It is time

I flew out of Taipei city on Monday November 7 and transfered in Hong Kong then on to Manila it was. I was met at the airport and spent two nights with Efren's family (Efren worked for the PNG mission in NY), saw some cool sights such as forts and parks, all dedicated to Razel, pretty much the Chiang Kai Shek of the Philippines, and was introduced to Filipino food, which is interesting and very sweet.

This is Efren's son and wife at the old city fortress.

On Wednesday morning i was in a minivan heading for Batangas, a port south of Manila, where i would get a catamaran style boat to Puerta Gallera. The drive was pretty non-event, except for a strange looking old man, probably a stroke victim (half paralysed) with an innocent looking young wife. The first of many random and disturbing matches between western men and local women. The boat ride was long, and i was bored. But when we finally arrived in Puerta Gallera i had no idea how to get to White Beach, and i was hungry. So i got a sandwich at an empty looking "cafe", and read through my 8-year-old borrowed-from-Paul Lonely Planet guidebook. After discovering i would have to get a tricycle, a contraption that looked too small for me to sit comfortably inside, with a low roof and frilly religious lace adorning the insides, attached to a putt-along motorbike, my mood sank and the sandwich didn't taste very good anymore.

A fellow called Midel saw me looking at his trike from inside the "cafe" and came in without an invitation. I thought "what the hey" and decided 120 pesos was ok. I needed to get somewhere i could put my bags down and hide the fact that i'd just arrived. Midel was friendly enough, i lied about pretty much everything he asked. My boyfriend was meeting me in a few days.. that kind of thing. I told him i was thinking of doing some diving though. (STUPID) He had a cousin in Puerta Gallera who could take me. After i checked into a not-so-beach-looking place, I said i might go later to meet him but i just wanted to relax. He offered to take me back, so i said to meet me again at 8pm.

At 6 o'clock there was a knock on my door. Guess who? Yes, Midel, though i was starting to think of him as Meddle. I'd just gotten back from wondering the quiet patch of beach and I hadn't eaten yet. So i thought maybe i could find some food in Puerta Gallera. This time Midel had driven a van, because it might rain. I just thought "wow" and asked how much it would cost me. He said we could deal with the price later. (For anyone planning to travel in the developing countries.. no one wants to be your friend!! They only want your mulah!! Always. Settle. First.)

I met with his cousin and organised a dive for the morning. Then Midel drove me to Sabang and said he would wait for me to take me back to White Beach. I fortunately went the wrong way.. the wrong way for most, who go there for the dancing-girl bars.. but the right way for me. I found a nice restaurant and ate and left without seeing the sleeze of the town. When we got back to the hotel Midel wanted US$100 for the trip. I told him he was dreaming!! went to reception and got a quote for the normal fare, paid him that and told him I would NEVER use him again, and that i'd made a complaint about him to the hotel, and that i would tell any travellers i met to stay away from him.

I felt so ill. I asked reception to put me in a different room because he knew where i was staying. I was scared and didn't sleep the whole night.

In the morning at breakfast, i asked the waitresses where i could dive, (had written off the cousin) and they pointed out a place three doors down. I was feeling bitter, and grimaced at the peddlers trying to sell me their necklaces. I had walked the whole beach the day before, but in the opposite direction so had never seen the dive shop. If only!! I could have avoided all the palava from the night before. I met one of the masters, Meldy, and she was excited to meet someone from Oz coz her boyfriend was a dive master in Cairns. She was cool, and had a lot to say about the diving around Puerta Gallera. I had to do a refresher course because i couldn't remember a thing about diving since i got my open water two years ago. She was good at explaining things and i felt safe and confident after our first dive not far from the beach. The coral was amazing, and there were tonnes of nemos!!

I hung around talking to her and the accountant Narine after we came back ashore. They were funny.

The next few days I dived and met other divers and on Saturday night we all went partying at the many bars along the beach. It used to be a quiet place, but it's really growing, and there are a lot of "bakla's" a.k.a Lady-boys, who work at the bars. They are feally funny, and dance sooo well! They were also eager to be photographed.

So everyone from the dive shop were friendly and knew how to have a good time. There were a lot of guys dancing around, and when it started to rain a little they all squeezed into the shelter where we just happened to be sitting. Narine was eager to dance with them...

On the left at the front (in the picture above) you can see Lysa. We were dive buddies for a few days, and still keep in touch. She's a really sweet girl from Conneticuit who's father owns one of the biggest, poshest resorts at White Beach. We took a jeepney into the mountains one day, organised by her hotel and tracked down a waterfall. It was like swimming in a natural jakuzi. We couldn't actually make it to the top of the falls because the Military rebels (not really sure about the details but it sounded scary enough to avoid) had a camp there. So we settled for the cool roar jakuzi.

Pictured with Lysa is Jim. He works for BBC world news, and words his sentences in a way that just makes you chuckle and want to write them down. I wish now that i had, so i could give you a taste. Anyway, the three of us also ventured into Sabang together one night to track down a restaurant that was supposed to serve a mean seafood menu. It definately lived up to the rumour. I wish i could have eaten there every night! Amazing garlic mussels. Ooooh. yummy. This time around i DID get a taste of the sleeze of the town. We slipped into a "GoGo Bar" where scantily clad the girls were all "dancing" up on a stage in the middle of the bar area and sleezy men were buying drinks for them. We drank a round of drinks then hot footed it out of there. Lysa was uncomfortable, thinking people might mistake her for a "bar girl", a term used very differently in the Philippines.

So we dived a lot, got massages on the beach as the sun was setting, ate seafood. It was quite a week! On my last day there i met a couple diving who were heading to Boracay the next day, so I asked if i could tag along, to save me being hassled as a lone traveller. They were really friendly.... but that's another story, for next time. I better post this before i lose the thread. I'll be back to tell you about my second week in the Philippines a.s.a.p.

Til then, take care, stay warm if you're in the northern hemisphere, send us some sun if you're in the South...