…I learned when I was diagnosed with the Big C a few years back. Although prognosis was good and I am doing fine today, since that fateful time, I am learning to live life to the fullest and to enjoy every second of it.
Death manages to jolt me every time, whether it is someone close to me or someone I just met. It gets me pondering over how I’ve lived. My accomplishments, its significance. Do they really matter? Am I living my life according to my dreams, my passions? You know… those kind of (deep) stuff.
Dave Vecella, owner of Beyond the Reef, a soft-spoken, kind man, impressed me with his “ready to serve” attitude. He concerns himself with little details even driving us around Yap on our last day. He heard that we had wanted (just for a change) to have lunch one day on a beach between dives, and because that wasn’t possible, he instead arranged to have a barbeque lunch in a park at the end of our day tour. Wasn’t that sweet? What a nice guy! He and his staff were the best, ever so attentive and ready to help underwater and above.
One day he was cooking hamburgers for us and 2 weeks later, he was gone. It was a diving accident, I read on this blog. (This blog post no longer exist, you may instead go to thisblog — edited Jan. 14). They went deep (on a technical dive) taking with them 2 tanks, leaving the 2nd tank on a slope thinking that they could return there and change tanks before they’d ascend. Strong currents impeded their return, he was able to help one companion but he sadly didn’t make it. He died in the Recompression Chamber. Well, that’s the short version of the story.
I write this because many of us live in the past or for the future when what really matter is the right now. Not to get me wrong here, I believe that how we live our present life determines our future but we need to learn to smell the roses. Live one day at a time. I read somewhere that we all have equal time in this world. No one has more or less. The difference lies in how we use our time. Dave lost his life while he was doing what he loved doing. I believe that he saw his work as a big playground rather than work per se and that’s what I call living each moment.
Life is short. Live. Love. Laugh. Seize every opportunity to live each moment significantly. Try not to let life pass you by. Get up and follow your dreams and you will see that anything you want, you can achieve.
“Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making plans.” – John Lennon
And on that note: In memory of Dave, here’s a video of our awesome Yap adventure. This is for you, Mr. Vecella.
Absolutely. Totally. Smitten.He’s on tour as of this writing and was recently in Paris.Get a load of this clip and have a glimpse of his songs. The guy just oozes with coolness 😉 Wonder when he’ll find his way to this part of the world?Enjoy the vid and you can know more about him here.
“Sing a song of Birthdays full of fun and cheer and may you keep having fun for many a happy year.” Anonymous
“Good fellowship and friendship are lasting, rational and manly pleasures.” William Wycherley
tablescape
Every year, we celebrate without fail, growing closer through the years. We used to just meet up for dinner but lately our celebrations have become more special, more memorable, enjoyable. We have the fortune of having our birthdays close to each other (well, ok a 3 month span might be pushing it?) affording us to celebrate together and more recently a bit more grandiose as we can split the bill 5 ways. Now why didn’t we think of that earlier?
Previous years’ celebrations would bring us out of town, an overnight even. Each and every one of them special in its own way. Our love for each other triumphs over any arguments or disagreements (and yes, we have a lot of those). And these out of towns are our Mighty Bond.
Bale Dutung
Kapampangan fare
This year’s birthday bash brought us to Angeles, Pampanga. To Bale Dutung, Claude and Maryann Tayag’s residence. Here, we celebrated our birthday in a grand way. A 4-hour lunch specially prepared by Claude himself while Maryann served and entertained us. It was such an experience, a first for everyone. The menu was mainly Kapampangan with a twist, Claude’s twist. There were more appetizers/starters than main entrees but the variety provided us a chance to sample more dishes. Truth is, the food was a little too much and by the end of the course, our bellies would only allow a few spoonfuls
Seafood Kare Kare
of the Seafood Kare-kare, which unfortunately was so yummy. Oh and the dessert (christened Paradiso by the late Doreen Fernandez) was HEAVEN. We actually had to take a break before dessert. The hosts graciously toured us around their lovely home. Bale Dutung, meaning “House of Wood” (or “Wooden House”?) had Claude’s sculpted masterpieces tastefully scattered all over the house giving it so much more character. And the papers, magazines, books etc added to its lived-in charm.
