musings

Wednesday, Thursday and Fridays were interesting days. I call them "fortunate days" or a series of FORTUNATE events. Where do I start?

Its summer and the days are hot. I mean steam bath hot! You can just stand there out of the sun and sweat. The little wind that blows your way is hot too. Whats a gurl to do? Wednesday was like any other Wednesday except that i was getting slowly pissed off. Let me explain.

About 4 weeks ago, an American guy named Gary approached me and my team at Powernet to propose something. He's the same Gary who offered to take PowerNet off my hands when Dad died 3 years ago. I told him very politely to go stick his finger up his ass and jump into the polluted Pasig river. In fact, I did it so politely, he kept in touch. This 57 year old American guy is shacking up or banging his underling by the name of Len who happens to be separated from her husband. Gary used to be President for Asia Pacific of a company called E. E does everything Cisco does but as E claims more securely and better.

You see Dad left us PowerNet when he died 3 years ago. We never knew about the company. He organized it because he was bored. Funny thing though, the company is into providing network solutions but Dad didn't have any inkling how to operate a computer. He already has trouble operating his mobile phone!

We didn't know what to do with this company. It was in pretty bad shape and we (siblings) didn't know a thing about this business. Anyway, Dad threw like P20M into that company and it was still bleeding. Thats when Gary proposed to take it off our hands for nothing and we gotta pay him something for taking the company out of our hands. Well, Daddy didn't raise us to be fools. So politely and ever so diplomatically, told him to jump into the PaSIg river.

Three years later and he comes around again. This time he's a bit more aggressive, arrogant, obnoxious and sleazy. He went through my Head of Sales, Mary to arrange this meeting. You see Mary used to work for him. Mary is a good good friend of his concubine Len. Mary gave me an idea of what the meeting was all about. So we met. Mary, Carl (Head of my Technical Support) and I with Gary and Len.

Gary starts off by telling us that they'll become our competitors since E will appoint them as a distributor/reseller/agent of E. But he does not want to compete with us. He wants to be part of our company by merging his new company with us. So we listen to his proposal. I could not help but raise my eyebrows a few notches because all that they (GAry and Len)talked about was how good they are. I think Len noticed my eyebrow emitting some sort of signal and made a comment to Mary. My ever loyal Mary (and she is loyal and a jewel to boot) defended my eyebrow raise. I could also tell that Carl (my ever loyal, brilliant tech head) was kinda uncomfortable listening to hot air. The day was hot and the air emanating from their mouths was hotter.

Gary tells us that Andres of E (his former underling) was coming to Manila to meet clients and the Philippines is his territory. GAry also says that Andres will appoint them as our competitor. I asked for a meeting with Andres. Len pushes for a meeting and GAry hems and haws and finally agrees to having Andres meet little moi. Alarm bells though were ringing through my head.

The following week, we (Carl, Mary and I) met up with Andres and Gary. Len, the concubine, joined us later. Andres just confirmed what Gary told us and gave his hot air a semblance of credibility. I needed time though to think this through. I agreed to a meet though with GAry the following Monday, at the Pen, where we could talk more about this merger. In the meantime, I asked Mary to set up a meet with the other reseller, Jon and his wife Susan.

I met GAry at the Pen the following Monday. He proceeds to propose an Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA) and talks more about how great they are and that their greatness will be transferred to our company and together, we will be great. Then he did something I didn't like. He said bad things about PowerNet and disparages my Mary and my Carl. Now that got my bood boiling. But I am also a gifted actor. Oscar quality actor. I played it cool and my used the best poker face I could muster. I was surprisingly friendly and pleasant. Charming to say the least. But inside, I wanted to wring that old man's neck and send him to paradise.

I called a meeting with my Carl and my Mary. In that meeting, Mary and Carl didn't want to merge with GAry. So I again asked Mary to arrange a meet with Jon and Susan on Friday. Meantime, Carl was surfing Google.

