Dive "Guiding" and Fishing

Oatmeal—breakfast of champions. Simple, tasty, healthy, and cheap.

Today Kenny and I dived the Arco and BBC dive sites where I was guiding the dives. I’ve dived the sites several times before but several months ago and as a customer being led by a guide. Now, I was the guide, and wished I paid more attention to where my guide was going at these dive sites. To be honest, I only knew vaguely where to go so I had to get lots of direction from Noel who was leading another group.

I decided to bring my undertwater camera so Kenny can play around with it and we can document his dive.

Head spin breakdancing underwater.

Kenny exhibiting perfect buoyancy. He must have had a good dive instructor.

Kenny exhibiting bad buoyancy though at least he's resting and not overexerting himself.

Despite my lack of direction at the dive sites, the dives went well and Kenny and I got to see a lot of life. At Arco, we saw a lot of white eyed moray eels, a big green moray eel, two lionfish with one swimming midwater, a scorpionfish, and several nudibranchs. At BBC, we didn’t see as much interesting sea life but had a lot of fun playing around in the sandy areas. During our dive, I dived in the wrong part of the wall (deeper than 12 meters) and so we entirely missed the Jeepney wreck that was at 12 meters deep. Oh well.

Captain Fredo killing his catch.

Eric grilling freshly caught fish on the boat.

Between dives, everyone at lunch on the boat. The boat crew generously invited Kenny and I to eat with them. I was excited to eat more like a local. On the boat, the crew brought a bowl of charcoal which they managed to heat up and turn into a BBQ. While they were waiting for us to finish our first dive, they fished for lunch with just fishing line, a hook, and bread dough. Captain Fredo and Eric caught several small Sergeant Major fish. They grilled the fish directly on the charcoal and we ate them with rice and soy sauce using our hands. Surprisingly, they were very good. I’d never thought I would eat a fish I could buy at an aquarium store.

Back at Genesis Giso hands me my first pay check as a dive instructor. I only had two Open Water students and one guided tour. Despite the little amount of work, it’s enough to pay for my house and motorbike rent for the month. This dive instructing job just might work out alright.

The very beautiful Amore, probably laughing at me.

Evening activities included eating dinner with Kenny and Sander at Alona Tropical resort which I’ve never ate before. Food was good but a little pricey. Post dinner we went to Oops Bar for happy hour and then Coco Vida where we talked with Vonsh and Amore a lot.

- jason

Balicasag Diving and Certifying Ross

Ross relaxes after a day of diving and finishing his course.

It rained a lot in the morning and was worried about the dives scheduled for Ross’s course. Thankfully, the rain let up and the day became a cool overcast day. I did the last two Open Water dives for Ross’s course at Balicasag Island, which was awesome. Visibility was great and among other things, we saw a moray eel and a great berracuda. Ross did well in all his required skills. I love dive instructing on these types of days—beautiful scenery and relaxing dives.

Kenny surfaces just after a dive.

Kenny is happy to be on the boat.

Kenny sleeping during our lunch time break.

Kenny decided to go on the boat to Balicasag with us but was buddied up with Noel. Noel has a fun personality and is great at finding small things underwater. I was glad Kenny came out especially on a nice day of diving. He seemed to enjoy himself and was impressed by Noel’s low air consumption.

Ross goes over some of the sea life we saw at Balicasag.

Sander finds a new cellphone and load to go with it.

When we got back to Genesis, I did the final paperwork for Ross and he was a certified Open Water Diver. Not only was he excited about it, but I was too because it marked my first student at Genesis I didn’t know beforehand. After hanging around Genesis a little bit with Kenny and Ross, I went to Coco Vida with Kenny until dinnertime. For dinner I made my only Filipino dish I know to make—chop suey.

Night shooting rain and lightning.

The sauce came out too thin because I didn’t thicken it long enough. Regardless, the food was good and I guess Kenny enjoyed it too. Later in the night it rained very hard and Kenny and I took the opportunity to try taking photos of the rain and lightning.

- jason

Work with Ross and Greg's Birthday

Girls from Genesis staff broom the beach of debris.

Today I scheduled to do Confined Water (CW) 4 and 5, and Open Water Dive (OW) 2 with Ross today. I met up with Ross in the morning at Genesis. Before the dives, as usual, I went over his homework and explained anything he didn’t understand. He then watched some videos and did a quiz. The dives went fine and about the only problems was Ross having problems with his leaky mask.

In the afternoon we went on Ross’s Open Water dive 2 where we dived at the House Reef. The dive went fine and there was a lot to see and we even managed to avoid any Titan triggerfish. After the dive I gave Ross his final exam which he did fine on. After I cleaned up, I just hung out at Genesis and then went to Coco Vida to go on the Internet. Greg and Kenny were hanging out there so I joined them.

