Wanderlust Heaven!

These were just ‘fun dives,’ i.e. not for any course. I wanted to spend more time at Apo and was able to do that. The two dives were good, not remarkable for sea life but just relaxing and around some nice hard and soft corals.

While underwater I pondered my upcoming 40th birthday – on June 29th. Have been considering where to spend it. Haven’t made any plans, but my flight schedule has me in the RP till July 2, when I travel to Tokyo. So have been assuming I’ll spend the day in some Filipino city – Cebu or Manila, most likely. I’m not too worked up about turning 40 – and the good thing is that my age will finally catch up with my hairline!

Ever wonder what they do with pigs here? The answer is:

My next two (and final) Advanced dives were scheduled for Monday, so had the weekend off. Read the Nitrox book and did the math problems therein – kind of fun. Hadn’t done much calculations over the past year and a half, so it was good to sharpen the mind.

That night, went out with Steve, who had again gotten a room at the Plaza Maria Luisa Hotel (where I shack up). His wife’s in Mindanao and he seems a bit lonely down in Daiun. And I was glad to have a bit of company. Sat at the bar and ordered drinks. Wouldn’t you know it, within 15 minutes was being tortured by another drunken local, who asked me countless personal questions and then wanted to know how he could make some money and retire soon. I mostly ignored him and talked to Steve. After a while he got up to play pool. Perhaps I should buy these guys a game of pool as soon as they start to talk to me – might be a solid investment in my sanity and eardrunks…

Wandered over to the Why Not Disco – was soon accosted by some regulars. Danced with them for a while, but was tired from all the diving, and headed back to the hotel before too long. I had a few things to do in the morning, and then was planning to do the Hash House Harriers run in the p.m. The weekend was given over to the Hash – this was the annual Dumaguete-Cebu joint Hash weekend and a bunch of people were coming down from Cebu. I was looking forward to meeting some new people and getting a bit of exercise…although in the vast majority of Hashes, you consume more beer than you work off running.

I hadn’t Hashed since an early Feb. run up in Manila. That was just OK – only a handful of Hashers turned up, and because I had new-ish running sneaks I was penalized and had to drink a beer out of my left shoe. Delicious. There are a couple Hash clubs in Manila, but each time a run came around I felt like doing something else, or nothing at all. I’ve been Hashing since ’92, when I started in Bombay, and have probably hashed in 15 countries thus far. I wrote at length last year about the Rangoon/Yangon, Burma Hash, which was good fun. I love the rugby-like boisterous atmosphere after each run, and have met some very good friends through Hashing.

That said, sometimes I have to force myself to join a local Hash. They’re often a bit out of town, or the day/time isn’t great for me, or I’m not feeling social. And everytime I do a Hash, the conditions seem particularly grim. Early ’06 I did the Houston Hash with my friend Adam, and we went through rivers and muddy forest for a couple hours. My sneaks were trashed and I was covered in mud. In Rangoon it was the tail-end of the monsoon season, and we sloshed though water buffalo shit-laden rice paddies in the pouring rain. Sneaks were nearly destroyed, but was able to soak and save ‘em. Not the best thing when you need to stow the sneakers in your backtop (albeit in a couple layers of heavy-duty plastic) and carry them around the world.

But was resolved to join the Hash this weekend and have some fun. Rode my motorbike out to the town on Valencia on Saturday afternoon. The local Grand Master (GM) is a Brit named Berny, who looks a bit like Anthony Hopkins. About 30 Hashers from Dumaguete and Cebu eventually turned up. Berny had set the course the day before, in chalk, flour and paint. An hour before we went out, it rained like hell (I was stuck on my motorbike in the storn) and most of the markings washed away. And word has it that the local kids like to erase the marks, just to fuck with the weird foreigners. So the trail was dim and Berny had to go along with us so that we didn’t wind up in Malaysia.