That day as I was sweating out my hatred in the gym, Carl rang me up. Told me to go to Google and he was so excited. He found the leverage we needed to put that asshole out of business. When I got home, I surfed Google. GARY PLEAD GUILTY TO 1 COUNT OF FRAUD AND HE WAS FIRED BY E! I now had the leverage I needed. I slept so well that night.

I met up with Jon and Susan that Friday. Jon and I get along pretty well and we talked about E, GAry and Andres. He was also approached by Gary and he turned him down. He was surprise about the info on Gary. We both concluded that we had to take Gary and Len, the concubine out of business. So we made a plan of action.

The following week, I fired off an email to Andres expressing my concern about E appointing someone with a criminal conviction and a former executive who was fired. It was a hot email and I expected an answer. But no answer came. I fired off a SMS message and Andres told me that he can't access his email since he's in Vietnam and there is something wrong with the system.

So I waited the following week. When Tuesday came around and still no answer from Andres, I fired off 2 emails. 1st email was sent to Gary the criminal and Len the concubine declining to do any business with them. The 2nd email requesting Andres to answer my email.

That brings me to Wednesday. Apparently, Andres calls Len up to inform her about my email to him. Len reacts by calling on Jon to find an ally against little moi. Jon answer her frankly and tells her that he's on my side and wants both of them out of business in this country. He then proceeds to put the fear of God into her by telling her that I am a very bad enemy. I am so powerful and influencial (charing! LOL) that I can have her man of her dreams and love of her life deported and banned from the Philippines. He then tells her that he'd rather have her and Gary as his enemy than moi. He so throughly terrorizes her that Mary calls me that GAry wants to speak to me. Mary tells me that GAry sounds terrified.

So I tell Mary to have Gary call me. Gary the low life goes even lower. He tries to appease me by changing the story of what he wants. He tries to convince me that I misunderstood everything he said and that he's not involve anymore and its Len's company. So I told him in a very undiplomatic tone to shove a sausage up his ass.

That evening, I tell Andres to answer my email or else I send an email to his boss exposing his shenannigans.

Thursday comes around and as I was getting ready to leave for that ebiz conference in Punta Fuego, I fired off an email to Carl to send my email to Andres boss if I dont hear from him.

Off I go to Punta Fuego. I was looking forward to this conference since I've never been in one and that I really wanted to do the outdoor activity. Of course, when the conference I started I made my mark questioning the sensibility of an exclusive outlet scheme. Then the outdoor activity started. Surprise surprise, I was made a tribal chief. My group made me the leader. We went through the activities. We placed 3rd in the 1st game (out of 4 tribes), last in the 2nd game, 3rd again in the 4th game and won the last game which was the biggest game of them all!

As we went back to the casitas to get ready for the gala night, I retrieved my phone and saw 23 missed calls from Mary. Mary tells me that Andres has been frantically been looking for me. He wants to talk to me. I smell blood and victory!

Andres calls me and starts to mouth Gary's line about Len really is the company etc. I cut him off and told him to go jump into the Pasig river because his story is so pathetic and I'm not buying it. I told him that E will withdraw the appointment of Gary and Len and that they will deal with moi and Jon or else it reaches his boss. I've never seen a grown man capitulate so fast. Andres ended the call by promising to support moi.

I had a pretty nice time at the gala night. My worries were over. I got what I wanted and crushed an insect. God that feels good!

The next day, I didn't expect the unexpected. Our tribe was voted the best tribe of the activities!

Off I go to Tagaytay to join Mom, Sis and bro in law at Tito Willy's place for lunch. Tito Willy, a 1st cousin of Mom is my favorite uncle. He's gay and he's a widow. His long time lover, Jean Louie was killed by a holdup man in 1987. They've been together for more than 20 years. He's fun, witty and intelligent. And he has good food.

Those past 3 days were good days. But not all my days will be good days. At least, or now, I am on a natural high.

(For A: Concubine can be used endearingly or derogatory. For Len, its derogatory, for A its endearing).

In our universe, spouse and I have been asked the secret of staying together for 9 long years. Is it 9 years already? I dunno. I lose track of time. That is a good thing because time does not seem to drag when you enjoy each other. Hmmmm.... oki doki. I guess I have to concoct some so-called secrets of staying together without actually killing each other. LOL (learned that from A from another generation.)

