The Cubicle is empty!!!

Hello everyone!  Finally found some downtime to write the first entry for our 2008 PI trip. 

It’s sunday afternoon and the weekend is almost over and we really haven’t done anything for the trip.  We still need to pack and really figure out what to bring.

 It’s been a fun weekend with Ebba’s birthday party and Maddox’s baptism.  It was nice to visit family, especially my parents, before our trip.

 We’ll update you as much as we can and don’t forget to drop as many comments as you like!

See you all soon!

See My Link L Other Foods for pics 

Now that you’re very interested in Balut or maybe you’re not, you’re probably wondering what other kinds of food could I have if I traveled there.

Well, there are you McDonalds and Jolibee (the filipino McDonalds), KFC is popular here, Kenny Rogers fried chicken is also huge. There’s tons of Japanese, Chinese and Korean restaurants in the most traveled places. But why travel half way around the world for Hamburgers.

So, some of the local fares that I’ve had was mostly fresh seafood. Grilled, pan-fried or placed in soups. Seafood like squid, shrimps, prawns, Tuna, all sorts of other fishes. And of course the Lechon! Squid I’ve had raw (Kinilaw ng pusit) with onions, celery,vinigar and grilled and in soup, same as shrimps and prawns. Most of the fish I had were grilled. Of course a cup or two of rice accompanies each dish. Usually all these fresh seafood cost around 7-8 dollars with a bottle of San Miguel. Can’t beat that.

Instead of explaining the foods, why don’t I just let the picutres describe them. One of the best reasons to come here are the fresh seafood and the Mango tango shake! Ah, the variety of fruits! That’s for another time.

Until next time, bahala na…………….

See My Link K Balut for pics

At some point when you’re in the province around dinner time you’ll hear vendors yelling, no, almost singsong like, “Balut, Pinoy style!”

You’re probably thinking what the heck is a Balut?  For those of you with a weak stomach and don’t want to paint a good delicacy picture in your head, stop reading right now.  That’s my last warning.

Balut: Balut is a fertilized duck egg with a nearly developed embryo inside that is boiled and eaten in a shell.  They are considered a delicacy here in the Philippines.  You’re not Pinoy if you haven’t tried one.  Popularly believed to be an aphrodisiac and considered a high-protien, hearty snacks, baluts are sold mostly by street vendors at night in the regions where they are available.  The Filipino word Balut roughly translates to “wrapped.”

The baluts are eaten with a pinch of salt.  But before you eat the duck embryo, there is a ritual to be followed.  Nothing religious or anything like that.  The eggs are savored for their balance of flavor and texture.  The broth sorrounding the embryo is sipped before the shell is peeled before the yolk and the young chick can be eaten.  Most people add alittle bit of vinigar with chili to the broth.  Then peel the egg add a pinch of salt and away you go.

Yes I tried not only one but two.  It was good!  So, when you happen to be in the Philippines, try this delicacy.  It’s more nutricious than a Big Mac!

Until next time, bahala na…………….

See My Link J Getting Around for pic

At some point just sitting in a bar, looking at the beach and drinking your favorite drinks (mine was the pineapple and papaya shakes) and oh SMB, would just get boring. So one has to travel to other sites to take in the culture around you.

The best way to do this around the island is to rent a motorcycle. There’s alot of places to rent motorcycles. One of them was the Bohol Riders Club. I went there and the prices they offered was outrageous. But If you dived with Bohol Divers, you get a discount. I passed on them and talked to the locals instead. Met a guy named loloy who spoke english relatively well and we connected because he’s also a basketball player on the local club. Plus his stable of cycles looks in pretty good shape.

I rented a honda X125cc. Small bike power wise but very manueverable for driving around the city. It’s max speed is 140KM/hr. I actually did 100 on the open road.

Driving around here is very dangerous as people actually drive slow and very rare would you see someone driving in high speed. I mean they’re used to driving around 20 to 30 KPH. Also, almost anything goes. Passing slower vehicles are easy as beeping the horn and they all move to the right so you can pass. There’s always all sorts of things to watch out when driving the cycle. Theres constant people walking on the road, animals crossing and other parked vehicles right on the road because of less than desired width of shoulder. But you adjust. Slow down, honk, signal and go.

