8 Surprises of Galera

At last, I was able to go to Puerto Galera, one of Philippines' popular beach getaways.

Puerto Galera is a municipality in the province of Oriental Mindoro. It is popular for having many nice beaches and beautiful diving spots plus the fact that it is near and very accessible from Metro Manila. From Metro Manila, you just take a bus going to the pier of Batangas province which will just take about 2 hours and from there you take a ferry going to Puerto Galera which will take about an hour. We chose to go to perhaps the most popular beach in Puerto Galera -- White beach, where they say is "where the happenings are".

This trip was an after effect of the Bohol trip. We cousins enjoyed it so much that we had to go do another pictorial, hence, we planned and organized this Puerto Galera escapade, in time also to celebrate cousin Aldrin's birthday on the 29th. But the fun thing about this organized trip is that the only thing certain was our room reservation in one of the lodges in White beach. So indeed this trip was full of unexpected surprises.

Surprise # 1 - Going from Manila to Batangas Pier

At around 4am on Saturday, we went to the bus station. There were no advance purchase of bus tickets since buses depart for Batangas every hour. When we arrived we saw many young backpacker people like us and yes, everyone seemed to be waiting for the next bus going to Batangas pier. By 7am we were at the pier as we targetted to be since the ferry trips start at 7am. I was taken aback by the number of people in the pier though. There were A LOT of people getting tickets to go to Puerto Galera. I have to emphasize that many "fixers" at the entrance to the pier will offer you boat rides, guaranteeing you a tempting immediate departure to White beach but be warned that these are not legitimate and officially registered in the Pier. So be very careful. Being most of us first timers and having too many people can be disorienting but thankfully we were able to get tickets to a legitimate ferry operator.

Surprise # 2 - The "ferry" going to White Beach?

We got tickets for the 8:10am departure but the boat was 1 hour late. There were around 50 people with us on queue waiting for our "ferry". By the word ferry, I had the notion of the usual ferry boat made of steel. But ferries going to White beach are actually wooden boats a little bigger than the usual native fishing boats in the Philippines. I am not normally a nervous person but I felt that I just had to ask one of the boat personnel if all of us would fit in the boat that seemed like could accomodate only 10 people. The boat personnel assured me that they do not overload boats and to our surprise, all 50 of us did fit in that seemingly petite fishing boat.

At least this "ferry" has a CR, hehehe (Comfort room is the common name in the Philippines for toilet)

Surprise # 3 - The splash! of our lives

The boat ride normally should take only an hour, right? But after an hour it seemed like we were still nowhere near the island of Mindoro. It was because the waves were big which made it difficult for our boat to traverse the waters. Cousin Jay and I were the (un)lucky passengers who sat at the perfect seats -- to get wet! After another half hour and with the big waves still splashing at our boat, I started to think what I would do in case the boat sinks. For your information, I do not like the idea of death by water, I would prefer to die from a plane crash than from drowning. Why? Because first, drowning is a slow death, and second, if I drown, my face and body will all be bloated, and that is not at all becoming, right? hehehe. =P

Anyways, finally after almost 2 hours, we saw hope when we had the glimpse of the promised shore of White beach. It is quite a promising sight to see a beach at the foot of a mountain.

Surprise # 4 - We're...er...everyone's here!

Finally, we docked on the shore but boy, I was not prepared to see sooooooo many people in the beach. Really, it was like there was one big fiesta. There would always be someone literally within your arm's reach. But I think that crowded state is just because we were there at the peakest peak of Philippines' summer this year (37 degrees celcius!) so everyone was going to the nearest beach. It was also noticeable that most of the people in White Beach are adolescents to young adults. Sexy girls paraded the beach in their bikinis with their boyfriends walking behind them. Suddenly, I felt so old, so unattached and so fat. =(

Surprise # 5 - Peak is a boo food prices

Yes, the food there was expensive (well, of course, for non-peso earning foreigners it would still be cheap). Food and drink sell more than double their standard retail price. But of course, that didn't stop us from enjoying grilled pork, chicken, hotdogs, taho, balut, and getting some dosage of alcohol. =P

Balut by the beachside =P

Surprise # 6 - The Mindoro sling that sings a lullaby
After lunch we decided to check out the merchandise sold around. At least the prices for these items are reasonable.

