Camaguin Island, (part V), Pedro's Restaurant and Bar

Okay, one last post about Camaguin. I had to leave this till last but it was one of the greatest times I have ever had at a bar. And not that this is necessarily a good or bad thing but I've been to a lot of bars! For those of you who think you might go to Camaguin someday I would highly recommend going to Pedro's. The food is nothing special. The service is fair to middlin'. But Friday and Saturday nights are a hoot!

While at the falls, Mally, Shella, Alana and I ran into a Canadian guy named Jim. He was from Edmonton. Big guy riding a big enduro that he rented to get around the island. I think he said it was 700 pesos a day. Next time I'll probly do that. He informed us that Pedro's might be a good place to go. Boy was he right!

The reason I left this till the end is because I didn't bring my camera that night. What a mistake that was! So all these shots were taken by Mal and Shella. Thanks for sending them guys.

So we were gonna meet Jim at around 8. We got there and waited a bit but decided to order. I wanted to make sure they had gin. They said they didn't. I was disappointed but I noticed some criss-cross wooden shelving with bottles of whiskey in it. I went over and started pulling out bottles to see if any were gin. The LAST bottle I pulled was a bottle of, (believe it or not), San Miguel gin. So I asked if they had tonic. Nope. But I settled for Sprite. I ordered a gin and Sprite. The next thing you know the waitress is bringing the entire bottle of gin to the table with one small bottle of Sprite! I gathered mixed drinks were not very popular orders at Pedro's.

After we finished eating, just after 9, the band started playing. They were playing lots of really good music from my era. Mal and I really liked it. AC DC, Eagles, The Knack, Journey, Bob Marley, Joan Jett, The Police, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd etc. I had been told by Alana not to dance and since I'm not much of a dancer I was okay with that. Mal and I watched as others danced. Here's a pic of Shella dancing with some of the locals.

Then Jim shows up and proceeds to eat an inhuman amount of food! I mean this guy ordered three things off the menu then when I mentioned that I liked the buns that look like really big dimsum, he bought one of those for each of us. But he didn't drink. Said he used to but now he was off the sauce. After seeing him eat I can only imagine how he must have drunk! Probly a good life decision on his part. This is me talking with Jim. Notice that there is still plenty of gin left in the bottle. It was early in the night. He was an interesting guy to talk to. He'd done some drilling in the past so we talked a little bit about that. Then he told me that he used to operate a big crane and he was now retired. Then we chatted about his travels. He was doing a really quick tour of the Philippines and he told me where he'd been. I suggested a few places he should go and he wrote them down. Then he told me he was gonna go to Thailand next so I gave him some information on that too. Jim left quite early before the band really got hot. But as you can see by the sweatiness of the dancing pic, everyone was hot, not just the band.

As the night wore on Shella and Alana were dancing with the local guys and me and Mally were drinking. They ran out of ice so I started drinking warm G&S. Not the greatest but after about 10 or 12, who cares? I was pretty happy not to dance because I was pretty sweaty just sitting at the table drinking. So there was a lot of this:

You can't tell I'm getting a little bit drunk, can you? Alana ended up trying my Gin & Sprite and liking it so she drank a few too. That's more than usual for her. But I think she was perspiring from dancing too. Even though I wasn't dancing I wasn't bored. I would have been happy to spend the rest of the night emptying that bottle of gin and watching the band. They had a couple female singers and the one had a voice really similar to Janis Joplin. She sang Journey well. Than the guys sang too. All kinds of songs. But suddenly they started playing one of those songs that made both Mal and me say, "I can't believe they're playing this!" And we jumped to the dance floor. We had to. I just wish I could remember what song it was. Well I busted a few moves and Mal was getting funky in his bare feet and people were cheering, high fiving us, the place went crazy! The dance floor got really crowded and hot. But man it was fun!

I sat down after a few dances and noticed that my bottle of gin was empty. This was my reaction:

So I switched to beer. After downing a bottle of gin. And this may be an overshare but I didn't go to the little boy's room a single time that night! Hard to believe, but true. These are the crazy things you do when the atmosphere is just right. But it was about to get even crazier!

Round about then the band played "The Sultans of Swing". THAT I was into! So I went up closer to watch and gave the singer a 100 peso tip. He didn't know the words 100% but he heard me singing along so he handed me the mike. Just handed me the mike. So what could I do? I sang the last verses and airguitared during the solos with my San Miguel in hand. I was the Sultan of Swig.

