F4

Even as the country reels again from another typhoon, other kinds of Floods are happening as well.

F1: Flood of donations from generous groups and individuals

F2: Flood of rebuilding and repair efforts for those affected by Ondoy and Pepeng

F3: Flood of plastic, by Miriam Coronel Ferrer, a comtemporary in UP

F4: Flood of memories as I walk thru the hills and halls of the UP Diliman campus

Ondoy at my alma mater

Like never before, the Philippines was badly hit by Typhoon Ondoy over the weekend.

Here's a video taken at a place that is close to my doctor's heart, as it is where I learned the rudiments of medicine.

It's not a funny video at all, so maybe it's best to turn off the sound while playing this so you won't hear some inappropriate jocularity.

goodbye & hello

Maraming salamat, po.

It's been A-1 awesome swimming with you.

We're going to have a great time together, aren't we?


Yey!

nautical mile(stone)

A nautical mile is a special unit of measurement used by all nations for air and sea travel. It is equivalent to 1.852 kilometers or 1.1508 miles. A milestone is an important event, as in a person's career, the history of a nation, or the advancement of knowledge in a field; a turning point.

Though I did not swim anywhere near 1.1508 miles, today has been a milestone in my 'swimming career' (oo, kina-career ko na ito, haha!) because today I did twenty laps at the Aqua Center, whoohoo! And that's 2 laps of breaststroke and 18 laps of free style, which is a big achievement for me already because though I could swim breaststroke like forever, several months ago I could not finish one lap of free style without stopping two or three times by the gutter.

So how did it happen? I think it was a combination of several things. First, would be my eavesdropping on the swim coaches giving instructions to the Negros Oriental Swim Team as they practice everyday, those lithe little bodies doing their laps tirelessly back and forth, back and forth, their arms slicing the water cleanly and their legs pumping to the coaches' barks of "Kick harder!"

Second would probably be all that studying of muscle physiology that I've been doing for my classes, I got to know and understand the energetics of muscle contraction (you can go anaerobic glycolysis for short bursts of speed but for the long haul it has to be oxidative phosphorylation, so learn how to breath properly!) as well as the adaptations muscles make when subjected to constant training (making more mitochondria, more motor unit recruitment, better energy extraction efficiency, etc).

Third would probably be the cup of coffee and two cheese rolls I had two hours before the swim, adenosine triphosphate sources ftw.

And finally, I think this is the clincher: my brand new swim goggles!! My good old red Nike chrome ultralight goggles have retired, the rubber had softened and run, the lenses have blurred because some of the red rubber have actually melted into the plastic. I tried and tested almost all the goggles at Lee Plaza and this all-black, double-strapped Aryca had the perfect fit. It was kind of ostentatious being reflectorized and looking like it was meant for biking than for swimming but this one hugged my eyes perfectly while the others pinched and puckered, so it wasn't such a difficult decision to make. And after today's break-in swim, I think it's pretty cool. 8-)

Apo, at Long Last

gateway to Apo Island

island of limestone and corals

the 1.5 hectare Marine Sanctuary

Just three steps from the shore and it's coral heaven already. There's an amazing other world beneath these waters.

________________________


I want to write some more about our Apo adventure, but am so sleepy now... Plus, I have to fix my stuff... for another adventure is coming straight up...! So, early to bed for now, then wake up at dawn to do all the things I need to do. As for all my other unfinished travel/lakwacha posts, my 'promise' to myself is "one day, someday, I will write more about that." As to when, that is the big question. Hopefully, before I totally forget them.

P.S. Okay, only this very brief one: My back is red and sore. Especially the back of my thighs. It is painful to sit and to stand from sitting. Aaaaww-ouch! Looks like the amount of sunscreen used was not proportional to the amount of time snorkling. But, definitely, no regrets! All these little discomforts (including the gash on my foot when the waves dashed me against the rocks when I wasn't wearing protective shoes, and the numerous cuts and what nots on my arms and legs earned while hiking up the mountain) are all worth it.

