Last Days on Bohol

Wednesday, May 28, 2008--Tagbilaran (Continued)

I was tired and dirty when I got back to Tagbilaran after my circular trip on the buses today. The buses have open windows, so the dust comes in and gets on everyone. I washed my hands with soap, but I just splashed water on my face not realizing how dirty it would be. When I wiped it dry with the towel, that part of the towel became black! Now I know to use soap after bus travel here.

I went to two different seafood places thinking I might eat seafood this evening. However, both places had their seafood pre-cooked. The fish looked good, but I didn't want to have dry fish (which is what I think it would have been after being re-warmed for serving). Other than seafood, all the other dishes were pre-cooked also and setting in pots on the counter top. I looked at them. Most were made with lots of organs in them. I finally gave up and went to a nearby place and ordered noodles again. Noodle dishes seem to be the only ones that are prepared after ordering here. I got pancit guisado. It was a noodle dish with some vegetables, a few pieces of pork, and lots of sauce.

Thursday, May 29, 2008--Tagbilaran

I was so tired last night from my travels around the island that I went to bed at 21:30. I slept for 11 hours until 8:30 this morning. Even then, I was a bit sluggish and took my time getting ready and leaving the room.

I went to get my ferry ticket today for going to Dumaguete on the island of Negros on Saturday morning at 8:00. This is the last week of school holidays, so I thought that families might be traveling home over the weekend. Therefore, I wanted to make sure I had a ticket for the boat. They don't sell more tickets than they have seats on the ferries. I lucked out, too. The man asked my age. When I said I was 62, he asked to see some ID. I showed him a copy of my passport which I keep in my bag all the time, and he sold me the ticket at a discount of about 25%.

From there, I walked to a nearby market area to look around. There is a department store there, too, so I went inside to buy a cola to keep me hydrated. As I wandered through the store, I ended up visiting with the employees in the backpack area. They have more people assigned there right now because of back-to-school sales, and they were all just standing around. It was one guy and about 5 women. Filipinos are friendly in general, so I wasn't surprised that they wanted to talk. I took advantage of the opportunity to ask them where I could eat that would serve certain Filipino dishes that I like and have not seen on the menus where I have been so far. They thought it was funny that I knew about such dishes and that I had not been finding them at the restaurants. I stayed maybe 20 minutes visiting with them, then I left so that they wouldn't get in trouble with their supervisor.

On the way back toward the area of town where I am staying, I stopped at the main plaza and sat on a bench that was in the shade of the trees. I just relaxed and read from my guidebook. Now, I have stopped at the cyber cafe before going back to my room where I will rest, read, and maybe nap for a while before going out again for dinner.