Posts filed under “philippines”
Dive Log: Wrecks of Coron
Coron Wreck Diving photoset Coron Wreck Diving video Rocksteady Dive Center Coron’s main draw for scuba divers is the fleet of World War II Japanese shipwrecks sunk around the Calamian Islands by US bombers in September, 1944. Around an hour by boat (give or take a few minutes depending on which wreck) from Coron proper, [...]
Holiday in Manila and Coron
We were in the Philippines for about a week and a half — in Metro Manila for Christmas, then in Coron, Busuanga after Christmas through New Year, and back in Metro Manila for a few more days onward.
Cory Aquino
Another sad obituary from the Philippines: Cory Aquino, wife of Ninoy Aquino, heroine of the EDSA People Power Revolution that ousted dictator Ferdinand Marcos, and President of the Philippines from 1986 to 1992, died from complications due to cancer on August 1st, 2009. She was 76. As wife to Marcos’ most dangerous political opponent she [...]
Anilao Dive Log
My family went on six dives spread out over three days but I only went on two of those dives on the second day, opting to keep Amy company at the resort on the first and third days. Dive #85 Date: 1 Jan 2009 Location: Sepok Wall Maximum depth: 85 ft Dive time: 50 minutes [...]
Eagle Point Resort
Anilao (in Mabini, Batangas) has always been my family’s go-to spot for diving, ever since my parents’ scuba heyday in the 1960s. When I was a kid we had a nipa-and-bamboo house at a ramshackle, sparsely-amenitied bungalow resort called Seafari, from where we could launch a speedboat or hire a banca to take us to [...]
Greenhills Elan Hotel
While in Manila we stayed at Greenhills Elan Hotel Modern, which had rooms for P3400/night (about $70/night at the current exchange rate). One of the taller buildings on Annapolis Street facing towards Greenhills Shopping Center, Elan is actually a mixed residential building, consisting mostly of condos, with guest rooms on three of its thirty-eight floors [...]
Stuff We Did in Manila
We took it easy for most of this trip: lots of rest, no day tours, more time spent with family. (Sorry to all the friends with whom we skipped meetups, maybe next time.) We went down to the family’s farm in Laguna to try and swim in my uncle’s geothermal pool, but didn’t get to [...]
Di Ka Nag-iisa + 25
Last Thursday, August 21st, marked the 25th year since the death of Ninoy Aquino. His opposition to the Marcos dictatorship and subsequent assassination sparked the flame of outrage which would lead to the EDSA People Power Revolution of 1986, sweeping Marcos from the presidency and restoring democracy to the Philippines. Ninoy’s wife Cory became President, [...]
Bush, Arroyo, Carrots, Sticks
President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo was in town yesterday to pay a visit to our neighbor at 16th and Penn NW (funny guy from Texas, you should meet him sometime). Now, much has been made of a supposedly offensive statement he made — “I am reminded of the great talent of the- of our Philippine-Americans when I [...]
Various Debunks
“Lost” tribe not so lost after all. The key word here is “uncontacted”; the government had known about isolated native tribes such as this one for decades, and partitioned off that land as an Indian preserve. The man responsible for the pictures played up the “lost natives” angle to draw attention to the problem of [...]