Diving Days

My office.

Since I became certified as a dive instructor, the past month has been my first solid month of working solely on the beach as a freelance dive instructor at Genesis Divers. So, how is it?

Generally, it’s great. Relatively low stress, my own schedule, active lifestyle, meet people from around the world, and my office is on a white sand beach where the water ranges from 27C (80F) to 30C (86F). I wouldn’t say the lifestyle is glamorous or absolute paradise, but for now, it’s the closest to paradise for me. My average day goes like this if I don’t have any planned diving:

1. 7 am to 9 am - Wake up and make breakfast, depending on how much I partied the night before.


2. 9:30 am to 10:30 am - Drive my motorbike 8 km (5 miles) to Genesis Divers on Alona Beach.


3. 9:30 am to 4 pm - Help out at the dive shop if needed which includes moving equipment and helping people find stuff. Do 1 or 2 dives if I can.


4. 5 pm - Break out the beer.


5. 6 pm to ??? - Eat dinner somewhere and hang out at the bars.

Since my schedule is flexible, I sometimes just take a day off and go into Tagbilaran city to the mall and go shopping or watch a movie.

Jr and Noel on the day trip dive boat. Lunch break on the boat is the best.

The best part about being a dive instructor is being able to go diving often and for free. The best part about instructing is seeing your student learn to overcome their difficulties. The worst part about instructing is dealing with student difficulties. So, quite easily, the worst part of instructing can turn into being the best.

For example, I had a student who was frightened to take out his regulator and put it back in his mouth in just a meter of water. This is one of the basic skills you learn besides just breathing from a regulator underwater. I worked diligently on getting him comfortable doing his skills, and was patient. At the end of the day he wanted to quit the course but his brother and I encouraged him to practice the skills. On the fourth day of the course, he completed all his required skills and dives to become a certified Open Water Diver. The next few days he dived locally and then went to another island to dive more. He now loves diving and wants to come back.

Clownfish in his host anemone.

It's times like these where being a dive instructor is the best job I can think of. I'm outside, on the beach, meeting people from around the world and showing them another world and experience underwater. Becoming scuba certified can be life changing. To think what I teach people can change their lives and understanding of the underwater realm is awesome. For me, getting scuba certified was the biggest life changing decision I made. It was one of those things I just wanted to do in my life - checked off a checklist of things - but since then, I went further with it and became an instructor.

- jason

Cabilao diving

Lush corals and fish at Cabilao Island.

A few pictures from two great dives at Cabilao Island. The visibility was very good (20+ meters) and there were plenty of fish and lush coral to salivate over. As usual, in the middle of the second dive, my camera ran out of batteries despite recently charging them. I'm beginning to think that my recent camera problems (Canon A620) is related to being near the beach because I didn't have any problems with it while in the city of Cebu.

Family of clownfish in anemone.

Large frogfish resting on a coral.

Feather star on coral.

Lately, I've been teaching a few dive courses so I've been busy with those. I'm going to try to do more courses and less work in front of the computer in Cebu because diving and teaching is so much more fun.

- jason

Co-hosting a Radio Show and Coincidences

Jonna setting up her playlist for her "Dream Lounge" radio show.

A week has already gone by since I experienced my first on-air radio experience at a large radio station - okay, that’s somewhat a lie - I once was broadcasted on KROQ 106.7 FM in Los Angeles when I called in to request a song. This was two hours of being on-air though. This week, my friend Jonna and I have our own radio show. It’s actually more of Jonna’s because she gets to play her music and I’m only in the city for a week longer. I get to co-host at least.

Jonna and I on the air.

Our show, called “Dream Lounge”, airs on Saturdays from 7-9 PM. We arrived at Monster Radio station at 6 PM to hang out and learn a little bit about how to DJ before actually going on the air. Rick showed us the ropes of adding music to their playlist and which buttons turn on the mic and the music, etc. Sound design, engineering, whatever you call it is very foreign to me. I’m more of a visual type of guy.

Despite not feeling too nervous on the air last week, I was very nervous this time. Perhaps because now Jonna and I had the responsibility of pushing buttons and making things work. There were a couple times where I did freeze up a little while speaking on the air. Oh well, that’s the fun of it. I wish I could have heard it on the other end.

Jonna, Me, "Doc Phil", and the rest of the crew at Monster Radio.