There was a desperately required beer stop after about two hours of mucking around in the woods and villages. There’s a new bar at the Valencia ‘pools’ area, a place where natural streams have been channeled into a large concrete pool area. The bar is owned by an American from Florida who looks like he was mustered out of the Army 20 years ago. Serious paunch, buzzcut, southern accent, and tennis sneakers. Classic. This is what we’re sharing with the world. But I suppose he’s providing jobs for 20 people (double the wait staff he needs, 5 security guards, several layers of accountants, you get the idea) and given the depressed local economy, a savior. Had a couple beers and some food there – perfect when you’re about to resume running – then hit the trail again. Berny had re-marked it so that it was fairly clear, and after another hour we made it back to his house, just before dark, for the ‘Hash Circle’ and assorted down-downs (beer penalties). Then ate some BBQ meats and told stories for a while.

Got back to Dumaguete around 10 that night. Didn’t feel like going out – was already a few beers deep, and the lengthy run/fiasco did a number on my legs and entire body. Showered and did some reading till I passed out around midnight.

Next day there was a ‘hangover Hash’ scheduled for 10 a.m., but I woke up sore and didn’t feel like going out for more (running and drinking). I’d enjoyed the previous afternoon/evening, but didn’t want Hash overkill to set it. Bagged it, and instead rode my bike up to the ‘Twin Lakes’ area north of the city. That was interesting…the rode to the lakes comes off the ‘highway’ and it’s about 15 km long. Doesn’t sound like much, but it’s mostly unpaved and rocky, and fairly steep in places. I used first gear more on those 15 km than I’d done in 3 weeks around town. Finally got to the entrance hut, paid, and the cashier/attendant then raised the roadgate so I could drove by. The gate is controlled from inside the hut and I thought that was reasonably clever.

The lakes themselves are large-ish and pretty nice. Hung out for an hour or so – some locals were picnicking, swimming and kayaking. I didn’t (as I neglected to bring anything with me), but looked like a fine spot for those activities. Photos for your perusal:

Started to drive back, dark clouds began to hover, and I feared rain. It had rained the previous day, and it’s getting close to June, when the real rains come. Kept riding…started to rain…then pour. No good shelters around…parked under a tree with huge leaves (again, my lack of natural knowledge – it wasn’t a pot plant, anyway) and got decent shelter. Rain started to die down after 10 minutes – I suspected another ‘surge’ and stayed put. Rain picked up again, then tapered off. I thought it was safe to go – I know Asian storm patterns pretty well, after all. So I hopped back on my Honda and sped down the hill. Lots of rivulets from the storm – had to drive carefully, for once.

Then it started to pour again. And no trees in sight – I was on flat, grassy land. Uh-oh. Decided to suck it up and drive on. Rain was collecting on the front of my shorts, and in streams on my shades. It was the wetness equivalent of being underwater. Local kids stared and laughed at me. It’s not much fun being stared at because you’re a weird foreigner – but here, it’s mostly good-natured, and you’re generally treated like a god. So really shouldn’t complain about the stares.

At one point I came around a bend and there was a water buffalo, staring right at me. I got off the bike to snap a photo, then got back on the bike when it seemed the buff was getting a little too curious about me. Here’s the beast:

Kept riding towards Dumaguete, getting soaked through. No real let-down for a half-hour, then the clouds started to part and I got some relief. The ride had been exhilarating and a bit dangerous – visibility had been crappy, and I was both tired and cold. Haven’t been cold in a long time and it felt odd. Got back to the hotel and took a very warm shower – was almost like a hot shower after a day of skiing. Random.

Checked my email. I get a daily market update from Schwab.com, and noticed that my shares of Acquantive, an independent e-marketing/advertising company, had gone up 27 points, about 80%. Thought that was a type, then read that Microsoft was aquiring Acquantive for an 85% premium. Oh my. I had just purchased these shares two months beforehand, and they had already jumped 10-15%, but this was happy news. I can’t recall where I got the tip about Acquantive, but I do look out for medium-sized companies that might be takeover targets. The problem is that I’m not alone in doing so…and if the takeover doesn’t happen, the company often runs out of steam against larger competitors. Still, I’ve had a few takeovers bear fruit and will keep looking out for these opportunities. Felt a bit wealthier after reading this news.

