The Story of my Life

"Pansinin ninyo ang ngiti nya,
ngiting nanganganyaya't
ngiting walang kahambing."

"Oh well, ganun talaga...
hitsurang lalaki...
pero lasang babae...
isang talulot na namumukadkad...
tuwing alas-12 ng tanghali.

Kapag ang lupang tigang
ay nadiligan
tiyak ngiti sa mga labi
ay mamamasdan."

"Hating kapatid ang turo ni inay
hatiin ang mamon pati ang monay
ensaymada, mocha roll dapat pantay-pantay
at wag lilimutin ang mga mahal sa buhay."

"Eto na si kaka, bubuka-bukaka."

"Naku kaka, ingat ka pagbukaka
baka makita ang ube halaya
malayo pa ang fiesta.

Sarang hamida!"

"Masakit,
makirot,
dahil makipot.

Lumusot,
nautot,
ako'y haliparot."

Chuva,
chenes,
eklavu
Vavayu...

is Mom's 5th year. Love you Mame! mwah mwah mwah *hugz*

The last time was funny. Second time is kinda alarming. If students continue to solve math problems this way, there'd be chaos in the planet.

My last trip was a blast! It was so much fun we hardly recognized the time. In fact, we felt we should have stayed longer to enjoy the site and the food. I've been to Cagayan de Oro several years back. But it was a business trip so I didn't have time to go around the city. I was not, in anyway, impressed with CDO so I never planned to go back. But when my friend told me her thrilling experience white water rafting, I had a change of heart. That's one of my motivation, second to Camiguin of course.

White water (actually, I don't know why they call it as such when the water is brown...yuck corny!) rafting takes about 2hours as you have to tackle 14 rapids. We were charged for Php700, inclusive of a sumptuous lunch and transportation to and from the river.

If you're not the adventurous type, fear not because the Guides are well trained. During our batch, there were a total of 6 rafts. In one of those, there was a 7-year-old or less, and she enjoyed every bit of it. No tinge of fear on her face. Several weeks before us, they had a 10-month-old on board. If a child made it, what more for an adult like me? You just have to listen to your guide, do as you are told and you'll finish it with flying colors. If ever you get so unlucky and you're thrown out of the raft, your life vest will keep you floating. Promise, it's a piece of cake.

One thing that made it memorable for all of us was when our raft went under a rock formation. We were asked to back paddle, to back paddle is to put on brake, as we were moving too fast and was about to hit under that rock. But since we were enjoying the ride and we were too thrilled, the next thing we know Ritchie was doing ala matrix-bending backwards almost breaking his back bone. Wilson got scratches on his left hand. From then on, Ritchie started counting so we would all paddle.

After the white water rafting, which ended around 2pm, we went straight to Balingoan pier to catch the ferry to Benoni, Camiguin. Land travel to the pier took about an hour, but that's because we rented a van, it might take longer if you take the bus. The ferry ride took another hour, and from Benoni it took us an hour and a half to get to the resort, that's inclusive of all the stops we did to get food and drinks. By the time we reached the Paras Resort, we were all starving and exhausted. After dinner, it was good night to all.

Day 2 - Camiguin Island Tour

The next day was rainy, and my cold was getting worse, yes I was ill again. The night before our trip, I had fever but since I waited for this for so long, I can't just back out because of this pesky illness.

The hotel has a ready map for tourists who want to tour the island so after breakfast the following day we were off on our road trip. There were 9 destinations in the itinerary, most of which were hot/cold spring. The part I liked the most was the waterfall. We didn't get to swim though because the water was murky, because of the rain, and the fall was gushing. So we contented ourselves by taking pictures with the waterfall.

