FROM THE PHILIPPINES TO HONG KONG

Petroleum surged past $100/barrel after Iran's Houthie allies opened a new front in the Iran War:

President Donald Trump promised today “major military punishment” for Iran and its Houthi allies, after the Yemeni fighters struck two Saudi oil tankers in the Red Sea, extending the Middle East war to a second major shipping chokepoint.

Here is thus the current situation:

• Iraq, Qatar, Kuwait and Bahrain depend almost entirely on Hormuz to export their oil or liquefied natural gas. Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates are also heavily reliant on the waterway but have pipelines connecting production centres to alternative terminals on the Red Sea and the Gulf of Oman.
• During the Strait of Hormuz’s essential closure for most of the past five months, Saudi Arabia redirected growing volumes of crude through Yanbu. The port exported about 4.1 million barrels per day in June, rerouting roughly 64 percent of the Saudi oil that would otherwise have left through Hormuz, according to Kpler.
• Analysts also said there is a risk the Houthis could escalate further by trying to attack Saudi oil refineries. Saudi Arabia’s western coast has nearly 1.9 million barrels per day of refining capacity and is an important supplier of diesel fuel to Europe. Any attacks on refineries could, therefore, further tighten fuel supplies in Europe while putting even more pressure on global oil prices.

But what's the problem, for these tankers can go north through the Suez Canal.  So I asked Google AI:

If a Saudi Arabian oil tanker heading to Japan diverts north through the Suez Canal and Mediterranean Sea instead of the direct route through the Bab el-Mandeb strait, it adds approximately10,000 nautical miles (around 11,500 statute miles) and 34 days of extra sailing time to the journey. [1, 2]

• 
  There are other problems, for some tankers sit too deep to pass through the Suez Canal.
• For crude oil tankers passing through the canal, the base transit fee ranges from $300,000 to $800,000 per voyage. On top of these standard dues, laden crude tankers face a 37% surcharge (up from 25%). Because a Very Large Crude Carrier (VLCC) can hold roughly 2 million barrels, these total fees average out to an extra operational cost of $0.40 to $0.50 per barrel. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]

Well, so much for that.  The rest of this posting will be tour experiences faced by my travel partner, the rest of the Philippines and into Hong Kong.  St. Isadore and town of Maria, government beach, where they were met by my Blue-Bar Pigeon.

This tour group had a couple of hundred tourists, so we were constantly guarded by guards with guns.  Generally safe for foreign tourists, but notorious for simple theft.

Salagdoong Beach and the historic churches in and around the town of Maria on Siquijor Island, Philippines Salagdoong Beach Resort - Maria, Siquijor Beaches in Siquijor - Dumaguete City.

Government-owned and operated public beach resort located in the municipality of Maria Salagdoong Beach Resort - Maria, Siquijor Salagdoong Beach in Maria, Siquijor, is a premier tourist spot .... It is famous for its rocky formations and, as you noted, the dedicated cliff-diving spots at various heights (around 15 and 20 feet) where visitors can jump straight into the clear, deep waters. [1, 2, 3, 4]

• Our Lady of Divine Providence Church (Maria Church) right in the town of Maria Maria Church, Siquijor - Tripadvisor, or the famous St. Isidore the Laborer Parish Church(commonly known as Lazi Church) in the neighboring town of Lazi San Isidro Labrador Church - Siquijor.
• Other sights.

Carcar, Cebu is the culinary and heritage capital of the province, about 25 miles from Cebu City.

Especially famous for lechon, using local herb called pasyotes.  The skin is everything.

Argao is world-renowned for Torta, which is a sweet sponge cake.

The Russian government in 2016 donated a bronze bust of Tolstoy as a symbol of friendship and partnership between the Russian people and Cebuanos.

Mactan Shrine in Lapu-Lapu City, Cebu has this dolphin sculpture made of driftwood.

But the time came to leave the Philippines.  Sometimes there are difficulties in travel:

Hate these early mornings. You know how tours make you leave hotel 3 hours before flight. 10:10am flight. Leave hotel at 7:15. Got up at 5:20, got ready to go down to breakfast. Buffet opens at 6 am. It was at least half full. By 6:20 I’d say 90% seats taken. 

