KIAMBA!

 Another local destination ticked off in our Wanderlust List!
KIAMBA, SARANGANI PROVINCE - CONQUERED! :)

 I was with good friends Ate Mauii, Ate EJ and Kuya Cze, her boyfriend and Dannah, Ate EJ's cousin.
Brief background on who these people are:

These gorgeous girls and I were classmates in English 21 back in 2011. I was a late enrolee that time so I got mixed in a class of HRM and Tourism students. I call them "Ate" because they are a batch older than I.  But later I found out we were all born free in '93. So, we all have the same age. But I'm respectful like that so I still call them "Ate". Hahaha.

We became groupmates to make the baby thesis required to pass the said subject. Our first proposed study was about the budding tourist attractions in Kiamba, Sarangani Province where Kuya Cze hails from. We badly wanted a legit excuse to have a roadtrip that time. Haha. But it didn't push through. So we ended up with this research title instead: "The Level of English Proficiency of Third Year Tourism Students".  From tourist attractions to tourism students. Close enough.

Needless to say, everyone was so ecstatic last Saturday. Finally, KIAMBAAAAA!!! :)

FIRST STOP! 

Our first stop was the Mondragon residence where we deposited our things and had a very nice breakfast. Before anything else, I'd like to acknowledge Team Mondragon (the family and cousins of Kuya Cze and himself included) for being such gracious hosts. THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU! :)

Meet Max, the family dog.
He has the fiercest bark that goes like this: EFF EFF EFF! Literally. Haha. :D

FIRST TOURIST STOP:

Tuka Marine Park 

Tuka Marine Park is not your typical beach, it's a marine sanctuary. It's hard to just idly go swimming because it's so rocky or should I say reefy? Kasi coral reefs! Hahaha. In my humble opinion, to fully appreciate the place, one must go snorkeling. I did snorkel! Even though I didn't know how to use the mouthpiece properly. But kahit sisid sisid lang, you can see na the amazing coral reefs and colorful sea creatures. Love it! :)

I was happily swimming when a guy approached me and asked if I wanted an underwater photo. I gladly agreed hence this photo:

The guy's name is Kuya Marlon. He happily takes photos of tourists in Tuka Beach. I think it's his hobby and sideline.  Here are stolen shots from his camera: (FYI, he charges P50.00 for soft copies!)

We didn't stay that long. TWO MORE DESTINATIONS to go!

BUT FIRST! 
Boodle fight for lunch! We had the best hosts ever! Hihihi.

SECOND TOURIST STOP:

White Water Tubing

New La Union, Maitum, Sarangani

Naka-abot pa kami ng La Union! Hahaha. Some of us was our first time to try water tubing and we were all game! It's perfectly safe since there was a proper briefing before, the life vests and helmets are new, and each gets a guide to go with you. No worries, safety is a priority! 

You have to ride a motorcycle to take you in the starting area and when you get there, adventure begins! 

The whole water tubing "ride" will take at least 20 minutes (in my count) or maybe it will depend on how strong the current is. My guide said the current that time was strong enough. It was so fun!!! Water splashed in your face! Yung sumisigaw ka na sa sobrang excitement tapos biglang napasukan ng tubig ang bibig mo. CHOKE! Take that! Hahaha.

But what I appreciated most was the local boy who took charge of Ate Mauii's GoPro camera to document the whole ride. In Tuka there was Kuya Marlon, and now this boy.  I love how the people of Kiamba knows the importance of documentation! Hahaha.

 LAST TOURIST STOP:

Bocay-il Falls

To get to Bocay-il Falls, you have to endure a 20-30 minute walk/hike. The kind of walk that makes you ask, "Are we there yet? Are we there yet?". Endless Repeat. Di kami na-orient! Wala sa condition ang aming mga katawan! Hahaha.

But it was all worth it! :)

The water was so divine and cool. Sarap magbabad whole day! Thinking of how hot it is in the city. AND! Fun thing to do was to slide down the falls! Yep, ya heard it right. You can actually slide down the falls! Hands up! :)

The coolest guys in Kiamba! Waddup!

Would love to stay longer but good things always come to an end. Sad.

I love KIAMBA! No exaggerations but among the three destinations, I honestly couldn't pick which one is the best because every stop was sooo AMAZING and FUN! If only we have all the time, I guess we'd spend one day for each destination! Again, thank you Mondragon Family and the Kiamba guys who were with us for the warm welcome and for being such great and lingaw hosts. :)

SIDE STORY: For the first time in forever, I watched "Frozen" na! Hahaha. We watched it in the car while going home (and actually while going to Kiamba earlier that morning). Share. Kbye.

