Moalboal

After Cebu I board the bus alone. When I learnt diving in Australia, I remember the first thing mentioned in the knowledge video of the certification course was "scuba-divers are fun people". We all laughed because that was such a cheesy way to start the course. But this is so far so true.

Another general observation was that the "In order to protect marine life, do not touch anything" principle doesn't seem to be something that any of the divers I met in The Philippines had in mind. They touched the coral, the fish, the sea turtle, and everything else which they could lay their hands on.

.:: Cebu ::.

It was quite an experience to flee from one island to another. It almost felt like we were in some action flick. But we were pretty happy to breathe the air of freedom (and eat big pieces of meat) as you can see. I also didn't expect to end up at the Magella Cross, eat KFC with rice in Cebu and be searched for weapons before entering a shopping mall with Jea (instead of admiring the beauy of the Chocolate Hills for example) but that's how life goes.

.:: Bohol ::.

   

Beautiful beaches, amazing people, great conversations. All non-APers fell in love with AP. I guess it was pretty hard not to. 

As for the one day hostage incident at Bohol- Long story put very short we were being kept there illegally by armed guards. Later that day we all tried contacting our own embassies as the police and local government wasn't much help.

It was still true that our embassy was very difficult to get hold of, but at least when they found out that when I was in danger, they didn't just ignore the call for help. Although their immediate reaction was to contact the Australian embassy for support... hey at least they did something!

.:: Manila ::.

When I said "I shall return", I did. Thanks for the mischief, the parties, and the chilling out. In retrospect maybe I should've also made the Makati boys to go shopping with me. That would have been fun, especially considering how I enjoyed buying tiny mini bottles from the supermarkets.

This is for everyone in Manila, especially for the Makati boys, and in particular for Yigitis, who thinks that if I don't put a photo with all of us in it on the blog, it doesn't show how special they really are. So here it is.

Filipinos have so much pride for their own culture and country. "Vivid" is one of the words that I'd use to describe the various art forms that I had the chance to experience, whether it be music, dancing, painting, prints, or others. The liveliness of the art and culture, the warm people, and the sweetness of the food (literally very sweet).