Lots of these photos were taken by either Kevin, Audrey or Bob.  I’ll just put my name by mine and the others are ones they took.

A view of the beach and the Bataan Peninsular

So here I am! 

I know Kevin took this photo because he was kind enough to go out with me.  I didn’t want to go alone and no one else seemed to really want to go.  Both Bob and Audrey have done lots of diving so this is not such a big deal to them.  I am wearing my flour sack shorts and also my keene walking shoes because I was too lazy to get my booties and Randal’s flippers.  But it made swimming harder and when we got really far out I got a bit scared when I started to have a hard time getting back in.  Even though the current was going towards the beach somehow because of the channel I was in the waves were going back out.  Kevin was with me so I wasn’t really worried, or at least not panic stricken.  Next time I’ll wear flippers.  When Bob and Audrey saw the photos they decided to go in, but both swam out much further than I would have felt comfortable.  I liked seeing the fish, but the shrubbery made me think of snakes and hidden stuff.  There were some spiky sea urchins, but you could see them so could avoid stepping on them.  I also saw sea cucumber, interesting but not so colorful. 

  This was out fairly far.  I did see lots of tiny brightly colored fish.  Audrey and Bob say that there are only small young fish because of over fishing and dynamite fishing where they blow everything out of the water and destroy way too much.  It is outlawed but still done illegally.

Ruel  Reminds me of those glasses with the fuzzy eyebrows and nose and mustache attached!

  Ruel and Christina ( I think)  Mariel and Carmela (I think)

Agnes!

Maria, Ruth, Mariel, Agnes, Christina and Carmela

This was a floating pavilion that was actually in the water by the time we left. The woman in the orange suit is Maria’s mom who is 2 years younger than I am!  My photo.

This past Sunday we were taken to White Corals Beach Resort in Morong,  a 45 minute drive south of Subic on the Bataan Peninsular by our friends Audrey, Bob, Kevin and Toby the dog.  Their friends Maria and Svend were there with their kids and Maria’s mom.  It was a fun day and I did some real beginner snorkeling.  Took lots of photos.  http://www.bataanwhitecorals.com/  is the web site for the resort.  Bob and Audrey sent some of their photos; they have an underwater camera.  I try to give them credit though I don’t know if Audrey, Bob or Kevin took the photo.

  About half way there we saw a man walking his waterbuffalo. 

Bob stopped the van, I jumped out and ran after them.  They kindly stopped so I could take my photo.  I made the mistake of shooting off the camera first and then trying to pat the buffalo which snorted in a less than inviting way.  I made a second attempt, but her owner looked a bit wary so I just said thanks and went back to the van. 

She (I guess) looks a bit wary and close up the horns look too scary to mess with.  Probably gentle as a lamb and followed her owner with no hesitation.

  It is very lovely countryside with a small population.  It is becoming more of a tourist destination because of its beaches. 

  We were greeted by the site of Maria, her mom and kids

coming in from exploring the exposed coral reef.

  Carrying in the prizes

Maria, Audrey and one of the girls

The kids had found a star fish, but put it back into the water so not to kill it.

  Lunch of traditional Filipino soup, rice, veggies and crispy pata which is a pork dish with the skins fried crispy.  You just pull it from the bones and enjoy. 

San Mig light and crispy pata remains.

  Some for everyone.  Toby, the dog’s father lived at the resort.  A very sweet dog I wanted to take home.

Bob washing the salt water off Toby.  Toby is a puppy that Audrey adopted on a previous visit here.  Audrey or Kevin took this photo

  This was the resort pool filled from the ocean so it is a salt water pool.  Shared by B, A or K

  The kids all really like Bob and Audrey and have a good time together.

  Sunset! 

This is Agnes the youngest girl. 

She and I went for a walk along the beach and collected so many shells I had to carry them in my hat. 

Nest set are the water photos

Hi Everyone,

  Here are some photos of the flour sack clothes.  Left to right, the scratchier shorts with the almost too short drawstring and no pocket. I wear them for swimming; the good shorts with the back pocket and the long enough drawstring, for wearing around and even into town; last the top which I am wearing right now!