On plane,  taxied to runway, waited a long time, then captain said returning to gate for maintenance to check in something. We must have burned 45 minutes of fuel. Maintenance cleared plane but had to wait till refueling finished. Now we’re 2 hours late.

Nice plane. Airbus-350. Lots of leg room in coach. Plane empty so I moved across the aisle to give the other two ladies in my group room to stretch out. They were happy. I know not supposed to move so I asked for permission telling FA everytime the man sitting in front of me moved I lose audio.

Hong Kong uses these electronic self driving cars for wheelchair transport. Kinda like the Daihatsu scooters we used at Osaka expo. These are self driving. Employee programmed my cart and another cart in front of mine to take me to immigration. It slows down when people are around. Then speeds up when nobody around. The TV screen shows where people:objects are close by. Appears heat sensors because of the colors. I will text you the videos because you cannot receive the videos via email. Go to the blue bubble at bottom of cell phone screen. Click on it and you’ll find my text with the videos. Then you’ll need to email or airdrop to your computer to use

In Hong Kong if we are arriving or catching a flight, we should request wheelchair service. From gate to immigration is very, very far. My group took monorail but they said they had a very long walk. They arrived at immigration the same time as me in this electric cart. Must be requested in advance and put into our records so there is a request on record.

Looking forward to the Chinese food. Asian vegetables, soups, noodles. Philippines we’re always served tourist food of lots of meats and fish floating in lots of oil. Was always dabbing my food to get rid of the oil. Vegetables always the same like the frozen Italian vegetables from Costco. Chinese food will be so nice!

Food in Hong Kong…?  It’s been a disappointing experience. On arrival, our tour guide told us to eat at a food court a long block away. Followed the group.  It was just okay. If the group went back there I would not have gone back with them. I feel I probably paid the same price for a bowl of laksa noodles with pork chop as I would have at a Chinese restaurant.  And the Chinese restaurant food would have been better.    Then today for lunch, she took us to an American style restaurant with pizza and roasted/ fried chicken with French fries. It was an included lunch. Terrible. 

Then for dinner she said agency picked restaurant. At a mall, set menu but we get to pick one of 4 main meal. I don’t think what everybody else chose they enjoyed. I picked pork chops with spaghetti and it was the best meal.  But just okay. Much better than what the others ordered. 

Asked Google AI, why the above:

This behavior is a hallmark of "zero-fee" or low-cost group tours. Travel agencies sell these packages at steep discounts to attract budget-conscious travelers. To cover costs and make a profit, the agencies and guides rely entirely on commissions from affiliated shops and restaurants. [1, 2, 3, 4]

I told our leader Rea that she needs to tell guide we are in Hong Kong and want to eat Hong Kong Chinese food. Guide said tomorrow will be Chinese for lunch and dinner. Likely cheap Chinese restaurants.  

However, the places we visited are very memorable. Too bad about the food because if food was excellent, this would be a great vacation.  Hotel room is about a 3 star, though rated 4 star.  Small and nothing fancy. But bright ( which I like) and a nice bathroom counter (which I like). Breakfast is okay to good.  Nothing fancy but enough. Sausages, omelet bar, two dim sums, fruit, toss salad, yogurt, one cheese and two cold cuts, Chinese fried noodles, cabbage with carrots vegetables, croissants, breads. Enough cause I don’t want to eat too much.

Hong Kong actually has an amazing collection of restaurants.

• 17,154 licensed restaurants.  
• Over 5,000 restaurants are Chinese.
• There are 77 Michelin-starred restaurants in Hong Kong as of the 2026 Michelin Guide. The prestigious selection includes: [1, 2]
  • 7 Three-Michelin-starred restaurants
  13 Two-Michelin-starred restaurants
  57 One-Michelin-starred restaurants [1]

We passed by the Peninsula Hotel. Guide said an expensive shopping mall across the street.  And she said next door is the 6-star Rosewood hotel (to the right).  She told everyone to walk into the lobby of Peninsula to look at lobby and ceiling.  

