LP#18: dalampasigan

mahirap gumawa ng LP lahok para sa linggong ito tungkol sa dalampasigan, di dahil walang maisip, kungdi dahil sa napakaraming pagpipiliang larawan. taon-taon kasi, sinusuyod naming magkakaibigan ang mga karagatan ng pilipinas.
it's difficult to make an LP entry for this week about the sea/beach. not because i can't think of anything, but because there are so many choices. it is because my friends and i visit the beaches of the Philippines.

so alin ang ilalahok ko? so which should be my entry?

itong nag-aaalab na dapit hapon sa camiguin?
this fiery camiguin sunset?


itong pagsilip ni haring araw sa bagong umaga in malapascua?
the sun greeting the new morning in malapascua?


itong tanawin mula sa aming kuwarto sa sabang, puerto princesa?
this view from our room in sabang, puerto princesa?


itong mag-inang lumba-lumba sa puerto princesa bay?
this mom and pup dolphin in puerto princesa bay?


itong sandbar sa starfish island sa honda bay palawan?
this sandbar in starfish island in honda bay, palawan?

ang dami pang pagpipilian. ang dami kasing magagandang dalampasigan sa ating bansa. nakakagigil languyin ang lahat. kahit pa di ako marunong lumangoy.
there are still so many other choices. we have such beautiful beaches in our country. yearning to swim all. even if i can't swim.

marahil dala na rin ng iba't-ibang damdamin meron ang dalampasigan. minsan payapa, minsan galit, madalas mapang-akit.
maybe because there are so many emotions of the sea. sometimes calm, sometimes angry, always alluring.


ito ang aking lahok para sa lingguhang litratong pinoy.
this is my weekly entry for litratong pinoy.

daluyon beach resort

while i was searching for things to do in sabang, i came across the website of daluyon beach resort. it immediately caught my interest since the place looked good. however, i couldn't bring myself to book because it is beyond our usual budget for accommodation. jan and i have been so used to our value-for-money-koboy-style of rooms, that spending such an amount for lodging seemed ridiculous.

however, while we were on our first or second day at sabang, i asked jan if we can splurge for one night. it is our honeymoon, after all. he was actually game with it. yey! before we finalized our stay, we checked out the rooms first. since we were paying so much for a room, we should be able to maximize our use of it. we have done all the exciting adventure things in sabang that we can just afford to hang out in the hotel.

the staff were quite friendly when we asked to be shown around the place. the front desk also allowed us for an early check-in at 9AM and late check out of 2PM since there weren't other guests during the day we were coming. cool! that clinched the sale. we booked an overnight stay for our last night in sabang.

the day of our booking, we brought our bags over to daluyon over at 9AM, then proceeded to have breakfast then a trip to the falls (another story). we got back to daluyon by 1PM. we hung out the porch for a bit. the view was beautiful.

we spent most of the afternoon indoors, enjoying our soft bead with 440thread count sheets (we got a gift that looked exactly like those sheets that's why i know. tee-hee). of course, i wore one of the complementary bath robes which was soooo comfortable. jan loved it on me. i loved it on me.

since there was no cable installed yet, we just made use of the dvd player. we borrowed juno and knocked up (pregnancy movies. ack!). we also got our complimentary drinks of fresh and cold buco juice. mmmmm! ang sarap!

we got out into the sun by 5PM. we didn't have plans to swim anymore since we were already satisfied by our falls trip. jan and i decided to just sit down and relax by the beach. mimosa, the sabang dog (every resort knows here) and where white dog friend entertained us as they frolicked on the beach, jumping in and out of the water.

as the sun was setting, the scenery just simply called for pictures, so i went to get dixie and shot away. doing silhoutte shots was really fun.

by the time the sun was gone, it was moon rise time. sabang had the most spectacular moonrise i have ever seen! and nicer still since it was a full moon that night. talk about a romantic getaway. :) i forced my non-dancer husband to dance to the music of the waves and the moon and the stars and the night. good thing we were the only people by the shore.

