Moalboal, Philippines Information - Moalboal Newsletters

Newletter Index

admin — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 21:15:14 +0000

Here are all the newsletter that I and the other authors have produced since we started in 1999 . . . hopefully they will bring back some good memories.

In case any of the subscribers to the newsletter were wondering why the numbers are different from my listing and the numbered mails that they have received . . . well, let's just say the influence of San Miguel does not always encourage accuracy in counting :) Actually a few different people have made contributions to the newsletter and it is inevitable that a number may occasionally get dropped or added. This listing is funnily enough the only complete listing on the web since it includes all the newsletters from the days before Yahoo Groups.

Enjoy!

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#77 1st. August 2016

simon — Mon, 15 Aug 2016 05:04:33 +0000

Hi all!

It's surprising to already find ourselves over halfway through the year. Where does time go?

Here in Moalboal (it's been a long time since I've been able to write that!) we're seeing the after effects of Typhoon Nida that passed us to the north this week. So we had a tiny bit of rain, overcast skies and very preasant temperatures. Diving before this though was excellent with calm seas and plenty to see - lots of "the usual suspects"!

We don't have a lot to report. I've been living in Tongo for the last month and am ramping up to do lots of things. Planning takes a long long time here . . . maybe by the end of the year I'll have some more concrete stuff in place :). In June of course we had three Brexit's: the saddening vote in UK to leave the EU, the totally unsurprising and rapid exit of the England football team from the Euro competition and me leaving Switzerland, my home for the last 16 years. All these in one month . . . !

Updates:

Thanks to Chikako who sent me some updates in April before I left Switzerland:

"Cyan: selling action trip plus freediving by Wolfgang, has now a headquarters along the road between Panagsama and Moalboal where it was Situkil before. They had the opening about two weeks ago. (ed: ie. back in March!)

Verandah: a restaurant by the beach where Hannah's restaurant used to be. Korean owned.

Shaka: this is close to where the reef club was before. This is a new approach for Panagsama: paddle board, kayak, etc. I saw only from the outside. I heard that it is Korean owner also."

We also have some info from Klemens at Blue Abyss - still in Germany I think but of course also still busy!

"The ultimate Moalboal movie just got released by award winning cinematographer Klemens who did all the filming underwater and Ramon Moser who took all the wonderful aerial shots. The movie is a MUST HAVE for everybody who loves Moalboal. Available through Vimeo on demand or direct in The Blue Abyss Dive Shop on a USB drive or as file transfer. ENJOY."

https://vimeo.com/ondemand/moalboalaboveandbelow

Note: If you're running Ubuntu and Chromium and have problems watching the trailer then you will need to install this additional codec package: chromium-codecs-ffmpeg-extra

Highlights from the trailer for me are Klemens' feeding frogfish and the pygmy sea horses. Also there is some nice aerial footage of White Beach and some of the inland areas with even a brief glimpse of the mangroves in our area near Badian. Nice editing job Ramon!

News:

- Jesper is at last back home after his extensive "vacation" on the cruise ships in the Caribbean and Europe :)
- Jochen is home after three months in Germany; Dominique has stayed on to work there for a while.
- Mario is back at work at Action Philippines after his "rib incident" - just don't try to hug him yet :).
- "Horrible" Bob should be back from Japan this month so you know where you can soon watch "the game of hooligans and villains" (aka football) again :).
- Alain is heading to Switzerland for six weeks "holiday" and will be back in September.
- Larry in Balabagon wants to buy a golf cart. Does anyone know whether it's possible to get these in Cebu?
- Lybeth and Vangie are extending Lantaw and building a new kitchen at the back. That means more seating capacity which is good news for all who enjoy good food and a great view!
- James is around and can "often" be found at LFS :)
- Coos has been occasionally sighted heading to the dark side - north of Pacitas :)
- is anyone interested in learning Visayan? Johan (Neptune) and I are and we want to organise regular lessons from a real teacher, no idea of costs or timings yet. Please send me a note if you're interested.
- Ramon is sort-of looking for another place to stay with his gf and baby: three bedrooms needed. You can leave a message for him at LFS or stop him when you see him en route if you know of somewhere!
- Note that this newsletter is now (as of March) a discussion group as well as a newsletter. All subscribers can send to the list and start their own topics. This is (at the moment) moderated. Please keep all submissionS 1) clean 2) respectful 3) polite and 4) reasonably on topic. From your subscribed address send your post to: moalboalmail [at] yahoogroups.com. After moderation your mail will be sent out to all subscribers. If anyone objects to this please let me know.