Photos via Mauii Duterte and EJ Bogayong


Three destinations, one day!
Thank you to these awesome lakwatsa buddies! 

XX

POSTCARDS FROM TALICUD ISLAND

Photos via Kristine Acharon

Back in our good old college days (naks, old? one month palang graduate! haha), we'd consume our long breaktime planning and daydreaming of an escapade somewhere far away in GenSan. We've been on several trips to the beach but we were really eyeing Davao and Samal to explore together.

So a week after graduation, we had our college-ender weekend getaway trip. It was four years in the making and weeks of allowance saving. We kind of pulled all the stops to make the trip happen because as we all know, life will be different after graduation. Just like now, PAT is already in Dubai living and carving out her own PATH. Uy, wordplay. Haha. Para di sad. :)

Anyhoo, the said getaway weekend was spent enjoying a Friday night in downtown Davao and an overnight stay at Isla Reta Resort, Talicud Island, Samal (pictured above).

I'm quite lost how to elaborate my sharing so here's a laundry list instead.

  

HIGHLIGHTS OF OUR TRIP:

• I STEPPED ON A SEA-URCHIN! (PISS, PISS, PISS)

We were just about to start night swimming when I felt something thorny on my left foot. I thought it was just a sharp shell but when I felt hairlike strands piercing through my foot and was starting to get painful, I just knew that I stepped on a fuggin sea urchin ("tuyom" in vernacular).

Good thing my friend Melvin was gracious enough to give his pee (in a bottle) to partly remedy the situation while my other friends begged for more pee. (This sounds funny. haha). Luckily, there was a father who "donated" his pee (still in a bottle) since his own child also stepped on a sea urchin earlier that day. Thank heavens for kind people and warm piss. Haha.

• THE EUREKA MOMENT! (Or more likely THE "IT'S JUST A LUMINISCENT ALGAE, YOU IDIOTS") Haha

Pardon the awkward poses, but here's a photo of us discovering something so amazing....NOT. We were strolling at the shoreline when (not totally sure if it's) Kent spotted something blue and neon-ish thingy on the sand.We first thought it was just a shell (too much shell assuming) but when we touched it, it was "stretchy". Gaah, I don't know how to describe its physicality in an accurate manner but it was amazing! It's like neon powder or something.

So we were all giddy and excited since we thought we stumbled into something magical. We even started conjuring up our own amazing theories. But then turned out, those amazing things were only luminiscent algae or specifically Bioluminiscent algae something whatever. Thanks to Melvin who knows his Biology lessons well and enlightened us.

Not that biolumiscent algae aren't amazing. We were just thinking of something more magical than scientific. Like, a mermaid's poop or kryptonite? Haha.

Truly, ignorance is bliss. </3

• LYING AT THE SAND AND JUST STARING  AT THE STARRY SKY <3

Due to my "tuyom" incident, we stopped our night swimming early. Since we can't swim at the sea, we tried swimming at the sand instead. Hahaha. Joke. Seriously though, Pat, Kim, Kent and I spent the rest of the night at the shoreline. We lied at the sand and calmly watched the sky full of stars. The sound of the waves were so calming. We lay there and just forget the world. Chos. Hashtag pricelessmoments. We  loved every second of it that we almost slept on the shore! Kung wala lang high tide.

• WE ARE THE CHEAPSKATES

Since we were on a tight budget and there were other things to prioritize (food, accommodation, Starr Bar?), we had to scrimp on some things like the transportation. We had to get from point A to point B the cheapest way we can. TAXI was NEVER an option! Hahaha. 

The various modes of transportation we took were the jeep, padyak, tricycle (in the wee hours of the night and in the middle of downtown Davao!) and the yacht ferry boat (which stopped in the middle of the sea when we were on our way back to the city!).

It was tiring but also fun going through all the hassles just to push through with our plans. If there's a WILL (and WHEEL), there's always a WAY. :)

 

And to end this....

DREAM ON. Hahaha.

XX

COME HAIR

Photos from a quick Sunday morning pool with my cousin a few weeks ago.