I wanna go again! And not just for a day. Kulang! So next time we go, we'll pitch a tent, find that elusive turtle, and climb up to the lighthouse. Always wishing, dreaming, planning. :-)



_________________________

bodies of water

The hotter summer gets, the more I am attracted to bodies of water. Doc Geena kindly calls me 'tanned' which is a nice way of saying 'lagum na ka, doc', lagum being a yuckky kind of tan caused by pool chemicals as I've been swimming more in pools than in the ocean.

After twelve laps at the Teves Aqua Center this morning (my ambition is 32 laps for a mile-long swim bwahaha), I was still hungry for more water. Thus a trek to Casaroro Falls, which is just so near our house, began, but was aborted before the 300-step descent into the valley as it was raining moderately and I could not risk breaking some bones on those slippery slopes.

I loved hiking in the rain but was worried for the camera in my backpack. Then I saw three lads holding big anahaw leaves over their heads. What a brilliant idea! I quickly got myself a big banana leaf and viola! Instant umbrella.

Driving home, I remembered our OR nurse, Nimrod, telling us about a private house that opened their big pool to the public so I checked it out as it was along the way to our house. Here it is, the Huiz Pool Swim Park.






They have a big adult pool (8 feet deep on one end) and a smaller kiddie pool plus a little waterfalls. My nieces and nephews would love this place! And so near our residences. In their manicured garden, they have cottages for rent at 200 to 1000 pesos per unit. Guests can bring food or barbecue food there but drinks have to be bought from them. Entrance fee is 75 pesos for adults and 50 pesos for children.

Location is along the Cadawinonan-Talay Road, just beyond Silliman Heights and The Gardens Memorial Park. Contact 420-1397 for reservations.

not the mermaids, after all

Like most Filipinos, I try to make light of the devastation that happened to Dumaguete and some neighboring towns during the February 7 flood. But I am actually smarting because repairing a downed fence costs money and every time I pass by Angatan, the capilya is overflowing with the flood victims whose homes were washed away in the Banica River. And though not much talked about anymore, lives were lost in that flash flood, mostly from families living in makeshift shanties along the Banica River. I asked Ellyn why her relatives made their balay-balay at the slopes of the Banica and she replied simply that it was free land, libre man.

Each time I pass by the overflow at the Banica, I see civilian men "working" in the river. I don't know exactly what they are doing. Digging the bed to make it deeper? Removing debris and fallen trees that hamper the free flow of water downstream? Or gathering sand in sand bags to line their houses by the river bank? Would these sand bags really be an effective dam the next time a flood of similar magnitude comes to Dumaguete? Noticeable also would be the makeshift houses that are back by the riverside. It's incredible that they would still want to go on living there.

I am posting here an article in today's local paper, Metropost, by a man I admire and respect, environmentalist and former DENR secretary, Dr. Angel Alcala and his fellow environment advocates.

_______________

Statement of Concern

The vehemence of recent floods occurring so close to one another (Dec. 31, 2008 and Feb. 7, 2009) causing deaths, displacement, and terrible damage to property and the environment has left many speechless with disbelief and dismay.

Why were the consequences of this weather event so severe this time when it was but a depression, not a typhoon, that caused heavy rainfall for about 20 hours? Is this going to happen more frequently? Are the housing projects on dry riverbeds safe, given the fact that the course of rivers change, and that dry riverbeds are now being reclaimed by nature?

The very few forest trees left in our watershed can no longer absorb the volume of rain thus, resulting to erosion and landslides. The loss of Negros Oriental's forest cover has been dramatic. The old forest cover has dwindled to patches leaving us today with with only 5 percent of forest area as compared to that in 1875. (1992 statistics DENR)

During the floods, many trees by the river banks fell, and more are at rick of falling with every flood as their roots are now exposed.

