2007 Philippines - family vacation

Saturday, September 1, 2007

Assorted images from Siquijor

Nice clouds over the mountains of Negros Oriental as seen from Coco Grove, Siquijor

Uncle's house at Cang-inte

Jerry at the water tank above Cang-inte (Uncle's village)

A little garden on a rock at the coconut plantation

The huge mountains on the island of Negros Oriental as viewed while driving down from the mountains of Siquijor

Jemar and Devon hanging out the back of an Easyride

Coco Grove's Jeepney 'Honeybee'

Ah yes, the horses...(?)

One other interesting thing happened at Coco Grove. I had planned to try to observe any interesting astronomical events that might be available, but during the wet season the sky is often covered with a thin layer of clouds. The stars only appeared occasionally. Also, lacking Internet access, I wasn't able to get up-to-date predictions for International Space Station (ISS) passes.

But one night at the swim-up bar at Coco Grove, little Deric said, "Why is that star moving?" Deric, Devon and I got a nice and clear view of the very bright 'moving star'. We later confirmed that it was the ISS making a perfect pass almost directly over Siquijor.

ISS passes over Siquijor

Thank you Deric!!

Friday, August 31, 2007

Deric and the chickens

For some reason, Deric really enjoyed feeding and handling the chickens up in the mountains of Siquijor. One of them ended up in the pot of feed. He even happily held the tail feathers of a rooster as two of them tried to have a match.

Link= Deric and the Chickens on YouTube

Chicken ends up in the pot

Uncle and Deric

Cantabon Cave

These cave entrances are on the property next to our property; not on our property. The downhill cave section might run under our property. We did not enter the caves, but it is reported that the downhill side is as big as a cathedral inside (unconfirmed). They are used as a water source locally.

Uphill side is full of water...

Another entrance to the downhill section

Peeking inside the downhill side

Treasure hunting on Siquijor

We buried 16 1-peso coins on the beach, but found only 7 of them using our metal detector brought along for the occasion. But we also found another 5 peso and 70 centavo that wasn't ours, plus lots of junk. Overall, we're only down by 3.30 peso.

5.70 peso

Assorted metal junk, old nails, bottle caps, wire...

Shortwave radio for BBC World Service

I'd call this eton S350DL a 'clown radio' because it is not really a serious radio, but it worked just fine. And it was relaxing not having to worry about it too much since it was so inexpensive (on sale $59.95Cdn).

I had a printed frequency schedule for BBC World Service into Southeast Asia. I was easily able to dial-up the various frequencies and was almost always able to get a very clear signal.

eton S350DL tuned into Radio Australia's Breakfast Club

I also found many other interesting shortwave stations from all over Asia, many of which I have not ever heard before.

Motorbiking up and down Siquijor's mountains

The mountains rise over 1400 feet over a few miles of travel. At times it is First Gear Only. The roads vary from smooth concrete to rough and rutted.

Helmets?

On the return trip during the early evening, Deric actually fell asleep and Razel had to hold him firmly.

These motorbikes rent for 60 peso per hour (about $1.50) plus gasoline. They are clutchless (semiautomatic 4-speed) and fairly easy to drive. But one needs to be cautious because the consequences of an accident might be very high.