Nero D´Avola, one of my favourite restaurants in Taormina

 

Nero D´Avola (Mentioned in the Micheline guide) is located near the Post Office and Porta Catania, next to Palazzo Duchi Di Santo Stefano, just down from the main road Corso Umberto. The atmosphere is relaxed and friendly, the food is fantastic and the wines have been carefully selected. Turi, the man behind (and in) the restaurant is a well of inspiration and knowledge; his passion and skill is remarkable and his enthusiasm is catchy. He is a bit of en eccentric… a very positive, passionate and knowledgeable one. Ask him about the origin, ingenious and making of his Sicilian specialties and you will get a story almost to good to be true…almost that is, because it is true. It is true that he gets up before sunrise to hunt rabbits and pick the finest mushrooms or wild asparagus depending on what the season has to offer. He goes to the fish market himself to pick out the best seafood and he drives out to small family run business in the country to get the best organic pasta, vegetables and meat. Turi is always on the lookout for organic local products of top quality and makes a point of sponsoring small local businesses.

 

He is a connoisseur of fine wines and has a big interest and experience of Sicilian wines…. especially from the Etna region. One evening in September last year I went with him to Passopiscare in Etna, for a unique opportunity to try the best wines, from ten different producers around Etna. I had the privilege of not only trying some fantastic wines but also to be personally introduced to all the vineyard owners. It was a great experience and I can warmly recommend a visit. My favourites out of the wines I tasted was Aietna Etna Rosso from Cantine Edomé www.cantinedome.com and Ero Nero D’Avola from www.villapetriolo.com

 

Turi is a sought after chef that frequently cooks for the rich and famous, royalty and people in power. He wears the same singlet and worn jeans or board shorts as when trekking on the slopes of Etna, as he does when he meets the rich and famous. He has cooked for the Swedish crown princess Victoria and got fans all over the world. Turi is frequently hired to cook for party’s in Dubai and now when I met him again in March, he just got back from a trip to Kenya with his customers; bringing boxes of typical Sicilian products with him.

A visit to Nero D’Avola will not only satisfy your taste buds, pallet and stomach; it will give you a rich experience of the genuine Sicily and will most likely awaken or strengthen your interest in the Sicilian cuisine. And if you really want to emerge yourself, get to the heart of Sicilian fine wining and dining and unravel the secrets of the menu; I can warmly recommend that you ask him to hold a cooking course or a wine, olive oil or cheese tasting session.

 

If you have a bar, restaurant, gourmet shop or a genuine interest in Sicilian food and wine you can ask Turi for advice…he’s like the organic gourmet ambassador of Sicily. Due to the restaurants popularity it is advisable to book in advance during the summer months.

 

If you just want a quiet romantic meal it’s best to not ask him that many questions….he loves to talk and can be very intense.

 

 

 

Restaurant: Osteria Nero D’Avola

Adress: Vicco Puches 8 (near Porta Catania), Taormina 98039

Email: osterianerodavola@alice.it

Phone: +39 339 401 0863

 

 

 

 

 

Turi’s olive oil and wine favourites are not surprisingly all from Sicily:

 

Product: Red Wine

Lable: Sciave 2005

Grape: Nero D’Avola, Eloro

Vinery: Riofavara

Area: Ispica (RG) di Massimo Padova Valledolmo, Sicily

Web: www.riofavara.it

 

Product: Red Wine

Lable: Quota 600 Etna Rossa 2006

Grape: Nerello mascalese and  cappuccio grapes

Vinery: Alberto Aiello Graci

Area: Passopisciaro, Castiglione di Sicilia (CT)

Web: www.graci.eu

 

 

Product: Red Wine

Lable: Grammonte 2002

Grape: Merlot

Vinery: Cottanera (the Cambria family)

Area: Castiglione di Sicilia (CT)

Web: www.cottanera.it

 

 

Product: Wine White

Lable: Shiarà

Grape: Cataratto Lucido

Vinery: Castellucci Miano

Area: Valledolmo, (PA), Sicily

Web: http://www.castelluccimiano.it/

 

Product: Wine White

Lable: Grappoli del Grillo

Grape: Grillo

Vinery: Marco De Bartoli

Area: Marsala, (TP) Sicily

http://www.marcodebartoli.com/home.html

 

Product: White Dessert

Lable: Moscato Di Siracusa

Vinery: Don Nuzzo

Area: Siracusa Sicily

 

Product: Extravergene Olio di Oliva

Lable: Merlino

Olive: Nocellara Etnea (at least 70%) with up to 30% Brandofino olives.