There's a crowd of young boys fooling around in the corner. Drunk and dressed in their best brown baggies and platform souls. They don't give a damn about any trumpet playin band. It ain't what they call rock and roll. And the Sultans played Creole. Ahhh Creole. So the fat, yellow shirted man he steps right up to the microphone... and he says at last just as the time bell rings, "Good night, now it's time to go home." And he makes it fast with one more thing. He is the Sultan, yeah the Sultan of Swig. Shella got into the act too. She didn't sing that I can remember but I think she played the drums a bit. I went back and talked to the drummer a little too. He was a nice guy. I gave him a tip cuz by this time the band had hit its stride. EVERY song they played was a good one! And not a single stoppage! All night they played and played. I think they let us sing and drum just to get a little break. Here's the drummer and Shel shmoozing:

And here's my best Mark Knopfler impression. See my beer? I was bottlenecking, baby. At least in my mind I was the best guitar player in the world that night. But the hilight of the whole night for me was when the drummer handed me the drumsticks. And I'm not talking about chicken! No air drumming either! I was drumming in a live performance! Really! And not doing too shabby either. At least not to my drunken biased ears. And lots of high fives were exchanged afterwards so I couldn't have stunk too badly. What a gas! Go to Pedro's if you get the chance.

Look at me! Five minutes in a band and I already have groupies! Look at the smile on my face! I can't imagine how I could have had more fun. Do you see that white spot on my shirt just below the collar? That was the only dry spot remaining. I'm giving that shirt away too. Rob, Mark or Jen, whoever gets it, you may want to boil it before you wear it. lol. What a night! What a trip. I can't wait to get back there!

Camaguin Island, (part IV), White Island

Ahhh. White Island. It's white. And it's an island. But look at the water. So clear! It makes for great pics like these:

Hey, with any luck I'll be able to fit both of these pics on one line since the one of me is a little scrunched. That's the one I was talking about where I look like a serious snorkeller. I think the volcano on the right is the Old Volcano and the other one might be Hibok Hibok. Not sure. Both of these pics were taken on what would be the convex side of the smiley face shaped strip of white sand that is White Island. On the concave side the snorkelling was much better cuz the water wasn't so rough. It was better for swimming and even windsurfing too. I think other than vendors who sold snacks, beverages and barbecued fish for us, there might have been 5 other people on the island. It was fantastic if you like secluded places to sunbathe. I'm not much of a sunbather so I went out in search of some good underwater species. I particularly like the underwater species in the above left pic! Heh heh heh.


Here are the gals going out to try their hands at windsurfing. The guy on the board is kinda like the caretaker or lifeguard of the island I guess. He was on the board right beside me when I was snorkelling. He told me where the best snorkelling was. I think he was hitting on the girls a little bit. And I think they were probly hitting back a little bit too. He was a nice guy though.

Soon the girls gave up with the sail and just went for a paddle on the board. They went out pretty far and the guy didn't mind too much. Then they decided to pose for a few pics. And I'm glad they did! Know what I'm sayin?


By the time these pics were taken Mal and I were sitting comfortably under one of the blue tarp tents eating snacks and drinking some beverages. We were both too sunburned to do much playing in the sun with the girls. But we were happy to watch. I had finished with my snorkelling and got what I think was my best picture of the elusive clown fish. I saw him chasing all kinds of fish away from his anemone and just stayed in the one spot taking picture after picture until I guessed I had a good one. I didn't get a really GREAT one but I like the one below. It still doesn't have the side view of the clown fish I was after but you can see some of the fish he was chasing away.

Here's a pic of Mally getting grossed out by Shella sucking the fish head. Those CDO girls eat the WHOLE fish lemme tell ya! You can really see the smiley face shape of the island in this pic. And note how deserted it is! Noice!

See how sunburnt Mal is? I was like that too. The girls just got browner. Lucky! The boat behind Shella's head is the kind we took to the island. They look like sailboats but they have motors on them.

And here's Alana eating lunch. I think it was barbecued bangus, (milkfish), some noodles and Chippies. I'm looking skyward and probably doing some number crunching trying to figure out how many more years of working in Korea it'll be before I can just go to the Philippines and not come back. If I ever get myself a diving licence and start seeing how much better the critters are deep below the surface, I think I might just go A.W.O.L. forever. Maybe I WOULD make my living diving for pearls or something. I could probably be a diving instructor. Or maybe I could discover some new species of fish and name them. The Simpsonian Bartfish. The Blue Haired Margerie. Blowfish Homerius. Things like that.

