Sari Saring Kwento

Family Time: First Time Beachineering with a toddler - Prepping time

2019-04-03T03:22:00.000-07:00

It's been a long time since I last updated my blog. If you are reading this, thanks for visiting my site again :)

I've been busy learning how the Mommy stuff works. I'm no expert but I do want to share how I kinda survived out first ever family outing with Arya, my #stormbornofthenorth baby. (I'll share the story behind the hashtag next time).

Ok so, first off.. I created a checklist of what I think I need for Arya (she's my petite 21month 1st born) for an overnight swimming event:

1) Swimwear

2) Floaters (wearable one and the salbabida round thing type)

3) Swim diaper

4) Milk (whole can), feeding bottles (5pcs), distilled water (1-2 litters should be more than enough)

5) Cleaning stuff for feeding bottles (soap and brush, container for sterilizing, I have no sterilizer so maybe I can borrow kettle at the resort)

6) bathrobe, towel, head to toe wash

7) Change of clothes set (3-4sets)

8) DIAPERS!!!!

9) Blanket, Coco the Bear

10) Slippers and sunscreen

11) Insurance HMO card
12) On the road snacks

*I'll probably update this later if I forgot something. The list is quite long since I want to be ready for anything that may happen. Hopefully next time my list won't be longer.

I will create separate entries to review some items on the list which I will be using for the first time.. so stay tune!

Hope you find this list for first time Mamas useful.

Puerto Princesa and El Nido Palawan in 5 Days

2017-02-06T01:41:00.000-08:00

Plan, do your research, and prepare to let go of your plans to enjoy your travel experience completely

Planning this trip was not easy at all, I had the dilemma of a “budget” traveler. First is of course you want to see as much as you can with the limited budget you have. From the numerous blogs that I’ve read, I find it quite impossible to squeeze the places we want to see within the limited time and budget that we have. The blogs that I have been reading were helpful, in the sense that I knew what I wanted to do would be sort of amazing race style and of course, it’s difficult to decide whether we’d do a restful vacation or wake up elsewhere everyday.

Initially, I planned that we’d go to less popular destination like visit Tabon Cave in Quezon vs the more expensive Palawan Underground River Tour, Port Barton vs El Nido. A few blogs I’ve read convinced me that Port Barton is a better option, but circumstances led us to scrap our original itinerary, trust that we’d be in good hands, so just go with the flow.

I was only able to picture where we’d go and what we’d do once we’re there. But as most of you might have already experience, it is altogether a different once you’re actually there. Anyways, here’s our actual 2016 Palawan (PP-El Nido) itinerary along with our expenses, to hopefully help those who’ll visit this awesome place for the first time.

Day 1 (Manila - Puerto Princesa)	Expenses for 2	Particulars
6:40 am Depart to PP via AirAsia	6463.12	roundtrip fare
8:13 am Arrival PP airport, walked from airport to main road
- rode trike to take us for our 1st Chaolong breakfast	255	breakfast
9:31 am Picked up by friends for City tour
- Baywalk and Port Area
- Plaza Cuartel
- Museum tour (this one's located at the Town's Capitol)	100	entrance fee
11:50 am Lunch at Ka' Inato	1100	lunch
1:06 pm Baker's Hill	250	pasalubong
1:17 pm Mitra's Ranch
2:30 pm Check in at Circon Businessman's Inn	900
4:30 pm Shop for supplies at Robinson's (rode multicab)
7:00 pm rode multicab to Baywalk, dinner at K'na Boyet	1155	seafood dinner
10:00 pm Rest
Day 2 (Underground River Tour - El Nido)
07:54 am Depart Puerto Princesa to Sabang Port	105	breakfast and fare
09:42 am Arrival Sabang Port, board banca to Underground River
11:54 am End of River Tour, wait to board banca back to
Sabang port
12:00 nn Lunch at eat all you can restaurant in Port +	570	food and tamilok
Tamilok encounter
01:19 pm Book Lexus shuttle from Sabang to El Nido	1400	for 2
04:30 pm Stopover at Roxas	140	dinner
07:07 pm Arrival El Nido, Ride trike to Resort (IBR Inn)	50
07:46 pm Check in, rest	2900
08:00 pm Dinner at Coco Bar
11:30 pm Rest
Day 3 (El Nido: Tour B)
08:00 am Rise and shine, walk around town proper
- Breakfast	240
09:30 am Island hopping	3000
03:30 pm End of Island hopping
03:45 pm Walk around town, food trip
07:00 pm Dinner at Coco bar	840
Day 4 (El Nido: Tour D)
08:00 am Rise and shine, walk around town proper
- Breakfast	320
09:45 am Island hopping	2900
03:30 pm End of Island hopping
05:00 pm Depart from El Nido to Puerto Princesa	1000
05:30 pm Van depart PP
08:00 pm Roxas stop over	240
11:00 pm Arrival PP and hotel	900
Day 5 (PP to Manila)
08:00 am Breakfast at Chaolong; buy pasalubong	185
09:30 am Jeep to Irawan (Crocodile Farm)	102	jeep fare and entrance
12:04 pm Iwahig Penal
12:53 pm Depart Iwahig to Binuatan Weaving
02:03 pm Arrival at Binuatan weaving at Sta Monica PPSAT
02:47 pm Hotel, ready for check out
03:30 pm early check-out and dinner at Baywalk	770
07:45 pm bye bye PP
TOTAL	25885.12

Fallen

2015-01-30T00:45:00.001-08:00

To our government,
     Please consolidate events that had happened in the encounter. It was never the Fallen Heroes' decision to go to Mamasapano in the first place. It was someone's idea, someone approved of that operation. Now let that someone be accountable and let that someone shed light as to what went wrong.
    My heart bleeds and cries with those who sacrificed their loved ones in service of our Government. We are all born under the same motherland. Like siblings, we fight one another, have differences in opinion. But like a family, we have to find ways to resolve out issues. Put aside our personal ambitions which will ill-fate our brothers.
    WE ARE your FAMILY. Not anyone else. WE ARE ONE NATION, should not be divided by personal motives. Lead and love this country and our brothers right so that we'll be a GREAT NATION once more.

