Lessons learned in Puerto Galera

It seems as if I can’t go anywhere in the Philippines without learning something new. As stated before, each trip has a theme and the only one that fits my last weekend would have to be “exotic nightlife”. Of course that will tie into a few of the lessons learned:

- Are you craving a certain ethnic food? Filipino imitations are never quite the same but all you have to do is find the dive resort owned by an ex-pat from that region. Last weekend was spent at the German dive resort.

- German resorts do not cater well to vegetarians.

- Turtles sleep on the bottom of the ocean. This falls under the category of things you read about but never fully comprehend until seen. How do they manage? I know while conscious one breath of air gives them about an hour or so bottom time. Using conservative estimates that might give them 3 hour cat naps… can that be right? Basically boils down to the fact that you can never hit the snooze button.

- Cuttlefish are one of the most amazing invertebrates I’ve ever seen. Octopus seem ungainly next to the smooth flowing cuttlefish underway. In addition they can change both their color and surface texture! (That last point made my material science spidey-sence go insane.) Ever seen an animal swim over various colored sands below all-the-while mimicking the dynamic dappling effect of sunlight striking the water surface above? I have; I was astounded. Move aside octopocalypse, here comes the cuttlypse!

- One can empty an entire bottle of air just watching a sleeping turtle and a pair of cuttlefish.

- Never get lost on your way back to your hotel.

- If you do get lost, do not walk back and forth past the same group of sex workers looking for the hotel; they will take it as a sign of interest, inhibition, or indecision. Worse, they may understand it to mean all three.

(Sorry, no pictures this trip; all the worthwhile pictures were underwater and I’m still in the process of building a water tight housing for my camera.)

Edit: I lied, one picture was taken:

You can't quite see it but behind me, my co-worker Albert, the lovely curtains, and the boat's outriggers is the South China Sea. On a side note, I think I need those curtains for my new apartment.