‘Twas a cool night driving to Anilao. Cooler than any other night. We left around 7:30pm after an afternoon of chatting and DVD sharing. Carlos had come early to beat the 10am-3pm window as his car was coded that day.
Traffic was light to our surprise… we reached Petron after 40 minutes from Santa Mesa. We decided on Yellow Cab that night for dinner… something different… some other station. Caltex (SLEX) is the last station on SLEX heading south.
There was a chill in the air as we walked towards the restaurant. Upon ordering, we decided to eat al-fresco as it was too smoky inside… besides, we both wanted to light-up ourselves. 
After an hour and a half of eating and chatting, it was time to move on. It was decided early on that this will be an easy and relaxing weekend.
We were both testing new equipment. Actually, Carlos more than I. He had just obtained an Inon strobe for his Canon Powershot and I a new (and clear) viewfinder for my 10D housing.
We arrived in Ocellaris around 11pm… we learned that there were three other guests billeted but would be leaving Saturday afternoon. So, we basically had the resort to ourselves.
I had not been to Ocellaris in about two years. The last time wasn’t memorable as the food wasn’t that great and there were problems with the breathing gas for diving – we all got headaches after 10-15 minutes of diving… and there was this “taste.” So much so that we had to obtain our breathing gas from another resort.
Well… this time is was all different. It was obvious early on that there were ongoing renovations at the resort. I first noticed that the lavatory and toilets were new. There was hot water in the shower. There are new cottages and they were fixing the fencing by the roadside.
The weather was very cool… I thought perfect for this resort as there is no A/C in the rooms. I would have put the air temp at around 22-23C. It was like having central air.
After preparing our camera’s, reading some manuals, discussing some pointers, planning our dives… it was time to retire.
The next morning, Polly and Edison (our boatmen) were already there as we came down for breakfast – okay, except for breakfast, the food in Ocellaris is EXCELLENT! I have not eaten this well in Anilao to date. Everything they served was very tasty. Again, except breakfast… this is one meal where all the resorts need to re-evaluate their menus. Below is what was served – those with an asterisk were quite good.
Breakfast – Saturday
ham
cheese omelet
fried rice
Lunch – Saturday
grilled pork ribs*
calabasa and string beans in gata*
fried fish*
fresh pineapple
Dinner – Saturday
cream of crab soup*
vegetable spring rolls*
chicken (in some sauce)*
tuna fillet*
sticky rice desert
Breakfast – Sunday
tocino
fried egg
fried rice
mango
Lunch – Sunday
inihaw na babuy*
fish fillet*
eggplant/tomato/onion salad in vinegar*
banana milkshake*
The diving was good. The water was quite cold… hovering at 79-80F but it was the wind on the boat that made us shiver. That wind made us decide not to cross to Maricaban… we figured we wouldn’t enjoy the ride.
We achieved what we set out to do… Carlos was extremely happy with his Inon purchase. “I would have never been able to take these shots…” was his mantra the whole weekend. My new viewfinder was nice and clear. A successful weekend for the Catalan and the Tisoy…
Oh… forgot to mention, they offer Nitrox already… we were diving on EAN32 the whole weekend.
I would love to visit Ocellaris again before the weather becomes warm again…
‘Till the next dive…
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