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...

The Phantom that will haunt me forever

The greatest consolation (and the highlight of this month) for me from all the stress I have been having is watching Andrew Lloyd Webber's broadway musical, The Phantom of the Opera at the Singapore Esplanade Theatre. Me and my friends have long been waiting for this day to arrive. We have bought our tickets five months in advance.

My fascination with The Phantom of the Opera started in High School. I had some classmates who were so into broadway musicals and particularly, my classmate, Jimmy, was a fanatic and as I was his pseudo slave during Grade 7(1st yr highschool), I had no choice but hear him sing this musical's songs over and over again (peace, Jimmy!).I did not know the story actually, I have not read the novel it was based from (Le Fantôme de l’Opéra , a French novel by Gaston Leroux) but I fell in love with its music and I remember I tried playing two of the songs on the piano while I sing (oh yeah, step back Alicia Keys, hehehe). So"Music of the Night" and "All I Ask of You" have become my favorites as they were the songs from the musical I got familiar with. In Grade 9 (3rd year high school), each class was to perform an excerpt of a broadway musical. Our class performed (the very sad) Les Miserables, but I was much in awe to the section who performed The Phantom of the Opera, I became more fascinated with this musical as I got to know the synopsis of the story. They did the scene at the boat where the Phantom was taking Christine to his underground hideaway.

A few months ago, I saw a DVD of The Phantom of the Opera movie at the gym I go to so I rented it out, watched it and that was it! After seeing the whole story and hearing all the songs, I have declared to myself that I have indeed fallen in love with this musical. It has this magical feeling of elegance and beauty that lingers on. I rented out the same DVD at the same gym at another time, I was just hooked. Thanks also to Chuvanescense for giving me his VCD copy, I can now watch the movie over and over again. I just had a little reservation though, because knowing that I will be watching the broadway play soon, I was not sure if watching the movie would do me good since I would now have a point of comparison. We know that movies are different from plays in that movies can have take twos, threes or more to make the movie perfect plus the locations can be chosen and special effects of computer graphics can be utilized, but in live plays they are only allowed take ones, notwithstanding the challenge of changing backdrops and props along the different scenes.

So yes, I did have expectations before watching the play because I have seen the movie and I was wondering if the play would have the same magical feeling that the movie could give since I was not sure how the play would create the effects that was done in the movie. After watching the play though, I was gladly surprised that not only did it meet my expectations, it exceeded it! The set and props of the play was perfect! It was amazing how they did the effects almost the same as in the movie. I have to give special mention to the scene in this play where the Phantom takes Christine on a boat going to his hideaway, as it was truly incredible, and way better than in the movie!

I only have praises for Andrew Lloyd Webber's The Phantom of the Opera broadway musical. Indeed, it's a musical so enchanting that its music you will keep on singing by heart.

~o~

Andrew Lloyd Webber's The Phantom of the Opera is playing at the Singapore Esplanade until May 13th. Tickets are still available at Sistic.

Photocredits: The Phantom of the Opera Official Show site and Sistic website.

15 hours of zzz and 300 oohlalas

The weekend that has passed was....hmm...I can't find the words to describe it...

Perhaps I have been so deprived from a cool and comfy sleep for the last week because of my defective aircon that last Saturday after it was temporarily fixed by the aircon contractor (they just topped up gas again but they said it will eventually stop cooling again since apparently the gas is leaking and the pipes need to be replaced), that at around 6pm I felt my eyes were so heavy and I fell asleep on my bed. I woke up at 9am the following morning and that makes a 15 hour record breaking sleep! And too much sleep is not good, especially when life has been getting stressful, as it starts unthinkable thoughts to play in your mind, thoughts like becoming a 40 year old virgin, quitting your job and becoming a bum, or disappear from the mainstream and live as a hermit.

