An Abso-freaking-lutely Fabulous Dive Trip in Cebu

Last Friday, November 30, was a national holiday, so the past weekend was another long one for Filipinos. Rocio had informed Gines and I months ago that there was a dive trip to Cebu scheduled for this period, so we signed up quickly. We decided that come hell or high water, we were going.

As it turned out, the trip started out with a lot of stress. A last-minute curfew imposed by President Arroyo because of a failed coup attempt threw a monkey wrench into our plans. We ended up having to go to the airport much earlier, and we waited hours for our flight sitting or lying on the cold and rather dirty airport floor.

Anyway, all those negative vibes were shoved aside when we got to Cebu. The weather was perfect, the resort was comfortable (though they had atrociously expensive food), and the company was excellent.

It was a different diving experience for me. I had so much fun going deep at Cabilao Island, where we saw a school of barracudas. The walls of coral were simply majestic. It was very quiet and peaceful at those depths as well, and I felt then more than ever, how diving can be an experience bordering on the spiritual.

Me gaping in awe at the school of barracudas

On the boat ride back to the resort, we had a brief stopover at a sandbar which we christened "Happy Island". It was a really small place, but the white sand and clear waters had us all jumping about and gamboling like children.

Rocio, Gines, and I on Happy Island

Best attempt at doing a group jump on Happy Island

I seem to be at a loss for words in trying to describe what made that trip so special to me. I do have snapshots in my head of what happened there, a slideshow that I play when I try to remember what happened in Cebu. Tom leading our four-minute descent into the deep, Gines downing four tequila shots at a time, Rocio doing jumping poses on Happy Island, Greg digging into the bottomless "talaba", Travis striding into the water with twin tanks, the wall that seemed to stretch endlessly into the bottom of the sea.

I flew home to Manila more exhausted than I'd been in recent memory. I hardly had any sleep in those four days. But I realized there would be time to sleep and rest in Manila, so I lived those four days to the fullest. I stayed in the water for as long as I was allowed, I stayed awake as long as my body could endure, and I spent as much time with my friends as I possibly could.

Last weekend will undoubtedly be top-ranked among my happy thoughts.

Beautiful Baby Raffy

On November 12, Tintin and John (but mostly Tintin) gave birth to a gray-eyed, brown-haired boy, whom they named Raffy, short for Raphael Ignacio. I visited the proud parents and the brand-spanking-new baby while they were at St. Luke's, but I couldn't take a good look at Raffy because he was behind the glass at the nursery. I couldn't wait to take a closer look at him when he'd adjusted to living outside the comforting confines of Tintin's tummy. I can only imagine how stressful it was for him to deal with the world of noise, bright lights, and smells that he was jolted into.

Mama's birthday was on the 17th, so we celebrated it at Tintin and John's home since the new mother was still recovering from what I could only believe to be a highly traumatic experience (the childbirth, that is). Raffy was only five days old, and I realized I hadn't really been exposed to babies who are that young. Usually, I just visit new mothers at the hospital and view the infants at the nursery. Then, I would only get a chance to see the baby again when it was a few months old and deemed ready and old enough to be exposed to the rest of the world. It was an unusual and fascinating experience to see up close a baby who was practically fresh from his mother's womb.

I was entranced by Raffy. Ten tiny little fingers, ten dainty little toes. (The perfectly-formed finger and toenails were actually what really mesmerized me.) He still had the fine downy facial hair that babies are supposed to have when they're newborn. I wondered what he was thinking. Was he missing the silence of the uterus? Did having so many faces peering at him freak him out? Well, freaked out or not, I pointed my camera at him at clicked away. He probably thought I was a nuisance who was disturbing his nap, but he's too tiny to complain. Besides, he better get used to having paparazzi around. The new parents are bound to record every little thing he does, which of course, could only be magic.

New Friends, New Diving Memories



My friend Gines got certified as an open water diver in May, and he excitedly messaged me on Friendster to share the happy news. I was also very happy to have someone new to dive with, so we vowed to go diving when I got back to the Philippines.

This month, I spent two weekends with him at Outrigger Resort in Anilao. We went with the Divers' Network, which is a group of pretty cool people. I bumped into this group quite by accident. Chi and I went to a dive shop in Tomas Morato to have our equipment serviced, and we met the owner of the shop, Rocio Morato. I remembered Rocio's name from one of Gines' stories from the past. He had mentioned her as a friend of his who was also a diver. I told her that Gines was a friend of mine, and so a friendship was forged in an instant, through our common bond with him.

We immediately made and carried out dive plans. Both weekends were a lot of fun. Diving in itself has always been a very good experience for me. Hovering in the water, looking at schools of fish and gardens of coral; always feeling in awe of what I see and being thankful for the privilege of experiencing a totally different, almost alien world. Last Sunday, on the trip back to the resort after a dive, six or so dolphins passed right in front of our boat. We stopped and looked at them jump for air three more times. I couldn't wipe the smile off my face after that. It just seemed like magic to me.

