I hoped to get through a month in the Philippines without a ferry horror story, but that was irrational thinking. The boat ride from hell turned out to be Odiangan, Tablas to Roxas, Mindoro. A three-hour trip became five in … Continue reading
The Dromomaniac
Snooze alert! This blog post will be super boring. It is minutia from my travels in places few people will ever go, but I want a record for myself. You can ignore it. No hard feelings. In hindsight, the thing … Continue reading
Not many people know this, and I’m not sure I should be sharing this with you, but we at the CIA (plenty of people suspect that all this traveling I do is just a front for my job at the … Continue reading
Everything wrong about Boracay can be summed up by the fact there are no basketball courts, which is because there is no central plaza, no community, no planning. There might be one tucked away from my eyes; I could only … Continue reading
I wouldn’t have visited Kalibo during the Ati Atihan Festival if I hadn’t a place to stay. It’s arguably the biggest event in the Philippines with all the accompanying hassle, then there’s either there’s no place to stay or prices … Continue reading
Tibiao would have been better if Village Crazy Woman would have stopped following me around and bumming me out. It’s never the Village Supermodel or Village Groupie that gloms on to me, it’s the deranged, disheveled, wild-haired woman the town … Continue reading
Greetings from the Western Visayas! Who? What? Where? It’s somewhat overlooked even within the Philippines, so here is a map. Guimaras is an island between the biggest cities in the region, Iloilo and Bacolod. It’s in these unprepossessing little places … Continue reading
This is my fifth time in Philippines. (Is it Philippines or “the Philippines”? It’s a mystery on the same level as why jeepney drivers sit to the right of the steering wheel and why you seldom see fresh coconuts sold … Continue reading
I had the worst or second worst flight of my life. Right up there is flying with hundreds of distressed Ethiopian maids in fits of hysteria from Bahrain to Addis Ababa, but at least that plane was functioning correctly. In … Continue reading
Who cares about 80s music? You should! It wasn’t just U2, R.E.M. and Cyndi Lauper. When I went to college—I went to college!—I was a DJ at the campus radio station, KCSB 91.9 FM, for three years. I played alternative … Continue reading
