Country > Philippines > Bohol > Tagbilaran
Date > 2024 > August
Activity > Learning | Lucid Thoughts

August 31, 2024

DIY University

Location : Tagbilaran, Bohol, Philippines

Wasting Away?
For a very long time now, since I stopped being a backpacker, I would spend most of the day doing yoga and reading. Often, I would ponder if I was just wasting my life away - fortunes have come and gone and I'm still finishing the book with not much happening outside. Would I have been better off enrolling in a course? That's what I was thinking until it hit me - I'm actually learning a lot with what I'm doing.

A New Way of Learning
When I come upon a concept I'm vaguely familiar with but intrigues me, I dive deep into this concept aided by ChatGPT and Google Gemini. I gain knowledge, understanding and insight into this concept. This is how I learn now.

with AI, the world's knowledge is at your fingertips. And you can do it yourself

Examples
Often, as I read a book or listen to a podcast, I get intrigued by a word, a name of a person or a concept. I look it up and even document what I learned - this becomes my cheatsheet.

Concept: Elementary Particles
I believe it was on a podcast about astro-physics when 'elementary particles' was mentioned. I know what particles are, but what are elementary particles? After almost a day researching what they are, I learned about the Standard Model, fermions, bozons, quarks, String Theory, Supersymmetry, Planc scale, etc. I understand how they are structured, how they stack up in the charts, what is predicted (but hasn't yet been observed). etc. I came away knowing a lot more about elementary particles.

Vocabulary: Glossary
Always, when reading a book, I come across a word vaguely familiar. To get a better grip, I look it up. Better still, I compile these words into a glossary. At the end of the book, my vocabulary is much expanded.

Idiomatic Expressions: Quotes
Often, I come across catchy and witty lines I'd like to keep and use. Sometimes I surprise myself when the lines automatically come up in conversations.

Lessons Learned: Lessons Learned
With the books "Steve Jobs" and "Ëlon Musk", there was a ton of lessons you could take away from - aside from knowing their lives. Again, these things are not necessarily outlined. Sometimes, I have to synthesize the events to glean the lessons.

Ending Thoughts
I have long pondered what an ideal way of learning could be. The universities, even the best, don't measure up. They add too much clutter in your chosen course. My university course was Business Administration but in my curriculum, I also had to take up Statistical Math - a whole semester devoted to complex statistical equations that I never used in the default world - not even once. There were many such filler subjects. I was 20 years old when I finished schooling. I am all for lifelong learning, but honestly, 20 years is too much time to be in formal school learning clutter.

By reading any book that interests you, you inevitably come across a concept, an idea or a conundrum that takes your attention, but don't know much about it. That's when AI comes to shine - you have the world's most equipped database of knowledge at your fingertips.

With this approach, you only learn what you want to learn. You also retain what you learn because you learned it 'on demand'. You can look up new words which expands your vocabulary, learn new catchy idiomatic expressions, learn new concepts and also get entertained.

If were to do things all over again, I would learn this way. I don't care about a university degree. In this Zeitgeist, this degree is already on its way out with so many courses rendered obsolete with AI.

--- Gigit (TheLoneRider)
YOGA by Gigit | Learn English | Travel like a Nomad | Donation Bank

Aug Food Odyssey: Pizza, Sikwate, Puto Maya, Budbud

(August 2024) There is cheap carinderia food, but it's usually too salty and maybe the ingredients are also the cheap unhealthy stuff. Home-cooked food is still the best...despite all the shopping around, preparation and clean-up for just one man....more »»

Next Learning story:

Neurons

(September 27, 2024) I have long used the word 'neurons' to describe cognitive abilites. I would say something like, 'the neurons connect with other neurons'. Sometimes, I would interchange the words 'neurons' with 'dendrites'. It just dawned on me to ask, 'What exacty is a neuron?'. Of course, now that we have AI, I asked. Boy, was I in for a rude awakening....more »»

Next Lucid Thought:

November Snapshots: Garbage

(March 1-31, 2024) After being in Ormoc and Cebu, it's good to go back home to Tagbilaran despite the garbage episodes, the ruined good roads and the slow cashiers. Oh well, I should really just leave the place if I can't stand it....more »»