Salute to our fallen heroes. May you rest in peace. Thank you for your service. May your courage and sacrifice be not forgotten.

Because...

2014-12-22T08:34:00.003-08:00

Barcelona, Spain - Circa 2014

Because sometimes, all you need is a photo, to remind you that you had been happy most of your life. Memory of happiness may fade away but having something to remind you of your happiness will sometimes help you go through whatever loneliness, unhappiness, soul searching-need-feeling you're into.

That you had been happy and you can again be happy. That you have a purpose in life and you need to continually push yourself to achieve that purpose. That God has been and still is good to you. His grace is sufficient and His love everlasting.
It's hard to appreciate life when you're at the bottom, when you just want to give up just to get it over with. Then you become happy again, love your life again... and would want to stay that way for as long as you can.
So, pray.. that God would remind you of those happy memories and for His comfort, love and grace to keep you in such times when you feel that everything is about to burst. Walk down the memory lane with God and know that everything's gonna be alright.
Remember, this too shall pass

GastroAdvent#8: Food Court in Harrison

2014-12-17T07:11:00.001-08:00

I don’t know how popular this old mall is, but despite the history this longstanding mall might have, and even if it’s still trying hard to compete with the mall tycoons that continually emerges non-stop everywhere, old shopping malls tries to invite people in, in hopes to bring nostalgia to shoppers who had seen them in their former glory.

Latest addition to their community, a small “international” food corner. Nothing fancy, just food goodness.

Thai Beef Noodlesssss

One stall in particular recently became our favorite “automatic” food whenever we crave for hot soup. Sen Lek Thai Noodles serves close to authentic (I think and I hope) thai noodles and milk tea. I have yet to try their Phad Thai (which always reminds me of the Big Bang Theory episode where Sheldon can’t get enough Phad Thai, ate too much then split into 2 Sheldons… and its way off topic…)

Happy tummy? :)

Back to the food court, if you’re not into Phad Thai, you can choose to have the good ol’ Rice in a Box, Lugaw (porridge), siopao, some Japanese takoyaki, Vietnamese noodles and some shawarma.. if that’s not enough to get your mouth water, feel free to explore Harrison plaza, where I’m sure you’ll find something which will get your attention and fill your hungry tummy.

So… Where in the world is this Harrison Plaza? (aka how to get to Harrison Plaza)

If you’re coming from Manila, along Quezon Blvd (simbahan ng Quiapo.. familiar now? No? google it..) take a jeep with route going to Baclaran, Mabini, Vito Cruz, Harrison, tell the driver to let you off in Harrison, your landmark would be Shopwise grocery. You can also ride the LRT, alight at Vito Cruz station, ride an orange jeep and ask the driver to let you off.. guess where.. Harrison Plaza :)

Davao City Tour

2014-10-22T09:55:00.001-07:00

So what to do in Davao.. Day 1 was supposed to be travelling to Ma-a to visit Eden Nature Park. Woke up a bit early and decided to eat at Taps for our first breakfast in downtown Davao. Found one branch of Taps in Bolton Street. Good thing this branch is near our hotel (located along C.M. Recto). After our breakfast, my navigator decided to walk around. This “walk around” turned into our actual day 1 activity.

Osmena?? not..

Thanks to technology and my techie navigator, he was able to navigate his way “accidentally” to sort of a plaza which I initially thought to be Osmeña Park (but it’s not). We did find San Pedro Cathedral. I found the shape of this cathedral rather odd at first. After all it’s not your usual Roman Catholic architecture. But that made sense after our visit to Museo Dabawenyo.

Davao Museum

On the way to the museum, we got to visit (or see from the outside) the Sangguniang Lungsod ng Davao and the Peace Monument (the monument which symbolizes peace between Christians, Muslims and Lumad), cause they were both in front of the Cathedral. Had a taste of fruit shake davao style while waiting for the museum to open.

The visit to Museo Dabawenyo gave us an overview of Davao plus made sense as to why and what San Pedro Cathedral’s architecture is along with the history of Davao, its people. I especially liked the background about the Lumads. Our jolly museum guide gave us a colorful and entertaining educational experience which more overly elevated my respect for Dabawenyos.

After our Museum tour, my navi brought us both to see Davao City Hall and of course Rizal Park. It was still early but we opted to have an early lunch at Kuya Ed’s. Walked some more until we got back to our hotel to rest. After all, it was a long breakfast (and I haven’t taken a shower yet). As we were walking back, we stumbled upon a vendor selling durian and langka flavored bibingka…. and, you just have to give it a try.

unusually flavored bibingka

First half of day1 turned up ok. It was time to rest as all the walking around did burn up considerable amount of calories (which I love!!!!) plus.. I gotta take a bath~~~~

In and Around the Wonderful City of Davao

2014-08-27T10:09:00.000-07:00

It would be my 2^nd time being in Davao city as of writing this. Until now, I still have the hangover and full admiration that such relatively peaceful city exists particularly in Mindanao area, where peace is quite hard to attain due to cultural difference, belief and principles of its inhabitants. I admit that our travel checklist is not that long, but so far, I can say that this is one of the best cities I’ve been in the Philippines (yes, my list includes Baguio and no, sadly I still can’t count Metro Manila in). I can’t help but express my appreciation and respect to their beloved Mayor Rudy Duterte for his efforts to keep peace, order and harmony among the Lumad, Christians and Muslims in Davao.