The Candau-ay dump site by the Banica River lies along the path of floods strewing garbage, mostly plastics, all along the banks up to the sea. The Valencia open dump site garbage also was carried by the flood waters to Dumaguete City.

The critical importance of watersheds has long been known. What attention have past and present administrations paid to protecting watersheds? What significant efforts were made to reforest? We are told that generally, only about 10 % of trees planted in reforestation programs survive because replanting is not accompanied by effective monitoring and support efforts.

It is also important to be mindful of energy development, agricultural and mining activities that encroach into our precious forests, and even into protected areas, bringing high risk of damage to the already fragile environment.

Much environmental damage can be reversible and therefore, solutions are of utmost urgency, but we see no evidence that the urgency is understood and acted upon.

One of the basic rights in our Philippine Constitution is the right to a balanced and healthful ecology. We need to be working together to address the challenges posed to our common watersheds. The time is now for civil society groups and government agencies to come together to map out a comprehensive plan for environmental protection and rehabilitation.

"Prosperity build on the despoliation of the natural environment is no prosperity at all. It is only a temporary reprieve from future disaster." (Kofi Annan, former UN Secretary General)

________________

Is the future upon us now?

What will happen when the next big flood comes?

Photos by Hersley Casero, a Dumaguete based artist/photographer, who is currently holding an art exhibit at the Sidlakang Negros in Piapi. Hersley's house was affected by the February 7 flood and almost all their things were damaged.

multiple guess: what caused the flood?

It's been a week and a day after that destructive deluge in Dumaguete and after all the flood stories have been told, damages assessed, cost of repair calculated, wits regrouped and everything wet air-dried, it's time for the why-speculations to surface.

Why, oh, why did that totally unexpected, highly improbable disaster befall Dumaguete? These are the reasons I heard and overheard this past week. Take your pick.

1. Too many roads being built without any proper drainage system

2. Rapid population growth with concomitant environmental pollution (clogging of canals and waterways)

3. Rampant kaingin and illegal logging in the mountains of Negros resulting in erosion and landslides

4. Global warming/climate change

5. Poor city planning

6. Mga buluyagon man gud ang mga Dumagueteno.

7. This one I heard at the tiangge: A kataw or serena (mermaid) was accidentally caught in some fishermen's net and the kataw cried and cried, begging to be returned to sea. But instead, she was sold to a fahrener (foreigner) for 100 thousand pesos. The kataw eventually died of kaguol (sadness) and the kataw's clan sent the flood to avenge the demise of one of their kind.

8. Another version: Same as above but with a twist in the middle. The kataw was sold to the SU Marine Laboratory for research purposes.

9. Still another twist to the story: Same as above but the kataw was admitted at the SU Medical Center. One of our nurses, who was wearing her hospital uniform and ID while riding a pedicab today, was asked by a fellow passenger if this was indeed true.

What do you think is the correct answer?

cat tales

If cats could talk, for sure our pets, Miming 1 and Miming 2, the kittens of Mom Miming, would have a lot of stories to tell because at the height of Saturday's deluge, they were seen swimming vigorously in the swift current, scampering up walls and ledges, hanging on to this flotsam and that jetsam, and generally having a tempestuous time. Wonder how these little creatures survived the flood? Legend has it that cats have nine lives...

hangin' out the dirty laundry? nah, just the rugs.

a Hole in the Wall

Prelude:

Some months back I wrote a post entitled "a river runs through it", and it was about how the Banica River swelled and overflowed unto the Overflow, the Overflow being the "Road" that passes over the river. (If that confuses you, click on the link to see the image of a river running over a road, a road that runs over a river! In flood state, they sort of run into each other.)

Last Saturday, during the Dumaguete flood of unprecedented magnitude, I had a first hand experience of what it feels to have a river run TO it, with it being our very own house.

