We woke up at 4am. Sunrise is 5am. It’s good to start early. Our destination today is Tubalan, Arnel’s hometown.

Today was hot with no wind. The sea was calm and glossy like a mirror. We passed by the 2nd light house just before reaching Malita.

While kayaking, it’s quite common to hear karaoke sound far away from the shore. Philippinos love to sing. They like their music really loud and they start first thing in the morning !

As we approached Malita, there is less mountains by the coast. We could see a road running along the coast. The water in this area is home to dugongs. I was hoping to kayak with some dugongs but no such luck.

We stopped at Malita to pay a courtesy call to the local tourism office.

Tubalan Cove is beautiful. There are corals at the entrance to the cove.

We were warmly welcomed by Arnel’s mum. We also met the congressman who happened to be there for his lobbying effort. Election machinery has started.

We bathed in an open-air bath at by the sea. It’s refreshing to be able to bathe in the open. Looks like we’ll have a chance to take a bath daily. That’s encouraging. After a day of salt water on the skin, the body craves for a good wash down with fresh water.

Arnel’s mum cooked kampong ayam. Some locals understand the Malay term.
After dinner, the whole village was bombarded with high decibel karaoke. Not one but three at the same time. I was listening to “Billy Jean”, “Bed of Roses” and “My Way” all at once. It’s quite an amazing place. I don’t blame them. That’s their only entertainment.

I got a sms from Wee Leng – Cebu Pacific agreed to sponsor 5 domestic return tickets. That will help to reduce cost.

For tomorrow’s plan, instead of stopping at Digos, we decided to head to Santa Cruz which is 50km away. It will be a long day.

We slept in Arnel’s cousin’s home and there was a fan! That means no mosquitoes.