Roving Gnome Travel Blog: September 2013

I ended up staying in Malepascua longer than planned because I wanted to wait out the high winds and resultant waves that were preventing the dive shop from taking divers to the dive sites further away from the island. The weather improved and I got to dive a WWII Japanese Wreck and dive with the Thresher sharks a few more times. I even added two more "tech dives" by tagging along on a tech course for two of the dives using twin tanks and a decompression bottle. this was excellent practice and I got a chance to use my new dive computer on a decompression dive with gas switch (worked amazing!). I ended up staying 14 days and meeting some really great people there (Esther, Steph, Braden, Brent, Clive, Moff, etc.) who were great diving, happy hour, Philippino Videoke, and "nocializing" companions. The definition of nocializing: a group of people sits together or has a meal together while utilizing wifi and their phones or iPads to check the Internet rather than socializing with eachother ;).

I ate Sisig, a traditional Philippine dish. It was quite good but I was told that it is basically a stir fry made out of pig face bits (ears, snout, cheeks etc.). Apparently this meat was wasted by US military so the locals made use of it...quite delicious!

Brent Tanner and Esther at dinner

All meals should be served on a giant bed (me, Brent, Jayden)

Getting set to nocializing (Steph, me, Andrew, Christain, Brent)

Bananagrams Bitches!

Outside of the Thresher Shark dives I did (which are amazing!), and the very small and strange macro things I saw in Malepascua, the rest of the diving was only so-so and I can't recommend Malepascua as a dive destination unless you just go for a few days to see the Sharks. There is a noticeable scarceness of fish (likely the legacy of dynamite fishing), nearly no hard corals, no turtles, despite a strong web-based marketing campaign saying otherwise, manta ray sightings are rare to non-existent, and when the weather is uncooperative you end up diving the same site repeatedly. To all my friends on Gili Trawangan... Our diving beats Malepascua hands down...now, if you only had Thresher sharks! Of note; boats for Thresher Shark dives departed between 5am and 5:30am (blechhhh).

Early morning shark dive departure. Divers, gear, and cylinders are transported across the island on windy days to the sheltered side. 3 people to a bike.

Sunrise while prepping for dive

But wait! I did see something I may never see again in my diving career so maybe I shouldn't sell Malepascua short. SCUBA BAT!

My favorite island dog

And my favorite island cat!

My home on Malepascua, Cocobana Resort.

Hammocks are amazing inventions

I spent last night in Cebu with Steph, a new friend whose tavel plans dovetailed nicely with mine. We went for dinner, to a huge mall, then for ice cream. She flies to Homg Kong today and I depart on a 7day Liveaboard trip. The boat will travel from Cebu around to Moalboal and stops at a number of dive sites that were recommended to me so I'm really looking forward to it...plus, the boat looks amazing!

The website for the liveaboard company is http://www.sirenfleet.com/liveaboards/philippines.html. I disembark from the boat in Moalboal on October 5th in the morning and I think I will stay there until October 10th. I might do a freediving course while in Moalboal. After that I will head back to Cebu, where my cousin, Emma, will meet me Oct 10th. We will likely travel to the island of Bohol next and see some Tarsiers (tiny monkeys) and hike in the chocolate hills (cool geological feature) then log some beach time before flying to Bangkok Oct. 15th. Plans once Emma arrives are subject to change depending on her interests ;) I will likely be offline for the duration of the Liveaboard trip but will post pics once I have wifi again.

Until next time!

I arrived in the Philippines on September 13th and have made my way to the tiny island of Malepascua to dive with Thresher sharks.

4m long Thresher Shark

I left Gili Trawangan on September 9th on a fastboat headed to Bali with Esther who was on her way to Singapore for a Visa run. I had a very rushed goodbye to good friends and a warm community who I had gotten to know over nearly 3 months on Gili Trawangan. I miss them all and the island itself dearly but I know I will return someday (maybe soon) so it softens the hurt of leaving good friends too soon.

I will miss the "family" in Gili Trawangan at Melati Garden House (Harry and Allan)

Harry and JoJo

A photo borrowed from a friend of a friends Facebook page. View of the Gili Islands (Gili Trawangan in the foreground) and Mount Rinjani in the background from a flight from Lombok to Bali. I will miss this beautiful, friendly Island and I WILL be back :)

Esther and I had a lovely evening in Kuta, Bali with an awesome meal of BBQ ribs at Naughty Nuri's (not to be missed if you are ever in Bali!) followed by a pedicure with a beer in hand and an early night.

Esther and I at Naughty Nuri's just before stuffing our faces with what might be the best ribs I have ever had!

We arrived in Singapore early afternoon September 10th and used the Singapore transit system (MRT = subway) to get to Vintage Inn "Boutique Hostel" in Little India. The hostel was great! Very trendy and reasonably priced ($27CAD/night including breakfast catered by the affiliated Indian restaurant downstairs if you book on www.agoda.com). The "rooms" are sleeping pods big enough for a twin bed with about 1 foot of space beside it and enough room to sit up comfortably and each includes lights and an outlet to charge devices. The staff were really helpful, the hostel is conveniently located, has hot water showers, and laundry facilities for a fee.

Esther showcasing the sleeping pods at Vintage Inn Boutique Histel in Singapore

We spent the next two days shopping and visiting the Singapore Botanical Gardens.

Singapore Botanical Gardens...Huge lillypads!

Lovely orchids

A sorely needed reflexology footpath (no pun intended)

Esther had to fly back to Bali Sept 12th leaving me a day to do some more focused shopping for a new digital camera, underwater housing, new scuba BCD (Buoyancy Compensation Device), and some scuba accessories (torch, knife, slate, gear bag, pointer stick etc.). I finished all my shopping at 7pm... Just in time to rush back to the hostel, pack up my old camera and BCD and get to the postal outlet to ship the stuff home so I don't have to lug it around with me for the rest of my trip! My feet were killing me by the time I collapsed into my sleeping pod.

Colorful paper lanterns in Singapore Chinatown, one of my many stops on my shopping excursion

I flew from Singapore to Cebu City on September 13th at 8:30am. I nearly missed my flight and had a panicked trip to the airport when I awoke with a start at 6am and realized that my alarm hadn't gone off. I tried to get a taxi but none were around so I booked it to the transit system and took the MRT to the airport, arriving at 7:30am... Less than 1 hour from my flight time! I still made it and had time to clear security, go to customs and get my tax back on my purchases in Singapore :)

The blue dot is Malepascua Island

Malepascua is a very chill, laid back place with great diving. It is one of the few (only??) places in the world where you can dive with Thresher sharks. There is also great muck diving here. Characterized by sandy or muddy bottom with few hard corals and lots of small weird critters... Not the usual reef fish...just aliens and creepy crawlies mostly NEAT STUFF!

Two local girls borrowed my ipad to play some games. Kids are the same the world over... They handily beat my Temple Run high score in about 2 minutes ;)

"Main Street" Bounty Beach Malepascua

Cute puppies are everywhere! This truly is paradise!

Rains most evenings... Typhoon season. Air is still 30-35C and the water is 30C so no complaints from me ;)

Some local color

My new home at Cocobana Resort $19 CAD/night

Thresher Shark Divers

Thresher Shark Divers dive boat "Esther"... I can't escape Esther's...travelled with one to Singapore, dive off of one in the Philippines, met a new friend (also an Esther) here as well :)