clean up dive - may 2009

the company sponsored clean up dive turned out to be a fun dive instead. we really didn't find any crown of thorns and there's also not much trash around... which is a good thing. people are starting to take good care of the sea.

my last dive was last february i think... so i'm glad that i got to free up my sched today. hmmm... since i don't maintain a dive log anymore, i'm thinking of using this blog as some sort of an online dive log.

the two sites that we checked out today are:

Arthur's Rock
this site starts out as a gradual slope at around 5 meters. then you eventually go further down to around 18-20 meters. eventually, you will get to see a small wall with some boulders and a small cave. they say that in this area, the current can sometimes be really unpredictable. we're lucky that it was really calm this morning despite of the weather. things to watch out for in this dive site are sweetlips, emperor fish, surgeons and of course lots of clown fish. this is a recommended site for beginners.

my highlights are spotting a turtle, blue-spotted stingray, and a gray spotted moray eel. it's my first time to see a turtle during a dive trip!!!

bottom time: 45 minutes
maximum depth: 70 feet

Twin Rocks
this dive site is known for the remains of a capsized barge which a lot of batfishes frequent.
the twin rocks are found in the shallow part of the site, about 8-10 meters. it's a small area surrounded by rock corals that are filled with small anthias and basslets.

schooling jacks or trevallies are said to frequent the site.

i got to see 3 pufferfishes and again, a gray spotted moral eel. i'm satisfied.

bottom time: 37 minutes
maximum depth: 70 feet



i'm tired... i don't feel like working tomorrow. we'll see.

manila ocean park

i really didn't expect that i would enjoy my visit to the manila ocean park. i was just forced to chaperone my two sisters who're visiting from the province.

overall, it was an entertaining experience. it's actually a lot bigger and better than the ocean park in singapore.

http://manilaoceanpark.com/

oh by the way, you should give the fish spa a try.

mayumi resort

to divers and beach bums out there, check out mayumi resort. good food and cozy accommodations. perfect place for weekend relaxation.

http://mayumiresorts.multiply.com/

true

"Had I done the right thing by not telling her? Maybe not. Who on earth wanted the right thing anyway? Yet what meaning could there be if nothing was right? If nothing was fair? Fairness is a concept that holds only in limited situations. Yet we want the concept to extend to everything, in and out of phase."

— Haruki Murakami (Hardboiled Wonderland and the End of the World)

barca!!!

fc barcelona's fluid attacking offense just proved too much for manchester united fc. barca's three pronged attack was a beauty to watch. during the last minutes, i was still hoping that henry would also score. but anyway, i'm happy with 2-0 c/o eto'o and messi. barca ended the european football season with a bang - the champion's league title.

what a year for fc barcelona.

three titles (copa, lliga, champions) for the rookie coach guardiola.

coolness.

t4

terminator 4 is the rebirth of the terminator franchise.

i don't care what some of the critics say. man vs machine is always fun to watch. plus, batman is in it. what else can you ask for? hehe.

oh by the way... before entering the cinema, make sure you bring along a 20 oz soda and a big bucket of popcorn. it's a perfect summer movie.

ronaldo vs messi

tomorrow at 2am or 3am (i have to recheck the schedule haha), a showdown between the 2008 footballer of the year vs the runner up will happen.

so... who is the world's best footballer?

everyone knows that i hate manchester united fc.

so i hope messi would teach ronaldo a lesson on humility.

go barca.

circus

inquirer columnist conrado de quiros was on the spot when he said that filipinos have this astonishing capacity for making a mountain out of a molehill and a molehill out of a mountain. for two weeks now, we've been bombarded with news/information about the hkkh scandal. and also very recently, politicians and other feminist groups were enraged by alec baldwin's snide jest during david letterman's show.

as if this nation doesn't have bigger problems to face.

i'd say that the whole thing has been blown out of proportion. way out of proportion.

dance dance dance

"So what can I do now?" she spoke up a minute later.
"Nothing," I said. "Just think about what comes before words. You owe that to the dead. As time goes on, you'll understand. What lasts, lasts; what doesn't, doesn't. Time solves most things. And what time can't solve, you have to solve yourself. Is that too much to ask?"
"A little," she said, trying to smile.
"Well, of course it is," I said, trying to smile too.
"I doubt that this makes sense to most people. But I think I'm right. People die all the time. Life is a lot more fragile than we think. So you should treat others in a way that leaves no regrets. Fairly, and if posible, sincerely. It's too easy not to make the effort, then weep and wring your hands after the person dies. Personally, I don't buy it."
Yuki leaned against the car door. "But that's real hard, isn't it?" she said.
"Real hard," I said. "But it's worth trying for."


