the year that was 2006
so its the middle of january of 2007 already… 2006 just flew by like a breeze.. it was so fast that i didn’t even have time to write a blog during the end of the year to highlight my journey during this year… so here is a delayed recap of the events in my life in 2006…
first stop i wanna write of course would be the diving… it was a great year of diving for, not so much for the quantity (i use to do a hundred dives a year but last year i barely made 50 dives) but for the quality of the sites i’ve been… january, dove in the islets surrounding bonggao, tawi-tawi… the mere mention of the name of the island made my mom remark that i must be crazy to go to the place but it was worth it as the dives were really great… dropping walls with very clear visibility… the only negative in my journey there is that even in one of the most remote islet in the area, the negative mark of man has made an imprint as side-by-side with very beautiful coral reefs, one would see trash and garbage floating or submerge almost all over the place…
next site was in apo island in dumaguete… an internationally recognized marine protected area, also with lots of amazing animals from big fishes to small but colorful nudibranchs… but what makes my visit in apo island different was the experience of climbing the famous "baluarte" (rock formation of the island facing the sea) which was almost 3 stories high and from the top, jumping to the sea below… exhilirating is an understatement to even describe the sensation of standing so high, looking down and just letting go of all your fears and embracing the pull of gravity…
3rd site i’ve been is the Philippines UNESCO World Heritage Site, The Tubbataha Reefs… i guess you have probably heard of the place but i just want to emphasize that this small group of isles between Palawan and the Visayas group of islands is something that we Filipinos should be proud of… the sheer beauty of the reefs and the myriads of colorful fishes and animals is breathtaking… but the one thing that makes this site very memorable for me is that it is in here where i encountered my first dives with the very elusive members of Family Chondricthyes, the sharks… and i mean lots of them all over the place.. well, not exactly all over but more like in every 5 dives, i’ll be diving with sharks on 4 of those dives.. that was how exciting the place was.. and it also happened during my birthday week so a fitting gift for me…
aside from diving, last year was also a great year for domesticated adventures (not me but my buddies).. what i mean by domesticated adventure is "family-starting"… it started with JR’s wife giving birth to my first godson, justin timothy, during the month of february followed by mark p, who tied the knot in august and i was one of the bestmen…so in 2-3 years time, i’ll be expecting kiddie parties with these buddies of mine and them telling me what a great experience it is to be a father, changing diapers or providing milk and the likes,hehehe (sorry bai but i can already imagine it already)…
it was also a great year for my other hobby, photography and filmmaking… a docu that i co-produced won an award during an environmental filmfest held in Manila, the Moonrise Filmfest…i would like to thank mario, myk, pj, april who watched the screening of our film…
2006 also marked the year that i entered graduate studies…it was a tedious process with all the mumbo-jumbos in the office but i held my ground and sacrificed a lot just so i could finally enrol in my masteral studies…
but 2006 also has its downsides… my career was in limbo as office politics, crab mentality, and the likes made me lose a scholarship program that i worked very hard to get… i do not want to elaborate anymore on the negative side because even in negative incidents, i always believe that it happened for a reason…i just don’t see the reason until now but i am not in a rush to go through life anyway…
so i leave the negatives behind with the fulfilling sense that it happened for a reason, and im thankful for the positives…
so what do i expect for 2007? probably none as of the moment that i am writing this as i barely have time to gather my thoughts in one cohesive blog…but i do am expecting to see my elementary and high school batchmates by the end of the year for our first grand homecoming.. and i forgot, i was suppose to plan that event in behalf of batch president mr. myk mukhi who is currently based in manila.. and i haven’t started yet so i better end this nonsense writing and get to work…
before i end this blog, many thanks to the people who have made my 2006 journey amazing…mel and upmsi people for a great year of diving, mario, michael, pj, april, chai and other manila based batchmates who were there during my visit…mark and jr for immersing me in their domesticated adventures…mam sony and sir jessie for a great first year of my graduate studies.. jenny for believing in me…and for all those i may have failed to mention… as i’ve said a while ago, my thoughts are incohesive at the time of this writing but im going with my impulse in writing a blog…
its starting to be a busy year for me, but that is for me what a journey is all about.. immersing myself in experience in every opportunity life throws at my way…
so 2007 , Bring it on! ! !
