Aug
30
Travel Maps
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I recently came across a neat website called world66.com. The site offers customized maps of countries and states you’ve visited. Just fill out the simple online form and an html code will be generated for you. Just add the html code to your website. That’s it. I’ve added the maps to my travel page. View here. What do you think? My only gripe: Why is the water in Europe a different shade of blue compared to the United States and the rest of the world?
Jun
22
Surf Highlights
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I just came back from my surf trip to Costa Rica and Nicaragua. What a trip! I left early Tuesday morning May 24th and spent the whole day travelling. The first thing I noticed at the airport was, a couple had Balikbayan boxes. Presumably lost? The Philippine Airlines counter is right next door. I just realized Balikbayan boxes are used by other people to other destinations. How cool is that?
This is my fourth trip to Costa Rica. I would think I learned enough Spanish after several trips. My Spanish is getting better. I can speak conversational Spanish and understand most, but it’s one thing to “speak” in Spanish and another to “think” in Spanish. I still think in English and it gets me in trouble sometimes.
You think you have it figured out, then a local would throw in an occasional “colloquial” word and you are thrown in for a loop. For example, a towel is called “toalla” in most Spanish-speaking countries. It’s called “panuelito” in Costa Rica. An ironing table is even more amusing. It’s called “burro”, “caballo”, “tabla” and a few more names in many countries.
I finally arrived in San Jose. I took a short taxi ride to Alajuela to catch the bus headed to Tamarindo. I was told by the local merchant the bus to Tamarindo only stops on certain days. I asked how about today. He said, “no se.” Great! He suggested I take the bus to Liberia and then catch the Tamarindo bus from there. So, I’m finally in Liberia, waiting at a bus stop. I waited and waited for about 2 hours. My bus finally arrives and two more hours in the bus. Ay caramba!
I have many friends in Tamarindo, a small fishing town. It’s now a tourist and surf town. The surf is not that great in Tamarindo, but there are other surf spots in the area that’s worth the stay. I stayed in Tamarindo for a total of three months two years ago. A lot has change since I left. Many new shops, new buildings and to my surprise, even a Burger King. All prices have doubled since I left. I used the Internet Cafe for one hour and I had to pay $6 dollars. I thought I got robbed when I left the cafe. I know the owners. Just kidding, Cinza and Carol.
It’s my second day of surfing. My arms were tired from paddling the day before. Stormy conditions. Is it worth going out? I was thinking to myself, “I’m only here for 3 weeks, I might as well take advantage of the warm water.” So I went with a friend. Then a “medusa” or jellyfish got me. Instant pain, stinging, itching, I don’t know how to describe it. It was all over my neck and on my right leg. Good thing I was wearing a rashguard. It would have been all over my chest. The huge pelt stayed on my neck and leg for about a week. Scratching it certainly didn’t help, but I couldn’t resist at times. I was lucky. One guy had it on his face.
Nicaragua. We exchanged “dollars” into “cordobas” at the border. My friend received old worthless money worth about $30. Lesson learned. If it looks funny, it probably is. We hired a taxi to take us to Popoyo. It was a 2 hour trip on a dusty dirt road. We arrived tired and hungry. We left Tamarindo at 4:30am and arrived in Popoyo at around 11:00am. We learned Popoyo was firing 8-10 foot waves. I finally went to surf after eating and resting for about an hour. It looks even bigger in the water. I was scared. One of a few times. I had to duck-dive 2 big waves when I was caught inside. But, I made it through the other side. My friend broke his board in two pieces. Que lastima! I got one decent ride and I was done for the day. We surfed again the next morning, but the waves were smaller and more manageable. We headed for Playa Madera at noon.
We took a taxi to Rivas, the nearest town. We had lunch there and took another taxi to Playa Madera. This time, it wasn’t a taxi. It was a cattle truck. All 5 of us on the bed of the cattle truck with 3 surfboards tied to the railings. It rained on the way to Playa Madera, but it didn’t matter. We didn’t care. It cooled us down from the hot sun. I have been to Playa Madera before, two years ago. When I went the last time, it was the best surf session I have ever done. The conditions were great, offshore winds the whole time and I was catching waves left and right. I was in surfing shape then after 3 months of non-stop surfing.
