Surfing to Diving

Surfing in Alona Beach? Locals take advantage of the waves to surf. It's very rare that there are any waves to surf in Alona Beach.

Taeko, Yuhka, and I went to Alona Beach from my place because Taeko wanted to do an introductory dive and Yuhka wanted to do a refresher course; they’re basically the same. Since there was a tropical storm off the coast of Alona Beach, we had to do the dives on another side of Panglao Island—in Doljo beach.

Che dancing for Taeko and I.

Palm trees blow in the wind. "Hangin Kaayo" - very windy.

We got our gear sorted, and I did an extended dive briefing with Taeko and Yuhka which ran a little late. Once we got our equipment sorted, we took the Genesis truck to Doljo beach which was only a few minutes drive from where I live. The new instructor Ricky came along with us and wanted to watch me do the course. Conditions were better but still not good to practice shallow water skills.

For someone who barely knows how to swim and whose second language is English, Taeko did exceptionally well doing the dive skills. She had no problems clearing her mask, equalizing, or breathing underwater and she was completely comfortable underwater. I was impressed. Yuhka also was really good underwater also and needed little assistance. During our Open Water dive, I can tell Taeko was interested in a lot of the things she saw underwater because she would always try to swim off to things she saw. Several times, I had to hold on to her to slow her down. I didn’t mind, I got a free ride while she could towed me around.

Even Janet doesn't like the wind so much.

Elna frying fish for dinner.

Jolie gets ready to pour the Flaming Lamborghini.

Taeko and Yuhka drank the drink so slow the flame melted their straws.

Taeko, done with the drink for now.

In the evening, I hung around Genesis where Elna showed me how to cook fish Filipino style. Quite simply, you just deep fry fish in oil and eat it with rice. I like simple and open to any way to eat more cheaply. I hung out and watched Elna cook until about 7 PM when I met up with Taeko and Yuhka at Oops bar. There we had some drinks, played a lot of Genga, and Taeko got drunk. Good times.


- jason

Wind, Rain, and Mud Water

Pig heads for sale at the local market.

Weather windy and bad.

Tropical storm just off the coast.

Possible typhoon.


For brunch, Taeko and Yuhka wanted to make ramen they brought from Japan. We first needed to get some eggs, and green onions. Since its Sunday, there’s a great local market just 5 minutes from my house in the town of Panglao. I’ve never seen it and it was the perfect time to check it out. All three of us drove there on my little motorbike.

Mostly live baby moray eels sold at the local market in Panglao.

The market was busy and there was a lot of fresh vegetables and even a small area for seafood and meats. Additionally, there were household goods being sold from different vendors. Taeko really wanted to buy fresh mangos because she fell in love with them. She told me that sweet mangos in Japan cost $300 USD! She better stock up now. Oddly, we couldn’t find a lot of fresh mangos.

I wandered off and visited the meat section of the market. I actually was a little disgusted of what I saw—pig heads, and live but dying baby moray eels slithering about. It was depressing to see the eels which were suffering and also to see so many of them when its already hard to find enough of them diving in the ocean.

Back at my place, Taeko and Yuhka cooked some very good pre-packaged ramen from Japan. It was so good, it was better then most ramen restaurants in Los Angeles. I was impressed. After lunch, we went to Alona Beach to see what was going on.

Lots of wind makes the look like mud.

Taeko at Oops.

Unfortunately there was a storm just off the coast and so there were a lot of surf which stirred up the water which made it look like mud. Not the best timing. Regardless, the sun was out at least which made it a windy but sunny day. We all just hung around the beach until nighttime where we went to Oops for some drinks and hung out with Ricky who’s a new dive instructor at Genesis.


- jason

Taeko Visits from Japan

Tropical storm off Alona Beach threatens to become a typhoon. Weather sucks, windy and muddy waters.

It was raining heavily in Doljo and the surf was rough on Alona Beach. I went into Genesis by 9 AM where they were diverting their dives to Momo Beach. I waited at Coco Vida for my friend Taeko and her friend Yuhka to arrive from Japan.

Taeko arrives with her friend Yuhka from Japan. A very joyous moment.

Walking along Alona Beach Taeko is very happy.

Yuhka, Taeko's friend is also very glad to be on the beach.