Anyhoo, that was the best vacation I've ever been on in my life! Due to the fact that there were practically no seats available on flights going back to Korea and I had an open ticket, I stayed about 20 days longer than planned, so it was a lot more expensive than I wanted. But I regret nothing! I can always teach some extra classes and do kids camps to make some extra money to make up for it.

Now let's see... my next vacation is in June. I could go back and stay part of June and all of July... There's still stuff to be done on Camaguin. It could happen. Watch for it here.

Camaguin Island, (part III), Sunken Cemetary

This is where I did the best snorkelling of the trip. And I went snorkelling quite a few times. But I saw all kinds of nice stuff. You can kinda see the life under the water in this shot. And lemme tell ya it was lively down there! In the cemetary. Hah. A couple nice pieces of coral I saw. And they were just shallow enough to get that nice wavy sunlight on them. I love that. I just wish I could fit them in side by side like I can while I type here. But then when I see the finished product they're always on top of each other. Oh well. Still nice.














I was always careful not to step on anything alive, fragile, poisonous or things like that. But I did have one little scare. I stepped on something that felt like a piece of glass. But the pain just kept going. I thought I'd better get someone to look for me so I hopped over to Mal and asked what was on the bottom of my foot. And there was this little, tiny crab holding on for dear life. It was cute. I got a pic of him but it's too blurry to include here.

There are just too many to post. But I'll post one last pic. My favourite fish, the clownfish, swam right up to me to say hello. It's hard to get a good pic of them because they are always looking at you and so you can't get the side view with the nice colours. But I like this pic. You can see the sea anemone in the background where he calls home. I wonder why they only allow clown fish in them. Maybe they like them like me. I have other clownfish pics too. But I'll make a new post for White Island.

Camaguin Island, (part II)

Since I was bragging about the pool at the Golden Sunset Hotel, I figured I'd throw a pic in here. See the roof? Under there is the bar. We had a few beverages there lemme tell ya. They have a special drink called the Golden Sunset. It's Gin, Blue Curacao and I think orange juice, but they were probly out of O.J. the first night cuz Al and I had a couple and they were pretty blue and pretty harsh! Not much o.j. in them if any. Salt around the rim of the glass too. Not a fan of that. But anyway, you can see the lanterns in the trees. Those trees are old and gorgeous. They are right over the pool. It keeps the staff busy skimming leaves all day but it's so worth it! What you can't see is the hammock between the two trees. It was really comfy. Actually I acquired a bit of an injury from the hammock. We were trying to give the tree branches a stress test so Shella and I jumped in the hammock together and made a bow in the branches but they held. Strong old trees. Then Mally decided to push us so the hammock was hitting the tree. I decided to bail out so I rolled off and into the sand below the hammock, flattened as it swung over me then rolled out of the way. Just like my navy seal training taught me to do. But I got a little boo boo on my thumb somehow while doing it. Oh well. Nothing a little duck tape won't fix. The fun we had!

Here are the trees. And beyond them is the beach. Good snorkelling there. Although you have to go at the right time of day. Sometimes it's pretty rough water. I actually body surfed a bit on a windy day. But sometimes it's calm enough to snorkel. And you can see some nice stuff right there. Including the blue starfish and some other assorted fish. Actually if the building wasn't there you could probly see White Island out there. I think I could swim to White Island from this hotel. Though I wouldn't wanna try. Some of the waves are a bit high and who knows what kind of currents there are? It's too bad I couldn't take a night shot. My cam. has settings for night shots but I can't seem to keep still enough to do it properly. I should probly buy myself a tripod. Hey wait a minute! I have one! Dang! Shoulda brought it!