Driving in the city of Tagbilaran was fun as heck!!! I know mom and dad probably worried about this but it was actually easier than I thought. Just follow what the locals do and it’s easy. Intersections are fun because you actually don’t stop you just roll thru and time the gaps and go. Best place to ride was in roundabout in front of the Cathedral.

I also rented a dual bike 200cc and took a tirp to Anda beach. Once I passed Barangay Loay, there’s hardly any traffic and I openned the throttle to go around 110 kph! Stopped to take some scenic photos. The ride along the seashore was spectacular.

After swimming at Dap-Dap beach and a little lunch. I headed for Carmen to see the Chocolate hills. Took the rough shortcut to Carmen thru Sierra Bullones. Rough road is an understatement. I was glad I had a dual bike to handle the rough road.

Went up to the mountains and back down on the other side to reach Carmen. Decided to skip the Hills as it was getting late and I wanted to get back to Alona Beach before dark.

Riding thru Bilar in the man-made forest was fun because of the curvy roads and going downhill.

I followed a guy that really knew how to ride a cycle From Carmen to Tagbilaran. I passed him a few times and he passed me a few times and finaly lost me past Lola’s house because of traffic.

From barangay Dauis to Alona was a piece of cake. Opened the throttle again on some of the open roads.

I’m glad I took that motorcycle class. It made me more confident riding a cycle and the experiences I’ve gotten here are imeasureable. It’s probably made me a better motorcyclist.

until next time, bahala na………….

See My Links I Alona Beach for pics

What can I say. It’s just another piece of paradise in the country with 7,000 islands and countless number of beaches.

As Larry, a diving partner from Pennsylvania who is retired and living here said, as we were floating waiting to be picked up on a beautiful sunny day, “another shitty day in paradise.” I couln’t agree more!

Not much explanation here, I think the pictures will say it all.

until next time, bahala na…………..

See My Links H Scuba Diving for pics

Well, I’m certified Open Water Diver. Which doesn’t really mean much until I start having to get my advanced Open Water Diver which will give me more skills to enjoy diving. But this is a good start. I really enjoyed learning to dive and actually diving in the open water.

I got my manual on Sunday July 29 and did Ch. 1 for class the next day. I took me four days to get my cert. First two days were classroom work in the morning and diving skills in the pool in the afternoon. Some of the skills you learned are how to put your equipment together: the tank, regulator, BCD and how to check to make sure they are operational. Some of the skills are partially and fully flooding your mask and clearing it. Replacing your mask, take off your regulator and use the octopus (backup regulator). How to handle emergency situations like running out of air in the tank.

Felix Sutter, my instructor, did a great job of explaining and planning the dives. It was fun to scuba in the pool. But I didn’t come here for that.

So on the third day, after classroom work, I headed out to the dive spot called Sanctuary and finally scuba on open water. What an exhilirating experience!!! But I still had to demonstrate the skills that I developed in the pool work and actually do them in open water. I did just fine. I felt comfortable doing the skills and just did most of the work on hovering and fine tuning bouyancy as the tank empties out. Man, it’s like swimming in an acquarium. The marine life in this sanctuary and the other dive spots are awesome!

Most of my dives were at 18 meters depth and lasted for 1hr.

The most dificult thing I had to do was the 300 meter swim with snorkeling gear. I was completely exhausted as the current was stong that afternoon. I did this after the afternoon dive. Man, I’m really out of shape aerobically and yes, physically. hahahahha!

Then the dreaded 10 min. float test. I haven’t done this since High School swim class. I thought I’d never complete this because I was exhausted by that swim. I actually did ok as I floated on my back and just focused on a spot on the coconut tree and thought of good things to eat and not about the time. Ten minutes actually went by fast.

I acutally met someone from wisconsin (here on vacation), he’s from west allis, who was in one of the dive trips to Balicasag Island. Dive spots were Diver’s Heaven and Black forest. Biggest thing on the dive was the large group of Jackfish (Mackrel) and saw two eels and a lone baracuda. Freaking awesome. My first diving buddy was Markus from Switzerland and the divemaster was Eriko from Japan.

I hope to get more chances to dive in the future.

until next time, bahala na…………….

See My Links G Bohol for pics 

I got to bohol on July 28 and left on August 11. I nearly spent two weeks here and had a fantastic time.