Lil sis then suggested we get a Mindoro sling. So we got one pitcher

Mindoro Sling = pineapple juice + tanduay rhum +orange juice + lime juice + cherry juice (i think) + sprite + apples + bamboo stirring rod

We went back to our room to drink it and an hour after, most of us, including yours truly, went to dreamland for a couple of hours. hehehe =P We were awakened by the arrival of my only bro and GF, Andrea, who followed since the only bro had an exam in the morning.

Surprise # 7 - Step aside Pussycat Dolls

White beach in the evening is even more alive than the day. The whole stretch of the beach was like transformed into one big bar. Music is playing in the different restaurant-bars fronting the beach. Another thing noticeable about the restaurants in White Beach is that there is always at least one ladyboy (if you know what I mean) waitressing who are friendly and who indeed cheered up the mood around. As people sat on the sand in groups, we were entertained and amused by the performance of two ladyboys in one bar who danced to the Pussycat Doll's Buttons song. Their performance was impressive I must say.

For that night I chose to stick with my Coke light. Being the eldest among us cousins who were there, I felt I had to act as Big sister so I left the drinking to my cousins. At midnight though, I felt the call of sleep so together with Ayeen and Len, we called it a night while lil sis, only bro, Andrea, Aldrin and Jay stayed on. I don't know what time they finished, all I know was that there was a bottle of tequila that night, hehehe...


Suprise # 8 - What's on the menu?

The following morning, the cousins decided to go for a quick swim in the beach. But I didn't feel like swimming so instead went to have some coffee (and a henna tattoo later, hehehe).

My cousins joined me later and then we decided to have brunch to make it in time for our ferry ride going back to Batangas pier. We checked out what to have...

Porkshop, anyone? Or how about Checken breast? =P

Finally, at midday, we took the ferry back to Batangas pier and fortunately, the boat ride was faster since the waters were relatively calm. By late afternoon, we were back in the Manila. The Galera surpises concludes (amazing how so many surprises can happen in an overnight trip) but the cousin escapades has just started. Where's next?

Luv ya cuzins! :o)

Would I like to be little miss grouchy?

Remember the little lady well dressed up in her brown blouse and beige pants with matching beige high heeled shoes emerging from the train station tunnel to have a view of her new work place?

Yup, that was exactly one year ago. Today marks my first anniversary at that company.

It has been a fast one year at work. It has been a sometimes train and sometimes roller coaster ride. When I am asked if my work is hard, I actually don't know how to answer it, because I don't know how I can actually explain my status. It is not like a walk in the park as it seem to be. It can be a crazy run around a rocky road as well just like now when due to a sudden organizational restructuring, I have become my own general and army in facing the battles ahead. I have been doing my best in coping up with the challenges of my work. My approach was to see each challenge as an opportunity to learn, further yet, I try to see the humourous side of it. Most of the time it works, just that there are times when I just dont see it as funny anymore, especially when it coincides with the not so funny personal aspects of my life as well. Like yesterday, when I was almost at the brink of deciding that the little miss congeniality turned supergirl will now become little miss grouchy that I was so tempted of actually wearing "the attitude". Yes, the attitude that says "I dont care and I will be unreceptive just like them" attitude, back to back with the "I don't care and I am just tired from the bad side of people" attitude. But while I was reading entries from my Our Daily Bread booklet I was struck with one entry about maintaining character by David McCasland where he quotedJ.B.Philips' translation of Romans 12:1-21:

"Don't let the world around you squeeze you into its own mold, but let God remold your minds from within, so that you may prove in practice that the plan of God for you is good, meets all His demands, and moves toward the goal of true maturity."

Wow. It was enough to make me realize that I should not give up being miss congeniality. I would rather be the recipient of grouchfulness than be the source. I would like to spread the joy and not the misery so if I would submit and clam up because of the bad forces in this world who tries to make me to, then I will become an instrument of sadness, the same sadness that tries to turn my heart into stone and I know how terrible that could be. So I won't, I won't give up. Let's not give up making the world a better place to live in.

