Tag Archives: bohol

SEA: Day 53 – Bohol Excursion

Posted on by under Travel

I couldn’t stay focused to write anything yesterday. My head just wasn’t in it. I think the big reason was that I was trying to finish it late into the night. The first 50 days, I was able to have a post up on average before 5pm, but yesterday’s post went up past 9. I’m trying this new thing where I want to write this post before I head into work. That’ll make me stay focused and keep the material short and sweet.

On this day, I decided to rent a motorbike and cruise around Bohol and take a look at their some of their attractions. I actually posted a lot on Instagram, so I’m going to cheat today and just list out my activities, put in some comments if I have any, and link to my past posts. I also went out this night and visited Lionel’s friend, Andy, who was out in Bohol running a bar. Glad I met up with him cause we ended up having a pretty great time!

  • Rented the motorbike
  • Visited a Python sanctuary. In hindsight, I wish I did not go to this. The more I learn about animals, the more depressed I get thinking about how we treat these beautiful creatures.
  • Swung by Sipitan Bridge
  • Went to Tarsier Conservation Area, which was just so badly maintained. DO NOT GO HERE. I found several negative reviews online on how they treat these tiny guys, so left to another location that lets tarsiers stay in their natural habitat. Since they are nocturnal, you don’t get to see them in action during the day. Poorly managed zoos will force the tarsiers awake for tourists.
  • Visited the Bohol Tarsier Philippines Center. Much better for tarsiers. This location kept employees everywhere along the trail to make sure tourists didn’t wake up the tarsiers.
  • Saw the Chocolate Hills
  • Motorbiked around for another 3.5 hours
  • Had dinner at my resort
  • Head out to meet Andy. Met a bunch of his friends and their friends. Partied till 4am. Stumbled into a small market and found cup noodles plus other snacks. Do not regret this move at all.
Chocolate Hills
Cup noodles may have saved my life.

SEA: Day 52 – Scuba Duba Do

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The first time I ever went scuba diving was in Acapulco during spring break 2005 with my college homies. Memory isn’t great but I don’t remember receiving much training, or signing anything. Our guides probably weren’t even certified, now that I think about it. But being in college, we were young and dumb. (Now I’m older and not as dumb. Progress.) They took us out on a boat, threw some gear on us, tossed us in the water, and just dragged us around. Visibility was limited so we didn’t get to see much, if anything at all.

My experience with Philippine Fun Divers was very different. First off, I had to go through some reading material, pass a test (I could have made this up but I think I took a quiz…), walkthrough our gear, did some training in the pool, and then got to go out on the boat to the ocean. On top of that, I got my very own Master Scuba Diver Trainer, Frank Yamamoto, who was kind of a badass. Actually, come to think of it, everyone working at the scuba center was really cool. Maybe it’s a living on a beach thing.

Before we went off to the ocean, we did some training in the pool. Frank had me put on all my gear and taught me several basic things like swimming with flippers, regulating depth, and even something as simple as breathing. Having slow, controlled, and constant breathing was important. Things such as swimming was not as easy as I thought it would be. Took me some time to get used to swimming with flippers.

We eventually made it out to the ocean, where as soon as I got into the water, I started to freak out. Being only 10 meters deep wasn’t that bad, but looking up and seeing all the water above you just made me signal to Frank that I was not going to be okay. I wrote about this on Instagram, so won’t repeat myself.

I also ate a balut pinoy this day as well, so won’t repeat that either.

I don’t know why but I cannot write today. Let me just tl;dr this.

TL;DR: Went scuba diving. It was awesome. Ate balut pinoy, it was not as awesome. End.

SEA: Day 51 – To Bohol

Posted on by under Travel

Not sure why but this day, I woke up at 2am. I was in and out of sleep until around 6:30 and decided to get up then. I spent the morning packing up, had some breakfast, chatted with a nice couple from Florida, and hung out with Manol and his family. Manol told me some stories, as his daughters and wife came in and out of the conversations as they went on their day to day, and his grandkids were running around asking us questions or doing whatever kids do.

Manol and his family

After a couple hours, Manol took me to a beach where I caught a ferry to Bohol. During the ferry ride, I actually thought back on my conversations with Manol and ended up writing a little blurb about him on my phone.

*****
Had a wonderful time in Oslob! A big reason was because of Manol and his family. He owns the MWR Pension House that I stayed at. He is a God fearing man and shared many of his testimonies. One such story was when he got hit by an 18 wheeler while on his motorbike. His helmet broke on impact and he was tossed 20+ meters without it. He said he felt someone holding him and bracing his fall. He walked away with only a broken arm, and not a single scratch on him. Another time, when he was serving as captain on a military ship, a thick cable on deck came loose during bad weather. It hit his shins, but he was able to walk away with only cuts. Most times, these accidents end with a lost life or limb. He also told me about his many angelic dreams. He truly believes he has an angel watching over him. I almost don’t want to believe some of his stories, but when a man shows you scars, and conviction in his eyes, you believe.

He is truly a great man and it shows through his family. They all treated me like family. I had dinner with them every night. I didn’t meet everyone (he has 8 siblings), but everyone I met was happy and chatty with me. 

Whenever he’d drive me through the town, many people would wave or honk to him. He says he just wants his community to be happy and lead a good life.

One thing I thought was strange was his hostel/home. It is not as nice as it could be. He owns the hostel, karaoke bar, and the only licensed cock fighting ring in the area. I wondered where his revenue was going. I wasn’t going to ask this but the answer came when sharing his story. He’s been building a shrine on one of his lots. He made a statue of Mother Mary and Jesus and had them placed there. He goes there every week for worship and is slowly building out the building. It looked huge in pictures. He says he’s also looking to sell the cock fighting ring. He says God told him to sell because it is money made from gambling. His friends think he is crazy since there is so much money in that business. He says he just knows this is what he must do. 

Meeting Manol and hearing his testimonies was very powerful. I am truly grateful to have met him.
*****

Selfie with the deep blue sea.

Hm. I wrote more than I remember. Well, the ferry ride was 3.5 hours long. Anyways, I was really moved by this man. I hope he’s doing well and I hope to be able to visit him again one day.

Land ho!

Once we got to Bohol, I checked into my hotel, the Lost Horizon Beach Dive Resort and grabbed a bit to eat before heading to get a hair cut. Afterwards, just hung around the resort reading by the pool and possibly took a nap. I had dinner on the beach at the resort, walked along the Alona Beach, smoked some shisha at Alia Hailey Reggae Bar, then hit the sack around 11pm and fell asleep watching Tremors. You can never get away from Kevin Bacon.

Dinner on the beach.