Sitting around in the studio with whoever dropped by was fun. “Doc Phil” hung out with Jonna and I a lot to help us out if anything went horribly wrong. He’s a nice guy with a funny and happy demeanor. We mostly played House/Lounge music as opposed to talking like on Rick’s show. Two hours later, we ended the show without any major problems. Afterwards I felt like a celebrity while walking around. You think in your head and wonder who could have been listening to your show. After about an hour or so though, that feeling soon wears off as you realize most people weren’t listening.

Connie, a girl who was a stranger to me when I met her 5 months ago, is also the sister-in-law of a dive instructor I work with.

The pool table at the house party.

Rob, Jonna, and Biboy making funny faces after too much Red Horse beer.

Later that night, Jonna invites me out with her friends - Liel and Biboy - to one of Biboy’s friends’ birthday party. I had a weird set of coincidences there. At the party, I met a girl that recognized me from when I took a trip to Camiguin (several months ago). She said that she asked me to take a picture of her and her friends while I was on the beach in Camiguin. Weird. Out of thousands of people in the city of Cebu, plus being on a different island, I ran into her! If that wasn't enough, I later find out that I work with her brother-in-law at Genesis Divers on the island of Bohol. He's a dive instructor like me and I just recently met his wife (my new friends' sister). Oh, also, she is the sister of Jonna's friend Biboy. How crazy is that?

- jason

On Air Experience

The microphone to Cebu.

Last night, I met up with two friends who are DJs at one of the Cebu's largest radio station - Monster Radio BT 105.9 FM. They invited my friends Jonna, Rob and I to be guests on their radio show the next day (today). We agreed to go.

I woke up late from partying a little too hard the night before. I got a text from my friend who was taking a taxi somewhere:

"Do you guys know someone on the radio - we just randomly heard a guy on the taxi radio talking about jason, jonna and rob and about a girl who stole your tooth brush - wtf?" - Ryan

Jonna and I couldn't stop laughing after receiving the text from Ryan. "I guess we have to go to the radio station" I said. Rob needed to work and decided not to go. Jonna and I ate breakfast at 4:30 pm just before Jonna and I were to go on as guests to my friends radio show. Across the street from where we ate was the radio station. Guided by text message directions from my DJ friend "Ricky" (on-air name), Jonna and I eventually found the radio station.

For such a large and popular radio station, I was surprised by how small and simple the place was. You can see the DJs talk on the radio from the hallway outside. No receptionist, security guard or anything, anyone can just walk right in and go into the sound studio. Jonna and I walked straight into the studio and greeted my friend. After plugging in some headphones for Jonna and I to use, we were setup to talk on the air.
The radio show we were guests on is hosted by Ricky and his co-host "Dame on Fire". The theme of the show revolves around love and relationships and in-between they play music. This evening, Ricky was playing songs from movies and the topic we discussed was on what is flirting. It's a little like the radio show "Love Line" in Los Angeles, but there isn't any doctor that gives medical advice.

Jonna and I on air.

I was nervous at first being on the air but I quickly got used to it because it felt like I was just casually chatting with friends. This type of "public appearance" isn't as bad as others - standing in front of people and giving a speech or something like that - because you don't see or hear your audience's reaction to what you're saying. As long as you don't say anything too horribly wrong, there aren't any immediate consequences - nobody talks back or laughs at you or gives you a dirty look. It's an interesting thing to be able to broadcast your opinion and thoughts to so many people with almost no reaction. There were times when I forgot I was talking into a microphone.

"Dame on Fire" and "Ricky" goof off while on air.

My two hour experience on the air was extremely fun and exciting; too bad the time went by quickly. We listened to music, talked about flirting and about anything that came to mind. It was like hanging out with friends at a cafe (I had instant coffee) but with a microphone in front of you. The whole thing was very casual and easy going. It can be a little too casual though, especially when asked about one's personal life. By the end of the show, my DJ friend asked Jonna and I if we wanted our own show. Uh, really? We have only a couple hours experience on the air!

Jonna agreed to host a show featuring House music. I agreed to just hang out and co-host a couple shows since I'm only going to be in Cebu a couple weeks. Jonna is going to start her show next week and will need to bring in some of her music to play on the radio. The best radio station is your own music! I kind of want to play some of my own music (non-House) to show Cebuanos more creatively interesting music than the popular "Top 40" corporate American Pop/R&B junk everyone listens to here.

- jason

The Present, and Future Updates...

Waiting for my flight back to Los Angeles from Hong Kong airport.

Yes, I'm still alive... It's been a long time since I've updated my "daily" blog mainly because I've been busy with other things and the blog was consuming too much of my free time. Perhaps one day I will get re-inspired to document my daily life. For future updates though, I will update when great things happen. I think I will shoot for at least a weekly update of things...