when the sky was high enough, we proceeded to have a good, expensive dinner by the pool. i forgot what we ordered, but i was fully satisfied and sated by it. of course, we had candles. :)

the complimentary breakfast the next day was also delicious and quite filling. that was as good as brunch since we woke up at nine and took a quick dip before that. the rest of the morning, we did mostly nothing which is always great.

all-in-all, jan and i enjoyed our stay at the daluyon resort very much. their staff were very friendly and accommodating, their rooms were well-kept and clean and all the inclusive amenities for what we paid made it all the more worth-it.

so if you are planning to stay in sabang, puerto princesa and want to feel like kings and queens, we recommend daluyon beach resort. :)

LP#17: kanluran

di ko alam kung ano ang lahok na nababagay sa tema ngayong linggo, bukod sa pag-gamit ng imahe ng mga bansang nasa kanluran. naisip ko, bakit di na lang kanlurang bahagi ng pilipinas? bakit nga hindi!

sa tulong ni kaibigang google, hinanap ko kung ano ang lalabas. sulu-tawi-tawi. sakto, may mga dati akong larawan na nakuha sa biyahe ko dun mga tatlong taon ang nakalipas.


ang mga bangka ang pinaka-transportasyon ng mga tao sa tawi-tawi. tila sila mga motor at jeep sa ating kalsada. ang dagat ay isang malaking hi-way.

dito sa timog-kanlurang bahagi ng pilipinas, ibang-iba ang buhay ng mga pinoy. halos pinupulot lang ang pagkaing dagat pero nagmamahalan ang bigas at asukal.

sa pagtulog... ang oyayi ng dagat.

isang masayang karanasan ang pagbisita ko sa tawi-tawi. simpleng buhay, simpleng tao.

five-day-old-'do

I've been wanting to cut my hair since December last year. But I needed to keep it long so I won't have to wear a fake bun on my head during the wedding.

Below is me pretending to be cousin It of the Addams Family.

I've been wanting to go back to my boy's cut hair. Especially after watching Winona Ryder in Reality Bites. I want hair like that! But. Mr. Jim of David's advised against boy cut hair unless I rebond. Buhaghag daw buhok ko. Hmph. Tell me something I don't know. Anyway, I listened to Mr. Jim and pointed a chin-length bob photo na lang. I just want my haircut.

Ta-dah! It's still neat here. It's been in a disarray since I shampooed it.

At least mas matipid na sa shampoo. Mahal dun e.

8 years na, dad

i still miss you. some days more than others.

but then... it never was that painful kind of missing. we all knew you wanted to go Home already. how can we deprive you of that by feeling pain?

and thanks for coming to the wedding, like i asked. i knew in my heart you were there. i knew you made sure i wouldn't trip during the bridal march before i made it to mom and kuya.

watch over mom lagi ha. in-love pa rin sa iyo yun. promise. :)

games, dates, roses and sweet husbands

I was in Manila the entire week for our midyear reporting. By the third day, I was missing Jan terribly. Good thing I kept myself busy the days I was there in Manila.

July 13. Saw Ateneo vs. UE live at the ULTRA. Thanks to Bok and Erik for getting tickets for me. UE scared me, but woot! We won. Yeah. Bad calls by the referees for both sides though. Afterwards we ate at Jatujak in SM Megamall. It’s so gooooood!

July 14. Met up with Ninin and Mike and Ina. Lissa followed after. Krocodile Grill dinner. Yummy baked tahong!

July 15. Dinner with Bok and Rowie. Cheap dinner! Yummy dessert. Great conversation. I missed college. But it was great that each of us had good news to share.

July 16. Officemates time. I’m going to miss them. My resignation is effective August 15. Ack. Jobless. Hehe!

July 17. Met with Entadirs to watch The Dark Knight in support of Ces, whose med school was sponsoring the event. Artie treated me. Yey! Mon-Mon, one of my leading men in Mga Indios Bravos, was there! I have not seen him in ten years!

After the heavy movie, I was glad that I meeting Maita and several JVPs to watch Brownman Revival at 70’s Bistro. So fun! Norie, Zaza, Jerry, Maita and I danced to the reggae beat. Jay H. left early though and just missed Noel. Noel Cabangon came and sat with us while he had his beer. I promise to pass by Conspiracy before I go. We might see each other in October though. Woot!

