Philippines 2017 : Swimming with the Whaleshark in Oslob

The name Oslob became famous because of the whale shark.

The town is about 2-3 hours by bus to the South of Cebu City.  It got scandalize when a picture of a girl rode one of the whales while being tied down got posted on facebook.

Interviewing one of the fisherman who is working as one of the boatmen ferrying tourist to the whale-sharks , I found out that the local government step over and took control over the situation.

Now the fishermen worked together to make the place cleaner and protect the whale-sharks while tourist both local and foreign enjoyed the  this gentle giants. They also chased away boats bringing tourist who are not registered with the local government.

There are now rules that the fishermen follows and the place although still chaotic, it is organize chaos now.

Fishermen now have extra income to support their families as well, so they do not over fish for extra income. Fishes are now slowly coming back as well.

Enjoying the sunrise while waiting for the whale-sharks. Basic information about the whale-sharks

Basic rules to follow

I do not own a go-pro or water resistant camera, but everybody have 30 minutes chance to swim together with the whale-shark and it was an amazing creatures. I was very happy that I got a chance to see them up close and personal.

The whale-sharks are not there for our entertainment so please respect the creatures and follow the rules. Let’s admire and enjoy the moment swimming with these gentle giants.

Enjoy Oslob.

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Weekly Photo Challenge : The Sign Says

I do like taking picture of interesting signs, so I do have a bit of collection with it. Here are the most recent one I have taken so far.

It says “Sanrio Store”, in Kurashiki Okayama Japan. Hello Kitty is everywhere , so it was not surprising to found one in a small town of Kurashiki.

A drinking bar/restaurany in Ooyama Itabashi Ward , Tokyo Japan. The empty drums line is actually a general menu of what the place offered.

The English Rose Corner of Ikuta Rose Garden in Kawasaki City , Kanagawa Japan.

A small stone welcoming visitors in Kawazu Shizuoka Japan

Be sure not to leave your dog poop behind.

Safe sex everyone. A condom store in Shibuya Japan.

The Road is under what? Oslob Cebu Philippines.

Where to go in case of Tsunami. In Goza Shirahama, Mie Japan.

Our current location in Mt. Ibuki, Shiga Japan

The Biscuit Cafe is located upstairs 🙂 at NakasakiCho Osaka Japan.

I know  I do have some more funny signs , I just need to look for them. Enjoy the rest of the week :D.

 

Travel Theme: The Four Elements

This week travel theme talks about the 4 elements; earth, water, fire and air.  These are my representation for each element, enjoy.

Earth:

The mountain ranges in Yamaguchi Prefecture, Japan.

The boiling earth in one of the 7 hells of Beppu, Oita Prefecture Japan.

Fire:

An unfortunate event a few weeks ago when one of the far away neighbor’s house was caught on fire.

A fire flower (hanabi) in Toride Japan.

Water:

One of the many rivers in central Osaka.

Tumalog Falls in Oslob Cebu.

Wind:

The flags waving as the wind blows, in Ho Chi Minh Vietnam.

This one in Camotes Island Cebu.

Have a great weekend everyone 🙂

A week of fun with the family

Jetstart started operating there Osaka <-> Manila Route last March, 2012 and I was very lucky to booked a ticket  for just 35,000 yen to The Philippines.

When R told me about it, there was no hesitation, I immediately booked it. I have not asked permission from my bosses and I was not even sure if my contract would be extended, but this is a chance I was not planning to missed.

Anyways, to make the story short, everything went well with work. Now it’s time for a week vacation of fun in Cebu, Philippines. It’s more fun in the Philippines right?

First destination: Tumalog Falls Oslob City Cebu.

It took us two hours by car to reach the main road to the falls but nobody told us that going to the waterfalls itself takes a little bit of uphill climb. Unfortunately the multicab we rented was not a four wheel drive and could not take us all the way to the falls. We have to rent the local transpo : “habal-habal” or motorcycle. Then after that we need to walk for about 10 minutes downhill and I meant really downhill. A wrong step and you will end up rolling down the hills…BUT it was worth it.

[Pictures here]

The whole place was not yet modernized, you will experience nature as its finest.  I had a little misshap but the whole family had fun so it was all worth it.

My main destination for this vacation though was the beautiful island of Camotes.

Everybody had fun basking in the sun. The island of Camotes is around 2 hours by bus from the main city of Cebu and another 2 hours by ferry .

Most are only local tourist, so it was not crowded and we have a great relaxing time.

We stayed at the very beautiful Santiago Bay Resort for a night, but for our meal we go out to the local restaurant just outside the resort since it’s more cheaper 🙂

A vacation in the Philippines would not be complete if I can’t have my favorite Halo-Halo , Mango , Goldilocks cake and Banana.  Some friends were nice enough to take some time off from their busy schedule and met with me for lunch and Ice cream.

So I am very excited for my next vacation and explore another beautiful island and eat lots of good food with my family and hopefully with T too 🙂