Journey & Adventure

Well, there's not much going on in life at the moment.  At least there's nothing worth blogging about.  Okay, well maybe is worth blogging about, but I've done enough complaning of late....so, I bring you some more of my Flamingo Tongue Design creations. Today, it's all about sea glass.  I think if I could make a living from beachcombing, I'd be all over it in a heart beat.  I love finding this stuff... These pieces were all found in the Philippines.  I simply added the pewter bail and chains.

I know what you were you thinking! Sorry to disappoint, but I was talking about nudi(branchs).   Crazy Cris over @ Here and There and Everywhere is playing hostess with the most-est again this year to World Ocean’s Day.   The theme?   Write something witty about our oceans, your experience with the ocean, etc.   So since I don’t really have anything witty to say, but wanted to participate, I will share some of J’s cool underwater photos with you.    The photos are all of nudibranchs (NEW-dih-bronk) – a bottom-dwelling, jelly-bodied, shell-less, type of sea slug.   These are some of the most interesting creatures I have every witnessed on the sea floor.   They can range in size from 0.25 inches up to 12 inches long, but given their color, they are fairly easy to spot once you’ve trained your eyes accordingly.   All of these pictures were taken during our trip to the Philippines and as you can see, they vary greatly in ...

I’ve been a bit of a slacker in posting about our trip to the Philippines in March. Well, I’ve finally gotten around to taking a look at J’s pictures from the trip and they’ve managed to refresh my memory of the awesome time we had. Now, as you can imagine as with anywhere in the world, the Filipinos are wonderful people, with their own cultures, beliefs and ways of doing things. As tourists, it’s not for us to judge something different as being right or wrong. In my opinion, it’s simply best to sit back and observe what other cultures have to offer us. If you open your mind, you just might be entertained and you may even learn something in the process. One tidbit I’ve picked up from travelling to the Philippines is that they are creative with transporting their livestock and apparently do not have a PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) chapter there. Why? Well, take a look at what we observed in our travels. .. I should point out that some of these methods...

Sorry, but things have been too busy with my "back-up" plan to write about anything else, so I'm going to bore you with some of my latest Flamingo Tongue Design creations. Ripples - Agate Necklace Sunrise Surprise - Sediment Sea Jasper  Rebecca (this one was made for my niece - to wear with her wedding gown) And a couple of purchases from the Philippines, which I plan on reselling on my website.  Don't worry, I will disclose that they aren't my creations. Primary Colors - Bracelet Ahh, Nuts - Bracelet (natural color of the nuts) Spiral Shell Bracelet

Well, we've been back over a week now and all I can say is that it feels like we were never away.  So before I completely forget about the trip, let's get started... Let’s start by telling you a little bit about where we stayed in the Philippines. Our first stop was the island of Negros, Philippines and on this island, we stayed at a beautiful resort called Atlantis Dive Resort . From the moment we were greeted at the airport by our hosts, we knew we were in for a treat. Every detail of our stay was beyond our expectations. The resort was clean and comfortable. The staff were over-the-top attentive and they knew our names by the second day. This is not a tiny resort, so memorizing all the guest’s names should be commended. A personalized greeting goes a long way to making you feel welcome and at home.  Gloria - She Was The Best !!! The food was 5+ star to say the least. It’s a miracle I did not gain any weight while we were here, but I guess having the abilit...

Just a quick update.  We are mid way through our Philippine vacation and have been having a great time.   We spent last week scuba diving in Dumuagete, Philippines (Negros Island).  The resort was unbelievable, the people, food, accommodations were beyond our expectations. Yesterday, we were on the road again...headed to Legazpi, Philippines to snorkel with the whale sharks.  This is where our trip took a turn for the unexpected.  Our flight was first delayed and then ultimately canceled.  We tried without luck to reschedule our flights for today, but were told all flights to our destination were sold out until March 30...the same day we are scheduled to fly home. So, long story short...here we sit in a hotel lobby in Manila, Philippines - waiting for our rooms to be ready.  This will be the same hotel we will be residing in for the next 3 days....until our flight home. As disappointed as we are about our disruption, travel is what yo...

In less than a week, we are off to the Philippines for two glorious weeks of scuba diving, snorkeling, eating, drinking, relaxing , more relaxing and maybe some shopping. I’m looking forward to everything - except the journey to get there. The first leg of the trip will see us depart Toronto for a 15 hour flight to Hong Kong. Then it’s another 2 hour flight from Hong Kong to Manila and then another 2 hour flight from Manila to Cebu and then a 2 hour bus ride to the dive resort. Estimated time in transit to get there, including flights, wait time at the airports and bus time = 25+ hours. A previous trip to Palau was 36+ hours of travel time, BUT we had an overnight stop over in Hawaii, which softened the blow a bit. All of our travel companions are pretty easy going, but I’m sure someone will have a meltdown before that excursion is over. My money is on one of the smokers in the group. Should be interesting. I’ll be sure to let you know how it goes. The suitcases are ...

Only 28 more days until my journey to the Philippines begins. I can’t believe it is getting so close. To be honest, I haven’t thought much about it with everything else that’s been going on with my life at the moment. I know it seems insane, but I’ve already started to pack. Packing for a scuba trip is a completely different form of packing and because we take all of our own gear (with the exception of tanks and weights), we need to start early to make sure everything is still in working order. Believe me, there is no such thing as “packing light”. With all the scuba gear, including regulators, suits, boots, BCD’s, mask, fins, snorkels, underwater flashlights, batteries for the flashlights and underwater camera equipment, my “gear” suitcase is usually just shy of 40 lbs and then when the first aid kit, sunscreen, medications (decongestant, Pepto Bismol, Dramamine, Tylenol, toiletries and anything else we think we might need that won’t be readily available) is added, I’m push...