But good thing that before getting eaten by the sadness monster, I was able to push myself to do my Sunday routine -- go to the gym and then go to mass. Sunday night was supposed to be also my tennis night but my teacher was not available so tennis was cancelled. That left me with a lot of time for the evening so I decided I'd go watch a movie. There have been a lot of good movies lately and most of my friends have watched at least one of them, so I thought I should at least try to watch one. I decided to watch the movie 300 at the mall a few blocks away from our condo. Alone and armed with popcorn and cola, I sat there and watched in awe at 300 oh so wow abs and legs of men. The movie was great, not because of the sexy men (well ok, fine, it counts as well) but the movie in general, good cinematography, graphics, and storyline. Plus, I have to give credit to the abs and bodies really, because contrary to what most think that those abs and sexy bodies were part of the movie special effects, those are actually the actors' real 6-pack abdomen and muscular torso and legs. I've watched the interview in TV of the lead actor and they really worked out for months to prepare for that movie.

Anyways, I'm just glad that I made a good decision to watch a movie, even by myself. It was the first time I watched a movie in a cinema by myself here in Singapore. Well actually, it's just my second time to watch a movie by myself in a cinema, my first time was waaay back in highschool and I needed to kill a couple of hours to wait for my studio pictures to get developed (I know, I know, that was so pathetic, hehe). It's a good quality time for myself, to just relax and forget about the hussle bussle of the real world. Yup, I think I'd do this again, moreso, more often. ;)

~0~

Photocredit: Image from warner bros shop official site

F for 4th Friday, frustration, fondue and friends

It's the fourth friday of the month and it means that it's been four weeks that I have been getting frustated at work. The everyday waking up to go to work starts to get to be a heavy thing to do. The weather is becoming hotter everyday and what perfect timing could be for the aircon in my bedroom to stop cooling again and needs to be repaired. Something inside me would like to scream and run amok. I'm just so stressed out.
Omar said he observed my self esteem is low lately...then later on in the afternoon he invited me to meet him and buddy Wit for dinner and drinks at DXO. Unexpectedly though, he got a little held at work so Wit and I started dinner without him at a Japanese restaurant, Haru at One Fullerton. Had he made it in time when the ika sashimi was served, I'm sure he would've taken a picture of it's presentation and would be featured in his foodblog. But nevertheless, here's the fondue we ate at Max Brenner in Esplanade mall, after we had that Japanese dinner. We were so full with all the food. But wait there's more, we went to DXO bar for some drinks and what do you know, it was ladies night so I got in for free plus free flowing drinks! The band playing was a Filipino band and they were good. There were not much people though, perhaps because it was just 10:30pm and it was early for a clubbing night. I was looking forward to the free flowing drink for the ladies so that atleast I could get a little tipsy but after I had 2 glasses, I concluded it would take me atleast 10 glasses of those drinks before I could attain my goal. You see, my first glass was a shot of vodka and lime juice, diluted in gallons of water (sorry, im exaggerating) and the second glass was a shot of vodka and ribena soda, diluted in liters of water (ok, im still exaggerating). So, I took the liberty to snatch Omar's half full glass of tequila plus sprite drink from the "real bar" and tadah, it served its purpose. ;-)
We went home after staying half an hour at DXO. It was a fun night, simple but I really enjoyed it because of my dear, dear friend who's never been at DXO before and I think, just wanted to lift my spirits up because he knew that I've been wanting to go to DXO because I told him before that I hear the band playing really good whenever I eat at Makansutra (the food centre beside DXO). How can you not help but be cheered up by having such a thoughtful friend?
Thanks Omar, that was really sweet (na-touch ako ha). :)

Tell me this is not how journalism is here

I read in the newspaper today about a restaurant supervisor being stabbed by one of his kitchen staff and he died right there in the restaurant. The article wrote how the family and colleagues of the victim were surprised that the victim could be in a heated argument with the staff that would lead to a violent act as the victim was a diplomatic person. At the end of the article, it writes:

"The restaurant is closed today in respect to Mr..., according to Mrs.., the restaurant manager."

Then right after that the next paragraph reads:

"The restaurant has other branches located in...."

Now I don't know if it's because I didn't have enough sleep last night, or that I am stressed out at work that I am easily irritated but I am in quite a disbelief at how this article was written. I mean, can somebody tell me what is the significance of that second paragraph!?! Is it just me or is it really that insensitive to do indirect advertising?

March is fastly marching by

After that fabulous NZ experience, I am back to the real world, back to my routine, back to facing the sad monitor of my computer at work. I do expect that March would be quite a challenge for me because of work -- I have a 1,001 tasks that I need to accomplish and I would be doing it alone. And there are no travels for me this month, so I will not be going anywhere outside the 4 corners of this island of shopping centres and malls.