Davao decor in Jack's Ridge

So if you haven’t been in Davao yet, I strongly urge you to stop by and experience how it is to live in this city. Wear your most comfortable and decent clothes, download the city map and get those muscles warmed up cause Davao is best experienced the commuter’s way.

After much research from other blogger’s experience and version of itinerary, I’ve come up

And we're here

with my initial version of itinerary, which my travel companion and photographer happily re-arranged on the spot, cause he doesn’t seem to believe in following itineraries as is, thus make our trip rather exciting and full of surprises. Too bad our trip didn’t coincide with the Kadayawan Festival. That would have been epic.

Anyway, here our actual itinerary in and around Davao City:

Day0:

5:00pm: ETD from NAIA Airport to board the much delayed flight of you know what airline

10:30pm: ETA Francisco Bangoy International Ariport (Davao)

Around 11:20pm ETA Uno Hotel along C.M. Recto via taxi

Zumba, Dabawenyo Style

Day1: (City Tour)

9:00am: Breakfast at Taps

10:00am: City tour (Osmena Park, San Pedro Cathedral,Sangguniang Lungson ng Davao and Peace Monument, Museo Dabawenyo, City Hall,Rizal Park)

12:30pm: Lunch at Kuya Ed’s Buffet, Walked back to hotel to rest

4:00pm: Walked to People’s Park

5:00pm: Commute to Jack’s Ridge

9:00pm: Dinner at DL-Xandro’s Kambingan

Day2: (Samal)

9:00am: Breakfast at Lolo Cardo’s

11:30am: Check out hotel. Commute to Magsaysay, Lunch at Luz Kinilaw

12:30pm: Walked to Magsaysay park, bought mangosteen, pomelo and durian for Samal trip from fruit vendors. Walked to Sta.Ana Wharf

1:00pm ETD Sta. Ana Wharf to Kaputian, Samal (travel time around 1-1.5hrs)

2:00pm: Check-in Kostal Resort, rest, swim

5:00pm: Walked to aplaya to find dinner (roasted chicken and puso [rice in ibos?]

Day3: Samal Island Tour and back to Davao

8:00am: Montfort Bat Cave, rode along other resorts, Maxima, Hagimit Falls

11:30am: Back at Kostal Resort, check-out

12:30pm: ETA Babak Wharf via Habal-Habal, back to Sasa Wharf, commute to downtown

1:50pm: ETA D’Counter, check in

5:00pm: Jog at People’s Park

7:00pm: Walked around Roxas St. Dinner at Lyndon’s World’s Worst Ribs and Awful Chicken

8:30pm: Walked back to Hotel, Chill at Primo Café and Bar

Day4: Philippine Eagle and Eden Nature Park

9:00am Walked to Bangkerohan to L300 terminal to Calinan

10:50am: ETA Philippine Eagle Center

12:42pm: ETD to Eden

2:15pm: ETA Bayabas Crossing

3:00pm: ETA Eden

4:45pm: ETD Eden to SM Davao

5:45pm: ETA SM Davao, Coffee

7:00: ETD SM to Hotel

8:00pm: ETA Hotel, Dinner at Barbeque Boss

Day5: Pasalubong Shopping Day

9:00am: Pasalubong Center, walked to find Glamour Crab Buffet

12:30pm: Unlimited Crab for Lunch

2:00pm: Aldevinco Shopping

4:00pm Commute to Magsaysay Fruit Vendors

6:00pm Dinner at D’Counter, Coffee at Primo Café, rest

9:00pm ETD downtown to Airport

10:00pm ETD DVO to Manila

12mn: Back to reality

Note: It’s also possible to spend another in Talicud Island. You can ride a boat from Kaputian going to Talicud’s Isla Reta then ride a boat back from Talicud to Davao City (this I’ll try on my next Davao visit).

So next time you chance up on those seat sale promo, don't forget to check if they have one going to Davao, a place worth visiting.

GasttoAdvent#7: Camiguin Island Foodies

2013-10-28T08:14:00.002-07:00

"First, we eat then we do everything else" - M.F.K. Fisher

And that's what we did. As soon as we stepped on the coast of Camiguin, we felt the need to eat. We haven't had breakfast yet so.. Anyways, here are some of the food you can try if ever you get a chance to visit this wonderful island.

Tapsilog: One of the most common Pinoy breakfast combo. You can get this almost anywhere in the country. (We just wanted to see if Camiguin tapsi is better than tagalog tapsi :p)

Lanzones. (Sorry no pictures available) but I highly recommend for you to try this. It's one of the sweetest bunch I had. It's a bit expensive when you buy it off-season though.

Vjandep Pastel box

Vjandep Pastel. This is also available in CDO but its less expensive when you buy it from the original bakery. They also sell other types of bread but this one's their best sellers and top requested "pasalubong" from Camiguin bakasyonistas.

Kiping

Kiping. Fried "lumpia wrapper" like snack made of cassava topped with caramelized sugar. Bought this one from stores near Katibwasan Falls.

Kilawin. We had blue marlin soaked in vinegar with ginger. Fresh raw fish for lunch! You can request for the fish to be grilled to. The vendors sell them per kg. and will cook it for you so you can enjoy swimming in Sto. NiÑo cold spring while you wait.

Sea Urchins: Sold by locals in White Island. 50 php for 3pcs. Served with vinegar.

I was looking for a place where we can eat fresh sea food but didn't found one. Could be that it does not exists or we just have to look hard enough to find it :) Maybe we'll find it on our next Camiguin trip.

