Bye Malapascua, Hello Moalboal

goodbye Malapascua...

When we left Malapascua, we passed by Cebu City for late lunch and went all the way to the southwestern part of the region which is Moalboal. Because our driver drove so slow, we reached Moalboal after sunset. Too bad, the only sunset shot I have of Moalboal was this photo below, which I took while we were still on the road.

hello Moalboal...

Our team was scheduled to train the staff of this beautiful resort, Club Serena, the following day. This means that Carelle, RR and Ian can do a night dive, while I can just simply enjoy the rest of the facilities by myself.

Illegal Fishermen at Gato Island in Malapascua

I'm back to my regular programming now. Teehee. My goal is to finish blogging about all those travels I did in 2010 so by the time I live in Boracay come summer, I can finally do a near real time travel blogging. I've never done that before. I always wanted to enjoy my travels first then just blog about them much, much later.While this method of blogging has been very enjoyable, it's also been time-consuming for me. Since it's a brand new year, I figured, I can try doing a more real time type of travel blogging starting this summer.

Anyway, moving on, here are snippets of my visit to this not-so-wonderful marine sanctuary that is Gato Island. I'll tell you why...

Seeing Gato island from afar...

Gato Island is supposed to be a marine reserve which is about 1 hour boat ride from Malapascua Island. I went there together with our team of divers (Carelle, RR and Ian) for their Monad shoal dive. They were excited to see white tip sharks! Gato island boasts of a cavern that runs through the island, about 25 meters in length. Since I'm no diver, I thought of just snorkeling instead.

RR ready to dive...

Unfortunately, by the time I hit the water, I couldn't see a single thing. The water was so murky and dark. When I did see a pair of huge lapu-lapu, I thought they were sharks so I panicked and went back up the boat and just sunbathed instead.

That's me catching some sun...

I thought the murky water was the worst of it. By the time my friends came back to the boat, Carelle was cryings coz she saw some dead nemos and dead swordfish (photos below).

Bonding with a new British friend in Malapascua Island

Unlike Boracay, Malapascua has a very quiet night life. There's only one "happening" place at night and it is located at the right-most end of the island (if you're facing the sea). I forgot the name of that resort. It's the one with a blue and white concrete hotel and has a disco downstairs during weekends.

As for Exotic Dive Resort where we stayed, the quiet dining ambiance of their restaurant kept us company at night.


One evening, I was setting up my virtual office, hoping to get a lot of work done, when Stephie approached me, thus, starting a long and interesting conversation about places we've been to, things we've done, thoughts about politics, etc.

Stephie is a freelance British lifestyle journalist from the United Kingdom who frequently writes for travel magazines, sharing her experiences in the places she visits. She was introduced to me by Carelle earlier that afternoon after I went snorkeling. Considering that I can be a very shy person without meaning to, we didn't really talk much when we got introduced. I was having major leg cramps at the time (caused by a false jellyfish attack... yes, I'm now paranoid in the water) and I just needed to get back to my room.

Anyway, going back to that evening, I was quietly sitting there, hooking up my netbook to the restaurant's wi-fi, and quietly enjoying my cocktails when Stephie approached me. At first, she was asking about the little Asus eeepc I was using since the pc she brought was quite big and bulky. Then, we just started talking about everything, including what she has to do with these bunch of local kids asking her for some cash for their party.

The Amazing Training at Malapascua

We arrived at Malapascua island on Dec. 1 and checked in at Exotic Dive Resort. But it was only on the second day that my volunteer work there really started. If you want to read everything I've blogged about so far during this trip, please head to Malapascua 2010.

Anyway, I'm not just describing the training we did there as amazing but I am also telling you that Carelle Mangaliag and RR Herrera of Motivating Minds (now called TRAIN STATION) train people HOW TO BE AMAZING in all aspects of their lives! In this particular instance, they shared their expertise in neuro-linguistic programming and its proper application to both work and family life so the locals can achieve their goals for their community.

Malapascua Highlight: Exotic Dive Resort

I gave you a bit of a background before about this whole 1 week Malapascua-Moalboal trip. This is the continuation. But if you'd like to see everything that I've written so far about this trip, head to Malapascua 2010.
~~~oOo~~~

front view of Exotic Dive Resort

As I mentioned before, our team was accommodated by the most high end resort in Malapascua Island, which locals call "Exotic", short for Exotic Dive Resort. The last time I was in Malapascua (November 2009), Peter and I checked in at one of the more affordable resorts (Hippocampus). Even then, we already noticed how nice Exotic Dive Resort was, we were just not willing to stay there since it was out of our budget and we had no plans of diving anyway, plus, we were out most of the time exploring the nearby islands. So I was really happy that I got to try staying at Exotic Dive Resort this time around.

Exotic offers air conditioned concrete apartment cottages with balcony.

Malapascua - Moalboal Trip with Carelle Mangaliag: an Introduction

This very enriching vacation/volunteer work I did at Malapascua and Moalboal in Cebu started last Dec. 1, 2010 right after our trip to Dumaguete from Nov.26-30, 2010 (which I will just blog about after this Cebu trip).

me inside PAL's Boeing 747

One day, as I was finishing all my tasks at work before heading to Negros Oriental with my hubby, my friend RR Herrera (yes, the former child star ^_^) called me asking if I know how to dive because their company, Train Station (formerly Motivating Minds), is looking for a diver who can help document the training they will conduct among the locals of Malapascua and Moalboal as well as the staff of the dive resorts they will be staying at (the very accommodating Exotic Dive Resort in Malapascua and the beautiful Club Serena resort in Moalboal). Excess funds from the office of former DOT Secretary Ace Durano (he's amazing!) will be used to cover the plane fare and food while accommodations and dives at Malapascua will be handled by Exotic Dive Resort. In Moalboal, Club Serena will take care of the dives, accommodations and food. All of these things will be provided to the team in exchange for the training that will be provided to the people there which will be based on Neuro-linguistic Programming principles being taught by Carelle Mangaliag and RR Herrera of Train Station.

Dumaguete, Malapascua, Moalboal : Work on Vacation

After my grueling hours at work, I am finally on a break. Although my boss asked me to still do a few hours of work whenever I can. So once in a while, when I feel like it, I log in to work. After all, I love my virtual assistant job. I can practically work anywhere as long as there's good wifi connection.

Anyway, I haven't been blogging in a while. I like enjoying life first then blog about it later, which reminds me, I still haven't shared with you the rest of my Vietnam - Singapore - Kuala Lumpur trip last January; I still haven't told you about my amazing vacation at Bicol and the Caramoan Peninsula last April-May and just last week (Nov. 26-30), my hubby and I were at Dumaguete City, Apo Island in Valencia, Casaroro Falls and twin lakes in Sibulan, and now I'm in Malapascua til Dec. 5, after which we go to Moalboal and stay there til the 7th. This is the life!

I just thought of dropping by to say hi. So how are you?

~~~oOo~~~

To see everything that I've written so far about this trip, please head to:
Malapascua 2010