We will be staying at the classic Peninsula Hotel in the spring of 2027.  Typical prices for a room are $525/night at the Peninsula and $820/night at the Rosewood, but their most opulent offering costs $100,000/night.  Maybe we should try the Rosewood, but not their Manor House.

Hong  Kong:

• Has three main regions:  
• Hong Kong Island (topped by Victoria Peak)
• Kowloon Peninsula (the primary downtown site)
• New Territories (which has 250 islands).  
• HKI has a million residents, compared to Kowloon at 2.2 million.  With 86% of the total land area, New Territories has 4 million people.
• While Hong Kong is part of China, a visa is not required for tourists.
• We were in Hong Kong in January of this year and will return again in the spring of 2027.

Guide wanted us to see what the average workers/family apartment buildings look like. The old looking one she called unkept and dirty because when the government asked them to pay to upgrade, they refused. Government gave tax breaks to improve building but they didn’t want to spend the money. The nicer salmon colored building is where the local guide lives. She said they paid to paint the exterior. It looks so much better

Apartments are 300 sf with one bedroom and full bath. There’s a small kitchen. All apartments are the same. If a family of 7, kids will slept in 3 tier bunk beds crammed into space. She said she has 6 siblings. The had two sets of three bunk beds for the kids. Parents and baby lived in bedroom. They didn’t think anything of it because everyone lived like that.

Ride ferry to Hong Kong Island. Outside ferry terminal is a statue of Bruce Lee and that gold pig

According to the local guide, Bruce Lee‘s parents were opera performers. They moved to America to put up a theater so they could be Chinese opera performance  I think it was opera or Chinese dancing I’m not sure can’t recall correctly  So they borrowed money and slowly built a theater in San Francisco  Put on performances there for the Chinese people of Chinese, opera and dancing  And that’s where Bruce Lee was born  I think she said when he was five, the parents brought him back to Hong Kong and I’m not sure what they were doing back here.  I think she said that they were continuing to be performers and Bruce learned how to be a performer when he was five years old and he was very good at it. And then because he was a dancer, he learned how to do cha-cha  Became the winner of a cha-cha contest. Then I’m not sure who it was a relative or a friend told him to try the martial arts and that’s how he got started.  then Bruce moved to San Francisco Anyway, the story went something like that about Bruce Lee.  She also said he died in Hong Kong and a fellow performer female was with him in his apartment when he died. She said this woman called the ambulance or police to let them know that Bruce was unresponsive  But that’s her story.

Monopoly Dreams on Victoria Peak, sitting inside the Peak Galleria Shopping and leisure complex.

View from the Peak.

The  19-feet tall Forever Blooming Bauhinia, located at the Golden Bauhinia Square in Wan Chai, right outside the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre.

The Bauhinia is a flower and official floral emblem of Hong Kong.

Hong Kong Observatory ferris wheel.

Other sights.

Hong Kong SpaceMuseum.

Local guide said Hong Kong government allows businesses to make a profit, pay taxes, then send their money to wherever they want. So there’s many businesses from around the world doing business in Hong Kong. She said unlimited transfer of money out. As long as they pay their fair share of taxes, companies can send as much money home as they want. She said a company may lose money in America but if the Hong Kong operations are profitable, sending money home helps the companies back home and bottom line. So she says corporations like coming to Hong Kong to make money.

Saw this sign at check in to hotel which says no smoking and no durian 

So I asked Google AI about durian.

Durian’s famously intense aroma is a polarizing mix of sweet, custard-like notes and pungent, savory funk. People often describe the smell as a combination of sweet vanilla and tropical fruit, layered with pungent scents like rotting garbage, cooked onions, raw sewage, and sweaty gym socks. [1, 2, 3]

The reason for this extreme "love it or hate it" reaction comes down to genetics. The fruit contains a complex cocktail of chemical compounds—including volatile sulfur—that your unique DNA determines how you perceive. Some people's noses are highly sensitive to the sulfur, making the fruit smell like a dumpster. Other people’s genetics allow them to bypass the sulfurous notes entirely, meaning they only catch the sweet, almond, and caramel fragrances. [1, 2, 3]

Because the smell is so incredibly powerful and lingering, durian is famously banned from most public transportation systems, hotels, and airports across Southeast Asia. [1, 2]

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