The tarsier hunts by night. It can pounce on its prey from a distance of five metres. I looked into its almost human-like eyes, then at Ellen's; same size, perhaps the creature's a bit lighter. It was daytime and we'd awoken it. Earlier, we'd watched it on video turn its head almost a full 360 degrees, not unlike the Linda Blair character from the Exorcist. Ellen and I stared at it, it back at us, none the least bit afraid. Its prey after all is generally crickets. The tarsier is the smallest primate in the world and a large one measures all of about about seven centimetres.


Ellen and I had come to the island of Bohol, specifically to see tarsiers in the jungle-like setting at the Tarsier Research and Development Centre, an hour's drive from where we're staying on tiny Panglao Island to the south. It was worth every peso as we sit at dinner, smiling, remembering the little guys with the giant sized eyes.


And speaking of dinner, we eat nightly at, I guess you could say a rather upscale beach restaurant that has a penchant for ZZ Top. Just moments ago, as I was about to tuck into my seared ahi tuna, Ellen her jumbo prawns, a child at the table next to us squatted. The two women who were sitting at the table turned in horror, then looked at me. I raised my hands as if to say, not mine. Turned out the child belonged to one of them and they were simply embarrassed that it might have been making toilet in front of us as we ate.