Some surprising things I saw on BBC World today:
- The Chasers’ War on Everything harrassing John Howard and Kevin Rudd. Australian political satire is world news!
- My eccentric friend Pawel, ramming a Japanese whaling ship with Sea Shepherd last year
- That Chinese opera in Chengdu is going to be the next big thing. I remember making Andrew sit through three hours of nasal singing with a stinking cold in 2002 (accidentally, I didn’t realise it would be three hours till we got there). Our interpreter sat behind us and tried to explain what was going on….
He important King of big land. He more important King of bigger land. He kill her but not know she is daughter.
And so on…
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Doing my surveys yesterday, I found myself in the middle of a huge school of jacks (a bit like this).
This is why I like diving. I think I might like running if there was a chance that I might suddenly find myself in a stampede of elephants, or a herd of reindeer.
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On Tuesday I met with the Mayor of Dauin to ask permission to conduct survey dives in his municipality. Renclar describes the Hon. Rodrigo A. Alanano as a ‘force of nature’ and he’s not wrong (although others may describe Renclar as a force of nature…) - man this guy can talk! I didn’t have to say anything about my project or what I plan to do at all, just listen and nod and laugh in all the right places as the Mayor talked about his commitment to protecting the municipal waters, how he will prosecute violators even if they are poor or related to him or important, how Dauin is a ‘Clean and Green’ and ‘Child Friendly’ municipality, how there are some fish which hide in the sand so you can only see their eyes, and, most importantly, how he wants me to find an English girl called Zoe Sheridan, who did some work in Masaplod reserve a few years back and never gave him the results. Zoe, if you’re out there, call the Mayor of Dauin.
Now I have the approval of the Mayor, I can get started with some surveys. I did three dives at a marine reserve in Dauin (Poblacion 1) yesterday. I like diving at Poblacion 1, there’s a tank to rinse your gear in and the Bantay Dagat (volunteer fisheries patrol guy) reminds me a bit of the Dalai Lama. At first I was somewhat panicked by the multitude of vaguely familiar fishes (I picked practically the most diverse site to start with, oops!), but I think I remember most of their names now. Two dives at another reserve, Masaplod Norte, this morning. Another beautiful site with a big school of jacks, but a strong current so I called it a day after two dives to spend the afternoon with coffee and banana cake. Hopefully I’ll get to take the camera out soon, so I can bore you with rubbish photos of blurry fish!
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Today I spent a good 20 minutes being tortured by Christmas music whilst trying to find some face wash that wouldn’t whiten my skin. You’ll be pleased to know Dumaguete is dreaming of a White Christmas.
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They’re not uncommon here, but usually the power comes back after 5-10 minutes. Tonight it was out for a couple of hours. I jumped in a pedicab and asked the driver to take me somewhere with power where I could get some food. I ended up at Jo’s Chicken Inato (this last word connotes something that you can be at home with).
The recipe? It’s just a simple blending of that home-made savoury sauce and the seasoning of Jo’s charm. Oh, and the family’s Abiding Faith in the Lord.
Of course! The chicken’s not bad, but there’s a real danger I could get addicted to the buko (young coconut) shakes.
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There were two check-in staff at Townsville International (can anyone tell me why it’s called that? There are no international flights!!) - an improbably cheerful man with very white teeth, and a grumpy, sour-faced woman. Sadly, I got the latter, and had to cough up my excess baggage karma to the tune of $375 (so far, I have managed to sneak my way around the world on Qantas with ridiculously heavy bags and never pay a penny / cent / peso).I have forgotten stupid things.
I love the fact that Apple power adaptors come with interchangeable plug bits, so you don’t need to use clunky adaptors. These are no use when you leave them at home.
I remember when I first started flying, people used to clap when the plane landed. No-one does this anymore, which is a good thing.
Filipinos love Mr Bean. I had a faint recollection of this from a ferry trip last time round, but was unprepared for the raucous hilarity that accompanied the last hour or so of the flight.
By the end of 2007, I will have taken around 18 flights, flying approximately 41,900km! Unfortunately, this means I will have been responsible for producing 5.1 tonnes of carbon dioxide. I hereby pledge to offset this with the help of the CarbonNeutral Company. I suggest you all do the same.
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Becks is a marine ecology PhD student, living in Queensland (Australia), Dumaguete (Philippines) and London (UK). Marinegirl is her online alter-ego. She dreamt her up as as super-gorgeous superhero saving the underwater world (if you've seen Captain Planet, you get the idea). She is not, and never will be, in the marines.