Swimming with the Whale sharks

While researching for possible places to visit in the Philippines, I found Donsol, Sorsogon as one of my top destinations. Donsol is a feeding ground of the largest fish in the world, the whale sharks, locally known as butandings. I originally planned to go solo but a 5-hour delayed layover in Taiwan got me to buy my cousin a ticket to come with me. I'm so glad she came coz it wouldav been a bit difficult being on my own.

We landed in Legaspi airport around noon and caught a shuttle to Donsol (1 hour drive south of Legaspi) with 4 Dutch visitors. We searched for accommodations when we got there. Ours turned out to be a very interesting one. Hahaha. Oh Lord.


Despite the heat, I managed to take a 4-hour nap here in this makeshift bed. =P I told my cousin that we should keep tight on budget because we can. Haha. We boycotted the resort's overpriced food and opted to buy bread and cheese spread from town. (We managed not buy any other food for the rest of our 2-day stay in Donsol)

We then got into this small boat for a night firefly tour. The river was very dark and peaceful. Sadly, no camera could capture the firefly party going on in this Talisay tree. However, our guide successfully got a firefly and brought it to us.
Thankfully, the sleep was uneventful despite the openness of the cottage. When we woke up, we hurriedly made breakfast - cheese spread by a ruler on the bread we bought. Lol. We then proceeded to the tourism center to get started on the swim.

When I planned this trip, I didn't exactly think much about what the real swim entailed. Hahaha! I failed to realize that the swim involves jumping into open water and chasing after a huge animal. On our first jump, I was scared to death. I do not like using snorkels at all. Lol. I also forgot how salty seawater can be. Hahahaha. During the second jump, my cousin and I stayed in the boat. I was sorta depressed coz I came all way out here and I can't even muster the courage to do it. All that hassle and money for nothing? Ugh.

Good for us, Kuya Henry - our Butanding Interaction Officer (BIO) offered to take us on his buoy one at a time. Seems so lame, right? But what choice did I have? Hahahaha. The first time I saw the butanding, it was cruising 1 meter below me. It was breathtaking. Amazing. Out of this world! After that, I told Kuya Henry - I'm good. I could go home right now with a smile on my face. I went on to see 4 more with the last being the largest at 8 meters long.

We shared the boat with the same 4 Dutch visitors and 1 Israeli diver who had an underwater camera. (Credits to Yuval for these pics!)

try to find its eye. they say butanding in bicolano means small eyed :)

Discovering Indonesia

Since I was already going to be in the Philippines, I really wanted to visit another country while I was in this region. Then, I realized I had met this American guy while walking in Kuala Lumpur last year. I had dinner with him and his American friend who lives in KL. Seemed like nice chaps. So after a few emails back and forth, I booked to spend 5 days in Indonesia.

The original plan was to go off to West Java to hike Mt. Bromo but Joel's other friend couldn't go with us. Joel is a very conservative and respectful guy and for us to travel just by ourselves wouldn't look right to most Indonesians. So, we ended up staying in Bandung (his home fore now) for the length of my stay. I couldn't have asked for more.

Indonesia, compared to the Philippines is cleaner and the air cooler. Although, we always one up every other Asian country because of our being able to speak English very well. That was the one thing that disabled me as a traveller although it didn't affect me much since Joel is conversant in Indonesian. I was kinda glad that they spoke very little English as it enabled me to pick up their language very quickly. I was very proud of what I'v learned and retained in those 5 days. :)

In sum, I got to try all the delicous spicy foods Indonesia has to offer, hike down a volcano's crater, ride on a motorcycle for hours while passing rice paddies and small villages, got to watch a master puppet carver at work, learned a new language, and got to make Indonesian friends. You can't ever get that in a pre-pack travel package. I owe all of this to Joel - the stranger who took me in. :)

Joel
while we were inside the crater of Tangkuban Parahu


Indonesian Friends - Lydia, Pritha, and Gina

On the loose

The last time I went home, I was lugging 2 large 50 lb suitcases all over town. It was a major pain in the be-hind. Now, in an effort to truly connect with my inner backpacker, I am only going to be traveling with my tenderfoot Deuter pack which I bought on impulse in Kuala Lumpur's Central Market.

