Geeky Yet Waterproof

On Tuesday, we went to the Hundred Islands, which are a group of (more than) a hundred islands just about a mile or two out to sea from Alaminos.
We first rented fins and snorkels at a little shop. It was just a shack on the side of the road, so I was surprised to see this posted on the wall — I didn’t even know my aunt was running for governor!

After we had rented all our gear, we took a boat to the islands. In the boat we fit our driver Molito, Uncle Rick, Christopher, Chris (a servant we kidnaped from the condo), and two boatmen. The boat was like a canoe with pontoons and a roof; it felt very rickety, but that made it more fun.

The Hundred Islands were amazing. Tito Louie described it as “paradise” (about five times). We first went to a floating raft anchored just off the north side of Quezon Island, where we went snorkeling for a while. We had to swim about 80 meters to get to where it was shallow enough to reach the bottom, but the water was as warm as a pool. I’ve never actually gone snorkeling in the ocean before, living in 43° Oregon, so seeing the coral, tropical fish, and random bright colors up close was amazing. One of the things I had never seen before was the army of giant clams — the smallest ones were about a foot and half long, while the biggest ones were two and a half to three feet long! We dug up half of a shell from a dead one and swam it back to the raft. Unfortunately, it’s illegal to take specimens from a national park, so we were forced to commit it to the depths. However, we did immortalize it in pixels.

After a while, we got back into the boat and migrated to the other side of the island, where there was a white sand beach and picnic tables. Chris barbecued some fish and steak for us, which was delicious. The fish wasn’t even cleaned; it was just slapped on the grill, organs, head, and all. True filipino style.

After we ate, we swam a little more in the warm waters of the South China Sea. A fish led me on a five minute tour around the swimming area, and I dug up some shells from the bottom.

By about 2pm, we had to start heading back because our boat, being of the same design that has been used for the last several centuries, didn’t handle waves very well. But as we were navigating between the other islands, the white sand and palm trees (and restrooms) were impossible to resist, so we unloaded at Governor’s Island, which was advertised as having a viewpoint.

To get the the viewpoint we had to climb a long set of stairs, which seemed cruelly steep for Asians (who aren’t typically, well, tall).

But when we got to the top, it was like stepping into a postcard. My pathetic words are incapable of a just description, so as compensation, please take these humble pixels and this panorama in their stead.

When we finally started heading home, we were all a different color from when we started out, whether it be brown or red.

As we were driving through the town, Molito unexpectedly stopped the car at the bank. When we asked why we were stopped there, he said, "Don’t you want to take a shower?". What?? We’re taking a shower at the bank? But we followed along, and he led us to an office upstairs where we found Tito Louie! And yes, he had a shower in his office.
So after we had all showered and eaten suman (sticky rice cooked in a bamboo stalk) while listening to his tales of war, wine, and revolution, he drove with us a ways to show us around his mango farm. Yes, he owns a mango farm as well as an entire condominium.
We saw some cool things at the mango farm, such as a three foot tall anthill, magical leaves that close up when you touch them, and even a cock fight (well, more like a cock sparring session).

When we got back, we had dinner at the condo and then Tito Louie took us to his (yes, his) bar. It’s called Bar Tec, which could mean "Bar Technology", or in the native language, "drunk". We were there from 11pm to 1am, watching pirated DVDs — the whole time.

We’ve all agreed that during the two days we were in Pangasinan, we saw more of the Philippines than in the whole trip before that. Manila is nice, but it’s Westernized. The country (or as they say, The Province) is where the real Philippines are.

Note: I just discovered that my web gallery can only handle 500 photos, so I haven’t been uploading any new ones lately, as I’ve reached the limit. I’ll try to upload more photos to a new web gallery, but I don’t know how long that will take with the "masama" internet connection. I’ll post when I get it published.