Typhoon Bopha, Pac Man, Coron and the end of the Philippines !!

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Days 86-88 (Sat 1^st – Mon 3^rdDec)



My first item of being on Coron was to ask for a room change to the cheapest on the menu. I managed to get this sorted no problems, the room being pretty much the same just not en suite but at half the price certainly favoured me.

Coron is a very small town. The national highway that runs through it can be walked in 10 minutes maximum. On Saturday I walked around the town, took in the port (a pier) the main streets and the public market. Here is only slightly bigger than El Nido but there is no beach without travelling out of Coron or island hopping.

There is a small hill/mountain overlooking the town called Mt Tapyas. I decided to go up to see the town from above. It is hard work going up, a mere 720 steps after which you definitely have jelly legs, especially in 30 degrees heat. The view however is superb, being able to look over Coron and all the nearby limestone islands and rocks. It’s similar to El Nido here just without the beach.

I ended up by getting quite drunk in the bar, thus Sunday was spent most of the day in bed with a hangover. The accommodation I am staying in is a resort on the end of a pier, which is a brilliant place and setting to be staying.

Monday I also pottered about a bit and once again went up Tapyas, this time later in the day for the sunset as it’s apparently one of the nicest in the Philippines. They are probably right, it is very nice setting over the hills and islands in the distance, very orange and red. I got chatting to an American called David on the way up and afterwards we went for a couple beers in the local. I had also sorted out diving for the following day to the WWII wrecks.



Day 89 (Tues 4^th Dec)



Today was supposed to be spent diving some WWII wrecks but the impending typhoon that was coming up stopped this from happening. Although we were not to be hit until tomorrow the coastguard would only let reef diving take place. Me and 2 Scottish chaps decided that we’d just snorkel some of the reefs and nearby lakes instead. We wanted to do the wrecks at the end of the day and you can reef dive pretty much anywhere so we didn’t dive.

The snorkelling was a brilliant day though. We went to 2 spots in the ocean to snorkel, both having a massively wide variety of tropical fish. As I’m new to this I am learning what these fish are, very slowly I must add. There was a school of around 40 squid at one point which were good to see. In between the 2 ocean spots we took in 2 lakes, Barracuda lake and Kayangan lake. There isn’t a lot in either of these and certainly no barracuda as the name would suggest. There are some pretty impressive rock formations under the water however, often resembling a cathedral in style. It’s a lot harder swimming in lakes due to having no salt in the water so I got very tired in there and at times struggled. After 2 spots we went to a nearby beach for lunch, which was prepared and served by the boat men. We got a huge tuna and some chicken adobo between 3 of us and nearly ate the entire fish. Possibly the nicest fish I’ve ever eaten, so fresh and tasty. There were only 3 of us on the trip and it was a good laugh. The 2 Scots were good company for the day and we had a good laugh whilst at sea and with a beer afterwards also.

With the approach of typhoon Bopha, I decided to spend the night in the bar getting quite sauced and planned to sleep it out. It is funny drinking here because the staff always seem amazed when I order more beer, they just don’t know the Manx tendency’s to drink lots.



Day 90 (Wed 5^th Dec)



Today the typhoon struck. After destroying many areas in southern Mindanao and across other parts of the Philippines we, In Coron, got the tail end of the storm. From the moment I woke up it was pretty breezy, getting more so as the morning went on. David had come down to my resort and we were to sit on the end of the pier restaurant watching the storm come and go. Around lunch time was the windiest it got, with some gusts very strong. We have been very lucky though. The only casualty here was the huge Christmas tree on the front which didn’t last long. A few huts seem to have lost their roofs and tarpaulin but apart from that Coron has been spared. The storm went further south than expected so it never at any point got too bad here. The death toll from further afield keeps going up as I write which is indeed very sad, as Filipino’s are the nicest set of people I’ve ever met.

In the afternoon as the storm died down a little I took a nap for a couple hours and then met David again for tea and a few beers. We also played quite a lot of foosball during the evening which after not playing it for a while was a great laugh. As I write the winds are still breezy here, with some strong gusts but the worst has definitely passed.



