Maquinit Salt Water Hot Spring

After diving, the girls and I decide to go to the hotsprings for some needed rest and relaxation. It was about a 20 min. tricyle ride away, so the 4 of us bargain with our driver and squeeze into the tiny tricycle. This was also a good way to see Coron as it drove through the main road of the town and along the sides of the mountain.

Maquinit Salt Water Hot Spring is the only known saltwater hot spring in the Philippines, if not in the world. The water is a comfortable 40°C and I felt immediatly relaxed when I climbed into the water. The hot salt water made my skin tingle, or maybe it was stinging all of the cuts and bruises I had received from diving. Whatever it was, it felt good.









Only beaufitul sunsets in Palawan

Dive 5 - CYC Reef

After a great lunch of grilled fish, we make our way to our next dive at CYC Reef. This area was also a long stretch of beautiful reef with great visibility. I saw really spectacular coral formations in this area and took billions of pictures. By this time I was a lot more comfortable with diving again and I could just float around and look at all the beautiful things around me. Everything underwater was alive and usually scared the crap out of me if it started moving! But part of me also felt quite intrusive just by the mere existence of me being underwater and I felt I must have altered the natural order of things just by being there. So with this healthy sense of fear I usually stayed a distance away from the reef so I knew I wouldn't ruin anything. Maybe in future dives I'll start getting closer!

Some sort of animal


Nudibranch (seaslug)










Jenny & Leslie

Dive 4 - Barracuda Lake

The next day I decided to dive again but only 2 this time. I don't think my body could take anymore! I was with a different divemaster and different group of people. The entire group was comprised mostly of middle-aged Czechs who didn't speak any English. But they were seasoned divers because they had brought all their own equipement from the Czech Republic! However, I'll be okay if I don't see another 50-year-old balding man in a speedo again.

There were 2 girls from yesterday's dive on this dive as well, Leslie and Jenny. I didn't have a chance to speak to them alot yesterday but after today I found out that they both grew up in Vancouer and now live in Hong Kong! It was kinda cool to talk about home again with them and make some new friends.

Our first dive was at Barracuda Lake on Coron Island. Approaching this island was absolutely breathtaking. It's definitely one of the most beautiful places I have ever been to. But beauty comes at a price. The lake itself is inside Coron Island, much like a crater. In order to get there you have to climb up then down into the lake through what I lovingly call "Death rocks." Seriously. The locals have tried to make it easier by installing railings but the rocks themselves are still quite steep and don't have any premade footholds. And we had to carry all of our equipment with us to get through this! So I just paid one of the local boys $1.35 to carry it for me. Totally worth it. But even without all the equipment it was still a dangerous climb.





The treacherous climb into the lake


Now Barracuda Lake is quite unique. There isn't much to see underwater but people come here because it is a thermal lake. The top14m is brackish water at about 28°C. Below 14m it is salt water and around 38°C. Below 26m the temperature goes back to 28°C. At 32m the water starts to turn the colour of tea, because of the tannic acid from the leaves settled on bottom. It was awesome to be able to do a skin dive here and I usually tried to stay at the 38°C level because it just felt sooooooooooo good!

About to descend


Tiny seashell at the bottom of the lake


Limestone formations


And yes, I did see THE barracuda!

Dive 3 - Lusong Reef

Our last dive on the day was at Lusong Reef. There wasn't a wreck here, only metres of beautiful coral reef. You could even see it from the boat because the water was so clear!









Some type of eel


The other wrecks to see in Coron


The beautiful sunset ride back


After we get back everyone on the boat makes plans to meet up for dinner later on that night. But by the time I get back to my room I didn't realize how tired my body was and I pass out instantly on my bed. It was 6pm.

Dive 2 - Taie Maru

After shaking off the excitement of my first successful dive in 8 years, we have lunch on the boat and make our way to the next site, the Taie Maru. This Japanese oil tanker was not as deep so I was able to see more of the wreck. I still managed to go down to 22m. But while I was underwater I still couldn't tell what part of the ship I was on!

Lunch, boat styles


Don't let the smile fool you, it's heavier than it looks


I was also able to see more marine life in this area as well. I took a video of me swimming through a gigantic school of fish. There were hundreds of them!

I found Nemo!


A grouper fish (or lapu-lapu as it's known locally)


Part of the ship that is now home to hundreds of organisms


Now imagine hundreds more...


My favourite, a sea turtle!!!

Dive 1 - Akitsushima

After a good night's rest, despite the bad karaoke singing at the Coron Public Market, I woke up to beautiful sunshine. I walk over to the Sea Dive Resort for a briefing and to meet my fellow divers for the day. I don't remember their names but our divemaster was British and the other divers were from Denmark, France, Singapore, Hong Kong, and of course me, the lone Canadian.

