008 – Singapore to Cebu, Philippines – Sin and Redemption

The last 24 hours have been full of ups and downs that have seen us plummet to the depths of despair on multiple occasions before miraculously rising from the ashes like the phoenix reborn. 

It all started Monday night when Britt flipped on the BBC news, five minutes after we’d checked in for our flight to Cebu, to scenes of Typhoon Megi rolling through the Philippines. After a frantic trip back downstairs for a little google maps and weather network.com (and to send reassuring emails to our parents) we were relieved to find that Cebu is well south of the effects of the storm.

The next bit of excitement came when Ciel had her first diaper change yesterday morning and I noticed strange blue particles clinging to her bum.  My first thought was that this was some exotic Southeast Asian disease, but her giggles told me otherwise.  Relief came when I remembered that two days ago Britt told me how she turned her back on Ciel  “for a second”, then turned back to find her chowing down on a brochure for Sentosa Island.  Ciel has been pooping little bits of Sentosa ever since.

Twenty minutes later while I was manoeuvering our ample baggage to the door to start our precarious trek to the MRT station, I heard , (clink,clink)...“Shit!”, from the bathroom.  Apparently, Britt had decided that this was the most opportune time to clean her wedding ring over an open drain. It was not.  As I crawled under the sink and looked at the antiquated trap my confidence that this was going to be a quick and easy task waned.  However, imagine my surprise when, with a little “light” torsion on the decrepit trap, the entire drainpipe from sink to wall (trap included) broke off in my hand.  I only had to sift through a hundred years of drain goo and an old penny to find the ring.  We were so excitied we forgot to take a picture, but here is a dramatic reenactment.

After lying awake at night sleeplessly worrying, Baggage Plan 2.0 (shipping our car seat home, then buying two carry-ons and cramming them full of all our heavy belongings to reduce our checked baggage weight and subsequent demoralizing fees) went off without a hitch. The girl at the counter didn’t even bat an eyelash at our 50 kilos of carry-on gear…do you hear the angels singing? 

Thus, we scoffed at Typhoon Megi, Ciel’s high-fibre diet, dilapidated plumbing and baggage restrictions to arrive safe and sound in Cebu.

 We are thoroughly enjoying it in the typhoon ravaged Philippines.

The beer is cheap, AND (some of) the women are naked.