Anilao with Eltjo and Emiel

Saturday, 21 January, 2006

Under water

The second weekend we took Eltjo and Emiel for their first-ever under water experience. We were fortunate enough to be able to take Pong along, our regular dive instructor that looks like the impersonation of Buddha. It was great just being out of the city again, in the silence and serenity of Batangas. As always, we stationed ourselves at Aquaventure, a nice resort with a great wooden terrace overlooking the water. We always come well prepared: we arrive Friday night with a bag full of Tanduay, chips, little candles and an iPod with speaker. That is how you start a weekend!

On Saturday morning, Eltjo and Emiel sat down with Pong to get their introduction to what diving is all about, while Marieke and I just enjoyed the sun on the terrace. Once they were done, we took our (orange, always orange!) boat out to the open sea. Marieke and I went down for our first dive of the weekend, while Eltjo and Emiel snorkeled right above us. After our dive, we swam up to a quiet shore where some kids were playing, and it was Eltjo's and Emiel's turn to go underwater. They loved it. After they had each spent nearly half an hour at 12 meters or so, gazing at the fish and the colors in the coral, they came back up and couldn't talk about anything else!

On Sunday, we decided to go snorkeling near Arthur's Place, which was awesome! Afterwards we left Anilao for Sonya's Garden for an excellent vegetarian lunch in the Tagaytay mountains. An appropriate ending to a very relaxing weekend!

Read the full story at the entry for January 2006 (either in recent or in the archives...)