Sunset from ferry on way back to Dumaguete.
Ah, it’s really nice to be sitting down for a blog entry and listening to 90.9 WBUR (NPR) streaming on my PC. I totally dig NPR and BBC. Even when the news is bad, the distinguished British accents seems to make the bad news a bit more palatable…..
My birthday was this past weekend, and I spent it bedridden with a really nasty head cold. Actually, I spent about two days just lazing about trying to get through the worst of it. Michell was gracious enough to pick me up some local versions of Robotussin, buy me fruit, and make up some delicious chicken tinola soup with malunggnay, a native plant that is supposed to be a superfood. I was planning on treating myself (and Michell) to a nice dinner for my b-day, but was so stuffed up that I couldn’t taste anything. Nearly a week later, and I am still congested and feeling like crap. If it doesn’t clear up soon, I might try taking a ten day antibiotic – you don’t need a prescription to buy them in the Philippines.
Michell is still working on her motorbike riding skills. She had her second crash this past week, this time hitting a steel rollup door and putting a pretty nice dent in it. The damage affected the functioning of the door, so we had to pay to get it fixed – 700 pesos/$16. Like I said before, I hope all of her crashes are so benign. Doors and chairs are easy to fix – bones are a bit more difficult.
Dented door. Better than a dented Michell…..
We are moving into the pink house this coming Wednesday. It should be an easy move, as we don’t have that much stuff. It will also be nice because Michell will no longer have to stay at her boarding house as we will have multiple bedrooms to accommodate her odd (4 AM to 1 PM) working hours. There is a bit of drama with the local families there (with each other, not with us) over road access, and I hope they can work it out so I can keep the Pajero parked at the house. More on that in another post.
I took a nice day trip to Cebu island the on Thursday. I took the Yamaha over on the Ro-Ro (Roll on- Roll off) ferry and traveled up to Moalboal (about 70 KM’s) to go snorkeling. Along the way, I stopped off at Kawasan Falls, which is pretty famous as a waterfall area. The best part is it is ‘off season,’ so the waterfalls and resorts were pretty much empty of tourists. I really enjoy traveling by motorcycle in the Philippines, and the western highway on Cebu island is pretty stunning.
Cool river on approach to falls.
One of the smaller waterfall sections at Kawasan.
It’s Saturday so I am off to the gym after a couple cups of coffee at MacDonalds. Later, Michell is planning on taking me out to dinner (pizza!). It’s nice having a rich girlfriend, I tell ya.
Yet further proof that Farcry 3 takes place in the Philippines!
I realized at Kawasan Falls that I had been in the Philippines for a bit over six months. To celebrate the occassion, I sat down in the middle of a river leading to the falls and shot a quick summation of why I am enjoying life so much here. Check out the video and gimme a thumbs up, if for nothing else than the cool scenery behind me. 🙂