Caramba!

noreply@blogger.com (Carambs) — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 11:16:00 +0000

I have moved to Wordpress indefinitely. :)
The URL is http://carambs.wordpress.com

See you there!

noreply@blogger.com (Carambs) — Sun, 17 Feb 2008 14:28:00 +0000

Testing stuff at http://carambs.wordpress.com

noreply@blogger.com (Carambs) — Sat, 16 Feb 2008 03:59:00 +0000

I have wanted to post about so many things but I've been lazy because I'm really tired of the layout already. I want to change the layout, but I can't find a nice one for the old Blogger version. I'm actually thinking of getting my own domain and making my own website but I don't have time to figure out it out. You see, I'm not a techie so it's not that easy for me. I'm thinking of moving to wordpress but I also have to figure that out, plus, what's going to happen to all of my past entries!

Sigh.

noreply@blogger.com (Carambs) — Sun, 16 Dec 2007 07:55:00 +0000

Flip Video

I gave my hubby a Flip Video (Ultra Series) for Christmas. I found it on Amazon.com during Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving. This is the day when almost all retailers in the US go on sale. It was featured in the Electronics category, and I got interested because of the good reviews. I love the gift because he loved it, but also because I can use it. Haha!

Read the rest of this entry »

noreply@blogger.com (Carambs) — Tue, 11 Dec 2007 15:56:00 +0000

Sinulog, here we come!

Last week I bought 2 Cebu Pacific tickets for me and my hubby for Cebu. We will be there for Sinulog, one of the more popular festivals in the Philippines, which is celebrated every third weekend of January. According to the official website of Sinulog,

The Sinulog festival is one of the grandest and most colorful festivals in the Philippines. The main festival is held each year on the third Sunday of January in Cebu City to honor the Santo Niño, or the child Jesus, who used to be the patron saint of the whole province of Cebu (since in the Catholic faith Jesus is not a saint, but God). It is essentially a dance ritual which remembers the Filipino people’s pagan past and their acceptance of Christianity.

Read the rest of this entry »

noreply@blogger.com (Carambs) — Sat, 08 Dec 2007 07:55:00 +0000

Recreational Outdoor Exchange

My hubby and I went to Serendra/Bonifacio High Street last week and we were surprised to see so many new stores! And for me, the most exciting discovery is the Recreational Outdoor Exchange, which is a store that sells items for outdoor activities and adventure travel. AWESOME! To the adventure and outdoor trippers out there, this is the store for you!

...Click here to read the rest of the entry...

noreply@blogger.com (Carambs) — Fri, 30 Nov 2007 17:58:00 +0000

Burt's Bees Green Tea and Lemongrass Hand Soap

After going to Shoe Salon, Jovan and I bought a gift for Mika from Toy Town. While waiting for the gift to be wrapped, I went to Beauty Bar. I used to visit Beauty Bar a lot, but after realizing tat I've wasted so much beauty stuff, I made a conscious decision to stop going to the store. I have so many half-full bottles of body wash and 3/4 full bottles of lotion! I am forcing myself to finish everything before buying more products. And since there's progress, I thought that it would be okay to check out Beauty Bar again.

I ended up buying 3 products, one of which is Burt's Bees Green Tea and Lemongrass Hand Soap. I LOVE liquid hand soaps! I haven't been using regular soaps for washing hands for 2 years I think. My favorites are Bath and Body Works Cucumber Melon and Sun-Ripened Raspberry Anti-Bacterial Deep Cleansing Hand Soap. I am now adding Burt's Bees Green Tea and Lemongrass Hand Soap to the list. It's creamy, it deep-cleanses my hands, and it smells so good!!! Good thing about it also is that the smell stays on the hands, unlike other hand soaps. I will definitely buy this regularly. :)

noreply@blogger.com (Carambs) — Fri, 30 Nov 2007 16:12:00 +0000

Flipflops

I think I have an addiction to flip-flops. I don't think it's full-blown, but it's an addiction nontheless. I've heard of people owning more than 20 pairs of Havaianas - I haven't reached that point but I'm well on my way. Well, I'm not really fond of Havaianas. I only have 2 pairs, because I didn't find them comfortable. But I love the other brands. After buying my first Reef pair, there was no going back. They are so comfy! Right now I have 5 pairs of Reefs, and if there are more designs that I will like, I will not hesitate to buy. I have 2 pairs of Ipanemas, and these are also super comfortable.

I kind of regret buying Crocs. No, I didn't buy the Beach nor Cayman! I got the Cleo! It looked cute at first, but now I realize they're not comfortable at all. But I must say that the Sassari is really nice, it's actually fashionable.