By the way, in the vid. Shella says her name is "Mitch". I think that's Alana's email too. I'm not sure of the inside joke there. Actually, we didn't have much time to go sightseeing after meeting Mal and Shella so we just went to Kitabawasan Falls together. It was great. I'm trying to upload a vid. to my blog. I tried before a few times and failed. I sure hope it works this time. Just in case it doesn't, here are a few pics:

I like this one of Mal and Shella in front of the falls. Doesn't he just look like every truck driver you've ever known? Good guy to talk to too. The water under the falls was really really cold too! The only place I swam in cold water the whole time I was in the Philippines. It was nice. I actually brought my snorkelling gear and got right under the falls where the water was much deeper. I didn't see any fish anywhere out there but there was a slowly decaying SHOE under the falls. I bet there's an entertaining story behind that! There were all kinds of vines beside the falls I don't know if you can see in the video. But I bet if you stayed long enough you could see a monkey or two. We had to walk down to the bottom of the falls, of course, and there was a monkey at the top. A pet monkey tied to a clothes line. He sure didn't like the girls! Tried to jump at them. Luckily his chain wasn't long enough to reach them. Little guy was probly just lonely.

Here's Alana, Shella and someone else walking down to the falls. I recommend a visit. It's really fun. I only wish we'd packed a bit of a picnic. They have tables there for that sort of thing. I think we could have even had a bit of a barbecue if we wanted. Oh well, next time. And I really think there will be a next time. Maybe as soon as June this year. I already miss the place looking at all these pics. There are only a few things I really don't miss about the Philippines. I don't miss hearing the song "Beautiful Girls" about 10 times a day. I don't miss getting ROCK HARD toast with now useless butter on the side. For some reason they don't put butter on the toast before bringing it. Probly for these FREAKS who like dry toast. Screw them! Put the damn butter on! Ha ha ha. THESE were the largest stressors I had while I was in the Philippines. It was SWEET!

Here's me exploring the depths of the falls. I think my mask could make ANYONE look as cool as I look here. The bod looks a bit doughy too. But I guess a month and a half of hair straight back partying it takes its toll. Hah! Hair straight back. You'll have to take my word for that. No worries, I'll whip myself back into shape this month by moving across Korea, negotiating a new contract, and running around trying to get all my paper work in order. Much bigger stressors in Korea! But when I want to find my happy place, I'll just look at this photo. It was cool, clear and very refreshing. Happy.

Okay, next is part III. Some good underwater shots coming up.

Camaguin Island, (part I)

I've had my waterproof, shockproof digital camera for almost a year. FINALLY I got some good shots with it! For instance THIS shot! That's what I bought the camera for! These blue starfish were all over the place! Even in the water just beyond the beach at our hotel. This shot was taken just off the shore of the Old Volcano in Camaguin. Near the underwater cemetary. I guess the old volcano erupted a long time ago and the island sunk enough that the people in the cemetary weren't just under ground, they were under water too. Volcanoes have always fascinated me.

So one of the things I wanted to do while on the island was hike up the old volcano. Did it! They have some white statues along the way that depict the last days of Jesus before the crucifixion. 12 of them. They were really good excuses to stop and get a picture, (while taking a quick breather).

It was a really nice hike. And I didn't go alone. I have to introduce the other people in the pictures. First of all I met a really nice gal named Alana while I was partying my face off in Caguyan De Oro and she agreed to accompany me on vacation to Camaguin. I also met a truck driver from Wales named Malcolm and his gal Shella at our hotel called the Golden Sunset. Alana and I had just checked in when Mally and Shella came. They were searching for a good hotel and much like Alana and I, they loved the place as soon as they saw it. In fact Alana and I saw the pool covered by trees with lanterns in them and the stools of the IN-POOL BAR and we high fived! So the four of us were together the whole time on the island. It just made things more fun for everyone.

So this is me walking up the stairs to one of the statues. See Mally and Shella taking a breather? Alana took the shot. Actually some of the best pictures I got from the trip were taken by other people. Shella took a pic. of me when we were snorkelling on White Island, (a really small smiley-face shaped island just a 5-minute bunka boat ride from Camaguin. White sand and NOBODY else there! It was gorgeous as you will see). It's one of the best pics of me I have. I look like an intrepid diver in search of the perfect pearl or something romantic like that. The volcanoes of Camaguin in the background and the crystal clear waters are really awesome! Maybe I'll put that one on here. Later. We haven't left the Old Volcano yet.

