Charlie (2000 - 2010)
You were one of a kind. You will be missed
Friday, July 2
Tuesday, June 8
how we DIDN'T get to go up mt. pinatubo...
when edna, aldous & cecille asked if adri & i wanted to go to pinatubo with them i immediately said "yes!"
and guess what?
the rains which had started at 3am up in the mountains had caused all trips up to be cancelled! the lahar was too soft and the danger of a landslide was too great.
just to give you an idea of how far off from civilization we were, sta. juliana is accessed via capas, and it's past camp o'donnell and somewhere in crow valley. it was just 830 am, and suddenly, we were in the middle of nowhere with nothing to do!
road -trippers (minus adri who took the picture) in the middle of nowhere...
having seen the signs which pointed to the monasterio de tarlac, a pilgrimage site set in the hills of san jose which housed a relic of the true cross of Christ, we decided to go there. we backtracked to a small road where we had seen the sign and started a journey across a rough road... with patches of good road. (and would you believe adri and i got a lifer? a ruddy-breasted crake was crossing the road!) we hadn't realized how far it was! it was past 10am when we got there, just in time for the start of Sunday mass. 
The Monasterio de Tarlac, Sanctuary of the Holy Cross
with cecille intent on going swimming ("we brought our swimsuits! we might as well swim"), it was decided that the closest (in terms of travel time) beach would be... subic. so we took the sctex all the way to good old sbma where we enjoyed the last few hours of daylight at camayan beach. after all my trips to subic, it was actually the first time i went swimming there! the beach wasn't so bad... in fact there were so many fish! too bad i didn't bring my underwater camera case (which i thought wouldn't be useful in the mineral-rich pinatubo lake!). we enjoyed the beach until the sun set.
sunset over subic bay from camayan beach...
i think this would be life's way of telling me that my summer break is over, the rains are coming and school is about to start again...
just to give you an idea of the mileage we gained, here's a map (c/o of the wonderful google maps):
1. baranggay sta. juliana, capas, tarlac : we found out that all trips to mt. pinatubo were cancelled because of the rains.
2. monasterio de tarlac, sanctuary of the holy cross, baranggay lubigan, san jose, tarlac: at least i got to go here at last, i've always been wanting to visit the pilgrimage site
3. fortune restaurant, tarlac city: good chinese food, and best of all, really fast service
3.5. floridablanca, pampanga: ok, we had to actually exit the sctex for gas! must be a regular occurence though because the toll gate person was able to give us precise instructions to the nearest gas station
4. camayan beach, sbma: who would've thought i'd be swimming here?
Friday, May 28
swimming with giants...
I glanced nervously at the deep green water. I was never much of a swimmer and jumping into deep water (and I mean can't-see-the-bottom-or-anything-else-deep) is always pretty daunting. I clutched at my bright -orange life vest and took a deep breath. "How big will it be?" I wondered. Elmer our BIO (that's Butanding Interaction Officer) was explaining how it was easier to be at the head of the animal rather than staring at a the tail swimming away. Head? Hmmm, head = mouth. Well, even if it was still technically a shark and I kept reminding myself that it ate microscopic animals.
"Ayun! Ayun! Meron na!" the boatmen shouted, themselves surprised. We were only 15 minutes away from the beach! I didn't expect a sighting so soon! There was a mad scramble as Suzy, Bigi, Adri and I grabbed our fins and snorkels. Elmer quickly grabbed the 2 closest people to him (Suzy and Bigi) and without warning, jumped off the side of the boat.
I sat on the edge of the boat hesitatingly. "Jump! Jump! Jump! Faster, faster!" screamed the boatmen at me. And in my confusion... I jumped off the boat, praying I wouldn't hit the katig.
Salty water entered my snorkel and I blew hard to clear it. I looked down... it was so murky! This thick plankton soup must be what these fish are here for, but where was it?
I looked down and blinked. All I could see was gray... and... spots?
What the....? It was right below me! I was never good at estimating depth in the water but I glanced left and right... spots... spots... spots! Holy cow, how big was this animal? And all of a sudden I saw a giant tail sweep... and it was gone. Everything was murky green again. Had I imagined it?
I lifted my head out of the water and saw that everyone else was smiling and talking excitedly.
Wow.
Our bangka, the Giana Bless circled back and let down a ladder to help us get back on. "Nakita nyo ma'am?" asked the smiling spotter who, not 10 minutes earlier, had been screaming his head off at me to jump.
What an encounter.
For the next three hours we would repeat the routine 8 more times. Sometimes not all of us would see it, the best sightings were when we were dragged along by Elmer so we could actually swim right beside or on top of the beast.