I usually buy my flipflops from Shoe Salon. This afternoon, Jovan and I dropped by the Eastwood branch as we always do. And I came across a new brand (well, at least to me). It's Betula, which is a Birkenstock brand. The design is simple, and it's amazingly light! It felt so good on my feet, I just had to get a black pair.

Here' the Betula:

(Image from http://www.betula.com.au)

noreply@blogger.com (Carambs) — Fri, 30 Nov 2007 15:41:00 +0000

Enchanted

(With spoilers...)

I haven't watched a movie in months so I went to ClicktheCity to check out the current movies. I chose Enchanted because of the very interesting premise of a straight-out-of-a-fairytale-book story that ends up in modern New York.

The beginning brings back childhood memories, as the story combines elements of Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, and Cinderella. Giselle, the story's lead character, has many animal friends, who sing and dance with her as she dreams of her prince. As she sings, Prince Edward hears her voice, looks for her, and ends up saving her from the troll. They fall in love, and plan to be married the next day. But the prince has an evil stepmother who doesn't want him to fall for any girl so she can remain queen. The day of the wedding, she turns herself into an old woman, who tells Giselle to make a wish in front of the wishing well. She pushes her into the well, and Giselle ends up in New York City. The evil queen chose New York City because "happily ever after" does not exist there. Or so she thinks.

The fairytale is exaggerated to show how perfect it is in fairytale land. The characters sing lovely songs, the animals can talk, and the couple lives happily ever after. Giselle actually brings this to New York - when she sings, the animals go to her and help her out with the chores, and the people in the park all join in the song and dance number.

Giselle learns about the "real world" through Robert and his daughter, Morgan. She learns about dating, and ends up falling in love with Robert. However, Prince Edward follows her to New York, together with Pip and Nathaniel. The queen got alarmed when Prince Edward found Giselle so she followed as well. All hell breaks loose, the queen is defeated, Robert's girlfriend Nancy ends up with Prince Edward, and Giselle ends up with Robert. And they all lived happily ever after. Of course! This is a fairytale!

Though predictable, the movie is very entertaining, especially if you take it as it is. It pokes fun at fairytales, and it's amusing to see Patrick Dempsey goofing around. Don't expect too much so that you'll enjoy it. :)

Here's the trailer:

noreply@blogger.com (Carambs) — Sun, 25 Nov 2007 17:25:00 +0000

Vigan Heritage Mansion

During our last roadtrip with Vigan as our destination, I wanted to be sure that our chosen hotel wasn’t “spooky”. You see, I’m a scaredy cat. And most of Vigan’s hotels are actually preserved old houses. I researched online, and came across several hotels. We ended up choosing Vigan Heritage Mansion because of 2 reasons - its location, and its supposedly “modern” feel even if it’s a restored, antique mansion.

...Click here to read the rest of the entry...

noreply@blogger.com (Carambs) — Sat, 24 Nov 2007 15:39:00 +0000

Asus!

The first time I heard about the Asus Eee PC, I thought that it was an amazing idea, and I couldn't wait for it to come out. Imagine, a basic laptop for P10,000! What an awesome idea! Well, the Asus Eee PC is now out, and even if it ended up being P18,000, it's still an awesome little thing! I know I don't need it, but I just had to have one. And lucky me, hubby gave it to me as a Christmas gift. A little early yes, but he was worried that I was going to go buy myself one so he made sure he gave it to me right away.

This device is so amazing, you won't know what to focus on the first time you hold one. It's so small! Oh and how light! And it's cute! It's just 7 inches in length. You read that right. 7 inches. And it's only 2 pounds. You read that right again. 2 pounds! You don't need a laptop bag for it - you can just place it in your handbag! Plus, the Asus Eee PC uses Linux, and therefore, it is FAST! You hardly wait while booting up. There's Wifi, a built-in webcam, microphone and speakers, so you can communicate with your friends as long as there's Wifi connection in the area.

Don't expect this to replace your PC or your laptop. I think it's intended to be a second laptop/PC which you can bring around anywhere you go. It's the perfect travel companion!

I am absolutely loving this gadget.

For more info on the Asus Eee PC, you can check out the official site. :)

noreply@blogger.com (Carambs) — Thu, 22 Nov 2007 10:10:00 +0000

Tripper 5: Photos of the Philippines

Well, I’m choosing from among my photos, so these may not necessarily be the best of the best out there. But they’re pretty good photos of the Philippines. I’ve been posting them to different Flickr groups so other people may see how beautiful our country is.