Special Mention
Paradiso - yum!
Can I mention again that the dessert was lip-smacking delish? It’s a little bit of crème brulee, yema (creamy candy made of egg yolks, sugar and milk) and halo-halo (it had a bit of ube, macapuno and camote) put together. That combination + the bittersweet crunchiness of the caramalized sugar… perfection! I heard that the secret to its creaminess (not so secret anymore) is Carabao’s milk! To. Die. For! Can you tell I have a sweet tooth? 😉 Heard that they normally serve this only to larger groups as it is not easy to prepare and that milk is not always available. So Mr. Tayag, you just made one girl verry, verry happy!
Note: will have to mooch pics from Irene– mine’s too blurred to post 😦 Gotta get a DSLR! Promise to be back with more pics.
Update: As promised, here are more pics… many thanks to Irene!
Deeply Honored
Thank you, my dear, dear friends for celebrating yet another year with me and may the friendship and the celebration continue till we’re old and gray. Love you guys!
Thank you too Claude and Mary Ann Tayag for opening your wonderful home to us. The food was exceptional, but the hospitality… matchless! Thanks again… sniff!
It may change as time pass but for now, these are a few of my favorite things (and activities) Create your own word cloud here. Had fun creating mine. How would yours look like?
It was 3 AM (1 AM Manila time) when we arrived at a small, simple looking airport in Yap (looks like one of our small city airports back home). We were met by Dave, a soft-spoken, burly man who runs Beyond the Reef and who briefly advised us on pick-up times and what to dos for the next few days. We were tired but elated for what lies ahead. There were only a handful of us that got off the plane en route to Guam (so you think that it would be quick and easy getting through? We had to wait for one of our friend’s luggage as it did not get off the plane and was on its way to Guam… which they say is a normal thing — Yikes!). The 5,000 visitors last year were mostly divers. With a population of only 13,000, this sleepy town is known mostly for it’s marine life, more specifically for Manta Rays. Sightings are almost always a sure thing. And so we travelled a long and winding route to this Federated State of Micronesia hoping for some encounters with the Mantas. Because the flights do not connect, we had to stay the night in Palau both ways, which allowed us practically 2 days to kill. And killed we did by shopping till we dropped. Not that we don’t have those PX goods and those dive paraphernalia back home BUT um I rarely go shopping when I’m home. A lame excuse ya?
Not too hot…
divers weaving through
Of course we went to several dive sites but I have 2 favorites that I will rave about later. First, let me briefly acquaint you with some of the “not too hot” sites. Not that they’re a real disappointment but perhaps we just weren’t there at the right time. The first would be Yap Cavern, had fun weaving in and out (as it was my first time in a cavern) but kinda disappointing coz we missed the schools of jacks and the barracudas that usually hang out at the end of the cavern. What we had was a rare episode, I heard So I wouldn’t generalize this one experience. It still is a pretty site even without the schools. Next was Miil Channel and likewise a let down for us, as the Mantas were nowhere in sight, while the reviews raved of schools of Mantas (sometimes reaching up to 8 at a single sighting) when in season. We thought that we perhaps brought some bad luck with us? We found out after, that we were a month shy of the season. No wonder, no mantas! While Fanif looked like a ghost town underwater with just a smattering of reef sharks (am I spoiled or am I spoiled???),Magic Kingdom on the other hand boasts of beautiful coral beds — reminding me of Twin Rocks in Anilao but pales in comparison to my 2 favorites so hang in there, stay with me and read on.
