Dive-Monster Rhoody

It has been three years now that the Waterfront Café served me with cold beer and great food; that I met my divers there and went to Apo Island or Dauin; that I was teaching diving academic or just met some guys in the evening as a meeting and starting-point into the (pretty limited though) nightlife of Dumaguete.

Well, the era came yesterday after three years to an end and the Waterfront Café at the Boulevard in Dumaguete closed its doors around midnight for the very last time. It has been a kind of strange situation, sitting there with my two girls, looking at all the packed-up and ready to move stuff, looking at Mike (the owner) who wasn’t in his sunny boy mood. All in all the atmosphere was a kind of down and the Pizza Mike ordered couldn’t make up for that…

It is actually not that bad as it sounds, as the Waterfront Café just moves to Dauin and continue it operation with the old staff at Mikes Beach Resort there.

What will happen to the place many people patronized in the last year?

The solution is not so bad; my fat Austrian friend Guenther from Casablanca takes over and will open a kind of Restobar in about two-three weeks. The new place will have the name Bogarts and has a slightly different concept, compared to the Waterfront Café. Bogarts will open early morning to serve breakfast to guests. So the regulars of the Waterfront Café won’t need to change location. Oven fresh bread will be baked right there for those who are just tired of the tasteless local thingies…

During the day Bogarts will offer Snacks and easy lunch dishes like Sandwiches some Pasta or Burgers also for Takeout.  In the evening the same dishes are available and the Restobar transfers in a kind of Pub where you get your cold beverages, having some snacks, listen to music and watch some Videos on the LCD screen.

There will still be a counter for the Adventure Diveshop where divers can  get information and book their dives in Apo Island and Dauin

Anyway, all the best for both, Mike and Guenther and Bye Bye  Waterfront Café and Welcome to Dumaguete “Bogarts”

cheers

Rhoody

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I was thinking about posting that Video of a cave dive, as it has nothing to do with the Philippines. Than I remembered my friend in Puerto Galera Dave Ross, who runs Tech Asia and the fire in his eyes when he spoke about that kind of stuff … in his case more wreck diving and the shiny eyes were not from the Beer in the Point bar…

Matt Reed is also one of the highest qualified Technical Diving instructors in the Philippines, now working out of Dumaguete, but you can dive with him all over the Philippines.

Matt explored some of the flooded caves in Mabinay, what was as of my knowledge the first exploration there and is ready to do more.

Cave-diving is safe if the diver follows the rules. Of course it is an overhead environment and the risk is higher than gliding on top of the Coral gardens in Dauin. You need the proper training, equipment, health and skills …

for all who have no clue what I am talking about, take your headphones and 8 minutes to watch the following amazing video about cave diving in mexico…

I hope you liked

Rhoody

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There are quite some things in life people just should not do. I am always the guy testing my limits and I discovered another NONO.

I was in Subic with Mike my Typhoon diver and my good friend Kim Beermonster. Those who read my blog frequently heard about the Beermonsters abilities to drink whole Islands dry. After a wonderful day and an awesome dive with dolphins and a false killerwhale, we left our Hotel in Subic to go out for dinner and a “small” barhop.

As I made a wrong comment during the day somewhen, I saw in the mean smile of the Beermonster that he was on a mission to destroy me and make me forget my mother language and to sound Danish in the final stages.

It all started quite well with a dinner at Blue Rock Resort. After that we hit the bars along the road. The beginning of the end came when we were invited by some bar manager to have a couple of shooters. I can drink tons of beer, but one shooter just kicks me out off my shoes.

I remember the second shooter some when at 1 am in the morning was a black Sambuca… not that I did it like the taste, but I felt my vision narrowing on the spot after drinking it.

It was like in a old movie theater at the end of the movie when the big curtain is closing slowly. The only difference was that in my case the lights were switched off after closing the curtain. Witnesses told me that I sneaked out around 2 am and headed towards my Hotel.

The next thing I remember was waking up in my room. I did a body-check to find out happily that no major outer damage was done. I ignored the headache and went for a late breakfast around 12:30pm.

Around 1pm the Beermonster came into the restaurant. Somehow he still had the same mean grin on his face I remembered from 15 hours ago… In his hands a bottle of SMB…

Hey, wait a minute the Beermonster does not drink SMB, he drinks that nasty rice-beer SML.

He placed the SMB in front of my Hang-over-nose and explained me that I left a full open SMB on the table when sneaking out. According to his law this can’t happened and he decided that the SMB will follow me wherever I go until I drink it.