Waiting for dinner at Powder Keg.

Greg taking a shot at Trendies.

It was Greg’s birthday so we celebrated it by going to the Powder Keg restaurant for dinner. Kenny came along as well as Emma, Greg’s girlfriend. Dinner was good but took some time to get to us. This was expected though so it really wasn’t a big deal. After dinner, we walked down to Trendies to shoot some pool. Greg seemed like he had a good time as he did everything he wanted to do for the night.


- jason

Working with Ross, Eating Like Gluttons

The lonely gecko at my house.

I was awake by 7 AM today to prepare and meet up with my OW student Ross at 9 AM. While preparing for class, I noticed there was a small, almost unhealthy looking gecko sitting near my side door. I thought it was dead but it was alive. Kenny made bacon, eggs, and toast for breakfast.

I went to Genesis by 9 AM, made an instant coffee and went over Ross’s Knowledge Review 2 and 3 homework. He did well in it and only made a few stupid mistakes. Afterwards we went over to Hayahay where I had him watch the corresponding videos to his homework. I went to Coco Vida and to go on the Internet while he watched the videos. When Ross finished the videos I had him do the quizzes for sections 2 and 3. So much classwork, but, he had to do it.

In the early afternoon, I did Confined Water dives 2 and 3 with Ross. As usual, we did shallow water skills in the shallow and then moved out to deeper water to do the other skills. It’s a little of a challenge to sequence the skills in the proper order so the student doesn’t do a shallow water skill in deeper water, vise versa, or a complex skill before learning its sub-skills. PADI sequences the skills by requiring the instructor to do each CW session in order—one, then two, then three, etc—but the skills within each session needs to be sequenced by the instructor. That was confusing probably, but, I’m to lazy to explain it better.

Ross generally did well on his skills in the water. He had a few minor problems that were easily fixed by a little repetition. Though, there were a few instances that I learned not to assume everyone knows how to do even the simplest things I’ve taken for granted. For example, for some reason, Ross had a problem securing his fins on his feet. He could never tighten them enough so that his fin straps would stay on.

For the deeper CW skills, we went to an area where there was a 3 meter deep sandy area adjacent to a reef wall which went to a depth of about 20 meters. At the surface, before we swam to shallower water to descend, Ross casually tells me his fin fell off. “What?“ I say out of disbelief. I look underwater,and see one of his fins slowly descend towards the deep blue water off the side of the wall. I tell him to stay at the surface, put my regulator in my mouth, deflate my BCD, and descend about 3 meters to fetch his fin. After the CW dives, we went back to Genesis and hung out with Kenny and some others.

While chatting at Genesis, the topic of Ross teaching English in Japan and Korea came up. This naturally led to the topic of how good Korean and Japanese food is. Kenny and I both got the craving for eating either one of the cuisines. I miss the great food in Japan. Since there isn’t any good, known Japanese restaurant in Bohol our only option was Korean food. In the Philippines, there’s a fairly large population of Korean people. I asked Giso, the owner of Genesis, who’s lived here for about 20 years, where there’s a good Korean restaurant. He suggested trying a new place he’s only seen an ad for—Seoul in Bohol.

Some of the best Bimbimbop Kenny and I have eaten and it's in the Philippines!

Kenny and I decided to let our stomachs lead the way and so we drove all the way to Tagbilaran for dinner. I’ve never on my own driven to Tagbilaran for dinner so this was a first. The place was easy to find because there was a big bright colorful sign advertising it. Inside was very nice with dark wood furniture and a clean atmosphere. The restaurant is almost certainly Korean owned which was encouraging.

Kenny and I ordered like gluttons. We ordered bulgogi, kimchi pancake, soju, and a bimbimbop for each of us. In addition to those dishes, we got 6-8 small dishes of appetizer-like dishes and a soup. Kimchi was good. The soju was nasty because it tasted like rubbing alcohol but it got better along with food. Overall, all the food was good except the bulgogi which wasn’t grilled but boiled. The bimbimbop was the best Kenny and I have ever tasted.

Pay, then go home.


- jason

A Busy Day at Work

Just before sunset, from Trudi's restaurant.

I had to wake up early to be at Genesis by 8:30 AM to begin Ross’s Open Water (OW) course. Oatmeal for breakfast as usual. I was running late to work and had to get gas for the motorbike. Sounded like a stressful morning but really, it wasn’t all that bad. When I got to Genesis, Ross was already there reading his OW manual.

I casually made an instant coffee, and went over his Knowledge Review (KR) answers—questions about the section the student just read—from section 1 that I assigned him yesterday. Any questions he got wrong I had to explain the answer to make sure he understood why he got it wrong. It was simple. Afterwards, I had him watch the video corresponding to the last section he read. While he watched the video, I wrote in my journal at Coco Vida.