Giant Clams Ocean Nursery

2013-10-14T09:06:00.001-07:00

After doing a quick stop to Moro-Moro watch tower in the municipality of Guinsiliban, we finally arrived to our next destination. We were already quite dry when we arrived there, just in time to take another dip in the waters of Camiguin, this time with the Giant Clams.

The Kibila Giant Clam Conservation and Ocean Nursery is maintained and operated by CCMPC, a community-based cooperative. A classic example of how eco-tourism can provide a community income generating opportunity through environmental conservation and protection. This made my visit to this area worth the "long" trip around Camiguin Island.

Welcome, but first, the rules

We availed the guided tour package, which I think is good because we get to learn many interesting information about this place (and the clams too!). One of the many interesting information is the fact that the shores of Guinsiliban, particularly where the Clam Sanctuary's located, is the only strip of White Beach attached to the Island of Camiguin (White Island doesn't count cause its sandbar and its a boat ride away from the main island).

Giant Barkadas

Time to meet Tridacna Gigas!
"Can we eat the clams?" - a not so bright but curious question of mine
Obviously I was quite hungry, hence the question. Turns out the giant clams species are already endangered. The sanctuary wanted to contribute to the society by preservation and propagation of these enormous creatures.(KUDOS!!!). Moving on~~~
First stop, a concrete tank containing 6 of the 9 known giant clams species. 4 of which are endemic to Camiguin, while 2 were imported from somewhere in Pangasinan? (if I remember it correctly).

Giant clams shoreline

After the introduction and the presentation by one of the tour guides, we proceed to wear our snorkeling gear and and swam into the reef of clam farm. I was equally thrilled to see the giant clams, corals, lots of fishes and the fact that I am floating over water where my feet can't reach the sea floors, thanks to their floatation device. (Taking swimming lessons is still on my bucket list). After a swim over the clams, we walked back to the shore to have closer look at the juvenile clams and the "sick" ones that needs more TLC until they are strong enough to again survive on their own. We also had close encounters with the clown fish curious of our feet.

We had enough time to appreciate the view of the sanctuary before we headed off to our next destination. I would want to come back to this place and swim once again and hopefully next time, I'd be able to float on my own ^_^

Anyways, here's the breakdown of our expense for two:
Entrance Fee: 50.00
Clams Viewing: 300.00
Equipment Rental: 200.00
Life vest: 100.00
------------------------------------
Total: 650.00 PHP

Camiguin Island tour and Itinerary

2013-08-20T20:46:00.001-07:00

Airfare seat sales really attracted me to decide to fly to Cagayan de Oro for the second time to explore this region of Mindanao more. What I originally planned to be a CDO-Bukindnon-Camiguin trip (which is the usual CDO travel IT) turned to 3days-2nights Camiguin Island trip. And I must say that this turned out to be one memorable vacation. For travel enthusiast, planning and much research is needed to come up with the best travel itinerary. This I did and may I add that it wouldn’t hurt to ask the friendly locals (although there are only a certain number of people who can speak Tagalog, but most are fluent in English) who are more than willing to help to make your stay as memorable as possible.

View near Old Volcano

I was not able to properly reserve a place to stay but I trusted Paguia’s Cottage owner Ms. Weng to reserve a room for 2 and was delighted that she reserved a better room for us (3-4pax capacity) for the same price because the 2pax bedroom we requested was not available at that time. Going to Camiguin from Manila was quite long but it was comfortable since we got to ride the Ocean Jet fast craft which was air-conditioned. The long trip was however well-worth it mostly because of the people we met along the way who were helpful and hospitable too.

White Island

Here's our actual itinerary during our stay in Camiguin, the Island born of fire.
Day1:
4:40 am Manila to CDO (Laguindingan Airport)
6:10am ETA at CDO airport
6:30am ETD from airport to CDO via Magnum Express
7:30am ETA Magnum terminal near Centrio Mall in CDO
7:45am ETA Macabalan port (via taxi)
8:00am ETA from Macabalan Port in CDO to Benoni Port in Camiguin
10:36am ETA Benoni port
GUINSILIBAN:
10:53am early lunch in J&A Fishpen
MAMBAJAO:
12:00nn ETD from port to Mambajao public market (where Vjandep bakery is) Motorella ride to Brgy Yumbing
1:00pm ETA Paguia’s Cottage, rest
3:00pm Explore the White Island
5:00pm travel back to mainland
7:00pm: Dinner at Fire Island Grill
9pm: Lights out

Day2:
8:00am start of tour
CATARMAN:
8:30am    View old volcano
8:40am    Walkway to the old volcano and Stations of the cross
9:30am    Viewing of Sunken Cemetery
9:40am    Stop over at Ruins of Church of Gui-ob (aka Church of Cotta Bato)
10:00am Bura Soda Spring
11:40am Sto. Nino cold spring
GUINSILIBAN:
2:00pm    Moro-moro watch tower
2:20pm    Giant Clams Sactuary
MAHINOG:
4:20pm    View of Mantigue Island
4:55pm    Katibwasan Falls
6:10pm   Ardent Hotspring
7:30pm   End of Day Tour

Day3:
8:00am    Check out from Paguia’s Cottage
8:30am    ETA Mambajao Public Market
9:45am    Van left terminal to Benoni Port
10:00am Departure of RORO to Balingoan Port
11:41am Arrival of RORO to Balingoan Port
12:00nn   Bus to Agora Market
2:00pm    ETA Agora Market, Lunch
3:00pm    LAX shuttle to Airport
4:30pm    ETA shuttle to Airport

Estimated expenses for 2 pax excluding airfare from Manila to CDO:

About Us

2013-08-20T20:19:00.001-07:00

Duo out to experience life

Axel: Traveling and adventure doesn't really run in my blood. Certified introvert, but thankfully I found a partner who inspires me to get off my couch and wander around and experience life :)

Clyde: An adventure-seeker photography enthusiast and a well rounded person. Most of the photos in this blog is credited to this curious and animated person.