Producer: Marco De Bartoli

Area: Randazzo, Etna , Sicily

Web: www.oliomerlino.com

 

Product: Extravergene Olio di Oliva

Lable: Filicjuso

Olive: Nocellara Etnea and Brandofino olives.

Producer: Chiara Vigo

Area: Linguaglossa, Etna , Sicily

 

Product: Extravergene Olio di Oliva

Lable: Sallemi

Olive: Tonda Iblea

Producer: Roffoch Sallemi

Area: Gulfa, Siracusa

Web: www.oliomerlino.com

 

 

 

 

My Worst Holiday Ever – Stranded on Michaelmas Cay

I recently got reminded of this adventure, when at my language school here in Milan we were asked to talk about our worst holiday ever.

 

Here it goes:

 

It all took place about 13 years ago in Tropical Northern Queensland in Australia. My husband at that time, two male friends (of the softer more feminine kind) and myself had decided to go on a boat trip for a 7 -10 days over the Easter holidays. The owner and skipper of the boat; a man in his mid to late sixties that had been at sea most of his life had worked with my ex some years ago. They had come to the agreement that if we cleaned the boat, filled it up with fuel and got all the food for our trip…there would not be any other costs.

 

The plan was to cruise around on the Great Barrier Reef, snorkel dive and explore some small islands …and we had been assured that all the dive and snorkel equipment was included and in good condition.

It took us hours to clean he catamaran (motorboat) as it had been sitting in the skipper’s back yard for quite a while. When she had been filled up and we were just about ready to taker her down to the sea, the skipper’s son and his friend turned up. Like the rest of us they were in their early twenties, but we couldn’t have been further apart personality wise. It turned out that the son owed money to his friend, that he could not afford to pay back. Instead, the friend had been proposed a holiday on his fathers boat to cancel the debt….and he had agreed.  They had been up all night and morning, high on god knows what and were not taking no for an answer. When we said that the food would not be enough (they had not brought anything …but drugs it turned out later) they said that they would catch their own food…they had brought their harpoons. The father wanted to help his son and in the end we were left with the choice of not going on a holiday or going with them. Without really thinking that much we decided to go and we all left promptly.

 

 

 

 

A lot of planning went in to the shooting of that photo. Michiko sat still for 13 hours on that island while Rick was up in a 45 foot tower in a game fishing boat. Thanks to all that meditation practice she was cool with it.  It was before mobile phones were commonly used…well it wouldn’t have been coverage there back then even if she had had one. She simply sat and meditated the whole time under a red umbrella.

I can really recommend to check out Ricks site, or even better, one of his galleries if you have the opportunity.             www.steininger.com.au

 

 

Unfortunately the others thought it was a great idea as well and suggested to make a fire and have lunch on the cay. As the others prepared the food I snuck off to the other side on the cay. As you can see from the photo, there were no trees, not even some grass to hide in. Like a turtle I dug a whole and laid down to do my shit…..what came out of me wasn’t by far as nice as turtle eggs though. Then I went in the ocean and scrubbed myself with sand. Mission accomplished!

We had a lovely late lunch with fresh as it can get grilled red snapper …caught by the son and his friend… and a big green salad. Yummy!

 

 

My ex, our 2 friends and myself wanted to go snorkelling around Hastings Reef and Norman Reef but the two junkies told us that they were in charge. We tried to negotiate but they would not have it…. they wanted to go harpooning in deeper waters. They started to show an aggressive side and wondered if we wanted to have a fight over it. We went along. We started to notice how the captain seamed to be senile, he forgot where we were and would hit the reef a few times. When it started to get dark one of the 2 motors stopped and we were told that we (my ex, our two friends and myself) had to sleep on some island because there were not enough room in the boat.

The captain kept an eye of for an island, saw Michaelmas Cay and decided to drop us there….despite my protests.      *Michaelmas Cay is a famous Nature Reserve and Bird Sanctuary.  Almost 100.00  birds were nesting in that period and it was strictly forbidden to even get close to the island.

 

 

At least they left us with food and water. We were pretty confident that, even though they were very likely to just abandon us, we would find help the next day…surly at least one boat should be able to spot us.