I scheduled a Confined Water (CW) dive with the boat crew initially at 11 AM, but we were running late, so I changed it to 11:30 AM. By the time I briefed Ross and we suited up, we were again late into the boat. I felt bad for the boat crew because they strictly eat lunch from 12 to 1 PM and don’t like to get interrupted. Ross and I did some simple skills in shallow water before going into deeper water.

When walking out to a sandy spot in the shallows, Ross was overly concerned about stepping on a sea urchin so I was excessively concerned to point out any I found. There was a good amount of surge in the shallows which made it difficult to stay in one place. Ross though had no problem clearing his mask and recovering his regulator. Thankfully, Ross was comfortable underwater.

In deeper water, Ross’s mask frequently leaked and fogged up. Lucky for me, he was able to easily clear his mask and wasn’t too bothered by it. After doing some skills, we swam around the reef to get him more used to swimming around. Even in the deeper water, there was a good amount of surge because it was low tide. We surfaced after about 40 minutes underwater.

For lunch, I ate a chicken fillet sandwich which is my new favorite dish from Hayahay. Not only is it tasty, but it’s only 100 pesos. After lunch, I debriefed Ross and we scrubbed his mask with more toothpaste so it wouldn’t fog up anymore. Mask manufacturers put a protective film on the glass of masks to protect it but it prevents the mask from defogging. At 2:30 PM, I went with Ross on his Open Water dive 1.

The first Open Water dive doesn’t require any skills to be performed other than general diving skills. In other words, the first dive is a “fun” dive. We went to the Sanctuary dive site which is close by and a fairly straight forward dive as long as there aren’t any aggressive Titan triggerfish. We started the dive off slowly in the shallows and eventually swam over the water to deeper water. I did see one Titan triggerfish but it ignored us because we were too far away. Visibility was bad and there was a decent current. To avoid any further triggerfish encounters, I swam away from the wall.

Ross’s mask frequently leaked which concerned me during the dive. I always worry that others aren’t having a fun time underwater and feel bad when it’s spoiled by equipment that should work correctly. Every time Ross cleared his leaky mask he would ascend about a meter and then attempt to deflate his BCD. He did this regardless of his BCD being completely deflated. He wasn’t overweight because he would still sink. Why was he doing this? 37 minutes underwater and we surfaced to big swell—it felt almost like swell in Southern California.

Back at Genesis, we cleaned up and I debriefed Ross on his dive. He told me that when he looked like he was deflating his BCD it was just his way of descending a little after he cleared his mask. It’s a little weird to do it that way, but, well, I guess it’s better than him thinking he’s underweight. For homework, I told Ross to KR 2 and 3 and have them ready tomorrow.

After work, I went to Coco Vida to go on the Internet and meet up with Kenny. For dinner we went to Trudis’ where I ordered a broccoli and squid dish. It was cooked in a Chinese style sauce and was delicious. After dinner we went home, watched a little TV, and I fell asleep by 7:30 PM! I’m getting old or something.


- jason

Out One Student, In Another. Disco!

Ren lights one for Kenny.

Today was Kenny’s last two Open Water dives (3 and 4) for his Open Water course. After he completed these dives, he will qualify to be certified. I signed us up the day before to go on the big boat out to Balicasag Island. When we got to Genesiis in the morning though, there weren’t enough people signed up for that boat to go so we went to the Kalipayan dive site at 9:30 AM instead.

For the dive at Kalipayan, I wanted to have Kenny do the Controlled Emergency Swimming Ascent (CESA) skill but couldn’t find a suitable vertical ascent line. This line is a requirement for the skill. I had to do this skill on the next dive I guess. During the dive, we did all the required skills in the shallower water before going over the wall to 18 meters deep. I’ve dived the dive site several times before but couldn’t remember what direction the dive guides always go. I decided to go left with the wall being to my left. The dive turned out to be fine and among other things we got to see a sea snake, sand eels, and nudibranchs.

After the dive Kenny and I hung out at Genesis for lunch. I ate instant noodles which I previously bought for the longer boat ride out to Balicasag Island. Additionally, I drank a lot of free instant coffee. While sitting around and waiting for the next boat to go out for Kenny’s last skill dive, someone came into the shop whom I helped out. The man was looking into signing up for an Open Water course and ultimately decided to sign up with me. Wow, another student, pretty consistent work. He wanted to start today but told him we couldn’t and that he can start tomorrow.

At 1 PM, I went out with Kenny on his last Open Water skill dive. We went to the local Sanctuary dive site which we’ve dived several times before. In the shallows, he was able to do his skills easily. We swam over the wall and to the left to about 18 meters deep. Swimming along, I noticed a Titan triggerfish in front of us who was looking and swimming toward us. These triggerfish are known to aggressively defend their nest by attacking divers where they can bite chunks of flesh out of people, through their wetsuits.