I’m glad that I had a great time to spend with my grandmother that I hardly know. Got to hear about life during the war (which the hid in the interior mountains of the island, took two to three days walking without rest to get there.), what life was like with 9 kids and found out how mom was when she was young. Lots of chismiss talaga. Anyway, life at the old Magdales house is very laid back. Winds comes from the seashore to cool the house, but traffic noise almost negates this beautiful feature. Lots of chickens for comsumption (uncle Nonet’s own words) roaming the yard. The starapple tree has no fruits as it’s not in season. But there are bannanas and other fruits that are wrapped to protect them from animals.

Went to aunt Del’s and Uncle Ilyong’s house to chill out one afternoon and had some great fresh bananas and tambis fruit (which was great with some salt, remembered it just like when I was young). Another afternoon went to see some property for sale adjacent to the house and with shoreline. Looking for retirement place already?

My plan was to go diving in the morning and go visit my Lola in the late afternoon. Usually stayed there until 7 or 8 at night.

Really had fun just hanging out and getting to know my relatives that I hardly get to see often enough.

We had a good party for Lola on Friday Aug. 10. I was glad that everyone stopped by to say goodbye to me as I was leaving the next day. But Lola was happy because all of the family in Bohol was there. Oh, the Lechon was out of this world!

until next time bahala na……………..

See My Links F Cebu City for pics

Wow, what a trip to get here. I left Legazpi City at 830am got to Manila around 10am and took an afternoon flight to Cebu City at 1pm and got in Cebu City around 230pm. Got checked in at the hotel by 330pm.

Wednesday, July 25 arrived in Cebu and pretty just much just crashed for the rest of the day. The hotel (Cebu Midtown Hotel) is attached to a mall. So the first things I did was get some cash as I was running down low on funds and got some water. Was tired from traveling around Legaspi yesterday and the trip today. Did not have any breakfast or lunch so dinner was at the mall. Just some rice and adobo.

Thursday, July 26. Went to the big SM Megamall in Cebu and pretty much updated the blog the whole afternoon. The weather here in Cebu City is horribly hot and being the second largest city in the Philippines, it also very polluted with buses and trikes all over. Tried to stay away from being outside and the air condiitoning going full blast in the mall, this for sure was the place to be. Anyway, pretty much rested today too.

Friday, July 27. After being well rested I went into the heat and smog to do some touristy things.

Cebu especially Cebu City is the hub of the Visayas. It has an international airport and actually is a better route to come into the PI if you want to skip the mayhem in NAIA in Manila. Cubuano the local dialect is spoken thoughout the visayas and parts of mindanao. Cebu City is a magnet for migrants from all over the region. It comes with being the second largest city of the country. As far as visitors are concerned, Cebu City is like Manila without the mayhem. Its traffic is chaotic but not insane. Its size and layout can actually be understood, rather than merely endured. But most important diference from Manila is that you notice that the taxi drivers here aren’t employed by SATAN!

I started the day by visiting the Mactan Shrine. Mactan Island is the site of one of the defining moments of the history of the Philippines. It was here, where the Shrine is located, on April 27m 1521, that Ferdinand Magellan made the fatal mistake of underestimating the fighting spirit of Chief Lapu-Lapu. For goodness sakes, they named all different kind of fishes after him. And they’re all good grilled. More on grilled fish later. As the chief representor of Spain, Magellan had the favours of all of the powerfull chiefs in the area except for Lapu-Lapu. So with 60 of his best soldiers, Magellan sailed to the island to teach him a lesson in gun-boat diplomacy. But Lapu-Lapu and his men defended thier island with unimaginable ferocity and Magellan was soon taken back to his boat fatally wounded by a spear to his head and a poisoned arrow to his leg. This event of course is commemorated by the Shrine.

Next I went to visit Fort San Pedro in the old downtown section. Built in 1565 by Miguel Lopez de Legazpi, conqueror of the Philippines, Fort San Pedro has served as an army garrison, a rebel stronghold, a prison camp and the city zoo. Now, it’s a retired as a peaceful, walled garden and handsomely crumbling ruin. A perfect retreat from the chaos and the madness of downtown Cebu. But best of all, it has public toilets. Some of the relic guns are still implaced on the ramparts pointing out to sea. But these days the sea has been filled for reclemation and increase the size of the ports and the city. So the “seashore” is actually a kilometer or two away from the fort. They have a nice display of life on the fort in years gone by.