The first 11 days of this month seemed like it have zoomed fast though and I don't know if I'd be happy because this dreaded month will be almost over or if I'd be scared because quarter end is always is a critical period at work for me and I have to be prepared to face it alone.

Let's see what this month given has me so far:

the hoorays:

• After three weeks of not being able to go to church and hear mass because of my travels, I have finally spent quality time with Him again these past two Sundays. It was a heartwarming, teary-eyed reunion.
• I have accomplished a big initiative I have been leading at work: finally, our database is 3 bundles upgraded and less bugged, this would be my first bundle application in my almost 5 years in the InfoTech world. Ahhh, my baby, my bundle of joy! ahehehe.
• Had a fun time when we celebrated Aoisoba's sweet 16 + 12 birthday with literally a round of different handcrafted beers of Brewerkz in our table (really enjoyed that, chilis!)
• Was able to recharge a little and finally able to do some writing after spending some quality alone time at my spot, my sanctuary (besides church) yesterday.

the boos:

• My second semester of French class has started and I have not been studying diligently, unlike the previous
  semester where I would do extra reading.
• On our Chinese new year dinner at the first day of this month, I was chatting with my colleagues that I shared the dinner table with, and this French guy colleague called me a pervert after I told them I lined up for almost an hour in Disneyland Paris just to have a picture with Mickey Mouse. I am considering his limited English for having used that adjective. But then he also crashed the tiny hope left in my heart when he asked me the qualities I am looking for in a man and when I told him a man who is loyal, hardworking and who loves life, he said I must be looking for a priest (reminded me of Mon Homme Idéal), otherwise the man is inexistent. Ouch!
• The two consecutive strong tremors from the two earthquakes in Indonesia last March 6th left me so nauseated at work that I had to put on some scented balm to keep me in my senses. Our office is on the 26th floor and I don't know why it seemed like it was only me and the second big boss who felt the tremors and reacted upon realizing those were tremors and not just a sumo wrestler running around in the office.
• I have been so stressed at work for pushing myself to be supergirl that last Friday I just realized that I have been coding directly in our Production database (and yes I have clicked the save button already!). If you are in the programming world, this would be like one of the greatest mortal sins you could ever commit. I felt like my blood was drained from head to toe when I saw the database name I was working on.
• I got okrayed* twice by pseudo BF Omar when we met for dinner one after-office night: 1) He said I looked like I was wearing pambahay** clothes (I was wearing slacks and blouse) and 2) He was greatly disturbed upon hearing me speak in Singlish in talking to the taxi driver that he had to send me an sms that night and called me at work the following morning to remind me to take care of my English.
• I cancelled my tennis tonight because I ate a lot of different food which led to an attempted stomach revolution and a successful lazybug infection.

OK, now let's see the score: 6 is to 4, in favor of the boos! oh noooooooooooo..

-----------

*Okrayed - a term in Tagalog slang for giving negative criticism

**Pambahay - a Tagalog adjective pertaining for the house

Hamilton Gardens and the one-legged duck

Around 2 hours drive from Auckland going down to the South is the city of Hamilton where they have the Hamilton Gardens, a 58 hectare area of a variety of different gardens. The gardens are grouped into 4 garden collections. It is owned and is well-maintained by the Hamilton City Council and admission is free (kudos to the Hamilton City Council! ;)

Missy's sisters, Ate Jojo and Ate Joan, left us there to explore the whole afternoon and would come back for us by late afternoon. So Missy, Beth and I toured the first two garden collections and on the way to the 3rd collection where there was a Rose garden, we decided to get some coffee and then rest on an open field and as the grass was too inviting, we took a nap and by the time we were woken up by the rehearsing country band for a concert that night, Ate Jojo, Ate Joan and John (Ate Jojo's bf who resides in Hamilton) still found us on the grass slouching and we could only grin when Ate Jojo asked how was the Rose garden.

