Panglao Island Weather Report

Daybreak at Alona Beach, Panglao Island in Bohol

The PhilippineAtmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA)  recently announced the soaring temperatures does not imply that the country is in the grip of a heat wave.

PAGASA senior weather forecaster Jori Loiz said the sweltering heat is normal at this time of the year.

He cites the highest recorded temperature in Metro Manila so far this year is 35.9 degrees Celsius, and the highest in the country is 38.4 degrees Celsius registered at Clark, Pampanga. And that the hottest hour in a day is about 2 p.m. because ''although the sun is overhead at 12 noon, there is a lag time of two to three hours before the land heats up and that is the time that the temperature rises.''

This month, PAGASA said the expected temperature in the Visayas, which includes Bohol, hovers between 23°C to 34°C.

Be that as it may, here in Panglao, fine white sand beaches abound where one can go to and get respite from the soaring temperatures.  However, the island weather remains very pleasant – cool in the early mornings and evenings, and not so unnervingly hot and humid during midday. 

There was a brief torrential downpour the other night that lasted no more than 20 minutes.  It cooled the night and provided an even more restful sleep for everyone.

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Easter Prayer

An Easter Prayer

Of all of God's gifts

Easter shows us our fate

Forgiven we will rise

And pass through Heaven's gate

This Easter remember

The sacrifice of a Son

And through His resurrection

Eternal life we have won

This Easter I pray

That the love of God

Is resurrected

Reborn, renewed

Inside your heart

God Bless You!

~Anonymous~

Sharing with Weekly Top Shot, Skywatch, and Our World Tuesday

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Oops Beach Cafe at Alona Beach

Oops Bar Alona Beach Resort

Panglao Island, 6340 Bohol

Phone (0063) 920-461-7895

E-mail Address: info@oopsbar.com.ph

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Visit Oops Beach Cafe online

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Stardust

And now the purple dusk of twilight time

Steals across the meadows of my heart

High up in the sky the little stars climb

Always reminding me that we're apart

You wander down the lane and far away

Leaving me a song that will not die

Love is now the stardust of yesterday

The music of the years gone by

"Stardust" is an American popular song composed in 1927 by Hoagy Carmichael with lyrics added in 1929 by Mitchell Parish. Originally titled "Star Dust", Carmichael first recorded the song at the Gennett Records studio in Richmond, Indiana. The song, "a song about a song about love", played in an idiosyncratic melody in medium tempo, became an American standard, and is considered one of the most recorded songs of the 20th century, with over 1,500 total recordings. 

In 1999, "Stardust" was included in the "NPR 100", a list compiled by National Public Radio of the 100 most important American musical works of the 20th century. 

In 2000, Swedish music reviewers voted it as "the tune of the century", with Kurt Weill's "Mack the Knife" as second.  

In 2004, Carmichael's original 1927 recording of the song was one of 50 recordings chosen that year by the Library of Congress to be added to the National Recording Registry.

Read more here.

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Lead photo taken at Amorita's Cliffside Deck

A Rosie Sweet Home

Saturday Sareenity

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Relationship 101: A Dozen Quotes

Don't rush into any kind of relationship. Work on yourself. Feel yourself, experience yourself and love yourself. Do this first and you will soon attract that special loving other.

            Russ Von Hoelscher

The more you let yourself go, the less others let you go.

            Friedrich Nietzsche

An intimate relationship does not banish loneliness. Only when we are comfortable with who we are can we truly function independently in a healthy way, can we truly function within a relationship. Two halves do not make a whole when it comes to a healthy relationship: it takes two wholes.

            Patricia Fry

Almost all of our sorrows spring out of our relations with other people.

            Arthur Schopenhauer

I like her because she smiles at me and means it.

            Tas Soft Wind

Remember that the best relationship is one in which your love for each other exceeds your need for each other.

            Unknown

Don't smother each other. No one can grow in the shade.

            Leo Buscaglia

Be the kind of person you would like to be with. Some people come into our lives, make footprints on our hearts and we are never the same. People are lonely because they build walls instead of bridges.