For the (old) election news from May, congratulations of course to Ling Ling Rozgoni on her election as Vice-Mayor, Jinky Hanika on her re-election as Councellor and Nelson Abenido for election also as Councellor. Interestingly I remember Ling Ling telling me last year that she wanted to "ease up" a bit. Not sure whether being Vice-Mayor is going to help much with that but good luck! :)

We're not sure when the canyon above Kawasan will reopen for adventure trips. It was supposed to be this month but that's not yet confirmed. In the meantime other canyons are still accessible for those who insist on throwing themselves down rivers, off cliffs 'n' such-like madness :).

Gossip: none. Note to self: should get out more :)

Finally to all our Swiss residents and subscribers: happy 1 August which is Swiss National Day. Bratwurst, fireworks and Jaegerbombs on the Moalboal jetty anyone? :)

All the best to all,

Simon Wright.
moalboal-owner [at] yahoogroups.com

List Admin:

As usual the newsletter is only as good as we can make it. Please send me (moalboalmail-owner [at] yahoogroups.com) any of your updates, either business or personal, gossip, information, anything in fact that residents or visitors or ex-visitors might be interested in and I'll publicise them for you.

I'd like to have another moderator on board to provide backup coverage. If anyone is interested in the minimal amount of work needed, please let me know.

Please note that I have unsubscribed the following addresses that are bouncing (ie. no longer deliverable by Yahoo mail systems); if anyone knows the correct and valid mail address for any of these former list members please let me know. Or if they are not already subscribed under another name, they can resubscribe themselves by sending a mail to: moalboalmail-subscribe [at] yahoogroups.com:

[trimmed lots of bouncing e-mail address]

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#76 13th. February 2016

simon — Sat, 13 Feb 2016 18:55:18 +0000

Hallo Friends of Moalboal.

My first responsibility as the new owner of this list is a sad one. The reason for the change in ownership for those that don't know was the shocking death of Lars Starner in a motorcycle accident in December.

I'm not going to write much about that; you've all become familiar with Lars over the last 16 years of this list, his life in Moalboal and around the world. I just want to say that it was a pleasure to have known Lars and he is and will be sorely missed. I made a short visit to Moalboal in January with my partner Jorja and was happy to have briefly seen Chikako. My deepest sympathy to her, to Lars' family and all members of the Moalboal family who knew him - I'm sure I speak for everyone who has not been able to contact her. I hope that Chikako will find it easy to stay on in Moalboal surrounded by happy memories that she and Lars shared.

Chikako asked me to take over the group since without a moderator/owner there would be no more posting, news or updates. As you may or may not be aware the settings of this group allow only moderators to post and Lars was the only moderator. So . . . with the co-operation of the Yahoo admins we had to hold a poll to vote on a new moderator. Thanks to the five people who voted and the half-a-dozen who sent me email votes.

I guess a short introduction is in order since I'm sure there have been many changes in the membership since I originally started this list back in 1998! I started coming to Moalboal regularly in 1989 and lived there for seven years between 1992 and 2000. Initially as a Divemaster then Instructor at Saavedra, later at Visaya Divers. In the latter half of the '90's my ex-wife and I ran Cakes & Connections in what is now Lantaw Restaurant. Happy happy days! Regula and I left the Philippines in 2000, returning to Switzerland with our two Filipino cats (long deceased but not forgotten) where I've been working in IT for various banks in Zürich and Regula is a social worker in Uster. Regula and I unfortunately split up in 2003 however we have a very good relationship still and often reminice about the "good old days". Emphasis on "old" now of course :).