A little warning before going back to Los Angeles.

Typical LA scene. Santa Monica, CA, USA

Vilma hangs out with friends at Suede. Los Angeles, CA, USA.

Photograph of eyes on Scott. Las Vegas, NV, USA.

Wine tasting with Vilma. Santa Ynez, CA, USA.

Drinking a coffee with Rob at Balcony Cafe. Santa Monica, CA, USA.

So what happened for the last couple months I've been absent? In early December, I traveled back to visit friends and family in Los Angeles, California, USA. It was good to see old friends again and to revisit doing things I liked doing when I was in LA. I also tidied up some belongings and got rid of things I knew I don't need. I was quickly reminded of all the things I didn't like in LA and after only a couple weeks of being there, I wanted to go somewhere else—Brazil.

After a few weeks in LA, my friend Eric whom I was staying with asked me if I was interested in going to Brazil with him and his family. I didn't want to go at first because I didn't want to spend more money. Thinking about it a little more though, I figured it was going to spend at least the same amount, possibly less, in Brazil than in Los Angeles. Brazil is cheaper than the US and so the really only additional costs would be accommodations. Another friend that was also going to Brazil with Eric said he saw airfares for around $800 USD; he paid $1500 USD.

Man attentively listening to his radio. Ubatuba Beach, Brazil

Christo Redentor - Christ Redeemer. Rio de Janero, Brazil.

Old monk church lined with gold. Rio de Janero, Brazil.

A less crowded beach. Florianopolis, Brazil.

After adjusting dates to find the cheapest airfare, I found a roundtrip ticket from Los Angeles to Sao Paulo, Brazil for only $783 USD total. With very little hesitation, I bought it. My vacation on a vacation to Brazil was great - excellent and cheap food, great live Samba and Bossa Nova music, big beaches, beautiful people, and good nightlife. Brazil was surprisingly more developed that I thought - or Philippines is relatively far less developed than I thought. After visiting Brazil for 3 weeks, I went back to Los Angeles for 10 days to tidy up my belongings, see people I haven't seen yet, and get a last taste of modern America before going back to the Philippines.

Snorkeling around Alona Beach. Alona Beach, Philippines.

Oops bar girls at their 8th Anniversary. Alona Beach, Philippines.

Oops fireworks. Alona Beach, Philippines.

Alona Beach, Philippines.

Right now, I'm back in the Philippines working as a dive instructor on Alona Beach while occasionally going to Cebu for visual effects work. It's nice to be back on the beach in warm, sunny weather and to see old friends from here. The adventure continues....

- jason

Saving the World from Bad Coffee

Sunset on Alona Beach.

Did laundry, ate breakfast and then I went into work at Genesis by 11:30 AM. Not much was happening at all at the dive shop. Gina offered me some leftovers from the night before for lunch. I ate with the local boat crew which was nice. After Luer came back from his dive, I went to Coco Vida to do Internet and chill for the day.

In the evening, Greg managed to find me and chat a little bit. Him and his girlfriend Emma needed to do something so we agreed to meet up at 7:30 PM for dinner at Powder Keg. I ordered the Chili con Carne which was average American style chili with beans. I ate it with rice which was an odd combination. Afterwards I wasn’t sure what to do—should I go home or hang around. I decided to hang around Alona Beach so I went to the bank and then checked out Trendis. There wasn’t anything going on at Trendis so I went to Oops bar where I had a drink.

I was tempted to give the Oops bar cafe another try after recommending a few tips to the barista in training. Of course, she did nothing I told her and as a result the cappuccino she made me was what I expected—bad. In fact, my failed latte I made myself the day before tasted better. Of course, one may say that judging good coffee is completely subjective. To a certain extent, yes, however, making a good espresso based drink is highly reliant on the occurrence of certain chemical and physical changes during creation in both the steamed milk and espresso. So, proper technique has a major influence on the flavor and texture of the final cup of coffee.

While having a coffee at the Oops Beach Cafe, I managed to have a conversation with Peter, the person in charge of training the young baristas there. While talking with him about coffee, I acted a little naive so as not to offend him and to see what he really knew about making espresso based drinks. I’m not admitting to being a master barista myself, but, I have studied and practiced techniques considered correct by the general professional barista community and top baristas around the world. From what I learned, I’ve concluded Peter is a good salesman for coffee equipment and roasted beans to the naive—the only topic I really agreed with him on was cleaning an espresso machine.

There are so many problems with the way they are making coffee I’ll write a book by the time I’m done writing everything. Well, I’ve got time, lets give it a try. Warning: This is a big digression from just my blog of day to day activities. But, since I’m in the mood to try to save the world, why not start with coffee?

