Dive-Monster Rhoody

The Youth for the Environment Summer (YES) Camp will be brought outside Baguio City for the second time in six years. Foundation University will host the said event on April 28-May 2 for the High School leg and May 4-8 for the College leg.

The YES Camp’s activities this year will revolve around the theme, ‘Climate change: Warming up the Youth for Global Environmental Activism.’

“We want to make more young people aware about climate change, global warming, and other significant environmental issues because we want the youth to take active participation in the protection and preservation of the environment,” said Joey Pelaez, the Executive Director of the Center for Students and Co-curricular Affairs.

Among the activities for the said camp are plenary and breakout sessions, field exposures, outdoor activities, environmental competitions, exhibits, and environmental film festivals.

“This will be the first time that we will bring participants out of the venue for field exposures,” he said.

The YES Camp has been spearheaded by the Department of Education since the summer of 2003 and was first held in Baguio City.

The article above is from the FU page.
I will try to get there next week and write a article about it for Dumaguete Info. Thanks to Hannah a member of the DI-Forum I am allowed to attend several activities there.  

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Dumaguete is a nice sized city with a big expat community. One of the activity centers is the Boulevard. There are some places where you can meet plenty of “long-noses”, some on vacation, some on a long term stay, some retired. If you are new in Dumaguete, the Boulevard is the right place to go for all kinds of informations. I try to make a (for sure not complete) list about the meeting-points.

Why Not? - Musicbox

Why Not? is one of the oldest institutions in Dumaguete. The Restaurant opens for Breakfast until late night. They also have a small Deli where you can find some good imported coldcuts. During day-time are many expats around to join for a drink and talk about several things. At night-time the WhyNot-Musicbox disco is a famous meeting-place for everybody. 4 Pool tables a karaoke bar and 2 bars to Hang out attract many locals, tourists and  Expats.

Anabel Jean

For whatever reasons I can’t warm up with that place, but it might be just me. The interieur is quite nice and the drink-prices are low. Several of my friends going there and like it a lot, so I guess it’s just me. I also couldn’t say that I had any bad expierience there. So give it a try …

Coco Amigos

Also a institution in Dumaguete. A great place to hang out and meet people. At the time I write this CA seems to attract many scandinavian guys. I used to hang out there a lot. The staff is nice (even could be a bit more attentive). The whole place is great to meet Expats in the afternoon. They also serve decent food with international, mexican and local cuisine. Live-acts are performing in the evening with different set-up’s.

Happy Freds

Probably the most “pub-like” location in Dumaguete. Terry (the owner) named the place after his son. When he is around the place rocks and you always drink more than you should. Here is a longer review about Happy Freds on DumagueteInfo I wrote last year.

Mikes Adventure Diveshop- Waterfront Cafe

Mikes place is also a great spot to start the night. Cold Beer and great snacks are always available. I count his mexican style food to the best of it’s kind in Dumaguete. Also his burgers are real beef. The people you meet there are not only diver. More and more discover that place as a starting-spot into the night.

I think thats a first overview about the Boulevards in Dumaguete. I am sure there are other places to go. If you have one just let me know, I will visit and write something up…

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I am usually not going to bed that early, so it was not really a surprise to wake up with the sun around 5:00 pm. In Dumaguete I would boil water for my coffee and start the computer to go through my daily routine. Here in Siquijor I went for a walk and enjoyed the fresh breeze from the sea. I heard birds singing I have never heard before and I spend an hour or so just sucking in the energy of the young day…

At 7:00am Kiwi Dive Resort slowly woke up, and I ordered my first cup of coffee and a ham cheese onion omelet. I started the computer and prepared for Jean, my French Rescue-Diver-Student. The knowledge reviews were done fast. That guy did not only copy the book, he brought in other ideas from his experience Tracking through Nepal and other remote places of the world. At 10:00 am we finished the first three chapters and were ready to set up our gear for the first confined water sessions.

The first exercises are a review of skills each diver should have anyway, including cramp removal, alternate air-source use and tired diver tow. I had Dive-Master-Candidates who were worse. The next skills are about assessment, evaluating the situation and approaching diver on the surface. The Victim could be tired or even panicking. Being the panic diver is one of my favorite role in a rescue course. I love the face –expression of my students when 100 KG plus Equipment grasping them holding them and climbing on top of them. Followed by some underwater practice we had enough time to practice already how to surface an unresponsive diver from the bottom and had a small excursion before we returned to the resort for a lunch.