Secret#1: You both have to love each other and actually like being with each other. Its like a comfort zone. He's there. We talk. We find each other's topics interesting. We actually enjoy cuddling and embracing and just being together without the sex.
Secret#2: You actually have the hots for each other. Although sex is not as frequent, when you do it, it still is good. He's a bit overweight but he still gives a mean blow job.
Secret#3: You respect each other.
Secret#4: Your actually best friends.
Secret#5: Having sex with other people can strenghten relationships. Don't expect to be sexually faithful to each other. Thats a lot of baloney.
Secret#6: Those bad habits you can't stand eventually turns into toleration then endearing.
Secret#7: You like doing things for each other.
Secret#8: You miss him after a week after he leaves.
Secret#9: You both have to be financially stable. One can have more income than the other but each has to contribute to common household expenses. Separate your profits from your career, job, business. Try not to lend your spouse money. But if he needs it, give it to him but don't expect it back. We never did lend each other money. I invested in his business but its a small amount almost like a token. He pays for the groceries and food and I pay for the mortgage, electricity, dues and water. We both pay for the yaya.
Secret#10: Your friends, his friends, our friends like us both. Friends that don't like him or me eventually become not friends anymore.
Secret#11: Tolerate each other's relatives. Its not both your fault if you have obnoxious relatives. You can't choose your relatives and he can't too.
Secret#12: Your so secure with each other. Your very rarely jealous.

Spouse has come a long way since we met. He's a fighter. He's weathered several business challenges with aplomb and courage. I'm proud of him. I try to help him any which way mostly by giving support, marketing him to clients and by being a critic with a solution. I know he appreciates me.

But he can really really be so kulit. I should be used to it. My whole family is kulit. When I'm in an ok mood, I find that endearing. But when I am in a foul mood, it pisses me off! LOL

Hope he has a nice trip. He deserves it.

I like weekends. They're mostly fun even if you have problems, they provide an outlet for fun. Yep, that's how we optimist see the weekend. Spouse and I ended up having dinner and a movie Friday night at Rockwell. That was relaxing and fun. We bullied the Smart center in Rcokwell to transfer his directory to his new free Nokia 6630 phone. We had dinner at Burgoo and watched Guess Who. I have this terrific crush on Kushner. Sometimes I daydream that I'm Demi and Kushner's making love to moi. Its almost like A and me. (shit now I'm getting a hard on). Its a witty remake of the 1960's film Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (Sidney Poitier). Movie is ok but I wouldn't buy an original DVD.

Saturday though was Finex work day. Since I'm the head of Jfinex Committee, I had to host a meeting in the beach house of Ed Ferreira in San Juan, Batangas. He calls it Villa Ferreira. I know where the place more or less is. Its like 20 to 30 minutes nearer than Laiya, San Juan BAtangas where they have white sands and nice resorts facing Tayabas BAy. The very pretentious Villa (why am I not surprise?) sits in 2 hectares of land facing the sea with a very dirty gray sand beach. The very modern wavy looking glass encased Villa with an infinite pool is a monument to very bad taste and excess. It reads: I am rich, I pretend to have taste and I have arrived.

Let me talk about Ed. Ed is very successful drug lord (the legal variety), very rich and very gay. He's got 3 kids, all adopted but he tells everyone that they're from his "girl friends". The yougest son though is very good looking and very young like 17. I met him and I drooled over him. But in terms of sex appeal, wife and A is so much more appealing. He's just simply pretty.

Everyone knows Ed is gay. But no one really tells it to his face so we let his charade go on. What is it with old men like Ed. They're so afraid that people will find out that he is gay. Helloooo everyone knows it and no one treats him differently. Hell, I was the President of a Rotary Club! Ed actually is cute in his younger days. He still is good looking now in a dignified sort of way.

Anyway, I conducted that meeting and we had a great time. The company made all the difference.