Lunch was super. We ate at Kinamot, a local version of Kamayan Restaurant. I love their Calamares and Halaan soup, and their sweet pineapple. One thing I love about these two provinces is their sweet pineapple, I don't get a lot of that in Manila, especially in ADB. Our pineapples are pale yellow, genuinely sour. hehehe

If you're planning to go to Camiguin, you have to allot 3 full days to see everything, that's exclusive of travel time. We were there for two nights and two days and we didn't get to see the nicest destinations in the island. What a pity. It would have been more fun if we have set foot on White Island, Mantigue Island and Mt. Hibok-hibok. The weather didn't cooperate and there wasn't enough time so we had to delight ourselves with what we could get.

We were back at the resort in time for dinner. Our objectives were to get to White Island, buy Pastel and catch the last ferry to CDO. We were planning our itinerary for the following day when I asked one of the waitresses for travel time:

Me: Miss, alam mo gaano katagal ang biyahe from here (resort) to pier?
Waitress: Mag-vavan po kayo Ma'am?
Me: Oo.
Waitress took a deep breath then clasped both hands.
Waitress: Hindi po ma'am eh.

While I was controlling my laughter, I could see Ritchie from my peripheral doing the same. When the waitress left, we all burst out in laughter. At some point there, we all thought she knew the answer. So if I answered "no, we're taking public transport" would she have answered differently? hahaha

We downed one bottle of Absolute Mandarin that night. As usual, Ritchie was the casualty. It's not obvious with the pictures, is it?

Day 3 - Bumpy ride

It rained again the next day so we were not advised to go to White Island. How sad...As I said, abot tanaw na hindi pa rin napuntahan. Towards noon, the rain stopped but the rest of the day was gutsy. Our boat ride to Camiguin was very bumpy. The ship was swaying intensely. The ship behind us had to re-route because it couldn't stand the wind. I was getting uncomfortable, imagining the worst things that can happen to us. I couldn't sleep because I could fall off from my seat. Some passengers were beginning to become restless, standing, walking back and forth. Then we saw a rainbow. Living in the city deprives us of natural wonders such as this. It was beautiful and we were pleased with the site. Our fears vanished and the next thing we know, we were back. Haaayyy...thank God for rainbows.

Day 4 - Last hurrah

We started our last day in CDO early, early as in 5:00am as I got a text from Cebu Pacific informing us that our 1:30pm flight is cancelled. It was a for-your-information message, no explanation why they cancelled, nor an option. When we called, the option they were giving us was to take a flight the next day. Wow! What a great option. When we agreed, but on the condition that they'll pay for all the expenses we'll incur for having to stay an extra day, they booked us on the 5pm flight on the same day. Which we all thought was a good schedule because then we don't have to rush. Case closed.

When we've all finished breakfast, we went to Macahambus park for another adventure - canopy walking and zip lining. We were charged Php250 for both. With Canopy walking, you have to walk on a 154-meter-bridge that is 174 feet above the ground. This one is a no brainer. Zip lining, on the other hand, is quite scary. You have to go back to your starting point zipping. I zipped first, when the guide let me go I screamed my lungs out! It was liberating.
After all this excitement came a text from Cebu Pacific. "Good am. Please be informed that your flight today 5J386 bound for Manila will resume today, same time of departure." Don't you just love how easy they change schedules? We took the flight, nonetheless. Hehehehe

After hoarding Pastel and ham, we left CDO with a smile on our faces and an experience we won't forget. We will be back, but next time we'll do pinoy rafting.

I'm back! I know I ought to tell you people what happened to my last trip but I still haven't recovered from my absence from work. In the meantime, you may view pictures in Multiply.

Will post soon. Ciao!

I'm off to a new place tomorrow, at the same time, I'll be scrapping one item in my list of things-to-do-before-I-die.

We're going to Camiguin!!! I've been hearing wonderful things about this place, and thanks to Cebu Pacific, I'm finally going to experience all of it.

We fly via Cagayan de Oro. While in the City, we'll take up white river rafting and canopy walking. I'm never the adventurous type but I guess when as you get older you want to experience all the things that makes life exciting. I hope I muster enough courage to go on with the task because once I'm there, there's no turning back. I will also make sure I bring home their yummy pastel for my friends and family to taste.

