i love nature!

Watching this video makes me smile even if it is over and over again and again!

I just feel that this flick really made and impact on how the world is so beautiful!

For that, I am loving National Geographic Channel and Discovery Channel, I am not a nerdy though!

cautious sign

I saw this sticker of a radio station ad on a rented public utility van with route from Legazpi City, Albay to Donsol, Sorsogon in the Philippines...

"MANIACS ARE PROHIBITED"

on pre-employment requirements

Just this last week, I took the liberty on applying some papers for my pre-employment requirements...

First stop, NBI Clearance. I went to NBI Office in Alabang located on the second floor of a certain building in the middle of Public Market. Damn! It was so hot in there! My sweat is dripping like a not fully closed faucet. Mine was just a renewal so I think some steps were skipped. I arrived there at around 0930H and finished past 1030H. It was faster than expected! Fairly smooth flow and instructions were everywhere there. Moreover, I guess fixers would be eliminated with the SOPs that they are implementing. Good job!

Second stop, BIR Form 1905. This form is needed when you are transferring from one RDO to another. So I went to BIR South Makati Office, located just near the Manila Peninsula Hotel along Makati Avenue. It was on the 5th floor, well I forgot the name of the building but it was just on the same building as with Pag-ibig; maybe you can try searching the net. During my walking ventures, the scorching heat of the sun really perspires me a lot and dried down my throat! Well, I need to keep on going since I am in time-constraint day. I just went there to ask for something and I am very glad that people there are accommodating; there is a front desk inside the office that entertains questions, not to mention the guard on the entrance that could also give you hint on where to go.

Third stop, SM Megamall for ID pictures and lunch. So far everything is in sync with my schedule. This is so very accomplishing to me! But before I go to Megamall, I dropped by SM Makati Foodcourt to buy some refreshing drinks courtesy of Quickly! I ordered Taro Taro and it was good! Someone recommended it to me so I did give it a shot. No hindrances, approve! Back to Megamall, I just had my existing picture scanned instead of taking another picture which I think won't be a good idea since I feel like I'm already haggard. At picturecity, it costs 85 pesos per 6pcs of one size; I needed 2x2 and 1x1 sizes so I paid 170 pesos (crap!). While waiting for the pictures to be ready, I ate at Yoshinoya. I ordered their Power Meal which costs around 140 bucks. I liked their beef rice toppings and the red iced tea but I didn't finished gulping their soup, I just hate how it tastes! Plus the coffee jelly isn't that fit to the meal at all but I still finished it anyways.

Fourth and last stop, BPI Julia Vargas branch. From Megamall, I just walked the stretch of Julia Vargas Street to Global Antel Bldg where sits this BPI branch on the ground floor. Here I spent almost one hour for my new payroll account application. It was kinda tedious waiting and the couch doesn't fit all people on the waiting list. Anyways, I am thankful that the teller considered my only Government ID on hand (PRC ID); the notes on their premises states that you need to present at least two.

Although I was late by about an hour on my finish time, I felt that my day was successful having all these offices spent on just one day; and I didn't have to wake up too early and being at home at an earlier time.

Planning should always have extensions or allowances for some unlucky things that might happen. And also you should always be wary of your time when on the road to meet all your appointments.

I Ran for our Mother Earth

Last weekend was my scheduled run for the month of April, the NatGeo Earth Day Run 2011. I was excited for this event considering that it has the same organizer with Condura Skyway Marathon and it was promoted by one of my favorite channels - National Geographic; not to mention that the route organizer is Coach Rio!

Here are some of my feedbacks and observations on the said race, both nice and cruelsome...

We were expecting difficulty on parking spaces due to what we had experienced on our last run - Run United Leg1 2011. But to our luck, we got a legal space just a couple of walk from the starting line. By the way, this race got over 10,000 registrants so most likely it has the same number of runners with Run United.

It was my first time to see a fireworks display right before the race. Somehow it made me amaze and brought up the metabolism within me. Nice job!

A simple announcement lead to confusion to many: "All runners please proceed to the starting line!" I am running for 10k and when we got to the starting line, throngs of people are already there, it was very crowded then! I think organizers should also think and be wary of the announcements that they will be releasing.