We had a picnic of a bucket of KFC chicken (by the way, there's also no gravy sauce in KFCs in NZ like in Singapore where there is no gravy but chili sauce...I wonder now if is it only in the Philippines that there is an overflowing supply of gravy in KFCs?) with a number of ducks that seemed to want to join us and the other picnickers. This is how we discovered the one-legged duck. We thought the duck was just hiding his other foot under its feathers (to amuse us and get the food? hehe) but after more observation, we saw that it just really had one leg. But the amazing thing is the one-legged duck looked healthy and seemed like it doesn't have difficulty with having one leg as it just did a little duck hop instead of duck walk. It looked cute but at the same time it made you feel pityful, as obviously this one-legged duck was singled out by the other normal ducks. So we gave the special treatment to the one-legged duck, it was only to it that we shared our food (the bread we had and not the chicken, ok? :-P we didn't think a duck would like to eat its relative, chicken). Funny how even animals behave like human beings on singling somebody out because of its being different from the usual. I admire this one-legged duck for despite its abnormality, it has managed to survive healthyly and was moving with the other normal ducks. This makes me wonder, how people who are called "abnormal" could actually live normally and are happy while some people who are born "normal" feel incomplete. But the again, is the one-legged duck really happy?

The City of Sails

That is Auckland, New Zealand.

It is the most dense place of New Zealand, having more than 25% of the population of the country residing there. It is very understandable though, because indeed this city has so much to offer. It has a charm that attracts you and makes you want to stay...

What makes it different from all the other cities I've been to is that amidst it being a busy and dense (but not crowded) area, you can have your space and relax. Perhaps because it is a city that blends the beauty of urbanity and rurality. It has the usual huffs of a city -- the cars and traffic jams, the tall buildings, the people walking along the streets, the bars, the red light district, the lights, the urban ambiance but at the same time the sky is clear, the air is clean and fresh, there are beautiful parks and amazing harbours that simply make one tiring busy day conclude with a big smile on your lips for sure. They have the perfect summer weather: sunny but cool. It is very conducive to having nice strolls and naps in the parks, something I found hard to do in the summer of Singapore (too hot), or the summer of Ireland (too cold), or the summer of Paris (too unsafe). It's no wonder I felt at home in Auckland, it was like I am so familiar to the place that I enjoyed going around the city by myself during the day, lie down on the grass in parks, and end in Starbucks to wait for Missy and Beth after office hours. What happens after we meet up is even a whole new wonderful and exciting adventure around the city, so exciting that time can be forgotten and you realize the car got locked in the parking lot! :)

There are many things to see and do in Auckland but aside from the natural landmarks like the harbours and volcanoes (oh yes, Auckland is surrounded by 50 volcanic fields!) there's two man-made landmarks that you shouldn't fail to go to:

Skytower - this is like the Eiffel Tower is to Paris and the Empire State building is to New York. It is the tallest structure in the Southern Hemisphere. Though it does cost a bit much to go inside it (23NZD), I think it's worth it because you can get to see a good view of Auckland from the observatory above. Plus, the interesting thing is, the Skytower has this device called "The Eye" where you can zoom in to areas around Auckland in real time and you can get a clear visibility of the place, too clear that I actually had an ingenious (i think) idea: that it is a perfect spot for proposing marriage -- you could for example, ask someone to hold up a "will you marry me?" placard in the garden of Albert Park, and then you go into the tower with your girlfriend and you innocently ask her to zoom in to Albert Park and voila! Sweet as! :)

Auckland Museum - is one of the best museums I've been to. As you know, I am not really into museums so it took me quite some effort to convince myself to go inside Auckland museum. It is quite a big museum, all 4 levels of it but amazingly, I enjoyed going around it because the exhibits are really interesting and interactive. Plus, the museum staff are really friendly and accomodating.

Though I wanted to try to take the public transport to go around the city and be non-touristy, I decided to take the Explorer bus anyway, a hop-on-hop-off shuttle service that tours you around the city as I could not afford to do a lot of experimenting since I didn't have the luxury of time (besides, I have a high tendency to get lost whenever I do my "experiments") . And I am glad I took it because it was really worth it for 30NZD -- you get to have a recorded commentary which is very informational and you could chose where to spend your time among of the 14 attractions it goes around to.

(Sigh) Ahhhhh...the awe of Auckland...