I know you're probly all curious about what the gals looked like. What kind of girl would go on vacation with me?! Right? Actually Alana and I went out a few times in Caguyan De Oro and had a bit of a whirlwind romance before we ever got to the island. I know she's pretty young but that's one of the things in the Philippines: age just doesn't seem to matter to anyone. And I felt like a little boy laughing and giggling every time we got together. But I don't wanna kiss and tell. She's the one on the right. Cute eh? Shella and Mally have been dating for almost a year I think. The funny thing was how we first met Mally and Shella. Alana and I had checked into the hotel and were getting out of our "multicab" after an outing, (can't remember where), and in the driveway of the hotel we saw another "multicab" with Shella and Mally in it. The weird thing was that Shella and Alana knew each other. So me and Malcolm said, "Well I guess WE should get to know each other too, eh?" But nicer folks I couldn't have met. A "multicab" is just a truck with an exteded box with seats and a, (very low), roof on it. It can hold about 8 passengers uncomfortably.

Along the trail there were these really old, gnarly, thorny, ugly trees with these unbelievably sweet smelling, beautiful flowers growing from them. Although the pic of me getting the flower belies it, I assured Alana that sometimes there is beauty in the old, ugly and gnarled. I'm not sure these pics are gonna work. While writing this they are side by side but when I publish this post they'll probly be on top of each other. So the pic on the bottom, or right, is the flower I picked held by Alana. It's just too bad you can't smell it!

And this is the view from the top of the Old Volcano. See the cross? That's the underwater cemetary. Close to there is where I took the pic of the blue starfish at the top of this post. I was pretty surprised at how hard it was to take pics underwater. I have a mask that isn't really my size and that doesn't make things any easier. I can't change my facial expression or water gets in the eye part. And I'm always laughing thru my snorkel at clown fish chasing other fish out of their homes or fish swimming into holes when I go by. Things like that. So I get a mask full of water. That just refracts the light and makes it harder to tell what I'm looking at or aiming my cam at. Also, the screen on my cam is hard to see at the best of times. Under water it's almost impossible. So I just aim and hope. Zoom if I am really feeling lucky. But the pics turned out pretty good. Better than I expected. Isn't that nice? More to come.

Best Vacation EVER! Part I, CDO

I think when I left off, I had just hit the red sports car with my golf ball. Helluva shot really! High, straight, just a tad too long. I went back to the little course another day and saw the same car parked in the same spot. I DID notice a little dent too. But who knows if that was me?

Anyway, that was in Angeles City. I was in Angeles waiting for my buddy. But he wouldn't be there for another week, so I decided to go to Subic Bay, Olongapo, Baguio, Tarlac or some other nearby tourist town. But no sooner had I made this decision, consulted the travel agent at my hotel and decided on Subic than I was slammed by the usual new country ague I ALWAYS get. It was worse than usual though. Much worse. I was in my hotel for a week all feverish and coughy. Ha ha ha. Coughy. The worst of it was I had no appetite. I almost felt sick just thinking of food. So with all the ab exercise from coughing my glasses off, and the week of almost completely liquid diet, I trimmed off a few pounds. All my pants were noticeably looser. So silver lining and all that.

So I met up with my friend, spent another week in Angeles checking out everything that's changed in the two years since I've been there and also going to the old favourites. Then after a bit of a struggle to extend my visa and plane ticket back to Korea, we packed up and went to Caguyan De Oro down south in Mindanao.

I don't remember taking a night off. Every day go for a swim in the pool to kill the hangover and every night check out a new bar. It was great! Oh sure we checked out malls and got massages and did some other touristy things during the day, but CDO was all about the nightlife. And man it was fun!

Then after we'd seen most of the bars and we both felt like we could use some time off the booze, I went to Camaguin and my buddy went to Manila.

Camaguin definitely needs a new post.

This is the pool at our hotel: The Country Village Hotel. 1700 pesos a night. A bit steep but, hey, look at the pool!

Here's a picture of me enjoying the pool. I think I only missed one day of swimming while I was in CDO. I can't remember what the reason was. Probly sunburn. I got a good one swimming with no sunblock. But as you can see from my shiny white bod, I didn't have it before this pic was taken.















Then, funny story. One morning at around 9 am. when no self-respecting barhopper would even think of waking up, outside my room there arose such a clatter, I sprang from my bed to see what was the matter. Away to the window I staggered with a scowl, and opened the curtains wearing only a towel. Then what to my wondering eyes should appear, but a bevvy of babes all in two-piece swim gear. The mid-morning sun gave its lustre below, to 19 pretty maids standing all in a row. Contestants they were, vying for "Miss Patag". And some pretty additions to this boring blog.

