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Articles tagged with: bike

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. …

The Road to Almeria and into the Mountains

September 2, 2013 – 3:49 pm
Cycling Up the Cement Roads

I found a new place to have a meal. It was a typical eatery but had actual chairs and tables. That was kind of nice. One thing in my life here is that I often end up sitting on stools and benches and at awkward and rickety plastic tables. It drives me crazy and makes my back really hurt. I’ve never been able to sit …