Sunday we walked through Rizul park and then onto an old fort grounds. Just walking the streets. And yes, it’s hot and super humid.
And I thought I was hot and tired:
Then back to Chinatown for lunch, walking through neighborhoods where there were no other Westerners. I thought I had come down with the usual traveler’s malady (more on that later), so stuck to plain chicken ramen. However, Mr. Drew ordered the spicy dish that I was dying for, and doesn’t it look yummy:
That night, we met up with the group (I skipped the big dinner) and headed out via airplane to Dumaguete on Monday morning. Off to the Atmosphere resort, which was beautiful, lush and filled with smiling staff. My room (which had the usual outdoor shower in a small, stone, garden area):
All settled in, we showed cards for diving the next day and the program was set. Beautiful morning view from the restaurant:
A two-dive morning, and I was disappointed at both the visibility and the muck diving. A few cool things, but honestly, I’m a vibrantly-colored reef girl myself. But I enjoyed it for what it was and we headed back for a shower and lunch. Restaurant Blue had 3 daily menus and the variety of international and local dishes left no one wanting.
I finally had to acknowledge that my original diagnosis was incorrect. I suddenly remembered the only other time I had felt these particular symptoms and confirmed via email with my doc that I was suffering a bout of diverticulitis. Bummer. Worked to get scrip emailed and the resort went to 3 different pharmacies to secure the remedy for me. But what did that mean? No diving for a week (which let out all diving with the group at the resort), liquid diet for 2 days and then a bland diet for close to two weeks. Really? At a beach and no cocktails? At an all inclusive with excellent food? The diving part didn’t bother me quite so much, since it wasn’t spectacular and Drew confirmed that only a few of the dives that week were up to par.
Did I enjoy hanging out by the pool every day, under an umbrella? Well, no. Weather alternated between pounding rain and sprinkles. Here it comes:
The view from my front porch:
Umbrellas were de rigeur!
However, the manager was lovely and though I couldn’t get a refund for the diving part of my package, they did give me two complimentary massages at the garden spa (I had already purchased a pack of 3). You can see from the photo it was lovely:
And Gilbert was my favorite; his relaxation massage was right on the money!
The day before departure for El Nido, hopped the bus into town. Besides actually feeling like I was in the Philippines and not just at a resort that could have been anywhere, I wanted to hit a pharmacy to load up on cough drops. Yep, had now come down with a wracking cough. Rosanne Rosanna Danna was absolutely correct!
Walking into town, spotted a bunch of people around an 8×8 structure and this is what they were looking at:
Looked pretty dang good, so decided to enjoy an order (or at least a few bites of Drew’s):
The most fascinating thing (other than the fact that Asian people LOVE fried chicken…KFC delivers here) is that everyone put a super sheer plastic glove on their eating hand so they could dig into their chicken without getting messed up. Which is more environmentally friendly: that or the wet naps we get back at home? Who knows…
Walking along Rizal Blvd, which is like a boardwalk along the beach, look what’s going on:
Dude is cleaning out those urchins and filling up bottles. Talk about fresh, fresh, fresh, veerry fresh!
We headed to lunch at KRI, and though it’s not supposed to pass my lips, I just couldn’t resist ordering the sisig for a taste (traditionally, all the good parts from a pig’s head, chopped and fried with some of the liver, onions, chilis and an egg on the side. Squeeze a big dollp of calabansi on top, which is super tart, tiny lime):
Was pretty darn yummy, especially if you don’t know everything that’s in it! Then we headed back to hotel for final pack and massage, and off for early sleep to catch the 5 am shuttle to the airport.