I suppose one could chalk this up as a testament to how behind I am in blogging, but at least I’m getting around to my travels now (4am Thursday morning).

Daphyn and I managed to hit the small town of Noank (think “no + anchor”) a few weeks ago during our trip up to Connecticut. We stopped in to try the lobster at Abbott’s on the Rough. The Prince Edward Island Oysters were good and the steamers were decent, although I must confess we were a little disappointed with the lobster rolls. The town itself though was about as picturesque as can be. A few shots taken with my meager iPhone below.

If you look closely to the right you can see they serve up “conversation” with other edibles.

I don’t see signs like these in my neighborhood for some reason.

Bohol’s Chocolate Hills

I’ve been asked a number of times how my vacation to the Philippines was, and while I categorize it as good, vacationing in a third-world country can be exhausting.

For instance, my family and I visited Jagna, my mother’s hometown, which lacks the typical amenities one simply expects in the States. It’d been 11 years since I’d last been in Jagna, and almost nothing had changed save for an Internet café in the town market. Collarless dogs still freely roam the highways and chickens are tied to street corners to provide them exercise. Cockfighting rings, basketball courts, and Catholic churches border jungle; there are no supermarkets, fast food restaurants, or department stores, simply a half-built marketplace and a number of open-air homes that anyone in the States would consider a shack. We got a lot of blank stares from people simply because of our skin color–that’s when it becomes clear that many of the people have never left the town.

“Prony,” a 25-foot python and the largest snake in captivity. The caretakers actually let us enter the cage and pet the snake, something unheard of in the States.

I could also point out:

• There’s no processed chocolate for sale–anywhere–which was downright killing me. Cocoa beans grow on the trees, but the means to process chocolate are simply too expensive.
• There’s almost no brewed coffee, although instant is very popular.
• The water isn’t potable in many areas, and while showers often have heaters by the spouts, I didn’t have a hot shower until I got back to the States.
• Like hot water, water pressure is no guarantee and the power outages are more common.
• Toilet paper can’t be flushed, and some toilets are flushed using a water bucket.
• Almost every shower we came across had a toilet in it. There was no division between the two. I’m still pondering the reasoning behind this.
• Mosquitoes are pretty abundant, given all the red marks up and down my arms and legs.
• I couldn’t find a wireless signal anywhere, even in Manila (Daphyn figured it was the only way for me to take a real vacation). My iPhone was pretty much a paperweight until I found a signal at the exclusive Tagaytay Highlands Country Club on Luzon.
• Almost every meal consisted of rice and pork. Did I mention I don’t like pork? It was kind of funny talking about it to my cousin April when she was shocked that Americans (or at least me) don’t eat rice with every meal.
• It’s pretty hot, and the natives rarely use the air conditioning since they’re so accustomed to the temperature.

Bohol Beach Club: It definitely wasn’t the Jersey Shore, but I assure you we made do

Then there’s the travel aspect of it all.

We were only there about a week, and it’s roughly 24 hours of flying each way and a 12-hour time difference.

That’s not to say all the experiences were rough, though, as I had hot cocoa every morning and needed no guarantee to tell it came straight from a cacao bean. The calamari was caught and fried fresh and was arguably the best I’d ever had. Then there’s the mangoes, bananas, and pineapples (minus coconuts, which are downright nasty to me)–I don’t think you can fully appreciate the taste of any of these fruits outside of their geographic origin. Lastly, there’s the beaches, which are nothing short of beautiful. It’s definitely nice to not have to compete for sand space on an empty beach.

Food was definitely fresh. We watched our lunch get sewn up and roasted over an open flame.

This is the remains of my grandparents’ home, which a number of family members in Canada and the U.S. are having torn down and rebuilt. It’s a bit hard to believe coming from the States, but my aunt and cousin still live in the remains of this building. Homes that look like this in rural areas aren’t that uncommon.

One of several red dragonflies I captured while visiting the Highlands Country Club.