If you happen to notice in the first photo, I got my hair cut short and had it "repaired" (i.e rebond). Oh no! Andyan na si crush! Hahaha. I must admit that I kind of miss my old, long, thick and wavy hair. I miss the feeling of waking up in the morning and my messy hair is all over my face and then I get to smell that no-shampoo-for-two-days salty kind of scent it emits. Hmmmm! I even miss my nasty habit of plucking out dead hair or cutting out horrible split-ends. No joke.

Also, while I'm now enjoying this new straighter and thinner hair of mine, I must suffer the consequence of not allowing my hair to get wet with chlorine-filled pools or even the seawater for a year. Which kind of sucks because I really like swimming and floating and the beach. Sigh. See? The things we sacrifice for vanity. 

Needless to say, I didn't really enjoy the water and the pool pictured above. I was just knee-dipping while looking at my cousin with jealousy as she enjoyed the pool all to herself. Sad.

But all in all, I'm quite contented with the result. It's high-time to welcome change because frankly, if I look at my previous photos nothing really much have changed - at least in physical terms - about me. (Not even my freakin' height!) And wait till you see my graduation pic! I had a fuggin stray hair untucked behind my ear. :(

Speaking of graduation, I CAN'T WAIT! It's only a few days away. But I'll save all my mushy musings about that in another post.

So that's it. 

I don't even know how one can relate the photos above with my writing content. Lol.

XX

LINKS I LOVE

How to not suck in making a Powerpoint. Awesome visuals guaranteed.

"A picture is worth a thousand words." These photos clearly justify. Got a bit teary eyed.
  

MANIX ABRERA of KikoMachine Komix! This is a 2011 blog post but I only happened upon it now. I like the interview part and his creative space is so clean. Asteeg! ;)


Awesome self-portraits. A better form of selfie.


 An honest to goodness post about PROCRASTINATION.


A must-read for a cheapskate. 101 Ways To Save Money


Something I'd like to try! I've got spare watercolors from my Art Appreciation class.

XX

2013 BOOK INVENTORY

Last year, I sort of measured my 2012 with this year recap post. 

Now, 2013 wasn't really THAT eventful for me in the sense that I haven't been anywhere new or nothing really THAT significant happened. It was an "okay" year. Life revolved mainly and comfortably around friends and family and time was spent shuttling between Gensan and Davao. There were little adventures here and there and in case I need some refreshing of those mini-adventures, there's always the Archive button of this blog.

So I came up instead with this "Book Inventory" post, in which I try to share to you an accurate list of books I've read last year. I must say that 2013 happily got me back to reading. 

Anddd, I may be a book lover but firstly, I'm a CHEAPSKATE! So I have to give a big shout out to my friends who lent me their books, free of charge. Haha. God bless awesome friends with awesome books. :)

THE LIST:

One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez (borrowed from the university library)

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald (borrowed from Angela)

The Catcher in the Rye by J. D Salinger (borrowed from Melvin)

Persuasion by Jane Austen (Bought at NBS only for Php 99!)

Eat Pray Love by Elizabeth Gilbert (borrowed from Kezia)

Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami (borrowed from Toni)

Looking for Alaska by John Green (borrowed from Toni)

Field Guide to Happiness for Women by Barbara Kipfer (borrowed from Ate Stacy)

How To Be Good by Nick Hornby (a Booksale find)

Can You Keep A Secret by Sophie Kinsella (borrowed from Kezia)

Shopaholic Takes Manhattan by Sophie Kinsella (borrowed form Kezia)

The Carrie Diaries by Candace Bushnell (borrowed both from Pat)

Summer and the City by Candace Bushnell (borrowed both from Pat)

 Let It Snow by John Green, Maureen Johnson and Lauren Myracle (Kris Kringle gift from Kent)

 

That's the full list of books I've really finished reading. There were a lot of attempts to read more, mostly books loaned out from the library, but I hate paying for fines so I return them with only half of them read. Sad.

But anyway, there will be more time for reading this year. At the moment, I've already finished reading Breakfast at Tiffany's by Truman Capote (a present from my highschool BFF). I'm trying to speed-read Man Are From Mars, Women Are From Venus by John Gray (borrowed from Irish) because it will be passed around my blockmates. Plus! I have in my hands Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett which I borrowed from a dear friend. Hopefully, it'll be my first ever Neil Gaiman read (plus a Terry Pratchett at that).

I wish for more awesome books to read.

And I mean not Tax and Law books for school! Haha. Joke. :)

XX