After lunch the sky became cloudy and the waves higher, so we spend the afternoon in the open air classroom and finished all Knowledge Reviews. Jean decided to go through his Final exam, and he passed it with flying colors. He was actually my first Rescue student who had 100% in the final exam. By 5:00 pm we finished the working part of the day and Jean went for another 15 km run. I was lazy like always and checked my mails ordered my dinner and went for a shower.

When I came back from the room to the restaurant I have been told that there is a strike going on at the Dumaguete Pier and many tourists are stucked on Siquijor. I did not really mind and my Chicken Curry was yummy. Two SMB and back to my room. I forgot to mention that my room is on the top and you need to climb up 56 “steps of  death” … No wonder that there is not so much drinking going on at KIWI dive resort. These steps are sober a nightmare… (to be continued)

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Siquijor is known as the Island of “Witches”. The Island lays in the Bohol Sea in the Central Visayas. Siquijor can be reached either from Dumaguete (Negros Oriental) or Bohol (Tagbilaran) via Ferry. If you want to visit Siquijor from Cebu City, you can take a Ferry to Tagbilaran on Bohol and from there either to Larena or Siquijor proper. 

It is a very laid back Island and everything slows down a bit. The population of Siquijor is outstanding friendly. A walk at the beach even at night time is very safe.

The reason why I went to Siquijor was simply a call from Bruce, the Owner of Kiwi Dive Resort north of Larena. He had a guest who was interested in doing the PADI Rescue diver course. After agreeing to the conditions I packed my dive-gear, bought a ferry-ticket with Weesam Express (180 Peso) to Siquijor and left Dumaguete at 11:15 for a 45 minute trip to my destination. The water was flat like a mirror, so we arrived at the Pier in Larena in time at 12:00. It is my second stay at this resort, but the first time I work for Bruce.

A driver from Kiwi Dive Resort was already waiting for me. One the way to the resort we stopped for some shopping in Larena and what can I say, it was HOT. Have a look at the picture and the shadow of the umbrella… I am sure you could boil an egg on the street. I was scared that my slippers are melting away and I will burn my over-sensitive sole of my feet.
Looking up the street I recognized a crowd of at least 40 people in front of a shop. Being here long enough, I know there can’t be many reasons. There might have been somebody collapsed in the shop and everybody needs to see if the person will survive or the shop has a TV. In that case it was “only” a TV. The screen was smaller than the 17 inch monitor of my notebook and the first viewer on the street was in a distance of minimum 6 meters. The volume was off and the picture was black/white and blur. I guess they all standing there just to figure out why the TV is switched on at all???

Another 10 minute drive and we reached the Kiwi-Dive Resort. Raul showed me my small cottage on the top of the cliff. I had a look at it and found everything I need. Two beds, two towels, an electric fan, a toilet and a shower. Time to refresh and meet the staff.

Eden manages the resort in a professional friendly way. Raul and Eden are the only staff left I remember from my visit last year. This time Bruce the owner was there also and we introduced our self. A few minutes later he introduced me to Jean, the rescue student. A 52 year old Frenchman who looks like 40 runs 15 km every other day and works as a diplomat in Bangladesh. His English is perfect and I definitely never met a French guy that world-open and friendly. To be quite honest, I also tried to avoid them in my life before. He read already the whole rescue-manual and filled in the three out of five knowledge reviews. So all looks really cool for an easy course.

We spend the afternoon watching the PADI Rescue-Diver-Video and to know each other better. After Sunset it was time to order lunch. As mentioned before everything is slow in Siquijor. The staff of Kiwi asked me to order way ahead of time (minimum 1 hour) and tell them what time I wanna eat. So I ordered a Pumpkin Soup and Fish ‘n chips. The meals on the menu are simple but very good. There are always pepper salt and chili-powder on the table to spice the things up a little bit.

Two SMB later we all went to bed around 9:00 pm. There is not much more to do. Time to sleep after another quick refreshing shower even the “Sexy Shower-Helper” I was asking for was not there… When I lay on my bed I found out that I basically sleep on the plywood. The 5 cm foam just gave up under my weight… But I was tired and it definitely was time to sleep. So no problem… (to be continued)

You find also more about Siquijor Island on my other Diving Page about the Philippines

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