Taiwan and Philippines


A bit of a convoluted journey to get to Taiwan, to pick up our ..	..ship. It involved an overnight in a hotel in Madrid, then a..	..China Eastern flight via Shanghai and on to to Taiwan

We had a couple of nights in Taipei - for those who do not know Taipei is the capital of Taiwan


We settle in, in downtown Taipei	View from our window. We could just see Taipei 101	A gingerbread house in the hotel looked yummy	Taipei 101

The lift moves at 60 kph, and is faster than we could run up the..	..stairs. So we all took the lift and when we got to the 88th floor	..it was a bit like being in an aeroplane	The 88th floor had all sorts of attractions like a Christmas tree

And a Teddy Bear bigger than Facetious	And a tren.	We later went to the cafe there	We had a (long) walk and saw these fellows chucking their guns around. Looks a bit dangerous

We missed dinner the second night because the madre wanted to have a colonoscopy. - how inconsiderate of her, So at the end of a couple of days in Taipei, we took an Uber to the port of Keelung, to join the Coral Geographer


Looks a bit small, Somerville!	Cabin is comfortable enough.	Our first shore excursion was to pick tea, let him do the work .	..then taste the tea. Note there is no food with it

But the Master Tea Blender was pleased to see us	From the tea , we went on to a puppet theatre ..	..where Pembroke gave them a few tips on the finer points	There was a big lake with odd statues

And here they covered the area with a fog every hour	We moved on to a whisky distillery. It looks easy to make it..	you just use water and barley. We found it was a bit strong to ..	..drink, but it made a decent ice cream

Next stop Philippines. There were bad, rough seas all the way. but for us sailors the movement of the ship was no problem


The gadget that launched a small landing craft that took us ashore	..right to the beach without getting your paws wet	This is a local bus called a Jeepney. It is an art form	We met these stilt performers at a show

There was time for a quick snack. We are always hungry	Then back into another Jeepney	They drink a lot of coconut water, mainly cos a lot grow	Pembroke enjoying a sunset. Its behind you, stupid boy!

Then we had one last night of bad weather, before the weather became sweetness and light



The storm came out of nowhere	We looked out from our cabin, it looked grim	So grim that the restaurant was closed, and they served ..	..all the passengers dinner in our cabins

Next morning, there was a calm sea	and a steep set of steps to climb to get to an old lighthouse	The madre struggled a bit as youngsters , but we ran up all the steps. No trouble!	The lighthouse at the top had seen better days

Life was becoming a never ending round of welcomes. a garland of some sort round the neck, then a dance from lots of school children. Happily there was usually food as well.


So here are the garlands	and the school children with a dance	We checked out the local boats	And gave the locals a few lessons in making fishing nets

These nice ladies were handing out the local jungle juice ..	..it was jolly strong. It made us quite dizzy	Coconut husks for firewood. Nothing is thrown away here	Back on the boat there was an indoor BBQ - strange Australian custom apparently

Now this is interesting. We like these photos a lot. Every nights the girls that made up our cabin, had a different outfit for us. Amazing ingenuity and creativity to get a new one every day

We gave the captain some advice on how to steer the ship. Attended a wine tasting. And went ashore for another welcome and dance



We had to drop by the bridge to give some help to steer the ship	The a wine tasting. A bit poncy the way they swill and slurp.	We did however spot some food as well as wine	We gave the purser a few hints on running a wine tasting

Ashore for a welcome dance	A top of some food. We feel peckish by 10 am.	A little bit of sunshine	More dances. A BIG rule book, looks difficult to be good here

and even more dances. We might even opt for old stones again	It was a long climb up to a lookout point. A breather here ..	Once at the top of the hill, even further to the lookout	But we could see a long way from up there


It started quietly enough with going ashore here	The welcomed us with ice cream - yes, it really is purple	Here is where we were bearnapped. When we posed for a photo with them - they grabbed us and with some difficulty were returned to our own family	Not booze, but herbal medicine. We chose not to try it

A bit more food before going to look at local boat building.	They showed us how to build a boat from start to finish.	Then asked us for any tips to improve their boat building ..	..and they were very grateful that we could give them lots of tips

We passed on the raw fish that this man is preparing.	It is then put out in the sun to dry - but we still stick to buns	Occasionally we can be tempted to an evening cocktail	It really is just a lemonade

An energetic day with a walk up a mountain, and for some, a swim. And we met "Elfie"


They seemed to be big on fruit on this island	We never found out what they were eating	Then up hundreds and hundreds of steps to a viewpoint

We were not sure if the effort was worth it !	Then on to a big waterfall where the padre surprised us by ..	..stripping off and going for a swim

We stood by on lifeguard duty, just in case he needed saving	Back in board the Coral Geographer ..	we met Elfie who was being looked after by his mummy, Gail

Great Day today, we saw Tarsiers. These little fellows are a little smaller than us, and unfortunately some people might think that they were even cuter than us. They were more shy than us, and were reluctant to come out and say hello to everyone.


This is where they live. They sort of sleep all day, and we had ..	to be very quiet if we saw one. Pembroke looked and looked ..	.. and eventually found one of the little fellows ..	..dozing in thick bush

This is a testimony to us. They must have known we were coming.	This is a good mucky job that we could manage	Back to churches after all that excitement	We would have liked this T Shirt, but they didn't have our size

On to lunch on board a river cruise	Ounch ..	plenty of food	..and a stop for a dance show along they way

More steps Lots and lots, we seemed doomed to climb them	The madre found them even harder than we did. Nearly there	She got her breath back at the top. They call them the ..	Chocolate Hills, which is a chiz as they are not chocolate to eat

Another day. more food, a canoe ride , a motorbike ride. But we miss out on the Police Car



Another welcome	We instruct them in how to weave baskets	We were flagging a bit, and food arrived just in time	Washed down with a strong jungle juice that could strip paint

Elfie got left on the ship, while his mummy made pottery	Not sure if we can finish off a whole sucking pig, but we'll try	We helped the padre polish of this local dish doused in treacle	We have always wanted to drive a police car, but it was locked

So we settled for a motor bike with a sidecar	She would not have been smiling if she had known who was driving the sidecar	Then a brisk walk up over more steps to that hut	Here we are enjoying the view

	We took the padres for a spin in a canoe. We had to do all the paddling	Then there was a party on the beach where we got some snacks	And we met the Engineer. We think we want to be engineers now

Next day we were on an island where they make really scary wooden masks of Roman soldiers (think biblical)


A lovely rainbow, in fact a double rainbow	That is the padre wearing one of the masks	An example of a finished mask	A local fellow making a mask. We showed him how to do it.

After our advice they really speeded up.	The local town had food on every street corner	And they laid on coconut drinks and ..	..cakes, specially for us.


Our suitcases get unloaded from the Coral Geographer	We fought for hours to get through Manila Airport	Had a few buns before getting a flight to KL

where we stayed overnight,	..before flying on to Colombo	,,next stop is Colombo

Coral Geographer - Taiwan to Philippines, December 2025