Archive for June, 2010
The Wrecks of Busuanga
By Tony on June 29, 2010 | 1 Comment »
For divers in the know, Busuanga Island is synonymous with world-class wreck diving. Often labeled the Truk Lagoon of the Philippines, the channels between Busuanga and Culion are home to a number of impressive wrecks from a Japanese supply fleet bombed in September, 1944.
Thomas and I started by diving the Kogyo Maru and the Tangat Wrecks together. The two ships are quite impressive dives with swim-throughs that ease newbies into the complexities and dangers of wreck diving.
Image by Olof Larsson
Kogyo Maru
The Kogyo Maru, a 129m (425ft) navy auxiliary supply ship, rests on its starboard side with coral-encrusted masts and superstructure extending out into the water. Within a mere 66 years, an unbelievably large garden of lettuce coral has developed along its exposed port surface hiding some enormous lionfish. The entire boat was teeming with life.
We descended along the deck through huge, swirling schools of fusiliers and batfish and entered into a cargo bay featuring a toppled bulldozer and a cement mixer lying in an incline of solidified cement bags. Moving through the ship’s cargo bays, we discovered construction supplies and beautiful, abstract formations which turned out to be » Continue reading this post »
Busuanga and Krystal Lodge
By Tony on June 27, 2010 | No Comments »
We’ve fled Manila and made our way to Coron Town on the remote island of Busuanga (even the name sounds great). As we mentioned in our posting on the Alma Jane, our new-found love of wreck diving made it clear that we were Busuanga bound.
In addition to the wrecks, mysterious nearby Coron Island and fantastic sea kayaking opportunities mean that we’ll dig our heels in for a while here.
As if that weren’t enough, we’ve found the coolest place to stay. Krystal Lodge has turned its back on the ubiquitous sterile cement boxes that mar most of Southeast Asia’s coasts and embraces the funky, eclectic vibe of traditional Filipino stilt architecture with some cool » Continue reading this post »
Street Spam
By Thomas on June 26, 2010 | 3 Comments »
What does Manila have in common with your email spam inbox? Two things: Viagra and Cialis. While walking through Malate and Ermita, two of Manila’s traveler-friendly neighborhoods, shifty-eyed men are constantly thrusting boxes of these pills into our faces.
At first, I was slightly offended – after all, I’m only 40 – do I look like I need Viagra? But when I talked to a 23-year-old English tourist who complained about the same thing, I realized it had nothing to do with age at all.
It’s really more of a testimony as to what’s going on in this part of town: ladyboys, whores, massage parlors, and skanky dive bars. The church and its propaganda posters are everywhere, but it appears that the only thing that seems to really concern Rome is not using birth control. I wish the guys would walk around handing out condoms to the street families.
Now that I’m done giving my opinion, just one quick question: Who is dumb enough to buy Viagra and Cialis from some skuzzy guy in the street?
One Family’s Story
By Thomas on June 24, 2010 | 5 Comments »
I’m currently working on a German-language article intended for publication back home on a homeless family in Manila. Because meeting this incredible family left such a huge impact on me, I wanted to briefly introduce Isabelle and Ronilo to our readers.
Writing about people living on the streets of Manila was an obvious storyline. Homelessness here is rampant. An estimated 20 percent of Manila’s population lives on sidewalks, under bridges or next to dumps. And as a tourist, you can’t really get away from street children and begging seniors. So, instead of looking the other way, I decided to do an interview with a homeless mother of 6 children.
I randomly picked a street where 20 or 30 people had made their home. At first, I was quite apprehensive. But then, holding my camera a little too tightly, I walked up to » Continue reading this post »
Big Religion
By Tony on June 23, 2010 | 1 Comment »
Don’t even get me started!