Bohol, Philippines

tourist attractions

Danao Adventure Park - zip lining, cable car ride, caving, river rides/trekking, off-road buggy ride, root climbing, rappelling and ultra-glide rides
Alona Beach - hub for tourists with hotels, resorts, restos, bars and dive shops
Chocolate Hills - hills side-by-side shaped like giant Kisses chocolate
Tarsier - pocket-sized marsupia looking like a monkey
Balicasag Island - one of the best dive spots in the Philippines
Loboc River - river cruise on a boat
Anda Beach - fine white sand beach with resorts, restos and cottages, 3 hours by bus from Tagbilaran
Cabagnow Cave Pool - brackish water pool about 5ft deep inside a limestone opening on the ground, 8 feet deep, P50
Lamanok Island - walk on a 100m bamboo bridge on stilts to a resto area to take a boat tour to caves and nearly attractions, P300
Combento Cave Pool - cave pool with underwater cave system, P20
Can-umantad Falls - long narrow drop until it hits a bulbous mound spreading it into a a curtain-like water canopy and down into a splash pool
Canawa Cold Spring - deep refreshing cold spring with developed pool area
Firefly Tour - evening boat ride into the river to watch fireflies

hotel

Fox & The Firefly Cottages - SUP paddle boarding, luxury riverside native cottages, mountain bike tours, SUP yoga
Baranggay Valladolid, Loboc, Bohol
Bohol Tropics Resort - seafront location, manicured surroundings, swimming pool, resto/bar
0133 Graham Avenue, Brgy. Cogon, Tagbilaran, Bohol 6300
Oasis Resort - Alona Beach location, dive center, resto / bar
Alona Beach, Panglao, Bohol

yoga

Jing Yoga - health & well being through yoga
The Courtyard - Airport Road fronting the church
Bohol Meditation and Yoga Center - 2nd Floor Lim Magtajas Bldg. CPG Avenue

Bohol Travel Info/Tips

Bohol FYI / Tips

the tourist area where most of the hotels, restaurants, ticket offices, tour operators are, is located within the Alona Beach area
the tourist attractions in Bohol are far apart and spread-out. It would be difficult to visit them all using public mass transit. Better hire a van (P3500/day) if in a big group, or rent a motorcycle (P400/day + gas)
Bohol relies on its tourism for revenue. As expected, everything they can capitalize on from tourism is extensively used and developed

Tagbilaran Port to Panglao

You can charter any tricycle from the port all the way to Panglao (~P300), but if you want to do it on the cheap,

don't take the tricycles lined-up inside the port. Walk past the port gate and immediately outside, you'll see many tricycles. Take one to the bus terminal in Dao (~P15)
in Dao, take the jeep that plies the Panglao route (~P20)

Tagbilaran (Bohol) to Cebu City by boat

** schedules and rates keep changing, call for latest schedule

Weesam Express - departs 6:15 AM, 11:30 AM, 4:00 PM
one way: Economy (aircon) P500.00, Economy (non-aircon) P400.00, First Class P600.00
round trip promo (at least 2 days advance booking): Economy (aircon) P600, Economy(non-aircon) P500, First Class P1200
round trip promo (1 day or on the day booking): Economy (aircon) P800, Economy (non-aircon) P700, First Class P1200
Ocean Jet - departs 6-7:05-8:20-9:20-10:40-11:40AM, 1-2-3:30-4:20-5:30-6:30PM, 2 hours, arrives Pier 1 in Cebu
Open Air / Tourist Class P800, Business Class P1000
+63(32)255 7560 / +63 (32) 255 0115 / 0917 638 0000
SuperCat (2GO) - departs 5:50-11AM, 3:45-5:25-8:15PM, arrives Pier 1 in Cebu
P 500.00
+63 32 233 7000

Things to do, Places to go in Bohol

Chocolate Hills - this is a clustering of more than 1200 hills within a 50km² area. They range in height from 30-50 meters. What's unusual is their near-perfect conical shape resembling an individual chocolate chip. No one knows how they were formed. Entrance is P50/pax.
Tarsier Conservation Area - located Upper Bonbon, Loboc. The tarsiers are no longer being played at by tourists as circus props, but instead, visitors now view them in cordoned-off areas in their natural 6ha habitat. As they are territorial and nocturnal, they are predictable on where they can be viewed. P50/pax.
Alona Beach (Panglao) - Alona Beach is the tourist hub of Bohol. It has 1.5 kms of white sand beach lined-up by bars, hotels and restos. Alona is also the jump-off point for Balicasag Island, a world class dive destination.
Danao Adventure Park - located in Barangay Magtangtang, 72 kms (2 hours ride) from Tagbilaran. Adventure activities include river trekking, tyrolean traverse, rappelling, bouldering, rock climbing and ziplining.

Blogs

Bohol

Anda

ANDA

Exploring Combento Cave Pool Jun 29, 2017

Visiting Cabagnow Cave Pool Of Anda Jun 28, 2017

Exploring Anda, Bohol Jun 25-30, 2017

Candijay

CANDIJAY

Roadtrip from Candijay to Ubay Jul 1, 2017

Firefly Tour In Candijay, Bohol Jun 30, 2017

Freediving Canawa Cold Spring Of Candijay, Bohol Jun 30, 2017