The idea of having pioneering reggae star Jimmy Cliff and outstanding soul singer Joss Stone perform in a music festival with a mountain as backdrop is not farfetched in Europe or the United States. But if it will happen in the Philippines, that would be mind-bending.
Poised for retirement, Italian Ambassador Luca Fornari looks at the transition philosophically and with optimism.
About six years ago, I wrote a piece on Puerto Galera. I was in love with a French intern in Tabinay, and my article was peppered with lines like “a sea as blue as Paul Newman’s eyes,” and dreamy voyaging and sap and wanderlust.
“If they told me the only way I would get here was by swimming, I would try.” —Joe Bataan
So the wakeboarders have discovered the Philippines, and the surfing scene is alive and stoked. After almost 1,000 dives and 22 years of making bubbles here and abroad, I still believe that, illegal fishing and embattled coral reefs notwithstanding, our country offers some of the best diving on earth.
