going home for my long birthday weekend

as much as possible i try to go home and spend my birthdays at home so i can spend it with my family and friends. this time around i also brought a friend with me. it was her 1st time in Zamboanga City and so we wanted to show as much of the city to her as possible.

as usual we took the first flight out of manila at 550AM. we arrived Zamboanga at around 7AM and checked in at home. after freshening up we went out for satti for breakfast. it is a must-try for visitors.

after the hearty breakfast we visited the fort pilar shrine and lit candles as thanksgiving for the safe flight we had. beside the shrine is the national museum located inside the spanish fort. it is like a mini intramuros. the museum showcased the culture and history of the different tribes that lived in Zamboanga.

we enjoyed the sea breeze for a bit and went off to the climaco freedom park up in abong-abong.

what i love most about the city are the luscious old trees. they are such a refreshing sight, so different from the gray cold tall buildings of the metro. pasonanca park is such a relaxing place to be that i always make it a point to visit everytime i’m home.

the clean air was such a change from the usual polluted air of manila that it had a different effect on us. next stop was the tree house and boy scouts campsite.

after the city tour, we had our late lunch at mano-mano na greenfield.

this was a fun day that ended waaaaaaaaaaay too early. at least for C and me. we had a nap and slept until dinner time. russ was able to go play football with his friends. 🙂

Tagaytay in August

It was our first time to commute to Tagaytay and with Paul’s help we were able to get there and back safe.We rode the Batman Star Transport and paid P79 each. It took us around an hour and a half as the bus traversed the streets of Cavite.

The conductor of the bus dropped us off in a jeep terminal where we can catch a ride around Tagaytay. First stop was The People’s Park in the Sky. It was such a long and steep ride but the view up there was breathtaking. Walking up the last stretch likewise knocked the wind out of me. My knees were shaking when we got there.

We took some pictures…

and played blowing bubbles.

After the long way back down we headed straight to Josephine’s for late lunch with the view of Taal Volcano. It was good that we were able to take some pictures before it started pouring.

Because there were no bus terminals in Tagaytay, we had to wait by the highway for buses passing through from Batangas on their way to Manila.

Be still and know..

I wanted to share with you something i read from Our Daily Bread.

Silence, Please!

Our world has become increasingly noisy. But according to a news report, science has found a way to achieve absolute silence: “Scientists have shown odd the blueprint for an ‘acoustic cloak,’ which could make objects impervious to sound waves. The technology, outlined in the New Journal of Physics, could be used to build sound-proof homes, advanced concert halls, or stealth warships.”

When we seek out a quiet place for devotional time with God, we may wish we had an “acoustic cloak.” But even if we could silence all external sound, the internal noises of worry would still reverberate in our minds. We are told: “Be still and know that I am God” (Ps. 46:10). But how do we calm our hearts in practical terms?

God understands our dilemma and has provided His own “acoustic cloak” to quiet our hearts. It involves exchanging our cares for His peace. “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus” (Phil. 4:6-7).

As we place our concerns in God’s capable hands, we find a quietness that only He can provide.

– Dennis Fisher

I hope this will help you in your decisions and worries.

Happyland!

It’s football weekend!!!

This is the first of a 2 part series (wow, I’m doing a series!) of football-related blog entries.

Saturday, 23 July 2011, Fully Booked @ Bonifacio High Street, Bonifacio Global City

The wife and I indulged in a little culture. We went to watch an indie film by Director Jim Libiran entitled “Happyland“. This is the second outing of Direk Jim, after getting several awards including Best Film and Best Actor in the 2007 Cinemalaya Film Festival for the movie “Tribu“. Both films focused on life in Tondo, and non-actors played all the major roles. Direk Jim wanted the movies to be as real as possible, saying no one would have believed Piolo Pascual to be someone from Tondo.

Happyland tells the story of a Spanish priest who gathers boys from Tondo and forms a football team. Apparently, this is based on a true story and happened sometime in the 1980’s with the team gaining legendary status for playing barefoot since they didn’t have the means to buy football shoes. That being the case, the film hopes to break the stigma that football is a rich man’s game. The missionary priest (didn’t get his name, let’s just call him Father) was assisted by Brother Pete (Brod Pete for short. Get it “Brad” Pete? hehe..) who in real life is Peter Amores, founder of an NGO that teaches football, or futkal (football sa kalye, as opposed to futsal or football de sala as our more football-advanced counterparts call it), to poor communities all over the Philippines. The organization aims to build self-confidence and discipline through football for the kids to apply to all aspects of their lives.

