Well, where did we last leave off? After Cebu City we took a short 4-hour trip down to Moalboal (Pangasama Beach) to rest and relax for a few days. We planned nothing, we did nothing, it was wonderful. The first night we arrived at 7pm and went to Moalboal Backpacker's Lodge. One room left, upstairs sharing a wall with the street. We thought "Why not!" and booked the room. They provide filtered water for 10 pesos a litre out of a big blue jug (the kind we have at home), which was a nice change from having to buy plastic bottles over and over, and there was a gorgeous sitting area upstairs with a leafy roof and bamboo railings, open-air. Hammocks to chill in. Perfect. 2 minutes after check-in we starting chatting in the bamboo terrace with a girl from Hong Kong, May Ann, and we all decided on drinks and dinner at Chili Bar. We ate and drank and shared great conversation there, straight on the ocean with the waves crashing around us, until nearly 2am. People-watching included:
*3 transgender prostitutes seated at the table beside us
*1 Japanese man apparently trying to broker a deal with one of the prostitutes, her excitedly talking to her friends about it, and then him (after an hour of this) suddenly leaving the bar, leaving the lady very confused
*Older Dutch couple sitting behind us, with him taking photo after photo of her just sitting across from him, and eventually I noticed he seemed to be covertly taking pics of people at the bar as well. He approached one of the ladies at the table beside us, said something looking very lustful, and was completely ignored by the ladies for the rest of the night, despite the "sexy" looks both in the couple were shooting the ladies all night
That night, due to a fan that hardly worked and the fact that our roof was semi-open-air and allowed us full exposure to the many loud sounds of the streets, we slept 3 hours. Hungover and exhausted, we moved hotels the next day. The pool it usually has was being renovated but the resort nearby let us lounge in and near theirs for 75 pesos per person per day, so we spent the next three days there doing nothing but drinking rum and coke and sleeping! Did an incredible dive there with the famous schools of sardines...it's overwhelming how many there are. Millions, or at least tens of thousands of them, swim over top of and beside you in huge walls, glittering in the sun above. It was one of my favorite dives.
My other favorite dive happened yesterday at Apo Island outside of Dumaguete. Although much of the coral was damaged in Typhoon Yolanda last year, the fish were abundant and I saw many things I've never seen before, like huge black and white striped sea snakes, a lead scorpion fish, crazy sea cucumbers and nudibranches and numerous new fishes. I swam beside a massive school of jackfish which was stunning, they're huge! Then we grabbed new oxygen tanks, dropped into a fantastic current and drifted like we were in a dream, all through the area, until the boat picked us up. Partied and ate with people at the hostel (who had been on the dive with us) until midnight. Now we're off to Bohol to stay in a jungle hostel, see the chocolate hills and kayak with fireflies for a few days until dad has to leave on the 7th!
Whew, that's all I've got time for right now...talk to you all soon! Pics to come, thanks for reading!