This reminded me of a stock called Conor Medsystems that I considered picking up a couple years ago. Conor was working on a new system for delivering anti-restinosis (anti-clotting) drugs via arterial stents. One of the executives had been involved in some dodgy deals in the past and so I stayed away from this baby – but checked it a few months ago and sure enough, Conor had been acquired, for a sexy premium, by a larger company – forget if it was Medtronic or another outfit. Oh well…

That night, walked across the street to Quezon Park, where a weeklong fiesta was in full swing. Live music (the usual pop hits), BBQ meat, hotdogs, and San Miguel beer all on offer. Ran into Jenny from the Italian restaurant in town. She was sitting with her friend, who manages an Internet café. Had a San Miguel, bought the girls some ice cream, and bought some peanuts from the little kids who were working the crowd. These kids often hang around Mike’s dive shop and I rarely buy from them – I don’t really like peanuts, and usually don’t have small change with me. Tonight I had lots and liberally shared with the kiddies. I felt bad for them, despite their cute smiles – it was 11 p.m., and these 6-year-olds were hawking peanuts and making 4 pesos per sale. Not how childhood should be spent.

Booked hotels for the first few days of my Negros motorbike excursion, which commences Thursday, May 24. One place is Takatuka Lodge & Dive Resort, in the west coast town of Sipalay. Mike knows the owners, a couple funky Filipino brothers, and the place is supposed to be quirky and fun. Booked two nights there…they asked that I reserve the room and make a down payment by buying a Smart mobilephone pre-paid card for 300 pesos, then texting them the PIN # used for the re-load. So I basically sent them a 300 peso mobile credit. Creative way to send ‘money.’ Fast and easy – but not that liquid, unless they can use the minutes for other goods/services. Not sure if that’s easily done – is there an aftermarket for minutes? More likely that the brothers are mobile mavens and will just use up the call time.

Monday rolled around and it was time for my last couple Advanced dives. The first was just a dive with Nitrox, i.e. a cylinder filled with a higher % of oxygen than regular air, which only has 21% O2. The Nitrox I used had 32% O2, and allows longer bottom time as you have less Nitrogen exposure. This was essentially a fun dive using Nitrox. I checked the gas blend with Mike at Pura Vida Resort, where we got the tank, and then we dove the Pura Vida House Reef, which was superb. I believe last year I did this reef with Mike, but had forgotten. Much better than our usual Daiun Poblacion (Steve’s House) dive spot – Pura Vida had 4 or 5 stingrays, 3 moray eels, lots of lion fish, a few pipefish, huge red snappers, etc. And I was able to hang out down deep for a long time, thanks to the Nitrox…was down there for about an hour. Good fun.

It was again pouring – started when we submerged, rained the entire dive, and was still going strong when we emerged. Had lunch at Pura Vida, where Mike had gotten his instructor’s license and used to guide dives. The rain was making the ocean muddy, from all the dirt/mud running into the surf. Drove over to the Poblacion site for my fifth/final dive, ‘Search and Recovery.’ Poblacion has the advantage of having a large flat bottom – perfect for using the compass and doing navigation/search and recovery dives – but it was now too muddy, so we returned to Pura Vida and despite the sloping wall nature of that site, dove there as the visibility was much better. I had to do the dive that day…the rest of the week was looking busy, and my departure was getting close.

This dive required me to conduct a few search/recovery techniques – circling an area using a partner feeding out a ropeline, using a compass to search in an expanding square pattern, and finally using a lift bag to hook up to a weight belt (the ‘lost item’) and using inflation, bring the bag and belt to the surface. The expanding square compass bit was again a bit tricky – I’m not signing up for any search and recovery/lost treasure missions anytime soon, despite reading something about a huge find off Florida recently by ‘Odyssey Expeditions’ or something like that. And the lift bag was also challenging – my knot-tying skills stink. Should have joined the Boy Scouts way back when. But I passed the tests and was now done with my Advanced Open Water Diver course. Now the only thing remaining was the classroom part of my Nitrox course, to be completed the next day, Tuesday.