Hydration stations were pretty sufficient and traffic flow were strictly implemented on motorists. Just a no-no of scattered plastic cups along the way. We even noticed sponges along EDSA flyover from Kalayaan to Buendia when we are on our way home; please protect also our flyovers!

I was a bit disappointed with this race, why? there are no loot bags! We cannot deny the fact that most of race participants do expect on the giveaways after finishing the race; included here are the booths and program to entertain the numbing muscle pains of the runners. Well, I just stick on my mind that I was able to help other people/specie/our Earth.

On more thing! Having no timing chip for both 3k and 5k races made me think of the whereabouts of their registration fee. It was quite expensive huh! They used bar codes instead, roughly, this would just create inaccurate results.

Over-all, I am happy in joining this race. Maybe not plainly due to the race itself but because of my peers I am with.

For the race info and results, you may visit this link: http://www.natgeorun.com/2011/

jeepney acts

unang eksena:

iisang dyaryo, lima ang nagbabasa!

may isang mamang nagbabasa ng dyaryo,

at nakikibasa dito ay ang mamang nasa kanan nito, ang mamang nasa kaliwa nya at ang katabi nito sa kaliwa, at ang mamang nasa tapat nya!

AYOS!

pansin ko lang ang mga lalaki ang madalas kong mapansing nakikibasa sa mga katabi nila, ang ibig sabihin ba nito na ang mga lalaki ang likas na mas chismoso kaysa sa mga babae???

pangalawang eksena:

may babaeng pumara ng aming jeep,

pagsakay nya at bago pa man sya umupo ay nagtanong sya sa isang ale

"SUCAT PO BA ITO?"

sabay iling ng ale...

hala! e ang laki ng signboard ng jeep na SUCAT!

syempre nalito ang litong ale dahil mali ang isinagot sa kanya ng absent-minded na ale!

SAKIT SA ULO!!!

CDO White Water River Rafting

September 26, 2009 was the day when one of my ultimate adventure met reality. haha! White water river rafting it is! Cagayan river is the venue. What makes it more fascinating for me is the fact that it lies in between the provinces of Misamis Oriental and Bukidnon, plus it was situated at the heart of the mountains. Cool!

At the start, I would be contented with the fact that I would got to experience riding the raft with water rapids, of course, and wearing those safety gears and paddling my way towards the end. But it was a wow to me when we were asked by our guide to do some stunts along the way...

standing inside the raft flooring and holding on the rope handles

sitting on the raft flooring (traversing the devil's drop)

mi ultimo favorito!

standing on the rafts' edges and leaning (balancing) your weight to your peers

With all these fun-filled adventures, of course there would be instances that someone might fall; that is, if you didn't heed to your guide's advices. Like for instance, this caught-in-the-act picture. haha, really funny!

When there are the not-so-anticipated accidents, of course success is much more awaited and with every stunt or rapid that we made, we have this so-called "high five" of rafting.

I really had a great time, though, you really have to pay for this kind of activities, as expected from a not so usual and not so rampant activity anywhere. If you may do so, try doing this not after a heavy rainfall as the waters will turn brown (water in the rivers come from mountains and so they will wash up the mud from atop). If they asked you to do something, like swimming in the river or diving from a rock formation, go get the chance and don't hesitate to ask questions from your guide, not only regarding the rafting but also with the history and facts around the river (like what I did, haha!).

I want to do this 2-hour spectacle all over again! Or I may level-up for the experts' route! Who wants to join???

Banaue-Sagada Trip

My first travel-blog!

It was the eve of June 11th, Thursday, when I finally decided to join my mom and her officemates to their trip. It was a 3-day trip going to Banaue, Ifugao and Sagada, Mt. Province.

7pm I am still in the office and we have to catch up with the bus by 10pm at Manila. I haven't packed my things yet so my mom did it for me and traveled alone with bunch of things on her hands, back and shoulder. I still wonder till now how the heck did she do that! haha! Carrying two large back packs, a shoulder bag and three hefty plastic bags for our baon. whew! she was a wonder woman back then!

To make the story short, we didn't make it to the 10pm trip. We even transferred terminals just to see if there are still trips but to no avail. So we just spent the night on the bus terminal hoping for an early trip at around 3am. Instead of taking a direct route going to Banaue, we did took a bus going to Tuguegarao, Cagayan having cutting trips since the next direct trip would be at the evening, we have no choice then. The supposed-to-be 8-hour trip become an enormous 13-hour trip. whew!

