This week our update comes from the beautifully manicured grounds of the Thalatta Beach Resort. We decided to celebrate Kelly’s 30th birthday with a little change of locale and some diving, swimming, and spa time. Just 15 minutes south of Dauin in Zamboanguita, with 12 nice little cottages just off the beach and a large wine and spirits selection, Thalatta has been a nice place to kick back, relax, and celebrate the latest arrival to middle age. Its a shame they don’t have a seniors diving discount… :)
We’ve had some rough weather lately. Lots of rain and wind and even a couple days where the sun hasn’t come out at all. Hopefully this is atypical for the ‘dry’ season and clears up soon. In the interim we’ve been shut-ins. I’ve had a lot of work on my plate for January. And with all the economy woes, I’m glad to be in demand and busy. Kelly has been doing some reading up and planning for the next location. We’ve decided that the Philippines, while nice, isn’t the idyllic paradise we were hoping for. We’ve had difficulties finding a higher quality of food preparation and readily available ingredients, but more important is the lack of other people of similar age and interests. We’ve made a few good friends here in the Philippines, but it’s not common to walk into a bar here and strike up a conversation. There’s a distinct language barrier between us and the predominantly Swiss/German and Korean tourist crowd here and most locals tend to be quite shy with varying degrees of English fluency. The age difference between us and 95% of the other tourists is commonly 20-50 years older. I mean it’s cool to hang out with your grandparents and all, but the conversations tend to wander towards your Great Aunt Delores and how your prostate is holding up. The combination of all these things has made us reevaluate the setting. While the reoccurring 2 month tourist visa situation here is fantastic, we’re about to come up on the 6 month mark at the end of February. Following which, we’d need to go to Manilla before we leave the country for an exit visa. Also, the cost of renewing the visa takes a sharp upward turn at 6 months. So, we’re looking to jump over to Thailand before the end of February.
We’ll spend 3 months in Thailand, likely in Phuket or Koh Samui. If anyone has a recommendation for an initial hotel in Phuket with solid internet access, I’d appreciate knowing about it. Drop me a line in the comments section. After Thailand, we’re thinking Indonesia or Singapore. Maybe Vietnam and Cambodia if time allows. Then it’s pretty much been a year and our return tickets will be expiring so we’ll be heading back in mid August for a visit with friends and family. Kelly is dying to get hands on with her brand spanking new nephew. After that, who knows? It starts to get cold again and rumours are circulating about Central America…
Other than that, I grew tired of walking everywhere. And I’m missing my motorcycle like you wouldn’t believe, but the costs of renting or owning a real bike here aren’t doable with the remaining time we have here. So I rented a 125cc 4 speed automatic scooter. It’s pretty standard fare for the area. It’s gutless, ugly, and makes me look like a total sissy… so I got us some rad helmets. It’ll do for a couple more months and make beer runs to the local corner store much more effortless.
That’s all for now. We’re off to enjoy a massage. See you next week.
Posted by: Shim
Kelly:
Happy Birthday! We’re just heading into beer-time at Switch/Fleming into the new bean-bag pit (the old Photoshop area which Felix has transformed into the 1970s – pictures to come). Hey maybe there IS a place for my old orange shag and lovely macrame hanging from Cultus Lake!
Anyway, consider yourself ‘toasted’ by all of us who never need an excuse to hoist the glass! And Mike, you might be better off where you are right now unless you feel it’s time to be ‘prolific.’ There is definitely something in the water in Switch. There are only a handful of us and yet there are 5 babies (two just born and three on the way!) Instead of looking at questionable sites or passing around music … we are now passing around ultrasounds! All very wonderful, but sort of like a sitcom at times.
Loads of best wishes and happy day Kelly!
Haha. Thanks Catherine. Luckily I’ve sworn off water entirely… Who just had 2 babies?
You should add a picture on theit website: http://www.thalatta-beach.com