July 19. Dinner and coffee with my bro. I didn’t sleep at his new home because it was still a mess. Besides I get a free ride to the office when I stayed with my in-laws. Hehe! It was unfortunate, though, that he spilled his large chai tea latte. Tsk, tsk. And it was still full. Bummer.

July 20. I wanted to go home early so Jan and I can watch the Ateneo vs. UP game. But he convinced me to just grab the opportunity to watch live. Sweet of my husband no? So I booked the 7PM flight to Davao and watched the 2PM game with Bok and Erik with Rhia, Dada, Mimi and May. I was also able to convince my UP officemates to cheer their team on. They watched from the other side, of course.

I was glad Jan convinced me to watch live because I had so much fun. We were seated where the Blue Babble were and that guy who was egging us to cheer was just hilarious. He reminded me of Robin Padilla. Funny dude talaga. Hehe!

I was excited to go home to Jan. I actually thought I wouldn’t make the flight. The in-laws were bringing me to the airport, but we were waiting for Papa’s new phone from smart. We left Galleria at 5:50PM and got there at 6:15. Whew! The check-in counter was still open but almost ready to close. By the time I entered the pre-departure area, it was ready for boarding already.

When I finally arrived in Davao and got my stuff. There was Jan waiting for me. Whee! We were supposed to have dinner but I was kinda full and he wasn’t that hungry either. So we decided to visit the Queen’s Land Baywalk to check it out. It was still under construction. We only stayed for a short while and went home already.

Back at home, I didn’t enter our room first. I went to have a drink and washed my hands and all that. As I was unceremoniously entering our room, I was surprised to see roses on our bed. I didn’t even linger to look and just hugged him tight smiling like crazy! After I let him go, I asked how many roses there were, he asked if I saw our symbol. Oops! I was too surprised and happy with the flowers that I didn’t see it formed ←O→.

Oh wow! This was well thought of! And we counted the flowers… it was 41 all in all. Buti na lang mura dito sa Davao. Hehe!

That’s my husband. He makes leaving terribly difficult and coming home such joy. :)

what's your rock album name?

i stole this from angperegrino. it's really fun to do, though a bit of a time-waster. except isn't that what internet is about? hehe!

anyway, try it! it's really fun.

1. Go here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Random

The first random Wikipedia article you get is the name of your band.

2. Go here: http://www.quotationspage.com/random.php3

The last four words of the very last quote of the page is the title of your first album.

If you want to do this again, you’ll hit refresh to generate new quotes, because clicking the quotes link again will just give you the same quotes over and over again.

3. Go here: http://www.flickr.com/explore/interesting/7days/

Third picture, no matter what it is, will be your album cover.

4. Go here. http://www.randomwebsite.com/

The first ten links you end up in (minus the .coms) are your 10 song titles.

My band name: tracheoesophagael septum (how cool is that!)

The album name: about being thought unjust (from an EB White quote)

and the songs:

1. univerdidad de valladolid

2. tweaktown

3. aan 2

4. trancedental what

5. scorecard

6. naranglear glover

7. groovechamber

8. zeggalaar

9. network solutions

10. deskotopos

astig ano?! i tag everyone who likes rock music. :)

LP#16: luntian

huwebes pa dapat ang lahok na ito ngunit dahil maraming gawain, nawalan ako ng panahon na mag-sulat sa blog. ang dami pa namang kuwento. at di pa ako tapos ng aking pagbigay-pugay sa palawan.

sa ngayon, ito munang litratong pinoy.

kung dagat ang tinutukoy sa isang usapan, ang kadalasang kulay na pumapasok sa isip ay asul. ngunit may mga pagkakataon na ang matingkad na kulay ay luntian.

ito ay ang baybay ng malapascua island sa cebu. mga alas-otso pa ito ng umaga. napakaganda ng panahon para lumangoy at maglakad-lakad sa dagat. nakakatuwang matanaw ang bughaw na langit at puting ulap. nakahilera ang mga puno ng niyog, berde din ang mga dahon. at sa ibaba nito ang luntiang dagat. ngunit mas nakakaliw na, ikaliwa mo lang ng konti ang tingin mo at ito na ang makikita.