I slowed down, put my feet forward. Kenny looked back at me and I signaled to him the sign for triggerfish. He turned around, put his legs forward, and the triggerfish aggressively attacked him. While it kept on attacking him I tried signaling to him to swim back. The triggerfish was frightening looking as it attacked him and would occasionally look at me. We must have swam 30 meters before we were out of its territory and turned away. I signaled to Kenny that we should go the other direction—towards where we started from.

Going the other direction I noticed another triggerfish swimming around but it didn’t see me. I was debating whether to go above the wall and out to avoid it or sneak by it hoping it wouldn’t see me. I decided to sneak by it. Looking around, I didn’t see it anymore and proceeded to swim cautiously forward. Out of nowhere, I the triggerfish darts towards me and scares me causing me to flinch. Quickly I turned my fins toward it and swam away. I signaled to Kenny to ascend over the wall and out. We cautiously ascended and surfaced. Even at the surface I checked below to make sure it wasn’t still looking at us.

Back at Genesis, we hung out with Luer, Sander, and Kurt. I debriefed Kenny and filled out the remaining paperwork for his certification. Kenny was officially PADI Open Water Scuba Diver certified! My first full Open Water course (my first did all his homework online beforehand) and course at Genesis. It was a landmark occasion for both of us. We celebrated with beers of course.

Dinnertime, Kenny, Sander and I went to Powder Keg restaurant. I was a little reluctant at first because the last two meals I ate there weren’t that good. I ordered the calzone that Sander said was good—I trust his opinion on food. Of course, the calzone was good and just enough. I finally found something at Powder Keg that I like.

After dinner, Kenny and I drove home to clean up. I took a shower, relaxed, and reviewed some PADI standards in preparation for my Open Water course with Ross, my new student. Ross will be my first Open Water student I’ve not known beforehand doing a full Open Water course at Genesis. It seems like with every student there’s something new.

Sander sporting his new pink hair clip.

Mae balancing with my large helmet.

It’s Saturday, which of course means disco night at Oops bar. Disco doesn’t really get going until around 11:30 PM so Kenny and I decided to hang out at Coco Vida before disco. We went there by around 10:30 PM, had a few drinks, took pictures of the bartenders, and then went over to Oops by 11 PM. At Oops, Sander joined us, someone gave us peanuts, and we started throwing them at people. Of course along with the peanuts we had a few rum and Cokes.

Laser light disco Filipino style at the local basketball court.

Shortly after 2 AM, Kenny, Sander and I decided to go to a disco that was happening at a basketball court nearby. I felt it would be good to go because Kenny hasn’t experienced a typical Filipino disco before (Oops doesn’t count). The disco simply was an outdoor basketball court setup with large speakers, a DJ, and dancing lights. Kenny and I had to pay admission even though I don’t think there was an official entrance fee. The “bar” was a folding table with bottles of San Miguel Beer under it.

The disco was moderately crowded but fun. Of course, the Filipino top 10 dance music comprising of “Low Low Low”, “Superman that Ho”, and “Dangerous” helped get the dance floor moving a little faster. Kenny managed to impress a group of Filipinos with his good dancing moves. I had a good time and I think Kenny did as well. We left the disco sometime around 3 AM. Fun times.


- jason

Writing, Calling and Diving

Genesis boat being used to transport used tanks and other things.

Today we took it nice in slow in the morning. I made breakfast which was peanut butter on toast and coffee. Ants got into my Jif peanut butter container! It was no big deal removing the ants from the peanut butter though because all I had to do was put water in the peanut butter container and all the ants floated to the top. The peanut butter is oil based so it didn’t mix with the water.

At my house, Kenny and I wrote in our journals a little before going out. We wanted to go out to Coco Vida fairly early though to make some phone calls over the Internet to a few friends back in the US. The last time I tried calling a lot of friends via Skype, only one of them answered because the number that was displayed on their phones was suspiciously unknown. I called one of my best friends, Jeremy, who is in Los Angeles and said the next time I call him he’ll answer.

Talking to Jeremy and hearing his stories of what has happened with him and our mutual friends was refreshing. Though a lot seems to have changed over the past 6 months, there were still a few things that haven’t which reminded me of the good old times. Hearing my friends’ voices and mannerisms I’m familiar with makes me feel like I’m in the same place as them. It brings back the past and reconnects it with what has happened since. Talking with someone you haven’t heard from in a long time and finding out everything new about each other is exciting. I don’t miss America but I do miss my friends.