Together, we create a certain balanced harmony, a recipe of happiness and desire to experience adventures, travel and life.

I'm giving my blog a Facelift...

2012-12-04T09:01:00.001-08:00

For my friends and blog guest,
I'm currently trying to learn how I can further improve the aesthetics and hopefully the content of my blog. I'm also giving my blog a new facelift and in the process of re-thinking about the content of this blog. With that, I would like to ask for your patience and kind considerations for the frequent changes you may experience while visiting my blog.

Thank you for continuously spending time reading my stories :)

God Bless us all! ^_^

Axel

Far Beyond the City

2012-11-21T22:19:00.000-08:00

Being a city dweller, I sometimes find myself wondering how many people still believe that goodness still prevail. In the city where every chance seems to drive each people to bring out their inner beast, in this jungle where survival is at its sophisticated form. Where everyone seems to smile but are really cautious and dubious, swift to change and put up their defensive walls to protect themselves from others.

Being away from the place where everything else is a competition and seeing the world in the eyes of contented and satisfied people somehow brings me comfort. It makes one feel at ease and free from the burden of holding up a defensive wall, a place where I can trust people and where they too trust me back. To be taken care of and be treated as a distant relative. One of the few places where untainted and real Filipinos lives in harmony with one another, with nature and God.

This and more are the reasons why I am mesmerized by the beauty of the Mountain Province. It is here where I almost always feel at home, safe and secure. This is one of those happy places for me where my soul is at peace with nature, myself and my Creator.

Climb#17: Mt. Romelo Dayhike

2012-09-26T05:29:00.002-07:00

Acknowledgement: Love of Brotherhood and Outdoors (L.O.B.O. Mountaineers)

After 4 months of city view, I’m ready to my backpack where it belongs. Up up here we go!

The Meeting Place:

Based from the blogs I’ve read, one of the most common meeting place would be for those coming from Manila would be at Edsa Shaw where you can hire jeepneys to bring you to jump off.

Going there:

map :)

From Jolibee, Crossings, we arranged for a jeep to take us to the jump off in Siniloan. The actual jump off is about 2-3km (I think) from the “town” where the Raymund Bus terminal is located. This is still part of Siniloan. We would have got lost (thanks to the driver who “knew” where the jump off was) if it wasn’t to the friendly locals of this barangay. We asked where Mt. Romelo/Mt. Fami’s jump off was and they were more than happy to help us.

Before we went on our way, we ate a hearty breakfast, coffee and I filled my bottle with water at Trois restaurant. (This by the way is one of the pit stops of buses going to Lucena).

And on we go:

The sign with some official's face.

From the jump off sign along the highway, we walked about 1km to the barangay where the registration is located. The registration fee is a whopping 50 pesos per person. According to the registration personnel, since the municipality started to get involved with the registration, they had to increase the fee from 15 pesos to 30. If I heard it right, 30 pesos goes to the municipal hall and the barangay gets 20 pesos (again this is just based from what I heard).

We also arranged for a guide to take us to 3 of the falls. They probably know where the much talked about Sampaloc falls is but since we are only there for a day hike, we contented ourselves with just 3 falls as time would not have permitted us to visit the other falls. I believe there’s about 7 falls to see from Mt. Romelo.

First part of the trail was a small river crossing. Expect your shoes to get wet. After the river part, first time trekkers were in for a surprise.

Muddy and Bloody Hell!

Seriously?!?

Ok. So yeah, I’m just exaggerating here. :) But man that trail was .... For someone like me, who first of all DO NOT WANT LIMATIK or any creepy crawlers on me, and just had my shoes cleaned. But then again, I’m still so much thankful that the weather was fine that day. It could have been worse. We all thought this would be just an easy trek. Alas! We were reminded, NEVER UNDERESTIMATE the mountains.

There are several stores along the way (about 3 if I remember it right). They sell buko (coconut) juice fresh from the fruit itself and Mountain Dew soda (see the relevance?).

From the 2nd store, it’s about 30-45minutes more to the clearing. Here we had our photos taken with what seems to be mountain cotton (turns out to be ferns, but still J).

We decided to walk the road less taken (and I found out later, one of the limatik haven). That one solid vertical climb sure got my heart pumping and readied me for the sceneries I am about to witness, at the peak of Mt. Bulongeta.

view from the top

After our picture was taken, we hurriedly went on our way as limatiks tried their best to cope up with us. Again, we had to endure the muddy trail with a few limatiks in combat mode.

Finally we reached our destination. The Buruwisan falls. That’s when I understood why many others braved the muddy and (ok slightly) bloody trail again and again. The simple yet captivating beauty of this falls makes every step on the mud filled trek worthwhile.

My shooting skills did the falls no justice

A little after 12nn, the group ate their packed lunch. While others stayed in Buruwisan, I, along with few others, explored Lanzones falls. The basin like bottom of this falls is just as inviting as Buruwisan, only it offers much cooler and clearer water.

Lanzones Falls

After a while, we decided to head back and try to explore Batya-batya falls. Sadly, our guide cannot provide us estimate as to how long it would take for our group to reach this other falls. Since we are on a tight schedule, we decided to head back instead. I took a deep breath knowing we’ll be facing the mud and limatik once more.

Finally, all our group mates are already back at the jump off and soon we were riding the flying jeep whose driver brought us back to Shaw in record time (2 hours more or less and that includes dropping off several passengers). I was just glad we all came back in one piece and with just enough time to enjoy the unli-rice of Mang Inasal :)

The damage was less than 500 for a group of 18, that includes the roundtrip fare, exit fee (as I call it, the money required by the tricycle drivers from the jeepney drivers if they will be picking up your group from the road near Trios), guide fee (400 2-way with 3 falls tour), registration (as of sept 2012 its 50 per person), buko and softdrinks, wash up fee, etc.