We live in Baranggay Bagacay, right by the highway, in a compound with my brother, my auntie and my cousins. It so happens that our houses are located on a down slope from the street, meaning our lots are actually below street level. And it also just so happens that there are no canals or drainage systems to speak of in our immediate area. This has never been a problem in the past as whenever it rained hard and the street flooded, any run off would just pass by us and go directly to the dry creek bed several meters behind our houses.

So I don't know the physics of what happened last Saturday but all of a sudden we had water coming to us from the highway, passing through my Aunty Mary's House, through my cousins' house, through my brother's house and finally to our house, which is located at the rearmost. This was around four pm and it was a bit alarming because the rain did not show any sign of letting up ever since the steady downpour began Saturday dawn. Well, since Friday actually, but it was just some drizzle then.


At almost four pm:

Patrick securing the electrical outlets in the just-starting-to-flood garage

A little river runs through the front yard

And down the right side yard, too

I've always wanted to have a swimming pool in my backyard... but not like this!

In just thirty minutes, this black garden set was totally submerged in flood water.

Crescendo at half past four:

During the height of the flood, nobody could think of taking pictures anymore. Things were happening so fast. The water from the street was rushing in in torrents, dragging with it all the dirt and debris from the highway as well as the incredible reality that our houses could soon get flooded, all appliances dangerously grounded and all other kinds of only-in-the-movies scenarios. Water had already entered the houses in front of ours and their occupants were hastily lifting things to higher ground. Later, none could believe that they had lifted what they had lifted. The only confirmation was the soreness of everyone's shoulders, arms and legs the next day.

Though water had not yet entered our living room, which is actually of the same elevation as the street thru backfilling, water was rising fast in the garage and in the porch. All around the house, the muddy water was rumbling around and around in restless energy. The water from the street and from what seemed like everywhere else was trapped within the four walls of our concrete fence. Our house was swimming in a swirling lake of mud, water and debris. Everyone inside was busy elevating things that could be elevated and plugging doorways with rugs to keep the water out.

The only obvious solution was to find an outlet for the fast rising water. Mike and Ellyn borrowed Tita Mary's bara (a steel bar with a sharp end) and Mike started digging a hole in the wall. He wanted to dig the hole in the back fence but the water there was already waist high so he decided to make the hole in the side fence instead. The water at the side of the house was thigh high yet. After a few strokes he could feel that a hole was made because water started to rush through the hole. He shouted, "I've made a hole!" and Ellyn, who was swimming after her pots and pans and other whatnots in the backyard pool said, "Make another one!"

But before Mike could heave another go with the bara, he heard this sound, and felt the sudden surge of what seemed like tons of water, which almost swept him off his feet and carried him off into the kawayanan in the vacant lot next to ours. That sound was the sound of our concrete wall crumbling under the power of the raging flood waters.

Denouement at almost five:

With the wall down, the waters flooding all the other houses immediately subsided. What a relief. Time for a celebration!

Some driveway frolic for Anton and Ellyn

Amidst all the flotsam and jetsam, a little snake from the bamboos nearby

The morning after:

The backpool has disappeared, all the mud and grime to our backsteps have adhered

The concrete wall on the left side of this image cannot be seen because it is lying on the ground. Those thin bamboos scattered on the ground are bagacay poles that were supposed to be used to adorn and soften the bare and gray cement wall, but we never got around to attending to that. Now my brother has jokingly suggested that we should just use these bagacay for our new fence. Hmm.

The wall is down. I repeat, the wall is down.
This view was taken from the back porch, same vantage point as the third image in this series. (right side of the house)

The driveway is almost dry ground now.
Another day in Dumaguete begins,
this time with a new awareness that the once no-baha city is not so invulnerable anymore.

Dumaguete Flooded... with Flood Stories

This Sunday morning started early for me. First to church, then to the hospital for rounds and then to the palengke for marketing. And everywhere I went, there was only one topic that dominated every conversation. Dumaguete is currently flooded with stories about yesterday's flood.

