Archive for September, 2005

Stuck on the reef in Boracay

The last day of our stay on Boracay I decided to go sailing with Charlie one more time. We met up right after lunch, but made a small mistake with the tides. The low tide was quickly coming in and we had to hurry to get the boat off the beach and get out of the laguna. It turned out we really were too late and had to get the help of some local fishermen to get the boat into deeper water. About 10 minutes later we came to the reef, but here we really faced a problem. Some parts of the coral...
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Glass bottom boat

Boracay, Philippines - glass bottom boatOriginally uploaded by Marc van der Chijs. On Boracay I met a Dutch guy, Roland, who had quit his job in Holland a couple of months ago looking for more adventure than he had in his job selling roof tiles. So he used his savings to build a glass bottom boat in the Philippines and started a business on Boracay to show tourists the beautiful underwater world around the island. He designed the boat himself, and he did a good job. The boat had room for...
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Charlie

Boracay, Philippines - Ilig-Iligan Beach - Charlie, Marc and Caroline Originally uploaded by Marc van der Chijs. The most interesting person I met on Boracay so far is Charlie. I met him on our second day early in the morning at the beach. Charlie is about 60 years old, originally from Germany, and living full-time on Boracay. He lost his job in Germany 9 years ago, and because he could not find a new job he decided to move to Boracay. He bought himself a wooden (sail) trimaran, and now...
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Boracay

Boracay, Philippines - Qi on White Beach Originally uploaded by Marc van der Chijs. Sitting on the beach in Boracay now, looking at sailboats passing by and tourists arriving by wooden trimaran 'ferries'. A nice breeze, and very comforable temperatures (around 30 degrees). The first days here the weather was a bit mixed, sunshine mixed with an occasional rainshower, and also some heavy winds. But now the weather has become very nice, with clear blue skies. Boracay is a small island. I...
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The Manila Hotel

Manila, Philippines - Manila Hotel Originally uploaded by Marc van der Chijs. The first stop on our honeymoon was Manila. It was our first time here, and we decided to go for a classical hotel. We decided on the Manila Hotel. This hotel, founded in 1912, used to be one of the top hotels in Asia, and it is still quite impressive. But the service... We arrived around 10 PM due to a several hour flight delay and quickly checked in. We walked to our room, but were surprised that the key did not...
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Married!

Our marriage last weekend was a fantastic event. The whole thing actually lasted several days. My family and I arrived in Beijing on Wednesday and we left on Monday morning. In between we had numerous dinners, parties and of course the big wedding on Saturday. In total almost 130 were present during the wedding ceremony and dinner party. Almost half of them had flown in from all over the world (USA, Germany, Holland, Japan, HK, Singapore) to be with us on this special day, and we were very...
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Almost married

Off to Beijing early this morning for my wedding. The ceremonies (Chinese & European), dinner and party will take place this Saturday. Many of my friends have arrived already, so I am looking forward to meeting them later today. Likely there will be light blogging in the next couple of days.(for non-Chinese readers: the Chinese character next to this post is the 'double happiness' character that is used for weddings in China. There is even a cigarette brand using it as their name and logo,...
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Identification not required for mobile numbers!

A few days ago I wrote about the new regulation that would become effective on September 1 that says that you have to identify yourself when buying a mobile number (either pre-paid or subscription). Yesterday my sister arrived in China for my wedding, and I bought her a pre-paid SIM card at one of the roadside stalls. And guess what? We just paid the fee and got the number. No questions asked about identity. I asked the sales person, but he did not seem to understand what I was talking about....
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China Lifts ban on direct sales

(from the Shanghai Daily)China announced plans Friday to lift a seven-year-old ban on door-to-door sales and issued new regulations for the direct sales market in an effort to meet commitments made during its bid to join the World Trade Organization. China had promised to open the direct sales market by the end or last year prior to joining the WTO. The ban will end on December 1. Direct sales were banned in 1998 amid reports of rampant fraud and pyramid sales schemes. The ban came as a major...
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Bund Tourist Tunnel

My father arrived in Shanghai last Friday and we had dinner together at Sens and Bund. An exceptionally good restaurant: great location, beautiful interior, fantastic service, and the best Western food in Shanghai - but also one of the highest prices in Shanghai (3 courses plus wine cost us over 1500 RMB/person). As he stayed in the Grand Hyatt we decided to first have a drink at the river front in Pudong before heading to the Bund. To get from Pudong to Puxi you can either get a taxi...
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