Here's the group's IT:
0400: Departure to Siniloan
0630:Arrival Siniloan, breakfast at Trois, registration
0800:Start trek
1100:Arrival Buruwisan
1200: Lunch
1400: Descend
1600: Jumpoff arrival, bought fruits
1830: Departure to Manila
2030: Arrived in one piece at shaw, dinner at mang inasal

Blogger’s Note:

While it is evident that the barangay or the municipality or both of them are trying to commercialize this place by putting up kubo for rent, it is either by the tourist efforts or the people who guards these kubo that kept the trail and the falls from being too polluted. I have only seen a few plastic bottles floating and they seem new to me, which suggest that efforts are being made to keep the falls and the rivers that way.

I would however suggest for the local municipality to educate the guides and the residents of this lovely barangay to watch over tourist and teach them how they themselves could contribute into the preservation of this eco-tourist paradise. I have seen visitors washing their utensils and bathing themselves with shampoo and probably with soap in Buruwisan falls. This would pollute the water coming down the river streams, which are being used by the barangays downstream.

To my fellow visitors, let us learn how to respect nature. We can be part of the problem or the solution. We have the freewill to choose which side we’re on :)

GastroAdvent#6: Tokyo Cafe

2012-05-23T01:41:00.000-07:00

When you have a few resources to spare, your food options widens and you tend to try new restaurants which you wouldn't usually go to when you are in a tight budget. This is how Clyde and I discovered the wonderful menu of Tokyo Cafe. We got too confused by the food choices available at SM North's the Block that we ended up choosing this cafe's dishes by just looking at the seemingly real plastic food display.

The ambiance of the store is just normal there are a few diners which is nice when you want to dine in peace. They also have decent food choices, some of which became our favorites during our occasional visit.

I liked their simple menu, the coffee design already got me. I can never be turned off by coffee (except for the bad ones).

The cafe kinda reminds me of Starbucks meets modern Japanese style. The staff (in my experience in SM the Block branch) greeted their customers in Japanese.

They offers soups and salad, pasta, chicken, beef, pork, seafood, burger, pizza, sandwiches, parfait, dessert, crepes and their special blends of coffee!

I'm no food expert but I'd like to share to you some of my personal choices:
1. Tokyo Caesar Salad
2. Garlic and Shrimp Pasta
3. Tokyo White Pizza - this one almost became a staple during our visits
4. Sumibiyaki and/or Tokyo Blends coffee

For more info, visit their site: http://www.tokyocafe.com.ph/
ITADAKIMASU! :)

Garlic and Shrimp Pasta

Tokyo Caesar Salad

Layag: Journey of the Filipino Soul in Dance

2012-05-20T22:43:00.002-07:00

Inviting everyone to join the Kaloob Philippine Music and Dance Ministry to take you on a journey to rediscover the Filipino Soul through Music and Dance.

Layag... Sailing soon :)

**Layag - Noun : sail /sāl/

Wala lang..

2012-04-12T22:27:00.000-07:00

Ang dami kong iniisip na kailangan kong gawin, matapos.. pero pag nakaharap na ko sa computer, lumilipad na ang utak ko.. kasi naman hindi lahat ng dapat kong gawin, magagawa ko ng kaharap ang computer ko..

Konting pag alog ng utak lang at tulak sa sarili para naman yung mga iniisip kong kailangan kong matapos eh matapos ko...

Sa dami ng iniisip ko... NAKAKATAMAD kumilos ehehe... Kung may alarm clock lang na parang bucket list ang dating.. pag idle time na, bigla syang susulpot tapos sasabihin sayo ang pwede mong gawin sa oras na yun para di sayang ang oras mo.. :D

Pero baka dumating din ang panahon, tatamarin ka na din kumilos kasi puro utos sa alarm clock na lang ang nadidinig mo eheheh

ang gulo diba? Wala lang... makakinig na nga lang sa music ^_^

GastroAdvent#5: Zark's Burgers.. Attack!

2012-03-02T00:33:00.000-08:00

So, yeah.. we were hungry.. I thought we might be able to locate Bon Chon in Taft but ended up in Zark's Burgers.. and I sure am glad I did.

My BF and I were already famished from the long walk from CCP to Taft ave courtesy of the Vito Cruz traffic jam, plus the whole day church and Pasinaya activity. As dinner time closed in, we were already up for a heavy meal. We decided to eat at Bon Chon which I thought was just along Taft Ave (DLSU area) but after a few minutes of walking, we were unable to find the resto and stumbled on Zark's instead. I've heard about Zark's from my friends who've been raving about the Jaw Breake. And so the equation of choosing Zark's came about. Curiosity + hunger + 8pm = Zark's.

Zark's menu offers various steaks, ribs, rice meals, sandwiches, desserts, dips and of course burgers! This started all the Zark's buzz. They tapped the person's inability to resist a huge mouthwatering and seemingly impossible to finish burger, and rewarding their talent of giving the burger they've just devoured for free if they accept the challenge of eating the Jaw Breaker under 5min.

T.K.O. Fish sandwich @ PHP110.00

For the hard core food athletes, the Tomb Stone burger is their best bet as it comes with your face sticking in their Wall of Fame and free t-shirt plus the bragging rights if consumed in 10 minutes.

But since I try not to eat meat, pork and chicken, I contented myself with their TKO fish sandwich made from cream dory served with fries while my BF, who was not yet prepared for the challenge ordered Zark's ultimate burger instead.