Day1 was busted.We arrived tired and the weather says we got to stay in the lodge house. I forgot the name of our lodging house, sorry manang! People there are accommodating and helpful. We even cooked our dinner at the personal kitchen of the owner's house! laking tipid! We spent the night having a chitchat with the natives there. We had a somewhat overview on what was really happening and the history of their town. I think this is a rare experience and not everyone been there got to do this.

Day2, Saturday. We woke up early to fill this day with much more to see! We traveled with a tricycle going up the view deck. Magnificent! Though we didn't get a chance to get upclose with the rice terraces, I think I am solved with the spectacular view of what I have seen.

Trying to imagine how these people

did this with just their bare hands and simple innovations really puts me in awe! Spending like 15mins there just to feel and mesmerize with the view speaks on how beautiful it is! You would get to see and have a photo-op with the famous smiling-natives of the town! hehehe, everyone been in the place knows them! I wonder if they don't cramps squatting in that position for long hours! geesh!

Our contacted jeepney picked us up at the site heading towards Sagada, an approximately 2-hour trip from there. Since it was jam-packed, we decided to ride on top of the jeep! A very cool adventure for me and it was my first time! Plus it was more exciting because you would got a chance to experience and see the bumpy ride of a rough road on a mountainside trip! A two-thumbs up for me!

Once you've arrived in Sagada, you must first register to their tourist center right inside their municipal hall. It's just a few steps from the bus stop. You can immediately browse the tour packages available and some of the necessary questions you might want to know about the town.

Since it was way past lunch time, we decided to roam around the streets of the town in search for the place that could fulfill our roaring stomachs! One of my peers found this restaurant, the Kimchi Restaurant. Food was good with reasonable price. They have somewhat a range of choices from Filipino to American to Korean foods. Not bad for a province like this. Actually we also ate our dinner here!

We met three Korean students who are studying English in Baguio City. We all agreed to merge our group to minimize the expenses. First stop on our tour was the Sumaging Cave! This was my first time exploring a cave into this extent. Going down a very steep and dark cave with only lamps from our guide to light us. Plus there is a part where you will be stepping into bats' bowels, and even them throwing it to your head or body! yikes! It smells a lot and it is difficult to remove the stain from your shirt, so be prepared! Look how dirty we got in there! hehe, but it was a whole lot of fun!

After a series of mud-like, steep, rough flooring, you will then experience smooth, wet and clean steps! Now you can wash away those dirt caused by the bats! It is still steep though but you will be enjoying the fresh clean water coming the inside of the cave (don't exactly know where, haha). Plus the water is cold! sarap! There is actually a point, the end part of the tour, where we did a splash. I think it's called the toot den, well, I forgot the first name. It was deep but the fun was so relaxing and it was like the ultimate target of the tour. Though the water wasn't that clean anymore since it underwent many steps before reaching that bottom part.

Out of the many rock formations inside the cave, I have chosen these two. You know what are they?! I bet you do! haha! cool!

After we got off the cave, we are in search of whose got the dirtiest feet and palms! Now choose who the winner is! ahaha!

Day3, The Homecoming. Since we already got "bonding" from last night, we had a drinking session from where we stay, we (together with our new Korean friends) went for a trek going to the Hanging Coffins. We didn't took a tour guide for it will just cost us. It was an adventure going no where and with only a map and compass on our hands. After like two hours of searching the forest and mountain, we have succeeded! Mission successful! yahoo! I really thought that we would be lost in the forest! haha!

After our trek, we all had our last meal in the town and sort of having meal for our new found friends! We took our breakfast at the Yoghurt House. Though it is more costly here, but the food has more presentation and ambiance was great. Also, this is known for many foreign tourists. Our Korean friends suggested this place, by the way. I did enjoyed my meal! yum-yum!

Before we bid goodbye to the trip, we didn't forget to took a picture on our house for barelyt a day, the Sagada Guesthouse. This was one of the cheapest rooms in the place yet the service was fine enough for what we had paid.

Over-all travel rating: 9/10. Why not perfect? Because of some flaws along the way but I surely had the best time of my life! I really have to go back here! This place still has lots to offer and 3-day stay is not enough. Happy trip everyone!