In short, there will be no pasalubongs. Just me and my pack. It helps so much in hopping from one place to another.

So in sum, I'm leaving April 12th and coming back June 8th. I'm volunteering from April 27 - May 23 which leaves me quite a bit of time to wander around town or the country. =)

I'll land in Manila on the 14th of April and will be staying with Kat for the night (thanks Kat! :*).

Next up, island of Java, Indonesia from April 15 - April 21. I'm meeting up with a cool kid I met in Kuala Lumpur last year. He's doing his grad studies there and luckily is on his vacation around the time I'm available. Basically, I don't know where we're headed except for the volcanic site in Mt. Bromo. So long as I'm back in Jakarta for my flight back to Manila, I'm game.

So last year when I went home, I was kind of disappointed as to how I failed to even visit one other site in the Philippines other than Manila and Davao. They say that the hardest part about traveling is deciding to go. I've always wanted to witness the majestic beauty of the Mayon Volcano. I've disappointed myself once and now I'm not gonna pass up on this chance. Hence, I'm going to Legaspi on the 21st 5 hours after landing. As a kid, I've always been amazed by looking at Mayon pictures. Now, I can't wait to see the real thing for myself. The bonus on this trip is I'm making a side trip to Donsol, Sorsogon with hopes to swim with the largest fish on the planet, the whale sharks or what is locally known as butandings.

After 2 nights in Legaspi, on the 23rd I'm flying on to Cebu to meet with Ate Chelle and Kuya Nin, Nathan and Chloe. They are very good friends of ours from Wilson and they're all in Cebu to visit with Ate Chelle's sick father. It's their first time going back and Nate and Chloe's first in the Philippines. I've shared a lot with them and I'd really love to spend some time with them there. Share a few lechons and dried mangoes. =) and Chickenjoy with the kids!

On April 27, I'll be heading to Davao to start on my real mission. Even more adventures to come! Can't wait!

And when it ends on May 23rd, I'll have 2 weeks to work with. I really really wanna visit Sagada. Well, anywhere new for that matter. Anyone who wants to trip with, let's go! =)

Check out these great travel blogs I've come across from endless nights of scouring the internet for info! Haha!

- dutch pickle: a fantastic site full of info. from what i've read, i think he's a dutch guy living in catbalogan, samar who's been all over the philippines.

- nina fuentes' just wandering: i haven't spent as much time here but her blog is very informative as well

Oh here it goes again!

I've been coming down with a lotta bugs lately. The lazy bee stung hard right before Christmas and then came the travel bug that bit the hardest. The travel bite just had to be soothed! I can't help it! Haha!

So, here it goes again! Oh here it goes again! Oh here it goes again!

Originally, I had set out to go to Germany to visit Nico but the whole visa application shenanigan turned me off so badly that I just finally decided to go to a place where I won't need to apply for a visa. What better place to look at than my own birth country, eh? And with that, I settled on my location. Now, the motive. Looking for a motive was a total gimme since I had been wanting to volunteer for Gawad Kalinga (GK) (translation: to give care) since I was in high school. A few emails to an NC contact that is spending a year volunteering for GK got me hooked up with the right people. After corresponding for a few days, I was all set to go. =)

I asked to be assigned in Davao City and will be staying at GK's Mission House. I'll be visiting sites and spend nights in some of them. I will be immersed with the admin side of the work and meet with local leaders and caretakers. My main assignment is to help the admin prepare for the local Bayani Challenge (Hero's Challenge) in Compostela Valley where numerous GK teams from all over Mindanao will participate in a 5-day long build. I'm really excited about this experience and as much as I'm anxious, I know it'll turn out fine!

Now, I'd be lying if I told you that volunteering is my main motive for this trip. It's a big part of it but you know me. Haha! I'm always on the lookout for visiting new places. I'll tell more on that on my next post!

For now, I'll give you these Gawad Kalinga videos to look at to give you a better idea of what it is! =)

A presentation on how GK works




Testimonials of Foreign GK Volunteers