The property adjoining our resort “Sea Turtle House” at Moalboal was for sale on a bargain.
Together with the owner of said resort we decided to invest in that land.
It is 3 ha with a road on the back side and the beach on the front, water and electricity available.
Here you see the resort and our new property just right of it. About right half of picture, starting from where I am standing with Lena.

We did not finally decide what to do with it.
Sea Turtle House may enlarge, in that case it is just an investment.
We may also decide to build a house there for renting out and occasional vacation in the Philippines and probably retirement (but that is still some years in the future).
Astrid was at first reluctant but after all it is “just” a high 5 digit CHF investment.

Our stay in the Philippines is nearing its end. Tomorrow will be our flight to Kuala Lumpur and 4 days later to Phnom Penh (another spelling problem)
Brotzer Family (Marlyn, Andre, Jadlin, Joe)

Before we left Bohol/Panglao I had to say goodbye to one of my oldest travel companions, sniff.
Glued it 5 times with 3 different glues but now I had to face the truth. Nothing I could do.
Last pics:

There are many stories to be told, for instance how to get a local SIM Card and how to set it up so that internet works.
It is not Kafkaesk but something words fail me to describe.
We also bought a play game for Lena as well, for just 30 CHF with a gazillion surely licensed game, camera, music etc. on it (CD-R KING). It actually would be almost the perfect thing but there is a catch. We had to go 3 times till we finally had a device where also the battery was working. The first time we went, not only the battery was broken but also the start button. Now the kids finally managed to play Biene Maya (Lena finished level 1, Ada Level 4) and as we speak the start button is broken again. Including the demo model that is the 3rd device where that happens. The kids are very sad.
Anyway, we went back to Cebu and had to prolong our Visas. 270 CHF and half a day were the investments (not including 2×100 Peso trousers rental).
We now have flights to Kuala Lumpur and 5 days later to Camobdia.

Cebu Jumalon Butterfly Sanctuary. Very few living butterfly but the guide was enthusiastic and it has a strange amateurish charm. There also is a museum:

From Cebu we went to Moalboal (West Cost of Cebu Island) Sea Turtle House Resort, where we are now.
Small, quiet and right at the beach. A nice setup. Just the room is somewhat sub-optimal. And we pay 54$ daily eastern surcharge!
We can go snorkeling right from the resort, today even Lena came to the riff edge and she now really uses here mask to see the fishes. At low tide the abyss is just about 50 meters from the shore line. We saw 2 big sea turtles flirting.

We need a tricycle ride of about 7 km to Moalboal:

Here the resort:

Negros in the background

Ada kriegt endlich ihre neuen Zähne.
Sinnigerweise tun ihr die Frontzähne nicht weh aber sie klagt sehr über ihre Backenzähne.

Lena am tauchen! Mit ihrer neuen “richtigen” Taucherbrille.

We are still on Panglao somehow not willing to move on.
Prices will soar here approaching eastern school vacation so we now fixed departure to 23.03 to Cebu.
We do not know if we prolong our visa (265$!!) or take a somewhat expensive flight at the 29.03

18.03 we went Snorkeling on Balicasag Island and had a coconut drink on Virgin Island.
Astrid and I even saw a turtle but the kids got out of the water quite soon as there were small jellyfish. We felt them too but it was Ok, for the kids it was too much.
The trip was pleasant. The only downside was that in the end the trip cost us double than just the boat with all the renting, entrance fee to the island, entrance fee to the snorkel area etc.

20.03 We rented a car with driver and made the Bohol “must see” tour

Yoda. This is not the best pic we have from the Tarsier but the one where the resemblance is obvious.

When one enters the Tarsier forest a strange force can be felt. There is a hidden track on the “The Empire Strikes Back” DVD explaining that before retiring to Dagobah Yoda visited earth for a brief albeit fruitful love affair. The offspring of this encounter can still be visited on Bohol.

Man made Forest. Someone was so proud that a forest also can be planted that this is now a tourist attraction. It is actually a neat Mahogany forest.
http://www.bohol-philippines.com/mahogany-man-made-forest.html

Chocolate Hills.
The most famous of Bohol attractions.

(Check back in about 2 Month. Then the hills will be brown, resembling chocolate kisses, hence the name)

Loboc Lunch River cruise.
Very touristy. They have about 20 of these things where about 60 persons can eat from a buffet. At night the entire stretch of the river is illuminated.

Baclayon Church and Museum
Very nice. Completely different from Einsiedeln. The entire church is green from moss (?) on the inside.

Blood Compact Commemorative Shrine
Just a bronze monument.

Ada : “wänn ich nö so rich wär …”
Papa : “wi riich bisch dänn?”
Adan nach einer Studierpause : “ich ha nüd”
(dann würde sie von einem gewaschenen Bananenblatt essen)

Lena : “warum dünd d’Frauä alles beschtimä?”
(Frage ich mich auch)

We are at a relatively small island at the south tip of Bohol, called Panglao.
Close to Alona Beach our Resort Olivia (http://www.oliviaresort.com/) is rather on the posh side.
We are staying here for a couple of days to relax from travelling.
Relaxing does only mean no travelling, there is still a lot of work to do.
– sorting pictures (back to Australia)
– planning the rest of the stay in the Philippines
– planning the Cambodia, Vietnam, Lao part
– diary
– Tons of E-Mails
– Ada going to school (some questions left)
Philippines is still an open issue. We have to leave latest 30.03. We could prolong by getting a visa. (Strangely the visa is expensive, overstaying penalty would be cheaper).
However, Eastern Sunday is 31.03.2013 an School vacation is after 24.03. An as in all good catholic countries the week before Eastern is very busy. Meaning: no accommodation at the beach after 24.03, and all flights are expensive around Eastern.
But enough complaining.
We can walk here in about 15 minutes:

To go back we take a tricycle for 1.15 $ (after negotiation).

Andre drove us securely through all of Cebu with Marlyn as Guide

Always a sure bet with kids, balloons

These balloons however were the source of trouble, see later (patience)

I am not even trying to explain what we saw, because the beauty of this trip trough Cebu where the many big and smaller things one normally does not see. Of course, the must see “Magellan cross” was also part of it. The explanations how the city works, who owns what and how everything is connected where marvelous.

At lunch we had a wide variety of local dishes and we liked every one of them.

Thanks a lot.

[only regret: we some managed not to make pictures of Jadine and Joe]

Ah yes. The security threat.
Our Hotel is 4th floor and above. We have to go trough a Mall to enter our Hotel. Like in all malls here there is security at the entrance, with gun and visible ammunition. (Tried to make a picture but “it’s forbidden”).
He would not let the kids pass through with their balloons! So I made them both cry and he let us pass. Ok, that is a lie. We just had to explain that we go to the Hotel, that was enough.