Movement in the market place was a kind of slow today because everybody, sellers and buyers alike, had a story to tell, so every commercial transaction was interspersed with baha anecdotes. The butcher would hold the cleaver in mid-air as he told how the pigs in the ihawan and lechonan were floating in the flood. When a customer asked how much a kilo of cabbage cost it took a while for the tindera to reply because she was in the middle of telling her story to her fellow tindera about how her neighbor's house was swept away into the Banica River. The chicken supplier lamented that water had entered their manokan and swept away the collective iti of their chickens, the iti or chicken droppings that was supposed to be sold as organic fertilizer. And someone was saying their septic tank overflowed and out came a horde of cockroaches and little mice scampering in all directions.

I wanted to linger and listen to the many stories being told. But I had to hurry with marketing because my siblings are coming over for lunch so we could exchange flood stories as well.


Here's a video from the GMA News Network:





And here are links to other stories about the Dumaguete flood:

Roads into rivers

Dumaguete villages flooded

And the wall came tumbling down

Flood pics from around the city

More Dumaguete flood pics


Update: 10:35 pm

Ellyn just came home. Crying. Her seven year old cousin drowned in the Banica River last night and the child's body was found only this morning downstream from their makeshift shanty, which itself was washed away in yesterday's flood.

d bolebard op broken drims

Water. Rock. And interphase.

The waves. Unrelentingly dash dreams unto the rocks. Some dreams survive. Some shatter into uncountable, unrecognizable pieces. After a while, even the rocks get broken, too.

Saturday. Sea. Swim. StorieS. PoolS.

Talking about a fun event multiplies the enjoyment of it and that's what we did at work today, talk about what fun we had last Saturday. It's quite interesting, to have the same group of people (the OR personnel) in different outfits (scrubsuits/beachsuits) and in a different scenario (operating room/beach) where the only worrisome moments were when we forgot to bring drinking water and when I got "anod/natangay" by the current. And they reminded me, "Doc, don't forget the smack down! Ang dakong saplag sa dakong balod." Oh, yeah, at one point I turned around and this big wave landed on my face with a big splat. It was like the sea was saying, "Ah, so you like to play? Well, here's one, right at ya."

One would think that after an afternoon of such rambunctious play the next thing to be had would be a good and early bedtime. But nooo. Next stop: the Teves Memorial Aqua Center, just next door to the Perdices Coliseum, for some lap swimming. (Photos were taken on a sunny day last week, together with the rubberized red running track pictures.)

This is the view of the 8-lane main pool and the diving pool in the foreground from the 20-feet diving platform. I did go up to the 30-feet platform but the photo I got from that height is markedly skewed. Most likely because I only used one hand to point and shoot as the other hand was holding on tightly to the railing.

The diving platforms, in ten foot increments. Of course, my going up to the forty-feet level was out of the question. ;p

the diving pool

Went swimming at the Aqua Center again today but the main pool was off -limits to all swimmers because it had just been treated with a chemical. Chlorine, maybe? So we all had to use the 18-feet-deep diving pool! Uh-oh. I kept my eyes shut most of the time underwater so I wouldn't be intimidated by how deep it was.

conversations with o captain, my captain

Normally, I refrain from writing about the personal lives of my patients. It's just not done. I take exception to this dictum now because this patient has, for me, an extraordinary life, the kind that I'm not sure if I will have the privilege of encountering ever again. I want to capture here snippets of our conversation, that I may not forget them.

You see, he is a sailor to the core, literally the captain of his ship, and he has traveled all over the world in all kinds of boats and weathers. I asked him, "What kind of boat were you a captain of, before you retired and became a captain of this your own boat?" He said, "Oh, it doesn't matter what kind of boat. There are boats and there are boats. The important thing is that you are at sea."

Being a sea person is nothing unusual in the Philippines. Since our country is an archipelago, traveling and trading by sea is the norm. I believe every Filipino family has members that are either fishermen or seamen, meaning merchant marines. We have plenty of both in my own huge brood of relatives.

