Panglao--Sort of

I want a corkboard. A corkboard, in a way, is better than memories. It’s capacity is limited but it does not forget. I want a clock for everybody I know who lives in a different time zone. When it comes to time, my mental perception is a monochrome. Although I am aware of it, I could not imagine how it could be daytime where my sister lives and it’s night time here.

Time zones are something that I have to be more mindful of now that I am located in one and living in another. Yes, I am now working in a contact center. A few of my friends detest me for this. Before, I never considered this as a career option, although it has always my pool of happiness, friends, and beer (thanks to the kind sponsors in the industry). But now that I am at the heart of the BPO industry (call centers being the core BPO), I would not say it’s not as bad as people from the outside think. The trick is to end up with a compensating company and be with good people. I create my own experience, choose my company. I don’t mind being alone as long as I don’t have to vomit my guts out or drain my hard-earned money in fancy stuff. The bottom line: it’s an honest job and there are actually a lot of times that you can make strangers feel better…feel that somebody actually cares about their trouble even if he is paid to do it.

Life, for the past two months, has been a series of beaches. I want to start with some photos from Panglao, Bohol a couple of weeks ago and I’ll try (will really make an honest effort to) blog about the rest.

Driving around Panglao

For starters, Panglao is not a very big island. It is connected to Bohol mainland by two low bridges. The island tilts northeast, with three main roads cutting through it. You can actually just count them as two: the peripheral road that circles the island and the one that cuts through it. I wouldn’t say the peripheral road is a coastal road because you barely see any coast while circling the island. The best thing about driving around Panglao is the lack of any form of traffic. There might be slower vehicles along the way but they are very few and you can easily get pass them because there is barely anybody else out there on the road. Just have to be mindful of dogs, pedestrians, and occasional cyclists. The road condition is great because there aren’t a lot of big cargo trucks that go around Panglao. There’s barely any other industry aside from tourism.

Transportation

Four-wheeled vehicles and motorbikes are the main transportation in the island. You can get somebody to drive you or just rent a motorbike, it’s cheaper and more practical if you’re not bringing your closet around with you when you go around the island. Tricycles are also an option. These are motorbikes with bungalow-size sidecars on the right. They’re only great though for short-distance transport when you got a lot of bags with you and you think motorbikes aren’t the safest transpo on earth. Panglao tricycles only allow four passengers at most (two on the side and two at the back of the driver).

Would I recommend Panglao?

Panglao is the jump-off point for Balicasag, a world-class diving site. Go there if you want to see some of the most amazing underwater stuff in the planet at a much lesser price than Palawan. (I did not go diving, I don’t know how to but my in-law did for like all the time he was there for two weeks). Many people (foreign people, mostly) also go there for the beaches and pool resorts. For those who grew up in snowy places with barely any sun, Panglao is a treasure. But for beaches and just getting sunburnt, I would recommend Siquijor or Camotes. They are cheaper and their beaches are better than the renowned Alona Beach in Panglao. I didn't take beach photos there. I've seen better places. Alona though is a great place to have the calm kind of beach partying. It’s also a great place to meet cool people and just bask in the sun with your two-piece suit without shame. You can be fat, old, or hot…nobody will mind you (maybe if you are hot there will be). I mean, it’s not like some places where the fat and older ones are jeered for wearing a swimsuit. They have as much right as anybody does to wear whatever they want at the most appropriate places.