And here goes my year summarized in photos taken from all over the Philippines. I have thus proven that once bitten by the travel bug, one can never go back. Thanks to all the friends I met online at first, on the road eventually. I hope 2012 has a lot more in store for me and my itchy feet. 🙂 Cheers!
Regarded as the “Little Venice of Surigao”, Day-asan is a quaint small fishing village comprised of houses on stilts and coral rocks. Everyone earns a living by catching fish and raising crabs and lobsters in fish cages. To get to the actual “Floating Village”  one has to cross the wooden bridges that link the cluster of houses to the mainland or hire a small motorized boat.
We reached the village at around 11:00am and asked a group of men where to book a day tour. A man introduced himself as a boatman and directed us towards the dock where a table is set up. He said we have to see his brochure. After agreeing on the scope of the day tour (mangrove tour, floating village, white beach) and buying packed lunch from the nearby hawkers, we took off.
   
    
We navigated the waterways framed with lush mangrove cover.
And stopped at a fish cage for some lobster and crab sightings.
Clear as can be, the sea was teeming with life. We could see the colorful corals and regretted not bringing a snorkel set. (Note to self: buy a good underwater camera)
Our boatman, Manong Julito, is the brother of the barangay captain (or the village chieftain if you may). He is strong beyond his years and kind beyond all measure.
25 Aug 2011- Gloomy skies and and intermittent drizzles greeted me during my first few hours in Surigao City – the city of island adventures. Nat, a friend I met during the bloggers’ meet-up in Davao, texted me soon after touchdown and asked if my flight was delayed because of the weather. Fortunately it took off on time as planned, I told her. I was fetched at the airport by a friend, A, who was “commissioned” to be my acting tour guide. (I’m sorry for the task A but it was also a great experience for you because you realized you were a tourist in your own city. )
From the fundamentals of geology (which I took at uni way back when), I learned that beaches are formed through sediment transport influenced by wind, waves, and currents. The Mabua Pebble (or cobble, only that I wasn’t able to verify if the particle sizes are within the range 64–256 mm) beach, having composed of sediments with large grain size, may have been formed by wave action of very strong forward swash (forcing pebble material to be driven onshore) and a weaker return swash or backswash (causing material to be deposited). Choz! Chika lang. (I work with geologists and they will have me stoned to death if I get this wrong, quite literally.)
The beach could have looked better in the photographs if the sun wasn’t acting up. But the winds and and the raging waves of the sea all together provided the atmosphere I deemed appropriate for the soliloquy I was staging at the top of the stone hill. The view was magnificent and with every crashing wave came the refreshing splash of water onto my face, enlivening me with a newfound appreciation for the aggressive sea.
Throw Caution to the Wind 