But this patient of mine, let's call him S.C. for Sea Captain, is no ordinary sea-man or fisherman. He had been at sea for almost all his life (started sailing at nine years of age) because, I could sense, it is his calling, it is his passion, it is his home. I said to him, your every day must be like an adventure, living in a boat sailing across the Pacific and the Atlantic... He said he doesn't look at it as an adventure. It is just his life.

Listening to him, I could see he was a poet and a philosopher. For how could one not be, living under the mercy of the elements for weeks or months with no land in sight but 360 degrees of water and wind and sky? I said, "What do you do out in the ocean, when you're not sailoring or battling storms or fishing or doing stuff that sea captains do?" He said, and this with exaggerated enunciation and animated facial expression, as I listened intently and focused on his lips which were concealed by an overgrowth of white beard, "I theeenk about Anything that I want to." I asked him if all sea captains had white hair and bushy white beards like just like him. And he humored me by saying yup.

Sometimes it was hard to understand his words, he had an accent and most importantly, his lush white beard covered his mouth so I couldn't read his lips. Plus he talked in idioms and metaphors so that several times I had to ask what did he mean by what he said. And he patiently unravelsed his simplistic philosophy of life and living to which I could not help but nod. It was so refreshing to meet someone who was not into the rat pace of the human race.

After a while he became a little bit sleepy as he just had a shot of pain reliever from the nurse. I let him rest and turned my attention to his wife, the boat's navigator, cook, laundry woman and Girl Friday. She could raise a mast and all the other things that sailors do as they were only three persons in their boat: S.C., his wife and their young adult grandson. I asked how come their grandson was of a different color from them. And she said, "Oh, he is our godson, our hanai son. And he is a wiz with computers. He taught us that these modern cameras can take videos and even record voice!"

Oh, hanai ! I know that term. They had lived for thirty or so years in Honolulu but decided to anchor their boat elsewhere as the cost of living in Hawaii had become ridiculously outrageous. She remembered the awesome sunsets of Hawaii with nostalgia and she whipped open her computer to show me her Picasa album of sunsets and sea. She raved about this one particular sunset where everything was red everywhere, it was like being surrounded by a sea and sky of fire.

S.C. was drifting off to sleep but still listening in. I looked at him and saw Poseidon's own hanai son, used to standing at many a ship's deck, now confined to staring at a stark hospital wall. He knew his diagnosis and he knew his treatment options. He had several battles, age does catch up with us all. He choose to fight the fightable ones. The unfightable ones, he let be. Like one used to the batterings of the sun and sea, he accepted what the tides have brought this time. I can only imagine how difficult it must be for a man used to wide open spaces to be suddenly chained by all sorts of tubings coming and going out of body orifices. I bid them goodbye and he nodded, I assumed to dream his seascape bliss.

Day 1: Family Day at the Beach

l-r: Rolito, Debonaire, Kris, Editha, Abbe, Joey, Eric, Sandra, Lina

,

wish you were here...

remembering typhoons

Saying hello from Metro Manila!

I'm in Manila for a day and am so thankful that it did not rain and flood as it did earlier this week because of another typhoon named Helen.

One particularly horrible memory of a Manila flood comes to mind. Many, many years back, I was walking somewhere along Espana, right across UST, and the water was knee deep and there were rats, dead and alive, floating/swimming around and I could not do anything about it. Just had to continue wading through the rodent infested murky, yukky water.

::shudder:: major shudder::

a river runs through it

On sunny days, which is most of the year, two mini dams called overflows and two bridges traverse the Banica River so people can cross from the south side to the north side of the city. I happen to live on the south side of the river while all the hospitals are on the north side. Thus I have to cross the river, at any of the four points, to get to work.

The past couple of days have not been sunny. This was the Banica River today at the bigger upper Overflow. There should have been a road from where the kids are standing (gray asphalt on the foreground) up to the right upper corner of the image but instead there is water, water everywhere. A river runs thru the road...

nagmistulang karagatan ang dati-rati'y isang daanan

uliuling kumukulo putik choko tubig bundok

Nobody dared to cross that mighty roiling river at the big Overflow so I went to the other smaller overflow downriver. The white building in the background is part of Foundation University.

