Some Random Shots

Hello My Dear Great Ones,

The following are a few random shots from the Philippines and Hong Kong.  Not super exiting, but at least educational and a little different.

The National Flag of the Philippines (Filipino: Pambansang Watawat ng Pilipinas) is a horizontal flag bicolor with equal bands of royal blue and scarlet, and with a white, equilateral triangle at the hoist. In the center of the triangle is a golden-yellow sun with eight primary rays, each representing a Philippine province.^[a] At each vertex of the triangle is a five-pointed, golden-yellow star, each of which representing one of the country's three main island groups—Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao, the central star originally referred to Panay.^[13]

A unique feature of this flag is its ability to indicate a state of war if it is displayed with the red side on top, which is effectively achieved by flipping the flag upside-down.^[14]

 Beautiful Siquijor.  Love that island.

 The auto rickshaw,  tuk tuk, is a common form of urban transport, both as a vehicle for hire and for private use, in many countries around the world, especially those with tropical orsubtropical climates, including many developing countries. Bajaj Auto of Pune, India is the world's largest auto rickshaw manufacturer.^[1

A jeepney is essentially a vehicle made to look like a gaudy, stretched version of the military jeeps the Americans used in World War II. Passengers sit on two cushioned benches on both sides of what basically is a truck bed, usually 10 on each side.

 It is winter but plants are still blooming in Hong Kong.

 A container for recycling plastic bottles.

 A barbecue pit?!

 This Sheltie brought back some memories.

 Laundry day at a bridge in Hong Kong.

It is hiking season in HK.  Cool weather. plus 20 ish, no humidity, clear, awesome.

Have a great week!

Love adios and ping on!

Dirk

Siquijor Sea Life

Hello My Dear Great Ones,

I love snorkeling.  It is like going to a good church for me.  Seeing the genius of God's creation is amazing.  I think after watching these videos you will get an idea what I mean.

Love adios and ping on!

Dirk

Whale Sharks

Hello My Dear Great Ones,

Celia and I went on a day trip from Siquijor, over Christmas, to Oslob, Cebu to swim with some Whale Sharks.  It was an amazing experience.  Whale Sharks are astounding.   Here are some wikipedia facts:

The whale shark (Rhincodon typus) is a slow-moving, filter-feeding carpet shark and the largest known extant fish species. The largest confirmed individual had a length of 12.65 m (41.5 ft) and a weight of about 21.5 t (47,000 lb).^[8] The whale shark holds many records for size in the animal kingdom, most notably being by far the largest living nonmammalian vertebrate. The whale shark is found in open waters of the tropical oceans and is rarely found in the water below 21 °C (70 °F).^[2] Modeling suggests a lifespan of about 70 years, but measurements have proven difficult.^[9] Whale sharks have very large mouths and are filter feeders, which is a feeding mode that occurs in only two other sharks, themegamouth shark and the basking shark. They feed almost exclusively on planktonand small fishes, and pose no threat to humans.

The Oslob site is controversial because the Whale Sharks are fed continually all day by guys in boats.  It would be like feeding wild bears and making it a tourist attraction while feeding them.  Still it was a privilege to swim with the Whale Sharks and the fact it is helping an impoverished region of the Philippines is an important point.

Now here is a little blurb from Oslob:

Undoubtedly, one of the most popular — talking about worldwide recognition — tourist attractions in Cebu is the Whale Shark Watching or Swimming with the Whale Sharks in Oslob, Southern Cebu. And here’s everything you need to know about this famous yet controversial spot in Cebu.

1The activity site is situated in Brgy. Tan-awan in the town of Oslob, a remote part of Cebu that is 3-4 hours away from the city or 4-5 hours drive from Mactan Airport.

2Diving and snorkeling are limited in time and people, and done by batch. Each batch has 30 minutes to watch or swim with the whale sharks. Prior to that, there is an informative talk and presentation about the Whale Sharks and STRICT RULES to be observed during the activity.

3All the Whale Sharks at the Oslob Whale Shark Snorkel tour are wild animals and come and go as they please. The floats you see on the surface are merely marking the area for motorized boats to stay away.

4All the boats used in the activity, at the feeding area, are paddled using wooden oars — leaving no harmful chemicals unlike boat propellers.

5There are marine biologists in the area monitoring the water activity. Images are taken each day in water and using astrological mapping – map the whale shark spots.

6The Whale Shark Watching tour provides many benefits including, but not limited to, providing a larger source of income and employment to a town that historically has a high unemployment rate and also a knock-on effect for the entire economy of Cebu. It encourages the local and foreign visitors alike to advocate in the preservation of the Whale Sharks and minimizes the fishing of these gentle giants in many countries.

Have a great week!

Love adios and ping on!

Dirk

Sea Turtles

Hello My Dear Great Ones,
Near the island of Siquijor is another much smaller island called Apo Island.  It has an awesome marine reserve renowned for its sea turtles.  So we took the boat over to Apo one day and had the great privilege of swimming with them.  It was truly an amazing experience for all of us.

 Have a great week everyone!

Love, adios, and ping on!

Dirk

Cambugahay Falls

Hello My Dear Great Ones,

One of the happiest places on Earth is Cambugahay Falls on Siquijor island.  Basically it is a series of five falls in a tropical forest.  At the bottom of each fall is a sweet pool of water which is fun to float around in or jump in.  To get to  Cambugahay Falls we took a Tuk Tuk:

Here I am about to fold myself into a Tuk Tuk.  Nice way to travel around the island .

Celia and I packed into the back of our Tuk Tuk.

Our driver roared along at about 37 kms an hour.

Cambugahay falls has Tarzan Ropes that you can swing on all day.  Cost 20 pesos (1.50 Canadian)  for a local 50 pesos (3.50 canadian) for an outsider like me. Discrimination?  Its ok.

Beautiful, sweet, happy place.

Yup.  Cambugahay Falls.  One of the happiest places on Earth.

Have a great week.

Love adios and ping on!

Dirk