Days 21 and 22: I hit the wall and the wall won
Tuesday March 22 and Wednesday March 23
Tuesday March 22: Second Day at Bohol Bee Resort
I took a 3 hour nap yesterday and finished it up with a 12 hour sleep. All rested for now. Unfortunately, the snorkeling area at Bohol Bee Resort is too shallow at low tide. The water is only 6 inches above the grasses, and the grasses are full of sea urchins.
The best thing of the resort was the ice cream! Really, really good. One day I had a scoop of Peanut Kisses and the second day I had two scoops: 1) Mango; and later 2) Ube (purple). They were fantastic.
I’ve spent the last two days reading in my room. I haven’t read a book in 6 years. Yes, horrible, but I’m back. I watched the teen flick Allegiant in the Ayala Mall in Cebu. I didn’t realize that it was the third in a series. Cinemax has been showing the first 2 movies in the series: Divergent and Insurgent. I enjoyed them so I purchased and downloaded the trilogy.
I’ve read the first two books quickly. I actually think the books are well written and that the movies are better. In the books the 16 year old female protagonist sobs and cries all the time, filled with self doubt to the point of self hatred, while having a lust filled first relationship with her 18 year old boyfriend. The sobbing and the teenage romance got too much for me, as it should as I’m a 60 year old man. However, I really enjoyed the creativity and writing within the series.
Wednesday March 23, 2016: The Wall
Because the Bohol Bee Farm was full on Wednesday and Thursday, I had booked 2 nights at the Bohol Lahoy Dive Resort. I thought it was close to the Bee Farm, but it was far away. I also booked a tour of the island, including the Tarsiers, and planned on having the tour driver drop me off at the new hotel.
I woke up in the morning with what I thought was the start of water borne illness. I had coffee the night before with dinner, and most places use instant coffee with hot water. I was a little nervous that they used tap water and not bottled water.
When the resort office discovered that my new resort was so far away, we agreed that I would just go to the Tarsiers and Butterflies and then to my hotel at no extra cost ($62 to rent a car for the entire tour — 7 hours). I agreed. Then, it was changed to Tarsiers and the hotel. I wasn’t feeling so well so I said okay.
We went to the Tarsier Sanctuary. They have little trails for your to travel to look at sleeping Tarsiers. There were 5 on the trail. The first photo came out okay but the head of the Tarsier was behind a branch.
I zoomed the camera in on the other 4 tarsiers, and the camera focused on the leaves. One cannot use a flash so the aperture was wide open giving a very small depth of field: The Result — All the pictures were very out of focus. But…..I SAW THEM
I had a thought of helping out with the research of the animals. Below is a sample of their habitat. Not something I want to walk through at night, with real deadly animals and snakes in the area. Guess something else will have to satisfy my biologist interests.
The driver was really nice and I’m sure I could have gotten to the Butterfly Sanctuary, but I was afraid of the water disease to kick in so I said to just go to the new resort.
Lose $70 or Lost Stress
So, we made it over to the coast. We drove, and drove, and drove. I got a headache, then nauseous, and we continued to drive. The resort had to be an hour and a half out of town. We were almost at the resort (and the area looked beautiful), but two things were bothering me: 1) my headache and nausea; and 2) worrying about getting a driver out this far on Good Friday, and then catch a ferry on Good Friday. I figured the cost of a driver would be $40 or more as the resort was so far away.
I asked the driver to stop, just about a half mile from the resort. I decided that I didn’t want to be sick so far from town and hassle with the cost and concern of a ride into town on Good Friday. I had the driver take me to the pier in Tagbalarin.
Fortunately, I walked right on to the ferry and made it back to my hotel in Cebu.
So, I lost stress, but what do I do in Cebu. I would like to lay poker until I leave. Since the malls are closed on Thursday and Friday for Holy Week, I dragged myself to the Ayala Mall. I was unable to withdraw money with a “Your Transaction Can Not Be Completed”. Either, my card was denied or the run on the banks caused the atm’s to run out of money.
I have about $40 in Philippine Pesos. Enough to eat and get to the airport on Sunday, but not enough for Poker or fun.
The Wall Hit Hard