Sunday was quiet. Had lunch with Mom, sis and bro in law and played with the baby RJ. I like babies. But I like them when they're not crying. Oh yeah, I almost forgot. Posed for a nude picture for the nude picture exhibit of Marlon Depues. Hey my nude photo will be displayed on Wed, Art Informal at 277 Connecticut St., Greenhills East Mandaluyong; a few houses away from Mom's house. Fuck, I ended up buying a work made by Jose Santos III a young artist with a great art style.

Wife and I got together after and watched Sahara and ate at Cibo. I'm gonna really miss my spouse when he leaves. I always miss him anyway when he leaves for a trip.

The only difference between this trip and his past trips is that A is around. Somehow I have this conflicting feeling of missing him and anticipating spending time with A.

There's a saying that you can't choose your relatives. Yeah, I agree with that. There are relatives though that I get fairly well along with. There are those that I'd rather not see. We all come from one extended family, sharing traits and yet are so different from one another.

Got a text from my sister yesterday at about 6:30PM just as I was about to leave the gym that the Ongsiako cousins are coming over for scotch and kobe/wagyu beef. I called her to tell her I was on my way. Wouldn't miss that kobe/wagyu beef for the world! Well that was the motivation. I do enjoy though their company.

You see my father's side comes from a wealthy land owning family. Most of us end up as doctors or lawyers or politicians. During the Spanish time(like mid 19th century), a Intsik trader from Shanghai came over to trade in these islands. He fell in love with a half breed spanish lady and married her. He then brought her back to Shanghai but his family couldn't accept a gweilo (foreign barbarian). So he came back and burned his ships. He then settled with his wife and foounded a trading firm that eventually lent out money. His father in law was a gambler. One day his father in law gambled away the family hacienda. He bought it back from the debtor and found himself in possession of more than 10,000 hectares of land stretching from three provinces of Nueva Ecija, Tarlac and Pangasinan. He had 2 children. His children were considered mestizos. But they couldn't figure out if they were mestizo intsik or espanol. They grew up speaking 4 languages, Spanish, Intsik, Tagalog and English.

The girl ended up marrying a spanish mestizo and so this is where the de Santos, Orosa, Olegario lines are descended from. While Lucio (my great grandfather) fathered 3 daughters and three sons. His daughters married a de los Reyes, Gallego and yes a de Santos (1st cousin--this will be a normal occurence within the family--marrying cousins). My grandfather, Ramon, married my grandmother, Carmen de la Paz (a former Ms. Markina) from Marikina. He had 6 children with her and 6 children with other women, including an actress by the name of Naty Bernardo (grandmother of singer Jo Anne Lorenzana--yes she is a half 1st cousin). Pacita de los Reyes-Philipps, a 1st cousin of Dad, became Ms. Philippines in the 1930's and became the 1st woman lawyer to graduate from UP and top the bar. She also made a splash of some sort when she sued Wack Wack Golf for not allowing her to become a member of the golf club. She won the case.

My Lolo loved women. He was a handsome fellow. He was also an eye, nose and throat doctor. He also put up an insurance and tobbacco firm before the outbreak of World War II. He was intensely nationalsitic and got angry when people called him intsik. He was also eccentric. He burned his house in the farm because Pacita's dad kept on using his house for months to conduct business in their hacienda. He was also jailed by the Japs in Fort Santiago. Unfortunately he died in 1949 of cancer. My grandmother, CArmen, was a businesswoman. She expanded the family wealth by buying up foreclosed properties from the banks. Together, they had 6 children, 3 boys and 3 girls.

The girls married well. Imelda, married Ramon Cojuangco (mother of Tonyboy C. and Gretchen Barretto's favorite peeve), Carmen, married Edmundo Reyes from Marinduque (she is governor of Marinduque and her son (my cousin) is congressman from that province) and Myriam, married Rodolfo Montelibano from Bacolod.

The boys married well too. My Dad's eldest brother, Oscar, a lawyer married twice. He married his 1st cousin, Violet Gallego who unfortunately died during childbirth. He married Noemi Villanueva. He founded also the Siguion-Reyna, Montecillo and Ongsiako Law Offices. He liked to brag that he wrote the Coporation Code and the Labor Code in the Philippines.