So here I sit now… headache, hang-over, with a lukewarm 12 hour open SMB in front and a nasty grinning Beermonster next to me. I try to negotiate and find another solution but after about starring 20 minutes at the bubble-less yellow liquid I saw no other way out than pouring it down…  the rest is history…

Bottom-line: Lesson learned… don’t go out with the Beermonster if you can’t follow the rules…

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Last Friday I was helping out with the soundsystem in Edelweiss for the Elvis show. (A few pictures here: Elvis in Dumaguete) After he ended his show I heard a band playing at the neighborhood in a  Outdoor Restobar Disco kinda thingy. When coming closer I heard they played some CCR stuff. The place is called Necy’s Restobar Dumaguete.

We went in and like many times I was the only foreigner in a local place. Also as always I was very heartly welcomed by the guests. This evening was the first time a Band played there at Necys Restobar and there was an entrance fee of 75 Peso per person. The 75 Peso were including a drink (in my case San Miguel Pilsen) and a small snack. We decided to take some BBQ-Sticks. Can’t complain about that for 75 Peso.

The owner came each few minutes and thanked us for being there but it was so friendly and never annoying. I had 2 more beer and a good time. The Band continued with some Santana Stuff and Rock ‘n Roll standards. After they finished I talked with them and they told me it’s the first time they played together here in Necys.

I will have another look during daytime to make some pictures of the place and most likely drop in there next Friday to see them playing a full set.

So if you are in Dumaguete and wanna see a nice place with some great locals and good music have a look at Necy’s Restobar. The place is located across Hypermart on the road to Valencia

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At around 1 pm I arrived at the house of Kim and Tom. House might be a bit of an understatement, it is a huge lot with a pretty house and a nice pool. I know their old castle, but  this one is really topping it. Spacious open with big pool nice garden , just hard to describe. We were sitting outside at the bar next to the pool and enjoyed a cold ice tea while talking a bit about the next days.
This  evening we will go to Roadhouse for a charity event for the Bahay Bata Center in Angels City where Tom will be the MV. A plate of Kim’s Potato Salad and some meatballs were perfect as I was a bit hungry. After the snack I went for a nap as I will face a loooong night.

We go there around 5:30 pm and paid the 1000 peso entrance. The fee gives free food and drinks until midnight.  The event started very slow but picked up around 10:00 pm. Several raffles and auctions where on the schedule and some of the highlights were the shaving of Santas beard. Santa is a well known celebrity in Angeles and so many people want to see his beard fall. I met plenty of mates to have a beer with and visited the neighbor bar where Gordy (aka Drummer) is the Manager on duty that evening.

Roadhouse girls

We left Roadhouse around 1 am and went for a barhop. This was the last time I looked at my watch and felt a bit tired already. We headed to Birdcage, where Kim and Tom were the Sunday-managers before, had a quick beer and moved to . All the bars were surprisingly quiet for a Saturday night and all Hotels full. As we were a crowd of 7 it was no problem and we had a god time. Next stop was Vortex to meet Martin, another Manger and old mate of the guys in our crowd. At time I was seriously damaged already and ready to go home. Martin ordered some weird shooters and they just gave me the rest. I was done but they dragged me to Carousel where I had to more beer while bagging Kim to call the driver to bring me home.

I have not really a detailed memory when I came home, but I made it to the room and felt asleep in a split-second.

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…for whatever reason I sit again with Jenny at her bar and talking bad about anybody who comes into my mind…. hehe. But seriously, I like the place as it is very unique for the nightlife in Duamguete and is also run by  very unique person. Jenny and Gina invested quite some money into the renovation an created a nice atmosphere.

The prices are some of the lowest in Dumaguete and the food tasty. I was there now a couple of times and the guests are a great mixture. Whether some locals sitting shy in the dark with a Tanduay long-neck, Expats alone or in a group at the Bar, or couples having a bite to eat, everything usually comes together at one point of the time and the crowd talks drinks and laughs together.

Each weekend is usually a liveband scheduled. Coyotes opens in the morning until midnight and really hope that Gina and Jenny show a longer consistency than the owner before. We are in Dumaguete and things take a bit longer until they are known and run smoothly. I’ll be there this weekend and have a few drinks. This weekend are 2 bands one on Friday and one on Saturday. 

In the bar is also a Karaoke system which can run fairly hot if the crowd demands. The Disco is a bit different as the mirrors are on the Top what makes the dancing chicks looking better than in other places where they just stare at their feet.

For that reason I scheduled a appointment at Silliman Medical Center. They will replace my liver with a sponge.

Coyotes Bar can be found 2 km after Robinsons south direction in Banilad on the right side. Look for the green lights. More information about: Coyotes Bar, Disco and Restaurant in Dumaguete 

cheers in advanced

Rhoody

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