There was an encounter with one small one, probably 5 meters long, which sticks clearly in my mind. Several boats had seen it so there were several snorkelers in the water. I couldn't see where it was, when Adri pulled my arm and pointed to my left. The was sunlight streaming in ribbons in the green water and it hit the "tiny" shark just as it turned and opened its huge mouth. The sunlight on its back made the spots shine like diamonds. Because it was "small" I could see it from head to tail. I stopped and watched it swim away unmindful of the small throng of snorkelers following it. Wonderful creature. God must have had a good laugh when he decided this giant beast should have spots.
At the end of the morning, each of us had seen at least 6 whale sharks each. After the fourth sighting or so... we just really enjoyed jumping in the cool water and looked forward to the sight of (part of) a butanding swimming gracefully beneath us.
This is one animal encounter that I'll never forget. (And I didn't even have to climb a mountain or stay in the middle of the jungle!) Another reason to love the Philippines.
Elmer & the spotters
Butanding Interaction
Donsol, Sorsogon
May 2010
video clip: http://katrinket.multiply.com/video/item/49/butanding_interaction
more pictures:http://katrinket.multiply.com/photos/album/81/b_for_bicol_donsol
"Ayun! Ayun! Meron na!" the boatmen shouted, themselves surprised. We were only 15 minutes away from the beach! I didn't expect a sighting so soon! There was a mad scramble as Suzy, Bigi, Adri and I grabbed our fins and snorkels. Elmer quickly grabbed the 2 closest people to him (Suzy and Bigi) and without warning, jumped off the side of the boat.
I sat on the edge of the boat hesitatingly. "Jump! Jump! Jump! Faster, faster!" screamed the boatmen at me. And in my confusion... I jumped off the boat, praying I wouldn't hit the katig.
Salty water entered my snorkel and I blew hard to clear it. I looked down... it was so murky! This thick plankton soup must be what these fish are here for, but where was it?
I looked down and blinked. All I could see was gray... and... spots?
What the....? It was right below me! I was never good at estimating depth in the water but I glanced left and right... spots... spots... spots! Holy cow, how big was this animal? And all of a sudden I saw a giant tail sweep... and it was gone. Everything was murky green again. Had I imagined it?
I lifted my head out of the water and saw that everyone else was smiling and talking excitedly.
Wow.
Our bangka, the Giana Bless circled back and let down a ladder to help us get back on. "Nakita nyo ma'am?" asked the smiling spotter who, not 10 minutes earlier, had been screaming his head off at me to jump.
What an encounter.
For the next three hours we would repeat the routine 8 more times. Sometimes not all of us would see it, the best sightings were when we were dragged along by Elmer so we could actually swim right beside or on top of the beast.
The polka-dotted giant
Gone with a sweep of a tail
There was an encounter with one small one, probably 5 meters long, which sticks clearly in my mind. Several boats had seen it so there were several snorkelers in the water. I couldn't see where it was, when Adri pulled my arm and pointed to my left. The was sunlight streaming in ribbons in the green water and it hit the "tiny" shark just as it turned and opened its huge mouth. The sunlight on its back made the spots shine like diamonds. Because it was "small" I could see it from head to tail. I stopped and watched it swim away unmindful of the small throng of snorkelers following it. Wonderful creature. God must have had a good laugh when he decided this giant beast should have spots.
At the end of the morning, each of us had seen at least 6 whale sharks each. After the fourth sighting or so... we just really enjoyed jumping in the cool water and looked forward to the sight of (part of) a butanding swimming gracefully beneath us.
This is one animal encounter that I'll never forget. (And I didn't even have to climb a mountain or stay in the middle of the jungle!) Another reason to love the Philippines.
The Giana Bless
BIO Elmer
Donsol, Sorsogon
May 2010
video clip: http://katrinket.multiply.com/video/item/49/butanding_interaction
more pictures:http://katrinket.multiply.com/photos/album/81/b_for_bicol_donsol
Friday, May 14
attack of the hydras
2 days ago i noticed that my little aquarium cube had these things on the glass.
i realised they're hydras... tiny freshwater relatives of sea anemones and jellyfish.
now they're on the glass, on the substrate, hanging from the plants...
they're pretty cool, but i hope they don't get out of hand.
Monday, May 10
bumoto ka ba?
3 and a half hours and 170 voters before me...
that's how long it took me to cast my vote in the national elections today.
and although i filled in all the bilog na hugis itlog for my chosen candidates, the PCOS machine in our precinct cluster wasn't working! we just dropped our ballots in what one neighbor described as a box that looked like a garbage can. so much for partial automation... i hope that at least the count is actually automated.
here's hoping for change... the kind that starts within each and every Filipino.
that's how long it took me to cast my vote in the national elections today.
and although i filled in all the bilog na hugis itlog for my chosen candidates, the PCOS machine in our precinct cluster wasn't working! we just dropped our ballots in what one neighbor described as a box that looked like a garbage can. so much for partial automation... i hope that at least the count is actually automated.
here's hoping for change... the kind that starts within each and every Filipino.
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