We just need some recharging... ;-)

Dearest Capt. Marvel

It was my kindred spirit that was missing, but thankfully I am starting to bounce back now. My trip to Malaysia last weekend with my friends helped as well as the encouragements I got from you and my friends. I think a big factor in the sadness I have been feeling was the adjustment I am having at work but now that I am getting the hang of the changes, I am feeling better. I think I also have been thinking too much deeply so right now I'm just trying to live life with a light heart and mind. You are definitely right, we choose to be happy so that's what I'm trying to do as I wake up everday, although it is hard not to think too much, because I am starting to feel that time is running fast, that I am getting old and now I want to be in the place that I know I will belong for the rest of my life and retire. I don't even know if I prefer uncertainty to certainty right now, because if being certain would mean I would be stuck where I am now, I feel sad just thinking about it, cause if I would be indeed I am almost sure I will be forever by myself, trying to earn money to sustain my material needs and fulfill my responsibilities...I don't want my sense of existence to just be that. Uncertainty, on the other hand, can offer opportunities for a better change, but of course the other side of the coin it could also mean the worse. But it's not that I detest my life right now, I don't. I do still keep in mind that I am thankful for all the blessings that God has given me. I do acknowledge that I have my family and friends who love me and appreciate me. Just that I feel this void, this nagging void who keep creeping up and trying to drain my energy that keeps me going as little miss congeniality. I am trying to fight it off, by now trying to be supergirl. But I discovered that even supergirl can feel frustration.

Here I go again, thinking too much. But I'll be fine, don't worry, I will shake this off...

Sizzling Hot: The 2007 F1 Malaysian Grand Prix

Yes, it was sizzling hot, literally.

The temperature was up so high, we were sweating like pigs.

If the heat was that uncomfortable for a tropical girl like me, I wondered how terrible the heat was for the caucasians.

But the temperature is negligible for F1 fans, everyone was still cheering.

We had good seats, we were on the first turn of the track. The seats were almost red because of people wearing red, for Ferrari of course.

But the Mclaren cars won suprisingly, both the first and second places, hehehe. Good job to Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton!

Well, I guess Ferrari's prestige halted together with Michael Schumacher's retirement...? =P

Then again, what do I know, I'm not really an F1 enthusiast and I'm not following all the races, but I do am interested in driving and cars.

But indeed it was a good experience to try out watching an F1 race though, it was fun meeting and travelling in another country with my good friends.

We had a one of a kind adventure . (Thanks for the fun, fun time, Deb and Vinci! Til our next travel... ;o) ).

Tips on watching the F1 race in Sepang, Malaysia:

1) Better just purchase the ticket for the actual race only (it's a 3-day event: day 1 - practice, day 2 - qualifying round, day 3- actual race). Then be in your seats an hour before the race starts so you could watch the drivers parade around the race track beforehand.

2) Better spend more on good seats with actual seats and shade than buy seats that do not have seats (you'll sit on the grass only and no shade at all in some parts!)

3) Buy the F1 merchandise on Day 1 or 2, too many people on the actual race day.

4) Don't attempt to bring water or food inside the race track as they will just confiscate it without even posting a sign or something that you cannot bring in food and drinks inside. They will just say "may I check your bag?" and then just get your food without explaining to you why. (I'll tell you why: so you're forced to buy drinks and food inside whereprices are 400% over the usual selling price, tsk tsk).

5) Bring earplugs if you cannot sustain hearing the loud sounds of the F1 cars. Better yet, bring an am/fm radio with earphones so you can tune in to the commentary and listen while you watch the race so you'll have an idea who's on which position (to save 100 Malaysian ringgit from the radio headphones they are selling there!). The race track is very big and it would be impossible to have visibility of all parts (except if you are in a helicopter of course!).

6) Wear your most comfortable summer clothes and shoes. I'm telling you, the heat was really incredible.

7) Sepang is an hour's drive from Kuala Lumpur without traffic jam. But better to go to the race track hours ahead the event to avoid getting delayed from the traffic jam the surge of spectators would bring.

