Update - Majuro, Hawaii and Palau

Well it has been a long time since my last post. I went to Majuro again but this time I got to go there via Hawaii. Unfortunately, I got sick leaving Manila and had a fever the whole time we were gone. We at least got to see the U.S.S. Arizona memorial.

I also got to go to Palau for the second time. This was however the first time I could dive there. It was the best diving I have done. We dove with Sam's Tours which is a five star National Geographic dive center / eco-adventure tour company. We saw a LOT of white tip reef sharks, sea turtles, loads of fish and other interesting underwater life. We dove four dives: Siaes Corner, Ulong Channel, Blue Corner and Blue Holes.

While we were at Blue Corner, a Napoleon Rass bigger than me and weighed about 200 pounds was hovering next to me.

The dive guide had a hard boiled egg in his pocket and the big fish went right for it and dove underneath me. That was really exciting to see. Here is a link to the divesite maps and here are some pictures of the underwater life.

Philippine Ferry Sinks; 700 plus Passengers Missing

MANILA, June 22 (Reuters) - A Philippine ferry with more than 700 people on board capsized during a typhoon and most are missing, officials said on Sunday.

Rescuers were trying to reach the scene where the MV Princess of Stars sank near Sibuyan island in the centre of the country but churning waves from Typhoon Fengshen made the crossing hazardous.

"The ship is upside down. We are waiting for rescuers but there are none so far. Our pump boats are all broken," Ricardo Aligno, a town councillor from the coastal village of San Fernando, told local radio.

The coast guard expected one of its ships to arrive in the area by early afternoon. The ferry sank about three kilometres from shore.

Local mayor Nanette Tansingco told radio that three survivors had been found.

But at least four others aboard are known to have died.

The bodies of two women and some childrens' slippers were washed ashore. Before dawn on Sunday, some villagers heard warning sirens from the ship, which had 626 passengers and 121 crew on board.

Dozens of relatives, some in tears, crowded into the offices of Sulpicio Lines, the ship's owner, in the central city of Cebu, looking for information.

"My father was one of the passengers. Right now there is no good news," said Lani Dakay. "My father is 59, I don't even know if he can swim."

Sulpicio Lines said it had lost contact with the ferry, which was en route to Cebu from Manila, at around 12.30 p.m. (0430 GMT) on Saturday.

"We were told that at around 5 a.m. the captain sounded the abandon ship signal," said Lieutenant-General Pedro Inserto, military commander in the Visayas, the central region of the Philippines.

"We were told the passengers and crew transferred to another ship. But we still do not know which ship," Inserto told Reuters.

WORST DISASTER

Fengshen, with maximum gusts of up to 195 kph (121 mph), tore through the centre of the archipelago on Saturday, devastating the province of Iloilo, where officials said at least 59 people had been killed in floodwaters more than two metres high in places.

"Iloilo is like an ocean. This is the worst disaster we have had in our history," Neil Tupaz told local radio, adding he feared the death toll could rise.

Tupaz said tens of thousands of people were marooned on their roofs waiting to be rescued.

In total, Fengshen has killed at least 80 people, including an 8-year-old girl and her grandfather who were buried in a "trash slide" at a rubbish dump in the southern city of Cotabato.

More than 20,000 people were being housed in evacuation centres in the centre and south of the archipelago, where the storm had triggered flashfloods, landslides and ripped up trees and power lines.

The typhoon, the sixth to hit the Philippines this year, pelted Manila with torrential rain and high winds on Sunday, triggering power outages in many parts of the capital.

The international airport was relying on generators for power and passengers continued to cram into the departure terminal despite many flights being either delayed or cancelled.

Fengshen is headed north and is expected to have exited the country by Monday en route to Taiwan, where it could make landfall in the next few days, according to storm tracker website www.tropicalstormrisk.com.

Typhoon FENGSHEN aka "Frank"

20 killed, thousands evacuated as typhoon lashes RP

MANILA, Philippines -- (UPDATE 3) At least 20 people drowned as Typhoon Frank (international codename: Fengshen) spawned flashfloods and landslides, forcing the evacuation of tens of thousands in the Philippines, officials said Saturday.

In Iloilo City, at least 30,000 people were Saturday marooned on their rooftops after the typhoon caused a dam to overflow.

"At least 30,000 residents of Iloilo City are stranded on their rooftops because of the flood," said Iloilo City acting mayor Jed Mabilog.

He said rescuers have reported that many could be missing or killed, but this could not be independently confirmed.

Iloilo Representative Serg Biron said telecommunication lines, and electricity have been cut in many areas, making it difficult to coordinate rescue operations.

"I have received a lot of text messages appealing for helicopters, there are many people trapped on the rooftops," Biron said over DZBB radio.

"This is the worst flooding that has hit Iloilo in history," he said.

In the urban centers of Jaro and Iloilo City, residents could be seen wading in waist-deep waters, with roads rendered impassable to vehicles.

The National Power Corporation was forced to shut down its power plant in the area, triggering a blackout across the province, plant manager Nelson Hemona said.

The death toll in Central Mindanao and parts of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) has risen to 17 after five more bodies were fished out in North Cotabato and Maguindanao, officials said.

Mayor Ernesto Concepcion of Alamada, North Cotabato said one of the three missing victims on Friday was found dead Saturday.

Mayor Midpantao Midtimbang of Guindolongan, Maguindanao said four dead bodies had been found even as only three people were reported missing when the Talayan River overflowed.

He said he was not certain if the fourth victim came from the town.

Heavy floods and landslides also forced thousands of residents on the islands of Samar, Panay, Negros and in northern Cebu to take to evacuation centers.

The three provinces on Samar Island, Biliran, Leyte, Iloilo, Aklan, Capiz, Antique, Negros Occidental and most of northern Cebu have been without electricity since Friday after strong winds spawned by the typhoon toppled trees and electric poles.

At least three persons, two in Negros Occidental and a fisherman in Leyte, were killed while at least 26 fishermen were reported missing after two fishing boats -- one with a crew of 19 and the other, 22 -- capsized near Marabut, Samar, on Friday and near Tactloban City early Saturday morning.

Perlita Sanipa, 40, of Negros Occidental reportedly died after a whirlwind hit her home in the village of Molocaboc, Sagay City shortly before 6 p.m. Friday, according to reports reaching the provincial disaster coordinating council (PDCC) in Bacolod City.

The whirlwind destroyed 16 houses and damaged 83 others, the PDCC reported.

Roads connecting the southern cities of Cotabato and General Santos were flooded, while a concrete bridge also collapsed, isolating some villages and towns, Catholic-run radio station DXMS reported.

The storm forced over 200,000 people to seek temporary shelter in the eastern Bicol region, the civil defense office said.

Heavy rains battered the Bicol region overnight, and over 600 people were stranded in various seaports there.

It also uprooted small trees, blew away tin roofs and caused power outages in the central Visayas provinces.

Early on Saturday Frank was tracking a west-northwest direction, packing winds of 140 kilometers (87 miles) an hour.

It was forecast to dump heavy rain over large parts of the central Visayas region and parts of the main island of Luzon until Sunday, the weather bureau said.

Residents in low-lying areas and near mountain slopes were warned against possible flash floods and landslides, while those in coastal areas were told to watch out for big waves.

Officials said domestic flights going to the central Philippines have been suspended, while inter-island ferry services were also halted.

Government agencies were instructed to stockpile on relief goods, while state-run hospitals were placed on alert.