It was amazing watching the film and somehow relating to the story’s characters. Although I didn’t grow up in the slums, we had so many things in common. As the film was trying to portray, it is difficult to get football through to the Filipinos. We are so entrenched in basketball that almost everywhere you go, you’ll see backboards and rims hanging from posts with markings such as “Donated By: SK Chairman Mauricio Batumbakal” or something to that effect. What people don’t see is that we are more likely to succeed internationally in football than basketball. Physically, the Koreans and Japanese are pretty much in our range. They have achieved some level of success in the international football scene. So why can’t we do the same? Football is a sport commonly taught and played in rich schools, so they say. Although I wouldn’t consider my family rich, I had the benefit of going to a private school my whole life, where it still is difficult to get people to understand and embrace football. I remember my Economics teacher in college, who also happened to be our coach then, had to give out points to those in his class for attending our football games. He even got his wife, also a teacher, to get her students to also attend the games in exchange for points. It wasn’t just getting people to watch the game that was difficult. Even buying the equipment was so difficult, we needed help from family and friends in Manila, or abroad to get us our football shoes! (IKR?)

After watching the film though, all the difficulties I encountered was nothing compared to the Tondo Futkaleros. These guys had to work as kids to help support their families, driving pedicabs, making firewood, hustling. I’d have to say, I had it easy compared to these guys. Compared to the rising stardom of the Azkals, I put these guys on the top of my list. Even through the difficult lives they had in the slums, these guys played with passion, a true love for the game. True, they see football as something that will help them improve their lives by getting into colleges and making something of themselves. But beyond the obvious, football has changed the way these guys see themselves. Football has helped them more than just getting an education and increasing the probability of them getting jobs after. Football made them realize that that they are not nothing, not basura as they have been treated their whole lives. They have seen what they can become, and that it is up to them to be the person that they can be, the person they want to be. Football made them winners.

In the words of the Spanish priest in the movie, “You are the gold”. More than any trophies, each one of us is gold. It was very inspiring as Father was doing his pep talk for the team before the final game with the team’s loved ones coming to support them even if they didn’t do so from the start. I remember my parents only went to watch me play once. But it was all that mattered. Even though they didn’t watch me play much, they supported me throughout my footballing “career”. And for that, I love them.

It’s Hump Day!

Thursday was another day at the office. But as my favorite website (thechive.com) calls it, it’s HUMP DAY! (Thursdays in the PI, Wednesdays in the US. Unpaid advertising. Gotta start working on getting paid for this)

My boss in the office happens to own a photo booth that covers events. Somehow, she got the contract from Rough Rider Jeans (not endorsing anything here) for the photo booth in RRJ’s spot at the FHM 100 Sexiest Women 2011 event at the World Trade Center in Pasay City. My office mate, Jun Bordeos, and I tagged along for the show. So we got in the event under the guise of “working” the photo booth. We had to “work” the first half of the night. It was a straight-forward operation. Guys can take pictures with the models of RRJ’s booth. Those who were willing to take off their shirts got free shirts from RRJ (guys who either really needed new shirts or just thick-skinned bozos who didn’t mind getting humiliated), while those who won’t go topless get free caps instead.Case in point, these guys:

Even the girls got in on the action (no girls went shirtless though):

Lolo got into the thick of things as well:

Lo, saan ka nakatingin?

We manned the cameras and had to fend off the throngs of testosterone-fueled crowd fighting their way to the very front of the pack to get better (read: creeper) photos of the models RRJ hired to pose with guys. Well, come to think of it, most were just ogling the girls up on stage. Would you do the same if these were the girls in question:

As the action on the main stage kicked-off, we went behind the RRJ stage to watch the show. There, we interacted with some of the models. We found out they had been there since 8 A.M. and they were quite tired and hungry. As burgers were passed around, we took some pictures of them and they were game enough to do some funny poses.

tired and hungry models get grumpy

Also discovered a clever way to store gadgets on the pocket-less outfits the models wore:

Didn’t get a chance to take pics of the actual Top100 Sexiest Women as they pranced around on stage. Our spot was just a little too far to get decent pics with the lens on the cam. We just watched them on stage and took some behind-the-scenes pics while we were at it.

Since a picture paints a thousand words, this entry would be a novel. In the epic Hangover movie style, the credits shall now roll (quite wholesome though, unlike the movie).