Taeko and Yuhka arrived at 10:30 AM and Taeko was so excited to see me. Its been about 5 months since I last saw her when I visited Japan. When they arrived I bought them fresh mango juice at Coco Vida and then took a walk with them along the beach. Again, it was a little surreal to see a friend visit me in the Philippines.

They booked a room at Oasis resort for two days after they stay at my place. For some reason they really wanted to stay at my place even though it was 8 kilometers away. Their room was on the beach and was a nice 2 story condo type place. They really wanted to eat at local Filipino food so I took them to a little eatery on the beach that I’ve only eaten a few times but I always see locals at. It was decent, regardless, I think they liked what they had.

Hanging out with the dogs Bella and Rambo at my house. It was great to see the dogs immediately get along with Taeko and Yuhka.

Taeko and Yuhka take a afternoon nap.

To get to my house, we had to hire another motorbike driver to drive us to my house. There, they immediately fell in love with the two dogs—Bella and Rambo. They also were very happy about my place. We hung out at my house until dinner when we decided to go eat at Oops bar. I figured we should at least eat on the beach for the first night.

Yuhka analyzes Taeko's dinner.

Taeko already happy after a few San Miguel beers (SMB).

Yuhka removing a piece and hoping it doesn't topple in Genga.

There, we had happy hour drinks and stayed around for the Saturday night disco. At the bar, Yuhka and Taeko played lots of Genga. They seemed to have a great time.


- jason

Exploring Doljo

Quiet Doljo beach.

I felt a little adventurous and since work on Alona Beach has been really slow lately, I decided to take a slight detour before going to Alona Beach and visit Doljo Beach near where I live. For some reason, I’ve never visited the beach and figured I should at least see what it’s like.

Grazing goats on the beach?

Doljo is a nice quiet beach with tables for sitting and eating but not much else. It’s a white sand beach with goats grazing grass patches just before the beach.

Shy Strawberry from Coco Vida.

Marilen balances a piece in Genga.

On Alona Beach, I hung out with Greg and ate lunch with him at Oops bar. Since work was slow, I checked out Oasis Resort with him to try and figure out a place to recommend to my friend Taeko from Japan. I was quite impressed by the resort’s professionalism, organization, and design. Greg and I then decided to play a few games of pool on the beach. As usual, he beat me quite a bit. In the evening I hung out at Coco Vida and Oops bar.



- jason

Working and Seeing Norman

My new office.

Had a nightmare last night—dreamt I was getting married for some reason. It was stressful as it was only a couple days before the ceremony. Despite the nightmare, it was a beautiful sunny day in the morning. I went into work at Genesis by 11:30 AM. It was a slow day again.

Bartenders at Oops bar have a little fun.

A vender selling wooden boats on the beach that have no relation to any boats of the Philippines.

I worked on my photos on my laptop and ate lunch at Coco Vida to use their Internet. I later went to Oops bar where Phil was. We chatted a little bit before I went back to Coco Vida to kill time because I was waiting to meet up for dinner with Norman, who was in town from Cebu.

I met Norman and his coworker at Kamalig—the best Italian restaurant in Alona Beach. Dinner was good as usual and it was nice to hang out with Norman.


- jason

Doing a Few Things

Journaling for my blog at Coco Vida.

Editing a photo of Joan at Oops bar while she wonders what I'm doing.

On the way home from Alona Beach, I passed a local carnival which just closed. I inquired when it will open next day but the lady said not until next season.

Ocean Education

Some of the kitchen staff at Genesis.

"Janet", the mother of most dogs on the beach.

I went to work at Genesis by 11 AM. Shortly after arriving, I ate a native lunch with the staff there. It was delicious. I went on the Internet a lot because there were really few customers and work was slow.

After work, I went to Oops bar for a happy hour drink. There I watched Deep Blue on my laptop with a lot of the bartenders at Oops. They were more interested in what they saw than I thought they would be. I was happy to show them the video to help educate them on the animals of the sea. Hopefully they will appreciate respect the sea more.

After we watched Deep Blue Lori, one of the bartenders at Oops really wanted to watch Iron Man. I didn’t really want to see it but we saw it regardless. The staff at Oops were really happy to watch the films and the owner realized this so he gave me happy hour drinks for the entire night.



- jason