tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-183488412012-01-18T00:01:03.343+11:00<a href="http://philippinesphil.blogspot.com/2006/02/all-my-posts-are-right-here.html">Go here for THE list of ALL my BLOG posts (up to date as of 26 Jul 09)</a>.PhilippinesPhilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15921214743105919057noreply@blogger.comBlogger4531100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18348841.post-31603898113583541592011-09-26T02:36:00.002+10:002011-09-26T04:08:50.500+10:00

Feeling my normal measure of trepidation, I took the entire brood, all six of my current dependents, to the embassy yesterday to enroll them in DEERS and for ID card issue. Why the anxiety? I don’t know. There’s something about going to my own embassy that always inspires apprehension, even dread. Just the sight of that compound causes my skin to crawl. I hate that place. I’ve met few other

PhilippinesPhilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15921214743105919057noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18348841.post-24612226053900108982011-08-12T01:36:00.097+10:002011-08-13T01:22:06.019+10:00

This is a continuation post, part 2 actually, about our short stop in the northern Philippine city of Vigan. Time flies, it’s already been more than two months since we were there. When our kalesa drivers brings us across the river back to “the National Highway” and pulls into the driveway down the hill from the 421 year old St. Augustine church, at the time, I am under the impression that we

PhilippinesPhilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15921214743105919057noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18348841.post-81535639008912974602011-08-02T01:55:00.081+10:002011-08-13T01:45:03.492+10:00

After finishing the accounts of our eight dives up in Claveria I took an unplanned blog break. Sometimes it happens that way. I go on a tear for a few weeks before losing steam and falling into unintentional hiatus, always meaning to write but not quite getting around to it. Actually though, I haven’t been completely out of it. After uploading the last of the trip pics into my Flickr photostream

PhilippinesPhilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15921214743105919057noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18348841.post-41875907672374347472011-07-17T21:43:00.029+10:002011-07-20T04:48:04.724+10:00

We are a mile west of the Claveria lagoon on our final day of diving. Ten minutes into our last dive of the day, we’ve seen enough of “the crack” in the islet’s submerged foundation. We are ready to push on and continue our quest to explore new territory under the waves.Once we leave the immediate vicinity of the towering 50 foot high crevice, I have little idea where our diving takes us. I know

PhilippinesPhilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15921214743105919057noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18348841.post-82389874003382368042011-07-16T03:08:00.052+10:002011-07-16T05:34:52.589+10:00

Saturday afternoon and we have but one dive left in our Claveria scuba expedition; we are sad but excited.(Above: view from the boat on the way out of the lagoon.)We want to get in at least one dive down the coast to a spot where the locals, mostly fishermen, are telling us about whenever we ask if they know of places where there are lots of fish. If there isn’t so much great underwater

PhilippinesPhilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15921214743105919057noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18348841.post-76994191716534184572011-07-13T20:34:00.050+10:002011-07-14T00:53:06.025+10:00

We did a total of three dives out the channel to the western side of Claveria’s lagoon. From that, we have a pretty good feel for what’s out that way. First, there’s the visual drama of Moray Wall, the first terrain feature that one runs into once passing through the lagoon’s “gate” to the left. I’ve described this notable area in very glowing terms in two previous posts, Jellyfish at the Gate

PhilippinesPhilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15921214743105919057noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18348841.post-19474311493773643462011-07-11T05:17:00.038+10:002011-07-12T02:54:40.587+10:00

I HAD to update this post by adding this video clip of "Moray Wall." It truly provides an incredible perspective the others do not. Enjoy!Our trip to Pagudpud to fill our dive tanks was a complete success. Even with all the side trips we made it back to the hotel in Claveria by early afternoon.To avoid diving in the dark we decided to quickly get all our equipment together and then immediately

PhilippinesPhilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15921214743105919057noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18348841.post-43749062733322908542011-07-09T06:22:00.039+10:002011-07-09T20:11:35.677+10:00

It wasn’t too much longer after stopping at the Nam Yang derelict ship that we make the turn off the main road to Pagudpud. When we reach the town square Don pulls over and has the girls ask for directions to the Terra Rika beach resort. Just for verification purposes (we’ve learned our lesson the hard way!), we ask the way from TWO separate people. With info in hand, we head down the road back

PhilippinesPhilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15921214743105919057noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18348841.post-18949993347520055702011-07-07T04:54:00.035+10:002011-07-07T14:06:57.737+10:00

Friday dawned with no air in our tanks. Five dives between the two of us had used them all up. The only place we could find online that had a dive tank compressor anywhere near driving distance from Claveria was back up the Maharlika Highway to Pagudpud at the Terra Rika dive beach resort.The four of us looked forward to the drive. The road is winding and steep at times, but the part that follows

PhilippinesPhilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15921214743105919057noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18348841.post-20627790909686319842011-07-05T05:47:00.026+10:002011-07-05T17:56:58.397+10:00

After Don had made peace with the tourism officials we continued to prepare for our first dive of the day.It was our third day of diving, including the day we had arrived when we had explored the barren waters just around the point from the eastern end of the Claveria beach.Our plan that day was to dive one more time in the canyon region, (the labyrinthine area I’ve been raving about in my last

PhilippinesPhilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15921214743105919057noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18348841.post-56425955551783517172011-07-03T03:30:00.028+10:002011-07-03T05:17:12.281+10:00

From the hatchery we continued up the beach road to Claveria’s lagoon. After the amazing underwater views we witnessed the day before, we were stoked to continue our exploration under the waves.Every time we went out through the lagoon channel we always saw things new and interesting; and just knowing that no one else scuba dives the area made it all the more exciting. I'll bet that we are

PhilippinesPhilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15921214743105919057noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18348841.post-55455184946008657432011-07-01T18:19:00.020+10:002011-07-01T18:48:19.288+10:00

Our third day of diving in Claveria broke sunny, blue and calm. Diving in bright tranquil weather is aces over any other circumstance, especially when it comes to underwater photography; and ultimately, for me, taking pictures down there is what it’s all about.Based on some earlier remarks I’d made in passing, Don knew I wanted to stop at the hatchery. We passed it every day on the way up the

PhilippinesPhilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15921214743105919057noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18348841.post-30242045934902164112011-06-29T02:04:00.018+10:002011-06-29T03:46:01.324+10:00

Towards the end of the second dive at the end of our first day in the Claveria Canyons and I literally do a double take when I catch a fleeting glimpse of my first rockfish; in this case a tasseled scorpionfish. I doubletaked because I wasn't sure if it was actually there or not. I had to get almost right on top of it before I could make sure. 'Yes, I SEE you Mr Rockfish!'These critters are so

PhilippinesPhilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15921214743105919057noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18348841.post-36917248391083500012011-06-28T03:26:00.008+10:002011-06-28T16:52:15.254+10:00

This is probably a Laticauda colubrina or Laticauda laticaudata, all the online photos I found of those two species look similar to the one I videoed (see below) in the canyons outside of the Claveria lagoon.It seems that every single dive trip I’ve ever been on I see at least one krait, or banded sea snake; and this trip was no different. We made a total of 8 dives this trip and saw this single

PhilippinesPhilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15921214743105919057noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18348841.post-67844136536679335902011-06-27T02:57:00.032+10:002011-06-27T03:43:19.036+10:00

Diving the Claveria lagoon area turned out to be a great experience. I do have to say though that the primary draw of the place is the underwater terrain--the grand canyons, the intriguing caverns and meandering fissures. It also turned out to be a good thing that we dove "the dead zone" before diving the lagoon, otherwise the sparse sea life of the lagoon would have seemed even more few and far

PhilippinesPhilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15921214743105919057noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18348841.post-27602943733676186622011-06-26T02:52:00.006+10:002011-06-26T03:32:08.787+10:00

This entire post is about this one video. It’s a little long, almost 6 minutes, and was even longer before I whittled it down some. Even so it’s one of my favorite clips from the Claveria trip. I’ve probably watched it more times than any of the others. I think I enjoy it so much because it really showcases some of the mysterious beauty and attractions of what I now like to call “The Claveria

PhilippinesPhilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15921214743105919057noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18348841.post-55196103412945388992011-06-25T00:47:00.023+10:002011-06-25T02:45:22.725+10:00

Baby LobstersIt’s easy to remember what we saw in the water on any particular day. After all, it's all in the photos. Every evening back at the hotel we religiously download from both cameras. During the day my wife mans the Cybershot up on land; while I of course, use the Canon for my underwater compositions. With the daily download, my laptop file manager has all the photos and videos stored

PhilippinesPhilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15921214743105919057noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18348841.post-82722990623778776632011-06-20T04:20:00.018+10:002011-06-21T04:27:23.949+10:00

For two weeks I’ve poured over my scads of undersea photos and videos, but it’s the two vids of the mysterious Big White Marble that has garnered most of my attention to date. There’s just something about it that keeps me looking and asking.From the moment I saw it shining down there on the sea bottom I was hooked. The improbable sight of a gigantic, brightly white, roundish almost spherical rock

PhilippinesPhilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15921214743105919057noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18348841.post-72083138995824537932011-06-18T03:59:00.012+10:002011-06-21T04:04:48.277+10:00

The impressive features of the canyons held our interest for a full three dives. And I think we could easily have spent another three dives exploring that site, but with so many more areas to investigate we couldn’t afford to spend any more time there. In all, the canyons, or the area to the right upon exiting the lagoon, cover at least an acre or more. It’s a massive expanse of gigantic volcanic

PhilippinesPhilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15921214743105919057noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18348841.post-91574189735622865732011-06-17T04:33:00.010+10:002011-06-19T20:48:01.904+10:00

The sudden appearance of the channel beneath us made for a striking image. In a second, the view below changed from drearily shallow to extraordinarily deep and mysterious. And that underwater channel leading out to the open sea was actually only a shadow of what was in store for us as the dive continued.Without having to signal to do so, the sudden change of venue caused the two of us to stop

PhilippinesPhilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15921214743105919057noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18348841.post-20304611866588593562011-06-16T03:41:00.018+10:002011-06-18T03:58:03.075+10:00

Neither of us are much on early rising, and our first morning waking up at the Bayview Inn was no exception. My girl is just as happy to stay in snooze mode right along with me, so she was in no hurry to get up to prepare my usual pre-dive breakfast of mixed chopped fruit. We didn’t eat until almost 10 am.Don came around the room about then to talk about when we would load up and take off. “Any

PhilippinesPhilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15921214743105919057noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18348841.post-37511571448305466882011-06-14T03:17:00.014+10:002011-06-16T05:02:09.327+10:00

Complex slabs and knobs of rock awaited us just below the surface almost as soon as we entered the swishing surf. It surprised me. I assumed that the expanse of sand on the beach would continue on into the water, providing easy access to the deep. But no, treacherous footing awaited us almost from the instant we took our first steps off the exposed beach sand. I couldn’t even go to my knees or to

PhilippinesPhilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15921214743105919057noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18348841.post-16525639058996046632011-06-12T03:12:00.028+10:002011-06-14T16:28:26.584+10:00

After leaving the lighthouse the road we traveled turned to the east across the top of Luzon. Checking it out online I now see that after passing through Laoag we began driving on The Maharlika Highway, which spans the country from top to bottom.Traffic had been light after Laoag and it stayed that way for the rest of the trip—no complaints there, especially considering how winding and up and

PhilippinesPhilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15921214743105919057noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18348841.post-73302871080802477452011-06-10T02:02:00.018+10:002011-06-10T14:45:46.413+10:00

It was a relatively short foray up to the top of the island and back, less than a week in all, but we did a lot, saw plenty and learned even more.We’ve been back now for four days but with so much to do upon our return—like renewing my driver’s license, putting the kids in school, and getting my dive photos and videos prepped for possible use by a Northern Luzon TV station—I’m only now getting

PhilippinesPhilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15921214743105919057noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18348841.post-43550737969453756662011-05-31T00:40:00.023+10:002011-05-31T01:51:43.367+10:00

The day after completing my PADI scuba training we moved to the Sinandigan Lodge over on the Coral Cove side of the peninsula. It’s like moving from a heavily populated big city out to an unpopulated rural berg. That’s where my dive buddy was staying, so that’s where we went. I didn’t mind; there’s some good diving over there.The staff told my wife that we were like the first customers they’d had

PhilippinesPhilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15921214743105919057noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18348841.post-64840230395725397362011-05-29T03:51:00.013+10:002011-05-29T17:41:32.078+10:00

A couple of bannerfish had my attention when my dive mate began to raise a ruckus behind me off to my right. I glanced over to see him excitedly waving me over before disappearing down below a steep drop off. I had no idea what was up but I figured it must be something pretty cool. He's learned his lesson; there've been times I've given him hell for not getting my attention when he sees something

PhilippinesPhilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15921214743105919057noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18348841.post-39547152242934650132011-05-27T23:23:00.061+10:002011-05-28T03:58:52.089+10:00

All my girls have made the trip to Puerto Galera with their mom and I. The one who goes most often though is the youngest; SHE is the fun one still. Her two older sisters tend to be sticks in the mud by comparison, always texting or just sitting in the room. She’ll be 13 soon—I hope she doesn’t suddenly turn into her older sisters, more interested in socializing on Facebook and cell phones than

PhilippinesPhilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15921214743105919057noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18348841.post-68565241312631901182011-05-27T04:40:00.006+10:002011-05-27T20:56:18.839+10:00

When the basic course was finished I was disappointed that my two classmates decided not to continue on to the advanced level. Seeking to convince them to go on with me I argued that it was only for two more days and just five more dives. But no, they had had enough for the time being and just wanted to enjoy the rest of their vacation. I suspect they wanted to party, drink and carouse without

PhilippinesPhilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15921214743105919057noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18348841.post-28397844911153389332011-05-24T04:45:00.005+10:002011-05-24T11:32:09.163+10:00

When Pedro told us our next dive would be to “the hole in the wall” I was excited enough to set aside my obsession over my continuing difficulties with buoyancy. And by difficulties of course I’m referring to having too much of it, buoyancy that is; especially at the end of each dive when my tank pressure gets down close to 750 lbs.Pedro and I had been skirting the subject. I dealt with it on my

PhilippinesPhilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15921214743105919057noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18348841.post-29269722247488949692011-05-22T04:43:00.006+10:002011-05-22T05:11:46.549+10:00

The quest for a dive card continued. Three decades in the U.S. military can make one extremely task oriented; so, once I decided I HAD to have an advanced open water card, earning one was inevitable. To make that happen, the curriculum called for us to hit the water three times a day, mostly in the open water, but sometimes in the pool. Of course the open water is where I prefer to be. Regardless

PhilippinesPhilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15921214743105919057noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18348841.post-77401749772338094102011-05-19T01:58:00.006+10:002011-05-19T02:51:43.771+10:00

THE primary source of conflict between Pedro and me was our disagreement over my weighting system. As it turns out, I’m glad we had this bit of strife because his stubborn insistence that he was right and I was wrong caused me to learn something extremely useful.First of all, I do admit that Pedro WAS mostly right. Before starting my training under him I really believed that I needed to carry 24

PhilippinesPhilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15921214743105919057noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18348841.post-53667887917896454642011-05-17T05:44:00.004+10:002011-05-17T06:23:30.453+10:00

So, back to last month’s dive trip where I went to The Big Apple dive resort with the express purpose of earning my advanced recreational diver open water certification through PADI (Professional Association of Diving Instructors).If you read any of my earlier posts about the trip you’ll know that I MOSTLY found the certification course quite easy. But! Just because I found the series of

PhilippinesPhilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15921214743105919057noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18348841.post-9610415579582339872011-05-14T02:35:00.007+10:002011-05-14T03:07:10.928+10:00

I just about passed up going to see this movie. With my 30 year old daughter and a couple of her girlfriends on Facebook gushing about how they HAD to see it, and when I saw that the brooding vampire guy from the Twilight series was the romantic lead, I figured it would just be another romantically overdone chick flick.But finally we went ahead and bought tickets for it. I mean I needed SOMETHING

PhilippinesPhilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15921214743105919057noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18348841.post-287939622377012382011-05-12T04:15:00.007+10:002011-05-12T05:17:42.078+10:00

There are at least five or six more posts in store about my last diving adventure, but that all kind of went on hold when my mother-in-law broke her leg a few days ago. I was informed about this with the typical, “Oh no, she fell and broke her hip!”After making the obligatory response, I think I said something like, “Oh, the poor thing! Where is she now? What did the doctor say?”But my next

PhilippinesPhilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15921214743105919057noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18348841.post-89795659787092477272011-05-05T01:02:00.010+10:002011-05-05T01:44:26.859+10:00

Most of our training dives commenced from the resort’s dive boat. This held true for both my basic and advanced training.There are definitely advantages diving off a boat versus just walking out into the water from the shore. For one thing it’s easier going by boat. A guy with painful load bearing joints, like me, much appreciates not having to walk even a few steps with a heavy tank strapped to

PhilippinesPhilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15921214743105919057noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18348841.post-35688980949654618352011-05-03T00:46:00.005+10:002011-06-04T22:43:36.242+10:00

The routine of all the training dives involved first accomplishing some instructional tasks, after which we got to do some underwater exploring just for the fun of it. And so once PADI instructor Peter was satisfied with our progress on that first of our six training dives he signaled us to follow him for a pleasurable little tour of the Sabang cove.We fell into the same pattern as the one we had

PhilippinesPhilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15921214743105919057noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18348841.post-69403951237202465782011-04-27T23:33:00.011+10:002011-04-28T21:53:27.664+10:00

Once he recovered from his self-induced coughing fit it took less than five minutes for the electrician to return from the surface 20 feet above us. Dropping through the water he settled himself to his earlier position on the other side of his fireman buddy from me. This time when Pedro signaled for him to perform the tossed regulator exercise he did so with no problem.On that dive one of the

PhilippinesPhilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15921214743105919057noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18348841.post-46322832236817882722011-04-23T13:47:00.005+10:002011-04-23T14:21:03.880+10:00