After river rafting, we'll proceed to Camiguin for the beach and to visit the famous tourist spots there. We have one full day to stay in Camiguin, I hope that's enough to get acquainted with the Island.

Wat out for gazillion pictures from me in Multiply.

A busy Saturday that was.

Badminton. My partner and I played three games and, even though I was warehoused, we won all of it. Woohoo!!! Thanks to my partner Joy who was excellent, as usual. Warehoused is a term in Badminton, which I heard from Mama Carms, that when translated to Filipino would mean the popular word binodega. When you are warehoused, it means that all of your opponent's shots were given to you because they consider you the weaker of the pair. Gaaazzzz...

Food-trip. Honestly, this is the part I looked forward to the most...eating at Mom and Tina's Bakery Cafe. For some reason, I'm craving for sweets these days. When I learned that diabetes was in the family, sweets suddenly lost its appeal to me. But for two weeks now, I've been having dessert every lunch and I always want something sweet with my coffee. Going back to cupcakes, the taste didn't fail me. I liked it better than Sonja's. Their's is not so sweet and far more affordable than that of Sonja's. To my delight, I brought home some so my family could taste it (I ate 2 of the 6 cupcakes I brought home).

Music Practice. YDWTL is coming up with a CD compilation of all Days music for the coming batch. But before all the singing, there was a feast of grilled meat (and Tofu). I ate, even though I wasn't hungry, because my mouth was watering with the barbeque and vinegar at sight. Anyway, we ran through each song in the Days songbook, including my favorite Lord I offer my life. There are other songs I love in the songbook, which I'd like to share with you, but I'm not really good at memorizing so I'll post that some other time. At break time, we would jam to the songs of Barry Manillow, Air Supply, and Chicago. Oh how I miss those songs.

PBB. It was the Big Night at the Big Dome. Flow, Camille, and I watched as they unfolded the order of the four remaining housemates. We speculated on who would be the winner based on the color and the design of their gown. Because in the past, the housemate who has the most elaborate gown turns out the winner. Flow said that maybe it's Wendy because her gown was black. Or Bea could be the winner because she wore a tube dress, while the other two girls were wearing haltered gown. When Gee-Ann was called as Fourth Big Placer, we were all disappointed. One friend sent a text saying "Edsa 3 na to, mukhang si Wendy pa ang mananalo." Then I started thinking what I would do if, indeed, she won. Hhmmm...

6:07pm. Usually, this time of the day on a Monday, people would find me sweating like crazy at the gym. Actually, I just came from the gym. But...I didn't drink Prime today so my memory failed me yet again. I forgot my rubbershoes. And I had to realize that after changing into my gym clothes. *sigh*

I have two pairs of rubbershoes (one for badminton and one for gyming), which I usually leave in the office. When I accidently bring home one, there's always one pair left. But today, when I badly need to go to the gym because my trip to CDO is coming and because I ate 4 cupcakes and 3 full meals in the last two days, I have no rubbershoes to sweat it all out.

Gaaazzz....what an annoyance.

Yes, that is Optimus Prime talking.

I've seen the much-talked about Transformers movie last Friday, and I give two thumbs-up to the genius Michael Bay for this spectacular movie.

When all kids of my generation were addicted to Transformers, I was watching Batibot, Sesame Street and TVJ movies (or Darna or any Tagalog movie). So whenever my friends talked about it, I sit quietly in my corner listening and wondering what's up with this movie. It gave me more reason to watch. So, when I knew the date it was coming, I booked Ching, my ever-reliable partner in crime, to watch it with me. On its second day in the silver screen, I was out there loving Optimus Prime.

The movie was awesome. It's action-packed that I hardly rested my back on my seat. I was nail-biting the whole time. Seeing cars transform into huge robots is amazing. I want to see which part goes where and every time they transform, I want to hit pause so I could see clearly. Hahahaha. I also loved that part Bumblebee played "Baby come back" as Mikaela walked out from Sam.

I can't wait for the second installment. But before that, I'd like to watch the first one for the second time.

ps. I think Megan Fox is hot.