Philippines 2011 - Part 3 - Manila Spirits

Esther and i flew to Manila from Legazpi on thanksgiving. BloomFat searched out potential options for a t-day dinner. Turns out the Hilton was offering a special dinner buffet and seven of us who had arrived early met up to celebrate my favorite holiday.

We showed up a little early and i met BG in the casino. With only about 30 minutes before dinner, i sat down at the no-limit hold-em table (25/50 peso blind). I bought 2000 pesos in chips, about $50. I wouldn't be able to see too many hands, so my goal was to find a good spot to get all my money in. That opportunity would come in the tenth hand.

I was dealt pocket kings, the second best possible starting hand. I raise to 350, four players call, the fifth re-raises to 800. I push all-in, four players fold, and the re-raiser calls with pocket 7's. I'm an 80% favorite to win the hand. I'm covering him in one suit with my kings, so his outs are: four spades, a third 7, or four cards for a straight. I've played the hard perfectly, giving myself a great chance to triple up. He hits his fifth spade on the turn. It's disgusting, but it's better to be lucky than good. I get up and go to dinner.

... which was great, but a far cry from a real thanksgiving. They had excellent indian food, fresh sushi, pizza, hamburgers, rib eye, italian, mexican, and... a turkey, gravy, and some mashed potatoes. Thanksgiving dinner a turkey does not make. Where is my cranberry sauce, the kind with the baked ocean spray cranberries? Where's my stuffing? My green bean casserole? The dessert was pretty epic though, complete with a chocolate waterfall/fountain, and, like, all the pies. Ever.

Tournament Recap

We played three days of ultimate, as Friday was a one day single gender tournament. On the Men's side, our Beijng/Shanghai/Lincoln team lost in the finals against Philippines' own Boracay Dragons, on the final point, 17-16. We played a great game too, but we were plagued by injuries and strained muscles from the intense heat. We lost 3 or 4 key players about halfway through the game, and our lead turned into a deficit. We fought to keep it close and even had possession on the final point, we just couldn't finish it.

On the Women's side, China won everything against the Bebots, also from the Philippines, with a dominating final score of15-9, i believe.

For the co-ed tournament on saturday and sunday, Big Brother played great... up until the last points. We lost two key games against strong filipino teams, Boracay and Sunken Pleasure, both games lost on the final point again. I think the final score of both games was 10-9, or 11-10... something like that. Heartbreakers, both of them. As a result, we finished 7th overall out of 32 teams, which is quite good, but we could have easily been top 3. If those two games go differently, we become a contender for the finals. One problem is that most of our team played friday also, and when sunday becomes your third straight day playing under the brutal Manila sun, you have to dig deep to find the strength to push hard. We just didn't have anything left.

We kicked ass at the Saturday party, as always. The theme was "Back To School" and Big Brother went as Chinese schoolgirls. Esther and I found the costume on Taobao for $10 each. I worked the logistics of pulling everything together. Esther worked with the factory directly to sort out the sizes and request custom XXXL's for the big dudes on our team. The result was fantastic.

What a mustache.

I also played one song with the band, their cover of Sublime's Santeria. It must have sounded decent, or at least been memorable, because a bunch of people recognized me on the fields sunday. Good times.

~Kev

Philippines 2011 - Part 2 - Donsol

Here's a map of Southeastern Luzon, so you can follow along in our travels. I don't think they teach this geography in school yet.

We arrived at Legazpi by bus and checked into a hotel located inside the Embarcadero. For those of you familiar with Chicago, think Navy Pier... restaurants, shops, arcades... all in a waterfront mall. We did not know this is what the Embarcadero was when we booked the room, but we were nonetheless amused when we checked in. There's no excuse for me though, embarcadero means "pier" in Spanish.

Legazpi is the capital of the Albay province with roughly 200,000 inhabitants, called Legazpeños. The city's tourist attractions include, and are limited to, the Mayon Volcano. It's a cool volcano though, a perfect cone. And it's still active, very much so. It recently erupted in 2009, 2008, and 2006. Its tip was shrouded in a clouds the whole time we were there, like whipped cream melting over a sundae. Apparently it has a permanent wisp of smoke coming from the tip on clear days.