We decided to do a couple dives at Sumilon Island on Tuesday morning. Hadn’t been there yet, Steve had raved about it, and Mike was game, so we (Steve, Mike, and I) took Mike’s boat out there and did a couple very nice dives on Tuesday a.m. En route we saw a plane coming in to land – the airport is nearby. Here’s a shot:

The first dive was off a wall that went down far – must have been 80-100 meters, perhaps more. Mike said he was going fairly deep – 40-50 meters – and said he’d check underwater to see if I wanted to accompany him. When we got to 30 meters, he headed out from the wall – out into the abyss. He looked back and gestured to see if I was game. I was, and followed him out.

Got to 35 meters. Felt like I wasn’t descending – I was kicking a bit, and I felt neutrally buoyant. But I slowly kept dropping – passed 40 meters, down to 41 meters. Mike was just in front of me. I suspect I was suffering from nitrogen narcosis – I wasn’t out of it, but my depth perception was certainly off. Saw a large Spanish mackerel, a huge turtle, and a few other fish, and then I turned back, as I was just diving on regular air, and my no-decompression time was down to 2-3 minutes. Swam up to about 30 meters, then to 25 or so, and hung out on the wall with Steve and Mike’s employee Marlon. Mike came back pretty soon. That was probably the deepest I’ve gone and it was exhiliarating. But I was definitely wary and despite the likely narcosis, I was cognizant of the depth (I constantly checked my dive computer) and resolved to head back up around 40 meters. Did that and finished the dive in good shape.

Second dive was also good. Our surface interval was only about 70 minutes, and my dive watch was giving me a ‘caution’ sign when we went back in. That was probably because of the depth of the first dive. Usually an hour at the top is perfectly fine, but this time my watch wanted longer. I decided it was OK, and went in again with the lads. Had a good dive (saw another huge turtle, lots of fish), but even at relatively shallow depths my watch was giving me surprisingly low no-decompression times. Revenge of the dive computer. So I didn’t go too deep, and mostly hung around 15-20 meters along the coral wall. Emerged after close to an hour and we drove back to shore. Here’s a shot of Steve and Mike, debriefing. Note Mike’s gut:

Still had to do the classroom bit of the Nitrox course, then take a test. I had read the Nitrox PADI book and done the math problems already, so I was prepared. But Steve wasn’t. So we sat there and Mike baby-stepped Steve through the problems – including fairly basic use of the RDP (Recreational Dive Planner) Table. That was annoying. I had a few things to do and wasn’t figuring on spending hours sitting there. I held my tongue because Steve’s a very good guy, and has been nice to me – taking me diving, feeding me, etc. Anyway, after an hour I took the test, and got 24 out of 25 correct – not too challenging. Left to do a few things while Steve started the test. Later he texted me and told me he passed. Cool.

So now I was done with my two courses, and would get the certificates I need to dive wrecks in Palawan. And I felt good that I had finally gotten serious about something – in this case, scuba diving – and had gone past the basic Open Water Diver level into more advanced areas. I’m still considering next steps – wouldn’t mind getting my Rescue Diver and Divemaster certificates, and might work on those in the near/medium-term. Anyone wanna join me?

I listen to a few podcasts each week, downloaded from iTunes. Washington Week (PBS) is a good one, it’s 20-25 minutes/week and covers the major political developments. As you’d suspect, much of the coverage is of the war in Iraq, and Congress’s funding battle with the Bush Administration (it depress me to type those two words). This week there was some coverage of the new ‘War Czar,’ whose name eludes me. Interesting to hear that he seemed to oppose the ‘surge,’ and that many other senior military officials did as well. I don’t know where General Petraeus stood on the ‘surge,’ but can’t imagine he was a huge fan either. Hmmm. Isn’t Bush’s standard retort to the Democrats’ withdrawal date proposals that ‘the generals should determine the course of the war’? That might sound OK – after all, it’s hard to imagine Nancy Pelosi and Ted Kennedy knowing anything about fighting a war. But relying on the generals (or perhaps more precisely, dumping the problem in their lap) sure didn’t work too well in Vietnam, and I’m pretty certain we’ll be saying the same thing about Iraq in 10 years. You can’t have it both ways. If the generals should be driving the course of this war, then their position(s) on the ‘surge’ matter too. Of course, Bush & Co. are semi-skilled at playing it fast and loose and internal consistency of position matters far less to them than does politics. Stayed tuned for more depressing news. I’m not looking forward to General Petraeus’s update to Congress in September…

Got a random phone call on my Skype number last night. Turned out it was from Tibetan woman I’d met last year in McLeod Ganj (Dharamsala, India). We hung out for a night in the bar and got along well. We had planned to meet in Goa, but she couldn’t get there in time. She later sent me an email from Goa, so she eventually made it there. I guess she’s back in McLeod Ganj now. Might see her back in India after I return there in late September…

Read that Negros Oriental has 19 cases of leprosy so far this year – vs. 11 for 2006. Of course, many/most cases are unreported. Yikes.