My new friends are a happy bunch and really a joy to be around. They are the perfect company to have if you just want to kick back, talk about nothing in particular, eat, and most of all, LAUGH (maniacally, at times). I am so glad to have met Rocio, her sister Melissa and Meling's husband Travis, Ronette, Greg, and Aris. I can sense that these are people to form lasting ties with.

It has been also been great to meet new people to dive with; people who share my appreciation for marine life, for the high that comes from being underwater. I had long associated diving with Caye, since I met him on my first open water dive, and he had been my dive buddy until I left for the US. Meeting new friends and having new dive buddies have been immensely therapeutic for me. My new friends remind me that there are so many more new memories to be made, and with each dive that I make with them, the past becomes just a little more distant, loses a little of its mystique, and becomes simply that... my past.

Facebook hits Manila

I have been unable to log on to facebook for the past couple of hours, and I suspect that it's because Filipinos have been using it like crazy and caused facebook's server to crash.

Facebook used to be available only to students with .edu email addresses, but late last year, it opened up so that anyone with any email address could join. I remember how facebook groups cropped up, demanding that it continue to be available only to students. There was no stopping facebook though, and facebook vowed to take over the world. I don't know about that part, but it sure has sucked Manila into its vortex.

During the past three months, I noticed that the facebook craze has caught on among many of my friends. It has caused massive addiction, much more than that caused by Friendster when that became popular about four years ago. Its applications and interactivity have caused my friend Yvette to state her facebook status as "Yvette is the latest resident of the facebook rehab center". Many other friends are throwing sheep at each other, giving out mardi gras beads, leis, and oktoberfest beers to people on their list of friends.

Facebook is really addicting, and I myself have spent many hours poking people, writing on their walls, winking at, sending drinks to, or hugging them online. The stalker in me (and I'm sure in other people) is given free rein in this social networking site. I have various accounts in other networks, but I do like facebook best. I think it's been a hit with Filipinos because we are such social creatures, and it gives us a chance to do online (in various creative ways), what we sometimes do not have time to do offline. Touch base with our friends, give them drinks, and spend office hours interacting with them.

Now, if only the server were up again...

The Secret to Happiness

I was visiting my very pregnant sister-in-law Tintin this afternoon, and I was feeling a little blue. So I told her I was going to the friendly neighborhood store to buy some chips and diet coke in hopes of improving my mood. She said she was feeling down as well, and asked me if I wanted to have some pizza instead. I thought that the combined effects of chips, diet coke, and pizza might be enough to make us feel better, so I still went off to the store, while she ordered garlic and cheese pizza from Shakey's (our favorite) for delivery.

We attacked the chips as soon as I got back, and chatted about our respective reasons for having the blues. After a while (meaning three bags of chips later), we noticed that the pizza had still not been delivered. Shakey's has a 45-minute delivery guarantee, and it had already been 47 minutes since Tintin ordered, according to her watch. After a few more minutes, the pizza guy arrived. Tintin pointed out that 50 minutes had passed since she called in the order, and so the guy said the pizza was free. Our disposition immediately improved, due to the MSG from the chips, the caffeine and artificial sweetener from the coke, and most importantly, the FREE PIZZA from Shakey's.

The secret to happiness is no big mystery after all.

Desperate Overkill

As I mentioned in my previous entry, Pinoys have gotten very agitated about a certain scene in Desperate Housewives. Apparently though, some of the reactions are now well in the realm of the ridiculous. I heard about the demands that some Filipinos are putting forth to ABC, and I agree that they are somewhat (and I say that ironically) of an overreaction. I mean, boycotting Disneyworld? There's also a demand to issue an apology in the next three episodes. I think sobriety is called for here. While it was important to make ABC realize that what they did was wrong, it would also be unfortunate if the whole issue ends up becoming trivialized because of the ridiculousness of our reactions as Filipinos.

"Desperate Housewives" gets Filipinos really angry

It's been just a short while since Desperate Housewives aired their season premiere (just a little over 24 hours ago, if I got my facts straight), but already, thousands of Filipinos are up in arms against the show; Teri Hatcher in particular. Her character, Susan, is at the hospital, and she was told by her gynecologist that she might be hitting menopause. To this, she replied "Can I check your diplomas? I just want to make sure they're not from some med school in the Philippines."

There is a petition to express concern, disgust, or disappointment to ABC, the station that airs this show, at http://www.petitiononline.com/FilABC
People are also encouraged to email them directly at abc7@abc.com. I've already done both. It's no sweat off my back, and really, that line was quite insulting. Everyone involved in the show (particularly the Executive Producer) should answer for their actions.

Here's the clip that has offended so many. Bring out your inner activist and get involved in the cause. Some might find it petty, but frankly, I like anything that gets the goat of Pinoys and encourages some form of mass action from normally apathetic people (Like that Malu Fernandez controversy a few months ago).