I figure #11 or #18 won it. I vote for #18, (the girl on the right), cuz she posed for a pic with me. Beauty and the beast! Poor girl. She could probly smell gin sweating out every one of my pores. But it's her own fault. I woulda been in the pool washing that sweat off if they weren't using it for the beauty contest.

Anyway, since I didn't bring my cam. to the bars with me, that'll be it for the CDO post. It was fun but not that photogenic.

New email address

Hey folks. Long time since my last post. Mostly because the computers in the Philippines, even the fastest ones, are glacial compared to my little lightning box here in Korea. It was just too sluggish typing and waiting half a second before your letter came up on the screen. I'm not kiddin!

But I, (being the terrible traveler), have found another bad thing about the computers in the Philippines! Word to the wise: Don't use them unless you must, and if you must, be VERY careful.

I got home to my computer and got onto Yahoo which said, "Hello davoid133. You have 48 new emails." So I put in my password and it said, "Invalid password." I checked my password, my caps lock, tried to retrieve my password, EVERYTHING had been changed on my yahoo mail including my profile information!

So then I thought back to the last time I used a computer in the Phils. It was at my hotel in Manila. I won't mention the name of it but it's on Mabini Street and it rhymes with the Shmiviera Shmansion. I used their one and only computer in the coffee shop to check if there were any updates on my job situation back in Korea. Didn't find any news but I sent a couple emails to friends and family. Then I tried to log out. I logged out of Yahoo but didn't seem to log out of the little program they have at the hotel that measures your time on the computer. So trying to be on the safe side I went to the front desk and asked the girl there how to log out. She told me that it is automatic. You wait three minutes and you are automatically logged out. It had already been more than 3 minutes and nobody was at the computer so I foolishly trusted her and went on about my business.

So I guess what happened was her or one of the bellboys who was listening jumped on the computer and got into my yahoo mail by retrieving my lost password. Although you have to know date of birth and a postal code for that. I don't even know what postal code I used. But they're pretty clever some of these Filipino computer geeks. Wasn't the Phils. responsible for the I Love You virus?

So now I'll never know what those 48 emails contained. It was probably mostly congratulatory letters for winning the UK lottery or urgent messages from the desk of Mahmir Abdul Mahatma Coat etc. I've been getting a ton of spam lately. And NOT in my bulk folder. So on the bright side it was time to change email addresses. On the dim side, I can't check my address book and transfer all my email contacts to my new contact list.

SOOooo, what I need is for anyone who reads this and wants to keep in touch by email, recieve pics from the trip, offer me a job, etc. send ME an email at my new address. Well it's not really new, I just never use it: david.professordave@gmail.com

I shoulda known better really. Mabini street. I met two guys on the island of Camaguin who BOTH got ripped off by a money changer on Mabini street. They both described a lady at an official looking office behind some bars who dinged them. They're convinced it was the same woman. I mentioned this to my travel companion in Manila but HE got ripped off by a money changer too! 7000 pesos I think. That's about 175 bucks, which goes a long way in the Philippines. And HE described what sounded like the same woman. Very smooth.

I learned my lesson in Indonesia where EVERY money changer should be a dealer in Vegas. They're really good! But all you do is make sure you're the last person to count the money. That's all. More than once I've started counting the money, (even though they make sure they give you LOTS of small bills in like 4 different piles to make it less convenient to count), and the money changer has grabbed the money back and tried to re-count it for me. I just let them do it again and then count it myself. It's fun. Kinda like watching a magic trick a few times. But I STILL have never seen the trick to it. Then if you try to count it yourself a second time they usually just give you back the foreign currency and tell you to go to some other money changer and then act offended that you don't trust them. Even though money changers are more convenient and nearby, it actually saves time to go to a bank and change your money.

I got dinged by one guy in Indonesia before I knew all this. I walked a few blocks to a restaurant, checked what I had in my wallet, knew it was the wrong amount and walked back to the money changer. I just told him he had ripped me off and it would be in his best interest to make amends. So he gave me my money back. I was pretty lucky there. That probly doesn't happen too often.

So the travel tip of the day is "Mabini" probly means "steal money from foreigners" in Tagalog. Stay away from Mabini street if you can. But this is the bad stuff from the vacation. There was much more good stuff. I'll use a new post for that.