoon on the boat. By this time, more guests had arrived including another gay couple, Jacob and Assan from Hong Kong and Thailand respectively. In addition to the wedding party and family, there were a few other friends bringing the total to 17 people plus four crew. The boat itself was long and narrow with bamboo outriggings for support and powered by an outboard motor. We left port and headed out to a reef where most of us went snorkeling. This was followed by sandwiches and beer while we went to our next destination, a small island with a sandbar good for collecting shells. On the way back, we had champagne and all was going really well until we got caught in a tropical storm about 30 minutes before arriving back. The boat is covered but otherwise open on the sides so very little protection from the wind and rain so we were all wrapped up in towels and shivering as we watched the lightening hit the shore only a mile or two away. We made it back and instead of going out to dinner as planned, had dinner at the resort. The restaurant is open to the public and was fully booked so they weren’t too happy with our idea but they made room for us as well as a number of others who arrived that evening.
The wedding was on Saturday and we mainly took it easy during the day. There is another resort called the Shangri La just down the road and it’s more kid friendly so I joined Paul, Karmen, Carol and the kids over there for a bit of swimming. This was all very nice except that I didn’t wear enough sun screen and got a light burn on my arms. Will suffered a similar fate back at the resort and although he applied liberal amounts of sun block, still managed to burn his forehead and legs although neither of us fared too badly. The ceremony itself was at 4:30 that day and although it was raining hard only an hour earlier, it cleared in time. It took place poolside with the bride and groom under the central canopy and the guests gathered around. I was Paul’s best man at his first wedding and I still regret the toast I made since I was in a bit of cynical place at the time. So to atone, I made a toast just after the ceremony and I’m pleased with it, keeping it short but sweet. Champagne was served even before the ceremony started and afterwards as well along with mohitos and margaritas plus appetizers. We then moved up to the restaurant for a sit down dinner, accompanied by a red wine called “Chat & Oeuf” which appeals to my punny side (although it translates to “cat and egg”, if said quickly, sounds like “Chateau Neuf”, a renouned French wine). The entertainment was a live cover band comprising six people including a male and female vocalists who were both very good. The dancing started after dinner and there were a handful of us doing tequilla shots + beer throughout the evening so I don’t have too much else to report. The one thing I do remember is that after the party started to wind down, a number of us ended up in the pool, drinking champagne which was most enjoyable at the time.
We awoke with sore heads the next day and it was all I could do to finish my Eggs Benedict. Our flight wasn’t until 8 that evening but thankfully, nearly everyone but us was able to keep their rooms so we didn’t have to go anywhere. Will and I lounged by the pool and after a nice lunch, felt a bit better but not well enough to go jet skiing again like Paul and Karmen did with the kids. The flight back was uneventful enough and we arrived back at our hotel in Hong Kong around midnight. The next day, Will and I did a bit of sight seeing, starting with a few street markets in Kowloon where were tried to find thank you gifts for our neighbours who were looking after the cats. Apparently, markets there are not like in France; we arrived at 11am and they were only just setting up so we wandered around for a bit and then took the subway to Lantau Island, famous for its Big Buddah statue and nearby monestery. It sits on top of a huge hill so you take a cable car from the subway terminus up there, enjoying some nice views along the way. Sadly, they built a very commercial faux village that you must walk through at the top so it detracts a bit from the message of austerity they were pushing in the monestary itself. Jacob mentioned that the monestary also has a restaurant that serves vegetarian food so we tried that and although it wasn’t the best meal we had, it was interesting and felt very authentic (not that I’m much of an expert on Buddhist monestary cuisine). It started to rain before we left so we took the cable car back but skipped the Victoria Peak tram as planned since we wouldn’t have been able to see much anyway. We stopped at a fancy supermarket near our hotel and got our thank you gifts along with a bottle of champagne to say thanks to our gracious hosts.
We spent the evening with Paul, Karmen and Carol at their place where Ivy cooked us a great meal of traditional Chinese food including scallops – a personal favourite. These were accompanied by sidecars, a cocktail similar to a margarita but made with Cognac. Thoughtfully, our hosts remembered that my birthday is coming up so they got a cheesecake and champage with which to celebrate so that was a nice surprise. Paul and Karmen came with us back to the hotel where we had a bit more local produce before saying our goodbyes. We got up around 6:30 the next morning and after a mere 24 hours, arrived back at home where two pusses were very happy to see us. They were very clingy at first but seem to have accepted that they weren’t permanently abandonded so are currently outside enjoying the nice weather.
In summary, it was a very enjoyable trip although it involved quite a bit of running around. Our favourite part was the resort and wedding although that’s no surprise considering how plush it was, along with the excellent staff and great company. The weather the whole time was largely overcast with some sun, always humid, with temps in the high 20’s / low 30’s during the day and not much cooler at night. Will wasn’t too impressed with Hong Kong, especially the smell (he calls it “Strong Pong”) since it’s such a busy place with loads of people. We were both most impressed by the transportation system which is easy, fast and efficient, especially compared to London. Also, I should mention that we both enjoyed flying Air France due to the excellent meals (relative to typical airplane food), friendly staff and copious booze. With our hosts being so generous, we didn’t end up spending too much with one small exception. We arrived at the airport and flew through security so with time to kill before the flight, decided to have a traditional pre-flight drink. We eschewed beer for screwdrivers and figured, since it was a rather swanky airport bar, the drinks would be expensive but nearly had a heart attack when we got the bill: €19 a piece for a double vodka + oj! The way we see it, this was a small karmic payback for not having to pay our way for most of the week. I guess we’ll know for next time.