Early afternoon, I scheduled Kenny to do his Confined Water Dive 4 and 5. There weren’t many skills to do and Kenny was able to do them in very little time. For the rest of the dive, we just swam around the shallow reef enjoying the sea life. It’s good experience for the student to practice their buoyancy and general underwater skills. Kenny, though, didn’t need much practice and looked very comfortable underwater. After the dives, we just cleaned up and hung around Genesis a little bit where Kenny did his final exam for his course.

At around 6 PM, we went to Oops for a short happy hour. Shortly after that, Kenny and I went home relatively early. At home, we eventually made some rum and Cokes and went swimming with them in the pool. We casually chatted and then it started raining very hard. Nice night to take a break from all the happy hours at Alona Beach.


- jason

Ants, Internet Phone, Farewell Kimoko

Kenny, studying hard..

I woke up around 8:20 AM and made toast and oatmeal for breakfast. Surprisingly, ants infested my large bag of oatmeal while I was eating breakfast only about an hour after I left it out. Do these ants not eat anything in the wild? I had to store all my food—uncooked rice, oatmeal, and spaghetti, sugar, etc—into my refrigerator. The ants even infested a jar of used cooking oil. Oddly, they don’t try to infest my jar of Nescafe instant coffee; at least they have good taste.

I drove alone to Alona Beach because Kenny wanted to walk (8 kilometers) and take pictures along the way. I got to Genesis by 9:15 AM to see if anything was going on but nothing really. I hung out at Genesis for a little while before going to Coco Vida to use their Internet. Using Skype, I tried calling several friends in the US to say: “hi” and catch up but the only person that answered their phone was my friend Rob.

It was exciting hearing Rob’s voice, catching up with him and our circle of friends. I miss all my friends and family but I’m glad I’m not in Los Angeles anymore because everyone there generally seems stressed about something. It’s repulsive, and makes me want to stay abroad even longer—further justifying my decision to leave America. Life out here in the Philippines is a lot more slower paced and carefree. I talked to Rob for about 18 minutes and then I called Cathay Pacific Airlines about rescheduling my return flight back to the US.

My return flight back to the US is scheduled to return in 5 days—July 29. I can extend the ticket for up to six months (Feb. 12) for a fee of $350 and the ticket booking will be open. This, to me, is the best option since I don’t know exactly when I would want to visit Los Angeles again. Most likely, I will visit around December for the holidays.

Bored from being on the computer too long, I went to Genesis to work and help out with anything. Sander was there and so chatted with him. Kenny came along and “worked” on his bookwork for his course but ended up sleeping a whole lot. He needed to finish reading some chapters before we could get back into the water.

Praying mantis hanging at Genesis.

Someone found a large praying mantis around the reception area of Genesis. I’ve always liked praying mantis’s ever since I was a kid and never saw one in its own environment. Interesting! I hung out at Genesis until the evening when Kenny and I decided to go home and cook some spaghetti to save some money, chill and relax.

Dinner of champions.

Early night, Kenny and I went to Coco Vida to hang out before going to Oops bar. There we got some rum and Sprite drinks and played a few games of foosball with my friend Lawrence who works at Coco Vida. I thought I was decent at playing foosball until I played against Lawrence. The first game we bet on a drink to the winner of the game. I lost by one point and bought him a beer. The second game I lost by 7 points out of 10.

Kimoko, after a few drinks.

Chi-Chi and Lawrence at Coco Vida.

By around 8:45 PM, Kenny and I went to meet up with Kimoko at Oops bar because it was her last night in the Philippines. Greg and Emma joined us and we just hung out at the bar drinking lots of rum and Cokes. It was good to party with Kimoko before she left. She drank a lot and was very happy; I feel sorry for her though because she had to leave for her flight at 5 AM the next morning. By 1 AM, Kimoko went back to her room and Kenny and I went to Coco Vida to see what was going on there. We hung out there until 2 AM and then went home. A late night but a fun one.


- jason

Working Internet Calling Vilma

Rain leaked into Genesis and soaked some papers.

I spent the most of the morning writing in my journal. All my free time I have I'm trying to devote to writing in my journal and catching up. A daily journal is hard to keep up to date because if you just miss one day you're already behind. It's nice though, because you get to look back on your days and take note of the subtle things that one would normally forget. For the remainder of the morning, I reviewed some PADI standards for Kenny's Open Water course.

By noon, Kenny and I went to Genesis because he needed to do some exams and his second Open Water dive at 1 PM. The dive was a nice dive at the Sanctuary where we saw mackerel, a school of jacks, and a school of yellow fin barracuda among other things. After we cleaned up and i debriefed him on his dive, we went to Coco Vida to get on the Internet.

