#47 10th. February 2007

Moalboal 2007

Hi, friends of Moalboal!!

It's me again. Sitting here on the beach trying to get a few lines together. There are days when I'm not even sure if anyone's reading the letter but every now and than I get a pat on the shoulder or a friendly e-mail and it makes it all worth it again. I know it's not much but a bit of gossip and some news that makes us all feel like we belong.

Time flies here in Moalboal. Christmas just passed and now, it's already February. The do not even sing Christmas carols anymore. I did hear some in late January. We have had crappy weather with strong
winds and cold (24 C) mornings. Yesterday though, the sun started to shine and everybody tried to do their washing.

Busy here now. Christmas / New Year and January were slower than normal. Now however there are plenty of people on the beach and the dive shops are having problem finding rooms for their divers.

More and more Koreans on the beach. Koreans are now the #1 tourists arriving the Philippines

The ASEAN summit and Sinulog are now behind us. Both turned out well but it was not easy to find hotel in the city during the events.

ACTIVITIES:

Soccer every Monday, Wednesday & Friday. The Homeboyz are practicing hard now for the "Thirsty Cup" in Cebu City. Just show up and join.

Moalboal Pool championship every Wednesday at Chili Bar. Starting 20:30

BIRTHS, SOCIAL AND GOSSIP:

Lot of Birthdays recently and off course MORE PARTIES. Bob (horrible bob) and Magnusson just had parties and Takka (54) is having one today at Nelsons dive shop.

What used to be Nelsons Restaurant and later Cuckoos nest is now being built into a big pool by Alfredo (Cabana Owner).

PRACTICAL:

It's now getting easier to fly to The Philippines on a budget. With a bit of patience and web surfing, it has never been cheaper. Check out:

Tiger air airways, http://www.tigerarways.com , S'pore to Clark (close to Manila) something like 60 US$ one way.
Cebu pacific: Cebu ? Hong Kong, 1999 pesos
Oasis: Gatwick, London to Hong Kong and soon Oakland, CA ? HK, 128US$
Air Asia X: UK to Malaysia, starting July

Dear reader, if you know of any other budget airlines; please write to me. Also if you know the web addresses to the airlines above.

Tri-cycle Panagsama ? Moalboal is now 10 pesos and another 10 pesos for your bag. Quite a few young forward guys are running Habal-Habal (you sit behind the driver on a motorcycle) between Moalboal and the
beach. More comfortable but it's no fun to haggle over the price all the time (it should be 20 pesos).

You can find whole coffee beans at Gaisano country mall for 240 peso a kilo. Buy yourself a grinder and say goodbye to Nescafe' forever.

When arriving Mactan (Cebu) airport and want a TAXI. Turn right and walk to the end of the building, walk across the road and there's a sign "metered taxis upstairs" Demand a metered taxi and the ride
will be almost half price from downstairs.

If you have friends not receiving the newsletter, tell them to check their spam box or set the spam filter.

Saavedra has a blog now: http://living-and-diving-in-moalboal.blogspot.com

WHALE SHARK SIGHTINGS:

WHERE WHEN SEIZE WHO SAW IT

Kasai Nov, 06 10m Mattias
Fish feeding Nov 26, 06 7m Ginger , MC & FC
Kasai Dec12, 06 7-8m Claudia, Beat & Lili
Talisay Dec 25, 06 8-10m Hely, Stefan, Frank & Steve
House reef Dec 25, 06 12m Clemens Blue Abyss
Fish feeding Jan 3, 07 8-9m Silk, Fritz, Andreas & Rudy
Looc Jan1, 07 4m Kori, Chi, Akiko, Takka & Maki
House reef Jan 6 15-20m Toa, Somena & Ven
House reef Jan 16 4m Pipiche.

The white tip reef sharks at Pescador have been sighted at 25-30 meters on the west side. Normally you need to go a bit deeper to see them.

LARS TROPICAL TIP:

For years and hundreds of dives I had pain in my nose from the dive mask. I tried different masks but still pain just under the nose. THEN I just put the mask strap over my ears (not above)?.and problem
gone. You might look like a dork with the strap over your ears but it's worth it.

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
starner@...

Moalboal home page:
http://www.moalboal.org.uk

Copyright (c) Lars Starner 2007. All rights reserved