Ramon, a doctor married Cecille Hidalgo, a descendant of Tomas Morato.

My father married Hideliza Paraiso Tambunting. He married rich.

The Ongsiako's are an eccentric, intelligent, cultured, refined and horny bunch of people. They have this sense of noblesse oblige (with great wealth comes great responsibility). They have a social conscience. While the Tambunting's are a shrewed, money grubbing and pretentious bunch of people who only looked out for themselves and their status in society. My mother was the complete opposite of her siblings. I think she got it from the Paraiso side of the family. Gentle, refined and very principle oriented. She also had this soft spot for poor people that we always have to restrain her from donating to any poor priest or nun.

I have more fun with the Ongsiako's. They are very natural people. What you see is what you get. They like to drink. They like good food and they know how to have fun. And they love to flirt. Men and women. They're perpetually horny. That's why the Ongsiako's die of lifestyle diseases like heart attacks, strokes etc. And they do it in a very classy way. Even when they die, they seem to do it with aplomb and class.

Last night, we had caesar salad, kobe/wagyu beef and tanguinge washed down with Johnny Walker Black. We had pulutan of chicharon with laman, beef tapa and tofu. The conversations were free flowing and we talked about cars, places, ideas and as it got rowdier, their female conquests. Of course, I couldn't talk about mine. Didn't conquer anyone lately except A.

But A isn't a conquest. He's more of a a a concubine.

Last night, we bonded. Family bonding is good for the soul. Wife though had to clean up the mess.

Met up with A yesterday. He wore a soccer shirt, dark soccer shorts and flip flops. He's sooo cute in his attire. Couldn't wait to devour him. We had our helping of intimacy. Wife called while A was devouring me. Had this mind blowing turn-on. We had good conservation and had a further peek into his soul. And we ate a very hearty dinner. Had to leave him though. Had to go to Jay's 40th birthday bash in Bed.

Went home to hook up with wife and to wrap gift. Wife came home tired and in a foul mood. Wife didnt want to go to party so I ended going alone. I went stoned. Smoked half a joint and got a buzz.

Saw the gang at Bed. Everyone's there. Couldnt keep track how many vodka tonics I drank. Levi wanted to leave at 11:30. Told him to wait till 12. Flirted, and drank. left at 12. Passed out watching CNN. Wife still snoring and by the sound of the snore, still in a foul mood.

Wonder when A and I can meet up again?

I woke up at 5am to CNN showing scenes from the Vatican and announcing that we have a new Pope. Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, a German, is now Pope Benedict XVI (for Lasallites este Lasallians (thats how they call themselves these days) reading this blog, its read as Benedict the 16th). How will this earth shattering event affect moi?

Well, Frank Ysaac, past president of that illustrious organization (if they don't elect me director for next year, they're not illustrious! Shit.... can't campaign... position seeks the man and all that crap....can't practice my vote buying prowess...) called FINEX (Financial Executives Institute of the Philippines) sent me text messages at the ungodly hour of 6am. I gotta forgive Frank. He's getting on in years. He doesn't need much sleep. His 1st message reads:

"The cardinals have spoken. They have elected a German as Pope to shepherd the catholic flock. He will now be known as the GERMAN SHEPHERD."

2nd message:

"The rats are scurrying in fear from the Vatican. Cardinal Rat-Zinger has been elected Pope."

Ok so I get funny texts from a funny old foggy. Its Wednesday and its the Glorious Mystery day if you pray the rosary. Is my life gonna change??? From the way the news goes, he's a conservative meaning: no women priests, no married priests, no birth control and no homosexual marriages or worse--no recognition of gays! So life goes on. There really is nothing new to expect. He's 78 for Christs sakes (no pun intended). He's not gonna be pope for long. I'll give him 10 years (at the most).

Life goes on.... spouse is in a foul mood this morning.... I'll still see A later. A and I will violate all the sacred tenets of the Church.... But will we go to hell??? The jury is still out on that.