“Good shorts”

The top, front and back.  I look like an employee of NBC!  I am wearing my thread necklace too.  The shorts and top cost 350 pesos; about $8.  I ordered them one morning and they were ready the next afternoon.

  The tread necklace with the Red Sox hat charm and the charm my niece Jess brought me back from Hawaii.  t think of it as my “America charms”  one from back east and one from as far west as you can get. The necklace cost 150 pesos, about $3.50 and took an hour to make.   I tried taking a close up of it on my neck, but that was not an appealing photo.  I looked like a distant relative of the bird on the shirt!

Our Roanoke neighbor Lucy Nace had sack clothes stories and so does Randal.  My mom made our clothes, and I remember remnant stores we would hunt through for material, but no sack clothes.  Too bad, they are really fun. 

So I’m now on the way out of town and back to Puerto Galera.  The road is 6 kilometers.  5 kilometers is  3 miles.  From Sabang to the La Laguna to get my thread necklace is about a mile, and then a mile back. 

An interesting display along the road just after I left Sabang. 

Abandon all seriousness you who enter here!

  I have to admit I take lots of laundry photos too.

  It looks the middle of nowhere, but there was enough road traffic that I never felt isolated or scared to be walking along the road.  You could see the sea through the trees on the photo’s right.

A jeepney from Puerto Galera to Sabang.  Crammed to overflowing.

  On going forever, apparently.

  I had to time it to make sure I was out of the way of the traffic and not having to jump into the muck to get out of the way!

Randal arranged to get a ride back from Sabang to PG and thought it was in a trike.  But the man led him to a motorcycle.  Randal told him that he’d better not get them stuck in the mud!  This is not Randal, but it is what he must have looked like, only bigger!

There were very small “towns” and resorts along the road.  This one is about 1/2 mile from PG.

Just about back in Puerto Galera. 

With stopping to take photos, the walk took about an hour. 

  The End

I really did take lots of photos!

  I am sitting at the small restaurant just out of the photo.  The men you see walking in the distance in the black and white shirts are off to attend the Classic Club!  There are club shirts members must wear, but there are a variety of styles and either black or white.  This is the swimming beach on the other side of the point. 

  My little table.  I had an onion, tomato, cheese omelet and toast with mango jam!  I had brought a book, but never opened it.  I was actually filling in time while the thread lady wove my necklace.  I can’t believe I have no photo of her!

  Following these guys was a family of 4.  These guys were hired to carry their stuff from the banca that had delivered them probably from Puerto Galera or from the ferry from Batangas.  The only road into town is back at the end of Sabang.  Nick has to park his car there and walk half the beach to his condo at Portofino. 

I made the mistake of telling the fruit seller in white, “maybe later,” when she had asked me to buy some fruit.  Well this was later and she said, it was later, and that I had said I would buy fruit later.  So….I bought bananas.  She said, “what about buying some fruit from my friend?”  I said, ” I didn’t even want the bananas!”  But I did use them to make really good banana, mango, walnut bread that Chris from Romblon especially loved. 

  Leaving Sabang.  A resort built to look like a castle.

Hi Everyone,

  After I left the boys I scrounged around a bit looking for sea glass. Then I walked on further down the beach planning to look into the little shops along the way.  There are a few and lots of bars and restaurants.

  A matchbook with Jose Rizal’s photo.  I found it on the beach

  A woman going off to sell her fruit.

Local bar.  This is the narrow street that parallels the beach front.

There are lots of characters here one could imagine as pirates; all of them westerners, most Europeans one could imagine as part of Jack Sparrow’s motley crew.

  I heard someone calling my name and looked up.  Randal was hanging out waiting for his “Classic Club” buddies to show up.  This was one pre-lunch hangout place.  I finished Randal’s diet coke and then went off alone so no one would see us together and make Randal pay for a round of drinks.  Wives were “so not allowed” at this event.   The club has been meeting for over 10 years, every Thursday, and I had no desire to challenge history.