It was already dark and painfully noisy from the nearly 100.000 birds nesting on the island. Blasted with sand, I still managed to set up our portable gas stove and coked up a tasty (but sand crispy) Khao pad (Thai rice dish). The boys sat and drank bears after the meal and I started to dig a hole in the sand… I had practice now. But I was not digging another latrine, I was digging me a bed where I could sleep without being sand blasted. The guys laughed at me and thought I was over ambitious. It didn’t take long however until they joined me….it had started to rain! Everyone jumped down in my hole, broadened it a bit and put a small plastic cover over us (the only thing waterproof that we had). We were lying tight like sardines in the sand. It was cold and hard, my mouth and ears full of sand, the noise was deafening and our plastic cover not entirely water tight. The only thing comforting was that we were in good company and that at least there was no chance of freezing to death.

 

Surprisingly, about 10 o’clock the guys came to pick us up as if nothing had happened. They had been up all night again! They also offered us some stuff to not have to sleep, to get the most out of the trip…..we weren’t overly curious to try.

One of the motors want quiet and a few minutes later the second motor stopped as well. Reason being that the petrol tanks had been without lids over the rainy season…. the skipper had not removed the water from the tanks before filling them with fuel. They took the small motor from the zodiac and hand held it. We said we wanted to go back home. The son and his friend started to be nasty: – You fucking pussies, you are not men! Can’t you ruff it! We don’t want to waist our time by taking you back to Cairns, especially now when we only have the small motor…it will take forever to get back. You wanted a holiday at sea, well we are at sea now…what’s your problem! My ex and friends got scared and used me as an excuse, saying that I am a woman and it’s too much for me. They were buying that so we started heading home again.

I got my period there and then. The thought of putting up a tampon in front of all the guys was not appealing. I managed to climb up on top of the captains hut, held on to a small antenna with one hand and fiddling with my shorts and a tampon with the other…. the sea was pretty ruff and balance wise it felt like standing up on an angry bull. I couldn’t help to feel a mixture of amusement and embarrassment, wondering if any of the boats around had used their binoculars. What a sight!

 

Many hours later when we came back to shore the junkies thought that they were just going to drop me off and get out again. When they realised that neither of us were interested they started to abuse us. By that time my friends had lost their temper and started to yell back. The 2 guys charged ….and we ran. They gave up and went back to the boat. That was the end of that holiday!

 

I can warmly recommend the area, for snorkelling, fishing, diving etc. but not quite the way I did it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Giving up privacy at the language school

 

When studying a new language in a group, you can forget about keeping your private life private. As soon as you learn about past tenses, the teachers keep giving you homework and group exercises where you have to talk about your past:  Detailed questions about your childhood, your worst holiday, your past relationships, work experience, your fears and habits, interests and dislikes, horoscope etc.  On top of that you have to give a daily report of what you did the afternoon/night before.

 

I have been to 3 different language schools here in Italy: Lingua Due and Passepartout in Milan and Babilonia in Tarmina Sicily. Even though I was in good company by fellow travellers, it soon became obvious that my stories were different from that of most other students…. and started to attract a lot up attention. When students belonging to other classes or in private tuition started to talk about strange things they had been up to the night before or during the weekend. The teachers follow up question would often be: -Were you with Ami? The answer would often be yes.

 

Frequently over the last 10 years, friends, family, acquaintances and even strangers have asked me to write a book about my life. I have felt a bit reluctant, as I don’t have a good ending for the book, nor am I famous (well not that famous anyway). But now with a blog I feel that I can share some good camp-fire-stories without feeling the type of pressure that serious book-writing could give…. mixed with some photography and travel advice.

 

So you could say that I got encouraged to write down the story of my worst holiday ever, thanks to the language school. You will find it in the category Travel and Adventure.

 

Reflecting light

 

Using reflectors in your photography

 

*A reflector is something that reflects light; a surface that the light bounces off.

Shiny, blank, metallic and light coloured surfaces reflect the most amounts of lights…like aluminium foil for instance or a mirror.

Dark colours and matt surfaces absorb light and have the opposite effect to a reflector…like black velvet.

*When light rays hit a perfectly flat surface at an angle of 45 degrees it also bounces from the surface at an angle of 45 degrees.