Of course, by the same token, I couldn't really say I belonged to Tokyo and its coffee shops. But I had never felt this loneliness there. I could drink my coffee, read my book, pass the time of day without any special thought, all because I was part of the regular scenery. Here I had no ties to anyone. Fact is, I'd come to reclaim myself.
It seemed unreasonable, unfair, that a woman so young and beautiful should be so exhausted. Of course, it was neither unreasonable nor unfair. Exhaustion pays no mind to age or beauty. Like rain and earthquakes and hail and floods.
"I used to think that the years would go by in order, that you get older one year at a time ... But it's not like that. It happens overnight."
"Unfortunately, the clock is ticking, the hours are going by. The past increases, the future recedes. Possibilities decreasing, regrets mounting."


murakami is such a prolific storyteller. although most of his work are set in japan, he speaks to the global audience. i'm in awe of his talent.

since all of his novels are written in japanese... i wonder how much is lost in translation.

diver's night 2009

some pictures from the diver's night party last wed night at bar one o three, ortigas home depot complex.

http://picasaweb.google.com/instructorneil/DiverSNightMay202009#

the party was held for the benefit of Pola, Oriental Mindoro Reef Management Project.

bawaii

whenever we talk about tagaytay, we can’t help but mention sonia’s garden, antonios, josephines, and leslies. the food is great and all, but after awhile it gets tiring - we crave for something new, an alternative. so let me thereby present bawaii...

bawaii is a vietnamese resto owned and managed by a vietnamese immigrant who married a fiilipino and settled in tagaytay. in other words, it’s authentic.

they serve good food, the place has this relaxing vibe, and it’s still somewhat a secret (there’s novelty in knowing a secret). so hurry come and visit while it’s still quite unknown. word goes around very fast.

to help you find your way, visit this site http://kainpinoy.com/maps/bawai.php


and since ur in the area, why don’t you drop by balai isabel… it’s just a 30 minute drive from tagaytay to talisay... grab yourself a cup of coffee and enjoy the lakeside view.

pahiyas festival

pahiyas is really something. it’s cloud nine for photographers, or for gluttons like me.

if you missed it this year, mark your calendars as early as now. the date is may 15.

i would recommend the pahiyas tour that we availed of. try to visit www.pahiyasfestival.com. for me, the 1700 day tour price tag was reasonable. at least we didn’t need to worry about the four hour drive, parking, getting lost around town, and where to eat.


Tour Timeline

4:00 am - 4:30 am Assembly time at the open parking area at the corner of Ayala
and Makati Avenue, in front of the Manila Peninsula Hotel
5:00 am Departure from Manila (travel time is about 3 hours)
8:00 am - 9:00 am Breakfast - A la Carte
9:00 am - 9:30 am Visit the Kamay ni Hesus Healing Shrine
9:30 pm - 12:30 pm Tour of the Pahiyas, shopping, free time
12:30 pm - 2:00 pm Lunch – Buffet
2:00 pm - 3:00 pm Festival Parade
3:00 pm - 3:30 pm Last minute shopping
3:30 pm - 3:45 pm Assembly time at the Rizal Park for buffet dinner at Palaisdaan
3:45 pm - 4:00 pm Departure for Palaisdaan Restaurant
4:00 pm - 6:00 pm Dinner - Buffet
6:30 pm Departure from Lucban to Manila. ETA 10:00 pm


i love the city, and everything it offers. but it's nice to get away from it all once in awhile.

poker time

the river is the killer...
the river is the killer...
the river is the killer...
the river is the killer...

i'm still up after two saturdays of poker. i wonder how long my lucky streak will last.

ultimate cebu

i love cebuanas... err... i mean cebu...
it's definitely my favorite city outside of manila.

to learn more about cebu, please check out my ex-roommate's blog.

http://ultimatecebu.blogspot.com

nice job dins. you've finally got urself out of the 9am to 6pm hellhole. i envy you. i wish to follow your footsteps. haha.