There was a car in front of me and I thought, if he can make it, then so can I.

Thankfully, the water was shallower and the current not so strong at this overflow. Again you can see that this is literally a case of "a river runs through it" as the River (Ri) and the Road (Ro) are almost one and the same.

Meanwhile, there is a lot of grief all over the country. Typhoon Frank has left thousands homeless and destitute, including here in Negros island.

It is almost midnight as I end this post and the rain's pounding and the wind's howling outside just seem to be increasing.

summer = water

Mornings, late afternoons and evenings are perfect in Dumaguete, just bright enough and cool enough for pleasant walks. But during the day, especially from noon to afternoon, the temperature can get really hot. We locals call it "mama-ak ang kainit" meaning the heat bites. And with the recent spates of power outages, plus the official start of summer vacation, the kids cry "Init! Want water!"

So one afternoon we went to Valencia, a town about ten kilometers from the city proper, and just five kilometers from where we live. With an elevation of 200 to 500 meters, it is much cooler than Dumaguete. The lush vegetation is very noticeable as one goes through the town.

Our destination: the first and best Rx for a hot day: the natural spring waters of The Forest Camp's pools --> COOOLLLD!

be sure to test the water with your toes before you jump in!

the hanging bridge over a roaring river

view from the hanging bridge: a man-made slide so kids and adults can glide with the raging waters without acquiring too much pain in the back and butt

there are numerous mini-waterfalls like this where one can get a back massage just by sitting under the falling water

And here's the second best thing on a hot day: a coooll buko-halohalo, a cornucopia of leche flan, ube, langka, fried saba, gelatin, kaong, other goodies in shaved ice, slathered with milk and served on a freshly harvested coconut shell. Here's Carlo having his fill... oh, wait... Sorry, it's that good he finished it off in a flash before I could take a shot.

Oh, but thanks to the internet, I'm borrowing somebody else's buko-halohalo as it is a must see. And needless to say, a must eat, too. Slurrrp.

buko-halo with ube ice cream and corn flakes

And just in case there is anything else you fancy, you might want to check this out... a wishing well!

Bohol Plaza Resort

It was sunny when we left Bohol but it was overcast when we went there on Maundy Thursday.

The Weesam Fastcraft doesn't look much from outside, especially in this view when the waters at the Dumaguete pier was at low tide so that the boat was floating much lower in the water in relation to the level of the pier, that's why the first floor windows can only be partially seen.



Here's a better image from the Weesam website so you can see how the fastcraft looks like. The interior is designed like a two-storey airplane.



The boat left on time and with Rambo as the in-boat movie, we had a smooth one hour and forty-five minute ride to Tagbilaran, the capital city of Bohol.

After a twenty-minute ride from the pier up to the mountains in Panglao Island, we arrived at the Bohol Plaza Resort, which to my surprise was a one storey affair.

Or so I thought. What seemed to be the first and only floor of the resort was actually the fifth floor of a building built unto the side of a mountain. This here below is the other side of the facade seen above.



And in fact, the entire resort was not just one building but actually several buildings and cottages scattered throughout the mountainside.

Quite posh and very well-kept, there were many interesting corners to explore. Our cottage had a unique design, it had eight walls! Visible from our veranda (lowermost pic) was the Tagbilaran bay, where our fastcraft docked earlier.

As this resort is built on the side of a mountain, going around naturally entailed some amount of climbing, albeit on stairs. Aside from a bright neon elevator in the main building, there were a lot of stairs all over the place. And to encourage the panting climber in case he/she got tired from all that ascending and descending, there were signs along the way, like these:

"Walk your way for a healthy heart."

Yeah, good advice. Let's get off this computer chair now and do some walking. Go!