Now, it has been 8 years since my last dive. 8 YEARS! It was in Victoria, BC with the water at 4 degrees Celsius and I knew that what I was about to see this time in the Philippines was completely different from Victoria. To be honest, I was terrified. To top it off, almost everyone that I was with were Advanced Divers and I felt bad if I held them back because I can't go as deep as them. But as is most things in the Philippines, the certification isn't absolutely necessary and I went further down than I know I was supposed to go. And since I was alone, the other local divemaster Kuya Toytoy was my dive buddy which was alot safer in the long run.

Coron is well known for it's wreck dives and the town is littered with dive enthusiasts from all over the world to see them. The first wreck we saw was the Akitsushima, a Japanese Imperial Navy warship that was bombed by the US task force in 1944.

Our boat for the day


The 2 hour boatride to the first divesite


My Box-O-Equipment


As my first dive in 8 years, it was definitely worth the wait! It was amazing to be under water again and the combined excitement and fear I had made it all the more amazing. And by far, my Canon WP-DC21 Underwater Case has been the best investment. Now I just gotta learn how to take pictures underwater!

The guide rope to the wreck


I'm smiling with my eyes


Don't know what this was but it sure looked cool


The Danes and the Frenchman on the way to the next divesite

Coron, Palawan

My flight into Palawan was brief and I arrive at Busuanga airport in the smallest airplane I have ever been on. It held maybe 20 passengers, apparently this isn't a very popular flight.



It was still a 45 minute ride into Coron but I could immediately see why people came from all over the world to Palawan. The province itself is so lush and green and this could be seen during the drive on the rough road to Coron. We even had to stop because an entire herd of cattle and their calves had blocked the dirt road!

I hadn't made any reservations for a place to stay and just depended on finding a place when I got there. I managed to sneak a van ride to this one place that was offering a free shuttle to their hotel only to find out that the only room that was left was beyond my price range. $37/night for a double bed with shower and air-con? No thank you. I am travelling on a tight budget so every penny counts. The driver however was very helpful when I told him that I needed someplace very simple and safe for a single person. So he drives me into "town" and walks me through this winding path past hanging laundry and lazy dogs to a humble seaside lodge on the pier. At $11/night this was more my price range. And I was able to steal the Wi-Fi offered by the more expensive lodge across the way!







But the view from the back porch was beautiful! A great way to start my Palawan adventure.

I miss the Canadian healthcare system

Starting last Sunday Jan 18, an odd sensation started to happen to me. I slowly started to to get a rash on my arms from some sort of allergic reaction. I won't get into the gory details, but it grew into a full blown inflammation of my face and neck and the rash spread throughout my body. The odd thing was that I felt completely fine, minus all the itching. I could breathe properly, I still had my appetite, I felt a little weak but I had this thing all over my body.

I tried to brush it off for a while to avoid seeing a doctor but it got to a point where I could barely open my eyes in the morning from all the swelling that it was probably a good time to see someone about it. The strange thing was that my brother-in-law Jeremy had it too but he and I had a different range of severity, me being on the high side. But my sister, niece and nephew had no signs of it whatsoever.

My dad works for an insurance company here so we were able to see the first doctor immediately but she just sent us off with a prescription and no real explanation to why this was happening to us. When it got significantly worse the next day, we were sent to the Emergency Room at Manila Doctors Hospital with the intention of being hospitalized. We spent 8 hours being proded by numerous doctors and nurses, blood tests, and to see our reaction to a cocktail of medicine through intravenous. I was in and out of sleep from all the drugs but at least I was reacting positively. We were on a waitlist for a hospital room (so was everyone else and hardly any spaces had been available for 3 weeks) but Jeremy and I were pretty adamant that we didn't want to stay in a hospital. We were sent home with some more medication and another appointment with an allergologist the next day.

Unfortunately by the following morning I did not show any improvement. The allergologist saw us and since I was more severe suggested that I have a total IGE to find out exactly what I'm allergic to. He still didn't have a direct explanation for why this was happening, maybe the climate, the food, or an allergic reaction to a drug. So once again I get my blood drawn and I'm told to wait for my test results in 4 days. This is the most blood I have ever had drawn in my entire life and my arms still have the bruises to show for it.

My sister and her family were leaving for Ilocos the next day and I was supposed to leave for Palawan but because I had those test results to wait for I was trapped in Manila for another 5 days. So my dad found me a condo to stay at by myself to undergo somewhat of a self-imposed quarantine. Fortunately for me the place had stolen wi-fi and cable tv so I wouldn't go completely insane.

I've gotten so much better now thanks to alot of sleeping. I'm not quite sure if all the drugs were really helping and I think it's a little strange that a possible drug induced allergic reaction is trying to be cured with more drugs. I honestly believe it's all the sleep I've been getting that's helping me.

I return to the hospital today for my test results and they are not ready. I came even a day after the proposed due date and still nothing. The woman at the hospital was completely useless and gave me some lame explanation as to why the results weren't ready. She just gave me some number to call back in a couple of days.

