Dive-Monster Rhoody

Big Parties, Fiestas, Fireworks and Parades are an important part of the lifestyle in the Philippines. It always seems that the whole City meets on the streets and everybody invites on top all friends and relatives from the other 7106 remaining Islands.

Dumaguete is famous for the big parades during Kabulakan Festival or Buglasan. Less famous but in my opinion with more spirit and feeling are the small Fiestas in each Barangay. I was invited in a rather basic (not to say poor) Barangay to celebrate Santa Cruzan with them. I was the only “long-nose” there and some looked at me like I have 2 heads and 3 arms. I am usually a quite tough guy, but seeing the love and pride in the preparation and celebration of the Fiesta and the Parade was touching. I could not decide to be happy or to start crying. Actually I had to sweep some tears out of my eyes before I smiled and enjoyed it even more than the big festivals. All the people were in their “Sunday-church” outfit and the girls and women participating in the parade, rented beautiful gowns. It was a kind of strange picture to see them walking proud and smiling through some dirty back-roads of the Barangay.

When I came back home I looked at the pictures I took and went into a very sentimental mood. Many thoughts are running through my mind as I write this article. An experience like that brings me back with my feet on the ground and make me thinking of the way we “exist” next to each other here in that small town. I know many Expats and foreigners here in the Philippines who lost the view for reality. Nothing bad in general, but go out of my way and don’t bother me with your complaints. …Bad internet…. Lazy Philippinos… No coke Light… brownout… and many many more things everybody can listen to.

Serious if you guys only complain …

 …go back where you come from!!!

… Or maybe they can’t as they are looser in their own country and in life. Where else can you be a 55+ year old ugly unhealthy alcoholic, but still have a loving and caring 25 year old beautiful woman with you. (I am also alcoholic, fat, ugly and unhealthy, but at least only 37… hehe). Watching and listening to those guys make me vomit.

But there are exceptions too… Mike Feeney from the Adventure Diveshop in Dumaguete buys for the Peanut-Kids at the Boulevard their school-supply like notebooks, pencils and helps the school on Apo Island. Some Bar-owners in Angeles City organizing charity events to support local hospitals, orphanages and much more. Some don’t forget where they are and try to give something back to this lovely country and the people here, who provide the surrounding for us to be here.

I love the Philippines, the country, the diving, the people. I want to live with the people of this country, participate in their lifestyle, laugh with them and try to give something back, even it is just a fraction of the love and joy I received here in the Philippines….

Amen for today, promise my next article will be funny, insulting and/or about diving again…

Rhoody

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Balinsasayaw Twin Lakes

The Balinsasayaw twin lake is one of the nature spots that has a sister lake on the other side of the mountain that would take you for about 30 minutes trek passing by a forest. Visitors can camp nearby both lakes…boating and fishing is allowed.

The two inland bodies of water, Lakes Balinsasayaw and Danao, are surrounded by lush tropical forests, with dense canopies, cool and refreshing air, crystal clear mineral waters with brushes and grasses in all hues of green.

The lakes are separated by a narrow ridge with no visible outlets to the sea. Biodiversity in the area is known to be one of the richest in the Philippines.

Getting to the Twin Lakes is easy enough, taking the Negros Oriental North National Highway through Sibulan, you turn off at a clearly marked path going up to Mt. Talinis.

Going up the path is a steep climb, with grades of 40 degrees or more in some sections. Newly-paved roads alternate with dirt paths. The more adventurous locals do take a motorcycle known as a “habal-habal”.  On the other hand, going up with a mountain bike is a very tempting prospect as some people do.

Rough riding notwithstanding, the trip up the mountain is breathtaking. On either side of the road are deep valleys covered with dense forest greenery. It does go a fair bit up, about 1500 meters above sea level at the highest point of the trip.

The Twin Lakes are a bit lower down, around 1,047 meters above sea level.

Lake Balinsasayaw is small as far as lakes go, but it still boasts of a respectable 76-hectare surface and an impressive depth of 150 meters. The waters are serene and surrounded on all sides by mountains and hills.

Mabinay Odloman Cave
Mabinay can be found in the second district of the province of Negros Oriental in the Central Visayan Region of the Philippines.

Mabinay is an upland municipality located 87 kilometers north of Dumaguete City, near the boundary of Negros Oriental and Occidental. It has some of the best cave systems in the country. There are a hundred or more caves in this town, 45 of which are explored. Sixty percent of these have subterranean rivers.