This time around the conditions were not that great. Choppy and onshore winds. I waited for the next day. It looked promising the first few hours of the day, but the winds shifted from offshore to onshore around mid-day. I finally went out to surf. Bad timing. A big set came in. I had to duck-dive many times. I lost count. I estimated about 15-20 times in a row. I realized the current was taking me to the side were the rocks were. I paddled back and tried another area further down the beach. I made it finally through the breakers after 15 long minutes. I caught a couple of waves and called it a day.
Back in Costa Rica. Finally, the second to the last day, a swell arrived although it only lasted for a day. Nice waves with some umph. Finally some power. Of course, fewer people out. It was great. I enjoyed it. Several great rides. I’ve decided this was the highlight of my trip plus a few other surf sessions in nearby “Casitas.”
It was good to see friends once again. I’m glad my friend Eve is doing quite well with her boyfriend Giovanni. It was fun hanging out with Kathy, as well as getting to know Eveline in our Nicaragua trip. And of course, “rastah” Walter, the fearless surfer. I wish I could be as fearless as you.
As always Ari gives a few laughs at Nogui’s bar. I was glad to see Isabel again. I miss Luca’s cucina and comida. I miss those nice Italian meals. Luca moved to Panama and his brother is in another beach in Costa Rica. I don’t know when I’ll be back to Tamarindo again, but the place has a special place in my heart. Like they alway say in Costa Rica, Pura vida!
Jun
21
Back From Costa Rica
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Hello. I just came back from Costa Rica and Nicaragua a week ago. I have been busy and I haven’t had the chance to upload the pictures I took nor made entries in my journal until now. I just uploaded 2 picture albums for your viewing pleasure. Enjoy. I’ll talk more about my trip when I have time to write. Ciao for now.
Apr
29
San Francisco
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My cousin and her husband visited us last Monday for a couple days. I brought them to the usual tourist spots in and around San Francisco. I haven’t been to San Francisco in more than a year and a half, so I pretty much felt like a tourist. We went to the usual spots:
Market St., Embarcadero, Fisherman’s Wharf, Lombard, Coit Tower, Chinatown, Twin Peaks, Ocean Beach, Golden Gate, and Sausalito. It was good time to visit since there was a heat wave. Temperature was in 90’s in downtown SFO. Doesn’t get any better than that!
Mar
9
Back In The US
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I am now back in the US. Its been five long months on the road, but I thoroughly enjoyed my stay in the Philippines. It was sixteen years ago when I last visited the Philippines and there are so many, many changes. Some good and some bad. In some ways, I am glad to be back, but I am also sad to miss friends and acquaintances whom I came to know these last five months.
It was great to see relatives I have not seen in a long time. Perhaps, the most important thing is that I have learned many lessons with my time over there. I hope I can share that with you in the future when I have more time to write. For now, I’m glad to be home again!
Dec
2
Thanksgiving Day
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Being away from the U.S. this Thanksgiving, I decided to keep the spirit of Thanksgiving by cooking a turkey, ala Philippine style. I went to a grocery store and bought a 15 lb turkey for 1500 pesos or roughly $27 dollars, which is a lot of money to most Filipinos. This is a big bird to most Filipinos who are used to the small, but tasty native chickens.
At the grocery store, I was surprised to see a Butterball turkey, a brand I recognized. I bought it on a Tuesday and kept it in the refrigerator to thaw out for two days. The biggest challenge was where to find the turkey stuffing. I usually just get stuffing out of the box. So, off to the internet I went to do some research.
I did a google search and found out there are hundreds of recipes for a turkey stuffing. Well, I continued on my search and found a real basic stuffing recipe with simple ingredients that is available in the Philippines. Now, some of my Filipino friends never had eaten a roasted turkey before.
The good news is, this was not the first time I had roasted turkey. I had done it at least 4-5 times over Thanksgiving over the years. The challenge was, the stuffing. I never made turkey stuffing from scratch ever in my life.
So, I felt under the gun. The pressure was on. I had to deliver. The expectation was too much. So, back to the stuffing. The ingredients on the internet said celery, onions, garlic, butter, eggs, croutons or bread, salt, pepper, carrots, and chicken broth. So, I bought them. I did my best to mix them.
