Philippines

I decided to hit the Philippines as my first solo trip. It was a twofer: I got to add a country to the list AND get my diving cert. Started off the trip with a brutal 1:15am flight to Cebu which I new was gonna suck and it did. When I landed, I groggily made my way to the bus terminal and hopped on a public bus that was thankfully air conditioned. I drifted in and out of sleep, the bus stopping at seemingly random locations on the island where middle aged Filipino ladies who all seemed to know each other would hop off in butt fuck nowhere laughing and giggling. Fuckin weird for that early in the morning. By the last stop, Maya Port there was only two people left on the bus, me and a German woman named Anna. We decided to stick together since we were both solo travelling and got on a ferry to Malapascua. It was about an hour, and when we arrived, I fully grasped how small the island was. It was unique, and I was excited by the fact an entire economy relied on diving to see one thing: Thresher Sharks. We stopped for a quick iced coffee to re-energize us then we both headed off to check into our hostels. I arrived at mine and checked in. Luckily ther air-con worked, but there was no toilet seat so Rebecca, the host, moved me into a different room that also had better wifi connectivity. The room was fine, but it had the terrible shower combined with toilet rooms that I despise. Ah well, I dealt with it. I met up with Anna later for some lunch, then I headed over to my dive shop to make sure all was well. My dive shop was also a resort that was pretty fancy. I attempted to see if they had any extra rooms they could give me for a discount but they quickly shut that down. Afterwards, I chilled at the resort for a bit reading my book, until I met up with Anna again for dinner. After dinner I headed to a much needed early bed so I could be up early the next morning to meet up with my divemaster. On my walk back I walked past a bunch of stray puppies they were so cute I wanted to take one home so bad. So the next day I woke up and went back to the resort and was told by my divemaster to meet back at the resort at 10am for our first dive practice and session. I grabbed a quick breakfast at a local stop that made their own bread, which was cool. I headed back to the resort afterwards and chilled and read my book some more and then met up with Julius, my divemaster. He explained to me how to set up a regulator and BCD, and after suiting up, we quickly went to the water. I had a private lesson which was so freaking cool. By the end of the lesson, my ego was massive because Julius was telling me how easily I grasped buoyancy. It said it took him more than 100 dives but I was already pretty good at it. He kept lowering mye weights because he realized I didn’t need them lmao. Anyways, afterwards we set up our next lesson the following morning, which wouldn’t be private, but with some fat Russian dude who Julius said was kinda ass. I spent the afternoon eating lunch and chilling by the beach and it was perfect. I headed back to the guesthouse in the late afternoon for some much needed AC and a shower. I had to sit through an absolute snoozefest of a meeting for Strat Mag, but it FINALLY ended and I was able to continue with my evening. For dinner, I linked up with Anna and these two other solo travellers she had met on her dive. We ate dinner and chatted for awhile, and after dinner I walked back to my room and grabbed a Magnum bar on my way back. Early start tomorrow morning! So far this trip has been a lot more chill, which I’m totally fine with. Lounging without a worry (more like ignoring the amount of work I have) is great.Read more