1) Bohol - This photo was taken during our island hopping tour after snorkeling near the Balicasag island. This is a photo of a small, uninhabited island which was somewhere in between Panglao and the snorkeling site. Bohol is a beautiful, beautiful place - if I were rich enough I would buy property there so I can just go back anytime. It’s relatively quiet, the beaches are not yet commercialized, there were so many dolphins to watch it was amazing, and the people were genuinely nice. Bohol is one place I always recommend to business associates and other acquaintances when they ask about interesting destinations in the Philippines.

2) Kadayawan - Experiencing the different fiestas or festivals in the Philippines is awesome. Kadayawan, which is celebrated during the third week of August by Davaoenos, is one of the more popular fiestas in the country. Participants go all out with their costumes, props, and presentations - which end up being truly awesome!

Click here to read the rest of the entry.

noreply@blogger.com (Carambs) — Sat, 17 Nov 2007 03:50:00 +0000

Tripper Tips: How to Prepare for a Travel Emergency
(As posted by Nikki)

I’ve been lucky enough to have worked for a multinational company which has allowed me to experience the joys of traveling. Over the past years I’ve encountered problems and emergencies during different trips, though most of these are out of our control we can prepare ourselves so that when they do happen we are ready for the consequences, minimize the impact and more importantly remain a Happy Tripper. Click here to read the rest of the entry.

noreply@blogger.com (Carambs) — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 16:20:00 +0000

Travel Journal

At the start of the year I decided to get a travel journal. Fully Booked offered several notebooks and I ended up choosing the Lonely Planet Travel Journal. I liked the color of the sheets, and the bonus sections such as the time conversion, world maps, and trivia on popular destinations. Click here to read the rest of the entry...

noreply@blogger.com (Carambs) — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 16:17:00 +0000

Our home in Barcelona.

There were so many hostels to choose from in Barcelona, so we looked for one with good reviews on the net. Our choices were narrowed down to 2 - Hostal Benidorm and Hostal Opera. Good thing my friend’s cousin-in-law was based there. Click here to read the rest of the entry...

noreply@blogger.com (Carambs) — Sat, 10 Nov 2007 18:37:00 +0000

Hope in the Government

Last friday I attended a dinner hosted jointly by Globe and the Ateneo Alumni Association. It was part of a roadshow for Ateneo's sesquicentennial (150 years) anniversary. It was so cool to be with my fellow Ateneans in Globe. Before the program started, they showed a video of Ateneans reminiscing about the past - about their favorite food in Ateneo, tambayan, what they did in the lib, and even about the championships during their time (not a lot, hehe). The program itself included a short talk from Globe's CIO, a very enlightening and inspiring talk from Father Nebres, and a video presentation about the Ateneo. Father Nebres talked about Ateneo's activities to help the nation - it was a very important talk because it gave me hope. I have lost all hope in our government, and I've seen many friends in the same boat. More and more Filipinos are migrating, and I really cannot blame them and wonder why they can't just help the Philippines get back on track.

Father Nebres mentioned that we have a weak national government, to which everyone reacted to with a smirk. That was something everyone knew already. But what he said next surprised everyone. He said that the local government units have been very effective. Ateneo has been working with the local governments on many health and education projects. And there has been a lot of progress! To me, that's really great news. It gives me even just a glimmer of hope, which I so badly need. I will look for ways to help out with the Ateneo projects, even if it's just financial in nature. That way, I can help rebuild this nation in my own little way.

noreply@blogger.com (Carambs) — Thu, 08 Nov 2007 13:48:00 +0000

Easy Easyjet

My friends and I were supposed to take the train from Barcelona to Paris. The idea was to combine our transportation and accomodation fees into 1. Hey, can’t blame us, the Euro is expensive! We tried to purchase tickets 2 days before our flight to Barcelona from an official representative, the Adventure International Tours, which has a branch in SM Megamall. For some reason, they couldn’t book tickets for us - though there were several seats left, the system kept resulting in errors.

We had to come up with Plan B. ...click here to read the rest of the entry...

noreply@blogger.com (Carambs) — Tue, 06 Nov 2007 17:09:00 +0000

Finally finished uploading all of our Europe photos! YAY! It took me to 2 days to upload everything, but it's worth it!

