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Once upon a time....well, exactly said on February 13, 2003 at 3:02 pm, I received message by ICQ on my office computer. Those days this messenger was up and running nearly all the time for talking to chat-friends and colleagues, but rarely some strangers had messaged me so far. This moment was different maybe because my profile had been updated through additional photos and information about me and it had caught somebody's attention.......
The very first conversation was rather short and if I had foreseen its consequence, this online rendezvous had been erased from my mind, surely. Those days though I was downhearted as my ex-girlfriend just left me 3 months ago, and somebody to talk to could be an emotional alleviation.
"hi! how are you? care to chat?" was Bebeth's very first message which suddenly appeared on my screen while I was having a rest drinking some coffee. (Hey, don't think I'm only drinking coffee at work all the time! I also work sporadically! )
We had a pleasant and enjoyable talk. I didn't even become suspicious when she asked "would you mind if ask you, are you married?", as I took it as pure curiosity from her side. My honest reply was "no, I'm still single, (or better said again)" and she thanked me for responding. You can find the whole conversation here.
From my first impression she seemed to be a very nice and kind woman, and she also lived in a part of the world, which I hadn't visited so far. In 1998 I had visited the UK and the US for meeting IRC chat-friends but then I had a long break again, so I was eager to explore new countries, to visit a part of Asia for the first time and to get to know to my new friend personally.
The next few weeks we spent writing E-mails, exchanging photos etc. We talked about our parents, families, jobs, hobbies and many others which aroused an idea of meeting each other. Bebeth worked as secretary at the MGB XIII, a branch of DENR (Department of Environment and Natural Resources. Her monthly take-home-pay of ca. 5,000 pesos couldn't even take her home without my support. After some queries, I found out that it was much easier for me to visit her than vice versa, as no visa is required for travel in the Philippines and of course, she was a single woman and could not simply visit a stranger in a foreign country. People are thinking very traditional in rural parts of the Philippines though reality sometimes contradicts.
This plan was realized on April 10, 2003 when I landed in Cebu, Mactan International Airport, after 15.5 hours of traveling. This month is the peak of summer season with 40 degrees centigrade, unendurable to some natives and much more to Westerners, but my fascination of the new environment was overwhelming.
Bebeth accompanied by her older sister Laxmie already waited outside in front of the airport as a calming sms had told me after my arrival. A Filipina can not go out with out chaperon as this would mar her reputation....
After I had finished the immigration formalities, including filling out a form asking for any signs of maybe being infected by SARS etc, I finally got my baggage and passed through the customs without being checked. I was so excited to walk right outside the door and immediately confronted by a bunch of taxi drivers advertising their services.
I had read about this in books, but nevertheless got rid of them peacefully. Looking around I suddenly noticed Bebeth and her sister waving at me. Yes, she looked like on the pictures she had sent… nice! We only talked a few words, then decided to get a taxi to drive to their hotel, but… hoops! The currency exchange counters are located inside the airport, so I had to make my way back passing a bad-tempered door guard after my convincing argument, but finally I hold my very first Peso notes in my hands - quite a batch which hardly fit into my purse...
Back outside finally a taxi was organized and we drove in direction of the city center, where we eventually reached the hotel. It was a cheap kind of hotel, but ok, as Bebeth had said before. Upstairs first thing for me was having a shower as recommended by the ladies then we finally had the time for talking. It's hard to remember what exactly we talked about, so I think it was just about general things and stuff. I had brought some pasalubong (gifts) for them, so Laxmie was happy about her new cuddly Easter bunny (something that is unknown in the Philippines) while Bebeth tried out her new Nokia 3310. Ok, I had gotten this phone for a cheap price on eBay for her, but it was still much better than her old one that was known to malfunction often. Maybe a selfish gift somehow, as I hoped she would become motivated to send more sms to me in the future. 
As my plane landed at 11:30 am and the ferry was to embark at 7:00 pm, we still had lots of time leftover, so we went to SM which is one of the big shopping malls in Cebu City. First we had to deposit our baggage at a counter in front of the main building, for bomb security check and to prevent shop lifting, then we entered and decided to have some lunch at first. It was very amazing for me figuring out that there weren't any menu cards inside the Chinese restaurant.
Instead a waiter approached us pushing a cart with lots of pots and plates on it asking us to choose. Many of the meals looked "suspicious" or unknown to me, so I simply chose a fried chicken, as it looked familiar. The ladies preferred some fish and rice, as far as I remember. I can still recall their amazed faces staring when I started eating the chicken using my hands only… as they had surely expected me using knife and fork, but I guess this was a start of a Filipino eating style already... 
After some shopping in various stores inside the mall we finally proceeded to the harbor area and rode in an overnight ferry bound for Surigao City, a ticket cost 500 (?) pesos per person. We occupied 3 beds on ground level so Bebeth was on my right side while Laxmie could observe us from her adjacent bed. We had nice talks and they wanted to know all about my travel, my experiences and impressions so far. I had brought a book about Visayan language and expressions for German tourist, so we had lots of fun with this, too. The photo on the right shows Bebeth reading inside this book.
We had organized something to eat and drink from a local fast food chain and had for dinner together. Soon it was time to sleep keeping in mind that the ship would arrive in very early morning, but my excitement or just uncertainty kept me awake, besides of the short and hard cots which offered no comforts for Westerners and the never ending sound of the engines and the aircon, which at least kept out the tropical heat off the bay...
After almost 24 hours of travel for me, we finally docked at our destination although my fatigue was overridden with happiness of the thought to have made it.