Days 91 – 94 (Thur 6^th – Sun 9^th Dec)



These 4 days can be summed up quite easily. My time was winding down in the Philippines and I’d pretty much done everything I wanted to do. There is a place or 2 I’d like to go but at a different time of year to swim with whale sharks etc, just not quite in season for that, so a trip there to see nothing would be a waste of money.

On the Thursday I flew back to Manila in the evening and headed back to the hostel I’d stayed at twice before. The following morning I took a walk round an area called Intramuros, which is a old walled city within the larger Manila metropolis. It’s quite a nice spot and on walking into a church casually crashed a wedding in the process. I don’t think I was noticed and soon left.

I pretty much lingered around the hostel the rest of Friday and Saturday, chatted to a few people and was able to help a couple people out as I’d been there before and knew how to get to a few places like the rice terraces which are tricky to work out. Being Saturday at night I watched footy as I would any Saturday. Also managed a haircut and a shave so don’t look so scruffy now. It was an interesting ordeal. I had been told every hairdresser in the Philippines is transsexual. So on waling in and being met by 3 such people I asked if they ‘do men?’ Not the best thing to say but it sort of went unnoticed. I then asked if ‘they cut men’s hair?’ Another silly question I think on reflection.

Sunday I got up early, had breakfast and headed to the huge Robinson’s Mall to go to the cinema at 10am as soon as the place opened. This was to watch the pay per view boxing from Las Vegas. As the main fight contained Manny Pacquiao who is a living legend and ‘national treasure,’ I wanted to watch it with loads of Filipino’s in the cinema.

It was full by 11am with the main fight not starting here until gone 1pm. The Philippines comes to a standstill when Manny fights. The streets were pretty empty on my way to the cinema. Considering how madly busy Manila is, it’s quite amazing to see it so quiet, but also nice.

The crowd in the cinema went mental any time Manny or the Filipino in the earlier fight landed a punch or looked aggressive. They did however also fall deathly silent when firstly Manny went down and then went he got sparked out. It was a cracking fight and the winning punch unbelievable. The place was a little subdued after that, but for me it picked up later on with a last minute Everton win and some skyping.



Day 95 (Mon 10^th Dec)



SO this was to be my last day in the Philippines, which in a way is sad. The people here are so nice and when you get away from the big cities it’s a lovely place to be. Filipino time can be a little annoying with nothing ever being early or on time, always late. But you do get used to that. I had to get a 2 hour bus to Angeles City, wait for 5 odd hours in a small airport before my 3 hours flight to Bangkok. The flight was made very easy by watching the new batman on my computer. I also decided as I was arriving at night I’d stay near the airport so checked into a hotel nearby, biggest room I’ve ever had an only 9 quid, which for airport accommodation I think is very cheap. My first feelings are that they are more security conscious on the roads here. My taxi actually had a seat belt which is the first I’d seen since Korea. Also even the small journey to the hotel made me feel like I’m going to enjoy this place J



I have had a couple thoughts about plane travel recently I want to share. Maybe someone can message me the answers.

Firstly why do the shutters on the windows need to be open for takeoff and landing?

Why do the lights come on or off depending on landing? Does it make a difference?

And why is it necessary to have seats fully upright? I want to know these answers but would feel a prat asking a stewardess.



Bye Bye Philippines !! Hello Thailand !!

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Comments

[Jay]

Your questions
Hi Dan, Thanks for visiting the Philippines. I felt I had to answer your questions, as I was asking myself the same each time I fly on a plane before I did some research. All the things they ask you to do during takeoff/landing are for safety, since this is the most critical stage of any flight. The windows should be open, so in the event of an emergency evacuation, passengers/crew can easily see and orient themselves of the location/terrain where they have landed. For a speedy evacuation, they ask you to keep your seats upright so as not to impede your exit. Lastly, they turn off the lights during night takeoff/landing so your eyes could immediately adjust in the dark so they don't have to in case of emergency.

[anonymous]

http://www.airspacemag.com/need-to-know/NEED-seatbacks.html