Country > Philippines > Bohol > Tagbilaran
Date > 2004 > October
Activity > Slice of Life | Lucid Thoughts

October 16, 2024

65 Years Old

Location : Tagbilaran, Bohol, Philippines

The Dreaded or Much-Awaited Retirement Age
Now that I am officially at the traditional age of retirement, I have to redefine what it means to be 65. No, I'm didn't retire now - I left the grid 20 years ago. When I was in high school, I thought people this age become useless to society and just await the long-drawn onset of death. Boy, was I wrong.

birthday or not, I begin my date with yoga practice. This is my 2nd time at the Carlos P. Garcia Park

State of Being
At 65, when people this age have a cupboard full of maintenance pills and supplements, I can say I haven't been sick in the last 30 years, having taken NO medication, not even Vitamin C, and have no diet restriction. I can do handstands, do a headstand for 5 minutes, no an L-Sit and Pendulum. Although challenged, I can still manage not wearing an eyeglass.

My life is as simple as I can make it. The things I have in the house are just the ones I truly need. The food I buy are the ones my body needs - no unhealthy stuff except for an occasional ice cream or cake. I commute by bicycle and only use my motorcycle when I really have to.

I begin my day at 3 am when my alarm rings. I do my Trataka - sometimes I get tears running down one eye. Both? Hardly. Then I follow that with Bashar's Sacred Circuitry for 15 minutes. By 5 am, I am at my new yoga location - the CPG Park just 1 km away. It's a better yoga place than the old airport. CPG Park has many mature trees providing shade. I can stay as late as 9 am listening to any noteworthy podcast usually by Joe Rogan, Bret and Eric Weinstein or any of today's self-help intellectual. I learn a lot about what's going on just by listening - the US presidential election, the polarized society, and the scam behind Covid plandemic and the so-called vaccine.

I go back to my house and prepare breakfast - usually homemade bread, butter, organic egg omelette, and Masala Chai. Then I continue my self-study reading. Next book now that I've finished Steve Jobs, I will resume reading Sapiens by Yuval Harari.

Moving to Ormoc?
When I got invited to Ormoc to teach a class at the Leyte Yoga Festival, I somehow decided to scout the area for a possible relocation. I extended a feeler to Annie who invite me to the event. She was welcoming and expressed their need for a male yoga teacher. Wow! That was a shoe-in especially to a community I could relate. Ormoc suddenly looked promising.

I felt that Tagbilaran has dried up - no more project and no friends. It was just me, my yoga, my Wednesday movies and my book readings. It was monotonous and lonely. I joined a dating site but nothing came out of it - I find women my age to be too old but the younger ladies found me too old for them. I was squeezed between a rock and a hard place.

But as soon as I made that decision to scout for relocation, a few things happened - the senior walking group at the Old Airport invited me to their party at a floating cottage and I met the lady vendors at the Old Airport. They were all friendly and welcoming. Suddenly, I wasn't too lonely or alone anymore. Still, I am duty-bound to explore the possibilities of Ormoc.

Ending Thoughts
While I'm coasting with no stress, having enough money for the bills and food

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

Leyte Yoga Festival

(October 19, 2024) The Leyte Yoga Festival is already is on its 4th year, and the organizing group, Soulfulnest Yoga Ormoc, whose members I met at the Leyte Yoga Festival, invited me to be a guest teacher. I'll be conducting a workshop-type lecture/demo/class on Siddhi Activation - my core practice. I say YES to life....more »»

Next Slice of Life:

Oct Chronicles: CPG Park, Bantawan Vendors

(October 2024) Moving to CPG Park for Yoga and meeting the vendors of Bantawan were the ripples for October...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.

Bohol Blogs

Bohol blogs