I really gotta find out who Mr. Big is? or Ching? Or Ritchie Rich? Oh well, I guess I'll have to find out later. Hmmmm.... maybe I'll torture him with pleasure....

Its very rare to meet a person and instantly connect and that's during and after sex. When the sex is fantastic and the conversation great, you can't get him out of your mind. Its disconcerting, disturbing, elating and all those nice and bad feelings suddenly surfaces. Heh! I'll explain.

I'm a happily married male (well thats how we look at this relationship in the gay universe). We've been together like ages (9 years). We live together, get along, still have passionate sex, and cant imagine life without each other. Sure, we play the field. Sometimes we even end up in a threesome or an orgy. But they were mostly one night stands. Sometimes, there were repeat sessions but mostly the guys were forgetable. Sometimes, these guys ended up as friends/barkada. Then I met him.

He buzzed me at my Ringo/Tickle site. That was more than a year ago. His name is A (after a red-haired comic book character). Actually found his name cute. Pretty soon we were sending each other text messages. Sometimes flirting, sometimes just chatting. Couldn't figure him out really. But A struck me as a guy with a sense of humor and wit (which I like).

Last week, after a text message sent by A and a dare sent by moi, we finally met on Thursday, at Starbucks in the Araneta Center. Just as I was parking my chariot, he texted me saying he was the shiny guy near the counter. I texted him back telling him that I'm shinier.

So we met over espressos. We decided to decamp from Starbucks and move on to explore an "afternoon delight". It was more than a delight. It was one of those earth shattering sexual escapades. Surprisingly, the conversation was good too. And that was after the sex. Hardly any awkward moments. Hmmmmm......

We parted ways promising to repeat the experience.

Over the weekend, I found myself thinking about him. He kept in touch. I liked the feeling he kept in touch. I don't know what to make of it.

I'd like to see him more. I have mixed feelings about it. Its going to be unfair for him. I'm married and really don't have plans of ending my marriage. I still love wife. But I'd like to see A too. I getting very fond of A. There's a word for this. Concubine??? Could he be my concubine??? But will it be fair to him? He' s too nice of a person to hurt. He's not only cute, but he's witty, has a wicked sense of humor, intelligent, and all those nice things.

I read his blog. Typical for his age, his angst written posts are a peek into his soul. Like most young Pinoys, he's contemplating on going abroad. With his brains, I dont think thats such a good idea. He's also toying with the idea of getting a rich, white, cute boyfriend who can take him abroad. Now thats a bad bad idea. Yeah, I got jealous just thinking of it. Ano ba yan????

I'm looking forward to seeing him again. In fact, I'm looking forward to spending time with him when wife leaves for Canada for 7 weeks.

But who is Mr. Big?

musings
Tubbataha Reefs, a protected area run by the Protective Area Management Board of the DENR, is the best place to dive in the Philippines and in the world. It is recognized UNESCO World Heritage Site. It is a place that any serious scuba diver aspires to visit. Because of the habagat and amihan monsoon winds, the season is short. When the amihan wind and the habagat wind converge in the Sulo Sea creating very calm waters, that’s when the season starts in March and ends in mid-June.

Tubbataha is special. It has awesome walls, flourishing reefs, 2 wrecks, big fish and a remoteness that you’ll seldom find in the world. Many divers return year after year to rediscover the experience.

Located 100 nautical miles (180 km) east of Puerto Princesa, Palawan (8 to 12 hours by boat depending on how fast the boat travels) is accessed only through live aboard boats or private yachts. Most dive shops located in Metro Manila can book you on trips aboard the boats. The more popular live aboard boats includes the M/Y Tri-Star. These live aboard boats are very well equipped and fully air-conditioned. For local divers, a 5-day 4-night trip would cost you Php 35, 000 but for foreigners, they charge $1,000. The fee includes all dives, food, weights, tanks and services of a dive-master/dive-guide. Airfares, spirits, beers, juices and soft drinks are not included. There are DVDs available and CDs on board. Scuba World has 3 live aboard boats.

