We Are Outta Here! (June 24)

Leo (Neil) searching for something special to shoot, courtesy Jared Foy

Monette and I are just piddling around. It is Monday, almost 8 AM and we have another hour to go before we head to Makati. It’s not a terribly far journey, but it is slow, taking probably 7 hours by the time we are through making our waits, doing the ferry passage to Batangas, enduring the 2 hour haul to Manila on the bus baring unforseen traffic delays, and finally transferring by taxi to Makati, wrestling with the cabbie trying to explain where Mosaic Tower is. It’s just a dissheveled, piecemeal haul. (And Makati is unfathomably huge in my book—a little like Manhatten).

My dive buddy, Jared Foy, just sent a photo a few minutes ago that he took on our last dive, which was very thoughtful of him. Yesterday was just a catching up day, lulling around, and sorting through photos trying to figure out what was what, before Monette and I went into Sabang toward evening to visit Cherry Marquez (happy 40th, Cherry), and then going out to one of our favorite restaurants, Montani’s, where I indulged in fluffy mashed potatoes, a smokey chicken gravy, and a very tasty chicken cordonbleu. It was a nice place to dine and take our ice cold San Miguel Light the end of the last day.

Today is wet and warm and it is almost time to depart. Monette was up at some god awful hour and packing all our Makati and my U.S. stuff. It’s been a good trip.

A shot I coincidentally got later of young Jared, poking around for something special