We spent a couple hours walking around an area, some area, talking to locals, looking at stuff, etc.

The railroad appears to be out of order at the moment, as it is cluttered with chickens, children, and abandoned cars.

We only stayed one night at the Embarcadero, so esther and i left BloomFat behind and headed to Donsol, The Whale Shark Capital of the World. Whale sharks are not whales, they are massive filter-feeding fish, and are the largest animal in the world outside of the whale family. There are daily sightings off the coast of Donsol and visitors can go on guided snorkling trips to swim with them, but only during the peak season of November to June. Unfortunately, we were a little early and they hadn't yet come in from the open ocean to feed on the coming plankton bloom.

We checked into Giddy's Dive Resort located in the town proper, rather than beachfront. I called ahead and asked one place how the beach was... "Well ma'am sir, here in Donsol we have da black sand, sooo, i tink maybe the beach is not so nice." ...

Being low season, there were only a few guests in the resort and they upgraded us to a deluxe suite. The food was pretty good, the service excellent, the pool clean... highly recommended!

There isn't much to do in Donsol aside from seeing the whale sharks, but both the town and the village are nice to walk through. People are incredibly friendly and curious, which i've grown accustomed to when traveling off the beaten path. Walking in the village, we find wood and grass huts raised on stilts, chickens, dogs, and cats running free, hand pumps for water, clothes drying outside, carefully swept pathways cleared of all debris, all in a tropical jungle environment.

We say hello to an old lady, her underbite prominent, as she goes for water. We stop to peer into a small yard and house, its dirt grounds immaculate. The lady walks back and says this is her house. We are surprised, unsure if we should apologize, but she invites us in. Her english is quite good. She is 78 years old, born and raised in this little town.

She lives here, a widow, with her son of about 30. Their house contains few possessions. There is no bed, and the living room doubles as the dining room, and triples as their shared bedroom. They sleep on the floor on simple bedding which is folded neatly in the corner. They have a TV, and I wonder if it works. The walls are bare, save for two photographs: one of her son, one if her husband. She says the picture of her husband is older than she is.

We pause outside for a photograph and, apologizing for interrupting her lunch, i give her my loose change of 20 pesos, about $0.50. She is surprised, but thankful.

Back in town, we wander the public market, which is mostly meats, fish, fruits and veggies. Children follow us and make faces or play hide-n-seek, alternately shy and curious. There are a few souvenir shops selling all manner of whale shark memorabilia. The whole town thrives on these animals, called Butanding in the local tongue. Murals adorn city walls, and there is a festival where people dress up like the butanding and sing butanding-related songs.

The local police department waves to us, and comes over to welcome us to the town. I ask a few standard questions people ask of the police, like, do you have much crime here?

Him: No we don't have much crime here. This is a baseball town. (pronounced "beesebol")

Me: Oh, i see. This is a baseball town?

Him: Yes, a very baseball town.

Me: Hmmm. So people play a lot of sports to stay out of trouble?

Him: *looks confused*

Esther: Kevin, he said peaceful, it's a PEACEful town.

Me: *nervous giggle*... Yes, that makes more sense. Can we go onto the roof of your police station?

Him: Of course! It's a nice view from up there! Very very baseball.

We ascend to the roof so i can take an important picture of Gangster Esther. Gangsther?

The next day we spent our time lounging at the pool, reading, and relaxing before heading back to Manila for the tournament.

~Kev

Philippines 2011 - Part 1 - Caramoan

For my annual trip to the Philippines surrounding the Manila Spirits tournament, Esther and I joined up with Leigh and Baby Girl for a trip to the untouristed Caramoan, in the Bicol peninsula of southeast Luzon. We went a week prior to Spirits and after two flights, we arrived in Naga. A van picked us up at the airport and took us 90 minutes to the port, where we boarded a public boat for a 3 hour boat ride to Caramoan.