My mom told me that my credit card company has been trying to get a hold of me and they say it’s important. They sent me a letter and gave me a collect phone number to call. To prevent having my credit card put on hold, I decided to call my credit card company using the Internet based calling technology Skype.

I have to say, calling using Skype was easy and exciting to use. Skype simplifies calling internationally by providing all the country codes and weird symbols when you dial; I’ve never really understood calling internationally. Calling rates are also very cheap, and paying for calls is as simple as just crediting your Skype account. Skype has made something so difficult to do here in the Philippines—calling—a lot easier. I couldn’t be more excited. Damn, I sound like a Skype advertisement. Ok, I digress.

So, I called my credit card company’s fraud protection service. They were concerned about some purchases I made in Puerto Galera at Asia Divers and El Galleon Resort. I wish I could tell them that I didn’t make the purchases because they were relatively expensive—diving, courses, and costs for all the food I ate at El Galleon during my stay. While its good that credit card companies try to protect their customers from fraud, it’s a little bit of a hassle to continually tell them you’re abroad and that the transactions are normal. They’re like a parent that worries too much.

Palm trees near my house at sunset.

Kerstin and Kimoko at Oops bar.

For dinner, I went to Oops bar with Kerstin, Kimoko, Sander and Kenny. Besides my usual reasons for going to Oops—eating and happy hour—I wanted to say goodbye to Vilma because it was her last night living in Alona Beach—tomorrow she’s moving to Tagbilaran because she’s expecting a baby soon. It’s sad to see her go but life moves on.

San Miguel Beer (SMB)

Vilma and I on her last night at Oops for a while.

- jason

Tag and a Busy Day at Work

Rambo, one of the dogs at home.

Today is the regional holiday—“Bohol Day”—which apparently nobody knows why its celebrated. It’s not unheard of in the Philippines to have holidays that are almost made up and or changed out of convenience. I went to Tagbilaran with Kenny at 9 AM to get a run errands. Kenny also needed to exchange some money and I told him that someone showed me a good money exchanger in the city.

"Bohol Day" in Tagbilaran.

We went to the Bombay Money Exchanger that was no better than the money exchanger in Alona Beach. It was a little disappointing because my friend that told me about them before was reliable in everything else. After getting some money exchanged, we went into BQ mall to buy the power converter, some towels, and then get a massive amount of food including vegetables, pork, ground beef, pancake mix and other things. We left Tagbilaran by 11 PM which was the shortest time I’ve ever spent in Tagbilaran. At home, Kenny cooked a noodle, vegetable and pork lunch. It was good and quick to make.

Lunch. It tasted better than it looks.

After lunch we went to Genesis because I planned on doing Confined Water dives 2 and 3 with Kenny at 1 PM. I briefed him on what we were going to do before going into the water. We went out to a buoy where the depth of the sandy bottom was only about 3 meters. There we did all the skills required and then did some other skills in the shallow water on the way back to Genesis. Considering it was my first time doing these Confined dives in the ocean, I was surprised everything went well.

Greg lounges on the beach with Kenny and I watching the sunset.

Teddy, the resident dog at Genesis enjoys the sunset with us.

Back at Genesis, after we cleaned up, we grabbed some chairs, some beers, and just sat in the sun on the beach. It was a nice end to the busy day at work. Greg found us and joined us on the beach too. While we were relaxing, Luer went off mountain biking so I was in charge of any dive related inquiries at Genesis. I actually helped a person.

By 6 PM, Greg, Kenny, Kimoko, and I went to Hayahay for dinner where everyone had pizza while I ate a squid adobo. Post dinner, we went to Oops bar for a happy hour San Miguel Beer (SMB). Once the rain subsided a little, Kenny and I decided to go home to avoid driving in the rain. At home, we made some rum and Cokes but I was so tired I went to sleep right after I finished my drink. A busy day at work so I fell asleep by 7:30 PM!


- jason

Rain, Work, Eat, Drink

Instant coffee in the morning.

Kenny looking like a mango, enjoys a mango juice at Hayahay.

Coffee in the morning. Kenny and I planned on going to Tagbilaran in the morning but it was raining a lot so we didn’t. I really didn’t feel like getting too wet again. By 12:30 PM, we went to Alona Beach and ate lunch at Hayahay. We went on the Internet at Coco Vida where I had a calamansi juice and a banana shake. Kenny did a couple chapters of book work for his Open Water course and then we went back to Genesis where I gave him his first two quizzes.

Lin poses at Coco Vida.

We just hung around Genesis with Luer, Sander, and Kerstin. When it was happy hour time at Oops, Luer, Kenny, Kerstin, Greg, Greg’s friend Tomoko, and I went over there for whiskey sour drinks. I’ve never drank one and I’ve also never had a drink with Luer before; I guess it was a historic day. The drink was good but a little too expensive to have often. Tomoko is a Japanese diver out here for vacation that was very friendly. For dinner, we walked over to Pyramid Grill where I ate grilled chicken, chorizo sausage, and garlic rice. Kenny pigged out and ordered about twice as much food as me.

