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TWENTY
ONE We are having a really nice time here at Ocean 101. There are mostly surfers staying here from: Australia, Canada, New Zealand and Oregon. Except for Australia/NZ the Surfers coming from Canada and Oregon is pretty wierd. The food here at Ocean 101 is also great so anyone looking for a nice place to stay should consider it. The only drawback is the lack of a beach. This resort caters more to surfers and they are located directly in front of a bunch of great surf spots. They have small rooms for 300 ($6.00) pesos a night, Nice air fan for 600 ($12.00) and Air Con for 1,000 ($20.00) March 18 Saturday.....Today we went to what I think is the most incredibly beautiful place I have seen in the Philippines. It is called Daka Island. The beach is white and soft like Boracay's and the view of the lagoon is breathtaking with the most blue-torquise water you could ever imagine.The other side of the island faces the Pacific Ocean and it is also beautiful. White sand beach and coral rock. Found some of my nicer shells here.
Right off the island is one of the surf breaks Siargao is known for. This one is geared to beginners and is kind of cool as it runs parallel to Daka island and not perpendicular as most breaks do. Typically ridable during high tide it runs 3 - 5 feet.
Sunday and Monday were relatively quiet. On Monday Lynn spent the morining gettin a lawyer for the Siargao property purchase which appears to be going very well. She then caught up with me at around 2pm and we took a walk along the beach close to the lot we are close to buying. We collected some more shells and then headed back to Ocean 101 by the main road. After a few minutes, we passed a group of children who looked so happy and were having fun chasing grasshoppers around. I asked to take a picture and they readily complied. Glad they did as you can see what makes this country so special.
Tuesday March 21....we left Siargao at 6:00am this morning. First the fast pump boat to Surigao followed by a 3 1/2 hour bus trip to Buhtan and then a 8 hour bus trip from Buhtan to Davao. The first leg was great with a nice air con bus and large comfortable seats. However, the leg to Davao could not have been more uncomfortable. The thing of it is, I was laughing so hard most of the way that I hardly noticed what a lousy ride it was.
Picture that the distance between Buhtan and Davao is only 120 miles and took 8 hours. The bus was air con and that part was okay. The reason I was so distracted was because I was watching one of the funniest movies I have ever seen. It was called "The God's Must Be Crazy" I laughed so hard I was crying. If you haven't seen it yet and enjoy slapstick comedy as I do, go down to your local video store and rent it. After this movie was a tagalog movies starring an actor called Dolphy. Even though it was in Tagalog and fairly old, it was also very funny. All this together made the trip more than bearable and of course I had Lynn next to me looking at me with all my laughing as if I was nuts. We arrived in Davao around 9pm and I check into the Galleria Hotel located inext door to the San Pedro district of the city. This is considered the red light district but I find it very convenient and the hotel is very comfortable with a swimming pool inside, restaurant and wireless internet (I am writing this in my room connected to the internet) and many stores around. Rooms here run about 1,300 pesos a night ($25.00USD) Wednesday March 22...Today was a big day. This is the day I am to meet Joe, Lynn's son. I was probably as nervous as he was. Well the event finally came at the SM mall and at least for me turned out to be a real pleasure. He is a delightfu,l yet shy young man and very sweet, much like his mother. We had some lunch and then went to a toy store, his favorite kind of store. I like him very much.
Later at the mall I was appalled to see a small kiosk that was selling caricatures. You know, one of those places where you pose for your own portrait. Well this particular one also had a painting of Osama Bin Laden. I found it very distasteful but, I have to remember that there are many Muslims here in Davao. Nevertheless, if such a place existed in a US Mall, this kiosk would have been burned down within 30 seconds of opening.
2005
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