The Odloman cave also considered the sixth deepest cave. The Cave System has a length of 8870 meters and vertical range of 82 meters. The cave was explored by the Dutch, Belgian and Philippine Caving expedition in 1989.  It has five entrances that have been connected and the cave system comprises a mix of large and small galleries with some active stream way.

The largest cave Odloman is the biggest in the Philippines, but you need climbing gear, life jackets, an inflatable raft, and experienced local cave guide to explore it.

Dolphin and Whale Watching
A great one day or even overnight trip out of Dumaguete is Bais, Bais is a small city around 45 kilometers north of Dumaguete. It takes around 1 hour to get there.
Bais City is well known for its proximity to the protected marine sanctuary, the Tañon Strait. From the Capiñahan Wharf in the South Bay, the boat heads out to the Bais Bay and into the Tañon Strait where the dolphins frolic in the water, and the whales emerge from the deep. It is a fascinating to experience and behold these sea creatures up close. Other activities include swimming, sunbathing, snorkeling and scuba diving in the nearby reefs.
Dolphin and Whale Watching is fast becoming a national attraction as well. It has gained popularity among travelers both local and foreign because of its appealing combination of activities.
Visits are ideal between May and September.

Apo Island
Apo Island is located just off the southeastern tip of the island of Negros, 30 km south of the Negros Oriental Capitol of Dumaguete.
The island is only 3 km in diameter and 120 m at it’s highest point, where a light house stands. There is a white stone beach, and an unusually vibrant coral reef, which has been protected as a fish sanctuary since 1982 offering extraordinary diving and snorkeling.
The other parts of Apo Island have rocky beaches which are a resource for all kinds of large fish species. There is a hiking trail to the lighthouse on the top of the island where you can see a variety of fruit trees. There is no motorized traffic like cars or motorbikes found on the Island.
APO is an outstanding place for those looking to dive or snorkel.  However, it is probably not for those looking for night life and bars.  Apo is more of an experience to be lived rather than a destination to be checked off a list of places to go.  Here you can learn to get along with a simplified life and maybe realize how much you waste at home.
We live in harmony with the ocean, and do not destroy it.  Therefore, you will see a rich world of underwater species.
They do offer the entertainments of clear starlit nights with no surface lights to diminish the brilliance, and a pleasant restaurant to sit in and enjoy a beer with your friends.  They do have children who play dodge ball and tag each evening on the beach.
Do not feel pity for the APO community. It has something you may be missing in your home country, an intact natural community life with happy friendly people.

Balanan Lake
The 5th day of the 5th month of the 25th year of the 20th Century seemed like an ordinary day in the small town of Siaton , Negros Oriental. But, at exactly 5 o’clock p.m. of that day, dogs started howling, horses and caged birds became restless as if wanting to hastily escape. Their sixth sense was telling them that something unusual was about to happen.
Suddenly, right after an eerie silence, a strong earthquake registering 6.8 on the Richter Scale shook the town. It was followed by a frightening, thunderous sound which turned out to be a massive landslide felling centuries-old trees and house-sized boulders on both sides of the Balanan and Nasig-id ridges. That instant, the walls of the Roman Catholic Church of Siaton also collapsed. The landslide created a natural dam, now aptly called Sampong (meaning “to close”) across the Balanan River, causing the water to rise and create what is now called the Balanan Lake.
Lake Balanan is a freshwater lake found deep in the mountains of Barangay Sandulot in Siaton , a municipality in the southern portion of Negros Oriental province. The lake is bounded by mountain ranges and fed by three streams, the Lamarao Creek in the northeast, the Balanan creek in the middle and the Nasig-id in the northwestern end.

Silliman Hall
Silliman Hall is the first and oldest building on campus. It was built in 1903 and is treasured as a historical landmark in Dumaguete City. The metal sheets used as ceiling were taken from a theater in New York City. Imported timber from the United States West Coast made the rest of the upper floors.
Today, it serves as a museum and a venue for university dinner conferences and the like.

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Food is a big thing in the Philippine Islands. During the last few years I tasted a lot of strange things. Many dishes were over delicious. I never found a list if local dishes and even the following is for sure not complete. It gives a rough overview about the local philippino street-cuisine.

The spelling is also different from region to region, my research is more based in the Visayas and Luzon. I will update the list from time to time when I get more stuff through my stomach. You can find this stuff at many local restaurants and street kitchens.

