Vacation

I just finished a nice two week vacation with my mom and sister. My mom arrived in Manila and she gave me a very brief time frame to show her around the place. My dad was much more generous and gave me several days to show him around the massive city but my mom planned for us to go to Palawan to visit the picturesque beaches instead. That's totally understandable since Palawan is probably one of the most beautiful places in the world and the tourism industry is not as developed as other beautiful spots in the world so it really is worth checking out now before the Minister of Tourism in Australia gets wind of the place.

The trip was overshadowed by a very unfortunate but perhaps inevitable event. My girlfriend and I broke up on the morning my mom arrived. It wasn't really good timing but I did my best to keep up a good face and not be too depressing. If she hadn't come I probably would have spent a couple nights drinking copious amounts of brandy on my porch but maybe relaxing on the beach for a week is a bit healthier.

After a brief one day tour of Manila my mother and I headed to Puerto Princessa on the island of Palawan. Puerto Princessa is a nice city but for tourists it is more of a jumping off point for more interesting places on different parts of the island. It's got its bar scene and a nice cathedral and locals are as warm and nice as in other parts of the Philippines. One aspect of Puerto that I noticed was the massive number of mixed couples with old/fat American guys and very young Filipino ladies. It's not that I have a problem with Americans dating Filipinos, Mary Joy is Filipina, but when I see a couple like that I can think of only two reasons for them being together. Either he is forking over tons of cash to keep her interested or he has (probably disingenuously) promised her that he's going to take her back to America. I'm not a fan. For those that are interested in the North-South dialogue than this phenomenon would be an interesting sociological topic to investigate but I'm not really in the mood right now.

My mother and I spent the night in Puerto and after some confusion met up with my sister at the airport. We all headed to fairly secluded and idyllic Sabang beach. I've complained before that I dislike beaches and while I lived in Hawaii I hardly ever went to the beach. It's not that I don't enjoy my time there but I'm just not crazy about beaches. As I sat on the beach of Sabang, trying to appreciate the beauty, I remembered the last time I had sat on a beach like this. It was in Mindoro when I first met Mary Joy and I couldn't help but be affected. My relationship seems to have begun and ended in what some would call paradise. I realized something at that time, I really don't care for beaches at all. It's not that I dislike the sand or salty water but what defines my vacations in my memory is not the places I visit but the people I am with. Pandan Island off the coast of Mindoro is a beautiful beach but the reason that I have such fond memories of it is not really because of the beach itself; it's where I first spent time with Mary Joy. My memory of Sabang is tainted with a bit of melancholy which adds the depth to the landscape but my memory is really of being able to see my mom and sister who I hadn't seen for so long. We had a good time: cruising an underground river, hiking to a waterfall, touring a mangrove, and even eating a woodworm from a dead log. It was all very enjoyable. Alexandra only stayed for the weekend and returned to do some work in Indonesia while my mom and I spent a little more time in Palawan before she eventually returned back to Pittsburgh. I was sad to see her go but I did have an enjoyable vacation and I was glad that we had the opportunity to check out Palawan together. Following her departure I headed to Jakarta to meet up with Alexandra and we headed up to Bali together.

My stay in Indonesia was way too short for me to formulate a decent opinion of the place. However, Bali is a fascinating place. It is the one island of the predominantly Muslim Indonesia that people practice Hinduism with some elements of Buddhism. It is an interesting mix of Southeast Asian, Indian, and East Asian culture. I only was able to see two towns of Bali: Kuta and Ubud. It's not a big island but you definitely need more than two days to explore the place. We were staying in Kuta because it is close to airport and so was convenient but I can't say Kuta is my favorite place. There are way too many Australians there. Just tons of hammered drunk Australian guys making fools of themselves. Before I went to Kuta I never took seriously when people complained about the negative effect of tourism on a place but now I understand. I am not blaming the Australians. I mean it is quite cheap to get drunk and the local people of Kuta don't seem to go to bars that Australians frequent anyway. There is however another sort of pernicious tourist that haunts the streets of Kuta.....hippies. When you first enter Indonesia there is a massive banner that reads: “Enjoy Indonesia without drugs, drug possession is punishable by death.” You would think that most people seeing that would be a bit deterred to buy any drugs there. Is smoking a joint in a country where you can get the death penalty for drugs really worth it? This uncompromising attitude of the Indonesian government does not seem to have made to Bali yet however. I was offered mushrooms or weed about almost every block in Kuta. I blame the hippies for this. I saw so many cheesy hippie couples apparently getting closer to their “inner spirit” in Bali. I shouldn't really judge. Politically I am probably not completely different than them but there is something disgusting about their attitude. Pittsburgh is not a hippie friendly city and I hope it stays this way. I have no problems if some people actually believe they are transporting themselves to a different spiritual realm with psychedelic drugs but just don't tell me about it because I know its bullshit. Drugs can change your point of view of things but they always wear off by some point and psychedelic drugs are only spiritually interesting the first few times you do them. The fact that people would come all the way to Indonesia, risk the death penalty, just so they can take some drugs and see a cool temple is beyond stupid. I have a lot of animosity for these people and also the Australians that think its cool to get hammered in a foreign country and denigrate the place and its people but at least the Australians are honest. They're just drinking and they don't have cheesy pretenses.

Now if I was to analyze the effect tourism has on Bali, it would be difficult since I was only there for two days but I can give a tentative answer. Bali has a fascinating culture and mix of religions. They weave beautiful cotton sarongs and if you can speak to one who is not trying to rip you off they seem friendly. The fact that there are so many people preying on tourists does not speak for the culture of the place but it speaks for the effect of tourism. It isn't really the Balinese people's fault that they are constantly ripping off tourists. It has become an imperative for survival and probably the island's major industry. The amount of tourists coming to Bali every year has pushed the Balinese to either find work in the service industry or a more informal way of cheating foreigners out of money. I don't really believe there is room for any other profitable activity. At the end of the day, I think that Palawan is much nicer to visit precisely because the tourist industry is not so developed.

I know it sounds like I'm complaining a lot but I did enjoy myself in Bali mainly because I was with my sister. It is very rare that I have a chance to hang out with her so I took this vacation as less an opportunity to go to a cool place but it was an opportunity to see my sister again.