Zark's Ultimate Burger @PHP130.00

With bottomless iced tea for him, water for me and UFC channel in the background, the total expense was less than 300PHP (price as of 2 Mar 2012).

For those who wanted to take on the Zark's challenge, their store is located at 2464 Archer's Nook, Malate, Manila (In front of LA Salle Taft, same building where Yellow Cab is).

And here's their FB account for those curious minds :D
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Zarks-Burgers/125052717215

GO BEAT THAT TOMBSTONE burger :D enjoy eating!

What the Pak!

2012-02-08T03:02:00.000-08:00

The bus that I was riding was packing as much passenger as it can. When we got to Ayala MSE loading station it gobbled up some more passengers and after a few minutes of being jam packed, it was still not moving forward. I was sitting beside a common looking guy in his late 30s to early 40s wearing a maong pants, short sleeves polo, carrying a small plastic :D

Suddenly, the guy sitting beside me started ranting.
Guy: (shouting to the driver) Hoy puno ka na (hey the bus is already full). Let's go!

Then started mumbling words which I tried to ignore as much as I can. A few seconds later, I was able to determine the cause of hold up. Turns out, the police officer was already talking to the driver about the bus being over loaded. As the bus started to move forward, another dialogue occurred between the driver and a passenger.

Passenger: Pakulo lang nila yan. (It's just a show)
   Probably referring to the Kotong modus of some traffic enforcers
Bus Driver: Oo nga eh, Original naman yung resibo ko (I agree, I was showing him an original receipt)
    Probably the driver was showing that he was already penalize and his license was already confiscated.
Guy (trying to make his scene): Hindi pare, puno ka na eh, Makati ito ginagawa mong Quiapo. We're late! What the Pak
(No man! Your bus is already full! We're in Makati, not in Quiapo! probably he means f*ck).

Guy still mumbling some other english words but all i hear is BLAH BLAH BLAH

Me thinking: while bus != Paseo stop
           {ignore the guy}
       exit bus and laugh;

At that time, I was really trying to stop myself from laughing. I have nothing against the p and f syndrome (I admit I have it sometimes). But come on! If you're gonna rant, at least pronounce it right! That way, if you can't get your co-passenger's sympathy, they may take you seriously and won't end up bursting in laughter or disbelief.

Unfortunately, the bus didn't make it to the other side of Paseo and Ayala intersection and had to wait for the green traffic signal.
Guy to the bus driver: O? anu pa inaantay mo, Come on we're late! Puno na yung bus eh. (What are you waiting for? Come on your bus is already full!)

Then he started to look stresses.

Finally, we're at the bus stop. The guy stood up and tried to go down even though his path is still blocked. He was sitting on the far end of the 3 sitter chair
Guy: Excuse
Me : Saglit po, bababa din ako (One sec, I'll alight here as well)
Guy: Let's go! Lousy..
Me (disbelief): Kuya, liparin mo kaya pababa?!?! (Why don't you try flying out of the bus?!?!)

I tried to tell my story in english for a wider audience but heck I cried out of laughter when I told this story to Pau over the phone in my native tongue.

Magalawa Island

2012-01-24T05:02:00.000-08:00

Photo Credits (Axel, Petot and Nil/Angel)
LOBO Mountaineers January Celebrants birthday bash

After 5 hrs of travel from Caloocan City and 20min boat ride from Masinloc Port, I've finally saw Magalawa Island just before the break of dawn.

The shores of Magalawa

Why Magalawa:

I found out about Magalawa from my sister's friend who went there before we did. The only beach in Subic I know are: The crowded Anawangin, the less crowded Nagsasa and the futher Silangin Cove (thought I know there's one more cove much further than Silangin). We chose this island as an alternative destination for Calaguas in Bicol because it is closer to Manila, we only had 2 days for vacation and our initial computation is much cheaper compared to Calaguas.

How we prepared:

This trip was organized to serve as birthday celebration for our dear mountaineering friends Marina, Third and Hazel (we just found out that she's also a January celebrant on the day of our departure). After much internet research, we decided to go to Ruiz resort because of the unfriendly feedback we've heard from the Armada resort. We decided to go there with our tents, have our own food and drinks (we decided we can buy the rest on the island), stay there overnight and relax like a bum!


underwater

What to do in Magalawa:

Magalawa in its raw form is like Nagsasa only a bit better. Its sand feels nicer, has few rocks near the shore, has lots of starfish and crabs and the sea is abundant of its resources providing food and income source for the Island dwellers. Snorkling is one of the nice things they offer. You can also visit the "Mayor's House" which was build in the shallow part of the sea which made it seem like the house is floating in the middle of the ocean (although if you ask me, they should restrict the people who goes there because human waste, biological and non bio greatly affects the beauty of this place). Another thing is you can ask the locals for boating experience, they lend my friends a boat which they paddled as far as they can and back (just didn't know if that was for a cost). You can also wait for the fishermen with their catch early in the morning. I felt so happy to see how abundant their sea is with all the different fishes they've caught. Also, you can go pass the Armada side of the beach to see the mangroves. For the sunrise, it'll be quite a disappointment as Mt. Tapulao covers the sun's view from the island. You'll have to walk a bit further from Ruiz Resort going to the community area to get a glimpse of the sunset. Don't forget to bring your hammock if you prefer to sleep off the sand. Also, smile and be friendly as the locals are doing their best to be as hospitable as possible so you'll enjoy your stay with them. By the way, the resort also has their own generator to light up the place after dark. Another plus is a common restroom for the guest.

