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Articles tagged with: bike

Cycling to Guiuan, Samar

October 13, 2013 – 9:11 am
Two Girls at the Waterfront in Guiuan

I didn’t have a chance to see my hostess from the hotel of videoke horror before I left. As I went downstairs to take a shower in the common bathroom and such things, I had to pass the kitchen, and though many people said good morning to me, it seemed that my hostess was avoiding me. I couldn’t really blame her. In the cold light …

Quinapondan and a Night of Videoke Torment

October 12, 2013 – 8:55 am
Rice Field in Quinapondan

I did stay in Quinapondan to give my knee a chance to recover a bit. I had a pretty good day and a less than perfect night. The dreaded videoke horror reared its ugly head. And since it was a Friday night, it wasn’t much fun for the poor foreigner.
After breakfast, I grabbed my camera and headed out into the town. I brought all my …

A Night in Amambucale, Samar

October 11, 2013 – 8:35 am
Halloween in Amambucale

I made the snap decision to head for the Guiuan peninsula on Samar before heading south and eventually out of the Philippines. I had a vague idea of going up the east coast of Samar and then crossing over the interior mountains and doing a loop back to Leyte, but a bum right knee has caused me to rethink that idea. I will probably go …

A Visit to a Local Prison

October 2, 2013 – 1:38 pm
Street Shot in Tacloban

Visiting hours at the jail start at 1:00 p.m. and I arrived there at about 1:30 to find a very long line-up of women waiting to get in. I suppose I shouldn’t have been surprised to see a line-up, but I was. I wasn’t sure if I had to register first or not, so I initially walked past the line and went right up to …

Visa Extension and New Parts for the Bike

September 27, 2013 – 12:39 pm
Typical Local Bus

My trip to the immigration office was successful. They remembered me from before, and I was greeted with the question, “Visa extension?” Pretty much any foreigner who shows up at their office is there for a visa extension.
Every time you get a visa extension, the fees are different. The first time is really expensive. The second time is less so. And the third time, the …

Cycling from Naval back to Tacloban

September 26, 2013 – 12:19 pm
Local Shop in Naval, Biliran

Well, I’m back in Tacloban. I decided it made more sense to return here to renew my tourist visa rather than try to reach a different town. I know for a fact that it can be done in Tacloban, and there’s no way to be sure about other places.
On my ride back here, I encountered something new, something to add to the travails of Doug …

Visit to a Cockfighting Arena

September 23, 2013 – 12:08 pm
Cockfighting Arena

Mark, the fellow that runs the sari-sar store and who took me out to his farm on his motorcycle, wasn’t around for a couple of days. Yesterday morning, however, I spotted him at his store – which is at the front of his house – and we had a chance to chat some more. I got a lot of information from him about his life
Mark …

The Rice Terraces of Ilyusin

September 3, 2013 – 3:58 pm
Rice Terraces and Banana Leaf

I did return to the same area on my bike yesterday. This time, however, I made sure to have a big breakfast before I left, and that made all the difference to my mood. If there is one rule I should always stick with it is that I should have a full breakfast at the beginning of every day before I get on my bike. …