8) It is not worth being trampled over just to have the autograph of a race driver (I backed out at the last minute from having Ralph Schumacher of Toyota F1 sign a cap, and it was a good decision because I am still alive in one piece, hehe).

Putrajaya, Malaysia

Half an hour's drive from Kuala Lumpur (without traffic jam) going to the South is Putrajaya. It is one of Malaysia's states and it houses Malaysia's federal government officials. The place has very nice landscaping and impressive architectural structures. It is clean and beautiful. I loved the decorated lamp posts along the roads (I don't have pictures of it though).

We didn't go much around Putrajaya as we really didn't know the whereabouts and the what to do's plus it was very, very hot and humid, the sun was all out and the sky was so clear. I am not sure if there was a public transport going to Putrajaya, I think there is. Although what I am sure of is I didn't see any public transport within this city so definitely you would need to have your own wheels to go around. We hired a random taxi we just flagged from KLCC (Kuala Lumpur City Center) to bring us there and show us around and bring us back to KL. The price would depend on how you can bargain for a good deal with the taxi driver. Vinci (bestfriend Debbie's boyfriend) was a good bargainer, he got it only for 60MYR (1 Malaysian Ringgit is around 0.30US dollars) ;-)

~~~~~~~

Photocredits to bestfriend Debbie

The Petronas Towers of KL

The Petronas Towers is the world's tallest twin towers. It is located at the heart of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The Petronas Towers is the corporate headquarters of the government-owned Petronas oil company. It is Malaysia's grand national landmark. And indeed it is very grand, especially at night when it is illuminated brightly with beautiful white lights. There is an extraordinary glow that makes it tantalizing. If you remember the movie, Entrapment, starring Catherine Zeta-Jones and Sean Connery, then you'll remember that the Petronas Towers was featured in the climax of this movie.

Connecting the two towers is the Skybridge, located at the 41st and 42nd floor. The 41st floor is used for visitors while the 42nd is used by the tenants of the towers. Access to the Skybridge is free, but you just have to line up and get tickets for a certain alloted time. There is a limit of visitors per day so usually by mid day, all tickets for the day have been given out. And the earlier you go there, the earlier time slot you get. Like for us, we got our tickets at around 10am and we were already on the 5:30pm slot.

There's a nice exihibit there though, that you could see while you wait. It features facts about the Petronas Towers, a documentary of how the Towers were built, its history. Then there are also telescopes/cameras that's like The Eye of Auckland's Skytower. However, the image resolution was not that good and zooming is not as zoomed in as that of the Auckland Skytower, so the view didn't really seem like real time. But the Petronas have this cool device that's simply entertaining, a device that measures your height and calculates how many times the Towers are compared to your height. You can also select other skyscrapers like the Empire State building and Sears tower to be compared to your height. Then there's also a miniature model there that is used to demonstrate what would happen in case a lightning hits the towers. A simulation is shown with electric currents hitting the miniature towers.

Upon the free tour of the Skybridge, there is first a short 3D film showing about the background and history of the Petronas towers. Then the group will be led by a guide to the 41st floor and will be given a few minutes (around 10 minutes) to look around there and take some pictures. I am impressed that this tour is free, and inspite of that, everything is well-maintained and are of quality, including the good the service of the personnel.

Another great thing about the Petronas Towers is that it has Suria KLCC at its foot. Suria KLCC is one of the biggest malls in Kuala Lumpur. Something I don't recommend though is to go to the Twin Towers on special ocassions where there would be many crowds of people. We did that for New Year's eve of 2006 and we just got mobbed by crowd and after getting out of the crowd, my friends lost their wallet and cellphone. So just be cautious. It's only in Singapore that you can wave your phone and wallet in the streets without worrying that someone would snatch them right from your hands.

~~~~~

Photocredits to me :)

So What

I start to just exist and cease living

I sigh instead of breathe...

I start to murmur instead of speak

I walk and not stroll

I look but I do not see

I hear sounds but not music

Everything becomes senseless

Suddenly I am going around in circles

Where is that kindred spirit?

Has it gone adrift?

Somebody take my hand please

I am drowning, help me...