Rainy Saturday

Everybody looks forward to the weekends.I love the weekends! For the weekends mean no-work, lazy and do-anything-you-like days. I usually can’t wait for the weekends. Lately though, I haven’t seen them coming. Work has shoved my nose so close to the computer monitor that I feel I’ve been living under a rock. Imagine my glee when I realized that Friday has ended and me-days have began. 🙂

However, two low pressure areas have brought rains to the city and dampened most people’s moods. Others have decided to postpone plans and stay at home instead. I spent Friday night watching a good movie while having a delicious bowl of soup. It was snuggle time with hubby too.

We were looking forward to Saturday because we vowed this time no more lazy Saturdays. We had a lot planned for today but today had a different plan for us. The unrelenting rains again forced us to stay indoors. No “early” morning jog for us. And because we didn’t have to get up early, we went back to our comfy bed. 🙂

It was looking to be another lazy and unproductive day. But I wasn’t gonna let some little rain stop me from enjoying a day out with hubby. So I practically forced I-don’t-wanna-get-my-feet-wet Russ to brave the rain and enjoy the rest of the day with me. Armed with an umbrella and fiery determination, we went out into the wet, cold and gloomy world.

Russ hates the monsoon season because of the hassle. Aside from wet shoes and feet, he doesn’t wanna be bothered with lagging around a huge umbrella and its quite hard to get a ride when its raining. The cabs suddenly becomes scarce when it rains. I don’t like the hassle too but I secretly love the rain. The drizzle not only cools us but also slows us down. It makes us take a second to pause. Whether to just open an umbrella or to wait the rain out before continuing on to where we were supposed to go. And I think this is important. We go through life in such a rush that sometimes we forget to just stop, look inside and just be.

I feel like rain is God’s reminder to us to take some time to smell the flowers. Best to heed the warning lest the rains become typhoons and floods. Man can be so stubborn sometimes that calamities are what it takes for us to take notice.

As for us, Russ and I got to satisfy our week old burger and red velvet cupcake cravings. I got to shop some too and got to ogle at Jericho Rosales while he was shopping for some pillows. And we got a ride home with no fuss at all. That’s my rainy Saturday. 🙂

to the land of sweets and inasal..day 2

After the loooooonng first day in Bacolod, day 2 for us was a relaxing change. First on the list was to return the rented car, check. Next buy some pasalubong at the Bong Bong’s and Sugarlandia, check. Then, waste the time away in this pool. 🙂

You’d think this will be a lazy day of lounging in the pool. But, no. We have too much energy bustling inside that we found ways to make this day exciting. Are you ready for this?

Manang Ros peeled and prepared some green mangoes for us. We were already devouring it when we heard a thud. It was a ripe santol which fell from Chrissie’s santol tree. Santol is a tropical fruit found in the Philippines, India, Indonesia, Maurtius, among others. 🙂 We grinned at each other and looked for a sungkit (a long pole with a hook at the end) to harvest some santol. Here’s Russ flexing to get some.

For lunch we had some grilled liempo, sinigang na bangus and the supposedly healthy red rice.

Of course we had to go out for dessert. This time cakes galore at Felicia’s. 🙂

After dessert, we went our separate ways. Russ and I to visit the relatives while C, Dums and Czaree went to buy more pasalubong and get pampered. We met up for dinner at 21 for some good old la paz batchoy. We didn’t get any though. Sold out. We had some molo instead together with kilawin, soft shell crabs, curry lamb chops and pepper steak.

It was a night of good food enjoyed with great friends. More friends, Nescy and Ruggero, took some time to complete the Bacolod welcome. 🙂

in my mind’s eye

The A/C in the office is in full blast, or so it feels like. My digits won’t stop shaking as I type this. In my mind’s eye, I’m wishing I were here instead:

to the land of sweets and inasal

This is not my first time to visit Chrissie’s hometown but this is the first time we (Chrissie, Russ and I) will go together. Its a good thing Dums decided to join us as well in our (hopefully not) last hurrah for summer 2011. Of course with us, summer never ends. ;P

We went to the airport like zombies to catch the 4:20AM flight out to Bacolod on a Saturday. We landed at around 6AM and took a shuttle from Silay Airport to our home for the next 2 days in Bacolod City. We paid P150 each for the shuttle.

And because we were all sleep-deprived, it was hard to drag our asses out of the comfy beds and start our adventure. First on the list, to Lacawon Island.

We rented out an Adventure for this adventure. haha! The P1,700 fee was for use of the SUV for 200kms for 24hrs. Fuel not included. But you’ll get the vehicle with a tank full of fuel. Just refuel before returning the car.

