G-OGRAPHY: a southeast asian lady travels...

So I am indeed a go for the Philippines. My boss said yes and I am only waiting to finalize my travel documents. I am so excited! Aside from getting to spend time with family I'll be beach bumming. You have to understand that a trip back home will not be complete without flying off to one of our awesome islands. Case in point Coron, Palawan below:


Borrowed from aquinokc


For those who are not aware, the Philippines is an archipelago made up of 7100 islands. Each very unique not only in how they look but in their flavor and their culture. This is in fact one of the reasons why it was easy for the Spaniards to divide and conquer us (we were a Spanish colony for 300 years). We were geographically spread out and had independent systems of community established in different parts of the region. Speaking of the Spaniards, I might dare say that this latin influence- for better and for worse- is one of the things that make us unique as an Asian country (Americans we are officially located in southeast asia and not some lost Pacific Island). Moreover, as a hub for trading coupled with various foreign invasions the Philippines has a lot of American, Chinese and some (more like a dash) Japanese influence (add to this a tropical climate). Our temperament, customs, behavior, religion and even from of government (democratic) sets us apart from most Asian nations. To be un-PC we feel less "oriental"than our counterparts.


Now my own photo: Siargao Island, surf capital of the Philippines.

So when I was a lot younger, I could not wait to get out of the country and explore other shores. For some reason, you always think that anywhere else is better than home. As I grow older and become well-traveled, I have no doubt in my mind that the Philippines offers world class landscapes and seascapes that are unparalleled. I always now make it a point to spread the word around when I meet fellow travelers. They most often always skip the Philippines and would rather go off to Thailand for the beaches. I tell them that if they want good food, pristine white beaches and friendly English speaking people that they should go to the Philippines.


Borrowed from Sidious Sid's Aliwan Fiesta 2009 set

On the other hand, I am glad we are not as bombarded by flocks of tourists. Less commercialism the better.

For this trip, I plan to go back to Palawan to visit my friend who I previously mentioned moved to the island to quit city life (bravo to you amigo). He now owns a boutique travel company called Discover Amazing Palawan which focuses on unique and personalized tours without putting a hole in your pocket. His wife is also a yoga teacher and entrepreneur. Together with their son they seek to live a sustainable life. I can't wait to catch up with them.

I also plan to swing by one of the other islands for some diving (they have an excellent marine sanctuary). I'm leaning towards Dumaguete Apo Island which has this cool resort seen below:


Photo already copyrighted

Then there is Apo Reef (I know same name but different places) which is a Unesco World Heritage site. It's one of the top 8 diving spots in the Philippines. I couldn't find a decent underwater photo but I did find this flickr profile with great Philippine photos: http://www.flickr.com/people/landscapist/. Enjoy!

Last October, I decided to get scuba certified. After diving the Catalina and Anacapa Islands I thought it was only proper to go on a scuba adventure. What better place to go than the Galapagos for 2 weeks of exploration. I have always been a fan of Darwin and the Galapagos is a place that has always captured my imagination. I envisioned a rustic prehistoric island isolated from civilization. I got there along with bus loads of European tourists wearing their matching khaki expedition outfits and saw a bustling little town filled with every creature comfort which included ATM's, wireless internet and LCD TV's with satellite cable. I guess I was 50 years too late. I know any other "normal" person would have loved these modern amenities but I really wished that things were a little more bare...a little more untouched.

Nonetheless, I enjoyed exploring the little island. It was very diverse in flora and fauna. The wildlife was amazing and so far it is the only place I have been to that had a bunch of iguanas, sea lions, tortoises and albatross' scattered around delightfully apathetic to us annoying tourists.


Ok maybe not so apathetic...Mr. Tortoise was hissing at me at this particular moment and I had a brief chilling vision of being attacked by an 1800 pound reptile (which is absurd because the only thing you have to watch out for would be their powerful fist crunching jaw if you were within it's reach).



One of the other things that I enjoyed about Galapagos and Ecuador in general is the people. Extremely friendly, always a smile on their faces. This being my first trip to South America, I also noticed a lot of similarities to the Philippines in terms of the food (their ceviches were scrumptious) and the culture. They were, after all, occupied by the Spaniards and though this may not make obvious sense to everyone Filipinos are the Latins of Asia. This is another long topic of discussion and debate that I think I will write about after I've traveled the world and collected more observations.






Anyways, back to the scuba story. So my friend and I had courageously booked a 5 day dive session from the awesome Scuba Iguana shop. I highly recommend that for beginners not to do the same because it is exhausting! You should pace yourself and allot time to roam around the different uninhabited islands. A lot of divers do a live aboard but I did not want to deal with the constant motion of the boat especially when going to the loo.

I think I was able to do a total of 12 dives after the trip. It was not the colorful tropical underwater setting that I am used to but the marine life was spectacular. We saw sharks, hammerheads, pelagic fish, rays, sea lions (they are as cute and as playful as puppies), eels, seat turtles, dolphins and a bevy of other sea creatures. A particular highlight was me cowering behind a pinnacle of rocks to witness a shark pit! The current was whipping around us and I had to grab on to the rocks for dear life. I also tried my hardest not to hyperventilate because there were a LOT of sharks up close (granted they were small reef sharks there were the bulkier Galapagos sharks that hovered). I was about to chicken out and swim away when this seal dives from out of nowhere and starts clowning around with the reef sharks. The group was able to capture the video here. Oh and 28 seconds in to this video a reef shark was filmed stalking me!! You can hear my friend yelp out GRACE!

Here are some more photo highlights of Galapagos:




Dolphins are always a good sighting. We saw a whale after this but I was too slow to take a photo.


First time doing a back roll. I like it more than a high jump!






Eels are really ugly.


Stalking a bat fish.


Deadly urchin.


Sea Turtle and a friend.


Bat fish up close.


An eagle ray...the manta rays were more majestic. They look like alien underwater birds.


Funny fish.


I think this was a Torpedo Ray.


Sharks!


We went inside a big ball of mackerel. To be honest, I got a little claustrophobic.


A school of fish.


The dive crew.


The cutest pelagic fish ever!


The dreaded stone fish...it's poisonous.

Some of you folks might remember when this feature first appeared on G-ography here during my 7 day Bikram Yoga Challenge. I also made a post about the next one here inspired after watching Ewan Mcgregor's motorbiking-around-the-world documentary. However my Kaui Expedition got in the way before I can go take my lessons. Then right after that I had decided to take some scuba diving lessons. Check out the photos below at the Reef Park in Casino Point, Catalina Island.



I have been quite the busy adventurer. This thanksgiving, however, is an NNP that will top all of these! I'm posting this photo associated with my next destination...guess where I'm going!