The Philippines

Last weekend was lunar new year or "Chinese New Year" as everyone calls it here. Chinese new year is a three day public holiday in Hong Kong, and therefore time for vacation during busy season. Jack and I went to the Philippines. We left on Saturday and switched planes in Manila to go to Boracay. Boracay is an island with white sand beaches and blue waters, about an hour flight from Manila.

We got there and walked around, ate some dinner and then hit up a few bars later. The one bar, which my senior manager had told me about, is called the "Hobbit House". This bar is unique to the Philippines, and is actually a franchise. Although there are only two, one in Boracay and the other in Manila. What makes it unique is that all of the employees at this bar (hosts, hostesses, and watresses) are all ... um... little people. Yes, a mixture of both midgets and dwarfs. We went back the next night in which I had 5 imported beers, awarding me a free shirt en titled, "small is beautiful". Of course I quickly put the shirt on and posed for a pic with a couple of my new small friends.

So, that was Sunday night, but still not the most exciting part of my Sunday. Late morning, Jack and I went Scuba Diving. Yes, neither of us had ever been scuba diving and I was probably not supposed to as I have asthma. However, we went to a guy (seemed to be a middle aged Scottish guy) who worked out of a small place on the beach. I think most places require that you do two swimming pool sessions before going into the ocean, however, I will remind you again that this guy works in a tiny building on the beach. He gave us the waiver forms and said for us to mark "no" to each of the health related problems (one line specified asthma) or else we would have to go and see the doctor for clearance first. He said that would make us have to wait longer to get in the ocean, so not to worry about it, we would be fine.

Well, he explained the tank components and then we suited up and went out into the shallow part of the ocean. There were 5 of us in total, including Ken, the instructor. I was fine til this point, but then we started practicing the safety procedures. For the first time I started breathing under the water. Well, I was scared to death. (yea, I am not afraid to admit it) I had to breathe with just my mouth, and was looking under the water for the first time ever. (I can't open my eyes under water without a mask and had never been snorkeling before) Ok, so, it is all new to me, but then I was getting worried, because the instructor had emphasized not to hold your breath or to breathe really fast. Well, with my asthma I usually breathe out of my nose a lot and hold really long breathes. I went under the water and found that I had held my breathe some and then started breathing fast to recover. Ok, a little bit of panic, and I was the first to do the safety procedures. This involved dropping the regulator (mouth piece), finding it and puting it back in, dropping it again and signaling to the instructor that I was out of air and to take his emergency regulator. This is all under water, while I was already panicing. So, I stood up out of the water after one failed attempt and then was somehow able to do it on the second try, but swallowed a lot of water in the process and jumped back out of the water immediately afterward.

Everyone else did theirs fine. Then it was time to go on the boat and out to a reef where we would be going down, 30 meters below the surface of the water. I was worried the whole way out there and questioned whether I should even go down. I didn't want to panic with my asthma and have to come back up, taking away from everyone's fun. Well, I was nervous up til when everyone fell back into the water and even after I did the same. At this point, flippers are on and I am in the middle of the water with nowhere to stand. the intructor has already taken 2 down and the other dive master is taking Jack first as I am still a little hesitant.

I have my regulator in and am looking under the water just at the surface. I hold onto the anchor rope and while inches under water I focus on the others below. I keep focusing on the others and I guide myself further and further down the rope, until finally I find that my mind is off of the breathing, I am as far down as the others, and am away from the rope. It is amazing. The fish are swimming everywhere and the dive master gives me a pack of crackers. I crush it up, open the end and let the crumbs fly out. The fish are now swimming all around me and I tried to touch them. I only slightly touched a few as the little bastards are fast. (I'd like to see how they do on land) Well, I don't know what else I can say except that we were under water for at least 30 minutes, 30 meters down, and I saw clown fish (nemo) and touched a star fish. The coral and the entire experience was awesome.

That was long, so I will continue the rest in another blog. To be continued...