Hey all, thanks for the interest. The trip was great, but now I'm back to reality and working like crazy to get caught up.
I only went fishing once, in Anilao, Batangas. I had my ultra light travel rod, and swam it out to a little floating dock about 100 feet from shore. I tried spinners, jigs, and some top water lures, with no action. Then I put on a weighted fly and just lightly jigged it vertically, and caught about a half pound, brown and white fish. No idea what it was, but fun to catch.
I visited the Bantay bell tower in Vigan, which was built in the early 1500s by the Spanish. I noticed that right next door, about 100 feet from the tower, was a small patch of grass (about 200 ft by 100 ft) that was privately owned and only used for grazing a couple cows. If I had my detector, I would have tried to seek out the owner to strike a deal for me to detect the land.
I'm happy I chose to rent a car and drive myself. Outside of the major cities, driving was easy. The only real challenge was in Manila, where traffic is the worst I've experienced, and drivers are aggressive. Overall, renting the car saved me money and a ton of time, and I always find it more convenient to travel on my own time and not be subject to the schedule of others.
The food was amazing, and I put on 10lbs while there. I tried balut (Google it). The flavor is good, but the visual and texture are very offputting. I probably won't eat again. Also, one bite of the fruit durian was enough, it's absolutely horrible. Some highlights were pork sisig, kare kare, and the dessert halo halo. Hands down, my favorite was pork sinigang with lots of okra.
The people in the Philippines are very warm and friendly, and always willing to strike up a conversation, or to offer advice, or any kind of help. Great people.
Anyway, some pics attached of my Filipina love and I. I tried to upload a bunch more of the food and sights, but most failed to upload. I think the size is too large, and I'm too lazy to go through and resize them right now. I'm already planning my trip next year, and I will bring the detector and try to get more fishing in. Thanks for reading!