 

 

 

Examples of commonly occurring reflectors

 

In nature:

• Water
• Light coloured stone
• Meadows
• Deserts

 

*The more intense the light is, the stronger the reflection

 

Man made reflectors you could easily find:

• Any surface that is light coloured
• Shiny and glossy materials
• White and metallic coloured fabrics
• Metal
• Trucks and cars in light or shiny colours
• Fridge doors
• Buildings with glass facades or with a light and shiny surface
• Ponds and fountains
• Aluminium foil
• Pots and pans
• Mirrors
• Shiny tiles
• Taps
• Glass

 

 

“Man made reflectors can be bought in a photo shop or online. Try Lasolite www.lastolite.com a reputable and reliable brand with a big range of good quality reflectors in all sorts of sizes shapes and with many different reflective colours.”

 

You could also use any shiny surface you can find…but it’s a lot harder when they are fixed, to rigid or to soft.

 

 

Working with natural (with the sun as the only light source) and man made reflectors

 

*Sun light have different temperatures depending on the time of the day, what type of light shapers are between the camera and the sun…will talk about colour temperatures in another post.

For more info on light shapers, how to understand and use natural light:

 

Here are some examples:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Understanding and working with natural light

 

Using sunlight with natural and artificial light shapers.

 

 

•Look, and plan for the best light rather than the most beautiful location…good/beautiful/interesting light is crucial to get great photos

 

•Nature produces infinite possibilities of lighting situations, learn how to take advantage of that

 

•Where to find and how to use commonly occurring light shapers.

 

 

*A light shaper or filter is that which goes between the light source and the camera; in this case the sun…and changes the intensity, direction, shape, pattern, softness, hardness and colour temperature of the light… and in particular the shadows it throws.

 

Examples of naturally occurring light shapers and filters are

 

Produced by nature:

•Clouds

•Foliage, trees, branches

•Caves

•Mountains and rocks

•Spider webs

•Fog

•Mist

 

 

 

Man made:

•Windows

•Ports, gates, doors

•Bridges

•Buildings

•Garages

•Roofs

•Smog

 

“And of course there are hundreds of different light shapers made especially for photography: that you can buy or make your self…but I save that lesson for another day. “

 

 

With a bit of planning you could get photos taken in natural light (the sun as only light source) with a “studio feel” to them; that look as they were taken using professional lights.

 

 

Once you understand the naturally occurring lighting conditions around you…and learn how to use them to your advantage, it will be much easier to move on to working with man made light sources… like flash and continuous lights.

 

I will show you some examples:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Philippines; warnings and recommendations.

My trip from the worst to the best

 

“Lying between the latitudes five to twenty-one degrees north, the Philippines archipelago comprises more than 7000 islands (about 900 inhabited) across the western most rim of the Pacific Ocean, covering an area of 300.000 km2. Philippines have 25.000-27.000 square kilometres coral reef and a well-deserved reputation as one of the top dive countries in the world. It is the third largest English speaking country in the world and the only predominately Christian nation in Asia. The currency is peso and the official language Tagalog. No vaccinations are necessary unless you come from a yellow fever or cholera-infected region.”

 

 

I like to see where the winds take me. Even if you don’t research or plan anything, you are still bound to end up somewhere. Somewhere can prove to be a wonderful surprise or as in this case, a terrible experience worth a big warning sign.

The ticket from Sweden to Manila was bought just a few days before the departure date. I thought I could get a guidebook in at least one of the 3 major airports between home and the final destination. I was wrong!

From the plane, as we were descending towards Manila I saw a volcano crater with a lake, surrounded by green hills that looked absolutely magical. At the information desk at the airport they confirmed that Tagaytay as it’s called, was just a few hours bus ride away and indeed a very beautiful and peaceful spot; away from the tourist crowds and with clean waters. Kalle; the tall and handsome Swede that I was travelling with and I got on a local bus towards what was going to become a nightmare.

The volcano viewpoint; with no apparent paths down to the lake,  proved to be crowded with Manila escapees and full of American fast-food chains; with a lot more resemblance to a shopping mall than a post card.… not quite what we had envisioned .  We asked where the nearest beach was and got on another uncomfortable bus for a few more hours to take us to Nasugbu, Batangas.