Then I wanted to visit the Basilica and Magellan’s cross. Instead of taking a taxi, I walked and got lost and wandered into the Carbon Market (which is a dangerous area at nigt). Carbon Market is urban living in the raw. As Cebu’s oldest and biggest produce market – where racks of clothes and baskets snuggle cheek to cheek with stalls of fish, live chickens, drying intestines and videoke, the area is smelly, loud and an experience of a lifetime. I missed the Basilica by overshooting it by one block. After asking a guard at a store I found my way to the Basilica.

The Basilica Minore Del Santo Nino is the one of the holiest of churches in the world. Built in 1565 and burnt down three times, it was rebuilt in its present form in 1737. Perhaps it owes its incendiary past to the perenial bonfire of candles in its courtyard,, stoked by an endless procession of pilgrims and other worshippers. Which I became one as I offered some prayers to family and friends. The object of the worshipping in this church is a Flemish image of the infant Jesus, sequestered in a chapel to the left side of the alter. I could not take some pictures as friday noon mass was in progress. The image dates back to Magellan’s time and is said to be miraculous (which explains how it has survived all those fires). Every year, the image is the centerpiece of Cebu’s largest annual event, the Sinulog Festival. This event is telivised thoughout the country in January. I will someday come back just to see this festival. It’s an incredible month of celebration.

Then I went to see Magellan’s cross. Ferdinand’s catholic legacy, a large wooden cross, is housed in a stone rotunda (built in 1841) across the Cebu City Hall. The crucifix on show here apparently contains a few splinters from a cross Magellan planted on the shores of Cebu in 1521. A painting on the ceiling of the rotunda show Magellan erecting the cross (actually, the locals doing all the work – Magellan just standing around along with the other spaniards).

After touring all day, at night I met with my cousins that are either working or studying in Cebu City. There was a total of seven of them five of which I met this night. Joanne and Janice I met for the first time. We went to an authentic Pilipino resto and had a great dinner then later went to Ayala Mall to a Mexican resto to have drinks and ice cream. It was alot of fun to see them all and hear the family stories.

A rainstorm came and ended the night. Said goodbye to my cousins (of which some I will see later on) went to the hotel exhausted. What a day. Thank goodnes I have that behind me, cause now when I come back I’ll head for the beaches right away.

until next time, bahla na…………….

As one of the Philippines’ most photographed sights, Mt. Mayon (2,462m) rises dramatically from the flat Albay province terrain and can be seen as far away as Naga and Catanduanes to the north.  The volcano’s name derives from the Bicol word magayon, meaning Beauty and the volcano certainly deserves that name.

However beautiful, this volcana is no sleeping beauty.  There is a constant plume of smoke and is carefully monitored by volcanologists stationed near the airport.

Last yr. the volcano gushed lava down it slopes by stopped short of hitting the big city.  Evidence of where the lava flowed can be seen on the pictures by the burned, charred, black shades.

I took a Taxi to my hotel (2-star, less than $20 per night, but adequate) Legazpi Tourist Inn.  Best feature about the room is it’s very efficient air conditioner.  

I then hired the taxi driver to take me around the area for a tour of the Volcano, Cagsawa Ruins, Hoyop-Hoyopan Caves and the Legaspi City Outlook.

Nesthor, my taxi turned guide, first stopped at the Mayon Skyline Hotel at 810m on the northwest side of Mt. Mayon.  The view of the Pacific from this vantage point is spectacular especially on this clear day.  You can find guide to take you to the top from here, but it’s a two day hike.

Then it was to the Hoyop-Hoyopan Caves.  Artifacts of more than 2000 yrs old have been found in these caves and evidence of early “settlers” are found in the walls of the caves in the form of preserved human bones.  The name means “blow-blow” which is a reference to the wind that rushes thru the caves.  It was actually pleasant and cool in the tour.  It had the natural air-conditioning feeling in there.   Also, the locals hid in these caves from the Japanese during WWII.  The Locals also poured a concrete platform to designate as a disco floor.  They regularly met here during the curfew days of Ferdinand Marcos reign.