We stayed at West Pen Villas, where for 5000 pesos each (about $115) we got round-trip airport transfers, three nights accommodation, three days of food, and two days of guided island hopping. On the first night, we wandered the town center (read: one street, three blocks) and entertained the locals. Baby Girl and i bought some 1-Litro Red Horse beers (extra strong! 6.9%) at the corner store and joined some loitering locals. We played chess against 10-year-old challengers and won, impressing the amassing throng. Esther and i had some incredible fried chicken from a street vendor. Everywhere we went:

Them: Hello Ma'am Sir! What are you doing in the Philippines? (aside: it's always "Ma'am Sir", even if you are just one dude. to avoid offending potential lady-boys?)
Us: We are traveling before an Ultimate Frisbee Tournament.
Them: Oooooh. What is Ultimate Frisbee?
Us: It is a team sport like rugby, but with a frisbee. Do you know who Derek Ramsey is?
Them: Of course!!
Us: We are good friends with him. We play Ultimate Frisbee together.
Them: Well then you, by association, are also awesome and possibly famous!
Us: Yes, this is true.

There is not much to do in the town itself and the local beaches aren't fantastic, but the islands are unpopulated and beautiful. With our two full days there, we visited 6 islands, and made them our temporary paradises.

Day 1. Matukad, Lahus, and Sabitang Laya

Matukad was heralded as having the best beach of all the islands. In my opinion, while not true, it was a nice place to start, since it was probably the least interesting of all six that we visited. Recent storms littered the beach with more debris than expected, and it was already occupied when we made landfall. Moffleigh (aka BloomFat {Bloomberg+Moffat}) went for a swim in the cove, while Kevsther played frisbee on the beach.

Lahus was a real gem. 

I stole this picture from the Gota Resorts website, because, well, it's better than mine. Probably because they had a helicopter.

There are two coves on opposite sides of the island, connected by the same beach. We had a delicious lunch there... chicken curry, king prawns, stir-fried veggies, bananas, san miguel light... and we all did our own version of enjoying the island.

• BG - climbs the jagged rocks barefoot.
• Leigh - sunbaths and reads on her Kindle.
• Esther - swims in the double coves.
• Kev - chills in his hammock.

Later we all reunited and joined forces to build the tiny sand kingdom of Wah. Large in its dreams, righteous in its execution, short in its life, Wah had a prosperous time of growth -- centuries for its inhabitants, 20 minutes for its constructors -- in which it saw the completion of a protective moat, complex drainage system, exterior walls, guard towers, resident dwellings, and some kind of treasure. The creators and residents rejoiced, certain their loving toils would be rewarded with several eternities of peace. But when the armies of evil waves began crashing down upon the outer walls, it was clear their time was limited. Also, i think leigh dropped a large rock on the treasure, so we shoved off to the third island...

Sabitang Laya was the largest we visited, with nice sand, an expansive beach, and cool rock-outcroppings. There were several other groups there already, so we decided to walk down the long beach. We found a second beach, a perfect stretch of sand, unspoilt such that when you walk in it, your foot breaks through the top layer and sinks calf-deep into soft cool below. We all delighted in this for a while -- hey, you've gotta try this, step here, hahaha, isn't that crazy!? --- and while BG went on another shoeless adventure, us three played frisbee on the gorgeous, private beach.

Day 2. Malawi Sandbar, Cotivas(?), and Someplace?

Our first stop wasn't an island, but a sandbar. And as it was high tide, the shallowest area was waist deep. There are several floating huts you can relax in to take cover from the oppressive sun and there are ladies walking around, offering sea shells for sale. They need to be offering cold beers, and they missed a golden opportunity. Of course, we played frisbee, laying out with every opportunity.

Yes, i am manicuring a glorious mustache in support of Movember.

Our second stop offered the clearest shallow water we had seen. BG and I played chess in the shade with our guide, Eric. He beat the crap out of us.

The last island saw use of the hammock again, this time Kevsther reclining together. Also, there was a puppy, which leigh named Toast. I'm not sure why, maybe because gosh you're such a cute puppy i just want to eat you?

Leaving Caramoan, we backtracked, first the boat ride, then the van, then an AC bus heading to Legazpi, where BloomFat and Kevsther would eventually part ways, for a whole, like, three days.

~Kev