Dictionary of Philippine street food

Abnoy – unhatched incubated duck egg or bugok which is mixed with flour and water and cooked like pancakes
Adidas - chicken feet, marinated and grilled or cooked adobo style
Arroz caldo – rice porridge or congee cooked with chicken and kasubha; see also Lugaw
Atay – grilled chicken liver
Baga - pig’s or cow’s lungs grilled or deep-fried and served with barbeque condiments
Balat ng manok – see Chicken skin and Chicharon manok
Balun-balunan – grilled chicken gizzard
Balut – hard-boiled duck egg with fetus
Banana cue – deep-fried saba (banana) covered with caramelized brown sugar
Barbeque – marinated pork or chicken pieces grilled on skewers
Batchoy – miki noodle soup garnished with pork innards (liver, kidney and heart), chicharon (pork skin cracklings), chicken breast, vegetables and topped with a raw egg; origin traced to La Paz, Iloilo
Betamax – curdled chicken or pork blood, cubed and grilled
Bibingka – glutinous rice flour pancakes grilled with charcoal above and below in a special clay pot
Biko (also Bico) – glutinous rice cake with grated coconut topping
Binatog - boiled white corn kernels, sugar, grated coconut and milk
Bopis – minced pig’s heart and lungs sauteed with garlic and onion and seasoned with laurel, oregano, bell pepper and vinegar
Botsi – chicken esophagus, deep-fried or grilled
Calamares – deep-fried squid in batter
Calamay (also Kalamay) – glutinous rice cakes; varieties all over the country
Camote cue – deep-fried camote (sweet potato) covered with caramelized brown sugar
Carioca (also Karyoka, Karioka) – deep-fried glutinous rice flour cakes served on skewers
Cheese sticks – deep-fried cheese wrapped in lumpia (spring roll) wrapper
Chicharon baboy – pork skin cracklings, made from pork rind boiled and seasoned, sun-dried and deep-fried
Chicharon bituka – pork or chicken intestine boiled, seasoned and deep-fried
Chicharon bulaklak – pork omentum boiled, seasoned and deep-fried
Chicharon manok – chicken skin cracklings
Chicken balls – balls made with chicken meat, deep fried and served in skewers with a sweet, sour or spicy sauce
Chicken skin – chicken skin battered and deep fried
Cutchinta - see Kutsinta
Day-old chicks – literally day-old chicks deep-fried to a crisp, served with sauce or vinegar
Empanada (Batac) – pork longganiza, egg and grated green papaya in a rice flour shell, deep-fried and served with vinegar
Fishballs – balls made with fish meat, most often from pollock, deep fried and served in skewers with a sweet, sour or spicy sauce
Goto – rice porridge or congee cooked with beef tripe
Halo-halo – translated as “a mix of many things” or “an assortment,” it is a dessert topped with shaved ice that may contain sweetened saba (banana), camote, macapuno (young coconut), kaong, nata de coco, pinipig (rice crispies), gulaman (agar), sago (tapioca balls), brown and white beans, garbanzos, ube (purple yam), and leche flan (creme brulee), with milk and sugar
Helmet – grilled chicken head
Hepalog (also Toknonong) – hard-boiled duck eggs dipped in orange batter and deep-fried
Isaw – collective term for different types of grilled chicken and pork innards; varieties include isaw manok, isaw baboy, atay, goto, botsi, balun-balunan, and tenga ng baboy
Isaw baboy – grilled or deep-fried pork intestines on a skewer, served with sweet, sour or spicy sauce
Isaw manok (aslo IUD) – grilled or deep-fried chicken intestines on a skewer, served with sweet, sour or spicy sauce; also referred to as IUD because it resembles an intra-uterine device
Iskrambol (also Scrambol) – frostees; shaved ice, diced gulaman, sago and condensed milk
IUD - see Isaw manok
Kakanin – collective term for snacks made with kanin (rice), particularly malagkit (glutinous) rice; varieties include puto, kutsinta, calamay, sapin-sapin, suman, palitaw, biko or sinukmani, and espasol among many others
Kalamay – see Kalamay
Kamote cue – see Camote cue
Kikiam – the special ones are made of ground pork and vegetables wrapped in bean curd sheets, deep-fried and served with sweet, sour or spicy sauce; those in the street are seafood-based, usually made of fish meat and cuttlefish
Kudil – deep-fried pork skin
Kutsinta – steamed bahaw (boiled rice) with lye and brown sugar; has a gelatinous consistency
Kwek kwek – see Quek quek
Lomi – noodle soup made with thick fresh egg noodles or lomi
Langoniza – pork sausage grilled or fried on a skewer