Thanksgiving Day. After 4 1/2 hours in the oven, the turkey was done. Nice and brown. Smells good, too. I sliced the turkey and started passing it out to everyone. Then, I urged everyone to try the stuffing and waited for their response. After a little bit of hesitation, I was relieved to hear that they love it. They really, really love it. The turkey was a success.
So, that was my Thanksgiving experience this year 2003, ala Philippine style. The bad news is, several of my friends want the recipe of the stuffing so they can prepare turkey for their respected families for Christimas and for any other occasions. I said great! Now, if I can only remember the right mix.
Dec
2
Weather In December
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Hello, Just wanted to say hi. I haven’t posted anything for a while. I have been staying here in Iloilo City, Philippines for the past two and a half months. Its December now. I say the biggest difference between September/October and now is the weather. Although it is still quite humid during the day, the evenings are much more tolerable.
Staying in the Philippines would not be so bad if the evening weather is like this all year long. During my first month here in September, turning on the air conditioner all day long was really a necessity.
What else is going on? Not a whole lot. Just taking it easy, although I have several things on my list that I have to do before I leave for the U.S. The first thing is looking for a lot for my mom. She’s retiring in Iloilo in a couple of years. There are several nice subdivisions in the area.
The lots are quite cheap compared to the U.S. These are the best lots in Iloilo. I found one for 400 square meters for roughly $20K. I also have other things to take care of such as my dad’s land just outside of town. Anyways, aside from family business that I have to do, I have been keeping myself quite busy here. Travelling for the most part. Well, ciao for now.
Oct
24
Boracay
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My brother Kerwin and I just came back from our recent trip to Boracay. We stayed on the island for several days this time around although the weather did not cooperate. It rained for a couple of days. As some of you know, Boracay is the premier resort island in the Philippines.
It is rated as one of the top ten beach destinations in the world. I took some photographs and hopefully will be able to upload pictures in the next few weeks. My brother has my usb card reader and he is in Cebu. I will not be able to upload the pictures until I go there myself within a week or so.
In the meantime, I have to deal with very little memory left on my camera. To tell you the truth, I have not been taking many pictures since I got here in the Philippines. Sometimes, I get into this mode of not taking pictures for weeks. This happened when I was travelling in South America. I didn’t take any pictures at all in Chile and I just took a few pictures in Argentina.
The internet access here in the Philippines is more than adequate compared to some areas of Latin America. There are numerous high speed internet shops in the malls and outside of malls, and they are very cheap compared to costs in Costa Rica.
Shopping for clothes here is the ultimate. You can buy T shirts for less than $5. Eating out is also very cheap compared to a lot of places in the world. The only items that are expensive here are imported goods like sports shoes and electronics.
I’m beginning to enjoy it down here in Iloilo. I have checked out several lots or subdivisions within the city for my parents. My parents are looking to retire in the Philippines in two years. Other than that, not much going on here.
Oct
4
Antique
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Kerwin and I went to the province of Antique this past week. We went to the towns of Bugasong and Tibiao to see relatives. Our relatives took us around Antique to Kalibo, Aklan where they hold the Ati-Atihan festival every January. It was definately a very intriguing trip since this part of Panay is not traveled by most tourists.
These towns don’t even have cell phone coverage which is unusual for the Philippines since it has more than 30 million cell phone users, which is about one third of the population.
By the way, I picked up a cell phone here and have begun to learn how to send text messages. Text messaging is very popular in the Philippines due to costs. A phone call costs 7 pesos per minute while text messages are only 1 peso. Even at 7 pesos, its still cheap compared to the cost of cell phone usage in the US.
Switching gears now, I think I have gained a few pounds since we seem to be eating out all the time. I now have joined a gym in Iloilo City to shed a few pounds. I have not worked out in more than 8 months, so this is very good. Well, ciao for now. Someone is kicking me out of the computer.
Sep
24
Bacolod
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Kerwin and I are currently in Bacolod, Philippines. We came from Iloilo City yesterday when we heard our second cousins died. We took the ferry boat yesterday and this morning we attended the funeral. We plan to stay here for a few days until next Monday.
This is actually my first time here in Bacolod City. Nice city. Reminds me of Iloilo 20 years ago when there wasn’t much traffic and people on the road. We are currently at Robinson’s Mall in the internet cafe. We will shop for a few hours and maybe catch a movie later on. Ciao.