iisang dagat, dalawang kulay. di ba't ang saya?!

break for a tag, too

toni has a tag on her blog, which i want to answer.

she tags those who have been on a blind date or want to go on a blind date. i think i went to one, except my entire barkada was there. and we went to an eraserheads concert, we were with the group the whole time and he treated everyone to 7-11 gulp. so i'm not sure if that was a real blind date or a pretend one. and i've always wanted a real blind date, but never did get the chance.

i will still answer the tag dahil trip ko lang.

Who’s tagged? I’m tagging anyone who wants to answer this tag. :)

Have you ever gone on a blind date? see above.
Skipped school? Yup. But I think I had dysmenorrhea that time. I hate cutting class because I compute how much my parents pay for me to enter that class. BUT. we have this class that we have our attendance checked in the start, my classmates and i will go out one by one to the caf and stay there for 30-45 minutes then come back for the last 15 minutes for another attendance check.
Been on a plane? Yes.
Been lost? yeah. It's worse when it's in the middle of mountain trail, though that was just like one wrong turn but I got back to the trail immediately.
Swam in the ocean? Yes.
Cried yourself to sleep? Yes.
Played cops and robbers? Killers. Don't know if they are the same thing.
Played dolls? Yes. I did have a couple of Barbies, but I loved the rag doll my dad gave me the most. Because it was from my dad. :)
Recently colored with crayons? I bought a box last Christmas but never did get to use it. :(
Sang Karaoke? yes. To Love Again of Sharon Cuneta is my staple song.
Paid for a meal with coins only? P100!
Done something you said you wouldn’t? yes.
Cheated on a test? Yup, and it turned out my answer was right and the one I copied from was wrong. I never cheated again after that.
Made prank phone calls? I don't think so. We had a phone, I was already 3rd year high school.
Caught a snowflake on your tongue? Nope. No snow .
Danced in the rain? Yes!!! There was a time i signed my letter with "dancing in the rain". :)
Written a letter to Santa Claus? Yes
Watched the sunrise with someone you care about? Yes. Jan and I saw a beautiful sunrise in Carabao Island, Romblon
Been kissed under the mistletoe? I dont think I've seen a real mistletoe.
Gone ice skating? Nope, sadly. Jan and I weren't together yet and he promised to take me ice skating but he injured his knee a few days after.
Been skinny dipping outdoors? Nope.
Tattoos? Henna.
Body piercings? Ears, 2 on my right ear.
Vacation spot? I’d love to go to Palawan again.
Eaten cookies for dinner? yes
Ever been on TV? Yup.
Ever been in a car accident? Thankfully no.
Favorite number and why? 13. 7. 8. 13 for its oddness. 7 for the days of the week. 8 because it is infinity.
Favorite movie? Lots! Sky High. 10 Things I Hate About You. Love Actually. Amelie...
Favorite holiday? Christmas!
Favorite smells? Sauteed garlic. Vanilla. Coffee.
What do you do to relax? blog, read, watch movies.
Where do you see yourself in 10 years? A happy happy happy woman. - agree with this, toni. :)

LP#15: balingkinitan

habang ang ibang mga babae sa siyudad ay naghahangad na magpaliit ng katawan, para lang magkasya sa pinakabagong uso na damit, marami sa ating mga kababayan ang nahihirapang maglagay ng makakain sa kanilang hapag-kainan. sila ay balinkinitan dahil sa kapalaran at di dahil ginusto.

