Watchers to Hunters

Part VIII - Bohol series (2.11)

After a light and dreamless sleep, for me anyway, we woke up to a slightly less dark sky still dotted with a billion stars. Such a pretty picture and I couldn't capture it quite nicely with my camera. Kainis. Anyway, we hurriedly changed into our swimsuits, lathered some sunscreen, and dashed off to the meeting area where we're supposed to meet up with kuya Renz - the kind tryke driver yesterday who helped us find a cheaper boat to rent, and the Korean girls, of course. After loading our stuff and fitting ourselves, all four of us, into the three-wheeled taxi, we sped off along the deserted road to Alona beach where our bangka is waiting for us.

Alona beach is a small community with an abundance of inns, hostels, B&Bs to choose from depending on your preference and budget of course. We opted to stay at the Dumaluan resort since we wanted some peace and quiet and a cottage right by the beach. Anyway, the place is already swarming with people and the shore dotted with bangkas waiting to take tourists out to sea and to the smaller islands. We were introduced to our boat captain - I totally forgot his name, an old man of about 50 or 60. A fisherman, I'll just call him Manong A, he knows the sea and the area quite well. I settled the package price with him while the girls kept themselves busy with pictures. I didn't haggle much for I know we already got a good enough bargain at 1600 bucks for the boat. And I know for a fact that tourist season comes once a year and it'll be lean times for the rest of the months for them. So... we headed to our  tiny bangka and boarded it with the help of this lad of 14, who I'm gonna call Totoy (I forgot his name too..I'm bad at this..remembering names), Manong A's first mate. 

The water looks very shallow as the rocks and corals at the bottom can be clearly seen from the boat. We slowly navigated our way through the many scattered boats. I wanna help out and get things moving just so we can get ahead of everybody else..as if I knew how! I know nothing about sailing, boating, etc. But at least I know how to swim. Haha.. Finally we got away from all the congestion and the water was deep enough to start the motor. Off we went!

We've been riding over waves some small, some smaller, for some time already. The sun continued it's slow climb up illuminating the world. We were already partially wet from the spray. We on our side are enjoying the sun's rays and the warming weather. The sky is such a clear powder blue. And cloudless. I uttered a short prayer of thanks for the great weather. Yesterday was raining. The other girls on the other side however, have covered themselves more..with sarongs and towels and wide-brimmed hats in protection from the sun. I find this funny because here I am among three other girls who are all Korean by race. Two are Koreans by heart and the one beside me doesn't know a single Korean word! :D Anyway, we've been navigating the sea for over a period of  20 or so minutes and we haven't caught a single glimpse of what we came out early for. Not even a single sign of frolicking when they were said to love playing at dawn. Though we've been ahead of everyone else at the start of this sorta race, we're lagging behind the bigger boats with the more powerful engines. Boats were lured by other boats just as people are by huge crowds. So after much effort on Manong A's part, we finally caught a glimpse of the suddenly-illusive creatures. I bet they felt like Michael Jackson  hiding and shying away from the paparazzi. As it turned out, we went dolphin-hunting. Not dolphin-watching. But none of them were physically harmed by anyone. :)

Church and Chinese food..– Singapore

I totally enjoyed my stay at my hostel but some things just don’t last forever.

My short adventure in Singapore is becoming shorter. I've had my second breakfast for the day after a second trek to the ECP, and that’s after I’ve packed my backpack and all my stuff. I’ve also cleaned up my mess, removed my sheets and dumped them in the laundry bin. And I was then lounging in the common area, making small talk once again, waiting for my sundo, that’s Tammy, a friend who’s gonna pick me up.

Tammy is a good friend of my sister’s. They were together for the Ship for Southeast Asian (and Japan) Youth Program or SSEAYP ‘09. And since this trip was my sister’s Christmas gift, she was kind enough to volunteer to show me around. And let me couchsurf for two nights too.

Betel nut.. err, BetelBox! - My Singapore Hostel.

200 Joo Chat Road.

Walked way past it. It was so conspicuously situated I totally missed it. Really missed it. Or maybe I wasn’t looking closely enough. But duh! I was. In fact, I was walking turtle-paced along the entire length of that road. Careful to note building numbers, trying to beat the darkness that was slowly settling in. And that’s also despite the backpack that got heavier by the minute.

Finally, I found the right door. 

But not after going into one of the other hotels to ask where 200 was. So I had to retrace my steps and look for that green door. And now that I was standing right outside of it, I couldn’t get in because it was locked. It’s unlike the usual setting wherein you just walk in and find the front desk. Fortunately, a girl guest was coming in from 711. I didn’t have to use the intercom nor the security box, of which code I din’t have anyway.  

cOnstipAtEd

I meant, blogstipated. 

A word I got from a post by FearfulAdventurer about blogging troubles. Well, everyone encounters glitches of some sort along whichever path we choose to follow. And for an aspiring blogger like me, this is a major roadblock. Omeegaaad. 

Well, maybe yes. Maybe not. Words usually flow when I get started. That's when I'm past a paragraph. Even just a short one. But how do I get started. That's the real glitch. 

Or I'm simply too tardy to get on with it. I used to be so into writing so much when I was younger. Before I was overwhelmed with too much reports and deadlines to meet back in Uni. I used to always fill my journal to the brim. Before an ex-roomie read it cover to cover. I used to submit weekly write-ups. Before I stopped being a part of the school paper. I used to post posts more regularly. Before I redid my blog...wanting it to be more like a travel blog and less of a touchy-feely journal-y thing. I used to always scribble something on most pieces of paper but most often my favorite notebook. Before I got too technically-dependent. That is, needing a keyboard and not making do with plain paper and pen. 

This will be my dead-end of the road to a thriving blog! To think I've mapped out a timeline. Hah! Unless I do something about it. Really do something about it. 

Maybe I'm just overwhelmed by the volume of posts to write. Gotta deal with this catching-ups! 

Or is it catchings-up?

Whichever.

Mao na Ni.. Singapore!

Part I - Singapore series (2.11)

This is it!

After a month of on&off research and some fundraising, I packed my orange backpack, hailed a cab to the airport and headed for Singapore for a 4-day I'm-all-by-myself-this-time trip. While waiting in a mixture of a quarter of trepidation and 3/4 almost-uncontainable-I've-gotta-stop-myself kind of excitement, I finally boarded the plane that'll take me for a 3-hour ride to meet and get to know the Merlion.

Since I took off straight from work, I slept through most of the flight and woke up just in time to see an interesting group of cirrus clouds and tidbits of Malaysia and surrounding islands. My excitement climbs higher. Hihi.. we're prepping to land.

Welcome to sunny Singapore! ~said the heavy rain. Wow. And to think that I arrived at the Budget terminal where you'd have to get off the plane and walk - and grab an umbrella since it was raining, to the main building. Sunny Singapore? You're not being true to your words. This ain't kicking off right. But I won't let that get me! ☺