Tubbataha is two separate reef structures housing three lagoons. The larger structure to the north has two lagoons. A the top, a tiny islet, called Bird Island (off-limits to visitors) is the landmark of North Tubbataha. At the southern portion of the north side is a sandbar where park rangers has their outpost. The South Tubbataha has a lighthouse located in a tiny islet.

The rangers assigned to Tubbataha are strict in implementing park rules. No fishing, jet skiing, water skiing, no spear-fishing, shell or coral collecting, no touching of the corals, no disposal of garbage and human waste, etc. Fines are steep. You can be fined Php 10, 000 just for overturning a sea cucumber. It happened last year when Gutsy Tuason (a world renowned photographer with 2 books under his belt) overturned a sea cucumber for a better under water shot. A diver reported it to the park rangers and he was fined Php 10, 000.

Two years ago, President Arroyo dived in Tubbataha and had dinner at the sand bar where the Ranger Station is located.

Let me recount to you the Tubbataha trip that I just came from.

We left from Bauan, Batangas Wednesday evening March 23 at about 9pm with 16 divers and 2 dive masters on board the MY Sarangani. The Sarangani is a former Japanese research ship with a length of 160ft. It is now used as a private pleasure yacht with diving facilities. Roy Chiongbian’s family (Eastern Shipping) owns the ship.

The dive group is a well-experienced dive group. Most of us hold advanced certification and those that only have open water certification had at least more than 100 dives. Gutsy Tuason (you should have heard about him. He’s the photographer with 2 photo books on diving the Philippine reefs), his mom Karen and his girl friend Amanda Griffith was with us.

On the way down to Tubbataha, we decided to stop by Apo Reef for a couple of days of diving. We decided to head to Coron for shelter when the waters got rough.

We finally left Coron Sunday for the 22-hour trip to Tubbataha. We arrived in Tubbataha Monday morning at the Ranger Station and after the formalities got into the water at 10am. On the 1st dive, tunas, jacks and numerous white tip sharks were seen. But the highlight was 2 nurse sharks resting in crevices and a huge marble ray as big as a tabletop was resting in about 50ft of water in a crevice. By the 3rd dive, the white tip sharks, tunas, jacks, snappers, turtles, blue and yellow fusiliers were so ordinary that we were looking for rare like whale sharks or leopard sharks.

We transferred to South Tubbataha on Tuesday. That’s when we saw the manta swimming 40ft away from the boat. Everyone, including the dive boats next to us scrambled for masks, fins and snorkel and jumped into the water. The manta played for about 30 minutes before moving away!

We stayed there for another day and that’s when I saw my leopard (book calls it zebra shark) shark at 95ft inside a crevice. And the school of hammerheads at 80ft above us. One of them managed to come back and stare at us. At about 130ft, a huge grouper (lapu-lapu) about 6ft in length and 4ft wide was spotted behind a crevice.

Next day, we decided to move North Tubbataha. That’s when I saw the thickest school of jacks, blue and yellow fusiliers forming into a ball around me. Just as we were doing our safety stop, we saw a huge napoleon wrasse (mameng) behind some rocks.

On Friday, we dove the Malayan wreck site. That’s when we spotted several giant triggerfish guarding their nests. We had to do our safety stop out in the blue since the reef was infested with triggerfishes! Those triggerfish can get really vicious when they’re protecting their nests. We heard and spotted a dolphin at 50ft.

Too bad we had to return to Puerto Princesa. We didn’t get to dive Jessie Beazley Reef and Basterra Reef. These two reef systems are near the Tubbataha Reefs. We left Tubbataha on Friday evening after dinner.

On Saturday we were back in Puerto Princesa just as the air condition in the yacht broke down.

So now I’m back to reality and day dreaming of the dives in Tubbataha.

PS: For non-divers, the swimming and snorkeling on top of the reef or around the lagoon is a must. Non-divers will be amazed at the quantity and quality of the corals, the variety of fishes in very good visibility. Just watch out for the sharks. They don’t mind the divers but they might give snorkel swimmers a scare. Ha ha ha ha ha! J