One of the reasons that I wanted to take on the list owner job again was that after 16 years working I feel that it's time to retire and in July will be returning to where my heart. Together with Alain Amrein we are developing a small eco-resort between Moalboal and Badian: Eskapo Verde. Of course the work involved in this will mean that retirement is relative but it will for sure beat the 07.27 train to Zürich every morning! I have a wonderful partner who is interested to share some bits of Moalboal with me . . . some of you have met Jorja last year or in January. Since she is one of the Tagalog-speaking minority from Quezon City she will be needing Cebuano lessons for her visits. As of course will I :). This is a very exciting time on all levels for us and I hope to be able to share some of that excitement in the second half of the year and going forward.

Don't expect much activity until I get back to Moalboal in the second half of the year. Of course until then since I am 11,000km away I will be dependant on people sending me information. If you have any info that you'd like to share with the group then please send it to me. The mail addresses for the group have not changed, just drop a note to me at moalboalmail-owner [at] yahoogroups.com and I will pass it on to the group. Any subject relevant to Moalboal, the people or the businesses is fair game including social news, business promotions, facilites in the area, suggestions for things to do . . . anything that visitors, residents or just people with a special place in their heart for Moalboal might be interested in. You send it, I'll publish it. Conversely, you don't send it, I can't do very much!

Due the rather low level of response to the ownership poll, I've been wondering what the level of interest in the newsletter is now. Please would you register your vote in the poll linked here. This poll will directly influence the amount of effort that goes into the newsletter. Few votes means that the effort that goes into it is not worthwhile. The future is in our hands . . . .

Another piece of business is that I would like to have another moderator for the list.
Responsibilites: little and seldom. Backup moderator to ensure that in my absence there is someone available to manage the list. No need to be able to write since I'll do my best to look after that side!
Requirements: occasional e-mail access, that's it!
Anyone who would like to be considered please send me a mail.

That's about it for the moment. I wanted to close with a link to some video shot by Pete Morgan in 1993 when he was diving with Visaya Divers. This was something he sent me a while ago and my Facebook friends will probably have already seen it. For the rest of you, I hope that you will enjoy a step back in time to a rather different but still recogniseable Moalboal . . . .

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yqg2oX2jlRI

From a snowy and cold Switzerland, wherever you are "may you have fair winds and following seas" (c) Lars Starner.

All the best,

Simon Wright.

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#75 31st. December 2014 (orig. #85)

simon — Mon, 05 Jan 2015 19:51:42 +0000

Moalboal 2014/15

HAPPY NEW YEAR, friends of Moalboal!!

Soon another year and more celebrations.

2014 was quite slow after May. No one is really sure why, might be the aftermath from Yolanda and tourists got scared. Tourism is however up 4% this year, compared to 2013.

This high season is busy though, with most cottages booked. The Philippine economy is steaming on and now have the second highest growth rate in Asia and will probably have it next year as well.

Economy and growth can now be clearly seen in Moalboal. We now have a Gaisano Supermarket and one more being built. Mc Donalds and Seven Eleven. Not sure if that is a good thing but all that is up in Moalboal. Down on the beach it still look pretty much the same.

The price for land up by the road in Moalboal is now around 5000 peso/sqm

As of today, we are 496 readers of the Moalboal mailing List.

ACTIVITIES:

Pool tournament at Chili bar every Wednesday .

PRACTICAL:

As of only a few hours ago, the bridge in Alcantara is closed for traffic. Yesterday they had more rain than anyone can remember and over 15 people dead in villages north of Moalboal.

A lot of my friends in Panagsama woke up last night with up to half a meter water in their house.

