I flew from China into Manila where Joce and Lucky picked me up. It was so amazing to be reunited with my good friends! We ventured off to SM, the largest mall in Asia. For breakfast we enjoyed Nutella drop and sunrise orange pancakes with cream cheese and orange sauce drizzle. Our entire meal was about $15 for 3 people! So cheap!!!! We walked around the mall and shopped a bit to see popular stores from around the world, Topshop, Marks & Spencer, Mango, Uniqlo, Zara, and even Forever 21! Next we drove over to the Cultural Center of the Philippines, home of the professional ballet company that Lucky was a part of before joining Royal Caribbean. From there we continued to Greenbelt, a large area with five fancy malls to have a late lunch with their friends in Manila. We drank delicious mint tea and I tried squid ink pasta which was a little spicy and not bad at all, but I preferred my zucchini and goat cheese pizza! :) When night fell, we drove to the City of Dreams, a building complex with various luxury hotels and casinos much like the Vegas Strip. The area was made famous by a youtube advertisement starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Robert De Niro, and Martin Scorsese. We saw "Dream Play" a Dreamworks themed play area for kids. That night we stayed overnight at a hotel near the airport before our 2am wake up call! :/
Day 2, June 25th
Our day began with a 4am flight to Cebu. Unfortunately, we had the worst turbulence I've ever experienced and it hit right when I was in the bathroom because despite having taken my motion sickness pills, I still got sick. That was the first time in my life that I feared I was going to die. I was tossed and thrown all over that bathroom and could only pray that this wasn't the end. We had flown right into a rain cloud and Joce said they could see the storm outside from the windows while I was being jolted around in the bathroom HAHA. We landed safely but I was still pretty shaky after the petrifying experience! Our driver picked us up and drove us the three hours to Oslob for our whale shark dive. We had a breakfast of sticky rice and mango, then got into our gear near the shore. The guide gave a brief description of what the dive was going to be like, and a reminder not to touch the whale sharks and to be wary of their mouths and tail. I was acutely aware that my gear was different than I’m used to and made sure to let Joce and Lucky know where my alternative air source was located (it was in a pouch at my side, not located in my “triangle” which is around my ribs where it is with the new BCDs) and took a moment to get acclimated to the new equipment. It’s a good thing I had such an amazing teacher like Edwen, because our guide was a bit relaxed about these pre dive safety checks and even about checking in with us frequently throughout the dive to make sure we were all “ok”, Granted, we are certified which means we have more understanding of diving procedures so he was probably just looking for signs something was wrong rather than asking, but he definitely should have checked in with us to make sure we were doing ok with out air supply. He never once asked how much air we were at, and it was 45-50 minute dive! We made sure to check each other’s air nad were signaling each other properly, Edwen would have been so proud! :D
From the critic and technical diver point of view, I was a bit frustrated with my mask because it got foggy and made things difficult to see, so next time I will definitely need to get the anti-fog spray that works wonders. Also, I was a bit of a mess with my buoyancy because I was trying not to get whacked or ran over! But overall I think it was a very successful dive.
From my emotional side, this dive was ABSOLUTELY AMAZING!!! It was phenomenal to swim amongst these gorgeous creatures. At one point, I was just standing at the bottom watching three giant whale sharks at least twice my size swim above me, so close I could reach out and touch them! It was spectacular. Here were these mammoths of the sea, gliding through the water so gracefully, vacuuming in food as they go. We weren’t even that deep, I believe 20 feet was the furthest depth we reached, if even that. It was such a breathtaking experience to not only swim with them, but lay and watch their powerful tails swish back and forth to propel them through the water. We were floating when one whale suddenly began coming towards us. Joce let out a small scream and reached down for me to pull her out of the path, she didn’t want the whale to bump her with its mouth! Lucky also had a few close calls as he was taking video and shooting photos with a GoPro and the whale dove down towards him. Lucky had to flatten himself against the sea floor and stay motionless so he didn’t get whacked! Though these are undoubtedly strong fish, avoiding their mouth and tail is more to keep the whale calm and not give it a reason to feel afraid, which would become dangerous for anyone near them. They were just so beautiful, I wanted to stay there forever and watch them glide around. I had to laugh at one point when I realized I was actually here, in the Philippines, sharing the enormous berth of the fierce ocean with whale sharks. It was all just unimaginable.
After the dive, we showered off and went for some local cuisine, which for me was rice, vegetables, and Cheetos. I tried a bit of the fish too! We had paid our driver to drive us for about an hour and a half to Kawasan Falls, in Badian, Cebu where there is a stunning waterfall high up in the mountains. At least, that was the original plan. Our van driver pulled over and told us no cars were allowed up the road so we would have to take motorcycles up the rest of the way to our destination. And by motorcycle, I don’t mean a bike with luggage carts on the side. I mean motorized dirt bikes we strapped our luggage to and hopped behind our respective drivers, praying everything would make it up the mountain! HA! What an experience to drive through a tropical parade, thrilled and yet slightly terrified that you may tip over at any moment and go tumbling backwards down the mountain, or that the bike will break the wooden bridges you cross along
the way and cause you and your expensive gadgets to be sent
flowing down the river…..HOLD ON TIGHT! We made it safely and admired the house sat beside the waterfall, the place we would call home for the night. The accommodations take me back to camp at Outdoor Lab, three wooden beds to share in the room, no TV, no cell service or WIFI, everything one could need to slip off the grid! Some potential problems I would need to overcome here, for some reason there are no toilet seat covers so it’s best just to not think about it…You “flush” by scooping water from a bucket into the toilet, only cold water for showers, oh and your shower is directly over the toilet so…remember that no toilet seat issue? Hmmm…should make for some hilarious moments! :)
Dinner was really nice sitting beside the waterfall and watching as the sun dropped behind the trees. We sipped on coconut water straight from the coconut and then had it chopped to eat the sweet jelly like substance in the center. Lucky told me coconut is the only fruit where every part of it can be used. The inside can be drank and the shell can be used to scrub floors. It’s no wonder coconut oil is becoming so popular in the states, there are so many benefits from them! It was so lovely to be immersed in the trees at night and see the violent tumble of the water over the cliff and down into the lake beneath the glowing moon. I felt like Jane of The Jungle!!!
Overall, I’ve seen the beauty of nature here, which is such a nice change from the chaos of China’s overpopulated cities. The people here are much more friendly, can speak English, and are smiling. It seems to be a happy life on the islands of the Philippines!!!
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