Blogs from Batangas, Philippines, Asia

Dive photographers are something of a rare breed. As you’ll discover if you ever give it a go yourself, it takes a certain degree of perverse perseverance. And in our modern world of instant gratification, perseverance is something of a dying trait. Truth is, once upon a time all photography was this hard. Back when it all began you forked out a fortune for all manner of unwieldy equipment with which to practice your art: cameras, tripods, film, flashlights, developers & darkrooms. All this to create hazy sepia images of wealthy repressed side-burned gentlemen who all looked like they'd previously placed some unwieldy equipment of their own up their nether regions. It seemed to take an age for folk to discover that foreign objects were not strictly de rigueur, and that photos looked much better if ... read more

ANILAO 2 THE STORM I settled into a routine…eat, dive, relax, eat again. The diving was easy and there was so much to see. The weather was foul; heavy winds and heavy rain. It just got worse and worse, but we are divers, right? It makes little difference underwater. So we got up, ate breakfast and went to the boat. Surface intervals were very cold. I was hungry for the sun. Then one of the staff told us there was a typhoon in Leyte and we were getting winds and rain because of it. On the way back to my room after lunch I glanced up at my bungalow and wondered if it might slide down the hill. Then I shook off the thought…don’t borrow trouble I told myself. The fifth night I woke to use ... read more

SOUTH PACIFIC - PHILIPPINES ANILAO My time in Puerto Galera was nearly over. On the last day I got in the pool with Bria. After lunch we joined Steve and went to the beach. There was quite an extensive shopping area and I purchased a couple of t-shirts and refrigerator magnets. Then we went to the water’s edge. I had parcels so Steve and I took turns watching our purchases and wallets and playing in the water. When we got to the hotel we discovered that the whole group was again invited to dinner at a special villa that the hotel rents. It was basically the same routines as the night before, but the food was good and the larger dive group made it more interesting. I did not stay for the karaoke. I packed and ... read more

This blog will be out of sequence. "Here I sit lonely hearted . . . . . ." to coin a childhood poem. 7,000 km from anyone I know with 6 people who can hardly string a complete sentence together in English between them. (all but one have disappeared on their daily routines anyway). There's no (reliable) internet, 1 viewable TV channel and that's in TAGALOG, it's raining so I can't go outside and one of the dogs has just walked into the bedroom and pissed on my sandals. This "holiday" has hit a new low point. Might go and pay that penny now . . . . . . Later in the day, I went to Sonya's Secret Pleasures at Sonya's Garden and had a Hot Stone Massage. . . . They heat some largeish ... read more

It seems bloggiong is going to be more difficult this tiome than last. Not a lot of Internet cafes where we are and the bloody ASUS tablet is hopeless running on 3G up here... read more