Good thing, Russ just had his license renewed so we had a driver, his alter ego:  Bruho Mars. It took an hour and 30mins to get to Cadiz: jump off point to Lacawon. The drive was relatively smooth and easy save for that last stretch of rough roads. Was really nice to see stretches and stretches of sugar cane for which the province is best known for.

And because this is our first time going, we had to make a lot of stops to ask the locals the way to Cadiz. In one such stop, we asked a guy who was buying something from the sari sari store, but before he could utter a word, nanay manning the store beat him to it. Talk about initiative. haha. We are thankful to the friendly and extremely helpful people of Bacolod.

At Cadiz, we rode a banca which took us to Lacawon island. Paid P1,000 for the boat which can carry up to a max of 6 people. It took just 15mins to get to paradise.

As it has been raining in the province for days before we got there, we feel so grateful that the sun came out to welcome us. The island was relatively well kept. Cottages are available for rent, there’s a restaurant where you can order food and drinks. A clean shower area and restrooms are also available.

What we loved most about the place is that aside from our group, there were just 2 other groups with whom we shared the beach with. It was a great getaway island. We had so much fun taking pictures, playing with the starfishes, laughing, dancing and doing a lot of crazy things.

The trip back was a lot easier and more quiet. Everyone got to take a nap except for Bruho Mars. 🙂 Next on the list was a trip to the Ruins. Its a burned down mansion built by a Don Mariano Ledesma Lacson for his wife Maria Braga.  It was burned down by guerilla fighters to prevent the Japs from using it as their HQ. The fire lasted for three days annihilating the mansion’s woodwork and bringing down its roof but the concrete structure was able to survive and persist.

What makes it so quaint though is the well kept garden. It was so beautiful that I didn’t even mind treading in the mud caused by the rain.

And what better way to cap the long and tiring day than with food. Dinner was inasal galore at manukan country and for dessert cheesecake and coffee at Calea’s.

to be continued…

back to the real world… not! :D

Barely a day back in Manila from the long (wish it was longer) vacay, we were packing again for a road trip to Central Luzon. Friends,  Ate Ai and Ram, invited us to Cabanatuan, Nueva Ecija for their son’s christening on 07 May 2011.

Nueva Ecija is an agricultural province where you will see acres and acres of rice fields. If you love green, you will definitely, love driving there. Its a 3 hour-drive from Manila. And thanks to Paul, our driver :), we got there before the ceremony.

Of course, there was lots of food after the ceremony. We waited until all the guests went home as the proud parents invited us for a drive to Baler. Yes, Baler, Aurora!

Baler is a very beautiful place. Protected by the majestic Sierra Madre Mountain Range from one side while the Pacific Ocean brings in the waves that made Baler famous for surfing from the other side. It is one place I would recommend people to go visit. Its just that i have been there once and the 7-hour drive going there was not that pleasant. And if you are unfamiliar with the route, it will take you longer. Which was what happened my first time going. Better take the bus. 🙂

Anyway, since  Ram invited us to drive there, we were under the impression that he knew the way and it would be easier this time around. It was another 3-4 hours from Cabanatuan. And after getting some supplies from the grocery, we were on our way. Russ, Chrissie, Laika and I with Paul in his Revo and Te Ai and Ram in their Tucson.

We took off at around 3pm, so it was a race against the sun. The drive to Baler would be no biggie if it were daylight. The darkness in the mountains just gave an eerie feel. Nevertheless, we got there alright. And to make us all feel better, balut welcomed us while some Tanduay Ice helped calm the nerves and usher us all to a good night’s sleep.

We woke up to news that Signal No 1 is up in the province. But we did not let that stop our adventure. We were thinking of going surfing but the big waves intimidated us and so we settled for eating suman while watching the professionals do the surfing. Paul and Russ jumped right in and did some body surfing.

After which, we went to go visit L. Pimentel/Caunayan Falls that kuya from DBP Baler insisted was “malapit lang, 15 mins lang” from Baler. Turns out it was another hour or so on rough road. BP of someone i know (wink wink) was fast rising but the ice cold waters of the falls/river helped bring it down again. A pot of freshly cooked rice with the lowly corned beef and tuna filled our empty stomachs and helped some of us sleep in the car on our way back to Baler. (sorry Paul :))

Oh yeah, we were able to catch my first ever live telecast Pacman boxing match. Though we only caught the later part of the match, I was amazed that I got to watch the match without the frustratingly long commercials in between rounds we usually get here in Manila. Good thing Pacquiao won over Mosley. Pinoy Pride!

While the trip was tiring, we had loads and loads of fun. Thanks to Te Ai and Ram for the adventure! 🙂