It was dark by the time we arrived and we were tired hungry and desperate to find a place for the night as it was getting late.  We had a look at 3 different beach resorts ….with torches as it was a blackout in the area.. and picked the one that looked the cleanest. We got changed, started to walk in to town and soon noticed that we were the only tourists around; all locals looked at us like we were aliens. The street in to town was lined with empty bars and seemingly unemployed and utterly bored prostitutes.

 

 

 

 

We started to noticed how run down the place was, but it wasn’t until the next morning when we got to see it in the light that we understood the level of decay this place was in.  It looked as if it had been a popular tourist destination about 20-30 years ago and everything had just been left to wither and fall apart ever since. The beach was horrible; grey, full of garbage, debris and stray dogs. Everywhere we looked we saw flaking paint, boats and jet skies covered with holes, weeds, totally empty and very dirty shops, faded hotel signs with missing letters …it looked as if everything was falling apart and people had lost all hope and willpower to turn the tide.

 

 

 

 

Nasugbu, Batangas is one of the ugliest and most depressing place…(and expensive compared to the rest of the Philippines)… that I have ever visited! The sadest thing was the the vibe of the place…apathy and indifference. But I do regret that I didn’t use my camera (apart from some snapshots with the compact)…I was just walking around with my mouth open.

 

 

 

As you can imagine we got out of there very quick; taxi back to Manila and a plane to Cebu.

 

 

 

 

 

We got a cab from Cebu city to Moalbohal on the south western part of Cebu island, where real dive enthusiasts gather from all over the world. Here you can find nice, clean accommodation, decent food and good service at really cheap prices.

 

 

 

 

A big expatriate community lives here, including a bunch of hardcore dive enthusiasts…mainly Swedes that came here about 30 years ago when there was nothing here, no roads, no electricity etc. Most of them have married locally and you will find a big bunch of mixed children running around. It’s a very laid back atmosphere with an overrepresentation of male divers and dive shops. It’s one of those places you can get stuck in, forgetting about time and the outside world, counting the days by pool tournament day, film day, pancake day etc.

 

 

 

 

A place worth visiting is the bottle house; a very kind and particular local woman who lives in a house with her husband and about 15 cats, writes down spiritual insights on pieces of paper and puts them in bottles which she seals and hang up all over her house and garden. She might give you a note for free if you are lucky, but they are also for sale. You can also buy or swap a book in her international library or use her computer to geton line. Unless you are a cat person, I wouldn’t recommend it.

 

 

 

 

I enjoyed my time at Moalbohal, especially under water,  but decided to explore some more places,  get a bit pampered and find some really nice food.

 

 

 

Badian Island Resort and Spa 5 star http://badianhotel.com/

Next halt was Badian Island, a 5 star resort and spa on a big private island a bit south from Moalboal. The island is beautiful, the bungalows huge, some with private pools overlooking the ocean and the spa has several pools and open air treatment rooms. They have recently started an organic farm on the property and more and more food on the menu and ingredients in the spa treatments comes from their own vegetables, herbs and fruit. Can also mention that even though I did try some nice meals, they were not mind-blowing and sometimes came in overly creative mixes.

 

 

 

 

 

Over all it is a great and very private paradise retreat, with beautiful beaches and water and lush gardens, if you can overlook the 80ties tropical kitsch and some run down details. Shell drapes, big plastic shells in the pool, shell fountains. Strong coloured umbrella drinks, Hawaiian style flower necklaces, charter style evening entertainment. ( should really have gotten some photos of that as well..bummer) The staff is friendly and the old Philippine – German couple that started it all from scratch and is still running it, they are just fantastic. Wow…I could write a whole book about their interesting and inspiring lives. In my view Badian Island has huge potential but needs a bit of fine-tuning, some renovations, some kitsch removal and some up to date staff trainings. I would still recommend you to go though,  as long as you are aware of the downsides…especially now when it is quiet and you get a lot of privacy and personalised service.

 

 

 

And then we took off to Alegre Beach Resort and Spa in Sogod, http://www.alegrebeachresort.com/ in the north east end of Cebu Island; a nice, well managed classic 38 room 5 star beach resort. Not much to complain about here…. apart from the lack of originality and top end design. Good food, nice pool, beach and views, service minded staff, great band and singer and very sweet and creative spa girls…but I somehow find it lacking personality.