            Joseph F. Newton

People change and forget to tell each other.

            Lillian Hellman

Guys are like dogs. They keep comin' back. Ladies are like cats. Yell at a cat one time, they're gone.

            Lenny Bruce

Problems in relationship occur because each person is concentrating on what is missing in the other person.

            Wayne Dyer

Oh, the comfort - the inexpressible comfort of feeling safe with a person - having neither to weigh thoughts nor measure words, but pouring them all right out, just as they are, chaff and grain together; certain that a faithful hand will take and sift them, keep what is worth keeping, and then with the breath of kindness blow the rest away.

            Dinah Craik, A Life for a Life, 1859

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Read more quotes on relationship here.

Suggested read: 12 Easy Tips for a Happier Relationship

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Skywatch

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Relationship 101: Feelings

And so there are things you can do when you react with pain and hurt to what another is being, saying, or doing.  The first is to admit honestly to yourself and to another exactly how you are feeling.  This many of you are afraid to do, because you think it will make you “look bad.”  Somewhere deep inside of you, you realize that it probably is ridiculous for you to “feel that way.”   It probably is small of you.  You are “bigger than that.”  But you can’t help it.  You still feel that way.

There is only one thing you can do. You must honor your feelings.  For honoring your feelings means honoring your Self.  And you must love your neighbor as you love yourself.  How can you ever expect to understand and honor the feelings of another if you cannot honor the feelings within your Self?

                                                                                 Neale Donald Walsch

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Exploring with a Camera

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Island Weather Report

Mornings are rather cold here in the island; thus, early morning swimming has to be put aside for now.  Also, low tide starts so early that it seems I have to walk half a mile out to the sea to get to waist level of water.  But, the afternoons are great; water is high and the temperature is nice and warm. Just watch out for the sudden late afternoon showers.

Since about mid-December, it rains almost everyday here.  They're rather short downpours, however, and it's sunny most of the day.  

For the most part, the folks around here go about their usual daily grind without worrying about the weather.  The tourists also pursue their island hopping, diving and other activities without a care in the world.

All is cool in the island!

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An amusing read: Weather Forecasting Facts

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New Year's Day

"New Year’s Eve," the movie, I saw a few weeks ago at BQ cinema in Tagbilaran City.  Almost every critic in Hollywood hates it.   Certainly, it was no Robert Altman film, such as "The Player," with surprisingly witty, intertwining characters and subplots; but nonetheless, I like "New Year’s Eve" – because it celebrates love, hope, forgiveness, second chances and fresh starts.  

And when you have these elements in life, I believe, serendipity happens!

Serendipity, according to Wikipedia, means a "happy accident" or "pleasant surprise"; specifically, the accident of finding something good, or useful without looking for it. 

This online dictionary, on the other hand, reminds us that we are indebted to the English author Horace Walpole for the word serendipity, which he coined in one of the 3,000 or more letters on which his literary reputation primarily rests.

In a letter of January 28, 1754, Walpole says that "this discovery, indeed, is almost of that kind which I call Serendipity, a very expressive word." Walpole formed the word on an old name for Sri Lanka, Serendip. He explained that this name was part of the title of "a silly fairy tale, called The Three Princes of Serendip: as their highnesses traveled, they were always making discoveries, by accidents and sagacity, of things which they were not in quest of...."

And if one were born in the time of Jesus’ birth and happened to have come across the manger with the three kings right there with their gifts, now, that has got to be the most incredible example of serendipity.

 

Or how about while in Bohol watching the dolphins frolicking around your boat you suddenly find forgiveness in your heart for someone you’ve been holding a grudge against for so long, that you cannot even remember what started it?  And how about while walking along Alona Beach you once again find that spark, which revitalizes the love for your spouse of many years?

 

Gut feel tells me that Bohol is a place where serendipity occurs more often than many folks realize it.  And this may be one of the reasons why many tourists return to Bohol to spend their vacations.

Thus, for 2012, my main resolution is to become more open to and cognizant of serendipitous occurrences in my life here in Bohol. What a wondrous year that would be!