Fresh fishes for breakfast

Mayor's House

boat riding

Restroom for Him, Her and the generator

Reminders:

There's quite a colony of ants there because of the left over food, so do your part by properly keeping your food and your left overs. For additional protection, bring insect repellant to counter the gigantic mosquitoes (most of them are located in the CR area). The locals usually burn dried leaves to produce smokes which the mosquitoes find unappealing leaving the vicinity for quite sometime. Also, I think it will be best to contact Mang Mulo as he and his wife are the actual care taker of the resort. Make sure that you get clear price from them so you won't be surprise of sudden change of prices base on the web sites and the actual price.

The resort offers meal sets. Kindly ask Mang Mulo or his wife for the group meals :)

How we got there:

We rode a bus bound to Sta. Cruz at Victory Caloocan. The bus left at 11:45pm, we got off in front of Masinloc Mall past 4am where we waited Man Mulo who then guide us to his boat near the coast of Masinloc Market. We rode the boat to Magalawa for another 20-30 minutes. Going back to Manila, we rode the boat back to Masinloc port, rode a jeep for an hour to Iba terminal where we rode the 7pm bus bound to Victory Caloocan. As of writing this, Victory Iba only have buses bound to Caloocan from 6-10.30pm. They have an 11:30pm Pasay bound bus though.

Expenses:

Food was c/o Marina, Third and Hazel (LOTS of THANKS Guys!)

Bus to Masinloc: 408

Round trip Boat ride from Masinloc Port: 200/head

Overnight fee per head: 100

Tent fee: 100 per tent

Nipa Hut: 500

Snorkling: 100 w/o mask; 200 w/mask rental (but they gave us a discount of 150/head depending on the number of group)

Jeep to Iba: 35/head

Bus from Iba to Manila: 300++

Mang Mulo's #: 09294670505 -> it would be better if you call him instead of waiting for his reply.
By the way: don't forget to visit Masinloc Church while you're there :)

Masinloc Church

Traveller's Request:

I know we can't help but be curious as human but I appeal to you as a fellow traveller, as another human, for the sake of future travelers and our future generations to please:

1. Refrain from playing with the starfish, picking them up and letting them die from exhausting heat of the sun away from the sea just so you can take a picture of them. Also, do not pick up corals ans sea shells along the shore. Time will come that there will be no more corals and sea shells to see. Please let them be! Just take a picture if you want.

2. Please be kind to the animals, there are a lot of dogs there who may want to have a share of your food. If you don't want them to bother you just ignore them or gently shoo them away.

3. Plan the food that you'll bring and segregate trash properly. You can leave the empty bottles for the locals but if you can be kind enough to bring back your trash to Masinloc or Luan Port. I trust that they have better trash collection there.

4. Bring dish washing sponge instead of disposable utensils.

Let's all practice the leave no trace principle and help us preserve the beauty of this place. :) Enjoy Magalawa!

L.O.B.O. girls

Doomsday 2012

2012-01-17T00:28:00.000-08:00

Hello 2012. So called the year that the world will end. I'm currently listening to a documentary based on Mayan Calendar, the tribe who predicted doomsday. Experts says that the beginning date of the Mayan "long count/calendar", where the doomsday was calculation was based, equates to Aug 13, 3114 BC and ends 5,125 years later, Dec 21, 2012.

So yeah, I and we can't do anything about it as told by our wise pastor. So what can I do?

Enjoy life while it last. Right now, I am aiming to travel more. To see all of the Philippines for the first and maybe the last time. To climb as many mountains as I can. To dance as long as I can. To learn as much as I can. To run as far as I can. To love, to be happy, to enjoy my journey to the end, and to serve my creator till my days on earth ends :)

GastroAdvent#4: Longganisa Sorpresa

2011-12-27T09:22:00.000-08:00

Longganisa! One of the Filipino's all time favorite breakfast treat served along with sinangag rice (fried garlic rice) and itlog (egg, usually served sunny side up). This sausage style meat has become a signature to most provinces in the Philippines who blends their own distinct version and are often times complemented with their original concoction of vinegar.

Along the SM North's Sky Garden Food selection, I found Longganisa Sorpresa, a unique restaurant that serves all these famous sausages and other breakfast treats everyday. No need to wait for the Longganisa festival!

They not only offer various types of longganisa but they also have selections for those who prefer fish (like myself) and salads.

They also have a fish based longganisa (General Santos) and my BF's favorite, Cabanatuan's garlic rich longganisa.

Cabanatuan

Mangga Vigan Ensalada

And here's one of my favorites, 2pcs sweet Boneless Bangus

Kain na! ^_^

birthday greetings!

2011-12-14T00:34:00.000-08:00

This birthday shout out is for someone who I met 7 years and 2 months ago..

Happy happy birthday! I love you so much! and everyday added to your life is a blessing to mine

GastroAdvent#3: Al Centro, Herzogenaurach

2011-11-06T21:56:00.000-08:00

"Laßt uns essen!

Our starving group went walking around the streets of Herzo for our first lunch here together. Here we found Al Centro.
One of the things I liked is that they have a separate menu cards written in English. It's also a cozy restaurant. Kinda like Italliani's. They have Antipasti, Salads, Pasta, Pizza, Steaks and Seafoods. Of course any meal here wouldn't be complete without bier.

Napoli (Anchovies pizza)

Menu outside

lasagna

Salmon and Steak

My friends told me that one pizza serving here is more like a personal meal unlike in the Philippines where everything is preferred to be for sharing. Above orders filled up 6 stomachs until dinner!

Hello Herzo!!

2011-11-06T21:41:00.000-08:00

My first European city.. more like a province. Autumn weather, small and quiet town. Even at the bazaar, children on the rides weren't hyperactive. These are my first shots of the streets of Herzogenaurach

Bread and more bread for sale

My first Resto in Herzo

Street View

Chocos!!

Shooting game at the Fair

Enjoying the fair

More chocolates

Furry furs

flowers everywhere

Cute shop ^_^