Patrick's last good dives

Free swimming lionfish

The two dives Patrick and I had today at Arco and BBC were some of the best dives we both had out here. We saw a lot of life in our dives and we both had our longest dive we've ever had -- our dive at BBC was 92 minutes long going 50 feet at its deepest. Highlights of the dives include seeing a pygmy seahorse, several large and beautiful nudibranchs, a dwarf lionfish, large lionfish, a medium sized free swimming lionfish, a moray eel, and at least three scorpionfish and one lionfish within 2 meters of one another. It got to a point where I didn't have enough time to take pictures of all that I saw.

The hard to find stonefish

After the dives I just hung around and thought about what I need to do next. I decided to just stay at Genesis Divers for the rest of the time until close to when my visa expires on April 12th. That way, I can get to know the people at Genesis even more and to get more dives with them. I'm comfortable there, and if I moved somewhere else, I would have to re-befriend the people there and get re-situated. I like Alona beach, I like the people, and am used to everything here. I just have to get out of vacation mode.

A dangling on a thin coral branch

I can easily renew my visa locally in Tagbilaran but I've been thinking it would be a good time to visit some friends in Japan, eat some good sushi, and come back to Philippines with a renewed visa. It would be a nice change of pace and a recharge with modern conveniences (like hot, fresh water showers). Though it will be expensive, it will be a good time to experience Japan especially since I'm so close to it now.

I ate dinner with Patrick at Hayahay which was good. I was thinking of what the next wave of foreign friends that visit Alona would be. After Patrick leaves, I'm not sure who I would hang out with in the near future. After dinner, I went to Oops but Patrick didn't want to go because he needed to pack. I said my goodbyes to him despite the fact that I planned on seeing him early next morning.

Disco night at Oops Bar. I was planning on taking it more easy this time to enjoy the night until late. The crazy Lisa girl was there wanting to dance which I reluctantly did. Additionally, waitresses from Hayahay were there in force wanting to dance with me. For some reason, I didn't really want to dance and wanted to just hang around. Sander and Rene dropped by later which gave me a good reason to not dance and hang with them. I eventually closed out the bar and hung out with the bartenders of Oops. While I was dosing off, they asked me if I wanted to go to Trendi to eat. Hell no, I went to bed.

- jason