(ang babae sa larawan ay isang Higaonon sa Bukidnon)

ito ang aking lahok para sa LP #15: balingkinitan.

monkey trail

after the breathtaking wonders inside the underground river, jan and i split from the rest of the group which took a boat to one of the coves of the sabang. we wanted to take the monkey trail back to the town proper. the tour guide we joined said we would also be passing a small beach on the way back. good thing i was wearing my bathing suit. :D

we followed the sign leading to the 4.2KM monkey trail which claims to provide an occasional glimpse of macaques and monitor lizards (bayawak). true, enough, at our very first turn was a large lizard. it was walking quite slowly but when it heard our approach it froze in place. after a few photos, jan and i moved on.

the trail began with wooden steps on the limestone cliffs. if it weren't for the steps, there wouldn't be any way to go through the trail given the steep inclines. we saw a large sign indicating that we were entering a karst forest. i'm not sure if i remember correctly but it basicallymeans that the vegetation need little water because the area is mostly rocks and little soil. i think.

while walking i was telling jan that i was supposed to be on vacation and not doing field work. but it was still fun doing it for pleasure and taking time. after 45 minutes though, i was getting a little tired and irritated. i have been wanting to take a dip 15 minutes back and there was still no sign of the beach. at some point, i thought we went back to the same path, but jan said we haven't passed that way yet. so i told him to trust his instinct and i will just follow. after the next bend... ta-dah! the sound of the beach. we went down another set of steps and yahooo! it was the beach.

after a few photo ops, jan and i took a dip. we had the whole cove to ourselves. it seems no other people took the trail back home. the water was crystal clear and cool to the skin. it wasn't that salty either. the gray-white limestone cliffs complemented the sky blue heavens and the aquamarine waters. the forest green trees added to the contrast.

we finally had our sandwich and watched the waves lap at the creamy sands. there were hermit crabs going about their busines (including munching on the cucumber that fell from my sandwich). jan had a blast throwing sand at the agile transluscent crabs. they were always able to duck. he had more fun with the poor hermits which hardly knew what hit them. they'd stay under cover in their shells and even after twenty minutes stayed hidden. bad jan!

after thirty minutes in the cove we continued on our trek. we passed a couple more coves but they had rocky shores and were not ideal for hanging out but good enough for photo ops. we kept straying from the trail to take a look at what the beach looked like. at one point we had trouble getting back.

so did we see monkeys? yep! not as plenty as we expected. but we had a couple of sightings. we were quite close with one batch, with one large macaque and a couple of smaller ones. our monitor incident was quite funny. we were hearing crunching leaves from agile feet moving quite fast. then i had eye contact with him, quite nervous it might jump on me as he was on a higher level then i was. after a few seconds of eye-lock, he started scooting back up with such speed. it was like, "run, run, run down. oh no! human. up, up, up!" then he was gone. funny.

there were also different birds species that we spotted. but it was halfway the trail that we had our most fun. we had to register that we were going back. it was there we spotted a bunch of mynah birds. i was trying to take a picture of one that was on the guard house when suddenly it flew at the camera. ack. jan and i were laughing. the other mynahs started flocking together cawing like crazy.

we still had a couple of spanish bread in our pack so we decided to share it with them. we were still mincing it to chewable pieces when they started lunging at it. i had to duck or they'd have pecked my eyes out or worse, i'd have dropped the cam. but jan and i were just laughing like loons. a couple lodged themselves on my shirt and jan's then flew back to the fence. jan was successfully feeding them, except when the bread piece was too big, they'd spew it out so jan would have to break it to smaller pieces again. some would still lunge at the sight of food, but jan was able to do better. i, on the other hand, kept missing their mouths because i couldn't bring myself to put the bread near their beaks. and if i do try, they'd fly at me and perch on my head or shirt. finally, i gave up and contented myself taking pictures of jan with the bird. it was fun though. hehe.

finally we went on our way and left the birds the rest of the bread. we were near sabang already. we saw a rocky outcrop in the waters... what looked liked to be hardened lava flow shaped by the waves of the water. this is based on my amateur geological-sleuthing (national geographic taught). jan and i decided to check it out. the rocks were a bit sharp and hard to cross, though possible. i think this is where we scratched our rings. we decided not to pursue the rocks all the way to its end and just go back to sabang beach and relax.

when we got there, we went on another dip. by 430, the sun was almost ready to set and the beach just had a nice tinge of orange and yellow that i couldn't resist taking photos.

that was a well-spent day for us! from the underground river to our hiking to our cooling down on the beach. i had a lot of fun!