Then on to Cagsawa Ruins.  About 8km northwest of Legaspi, the remains (basically the bellfry) of the sunken Cagsawa Church.  This site is popular because it gives the tourists a beautifull view of Mt. Mayon.  In 1814, the 1200 people who took refuge in the church during Mt. Mayon’s violent eruption were buried alive.  It gives you an eerie feeling knowing the story, but this is no memorial as there are vendors hawking anything and everything.  So, there is quite a bit of hustle and bustle going around.  There were only about two-hand full of tourists this day, but I could see it during the peak season how loud this place could be.  Also, the typoon Remming’s flood of legaspi river just missed this site by less than 100meters of wiping this site out.

Which reminds me.  This area is recovering from the devastation caused by typhoon Remming of last yr.  December I believe.  A few thousand of people died especially those that settled near the river.  The towns around this area has evidence still of how hide the flood was and how thick the mud were after the water receded.  Schools still missing some of their sheet metal roofs.  The river flowage way is being expanded and construction to do so are ongiong.  Lots of construction equipment around.  Bridge construction are everywhere.  Human remains are still being discovered while debris and mud are cleared.  Utter devastation, but the people here have somewhat recovered and moved on.  There are alot of UN agencies around to help the people. 

The last part of the tour was the Lookout point.  Here you can see the pacific ocean and the city of Legaspi as wall as the Albay province.  You can see how the airport runway and Mt. Mayon dominate the city view and the landscape respectively.

The tour took about 6 hrs and cost about $50 including the ride from the airport. 

I had originally planned to stay here two days, but the whale sharks in Donsol are not around and this being the low season, I did not want to waste my time sitting in a bangka.  So, I left for Cebu the next day.

I glad I had the chance to see this area.  I think this area will see an upsurge of tourism in the near future which bodes well for the local economy.

until next time, bahala na……………………………………  

See My Links E Mayon Volcano for pics

There are malls and there is the Mall of Asia.  We all know how fond Filipino’s are of fond of shopping, especially for shoes, just google search Imelda Marcos here, but this mall takes it up another notch.  BAM! BAM! BAM! (emiril legase imitation here) 

The SM Mall of Asia is the largest shopping mall in the Phillipines and the 7th largest shopping mall in the world in terms of gross floor size.  It opened on May 21, 2006 with an amazing display of fireworks which you can check out in YOU TUBE.

The Mall of Asia was constructed within the reclamation area, west of Roxas Boulevard in Pasay City, aptly nicknamed “Bay City.”  It is built on 19.5 hectares of reclaimed land and has a gross floor are of 386,224 square metes.  The mall is located at the southmost tip of EDSA.  A roundabout was constructed in the front of the mall with a huge bronze globe simialar Universal Studio globe design.

The SM Mall of Asia mall grounds consists of four buildings interconnected by walkways; the Main Mall, the Entertainment Mall, and the North and South Carpark Buildings.

The Main Mall includes shopping and dining establishments and the food court. The Entertainment Mall is a two-story complex, a majority of which is open-air, facing Manila Bay.

The mall’s 5,000 parking spaces are divided across two, six-story parking buildings conveniently designated the North and South parking buildings. The South Parking building houses the mall’s official SM Department Store, while the mall’s supermarket, the SM Hypermart (don’t laugh at the name, because it surely describes the ongoings in a busy day, which is everyday) is located within the North Parking building.

One of the mall’s somewhat-unique features is a 20-seater tram traveling around the mall grounds to ferry shoppers around.  Also, the ice skating rink in the middle of the mall is interesting.  It was fun to see kids and adults alike skate and fall on their bum!

One can spend a day and not go thru all the stores.  But I did everything here from getting toiletries supplies to booking airline tickets.  Shopping at the SM Mall of Asia is a good way to spend your day because the air condition is set to the ultimate lowest here.  If you’re sweating shopping it’s because you just went thru hypermart.

 Had a relaxing time in Manila.  Got to meet some relatives and went out for fresh seafood.  Went to the Dumpa Seafood Market near the Mall of Asia on Diosdado Macapagal Road.  Pick you seafood tell them how you want it cooked and whala, fresh seafood dinner.  Excellent!!! night to end my stay in Manila.

 Until next time, bahala na………………………….

See My Links D mall of asia for pics.