Backpacking in the Northland

On February 16th, I went straight from work to Changi airport to catch my flight going down under (way more down under than Australia, dude :). Ten hours later, I was looking out from the window beside my seat and I was already amazed at how New Zealand looked from a bird's eye view.

New Zealand is divided into two major islands, the North island and South island. Our plan was to take the up-to-the-North-then-down-by-the-West route starting from Auckland.


Day 1: Kia ora!* The perfect way of getting to know New Zealand (see the red arrow in the map)

From Auckland airport, we went to missy G-clef's house and met up with Beth. Two hours later we were on the bus going to the Bay of Islands. Four hours later we checked in to Peppertree lodge. We were given room 13 (hmm..I wondered if that was a good sign or bad sign, hehehe.) Since it was almost evening we looked for something to spend the night with and decided to watch the cultural show at 7pm in Waitangi. It was a great start of my New Zealand experience, as the cultural show oriented me with the history of New Zealand. Now I know that the first settlers of New Zealand were polynesians, called Maoris, and then the British came in the 1800s. So today the New Zealander people, or Kiwis as they refer to themselves, are composed of the native Maori, the polynesians, and the British Kiwis. We ended the night with our stomachs full from missy G-clef's very delicious cornedbeef pasta (yum yum!)

Day 2: The Dune Rider experience (see the green arrow in the map)

This day we were to have the Dune Rider day trip tour of the Northland. What we knew was that we will be picked up by 7:30am so we woke up at a few minutes before 7am, only to find out that the tour guide was already there at 7am and was looking for us! So we just grabbed our things, and just went up the truck without having been able to actually freshen up for the morning. I had no idea what this tour was, missy G-clef didn't give me the details so I had no expectations and oh boy, little did I know that I was to be in one of the greatest tours of my life. We were with around 20 other people, composed of Germans, Brits, Australians and Spanish. We were the only Asians in our group. The tour guide/driver introduced himself as Spike. While he drove, he did the narrating as well, how cool is that!
From the Bay of Islands, we went up further to the North. First stop after having breakfast at a local restaurant, was at Manginangina Kauri Walk, a reserve of Kauri trees. Kauri trees are one of the biggest trees in the world. They are now protected trees in New Zealand because they are endangered. After a brief walk around the forest, we headed on and drove a few hours going up to Cape Reinga, the northest tip of the North island where the Tasman Sea and Northern Pacific Ocean meets. It is a sacred place for the Maoris, because they believe that this was where the spirits of departed Maoris go. Indeed it was a very serene and magnificent place. The sights are just simply tantalizing. Next we went down at a nearby beach where we had a break and were given the time to eat our lunch and have a quick swim in the beach for those who wanted to. Then we headed further on to our next cool stop (see the upcoming irony here..) -- sand surfing! Oh yes, I couldn't believe that New Zealand had sand dunes and I was so thrilled to do my first sandboard surfing. Walking up to the top carrying your surf board was a struggle for me, but it was all worth it when you slide down the slope head on. I managed to stay on the board half way thru the ride but half way thru the end I went tumbling down like a rolling ball, ahehehe. It was a fabulous experience! Then after sand surfing, we drove going down by a long stretch of beach called 90 mile beach (although in realityit is just 64 miles long). We stopped briefly to get some seashells which we ate instantly and surprisingly, for a raw state, it tasted really, really good! (better than oyster I tell you!) The 90 mile beach is known also for having wild horses in the land across it, although we were not lucky enough that day to have a glipmse of them. Then we went on and drove down and stopped at a souvenir shop then at a restaurant beside a harbour and we ate of course, yummy fish and chips (fries) and made a last quick stop in front of one orange farm in Kerikeri (place in NZ known for having lots of orchards of citrus fruits) for those who wanted to buy some fruits. Finally, at around 7pm we were back in our lodge. We spent the rest of the night at an Irish bar across Peppertree lodge with Elena, an Italian backpacker that we shared our room with. What a fantastic day! Sweet as! ;o)

Day 3: The start of a marvelous road trip and camping (see the pink arrow in the map)