Well screw that. I was feeling and looking better and I wasn't about to waste anymore time in Manila. I went to another doctor for a second opinion and after she gave me the okay I booked my flight to Palawan leaving for tomorrow morning. It was only $35 so I couldn't pass it up either.

The last 10 days has been a mess of doctor's visits, blood tests, and no answers. I think I just really needed to be out of this dirty Manila air and in some island sun. Despite the genuine efforts of some medical staff, I would never want to be in a hospital setting in a third world country again. Organization is laxed, privacy is almost non-existant, and even for a foreigner the bills are becoming a little expensive. I have travel insurance so I'll be reimbursed but I can't imagine all the locals here who need to pay just to get a 3 minute consultation after an hour wait. Throughout all of this at least my brother-in-law was with me. I would have completely hated this if I had experienced it all by myself.

I'm sure that Palawan will cure me. I leave bright and early tomorrow so I can finally get all my diving started.

My Live Slash Work space during the quarantine

View from 30 floors up in Mandaluyong City

Vibe Dance

After the workshops at Makati High School, we had some time before Emerson and Jay-R were to teach at Vibe Dance Studio in Quezon city. We arrive there and to our surprise, no air conditioning once again in the studio. I take Emerson's class, which I thought was really hard, but all the kids in the class were picking it up like it was nothing. I guess sexy street jazz to Britney Spears' Circus was their thing. Those dudes really knew how to whip their heads. But seriously, those kids were really talented and picked up choreo fast! It never ceases to amaze me the talent of Filipinos across the world.

By this point I was getting really hot and the exhaustion of the day was really hitting me. I tried to take Jay-R's house class right after but I was beat. But I did stay to watch it and sweat it out and groove with them while I sat in my little corner.

The brave kids who danced 3 hours in the heat at Vibe Dance Studios

Journey 2 Origin

Last week I was able to partake in a wonderful experience. And when I say partake, I mean I totally snuck into the van of some people I had just met and went along for the ride acting as if I had been there the entire time. Hey, you gotta do what you gotta do when you're travelling solo.

Seriously though, I had been fortunate enough to cross paths with some really cool cats from the Bay area out here in Manila. Super cool in fact. Members from DS Players, Funkanometry SF, and Beatz N Pieces and another fellow lone traveller, a chef from SF checking out street food across Asia! It all started with All The Way Live and I just kept tagging along since then. I think maybe they felt sorry for the little Canadian girl always travelling alone in a taxi. Hahaha.

We spent a couple of nights going out to Temple and Fiama clubs in Makati and I danced and watched everyone around me get drunk as all the "it" local celebrities rolled in at the wee hours of the morning.

But besides partying, they actually had a purpose out here in the Philippines. They were all part of an outreach program called Journey 2 Origin that went around to different elementary and high schools to teach dance. For free. So when I was asked to come along, I was on it!

They had already gone to a few schools by the time I met them but I had a chance to attend their workshops at Makati High School (kids between 12-16 years old). We met the principal and some other teachers and then it was on to the kids. They greeted us warmly, in fact we entered their main auditorium to screams and giggles. RJ was leading the pack so most people recognized him from TV but they were treating the rest of us like we were rock stars. All the dancers performed their routines to resounding applause. I was surprised most of all since I really didn't do anything yet somehow all these kids kept coming up to me asking to take pictures with them. I literally stood on the side and took behind-the-scenes photos yet that seemed significant to them. They were funny. Hey, it got some free advertising for SVS.

So all the kids (a couple hundred of them at least) are put into groups and all the dancers start to teach them. Everyone splits up and tries to find any space that they can. There's like a hundred kids in the auditorium and another hundred more spread out in the hallways. AND IT IS HOT!!! There is no air conditioning and almost all the kids are in their complete uniforms (button shirt with skirt or pants). I was boling just standing around all of these hot bodies that I could only imagine dancing in it!

But the kids loooooooooooooooooooovvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvveeeeeeed it! They were screaming, laughing, and cheering each other on. They were all so eager and grateful just having someone take the time to teach them something new. At the end of the hour sessions, everyone came back into the auditorium and performed what they had just learned in front of eveyrone. They were all so supportive of each other and having such a great time. There was one group in particular that I videotaped that I've been trying to post but the internet has been too slow. Jay-R was teaching a house routine to a group that included 4 proudly gay boys that were shaking their hips better than some women I've seen!

I would really love to organize something like this again soon, with Canadian dancers coming in to teach. Or maybe we'll all just blend in with the Americas like I did!

For more information check out Journey 2 Origin .

All the kids waiting anxiously in the auditorium


Danny from Beatz N Pieces


Jay-R from DS Players


Gina, Charlene, and Aisha from Funkanometry SF


Emerson from Funkanometry SF


RJ from Supreme Soul


Dennis from DS Players


The Fan Club