Vilma

The dinner made me really sleepy and so we went to Oops bar for only one round of rum and Coke then home.

- jason

Open Water Dive, Cold and Tired

Today, I tried something new—I made oatmeal and coffee for breakfast. It may seem painfully boring to eat but I actually still enjoy it. Its simple to make, tasty with brown sugar and butter, is good for you (without the brown sugar and butter), and gives me a good amount of energy. After breakfast, I went with Kenny to Alona Beach.

I hung out with Kenny at Coco Vida to go on the Internet while he was watching the PADI Open Water video. We had some time before his Open Water Dive One at 1 PM. For lunch, I ate noodle soup at Genesis which was quite good and cheap. It really hit the spot because it was a slightly cool day. Just before I went out with Kenny on his Open Water dive, I briefed him on what we will do. The purpose of the first Open Water dive is just to get the student used to the water so there really isn’t any skills; it’s a fun dive.

The dive was great. We went to the Sanctuary dive site a minute boat ride from Genesis. There was a lot of fish and visibility was great; among other things, we saw a school of barracuda, a large grouper, and a needlefish. Kenny of course had no problems underwater. When we got out of the dive, I was actually a little cold because the sun wasn’t out and it was raining a little. I think it was the first time I’ve ever felt cold in the Philippines. I didn’t bring a towel to dry off with nor an extra set of shorts.

While waiting around Genesis trying to dry off, I was pleasantly surprised to see Greg visit me. The last time I saw Greg was in Puerto Galera while I was getting my instructor certification and internship. Greg left Puerto Galera to start up his own dive resort in Malapascua. Unfortunately, there was management issues with the owners of the resort and Greg had to close shop. Now he is planning on living in Bohol as a dive instructor with his girlfriend Emma. It was great to catch up on things. Its also nice have a good friend that is staying around more long term as opposed to traveler friends that leave after a couple weeks or months.

Kenny and I decided to drive back home to clean up and dry off. I never like sitting around wet despite it being hot or cold. After we cleaned up at home, we went back to Alona Beach where we ate dinner at Kamalig with Greg and Kerstin. After dinner we went to Oops for a few happy hour drinks and then to Coco Vida where I began falling asleep.

- jason

Kenny - My New Student Disco

Vonch, an instructor that grew up in Switzerland that now lives in Philippines. His hair reminds me of Bruce Lee.

Kenny made breakfast using instant noodles, eggs, and leftover ground meat. I made coffee. Breakfast was good. Just before we left for Alona Beach, I finally talked with my landlord about our noisy night swimming. She wasn’t as mad as I thought she would be and just told me what I already knew. She doesn’t want anyone she doesn’t know to use the pool or anything at the house. She seems quite paranoid about other people which is obvious from her two guard dogs and gated in house.

At Alona Beach, I checked in to Genesis to see if anything was going on but there was not much happening. I didn’t feel like just sitting around so Kenny and I went to Coco Vida to use their Internet. Kenny ate some pancakes while I worked on my journal. At 1 PM, I ate lunch at Coco Vida.

Kenny wanted to buy a mask, snorkel, and fins so I went with him to Scubaworld. There he bought a Tusa “Liberator” mask, snorkel, and small snorkel fins using my instructor discount; I think he’s benefitting more than me by me being an instructor. We then went to Genesis to hang out.

At Genesis, we met a nice German girl named Kerstin who was staying and diving with Genesis. Fairly spontaneously, Kenny signed up for an Open Water Scuba Diver certification course with me. Even more spontaneously, he wanted to start immediately and jump in the water. I gave him some books and had him fill out some paperwork. It was already a little late in the afternoon to start—3 PM—but we managed to setup his gear, go through a Discover Scuba briefing and do the first Confined water skills in the shallow water before it got dark. I at first thought I might need to prepare for the lessons beforehand and didn’t want to start the course so quickly but it all turned out fine. I think having previously done the instructor internship at Asia Divers has helped me prepare for my courses a lot more.

Like my first Open Water student during my internship, Kenny was completely comfortable and confident at what he was doing in the water. And again, I felt a little silly demonstrating skills to him that I knew he could do if I just told him to do it. He wanted to move quickly through skills while I wanted to move slowly to be sure I was doing everything correct and according to PADI standards. I needed some time to stop and think because I’m still new to this.