 

 

 

 

 

 

After some nights we took off to Cebu City for some shopping  at the huge Ayala mall some great meals at various restaurants.We stayed at Cebu City Marriott Hotel http://www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/cebph-cebu-city-marriott-hotel/ , a modern, fist class business hotel just next to Ayala mall. Great food and garden café with pool, well designed rooms, helpful staff and high security; I can recommend it. I didn’t take any photos there, but you will find images of the hotel on their website.

 

 

Plane again, off to Manila….thank God this time without karaoke.

 

 

From Manila to Paradie!

 

Amanpulo

http://www.amanresorts.com/amanpulo/home.aspx

Relaxing in a cosy armchair in a private hangar in Manila, drinking red wine and flicking through the glossy pages of different Aman resort brochures, while my check-in is handled almost unnoticeably.  My thoughts are wandering, dreaming about all the beautiful places I have yet to discover. 15 min later, I find myself pinching my arm, making sure that I am not dreaming while I look out over a magic landscape of tropical islands lined with coral sand and turquoise lagoons, from a 19 seat, twin engine turboprop, on my way to Amanpulo; the most exclusive and secluded resort in the Philippines.

 

 

 

 

“Amanpulo is a private island (known as Pamalican), set among the Quiniluban group of Cuyo islands with about 40 islands, in the Palawan region which is made up of 1768 islands, 360 km south-west of Manila. As the island is located outside the typhoon belt it enjoys less rainfall than the rest of the Philippines. The dry season generally runs from November to May, with scattered rain-showers from June to October. January is the coolest month with an averaging temperature of 25°C (77°F) and May being the hottest, with an average temperature of 27°C (82°F).

 

 

 

As we are walking out of the plane, with big smiles on our faces, we are all personally greeted and driven to our casitas in our own private golf buggies.  There are 29 beach casitas, each with a private path to the beach; an uninterrupted stretch of white sand overlooking the neighbour islands. 7 square kilometres house reef and a deeper channel beyond the sand banks where dolphins, whales and sea cows have been glimpsed. The 4 treetop casitas are above the tree line on higher ground and the 5 hillside casitas have great sea views while the 2 deluxe hillside casitas have a spectacular view of the Sulu sea and the neighbouring islands with both sunset and sunrise views. The 40 casitas are all fashioned after a Philippine bahay kubo: a centuries old South-East Asian rural design of steep pitched roofs on timber frames.

 

 

 

 

There are also 11 private holiday villas for rent on the island, located jus a few metres from the sea: eight 4-bedroom villas, two 2-bedroom villas and one 1-bedroom villa. All with their own swimming pool, separate bedrooms, living and dining, pavilions, outdoor lounge and a kitchen. All villas include a cook, maid and a buggy for each bedroom and villa guests enjoy full use of all Amanpulo facilities.

 

 

 

 

 

The check-in is smoothly done in the casita and you will be given a private tour of the island and all it’s amenities: Restaurants, beach clubs and bars, swimming pool, spa and outdoor treatment sala’s, gym, dive centre, library, sea sports hut, meeting rooms, boutique. We are shown where you can have romantic dinners and fantastic breakfast options, where people choose to get married and where to go snorkelling. We are told about fishing trips and nature walks, tennis trainers and island cruises and I feel a bit sad when I realise that my stay is going to be to short to experience it all.

 

 

 

 

Having visited many five star resorts and boutique hotels, I am yet blown away by the high level of service here. If feels like the staff is genuinely friendly and really enjoys making your stay the best they can. The attention to detail is impeccable: something that I can’t quite figure how they do, is that wherever I go on the island and for however long time, there are always a couple of ice-cold water bottles in place when I get back in the buggy. All restaurant staff mysteriously knows who’s who and where everyone are staying; so there’s no need to tell them your room number or name. Everyday I find small notes with drawings and information about the island wildlife, plants, fruits or local sweets that adds a nice touch to the experience.

 

Private dining can be enjoyed 24 hours and it is a must do. Private picnics and barbecues can be arranged on the beach in front of your casita, at the Lagoon Sala, at Sharks Point Sala, at Gary’s Nest (up on a high rock with spectacular views) the Island caves or on the floating Kawayan Bar. Guests can also take picnic baskets for island hopping or a visit to the Sandbar.

 

 

 

The Restaurant located at the clubhouse, serves great International and Pilipino cuisine housing Australian head chef Garth.  The wine list is written with passion, knowledge and personality, comprising 130 handpicked wines and champagnes and is a delight to read.