  Another colorful bar along the beach.  One gets thirsty at the beach!

  This place is empty here, but by noon it would be full of “Classic Club? members.

  And here it is again starting to fill up.  Randal is wearing his green backpack.  Nick is there as well as JR who lives on the boat 2 down from us in Subic (talking to Randal.)  JR and Heidi were visiting Nick for the holidays.  Chris is another new friend we made.  He is in the green hat. Chris and Marlene live in Romblon but were in PG on their sailboat for the holidays.  Randal enjoys talking boats and cruising with this group. 

Guess there will have to be a part 3

Hi Everyone,

  On the Thursday in Puerto Galera, when Randal went to the Classic Club (men only) lunch in Sabang, I spent the day enjoying Sabang and my 3 mile walk back to Puerto Galera.  I collected sea glass, took lots of photos, had my thread necklace made, and ate lunch.  Then, because the road was quite scenic, I walked back to Puerto Galera.  All Randal got to do was eat a special gourmet lunch, chat all day with his new friends, and take a motorcycle ride back to Puerto Galera.  Truly, we both spent the day exactly as we wanted.

   Randal and I had taken a tricycle cab to Sabang because we had just missed the 10:30 jeepney from PG to Sabang and the next one wouldn’t leave for at least 20 minutes or until it was crammed full.  The trike ride was fine except where the road was under construction and muddy and bumpy and there is almost no headroom in these trikes.  But our driver did fine and we arrived in Sabang with no head wounds and still clean.  Randal and I parted ways and he went along the beach looking for the pre-lunch hang out place and I went to the far end of Sabang to see what there was to see.  I found stairs up the mountain to the neighborhoods built there, took some photos and then went to get close up pictures of the 3 little boys I had spied exploring the tide pools.

The beach curves all around, and just past the white building ( condos) at the top right corner is a stairway and a path that lets you get to the other side of the point.  On that path was the thread lady.  Along the beach names change from Sabang to Small La Laguna and Big La Laguna but it looks like one long beach.  To walk back to Puerto Galera I had to come back to this side of Sabang to take the road.  By banca you would go around the point.  You can see the three little boys in the center of the photo. 

The beach front.  Not much swimming here except for the small local kids.  On the other end of the path past the white building was a swimming beach.  Lots of tall cell towers.

  A typical beachfront image.  I loved all the bright colors.

  Small resorts line the beach front.

  Another stairway

Looking down on the homes of Sabang

  the little boys!  They lifter any rock that looked promising!  The water was quite clear.

Today, January 7th the kids returned to school after their summer holiday.  November and December are the months with the best weather so local schools are closed.  But the International School here has a school year that matches American School schedules.

I have lots more of them, they were so “being little kids.”

  These kids were too old for exploring tide pools and were pitching pesos.

We haven’t gotten very far down the beach yet  Part 2 will get us further.

Hi  Everyone,

  Carl, the Swede who owns the Rock en Roll Bar dresses as Santa and hands out candy and other more substantial food supplies to the children and families of Puerto Galera.  I told you the tale of his having to dye his beard black and become “Carl’s brother.”  Here are the photos from the event on Christmas Eve afternoon. 

  Santa in his bar, drinking his beer and reaching for his cigarettes. 

(We used their wireless access here.)

  Anna was always helpful and friendly to us.  Here she is being an elf!

  The other bar elf, Lenni.  Both Anna and Lennie were there everyday. 

  Kids lining up for there loot. 

Just a tad different from Roanoke County Public Library Christmas happenings.  At least I don’t remember any beer. 

  After the kids got their candy their hands were marked so no repeats!

This lady was just so photogenic I took lots of her. 

  What a face!

I think she was pleading her case.  I’m sure if she had needed a hand, Carl would have given her something as he did many of the other families.

  These families were treated with generosity by Carl.

  Very cute children.  All were polite and appreciative.  This was more smack than tap, but they were both smiling in no time.

  Candy treats.

There she goes.  This is “bar row” on one end and small shops on the other.

  It was a very heartwarming afternoon at the NEW Rock en Roll Bar