Coffee Bean Freshness
Peter’s big sell is that the coffee he imports is fresh from Germany. Italy, France, Central and South America are far better known for good coffee. I talked to him about this and asked him how often he imports a shipment of coffee beans to Alona Beach. He said it takes 8 weeks to ship the fresh beans from Germany! Additionally, there’s the couple weeks the coffee sits around to be consumed. And, he said he “thinks” they ship the beans the day they roast them. The general coffee community agrees that coffee goes stale after about 2 weeks. From this comment alone, I knew Peter doesn’t really know how to make a good espresso because you can’t!

Extraction Time
When the barista-in-training extracted a shot of espresso, water flowed out of the portafilter (the thing with a handle that you put coffee grinds into) far too quickly to even produce something worthy of being called an espresso. To my surprise, Peter said that was the perfect extraction rate; I would have thrown it away and started over myself. It took about 5 seconds to produce 2 ounces of “coffee” whereas the general rule of thumb is that a double espresso shot should take 25-30 seconds to produce 1.5 ounces of espresso.

Tamping
Tamping is when the barista puts pressure on the coffee grinds in the portafilter before extraction. This packs in the ground coffee which creates a seal and resistance for the pressurized hot water to flow through. The general rule is to tamp with 30lbs of pressure. Water passes through the coffee grinds too fast if the coffee isn’t tamped hard enough whereas the opposite is true if one tamps too hard. If the tamp is done at an angle other than perpendicular, then extraction will be uneven as water flows down the path of least resistance. At the Oops cafe, the only tamper they have is the one built into the grinder which is useless. It’s too difficult to get an even 30lbs of pressure with it. I probably can get a better tamp with the bottom of an espresso cup.

Heated Portafilter
The portafilter should be kept attached to the machine via the group head to keep it heated. A simple and easy thing to do that’s not done. It’s important because espresso extraction is very sensitive to temperature changes which can deteriorate the taste and texture of the espresso. When the hot water comes in contact with a cooler portafilter, crema, texture and flavor are deteriorated. That’s why it’s also important to heat the cups a barista extracts to.

Steamed Milk
It’s generally best not to reuse leftover steamed milk but hard not to when running a business with high volume. The Oops cafe reuses too much leftover milk (almost 100%) and should at least combine it with fresh cool milk. The reason why is because it’s hard to create tiny, mirco-bubbles when making foam (texturing) with warm pre-steamed milk. Who cares if the bubbles are big or small? Large foam bubbles, also known as “sea foam,” robs the drink of flavor because of the large air pockets in the drink. It’s like eating a fluffy chocolate cake versus a more dense one; which one will have more flavor per bite? Also, the fine texture of tiny bubbles is usually nicer than big bubbles.

Why Do I Care?
I would love to have a good cafe to hang out at where I can enjoy a decently good coffee on Alona Beach. I was asked by the owner of Oops Bar to train and advise the staff before they opened but couldn’t because I was out of town in Cebu. Now I see the one cafe that has so much potential is going the wrong direction with regard to making good espresso coffee. It’s still early enough though to make the proper corrections; they just need to be made.

Ok, enough ranting. Didn’t I warn you not to talk to me about coffee?


- jason

Finally, Fun Diving

Junior leading the dive.

I did two dives at Arco and Kalipayan today with my camera for the first time in a long time—I needed to test it out to see if it still works. Thankfully, it worked fine. I dived with Gunther and Phil but the dive eventually turned into a solo dive because I was taking pictures.

Coral spiral.

A snake eel alongside a moray eel.

Scorpionfish takes cover.

Fresh sea urchin lunch was not worth the pricks or the effort.

Sponge corals.

Clownfish in their home.

For lunch, on the boat, I tried eating raw sea urchin with the boat crew. I was surprised that there was so little meat to eat in each urchin. It was a little salty and I did prick myself with spines. I prefer someone else to do the dirty work for me.

After diving, I hung out at the dive shop with Gunther, Phil, and Ingrid. Ingrid is a friend of Sander whom met in Fiji. She’s a nice half Filipino half Swedish girl who’s really into pygmy seahorses.

Milo and Stephanie party it up at Oops bar disco.

Ingrid and I at the Oops disco.

For dinner, I went home to try cooking dried Danggist fish again. As usual, the fish reeks when you cook it. This time though I cooked it better and it tasted better than last time. After dinner I hung out at home and watched more of The Unit and then went to the Oops bar disco.



- jason