At the moment the
exchange rate is:
1 $ = 44.7
1 Euro = 54.4
1 Pound = 69.5
1 Swedish crown = 5.8

Thailand is restricting visa for tourists staying a bit longer so more tourists might come to the Philippines instead.

FOR SALE:

If you have something for sale, just E-mail me and I will add it onto
the mail.

GENERAL:

If anyone has any information that they think would be interesting
for people on this list, please do let me know and I will add it in.
If you know anyone that would like to receive this letter, please
tell him or her to send me an E-mail at the address below and I will
add him or her. I've found it to hard to do it through
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/moalboalmail

Regards, Lars Starner
The Moalboal mail http://groups.yahoo.com/group/moalboalmail

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#74 27th. May 2014 (orig. #83)

simon — Thu, 29 May 2014 09:03:39 +0000

Moalboal, May 2014

Hi, friends of Moalboal!!

Low season has started after Easter. Easter was however busy and some dive shops did not even have enough boats to ferry all the divers.

As of today, we are 488 readers of the Moalboal mailing List.

Cebu and Moalboal is growing fast. In Cebu city buildings are shooting up everywhere. On BBC they said that the Philippines has the second most growing economy in Asia. The Gaisano supermarket looks like its half way built. Applications for building permits are up 30% in Moalboal. BUT, on Panagsama beach, not much has happened. It’s still business as usual, in a nice slow manner.

In Moalboal a new 7-11 has opened together with a new bank. The bank has an ATM but does not take international VISA cards.

BIRTHS, SOCIAL AND GOSSIP:

Very sad to say that Manfred Langer has passed away and his ashes are now spread between his house and Pescador. He battled with cancer a few years.

This nice bit was posted on the Facebook page of Cebu Fun Divers

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

It is with deep sadness that we announce the loss of Manfred Langer, the founder of Savedra Dive Center and Seven Seas Aquanauts Corp.

After living and working as a dive instructor in the Maldives, Kenya and Hawaii, his passion for diving brought him to the Philippines in 1983, where he founded Savedra Dive Center in Moalboal, Cebu. There was no electricity in those days, no air-con or even a fan, no fridge or cold beer, and fresh water was delivered daily by little fishing boats. But he fell in love with this place, the people and the dive spots. Unfortunately, circumstances forced him to sell the dive center in 1984 and so he opened a new one on Mactan island, Kontiki Divers.

Kontiki Divers quickly became one of the top dive shops in the region. In 1990, he took over another dive center for five years at Club Pacific Beach Resort in Sogod, Cebu. For this he founded Seven Seas Aquanauts Corporation the same year.

In 1995, Savedra Dive Center became again part of the Seven Seas Aquanauts family, joined by the Seven Seas dive center at Plantation Bay Resort and Spa in 2004 and Cebu Fun Divers Dive Center in 2009.

Manfred had a contagious passion for scuba diving, infecting everyone he met. He was one of pioneers of tech diving in the 1990s and always was happy to share his extensive knowledge of diving with those who sought his advice.

He truly lived life to the fullest with no regrets and everybody who knew him was in awe of the energy and positive vibrations he seemed to radiate all the time.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Chili Bar has a new manager. Peter (he used to own Czeck inn) is now the new guy in charge.

A new restaurant, located on the road just before the beach, has opened in the building that started as a bowling alley. Sutokil have tanks with live fish. 5000p/Kg for lobster is a bit steep though.

Cafe Cebu has opened where Seaview restaurant used to be (Neighbor to Chili Bar). Fine dining with a Sea View.

Someone is starting an Italian restaurant in old Chief Maos.

PRACTICAL:

At the moment the exchange rate is:
1 $ = 43.6
1 Euro = 59.6
1 Pound = 73.6
1 Swedish crown = 6.6

FOR SALE:

If you have something for sale, just E-mail me and I will add it onto
the mail.

GENERAL:

Regards, Lars Starner
starner@...

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