My cousin asked me what I thought of the Philippines compared to the U.S., and I said I’d ask her the same question once she moved to San Francisco. She wasn’t thrilled at the perception of how impersonal Americans are compared to the Filipinos of her small hometown. Luxuries aside, I would tend to agree.

Last week I got the chance to meet up with my brother-in-law Andrew, play some pool at Edgar’s, and catch an Orioles-White Sox game.

It’s a little surreal to come back to Camden Yards after attending so many Yankees games in the past few years. Oriole Park is still my favorite ballpark (despite the “Stalinesque” hotel they’re building behind the field) and I’ll still root for the O’s (to the relief of my Yankee-hating friends), but I guess I’m a bit skeptical of their financial support once the rebuilding process really hits full-swing.

I guess I’ve gotten into a bit of a habit going to ballgames, and wonder if I’ll be seeing more Orioles or Yankees games in the near future. I guess I better recruit another O’s fan to go with just in case . . .any takers?

Napa is definitely wine country gone Hollywood. I’ve paid for tastings in France, but I guess I got accustomed to the free, “thanks for stopping in” hospitality of upstate NY’s Fingerlakes. No such thing here, although we found they sometimes waive the fee when you buy some bottles (and everyone was exceptionally friendly… maybe I’ve been in NYC too long).

We hit some of the major players–Chandon, Cakebread, and Sterling–and settled for some grub at Press. We followed that up with a trip through Sonoma where we discovered the quaint town of Healdsburg and hit Willi’s.

I don’t really remember taking this photo, but it’s emerged as my favorite from Muir Woods. I took a few RAW format shots but often find the detail (and the accompanying file size) devours my hard drive space. This gets especially bad when meter/take multiple shots and I have the hard time of choosing which photo to keep.

I figure I ought to dedicate a few posts to my recent trip to the San Francisco bay area. My wife and I took some time off and spent most of last weekend there. What I learned:

1. Unlike Manhattan, street parking does exist and lots don’t charge $15 for the first 30 minutes.
2. SF is green, green, green.
3. Take the GPS while driving down Lombard Street if you love the word “RECALCULATING.”
4. Thanks to the Grateful Dead, Haight and Ashbury is the West Coast’s answer to Philly’s South Street. Every other store smelled like high school to me.
5. Take my full size tripod to Alcatraz. Doing so would have prevented me from accepting the hospitality of a fellow photographer–and dropping my L-series wide angle lens onto the pavement as I tried to adjust the tripod shoe.
6. The Rock clearly dramatized Alcatraz’s lower levels. Still my favorite Michael Bay film (omigosh, did I just say I liked a Michael Bay film?!)
7. Jimisan served some awesome sushi, and the owner was exceptionally friendly. O-toro was expensive everywhere, but well worth it. I think I’ll stick with getting it for free from a sushi chef I know in Harrisburg
8. Never pass up what the natives tell you is the best coffee in the area. I settled for a weak-brewed version of Blue Bottle Coffee right before The Times enlightens everyone about their $20,000 cup of coffee.

Thanks to my friends Kevin and Vid, I’ve got my summer meal planned out. I’ve been informed that we’re going to check out the burgers at Denny’s Beer Barrel Club (so long as they don’t wait until I get up there for PSU football).

I almost feel obligated to try and sell Denny a new Web site, but I’ll really be going to see Vid eat the Belly Buster all by himself

During my stay out in LA I had the opportunity to stop at a Bevmo, a chain that apparently hasn’t reached back to the East Coast yet. I was looking for a decent wine there when I came across Chateau Pape Clement 2003 Pessac Leognan Graves. Rated at 94 points and running about $90 a bottle, I’m sure it’s a decent Bordeaux, but what struck me as odd was the description, which included smoke, meat, sweet plums, and lead pencil shavings. Hmm, to my uneducated tastes, this just sounds odd. Can someone tell me what I’m missing here?