More details in http://www.happytripper.com!

noreply@blogger.com (Carambs) — Mon, 05 Nov 2007 18:14:00 +0000

Barcelona's Bus Turistic

With Bus Turistic, it’s very easy to be a tourist in Barcelona. It’s a bus tour with 2 routes that allows you to see the famous Barcelona tourist attractions and go around at your own pace. ...click here to read the rest of the entry...

noreply@blogger.com (Carambs) — Sun, 04 Nov 2007 19:03:00 +0000

KLM

We flew KLM when we went to Europe last week. I didn’t have a choice because the airfare was paid for by the office. I didn’t know what to expect - I just knew that KLM was a 3-star airline (according to Skytrax)... click here to read the rest of the entry...

noreply@blogger.com (Carambs) — Sat, 27 Oct 2007 14:49:00 +0000

Happy Trip!

Check out the new site that Nikki and I came up with - Happy Tripper!

He approached me with the idea, after reading all my posts and seeing all my travel photos. I love travel, and some might say that it’s “unfortunate” that I only ‘discovered’ it 3 years ago. I see it differently - I’m thankful that I got into this because it’s really wonderful! Travelling allows me to see beautiful places, experience new things, take photos of interesting subjects, and learn about new cultures. And it doesn’t matter if it’s a roadtrip, or a long-haul flight to another country, or a short flight within the country - all of these places offer different things, new experiences, great finds, and of course fantastic photos!

We hope that the blog will inspire others to travel and go on trips too. Come and be a happy tripper like us!

Link up okay? :)

noreply@blogger.com (Carambs) — Sat, 06 Oct 2007 11:05:00 +0000

My New Baby

Ladies and gentlemen... presenting... GEORGIE!

I admit, the iPhone is beauuuutiful, but I just couldn't get over the fact that you can't forward texts and send messages to multiple recipients. Those were dealbreakers because I do those things often. So, even if I'm a bit of a gadget freak, I shied away from the iPhone. However, Apple had the brilliant idea of taking away the phone features and just offering the iPod portion of the gadget, with some reeeeeally great features. The iPod Touch was introduced, together with the iPod Classic and new iPod Nano with video. So I patiently waited.

Yesterday, Dom, Louie and I headed to Powerplant to have lunch and well, to avoid the scheduled fire drill. MBG was empty anyway, with people heading to the different destinations - Shang mall, Greenhills, etc, so why stay? After lunch at the ever-reliable Banana Leaf, we walked around, checked out some shops. I asked them to go with me to the Apple store so we can check if the iPod Touch was already available. And IT WAS!

I checked out the demo unit. It was awesome! The 12-month 0% interest promo sealed the deal. So now I have a spankin' new iPod Touch, which I named Georgie, after one of my favorite cyclists George Hincapie and one of my favorite doctors Dr. George O' Malley.

It's a beautiful piece of gadget. It's very thin, light, and really sleek. The screen is big, which is perfect for watching videos. And the touchscreen is just way cool. What are the awesome features? It has Wifi, so I can go online and browse the net if there's Wifi within the area. It has a button which directly connects me to Youtube, so I can view the latest uploaded videos and my subscriptions.

The only drawbacks are the capacity and keyboard. It's only 16Gb, so I'm not treating it as my main iPod (which means I'm not giving up my 80Gb - sidenote: it sucks so much that the new 80Gb is only P14k). I'm treating it as my Nano, although it's much bigger. It's what I will be carrying around in my bag, which means I'll have to update the songs, photos and videos often. It's REALLY HARD to type on the keyboard - that I really don't know how to address. But it's still a pretty awesome gadget, so that's okay.

Gadget freaks, go get one! It's WORTH IT! Remember, 12 months to pay, 0%! Go, go, GOOOOO!

I will go play with Georgie now.

noreply@blogger.com (Carambs) — Wed, 03 Oct 2007 16:01:00 +0000

Nerd?

I'm currently downloading podcasts and updating my iPod. Today, I realized again that what my friends say about me is true - I'm a nerd! I have several space stuff subscriptions! The first time I realized my friends were correct was when I was talking to them about what I search for in YouTube. NASA Videos! Hey, can't blame me if I find that interesting. :)

Here's a list of the podcasts that I'm subscribed to:

ENTERTAINMENT
Access Hollywood Podcast - For a doze of Hollywood gossip.
Best of YouTube - Need I say more? These are the most hilarious and interesting videos from YouTube.
The Ellen DeGeneres Show in a minute - I love Ellen!
Ratatouille Video Podcast
Sesame Street Podcast

CYCLING
Bicycling Magazine Podcasts - Mainly for the Tour de France 2007.
VERSUS Podcast

TRAVEL
PodTravels.TV - Tuscany
Rick Steves' Europe Video
Video travel guides from Italy

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
The Buzz Report from CNET - I like my technology news.
Discovery Channel Video Podcasts - Only the interesting shows like Mythbusters.
Hidden Universe HD: NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope - I really find this interesting.
Hubblecast - This too.
NASACast Video
NASACast: Solar system Video
National Geographic Video Shorts

COOKING
Start Cooking Videoblog
Cuisinart Stand Mixer Recipe Podcast - For quick recipes. I'd like to bake soon.