For the Confined Water session, I was used to and trained doing them in a swimming pool. Genesis doesn’t own a swimming pool so we had to do it in the shallow water ocean with “pool-like” conditions, in front of Genesis. PADI terms this a Confined Open Water environment. We did some simple skills in a shallow sandy area that was no more than 1.5 meters deep then swam far out to a distant buoy. It was a pain swimming out to the buoy because it was low tide and we had to go through sea grass with a lot of sea urchins in it.

The area around the buoy was nice though because of a large sandy bottom and lots of fish. Visibility was great and I have to admit it was the best damn “pool” I taught in. About the only thing about the area around the buoy that resembled “pool-like” conditions was the relatively shallow depth of 3 meters. After Kenny did his required skills, we swam around the area so he could practice buoyancy control and to get used to diving. Kenny did really well in the water. We swam back to Genesis where we cleaned up and hung out and decided what to do next.

Rums and Cokes.

Kenny and I decided to eat lechon minok (BBQ chicken) at a local eatery with Kerstin. We were hungry so we ordered two whole chickens with rice and a large San Miguel Beer. Food was good and it turned out to be the perfect amount. After dinner, we drove home where I cleaned up a little and reviewed the PADI standards and procedures. I needed to figure out what skills to teach Kenny tomorrow and maybe do a little planning for the course. Kenny and I decided to go back to Alona Beach to Oops before happy hour was to end at 10 PM. We ordered a full set of rum and Coke to get the evening started. Sander and Kerstin hung out with us at Oops bar. Later we went to Coco Vida and then back to Oops.


- jason

Flat Tire Snorkeling Batman Landlord

Kenny getting ready for the day.

I woke up with a hangover from the night before. Kenny did his laundry. We decided to leave for Alona Beach by 10:30 AM. While we were leaving my place, the landlord’s helper told me that the landlord was very mad. It was no surprise to me and wanted to offer an apology but she wasn’t around. When we got to my motorbike, we noticed that the rear tire was flat. We decided that Kenny and Mae find a ride to Alona Beach while I find a person to repair the flat tire.

At vulcanizing shop getting my flat tire patched.

You can’t just simply go to the local gas station to get a tire fixed. You have to find a shop that advertises itself as a “vulcanizing” shop. I went to the local gas station to ask where I can find a vulcanizing shop; there was one across from the church. I had no idea how much a flat tire fix normally costed so I had to text Mae about it. She said it should cost about 40 pesos. I paid 100 pesos because there were two holes in the tire.

Alona Beach water looked good.

When I eventually made it to Alona Beach, I met up with Kenny at Coco Vida. We decided to walk to Genesis and go snorkeling in front of it. We swam quite far out until the shallow reef tapered off into deep blue water. The water was warm, clear, and generally beautiful. Back near shore though there was an unusual amount of debris on the surface of the water. After snorkeling, we hung around Genesis a little bit and then went to eat lunch at Hayahay.

Early in the afternoon, Kenny and I decided to drive to Tagbilaran to do a little shopping and maybe watch the new Batman film. We went to BQ mall and was about 10 minutes too late to see the film. We decided to watch the next showing and to just shop around at the computer, hardware, and department store in the mall. At the mall, I noticed I got a text message from my landlord asking when I planned on being back at the house so she could talk with me about our noisy night in the pool. Is it that much of an emergency? Around 4:30 PM we went to the theater to watch Batman.

Timing to watch a movie in the theater is a little tricky. The cinemas here tend to play the previous showing up until only like 10 minutes of next showing. This is bad because if you go into a theater too early, you might accidentally spoil it by seeing the ending. We went into the theater about 10 minutes before our showing only to see the credits from the last showing. The film was good but wasn’t as good as I thought it would be. I’ve been looking forward to the film for a long time and just think my expectations were too high.

After the movie, we decided to drive back to my place where I was planning on talking to my landlord about the noisy previous night. She sent out another text to me which was hard to understand because it was really broken English. Not surprisingly, she basically complained about how noisy we were late in the night and how she doesn’t want me to bring guests over. I was getting a little nervous about what she wanted to talk about because she’s making such a big deal out of it. While driving home, I noticed that we had another flat tire on the same tire I had patched today.

Since Kenny didn’t think it would be safe for both of us to be on the bike while we looked for a vulcanizing shop, he ran ahead while I drove the bike. After several blocks and lots of asking around, we found a place. The mechanic said that we needed to replace the inner tube with a new one. I didn’t mind to do this because at least I will know the tire is fixed.

At Oops chilling out during happy hour.

Happy hour!

Kenny playing Genga with Marilen.

When we got home my landlord didn’t want to talk because she was busy watching TV and it was a little late at night. By 9 PM, Kenny and I decided to go to Alona Beach to partake in the Oops bar rum and Coke happy hour. We started off with a total of six rum and Cokes. At Oops we played Genga and then went off to Coco Vida for a few more drinks.


- jason