Week 6 - Life in the Stillness

"The sea can bind us to her many moods, whispering to us by the subtle token of a shadow or a gleam upon the waves, and hinting in these ways of her mournfulness or rejoicing. Always she is remembering old things, and these memories, though we may not grasp them, are imparted to us, so that we share her gaiety or remorse."
- H.P. Lovecraft

Ah jeez. What an incredibly late post. I've been feeling a little woozy for the past few days.

I'm on a trip to Kalinga this week. I hope that would be fun. Can't say I'm not nervous though, for more reasons than I care to share. Haha!

In other news, a terrible thing has happened last week. Aside from the loss of the brilliant, albeit eccentric, personality Arvin 'Tado' Jimenez, among the dead were artists, musicians and young travelers who were - as the article suggests - living their dreams. Peace to the bereaved - the world is a darker place with the loss of such free souls.

Meanwhile, I'm done with ascending in Kingdom of Loathing for the foreseeable future. The Sea Quest, worth thirteen ascensions' worth of awesome, culminated in a battle with Dad Sea Monkee. It contains some of Jick's best written work yet - and I have the battle logs saved and will post them relatively soon-ish.

Lastly, we got to visit Manila Ocean Park last weekend. While it's obviously not as cool as seeing the real things in the wild, there's always something about the sea that seems so inherently peaceful - despite the fact that we often fall to its mercy whenever we leave the protection of terra firma. Nonetheless, the experience is a steal for that price, although I'd prefer it if we were able to visit during the field trip off-season. I guess that's something to take note of later on.

If there's anything that annoyed me during the visit, it's those folks who insisted on using flash photography despite the reminders and the signs that asked them to do otherwise. One does not even need to be aware of the fact that some marine animals are highly photosensitive to follow simple rules. It's a reflection of the lines that some people are willing to cross in the name of vanity, which is, quite frankly, quite alarmingly stupid.

Simple rules, and some people don't even bother. Anyway, the photos, as always, are available after the jump.

Enjoy!

The Program

Juno the Bird Trainer. Go figure.

Sealion Trainer Lady.

Sealion Trainer Dude.

'Murica.

Tho thad.

The catfish was wounded.

Blue Fish.

Ray!

Funky things, seahorses.

Boxfish.

I forgot what they're called. Their fins are attached to holes in their bodies, which was weird.

Cloak engaged.

Wallpaper stuff.

Angelfish.

Any self-respecting aquatic exhibit must feature clownfish. Why?

Welcome to school.

If Lovecraft saw this, he'd crap his old-timey pants.

Stonefish: Super Toxic. Still edible, though.

Lionfish.

Garden eels.

Just steer clear of the Little Sisters.

Funky.

Oooooh...barracuda!

Sawfish.

Mantas always seemed so peaceful.

Fish Tornado.

Unrelated: A U.S. warship.

Jellyfish Light Show: Blue.

Jellyfish Light Show: Purple.

Jellyfish Light Show: Pink

Jellyfish Light Show: Orange.

Jellyfish Light Show: Brown.