That first day of scuba training in open water was also my first time not in a pool with a group of other divers. It had a different visual feel from all my previous dives in the sea with just one fellow diver. Seeing all the other divers in front, around and behind caused my head to move as if on a swivel. I know I wasn’t really responsible for all my other dive mates but that’s what I’d been

PhilippinesPhilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15921214743105919057noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18348841.post-41112368936680449742011-04-20T01:32:00.012+10:002011-04-20T02:37:19.562+10:00

It’s an extraordinary experience, something ever awesomely new and different, to walk straight out from a sandy beach, in this case, through the line of moored bangka boats, or at other times past swimsuit-wearing air-breathing dogpaddling mortals, into the deep blue sea; to keep going, deeper ever deeper, until rippling wavelets close over your masked and snorkeled head as you enter a totally

PhilippinesPhilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15921214743105919057noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18348841.post-45655406865727962892011-04-17T04:25:00.018+10:002011-04-23T15:04:38.026+10:00

The next morning was sunny, paired with a bright blue tropical sky. I wouldn’t usually mention something so meteorologically common to these parts except that Jamie, the dive instructor assistant, commented that it had been weeks since anyone had even seen the sun above the usually brightly lit town of Sabang. Evidently, the weather had been overcast and hazy for quite some time. Why would that

PhilippinesPhilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15921214743105919057noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18348841.post-2001502895484067022011-04-15T03:34:00.016+10:002011-04-15T04:45:47.961+10:00

Long before I actually met him I had heard “things” about Big Apple’s dive instructor Peter. The word was that he could be impatient, didn’t suffer fools and tended on the grumpy side. Just the same, by the time I finally got the chance to meet the infamous "Big Apple Pete" I was actually looking forward to the experience. Peter’s “meanie” reputation was not off-putting for me at all. In fact,

PhilippinesPhilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15921214743105919057noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18348841.post-79096268735190104972011-04-12T01:50:00.011+10:002011-04-15T04:19:33.578+10:00

A trip of culmination, that's what we returned from just the day before yesterday. I say culmination since a primary accomplishment of this particular ten day foray is that I am now a certified diver with PADI.It all actually began last January during a trip to Mindoro when I stopped by The Big Apple Dive Resort in the resort town of Sabang where I had the good fortune to meet Neil, a primary

PhilippinesPhilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15921214743105919057noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18348841.post-50323820815112534312011-03-22T22:58:00.004+11:002011-03-23T04:08:23.995+11:00

When I eat mangoes I like them ripe, soft and juicy, where the flesh is yellow and more sugary than sugar. That is usually how they sell them in grocery stores. Unfortunately for me, that is not how the denizens of this house like them. No, they want them green, hard and tart. Of all the people here, the primary mango picker of the house is my 12 year old, Jen-Jen. During the production period of

PhilippinesPhilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15921214743105919057noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18348841.post-9437115741123466142011-03-18T07:07:00.005+11:002011-03-18T07:23:35.578+11:00

‘I wonder if there’s a new movie at the theater yet.’ That’s what I was thinking as I went online to the Robinsons Angeles Theater “Now Showing” page. And, indeed, a brand new one was on tap—World Invasion: Battle Los Angeles. The synopsis: “A Marine platoon faces off against an alien invasion in LA.” I called out to the wife, “Hey, you want to go check out this new flick? It sounds hokey, but

PhilippinesPhilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15921214743105919057noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18348841.post-8839404846125464392011-03-14T04:15:00.005+11:002011-03-14T04:47:49.787+11:00

It’s been several weeks since the local quadplex mall theater has shown a kids’ movie. Finally, the other day, “Rango” came to town and we happily took the kids to see it. In a nutshell, the kids liked it while I LOVED it; BUT, I wouldn’t exactly call it a “kids’ movie.” I was fully expecting a cutesy children’s story about talking lizards, and it kind of is; but in no way is this a mere cornball

PhilippinesPhilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15921214743105919057noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18348841.post-1379385068072131482011-03-14T01:40:00.003+11:002011-03-14T01:52:01.861+11:00

Since returning from my last scuba foray in January I’ve not done much, other than take the online PADI open water diving course, putter in the yard, sweat a little in the gym, and last but not least, watch a myriad of recently released movies at the Robinson’s theater quadlplex just around the corner. Ahhhh geez, but my life is SO hard, . . . or not. (Do I have two boxes of popcorn at the

PhilippinesPhilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15921214743105919057noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18348841.post-4631483597980412442011-02-18T19:05:00.020+11:002011-03-03T16:16:38.329+11:00

22 January 2011 SaturdayDay 8As I write this I’m so exhausted I can hardly think. We only did two dives today but they were tough ones, taking a lot of energy. And then after each dive I had my stepdaughter meet me in the water so she could continue to get acquainted with the use of the regulator as she swam along with me at my side.So we had our last two dives of the trip today. I feel sad that

PhilippinesPhilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15921214743105919057noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18348841.post-11060587288072736992011-02-15T21:32:00.017+11:002011-03-03T16:18:25.564+11:00

21 Jan 2011, FridayDay 7We put in a total of well over three hours under the waves today. For the first time ever we did three dives in one day. I had mentioned it last night sitting here on the veranda that it would be really cool to do three dives in one day. Don thought about it for a while and remarked that he never had either, so today we did.First dive was at 9:30, the second started at

PhilippinesPhilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15921214743105919057noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18348841.post-83344964942239561372011-02-08T01:24:00.011+11:002011-02-12T00:37:40.315+11:00

Jan DiveTripDay 6.4At the base of a drop off some 50 feet down I spotted something, perhaps just a bit of movement. I poked my camera behind the edge of some kind of cone shaped sponge or coral that was about three feet across at the top, and there in the viewer was a huge bulbous unblinking eye surrounded by green skin followed a second later by a fluttering yellowish pectoral fin.In the video

PhilippinesPhilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15921214743105919057noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18348841.post-61577339854752516332011-02-04T01:01:00.022+11:002011-02-09T02:31:12.515+11:00

January dive tripDay 6.3Interesting fish behavior:A tiny two inch blue and white striped fish apparently grooming a juvenile puffer fish with a comical dog face before moving on to groom another species of colorful fish that I haven't ID'd yet, and then moving back to grooming the dogfaced one.I watched the video below with my wife and step daughter and we all laughed at the show. Then, back here

PhilippinesPhilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15921214743105919057noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18348841.post-30955290929460388242011-02-01T05:44:00.010+11:002011-02-06T06:35:07.386+11:00

Jan 20, 2011 Thursday Day 6.2Half way down the cliff side I spotted a creepy three foot long giant caterpillar looking thing (what is it?). In the video I pick it up to see the underside, but before I did that I carefully and gently poked it with a gloved finger. I wanted to test it to see if there might be some kind of adverse reaction to my touch while ensuring I didn't harm it.Its body is

PhilippinesPhilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15921214743105919057noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18348841.post-67595533286253756152011-01-31T22:50:00.018+11:002011-02-01T23:38:25.114+11:00

Jan 20, 2011 Thursday Day 6.1 This morning it was early to rise after early to bed last night. My on again-off again jaw pain reared its agonizing ugly head yesterday afternoon, causing me to down a couple of Tylenol and then several beers when we ventured over the hill to Sabang for some dinner. As it always does, the pain receded but the beers and medication put me out like a light as soon as I

PhilippinesPhilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15921214743105919057noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18348841.post-18081268483709346712011-01-29T01:53:00.035+11:002011-01-30T06:15:53.867+11:00

Jan 19, 2011 WednesdayDay 5We had two pretty decent dives today. We still don’t have access to a boat so we are keeping pretty much right out in front of the hotel’s waterfront, but this place has such great diving so close to it that I have absolutely no complaints at all. On both dives we headed straight out to the buoy at 35 feet down about 60 yards out and then headed mostly east on a

PhilippinesPhilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15921214743105919057noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18348841.post-837710723594453852011-01-28T02:38:00.002+11:002011-01-29T21:05:29.687+11:00

Jan 18, 2011 Tuesday Day 4(Suggest you click on each photo to enjoy them fully...)Yes on the diving today!It started out slow however; woke up lazy and so didn’t get up until well after 8 am. From a supine position on the bed with hands behind my head I can see the sea through the room’s glass door. I could see that the water had a bit of chop to it but not nearly as bad as it’s been the last

PhilippinesPhilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15921214743105919057noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18348841.post-42984495418669969652011-01-26T21:27:00.006+11:002011-01-29T21:05:53.610+11:00

Jan 17 2011, Monday Day 3I take it all back, the glowing remarks I made yesterday about Captain Gregg’s that is—I’ll get to that in a bit.Another late bedtime due to several glasses of wine on the veranda caused me to awake late to weather that was and is still most foul. Even now, sitting up here with an early evening coffee I can hear the angry surge of pounding sloshing waves out there in the

PhilippinesPhilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15921214743105919057noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18348841.post-70042225508143770742011-01-25T23:59:00.004+11:002011-01-29T21:06:16.860+11:00

January Dive Trip to MindoroSunday, Jan 16, 2011Big disappointment in the morning—after hitting the wine and then the hay sometime after midnight last night we awoke to hugely violent seas. The waves were already fierce at 8 am, and even now 12 hours later they are still that way, only higher and more destructive since the tide is so high. It’s a wonder the jetty doesn’t collapse under the

PhilippinesPhilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15921214743105919057noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18348841.post-16783024205182826182011-01-24T22:31:00.035+11:002011-01-29T21:06:41.350+11:00

January Dive Trip to MindoroSaturday, 15 Jan 2011We were on the road this morning by 0430. The only real traffic was on the other side of Manila just before getting on the SLEX (South Luzon Expressway) around 0630, but even that was not too bad. From there it was smooth sailing. We hit the Batangas Pier just before 0800, in time to catch the 8 o’clock Montenegro RORO (roll on roll off) to Calapan

PhilippinesPhilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15921214743105919057noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18348841.post-47464456876617430252011-01-06T22:52:00.037+11:002011-01-07T01:35:41.707+11:00

Try as he might, Don never actually fixed the resort’s out board motor; although, after exhaustive troubleshooting he WAS able to pinpoint the bad component. The problem is, as far as our scuba diving was concerned, without that boat we were up a creek without a paddle.Ideally, we needed transportation to and from each dive; otherwise, we’d be stuck with departing and returning from the hotel

PhilippinesPhilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15921214743105919057noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18348841.post-19470639278143503032010-12-30T03:53:00.010+11:002010-12-30T04:27:11.833+11:00

In all my years of snorkeling I don’t recall ever noticing a feather star. I’m sure I must have seen them—they simply didn’t register during the limited observations I must have had of them from above. That changed on my very first dive; suddenly, feather stars became the prime undersea object of my attention. It’s as if they appeared to me out of thin air; or thin water if you will.My first time

PhilippinesPhilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15921214743105919057noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18348841.post-57743513139431529472010-12-13T00:43:00.027+11:002010-12-13T01:33:22.504+11:00

So here’s the revelatory information revealed to me during that dive I was in the midst of describing in my last post, part 5: I CAN go deep!Up until that dive I thought that I would never be able to get very far below the waves due to my inability to get deep quickly, all because of my inner ear equalization problems. But on this particular dive I learned that all I really need do is to get

PhilippinesPhilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15921214743105919057noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18348841.post-64088626080294360642010-12-09T11:33:00.014+11:002010-12-09T17:51:55.953+11:00

Getting back to the little revelation mentioned in my last post that perhaps I wasn’t doomed after all to not be able to get to significant depths due to my tiny Eustachian tube syndrome. But instead of calling it tiny let’s call them narrow, because that’s probably what’s actually causing the equalization problem. I don’t think I was born with this physical glitch because when I was a kid I

PhilippinesPhilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15921214743105919057noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18348841.post-12563690249331326252010-12-08T03:30:00.012+11:002010-12-09T11:59:48.339+11:00

The next morning, sitting just outside our room just off the beach, I stared out at the buoy that had caused me so much suffering in putting it there. I noticed that it didn’t quite seem in the same position as where I last remembered it. Now it appeared to be about 10 degrees further to the right, or to the west of the pier. I asked Don and he agreed. We surmised that perhaps without a heavy

PhilippinesPhilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15921214743105919057noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18348841.post-37868931456382353982010-12-02T04:10:00.013+11:002010-12-02T05:07:11.509+11:00

In all my visits to the waters of Mindoro going back to April 2003 I have never seen them siltier with such poor visibility. The reason for the extreme murkiness was clear enough—windy stormy weather, continuously churning the water like a shaken glass snow globe with the same results, lots of floating particulate.I realized exactly how poor the water clarity was the first time we reached the

PhilippinesPhilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15921214743105919057noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18348841.post-89250617883712829282010-11-30T02:17:00.007+11:002010-11-30T02:50:11.794+11:00

Days before arriving at the resort we had already learned that the dive boat motor was no longer running. The same had been true when we had arrived on our last visit but that time Don had gotten it going in fairly short order. This time however, it was not to be. Someone in the staff let us know that over its time as the resort’s boat it had foundered twice during exceptionally foul weather,

PhilippinesPhilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15921214743105919057noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18348841.post-75104530858778156822010-11-25T16:27:00.023+11:002010-11-25T17:49:33.935+11:00

We just returned from a ten day scuba trip to the Puerto Galera area of Mindoro. Once again I went with my diving mentor and with him I’ve now 30 dives of various depths and types under my belt after completing 14 during this last trip. Hopefully, sometime in early December I’ll be heading out once again for another underwater expedition to the same locale.We arrived at the Batangas Pier well

PhilippinesPhilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15921214743105919057noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18348841.post-50083573006802805542010-09-18T16:31:00.004+10:002010-09-18T16:49:29.293+10:00

I live in Angeles but do not indulge in going to any of the bars on Fields Avenue or Perimeter Road. Those of us living here, both bar goers or not, have been very curious about all the recent mayoral proclamations and recent raids. The article below from the internet (GMA TV News) written by a local journalist explains it all. The new US ambassador, surely due to instruction from his boss, our

PhilippinesPhilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15921214743105919057noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18348841.post-78294347907235737862010-08-27T03:48:00.018+10:002010-08-27T05:12:23.962+10:00

Now that the fishpond is complete I decided to make a quickie video to show it off as well as to show off the entire back area of our little City of Angels bungalow.Divine and I are quite proud of what we’ve done with the place. When viewing the video keep in mind that what you see did not exist when we moved in back in December ’07. What is now our master bedroom back then was an outdoor utility

PhilippinesPhilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15921214743105919057noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18348841.post-31562469750700760272010-08-22T15:19:00.028+10:002010-08-22T17:15:41.347+10:00

Sorry about that. I went into a massive funk right in the middle of the fish pond build. As usual it came without notice or warning. Over the years I’ve learned how to function during these dark times but only just. I’ve trained myself in hiding it from people around me, but it’s not easy. My tendency is to be very quiet, sullen and to lash out for the smallest things; and since for the most part

PhilippinesPhilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15921214743105919057noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18348841.post-74122325811629987042010-08-07T06:52:00.022+10:002010-08-07T07:27:58.041+10:00

One week ago today we started work on the fishpond waterfall. I never dreamed it would become the production it now is. I’ve noticed that undertakings like this one seem to take on a life of their own as they proceed. I sit there with beer in hand as my guys busily go about their tasks and new “must haves” just seem to pop into my spinning mind. It goes like this…“Hey Eddie, how about…”As soon as

PhilippinesPhilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15921214743105919057noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18348841.post-25483246577440000992010-08-05T05:26:00.012+10:002010-08-05T06:04:22.018+10:00

Let’s take a brief break from covering the latest on the fishpond and waterfall build. I will say though that it’s progressing very nicely indeed. Tomorrow we should be installing the top platform on the waterfall wall of stones. I’ll get fully back on that subject tomorrow, but for today, let’s talk about birds .I’ve always been a bird watcher. I was lucky to have spent my high school years n

PhilippinesPhilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15921214743105919057noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18348841.post-34385121693943281262010-08-04T12:35:00.019+10:002010-08-04T13:15:38.754+10:00

Days four and five have brought slow but steady progress. When dealing with heavy stones piled one on another, all held in place with only a relatively few dabs of cement, its best not to get in a rush.Even so, the primary wall of the waterfall is up and in place, as well as all the basic plumbing for the eventual waterworks. Speaking of which, on the fly we came up with a markedly different idea

PhilippinesPhilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15921214743105919057noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18348841.post-59417936441284732812010-08-02T03:50:00.021+10:002010-08-02T04:29:55.870+10:00

xxxxWork on the fishpond went on hold this morning until after we finished trimming a couple of very large overhanging mango branches. I had mentioned that they needed to come down to Eddie yesterday and he made that the day’s first priority.Two of his sons then spent most of the rest of the day breaking down the huge pile of branches, stems and leaves into compost. Since moving here late in 07 I

PhilippinesPhilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15921214743105919057noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18348841.post-26801996364384298022010-08-01T18:24:00.015+10:002010-08-01T18:54:39.827+10:00

The boys made pretty good progress on day two of the build. We finished the primary pool structure, got much of the tile laid, and put in place the pump for the waterfall including most of the basic plumbing.As usual for this time of year, the late afternoon sky turned dark with the threat of an oncoming storm. Hard rain not being a good thing for wet cement, the approach of a rainy season soaker

PhilippinesPhilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15921214743105919057noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18348841.post-76696326396750093622010-07-31T02:19:00.035+10:002010-07-31T03:53:54.182+10:00

Al Mitchell was buried today in the American Cemetery on Clark. Long before the ceremonies were to begin I was up, showered and dressed, fully intending to go and pay my respects to help give Al the send off he deserved.I finished tying my shoe laces, stood up and had to sit right back down again. My heart was palpitating, my head spinning. Weak and powerless, I suddenly felt sick to my stomach.

PhilippinesPhilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15921214743105919057noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18348841.post-34619213301094395942010-07-29T00:13:00.008+10:002010-07-29T15:54:54.225+10:00

By now, everyone following news of the Mark Dizon murder spree knows that he was captured with a slight struggle in the town square of San Fernando in the province of La Union. By bus, that’s about four hours north of here, Angeles City, where all the killing took place. Dizon’s father was afraid that his son would end up going down in a hail of gunfire and according to one account that is

PhilippinesPhilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15921214743105919057noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18348841.post-3481161327868651312010-07-27T00:10:00.019+10:002010-07-27T01:32:49.147+10:00

According to Harry the Horse the AC police are totally convinced that there is a single killer on the loose for all the multitudes of recent murders in AC Town. His name is Mark Dizon; and now, EVERYONE knows his name and what he looks like. There are posters all over the place with a head shot cropped from this photo, which is the one I mentioned in my last post "Unexpected Death."According to

PhilippinesPhilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15921214743105919057noreply@blogger.com23tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18348841.post-86172333246093992732010-07-25T04:57:00.008+10:002010-07-25T06:58:40.719+10:00

Unexpected death has always been a part of this place, but lately it’s become decidedly murderous. In fact, to those of us expats trying to quietly live our lives here in “The City of Angels,” potential violence seems to be swirling around us like never before. The latest spate of killing has left many of us permanent party members shaken, feeling insecure, vulnerable and unprotected.This month

PhilippinesPhilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15921214743105919057noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18348841.post-67982998681375632382010-07-23T02:58:00.015+10:002010-07-23T04:35:06.783+10:00

Fishville in Facebook is a favorite pastime of mine. Until recently, I thought that the game makers at Zynga simply made up the host of caricature funny fishes in their Fishville game. Then I plugged a few of the fish names into the internet and was surprised to see that all are based on an actual fish. Pinnated batfish from Fishville on FacebookSpeaking of Fishville, one of my new favorite

PhilippinesPhilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15921214743105919057noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18348841.post-52557405507627167972010-07-16T04:18:00.010+10:002010-07-16T06:34:39.415+10:00

One of the biggest thrills ever in my short scuba career occurred a couple days into my last diving trip. Staying low, practically crawling along the sea floor we round a big boulder and the first thing I see is a big old sea turtle. At the first moment of that encounter my camera was still hanging off my right shoulder by the strap high above my right bicep. I keep it up there where it tends to

PhilippinesPhilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15921214743105919057noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18348841.post-86044997070512545702010-07-06T04:22:00.034+10:002010-07-09T07:16:47.797+10:00

Snorkeling up and down the coast had been fantastic, awe inspiring even, and convinced me that there would be some even greater sights to see along those soaring cliffs and fallen boulders via scuba diving as well. I mentioned this to Don hoping to plant the idea to include some shallow dives along the various shore lines around us. No problem, he liked the idea right away.When not in the water

PhilippinesPhilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15921214743105919057noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18348841.post-37955466802139596972010-07-02T04:42:00.019+10:002010-07-03T01:20:32.188+10:00

On Jay’s second dive I volunteered once more to snorkel around the both of them to assist in anyway I could while taking video and stills. I had already been out snorkeling for about an hour when I saw the two of them being boated out to the dive buoy directly to the front of the hotel. I was way down the coast to the east over 500 meters away when I spotted them. I pushed my camera up around the

PhilippinesPhilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15921214743105919057noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18348841.post-87107915797749959012010-06-27T04:33:00.012+10:002010-06-27T05:43:51.850+10:00

It was our second day at the resort. Now it was MY turn to go out on dive two of the day with Dive-master Don, and unfortunately, I decided NOT to bring my camera. Feeling nervous I figured I would use my first dive outing of the trip to get fully reacquainted with all the ropes—HUGE mistake—not taking the camera that is.Don came up with a simple plan for that dive: walk out into the water from

PhilippinesPhilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15921214743105919057noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18348841.post-87034901489403921292010-06-19T18:00:00.015+10:002010-06-20T02:47:55.238+10:00

Our skin diving sessions started on the second day of our early June stay at the resort. Because two of three of us had just basic experience I suggested that we take turns diving with Don, our instructor diver, a very talented and resourceful fellow who also happens to be a mutual friend.Jay, the other new-guy diver (aside from me) is not truly new at this stuff but he might as well be since his

PhilippinesPhilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15921214743105919057noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18348841.post-19896752084333436942010-06-17T04:45:00.016+10:002010-06-18T02:23:27.472+10:00

It was my good fortune to run into one of my favorite military retiree buds at the office today as he happened to be out and about. Quite the character he spent more than 22 years as a navy diver. I’m not saying his chosen profession caused his “character building,” but it probably had a lot to do with it, especially having heard some of the hair-raising experiences he went through. (shudder)A

PhilippinesPhilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15921214743105919057noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18348841.post-4994034870860235272010-06-14T03:17:00.023+10:002010-06-14T05:40:18.729+10:00

Before we could enjoy the beach and its welcoming waters I noticed that a few things needed to be taken care of first. The resort is nice and all, quite attractive actually, but once again we were confronted with a common problem that certain foreigners often bump into here, that being the issue of what is and is not tolerable. In this case what I for one found intolerable was the state of the

PhilippinesPhilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15921214743105919057noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18348841.post-11601826757144840732010-06-12T05:29:00.015+10:002010-06-12T06:06:33.795+10:00

The pictures and videos from the last diving trip have captivated me so much that I’ve neglected writing about the little adventure from which those entrancing images resulted. I’m finally getting around to putting together another post—this very one as a matter of fact.Less than a week before we were due to leave again for the magnificent waters off Mindoro I came down with a head and chest cold

PhilippinesPhilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15921214743105919057noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18348841.post-76980309510832267592010-06-09T03:11:00.007+10:002010-06-09T03:43:34.188+10:00

We’re going to have to take it easy and stay home for a while I guess. A couple days ago we returned from our third trip in less than three months from the water wonder land generally known as Puerto Galera, even though few people who go there actually stay in that city. Speaking for all tourists most of us stay at one of the numerous beach slash dive resorts located around the town of Sabang and

PhilippinesPhilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15921214743105919057noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18348841.post-26032561552096634662010-05-27T22:49:00.004+10:002010-05-27T23:10:18.435+10:00

Art Linkletter is gone. He was 97 years young when he passed away today at his home in LA. He had no diagnosed diseases; he just died of old age. Over the years every time I saw him on the tube he seemed no different than what I remembered when I used to watch his show back in the 60s. I was convinced that he would live on and on; probably long after I was gone, but that was not to be.Art

PhilippinesPhilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15921214743105919057noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18348841.post-12756409059443329682010-05-24T04:22:00.017+10:002010-05-25T03:30:12.187+10:00

I just uploaded a group of pics to Facebook from my scuba diving trip last week. Going over those photos reminds me what an awesome four day experience that was. Ever since I first strapped on a snorkel and mask decades ago in Puerto Rico I’ve been fascinated by the whole other world existing under the sea. Until you are in it there’s no way you can truly understand the fascination it engenders.

PhilippinesPhilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15921214743105919057noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18348841.post-65099846013163882512010-05-22T01:30:00.002+10:002010-05-22T01:39:13.107+10:00

I miss it—the clean air, the quiet, the calming continuing rush of waves right outside our room on the beach. I miss the refreshing sea breezes, the smiling ever-helpful wait staff, and the beautiful tropical scenery that fills the eyes no matter what direction the head turns.My buddy drove us all the way to this heavenly place; right to its tiny gravel parking lot (I’m sure hardly anyone drives

PhilippinesPhilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15921214743105919057noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18348841.post-67530458561333664372010-05-13T01:47:00.018+10:002010-05-13T03:16:45.325+10:00

In the boat on the way back to the hotel we decided not to repeat our “blunder of nap” from the day before—no more lying down for a “short” one just because we feel a little tired. Instead of giving in to our exhaustion of the moment the plan was to have a light lunch after a quick shower and change, and then walk up the dirt path over the point for a look at the Ville of Sabang. Doing so turned

PhilippinesPhilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15921214743105919057noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18348841.post-659694162311335202010-05-11T04:46:00.006+10:002010-05-11T05:48:43.101+10:00

For our first day of snorkeling we woke up to a gorgeous morning—bright sun in a sky of the purest blue. It was pretty much the same for the next two equally beautiful mornings—an American breakfast at 8am, ready to hit the water by 9:30. Mac-Mac was never late, and in these days of immediate communication we were able to confirm his arrival at any moment before he showed up. Of course, he knew

PhilippinesPhilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15921214743105919057noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18348841.post-89600823073177216742010-05-07T04:11:00.002+10:002010-05-07T04:20:34.851+10:00

We checked into our room, turned on the air con, took a shower, and flopped onto the firm clean beds. Couldn’t help it—they beckoned! Telling ourselves that we would just lay down for an hour’s worth of recovery napping we ended up waking up hours later to the laughing screams of some kids running past our door. Fresh from our slumber we looked at each other thinking the same thing, “Damn kids!”“

PhilippinesPhilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15921214743105919057noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18348841.post-60328823415690386342010-05-03T02:28:00.006+10:002010-05-03T02:46:17.585+10:00

Such a good time was had on our trip to Mindoro that we are already planning to go again soon; but I’m getting ahead of myself. This post is about that trip; it takes up from when we arrived in Sabang by boat two weeks ago today. . .After the jouncing ride by Bangka boat to the Sabang Beach “terminal”—and by terminal I mean a few feet of beach on the south end of Sabang where the big boats drop

PhilippinesPhilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15921214743105919057noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18348841.post-12466786668323527782010-04-27T03:51:00.002+10:002010-04-27T04:06:33.099+10:00

I considered saving some bucks by taking the bus to the Batangas Pier, the pier being where ferries and Bangka boats ply back and forth to and from Mindoro, primarily to the Puerto Galera landings, such as White Beach, Sabang and PG itself. Eventually, I may try using public transport but not this time. Taking the bus would mean catching two different buses: the first from Angeles to Manila, and

PhilippinesPhilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15921214743105919057noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18348841.post-75418041157441582232010-04-23T01:44:00.002+10:002010-04-23T01:58:35.920+10:00

We’ve been back from our five day escape to Puerto Galera for a week as of today. Even while I was still there, swimming with the fishes, I was already thinking about when we would return. Man I LOVE that place.For a while though I wasn’t sure if I was ever going to make the trip happen. About two months ago the pain in my lower and middle back began to wander down into the inside of my left hip

PhilippinesPhilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15921214743105919057noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18348841.post-67288720770558175092010-04-18T16:57:00.007+10:002010-04-18T17:49:52.607+10:00

Something catastrophic happened here to one of my “new” family members that completely put me off my blogging even as I was already losing steam with it. It was something so horrendous that it just seemed to collapse me from the inside; took the heart right out of me. Maybe I’ll speak of it soon; I don’t know. If I write about it there’s a possibility that it could affect me in a very negative (

PhilippinesPhilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15921214743105919057noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18348841.post-89314725215022507572009-11-26T05:53:00.005+11:002009-11-26T06:43:07.399+11:00

My youngest needs a new passport. Sometimes these things just sneak up on you and that’s what happened this time. My ex sent me a text a couple months ago telling me it was time to replace our youngest’s unexpectedly expired one, so I did the research using information on the RAO website maintained by our local embassy warden. It all seemed pretty straight forward. I looked at what is required

PhilippinesPhilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15921214743105919057noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18348841.post-66547528902730784482009-11-16T16:45:00.016+11:002009-11-16T18:33:41.698+11:00

My father has been gone for more than a year now. Acknowledging that no one lives forever, nine years ago I spent several days interviewing him, mostly interested in hearing about his early life in the 30s, 40s, and 50s.During that period a major part of his life took place on “The Spear Farm,” a plot of 160 acres a few miles east of Kingston, Michigan on the north side of M46. For most of my

PhilippinesPhilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15921214743105919057noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18348841.post-59410594903760997452009-11-12T01:18:00.005+11:002009-11-12T01:37:55.253+11:00

Officers and enlisted men are evidently coming out of the woodwork now, all describing their own individual run-ins with Major Hasan when they personally experienced this American Jihadist’s pro-suicide bomber proclamations and anti-“War on Islamic Terror” tirades. Evidently, this murdering double-crossing traitor had been spouting off like Bin Laden on Al Jazeera for years now; yet the US Army

PhilippinesPhilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15921214743105919057noreply@blogger.com12