crappy summer

Rain, rain, go away
Come again another day
Little me wants to play.

please don't rain. i wanna play football this weekend. it's been awhile.

death and marriage

i had a quick chat conversation with a friend who just recently proposed. i asked him how was it, how did it feel…

he said that it was like his life flashed before him the moment he was about to ask the big question.

i assured him that i believe him… proposing is tantamount to a near-death experience coz marriage is death.

and since he’s getting hitched on december, i warned him that he has only six and a half months to live. so he has to make the most out of it. haha.

looking forward to the stag party… yeah!!! (marco, you should take care of this)


congratulations pare!!! (painom ka naman)

monday

i remembered this chat conversation i had with a good friend a long time ago. basically, this is her answer to my last monday night's ranting...

too early in the week for existential questions. the only way we could be able to follow our passion is if we are filthy rich. since we're not, we have to make do. to be able to do what you are passionate about, you have to make some sacrifices. this is just like that.

let's not get bummed too much about working late on a monday. think of it as delaying gratification. i have to do this to be able to get what i really want. it makes getting what we're really passionate about all the more sweet.

work doesn’t need to be my passion. it can just be my career.


have a nice week.

barca vs chelsea rants

chelsea got robbed!!!
they were deprived of 2 penalty opportunities. freakin referees!!! unfair!!!
chelsea, the better team, should be in the finals.

oh well... life's unfair. it really is.

neverwhere

Richard gestured vaguely, taking in everything. "Work. Home. The pub. Meeting girls. Living in the city. Life. Is that all there is?"

"I think that sums it up, yes," said Gary.

Richard signhed. "Well," he said, "for a start, I didn't go to Majorca. I mean, I really didn't g to Majorca."


i'd like to imagine that gaiman's neverwhere really do exist.
i'd like to take a walk in a world where being normal is not normal, where the extraordinary is just ordinary.

senti

what a monday. it seems that i didn’t have the energy to work today. i just sat in my cubicle and procrastinated (or spaced out). i don’t deny the fact that there are times that i question if i’m really doing what i like. after eight years in I.T., it baffles me that i still ask this question. anyway, until i arrive at a conclusion/understanding someday... i guess i can live with the idea that work doesn't have to be my passion. i can make it my means to do or achieve what i’m passionate about.

how can i read books by my fav authors, collect movies that i love, travel to places, support my pricey hobbies, get drunk on my favorite beer, and sustain my starbucks addiction... without me sitting at my desk on a monday evening doing what i’m not passionate about.

(i apologize for this senti entry. i'm just not thinking straight. hehe.)

gone in six minutes

guess what... i almost missed the pacquiao fight yesterday morning. i was up all night watching dvds, and as usual, the alarm clock didn't work on me. good thing adrian called me up. so i dragged my ass out of bed, had a really quick shower, and drove as fast as i could to danny's grill timog. i got there just in time... just in time to witness pacquiao's ticket to being one of the all-time greats...

pacquiao was superb. he easily decimated a champion who has been fighting at 140lbs for most of his career. pacquiao proved to the world that he is the best, that he is a complete fighter. he did it convincingly, in six minutes.

who's left for pacquiao to fight? i can only think of two names... floyd mayweather jr and shane mosley...

bring them on.

addicted to true blood

i've spent the entire saturday on this hbo series. i can't wait for the second season.

i've always been fascinated with vampires. hence, my obsession with anne rice novels and vampire movies. if 'the interview with the vampire' and 'queen of the damned' are to be "re-made", alan ball(true blood creator) should be in charge. i'm confident that he'd be able to effectively capture with ease the southern gothic feel of anne rice's vampire chronicles.

wolverine and the x-men

to all x-men fans out there, you should get to watch 'Wolverine and the X-Men' series.

this somewhat new animated X-Men series undoubtedly outshines its predecessors. solid story-telling and a unique but true-to-the-comic-book portrayal of the characters make this series stand out.

i could say that this is the best x-men animated series yet.

cloudy day, cloudy mind

they say things happen for a reason...
and if we couldn't find the answer,
we ask ourselves...
is it luck, coincidence, or guidance from a higher power...

we continually seek for truth, for peace of mind.

we all want understanding of what happened, what's happening, and of things to come.