Vertigo
sharkies lined up
School of sharks — black tips and gray reefs everywhere. Babies, teenagers, full growns, fat ones, thin ones– all sizes just below our boat. We didn’t even have to swim far. At one point, I counted 23 sharks. TWENTY THREE! It’s like watching a 3D movie with front row seats. Amazing!
We came back on our last day to cap off a great dive trip. Good visibility, no
currents, beautiful reefs, plenty of other fishes — sweet lips, surgeons, wrasse, etc. A no brainer. We just had to have our group shot here, and we did.
The second time around, I counted only 7 sharks wandering around but they were swimming so close, we could almost touch them. Well, that really isn’t a good thing, is it? But I’m still alive so I guess it can’t be such a bad thing. 🙂 Ok, there are some rules to be followed like stay on the reef, always face and never swim out to the blue (that’s the deep blue water where the sharks are). And for as long as you follow those rules, you’ll be okay. I got to see the sharks up close and personal. Love the black tips with white borders the most. A perfect finale indeed.
Valley of the Rays
swimming so low we could touch them if we stretch long enough
Love the name, and the rays love this place. It succinctly describes this place. Here, manta rays abound because here, planktons and remoras are aplenty. They come for the cleaning (from the remoras) and the feeding (the planktons). I think that is why it is called a cleaning station ya? Now I wonder if it is also called a feeding station? 🙂
For three days, our schedule looked like this… up by 6, breakfast at 7, on the boat by 8, and at “The Valley” by 9. The mantas are there early, we were told. And they were indeed. As soon as we approached the station, they were there, at least 2 if not 3 at a time (except for the first day when they appeared 7 minutes before I had to deco, read: I only had less than 7 minutes before I have to ascend, or else! hehe!). And they did not disappoint. These gentle giants with wingspan of approximately 10-12 feet wide, were swimming, gliding gracefully above us, in front of us, all around us. Sometimes playing hide and seek, sometimes posing for the camera, sometimes just watching us, hovering so close above us we had to stay close to the ground or risk getting hit. An experience hard to top, eh?
up close and personal
It’s Sooo Worth It!
an underwater group shot in Vertigo
We came to Yap primarily for the Mantas, and we got Mantas. E.V.E.R.Y.D.A.Y! The sharks were a a pleasant surprise and a bonus. Despite some disappointments, Yap in my opinion is money well spent. If Mantas are what you’re after, I recommend Yap. If you want to see more than just Mantas, Palau would be more practical where Mantas aren’t guaranteed but you’ll encounter a whole lot of pelagics. Best if you can do both. Close encounter with the Mantas (and sharkies). Check!
I only wanted to learn how to enhance my photos with Photoshop.I went on the ‘net looking for tips and tutorials and soon discovered a new word… DIGITAL SCRAPBOOKING.What’s that, eh?Well, it pretty much explains itself. It’s scrapbooking without having to cut and paste (literally that is). Hybrid, I believe is somewhere in between. I had a very, very short stint at scrapbooking back in college and then life took over and before I knew it, it was over. Hehe!So anyway, aside from that really short stint way, way back, I never really thought that I would be scrapbooking (again)… but I got curious and so I lurked around some “digiscrappers” blog sites and pretty soon I was going wow, Wow, WOW!I can learn to do that and that to my collection of travel photos? You got me!
To cut the story short, I got lured into an on-line (self paced) class for beginners here but even before I signed up for that, I saw that she was offering a free class for newbies and oldies (it didn’t matter, she said) and so I decided to test the waters and signed up.How cool is that?Class starts on the 9th and so hopefully you’ll see some of my works here.Hopefully.
BUT before that, I’m off to YAP tomorrow for some awesome diving. Woohoo!I’ll post some pics and tell you all about it when I get back.
So come take this new journey with me.I’ll be sharing my adventures with you, hopefully in a different way.
I’m excited about something and can’t wait to share with you. So in the spirit of adventure… I’m starting a blog and inviting you to come explore the world with me.
my adventure odyssey 