 

 

The Beach Club, with its cosy mattresses spread out on the deck, reclining lounge chairs and shade umbrellas lining the beach, is supplying a tranquil dining setting or a welcoming waterhole for lazy days on the beach. Fresh seafood and Spanish cuisine are specialties.

 

 

 

 

 

*ps. Your holiday photos don’t look the same? Look out for my articles on travel photography where you will get some useful tips. It’s not just about the place; the angles and light are even more important to understand.

 

 

 

The Lagoon Club serves as an alternate beach club with similar amenities and Vietnamese cuisine is a specialty.

 

 

 

 

The Windsurf Hut where you can eat with your feet in the sand, hosts a home-built wood-fire oven where delicious pizzas are baked. A must try is their dessert pizzas; I turned from sceptic to addict.

 

 

 

Amanpulo is in the process of making a huge spa high up on a cliff, until that is ready (which I have to go back to experience) you have the choice of two air-conditioned Spa-Casitas, the open air Garden-Sala or in your own casita. Shyam, the spa manager and yoga teacher from India has magic hands. Being a former spa manager and therapist, I am not easily impressed by a massage, but Shyam has turned me in to a fan. He has the great combination of knowledge of many different healing modalities and techniques, many years of experience at various Aman spas, booth strong and sensitive hands and is leading a rich spiritual life.

 

 

 

 

The natural beauty of the island with big iguanas (saw one the first afternoon outside the casita), tropical birds, turtles and reef fish, the spectacular views and stunning beaches, all the great wining and dining, the spa treatments and yoga, the fantastic service and attention to detail are just some of the things that I will miss and that I warmly recommend you to experience for yourself.

 

 

 

Before returning to Europe we stayed in a suite at Hotel Celeste Manila http://www.hotelceleste.ph/ a 5 star boutique hotel with a French design and cuisine, located in the heart of Macati City.

 

Many people are blown away by the design of the hotel and in particularly the rooms; it has received great reviews …but according to me they have tried to hard and overdone it, mixing to many colours, materials and styles. The size of the rooms and bathrooms are nice though and the beds are very comfortable.

Service is not consistent, swaying from great to very poor and the breakfast ordering is confusing and overpriced for what you get. Many people love this place, I am however not one of them and would not pay full price to stay there again.

 

To sum it all up: depending on your budget and expectations I could recommend any of the above places…but stay away from Nasugbo Batangas, unless you know if and where there’s  an small oasis untouched by the decay.

My personal favourite is Amanpulo…not so hard to guess why. I liked the diving, prices and layed back feel  in Moalbohal and the lovely management couple at Badian Resort made a lasting impression.

Keep an eye out for  my tutorial posts, where you can learn about the making of the photos…with some behind the scenes shoots as well.

 

 

 

 

Thank you Team!

Finally they are Online, my new Website and Blog!

I can hardly believe how lucky I am to be working with such a fantastic team (that  normally work with  world famous clients). I would like to express my gratitude to everyone involved for taking their time and expertise to make my ideas become reality.

I would like to thank:

Martin Agius from Ingeniuos Solutions, Malta for designing and building my website. He’s an overall IT genius with an extensive CV.

Maria Kask; an extraordinarily talented and superbusy illustrator / designer from my hometown Gothenburg. She has designed the background of the blog and done all the nice sketches.

The Shopatron Team, California for constructing the blog
Judi Hastings, Manager Implementation Team
Jera Batten, Designer
Dan Milhous, Enginer
Jeremy Schriver, Designer and Content Manager

Oscar Askelöf, a very sought-after Creative Director and Copywriter from Stockholm, for his thoughtful words about “photographers”.

Marc Eastmond, Art Director at Forsman Bodenfors for his over all input and advice.

Sergio Copetti, Art Director at Red Cell Milano and Carina Lindström, Art Director at Jerlov Gothenburg for their quotes.

My Sponsors, for their support and engagement.

(Vitec Group, Italy)

Manfrotto, Italy
Gitzo, Italy
Kata Bags, Israel

 

In particular Marco Tortato, Education and Testimonial Manager at Manfrotto, for his invaluable support and constant encouragement.

And last but not least Carlo Alberto Cuman, Web Director at Vitec Group, for his technical direction.