Wishing you all a serendipitous 2012!

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Catch of the Day

Sometimes, during the early morning, a small fishing boat will come careening into Alona Beach like a LCVP landing craft approaching Omaha Beach on "D-Day."  At first you'd think it's part of some naval exercise, but you'd soon realize it's merely a fishing boat loaded with some fresh catch from the sea.  

And on this particular day, it happened to be carrying what appeared to be gigantic red snappers and jack fish.  The former weighed about 2-to-4 kilos, while the latter had to be 5 kilos at least.

The boat’s crew were selling them at 200 pesos per kilo, but I was told by someone I know, a fisherman, that either fish shouldn’t cost more than 150 pesos a kilo, because 200 pesos per kilo is their selling price at the market.  It pays to know someone in the business, I thought.

Now, if you’re a local resident, you can buy any of these without trepidation.  All you have to do is pay for it, take it home and cook it.  However, if you’re only a guest at a resort, better  talk to the kitchen staff to clear with them first; that is, if they’re willing to cook for a certain fee, the fresh fish you had purchased at the beach.

For the locals, however, a jack fish or red snapper is not going to spur child-like enthusiasm as opposed to the much-coveted rumpi.  It is is a sleek-looking nocturnal fish that looks (and can get as big) as a barracuda.  But unlike the barracuda that swims with a swarm of its kind, the rumpi travels with at most, five of its homies.  

The longest a friend had sighted was about 1½ meters that weighed about 30-to-40 kilos.  Rumpis can get incredibly nasty, especially when guarding its eggs.  Its sharp, jagged edge teeth can cut a man’s leg off in only a matter of seconds.  This is one fish most feared by nighttime divers.

However, the rumpis are considered a prized catch because they’re a rare find.  They’re supposedly extremely tasty as well.  Some claim they melt in your mouth like butter. They’re known to absorb the flavors of the veggies and/or spices you cook them with.

As for the Boholanos’ favorite way of cooking the rumpis and any catch of the day: a la chicken tinola, comprised of lemongrass (tanglad), ginger, spring onion, and malunggay or pechay.   This is a very simple, easy to cook, and delectable dish.

Rumpi, a new quest for me to find, have cooked, and savor its legendary flavor.

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Dive Shops along Alona Beach

There’s probably more shops in the Alona Beach area I might have missed because they’re tucked inside some resorts’ lobbies, but will add as I discover them.  For those featured on this post, I had added the links to their sites where available.  As for all the open water diving articles online, the excerpt below is my favorite:

Zen and the Art of Scuba Diving

There are many skills required to dive. The basics are the mechanics, such as the assembly of the equipment, and the physical, such as swimming, etc. However, the real art of scuba diving comes from the effortless gliding through the water, being one with nature, and the vivid experience of the dive. We refer to this as the zen of diving.

Many people think that the best diving experience is when the conditions of the dive are perfect, flat sea, good visibility, and sightings of a variety of marine life. But some of the best dives we have had were in less than best conditions. The dive was a realization of what we have visualized, where we were at ease and controlled the dive rather than the dive controlling us.

Many people ask us how to get to the next level, to reach the ultimate plateau of the Zen of Diving. One of the first steps is to achieve good buoyancy. Perfect buoyancy is a pillar of the zen fundamentals of diving. One way to learn good buoyancy is by taking a course such as the PADI Peak Performance Buoyancy course. The essential skills of proper weighting, streamlining and trim, as well as more advanced skills such as breath control and visualization are covered during the course.

Bohol Oceanic Adventures

Tropical Divers

Genesis Divers

Sea Explorers

Sierra Madre Divers

Mr. Divers Dive Center

5 Star Dive Center

Val-M Dive Shop

Scuba World

Alona Divers

Blue Planet Diving

BM Diving & Island Hopping

Philippine Fun Divers

Bohol Divers Club


Related Link:

A Guide to Good-Sense Diving

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Boatman

His name is Ayeh, born and raised in Panglao Island.  He used to be a captain of a boat at Alona Beach that ferried tourists to and from the various attraction sites.  With great pride, he confided that being a boatman funded his college education.  He received his B.A. in Business Management from Holy Name University here at Tagbilaran City about a year ago.