Lugaw – rice porridge or congee; varieties include arroz caldo (with chicken and kasubha) and goto (with beef tripe)
Lumpia – spring rolls; varieties include lumpiang basa; lumpiang hubad – fresh spring rolls wothout the wrapper; lumpiang prito; lumpiang sariwa – fresh srping rolls; lumpiang shanghai; lumpiang ubod; and turon
Mais – boiled sweet corn seasoned with salt, butter or margarine
Mais con yelo – sweet corn, milk and sugar topped with shaved ice
Mami – noodle soup
Manggang hilaw – green mango served with bagoong (shrimp paste)
Mani – peanuts either boiled, roasted or deep-fried and seasoned with garlic and salt
Maruya – banana fritters
Nilupak – mashed kamoteng kahoy (cassava) or kamote (sweet potato) with brown sugar and served with butter or margarine
Palitaw – glutinous rice flour pancakes topped with grated young coconut, sugar and roasted sesame seeds
Panara – deep-fried crab and grated green papaya empanda sold in Pampanga during Christmas season
Pancit – noodles; varieties are batchoy (Iloilo) – see Batchoy; batil patung (Tuguegarao) – local noodles topped with hot dogs, chicharon, ground meat, fried egg, and vegetables; pancit bihon; pancit canton – a kind of pancit guisado flavored with ginger and soy sauce; pancit guisado, pancit habhab (Lucban) – sautéed miki noodles served on and eaten straight from banana leaf sans utensils; pancit lomi – see Lomi; pansit luglog (Pampanga and Tagalog Region) – it has a distinct orange shrimp-achuete sauce and is topped with chicharon, tinapa, wansoy and shrimp; pancit malabon (Malabon) – made with thick rice noodles tossed in shrimp-achuete oil topped with shelled oysters, squid rings, suaje or hipong puti and wansoy; pancit molo (Iloilo) – clear chicken broth with wonton, garlic and crushed chorizo; pancit palabok; pancit puti (Manila); and pancit sotanghon among many others
Pandesal (also Pan de sal) – breakfast roll; rounded bread
Pares – translated as “pair,” means the pairing of rice with beef; beef pares is characterized by very tender meat, usually with a lot of litid (ligaments)
Penoy – hard-boiled duck egg without fetus
Proven – hard portion of chicken entrails that is either marinated and grilled, battered and fried or cooked adobo style
Pusit – squid grilled on skewer
Puto – steamed rice cake
Puto bumbong – purple glutinous rice snack cooked in a special steamer
Quikiam – see Kikiam
Quek quek (also Toknanay) – hard boiled chicken eggs dipped in orange batter and deep-fried; also used for quail eggs but some say the correct term for the quail egg version is tokneneng; the balut version is sometimes referred to as hepalog
Sapin-sapin – layered glutinous rice and coconut milk cake usually topped with grated coconut and latik (residue from coconut oil extraction); different flavor per layer such as ube (purple yam), macapuno (young coconut), kutsinta and langka (jackfruit)
Scrambol – see Iskrambol
Sinukmani – see Biko
Siomai – steamed pork dumplings
Siopao – steamed pork buns
Sisig – roasted pig’s head, chicken liver, onions and chili, chopped and flavored with calamansi served on a hot metal plate
Sorbetes (also Dirty ice cream) – street ice cream made with local fruits and ingredients; common flavors include ube (purple yam), mango, avocado, queso (cheese), chocolate, langka (jackfruit), buko or macapuno (coconut); strawberry is common in Baguio City
Squid balls – balls made with squid or cuttlefish meat, deep fried and served in skewers with a sweet, sour or spicy sauce
Suman - glutinous rice snack steamed in banana or coconut leaves; varieties include binagol (Leyte) made with glutinous rice, gabi (taro), coconut milk and chocolate; budbod sa kabog (Tanjay, Negros Oriental) which uses millet instead of glutinous rice; Taho – bean curd snack topped with arnibal (liquefied raw sugar similar to molasses) and sago (tapioca balls)
Tenga ng baboy (also Walkman) – marinated pig’s ears grilled on skewers; see also Kudil
Toknanay – see Quek quek
Tokneneng – hard boiled quail eggs dipped in orange batter and deep-fried; also called kwek kwek by others
Toknonong – see Hepalog
Tupig (also Itemtem) – glutinous rice, grated mature coconut, coconut milk and molasses rolled in banana leaves and grilled; varieties in Pangasinan, Ilocos Norte (Batac) and Isabela
Turon – saba (banana) with with sugar and sometimes langka (jackfruit) wrapped in lumpia (spring roll) wrapper and deep-fried
Walkman – see Tenga ng Baboy

