Week 25: Things to do before leaving the Philippines

February 22, 2009 - Filed under Drinks, Planning, Scuba Diving, Travel, Weekly Report

With a week left before we head to Thailand, we’ve attempted to mark off the last few random things remaining on our Philippines checklist…

#1. Try San Miguel Strong Ice

We’ve never seen anyone drinking it. Is it a cider? Nope, it turns out that it’s yet another pale pilsen. This time its ice filtered and packing a bit more of a punch. 6.3% alcohol, making it a close second to Red Horse Strong Beer.

San Miguel Strong Ice
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Posted by: Shim

A Guide to living short-term in the Philippines

February 21, 2009 - Filed under Planning

Ever thought about spending a couple of months in the Philippines, but weren’t sure where to start? We’ve teamed up with Location Independent to bring you a guide to living in Dumaguete, as a traveling freelancer, digital nomad, location independent professional, or whatever label you prefer.

The guide contains information on:

  • Visa Requirements
  • Transportation
  • Internet Access
  • Accommodation Recommendations
  • Alternative Office Spaces
  • and Online Resources

To find out more, or purchase a guide ($7) visit locationindependent.com

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Posted by: Shim

Foto Friday – Dauin Cathedral

February 20, 2009 - Filed under Foto Friday

I have nothing to say… but it’s Friday so here’s a photo…

Dauin Cathedral

Posted by: Kelly

Week 24: Another broken strobe light

February 17, 2009 - Filed under Scuba Diving, Underwater Photography, Weekly Report

The battery pack on my strobe light broke again. This is the second time it’s happened in the last 6 months and as you can probably imagine I’m less than impressed. It couldn’t have come at worse time either. We’re nearing the end of our stay here in the Philippines, and there isn’t enough time to get a replacement shipped before we leave so, it’ll have to wait till we get to Thailand. I’m really bummed as there were a couple of dive sites I wanted to return to, to capture a few last shots to remember them by.

Despite this, Mike and I did a couple of dives this week anyway. It’s still beautiful and I love it, but I kept wanting to take pictures of all the cute little critters. I think it’s definitely gonna take me a while to get used to diving without my camera. Hopefully I can figure out how to replace it once we get to Thailand, but until then here are the last of my underwater pictures.

mantis shrimp

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Posted by: Shim

Week 23: Umm… I thought this was the dry season!

February 9, 2009 - Filed under Weekly Report

We’ve mentioned before that we’ve been getting a lot of bad weather lately. It’s been raining off and on all week, but this weekend we definitely saw the worst of it. Saturday morning Raina and I decided to go into town for a massage. It had been raining all morning, but like I said, lately that’s been kind of the norm.

We took the El Dorado shuttle into Dumaguete, and headed for Nuat Thai. Mike and I had been there before, and although not the best massages we’ve ever had, better than a couple other places we’ve been since arriving in the Philippines. Unfortunately Raina ended up getting the short straw and had a less than enjoyable massage. In fact I think she described it as “borderline abusive”. Anyway, when we walked out an hour later, the rain was coming down harder than I’ve ever seen and puddles were starting to form in the streets. We considered taking a trike back instead of waiting for two hours for the shuttle, but reconsidered when we realized how wet we’d get. We had lunch at Why Not Bar, and watched, as the rain continued to fall and the water continued to rise.

Dumaguete flooding at Why Not
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Posted by: Kelly

Random Factoid: Cheese Rings are awesome…

February 4, 2009 - Filed under Eats, Random Factoid

cheese rings

…until you expose them to air. Much like people in speedos, too much exposure makes you nasty. Yet still cheesy.

Posted by: Shim

Week 22: Dinner Parties with Friends

February 3, 2009 - Filed under Drinks, Eats, Entertainment, Scuba Diving, Stuff to do, Weekly Report

It’s likely due to our limited time left in the Philippines that this week we attempted to be a little more social with a few of our local friends. We’ve been busy working and preparing for the next phase of our trip, but no excuses! Parties must be partied…

Early in the week we had Patrick from Dive Society over for a lasagna dinner accompanied by a few bottles of wine. He’s given his notice at the dive shop where he works as a dive instructor and will be becoming a nomadic yogi rambling through Bali in the near future. We hope to meet up again in Thailand in a couple months. Patrick is also an illustrator. Check out his portfolio site if you’ve got a minute.

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Posted by: Shim