Ayeh's story begins with his great love for the sea.  He started to pursue it at the tender age of ten by joining his grandfather, a fisherman, during the entire summer and on weekends during the school year.  By the time he turned thirteen, he was confident enough to go solo on a small boat provided by his grandfather; going on fishing trips with his friends with boats of their own.   It was tough for the first couple of months, but he soon got the hang of it – regularly getting a bountiful catch of galonggong, hasa-hasa, tulingan, and etc.

By the time he was fourteen, he was making anywhere from 200 to 300 pesos a day, which was quite a substantial income for a boy of that age.  Half of it immediately went to his mother, while the rest he saved, but he did manage to indulge in his favorite soda pops and sweets, of course.

During his high school years, he joined a fishing crew of a large fishing vessel where he dramatically increased his earnings to about 2000 pesos a week during the summers.  As usual, half of it went to his mother, while his share was now slated for his college fund, as well as for the accoutrements of a moneyed teenager – the latest model cell phones, a motorcycle and some nice clothes, of course.

By his college years, on weekends and summers, he switched to tourist boats.  At first he was a mere member of the crew, but as soon as he learned the nuances and the necessary skills to deal with the tourists, he set off as a captain of his own boat with one man as assistant.

As for celebrity passengers, he claimed only Kris Aquino and her husband James Yap, along with the kids and the usual entourage of help in tow. They wanted to go dolphin watching.  But what made this trip take a rather comical turn was that when the other passengers of the nearby boats noticed Kris and James aboard his boat, practically everyone followed to watch them instead of the dolphins.

When I asked him the biggest tip he ever received as a tourist boatman, he answered with a short narrative that took place one auspicious morning.  Walking towards his boat, he noticed a fat wallet on the sand near the water, which he immediately picked up and checked its contents – a large wad of 1000 peso and hundred dollar bills.  He knew instantly that it must’ve have been accidentally dropped by the passenger of that boat that departed only a couple of minutes ago, which was earlier docked on the beach alongside his.  And within a few seconds, that boat was in sight on its way back.  When it reached the beach, Ayeh went to approach the boat and asked the distraught-looking Filipina with her Caucasian husband if she had lost a wallet.  The woman must have been so discombobulated over possibly losing her wallet for good that she just grabbed it from Ayeh, without thanking him, and ordered her boatman to go back to sea.

Ayeh didn’t feel so bad for not having received even a tiny sum as reward.  He was just glad to have returned the wallet to its rightful owner.  However, about ten minutes later, a small group of people from Manila hired him to go on some inter-island sightseeing.  When they returned, the guy handed him a huge tip.  He turned out to be the president of a large bank in Makati.

As a captain of a boat during his college years, Ayeh earned an average of 20,000 pesos a month.  The hours weren’t bad, either – starting at the break of dawn and back at home by the early afternoon.  And to top it all, his boat was usually booked solid for up to six months in advance.  That was because the man whom he rented the boat from also runs an agency that handles many of the local tour trips.  Hence, he received priority booking.

Unfortunately, that all changed for the worse right after the Luneta Hostage Crisis when a group of Chinese tourists were senselessly gunned down by a disturbed ex-policeman.  Business doved fifty percent.  Ayeh also mentioned that the Chinese happened to be the nicest and most generous foreign passengers he ever had.  However, in talking with some of his previous colleagues, the tourism trade at Panglao Island is now supposedly regaining an upward trend.

Right after earning his college degree, Ayeh quit the boating business altogether and joined the hospitality industry.  His usual high income status changed to that of a minimum wage earner.  It wasn’t so bad, he admitted, for it was simply a part of his game plan; sort of a preparation for the next phase of his young life.  You see, at present, Ayeh has his sight set on cruising the Atlantic aboard one of those giant floating resorts/hotels.  He expects to be called for duty early next year by the Norwegian Cruise Line.

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Skywatch

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