We started the morning by having a hearty breakfast - one loaf of toasted sliced bread, one pack of bacon and 6 eggs. Yes, a big breakfast could be an understatement. The two German guys on the next table told us they were so surprised to see the food at our table and was wondering how could 3 girls could eat all of it while two big guys like them were just eating bread and jam. (well, had they known about Filipinos' love for eating that should've explain it, hehehe). It was our last day in Peppertree lodge. We rented a car and missy would be driving us from the Bay of Islands going to the West and down. We stopped first at the historical place of Waitangi again to go around the place. Then we drove down down down to Opononi and Omapere where we had a spectacular view of the Hokianga Harbour. We camped out with our tent at a camping area across the beach in Opononi. It was another whole new experience for me. Our plan was to have some drinks on the beach side while watching the sunset but because we have forgotten to bring a flashlight and it took us a while to cook our dinner, this didn't happen. The sun seemed to have set so fast but it was ok, we still had a fun fun night eating another hearty dinner because besides for our fried chicken, we also cooked and ate some fresh mussels which were given to us by two camper Hungarian guys who went fishing that afternoon.

Day 4: The unexpected highlight of the road trip (see the purple arrow in the map)

Before mid day, we got ready to start the long road trip going back to Auckland. A few meters from the camp site there was a sign with an arrow pointing to the right of the road which says, "scenic view". We decided to check it out and we were amazed at what we've discovered -- indeed a marvelous view of the Hokianga Harbour. We went down to the beach (together with 2 senior American couples we met there) and was just hypnotized at the beautyof waves splashing on the rocks in front of us. And so we stayed at the place longer than we expected. After realizing we had enough basking in the sun, admiring the beauty of the New Zealand Northland, we headed on to continue our road trip. After around an hour's drive down, we stopped at Waipoua Forest where Tane Mahuta was located. Tane Mahuta is the oldest and largest existing Kauri tree in the world, dating to about 2,000 years old and measuring a girth of 13.77 m (45.2 feet) and a trunk height of 17.68 m (58.0 feet). Such a wonder how this tree could live so long, withstanding all the storms and earthquakes for centuries. After consuming our packed lunch and an icecream for dessert, we continued our journey. After an hour or two's drive Missy G-clef said she wanted to have a quick stop at a waterfalls or any body of water so we tried to look for a waterfalls along the way. We didn't find any waterfalls but we did find a sign that says Lake Kai-iwi if we turn right. So we did, and followed the long road leading to this lake. When we got there we saw a couple just going up from the lake. They said they had a swim and told us the water was perfect for swimming. So we went down to the lake and found ourselves to be the only ones there. We went in the water, and indeed it was perfect to take a dip, too perfect that we decided to do the unimaginable -- skinny dip!!!! Oh yes, we did it in broad daylight! We took off all our clothes while inside the water and just enjoyed the place like it was ours. A first time for all of us and Missy, Beth and me all agree that it was the highlight of our road trip. The perfect highlight to conclude our adventure. The travel from Lake Kai-iwi to Auckland would take around 4 more hours so halfway through, we stopped at Dargaville to have a quick coffee -- on the roadside beside the river, literally. We sat on the ledge that divided the road from the river, drinking our coffee and eating hotdog in waffle. Maybe people driving by probably wondered if we were suicidal...hmm, not really because the brown water from the big river was not that inviting, hehehe. So finally, we got back in Auckland in the evening. I had my first view of Auckland skyline at night, with all the tall buildings and the Skytower shining brightly in red. We concluded the night with a fish and chips dinner along Mission Bay. Ah yes, now I'm about to see the City of Sails....

*Kia Ora is the Maori greeting for hello or good day.

Hinagdanan cave in Bohol

I have to write this entry to mention another must see in Bohol -- the caves. We only managed to go to one cave in Panglao, the Hinagdanan (meaning "laddered") cave but I read that Bohol actually has many caves giving it a nickname of "Cave Country".

Hinagdanan cave is an underground cave and is indeed beautiful. Inside it is a pool of water where you could swim. We didn't see it in its full glory, though, because we went there at almost sunset. The best time to see it is perhaps early afternoon, or as long as the sun is shining high because it is quite dark without the sun, it is just quite warm inside, since the entrance is a small hole on the ground and then you go down inside the cave.

I really hope to go back to Bohol someday and see the other caves and more things of interest. Anyone willing to let me tag along when you go to Bohol in the future? :D