MEDITATION
Person Growth Podcast
Law of Attraction - ThinkBanc AntonioThornton
Meditation-Silence: Video Poodcast
Meditation - Overcoming Stress and Illness
The Meditation Podcast
My Thought Coach

PODRUNNER: Exercise music for running, spinning or any fast-paced workout --> For the time when I can actually bring myself to work out, haha!

How about you? Which podcasts are you subscribed to?

noreply@blogger.com (Carambs) — Tue, 02 Oct 2007 05:39:00 +0000

Vigan
Originally uploaded by Carambs!.

Jovan and I went on (yet another) roadtrip for the long weekend of August 25-27. We were supposed to go there last year but I got sick, and we passed it on our way to Pagudpud. So we've been talking about it, and decided to just go during the long weekend. It was perfect timing - I believe that you need at least 3 days to enjoy the place.

We left August 25, a saturday, at around 4AM, and got there at around 11:30AM. We only had 2 major stops - 1 in the North Expressway to have breakfast, and 1 in the Shell station before the right to Baguio. The trip was okay, except for the really bad traffic in Candon, because only 1 lane was functional.

For our accomodations, we chose the Vigan Heritage Mansion because it wasn't "creepy", based on the online reviews I encountered. Plus, it was right beside Calle Crisologo, which is a must-visit in Vigan. We checked in, dropped off our bags, and headed to Cafe Leona, which was supposed to be a popular restaurant there according to our (very worn out) Lonely Planet Guide.

There were a lot of people in Cafe Leona, which I thought was a good sign. Our guidebook did not fail us! First we had to go to the 'display' area where almost all of the available food was displayed, and we picked what we wanted. Be warned - orders were good for 1-3 people - I made a mistake of ordering embutido thinking that I could order 2-3 pieces, and was surprised when they served the whole thing! The food was good - they actually tasted like "home-cooked" food, and not commercialized food. We ordered embutido, chicken in pineapple sauce, fish fillet (which Jovan didn't enjoy as much), and other viands which I forgot already. Obviously, we didn't finish, so we had the food wrapped.

These were the Vigan destinations/activities that we were able to visit/do:

Calle Crisologo - A cobbled street where cars are banned, this street has small stores left and right where you can buy products of Vigan such as woven napkins, handtowels, blankets and bags

Padre Burgos Museum - The birthplace of Padre Burgos which showcases antique furniture, old photos of famous people from the Ilocos Province, paintings of the story of GomBurZa

Kalesa Ride - Not a lot of places offer kalesa rides anymore. But in Vigan, it's one of the major modes of transportation.

The empanada from the plaza is *supposed to be* a specialty, but Jovan got a very upset stomach on the second day. We suspect it was because of the empanada. I heard that Jovan's friend suffered the same fate. I took a bite and nothing happened to me, so we're not a hundred percent sure. Just be warned.

Before we headed to Manila on the third day, we passed by the palengke (wet market) to buy the famous Vigan longganisa and bagnet. It was a different experience for me, but I truly enjoyed it!

We left Vigan at around 9:30AM. We visited the Church in Sta. Maria, the town after Vigan, because it was a Unesco World Heritage site. It was beautiful!

More pictures of our roadtrip here:

For the complete Vigan album, click here.

noreply@blogger.com (Carambs) — Tue, 02 Oct 2007 04:45:00 +0000

Pollen
Originally uploaded by Carambs!.

I have recently joined again Photoworks, a 6-session photography class given by Leo Castillo. I was inspired to take it again because Cookie, a friend from work, wanted to take classes. Plus, this was supposed to be our therapy together, to deal with stress and other stuff. (Notice I'm trying to be vague?)

I took Photoworks for the first time in March 2003, but I was still using film at that time. I really wasn't able to follow through because it was too expensive. But now I have a digital SLR, so I can practice what I'm learning.

I submitted the photo above for my first homework - we call these Photo Projects. The homework was to take a photo with a clear theme.

Today is our last day, and I'm not even sure if I can attend. Been at home the past 2 days trying to recover.