Hello. You can call me "Juny"... though my given name is Ramon - here in the Philippines it is very common to have (what we call) a "nickname", in my case, because I was named after my father (also Ramon), I am the "junior" and therefore, i'm more normally called "Juny" by friends, and really most anybody who knows me. I have been married to Susan since 1994, and we have two sons, Patrick, born 1998, and Sebastian, born 2002 - you do the math to figure out how old we are :). In a nutshell, I would describe myself as somewhat of a 'free spirit' - I was born and grew up in Manila. About halfway through my highschool education, I just did not seem to be getting on with my teachers (or perhaps it was the school itself), so I dropped out. Learned how to scuba dive, and started travelling around the Philippines - diving, and exploring my country. Eventually got certified as a PADI scuba instructor in Aug of 1978, and working as both an instructor and a divemaster at many resorts around the country. I was fortunate to have been one of the earliest to dive and explore the reefs and islands Luzon (Batangas, Mindoro, Camarines Norte and Sur), Central Visayas (Cebu, Negros, Bohol), and Palawan, including most of the beautiful reef/island communities sprinkled throughout the Sulu Sea.

Anyway, that was a long time ago, but it did define the rest of how i've lived, up till this day. Somewhere along the way, all my experience at and around the sea led to an interest in boat design and marine engineering - eventually I ended up enrolling in a corespondence (the internet was not widely available yet) course about designing and engineering boats. So yeah, that's how I've made my living since about 1995. I am a boat designer, freelancing my trade, and usually finding enough work consulting for local boat builders, mainly those located here in Luzon. I've also done some work with the U.N. - helping to rehabilitate/rebuild the damage to fishing fleets caused by the super typhoon Haiyan which struck the country in 2013.

When work is scarce, I also moonlight as a "guide" of sorts - advising visiting yachts about cruising around the islands. Sometimes (when i get lucky) this work may involve being employed temporarily aboard a visiting "superyacht" to advise them as to where to go, where to anchor, etc - and most times this involves cruising in Palawan and/or the central Visayas, areas that I have come to know well over the years. I couldn't figure out how to "add" the Visayan language in the slot provided up top, but of all the local languages, I am most fluent in this one. To be quite honest, my Tagalog is horrible (which is embarassing to admit, because Tagalog, or "Pilipino" happens to be the National Language, and yes, I suck at speaking it, but can understand it well enough to get by). That I am fluent in English must be obvious if you've managed to read this far.

Travelling, to me, is about LEARNING. I wouldn't exactly describe myself as being extremely "well travelled" (except with the exception of local travel here in the Philippines), but off the top of my head, here's where (and briefly why) I've been and seen a bit of so far on this planet:

Hongkong - we used to go for short holidays with my parents and siblings while I was growing up. Love it.
USA - when i was 16/17 I got shipped off to the states ostensibly to finish high school while living with my eldest sister in New York city. That didn't really work out (furthering my highschool education), but I did end up buying a bicycle and riding all over - that was great!.

Europe - in 1984 i travelled around Europe, got a Eurail Pass, did the whole backpacking thing... (West, at that time) Germany, Austria, France, Denmark, Sweden, Italy. Stayed with friends I had met while working as a divemaster. Fantastic. Costly as hell. Loved the food, the cultures, the people.

Japan, Indonesia, Malaysia - mostly work-related, but great to visit and learn more.

Australia, just a couple of times, and about 10 days each time. Lovely country, fun people.

And that's about it for where I've been so far.

Oh, and did I mention that I've travelled and worked extensively throughout my favorite country: The Philippines. I've lived (briefly) in Camarines Norte, Cebu, Batangas, and Mindoro. I've lived (extensively) in Manila, Bohol, and Palawan.

So there, that's briefly it, for me.

I've been married to Susan, who I met and fell in love with in Bohol, while I lived there from 1985. We were married in 1994, in a small wedding ceremony held on the tiny island of Balicasag (you'll likely want to know about this gem of an island if you're considering visiting Bohol while here). Both our sons were born in Bohol, and were raised there until Patrick was 8 and Sebastian was4, whereupon we decided to move the whole family to my home town of Manila - to give them a taste of the 'big city' and education available here. So now we're based here in Paranaque, at least until Sebastian finishes school. After that (which hopefully occurs by around 2024), the plan is for Susan and I at least to move back to our house in Bohol, hopefully fix up our house as a bed&breakfast place for travellers and spend what's left of life there.

Meantime, we're kinda stuck here in Manila.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

So why am I joining Couch Surfing? Susan and I would love to one day host travellers on our couch - we might be able to advise with regards to travelling around our islands (especially in the areas I know well), and at the same time, we're sure it would be good for our two sons to get to know visitors and learn about you and where you are from. Me, I'm kinda hoping it helps spark some curiousity and "wanderlust" in our two boys as well.

We live not far from Manila Int'l Airport, so that might be convenient to visitors. Susan and I both love cooking and eating. One of our dreams (if we ever make enough money) is to one day travel to Europe, to experience all the wonderful cuisines that we have acquired the taste for, and discover those we haven't . To meet and interact with new friends, learn new cultures and perhaps fresh perspectives.

To LEARN.

Interests

• other cultures
• other people
• other countries

Music, Movies, and Books

Susan and I, and our boys, I think, are quite ecclectic when it comes to music - we like rock, jazz, house/chill, reggae, hip-hop, everything really. Maybe not very hot on American country music, that's all.

Myself, having grown up in the 60's, 70's, and 80's, i'd say my favorite bands/musicians would be Dire Straits, Queen, U2, Sting, Joni Mitchell. Nowadays, i end up listening to a lot of pop, or whatever the boys are into, like Linkin Park, or even, gasp, Rihanna.

Movies? Hmmm. Me, I like movies that are set against historical events (Apocalypse Now, Godfather, Apollo 13. etc.). social, political, war, espionage (Philadelphia, A Few Good Men, The Post, The Bourne Identity, etc.). Susan and the boys like stuff like that as well as "fantasy" type movies like Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, etc. Oh, and we all love Starwars hehe.

Books? We read a lot. Fiction, drama, horror, you name it. We like "how-to" books too - heck, almost everything I know how to do, I taught myself from books. So there.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

One? Ok, just one: I have designed, built, and skippered my own boat. I guess that's probably the most amazing thing I have done.

Teach, Learn, Share

We can teach you about the filipino culture and languages. Food - we love food, cooking and eating. Filipino food most commonly, but also Japanese, Korean and Thai is what we know how to do and eat. We also love Italian, French, Spanish, British, and German cuisine. Oh, and good cheese, good wine, good beer - we love all of it.

What I Can Share with Hosts

We have space for up to two persons in our small living room (on the couch). We can share a meal if we've been given enough advance notice. We can share long talks late into the night. We can share advise about travelling our islands, contacts and friends who live throughout the Philippines.

Countries I’ve Visited

Australia, Austria, China, Denmark, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, United Arab Emirates, United States

Countries I’ve Lived In

Philippines, United States