Also read about the way expenditures are allotted to politicians. Apparently, there is a formal ‘pork allottment’ that each Senator gets for pet projects in his/her province. Not sure if lowly Congressman get a slab too, probably yes but a smaller one. It’s even called ‘pork.’ In the States ‘pork’ is a bad word and although all the politicos fight for pet projects for their home states/districts, they try to keep it low-key. Here in the RP, candidates spend a serious amount of $ in their races, because if they win, they get their hands on a huge slab of pork to reward their followers. Perhaps being out in the open about this is best, but it’s pretty crude and doesn’t sit right with me. Also – Senators make just a modest salary (no more than US$1-2 thousand/month), but they get 1) a large monthly office expenditure allowance (something along the lines of US$30K), which they can keep if they don’t spend it – thus, many Senators keep a tiny office with very few staff, and 2) an annual travel line item, not so large but at least US$30K or so. So Senators who hoard their expenditures can take home around US$300-400K/year – significantly more than US Senators take home, to the best of my knowledge. Amazing. No wonder why people are murdering each other here, and setting fire to schools with ballot boxes inside, to win.

And don’t even get me started on the political dynasty issue. Everywhere I turn, there’s another case of a father and son switching jobs due to term limits or whatever else. Some families hold posts for 30-40 years and run entire provinces. Depressing. That, along with rampant vote-buying and the other crap, makes the RP style of democracy much more of a ‘crony capitalism’ type of system.

Went to see the Silliman University Museum of Anthropology earlier today. Some very old pottery items there, from trade with the Chinese during the Ming and earlier dynasties. The museum was locked and a fellow from the administration showed me around. But no real security there…not hard to imagine a thief breaking down a door and making off with a 2,000-year-old Chinese pot. I guess there aren’t many art thieves here in the RP – stealing a motorbike would be much easier, and more liquid, than trying to sell an ancient artifact. I even wonder how many people (besides Silliman students and foreigners) even know about this museum – it’s not advertised anywhere except in the guidebooks.

Read in the paper today that the peso has strengthened to the point that it only takes 45.87 to buy a dollar. When I got here, it was more like 48.7. This year the peso has strengthened 7% vs. the dollar – wonderful. Not that it really affects my behavior, but the timing isn’t perfect. And the PSE (Philippines Stock Exchange) is absolutely rocking – up 16% so far this year, 42% last year. I’ve got some $ invested here, but am starting to feel uneasy. Might be too frothy – the President even showed up at the PSE trading floor yesterday to ring the bell and brag about her accomplishments. Uh-oh. I’ve always felt that there are moments that signal a downturn – the CEO buys an airplane, the company builds a new HQ. Now we have the RP President showing up at the PSE and crowing that the Phisix Index is at an alltime high. Might be time to sell everything.

Am prepping for my weeklong motorbike tour of Negros Island. Got a better helmet – those huge sugar trucks can be menacing. And will probably pick up a knife too – you never know what will happen when you’re really out there. I will pass the Negros Oriental/Negros Occidental border, and full expect the usual roadblock with corrupt coppers – so will carry a few hundred pesos in one pocket, a couple thou in another – in case they decide my papers aren’t in order. I think taking a rental bike across provincial borders isn’t kosher – and I’m not consulting a lawyer first to see if it is. Here in the RP, pesos are accepted in lieu of the law. Sirrah. Here’s a closing shot – this is the Honda motorbike I’m taking round the island starting tomorrow.

I’ll have a few action shots next posting – not sure if that will be ‘on time,’ but it shouldn’t be too hard to find an Internet café and squeeze it in late next week. Exeunt.