enjoy your meal

Rhoody
 

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I just decided to make another category here on dive-monster.

Many things going through my head where I wanna talk about but they don’t fit in any of the existing ones. There are quite personal thoughts and I guess a blog is the diary of the 21st century. Like in some of my other reports before I will insult, laugh and cry and put my salty fingers into fresh wounds
…  so if you are sensible, just stop reading exactly here !!!

My life changed a lot the last few years but the biggest change was about one year ago when one of my course-directors and bosses at the dive-shop I was working  was not man enough to tell me that I am fired. Kim a one of the rare real friends took little Rhoody by his hand and told him: Man, why don’t you do the same I do….

Hey, great Idea – I thought by myself- and started beer drinking and mongering around in many regions of the Philippines. After a while Kim told me…. Rhoody not that, why you don’t start a webpage, I help you to get on your feet and show you how to earn your cost of living with that. 

OK-ok, sounds like work but give it a try… as I am not under financial pressure; I started a bit slow but after a 2 days or so I had my first Dollar earned. Yeah only a dollar, but it showed me that it is possible. Kim told me some secrets and helped me with ALL stupid questions I had and still have.

Now my first year of a new existence is done and there were many up’s and downs. One great thing of my life is that I am still diving a lot but I am not a slave at a Dive-Mc Donalds in Dauin. I am now diving up and down the beach, have bookings on Siquijor and help Mike at his Adventure-Diveshop. Next to all of that I am not sitting in a wanna-be-the-best dive-center and waste my life.

I can go out meet great people and know that exactly at this point I earn the money I spend on a good meal somewhere in Dumaguete.

I pissed more people off than I did in my 6 years before in the Philippines but I also met more great guys and friends. At this point I need to thank a couple of people without them I would never be at that stage I am now.

First of all Kim and Tom who showed me that things are possible (in many ways),

 my little little one and her mother (couldn’t do anything without the love, energy and the support you 2 give to me).

Mike and Bruce (who are responsible that I still dive for free AND have some cold beer)

My good friend, The “Fat Austrian” (who ensures with his monster-portions that I don’t get too skinny)

All the lovely people here in the country who make me feel welcome, who make me smile, who make me happy… I am proud to be in your wonderful place as a guest…

Enough tears…. My reputation is to be a bad guy… do I wanna be one ????  yeah, 100% …. good guys are boring and go to heaven… bad guys  go everywhere…

Just saw on some boards that guys asking for some advice…. and insults…. stay tuned, I am on the way

Rhoody

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I know that talking about common sense in the PI is a tough topic as I would consider that it something that does just not exist. During the last seven years I am living in this wonderful country I am daily confronted with that problem. I need to say “thank you” to one of my friends at Asia Divers in Puerto Galera who gave me a very wise advice:

“Rhoody, never ask more than 1 “Why-question” per day and you’ll be happy here”.

I try to stick to that advice and as I usually stand up at 6:00 am my one “Why-question” is used latest at 6:30. Those include things like:

Why can’t she replace the empty toilet-paper roll (same problem since over 4 years)?

Why are ALL lights on (I know it’s my money, what pays the electric bill)?

Why does the radio run on max-volume (and not only ours, all the neighbor ones)?

Why are people shouting into a microphone and think they can sing?

Why can you drive your bike completely drunk, but pay penalty when wearing slippers?

Why me, why now why here?

The answer to the last question is simple… Because I love it here !!! I love the challenge of each single day, I love the diving here, I love the life-style.

All this why-questions are teaching me things for my life every day. One of that is that many things we “long-noses” think are important are NOT. At least not for the people here… As long there is some rice on the plate and some “load” on the phone they are happy. The whole day (and night) can be “wasted” with “falling in line”.  

When visiting Dumaguete it is fun to go foe example to BPI-Bank and just watch the scenario for withdrawing money. There are three rows of chairs (maybe 15 in a row). So if the first person gets served at one of the counters, the 44 remaining people on the chairs stand up and move exactly one seat further. It is like a snake moving slowly towards the counter. Or should I say like Lemmings? Don’t ask “Why they don’t use a number system…” It is like it is, like it always has been, like it will be in the future..

If you wanna life here AND enjoy your life, just accept it, even better, become a part of it. If not you might end up like quite some expats here, sitting in their “Expat-Circle” and complaining the whole day “Why” things are not like back home…

Cheers

Rhoody

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