Travel Factor’s Ultimate Beach Bumming Experience and Snorkeling/Scuba Diving adventure
Dec 5 – 8, 2009
Bohol, Philippines
What is SNUBA?
SNUBA stands for Snorkeling and Scuba Diving. It’s a Travel Factor trip that caters to both divers and non-divers.
Package Rate: depending on total number of participants
P7,000 per pax (if 5 participants)
P6,000 per pax (if 10 participants)
Package Inclusion:
• roundtrip service from airport to resort (includes van transfers)
• 3 nights aircon accommodation in Panglao Island, Bohol
• free use of resort amenities: swimming pool, etc.
• guided tour with service and entrance fees
• aircon van for the Countryside Tours
• lunch at Loboc on board a floating restaurant w/ serenade
• boat transfers from resort to Dolphin watching area / Balicasag Island
• Travel Insurance
• Travel Factor ID
not included:
• roundtrip airfare and terminal fee
• snorkelling/scuba diving gears and fees
• other meals not part of package
Itinerary Summary:
Dec 5 – arrival in Bohol; check-in at resort; free time (relax, swim, dive)
Dec 6 – Dolphin Watching and Snorkeling at Balicasag Island. option to scuba dive.
Dec 7 – whole day Bohol Countryside Tours
Dec 8 – free time; flight to Manila
* Whole day Countryside Tour including Chocolate Hills, Bilar man-made forest, Tarsier watching in Loboc, Loboc river cruise w/ lunch & serenade, Clarin House, Hinagdanan Cave, Phyton Mini Zoo, Baclayon Church & Museum, Hanging Bridge, Blood Compact Marker, Souvenir Shopping, Bohol Bee Farm
Owraaayttt! Ok, I am still waiting for the poster for this event but as I am overly-igzayded I am already reposting. It seemed like the Cebu Pacific website was down or having server problems, probably from too many people accessing it so thank you so much for Leia Nagal for helping me book the tickets through phone. Thanks much! I am excited to go on a TF trip again. I am excited to be on a TF trip with you again Leia. The last time was Coron back in June 2008 and that was more than a year ago!
I’ve been walking around all day, thinking
I think i have a problem, I think I think too much
I’ve been taught to hold back my tears and avoid them
But you’ve made pain into something I could touch
I’ve been walking around all day, laughing
Think I’d be better off without you here
And I bet you are sweet and hard to get over
So I’ll cry and people will stop and stare
Now that’s ok, let them stop and stare…
Coz I am fragile
I am hopeless
I’m not perfect
But I am free…
I’ve been walking around all day, waiting
And waiting is all I seem to do
´cause I never get it unless I’m fed it
But this time I’ll just have to
Yeah this time I’ll just have to…
And I am fragile
I am hopeless
I’m not perfect
But I am free…
Say you’re not around… am I finished?
If you’re not around that’s too bad
Hope you’re safe and sound, not alone now
´cause you know I believe in you…
I am so fragile
I am so hopeless
I’m not perfect
But I am free…
And I am fragile
I am hopeless
I’m not perfect
But I am free…
Cos I am fragile
I am hopeless
I’m not perfect
But I am free
I’m posting videos of Maria Mena, one from each album that I have. Maria Mena is one of those music influences I got from Nick from the many times I hung out at their house. I used to listen a lot to her songs back in 2007, mornings actually, with c&c. Some sort of pick-me-up-in-the-morning music. Fragile(Free) is a song from “White Turns Blue“, her international debut album released in 2004.
Comfortable as I am,
I need your reassurance
Comfortable as you are,
You count the days
But if I wanted silence I would whisper
If I wanted loneliness I’d choose to go
If I liked rejection I’d audition
And if I didn’t love you, you would know
So why can’t you just hold me,
how come it’s so hard?
Do you like to see me broken?
Why do I still care?
You say you see the light now
at the end of this narrow hall
I wish it didn’t matter
I wish I didn’t give you all
But if I wanted silence I would whisper
If I wanted loneliness I’d choose o go
If I liked rejection I’d audition
And if I didn’t love you, you would know
So why can’t you just hold me
How come it’s so hard?
Do you like to see me broken?
Why do I still care?
Poor little misunderstood baby
No one likes a sad face
But I can’t remember life without him
I think I did have good days
I’m sure I did have good days
So why
“Apparently Unaffected” was released in 2005. I tend to sing ‘Nevermind Me” when I feel like I’m a wallflower. Yeah, cast shadows on your walls… and, bottle up your smile and pour it in a cup. “Calm under the Waves” is a track I like to listen to when I’m on a boat heading to some island. I guess those are my favorite tracks from this album, that I bought from Powerbooks in Bonifacio High Street by the way. (Hahaha!)
You self destructive little girl
Pick yourself up don’t blame the world
So you screwed up but you’re gonna be ok
Now call your boyfriend and apologize
You pushed him pretty far away last night
He really loves you
You just don’t always love yourself.
(Chorus)
And all this time
Ohhh all this time
You have had it in you
You just sometimes need a push
All this time
Ohhh all this time
You have had it in you
You just sometimes need a push
Think all the mean girls that pulled your hair
Are barefoot now and pregnant there
And you write pop songs
And get to travel around the world
(Chorus)
And all this time
Ohhh all this time
You have had it in you
You just sometimes need a push
And all this time
Ohhh all this time
You have had it in you
You just sometimes need a push
So you’ve had some detours some stupid men
Now we know what not to do again
Besides you lucked out
Finally
(Chorus)
And all this time
Ohhh all this time
You have had it in you
You just sometimes need a push
All this time
Ohhh all this time
You have had it in you
You just sometimes need a push
All this time
Ohhh all this time
You have had it in you
You just sometimes need a push
Since her mother is always on the laptop, it is only natural that she would be interested in whatever her mother does on the laptop all the time. She now types and clicks on the mouse. She even makes a habit of unplugging the power cord off the laptop when her mother is on the computer and ignoring her. Her doting father took these photos.
October 11, 2009 on her father's work laptop
The comforter and Ilocos blankets are such an eyesore in this photo. Wish I can photoshop them away. Harhar. She also has this little scratch on the side her left eye.
My mother('s womb) is a hero - coz that's where I'm from
***
And thank goodness, these days I can be found reading books more than typing or clicking away in front of the laptop. I would much rather love to instill a love for books and reading in her than find her pre-school teacher telling me she refuses to learn to write or practice writing, saying “Why learn to write when I can type? And I can type really well too! I even chat with my papa when he is at work!”
Yes, teach by example. In that case, I might be finding myself with a violin in hand soon since I want her to play the violin instead of the piano as I had.
These photos were posted by Jefferson Carillo Ganuelas on his Facebook. I hope he does not mind my lifting them off. Here is a link to the entire album, if it is viewable by the public.
I am not sure whether these photos were taken after the storm (or typhoon) that was Ondoy or the storm that was Pepeng. I only got to see these photos because Jefferson de la Torre is in it. Met and became friends with Jeff and his brothers and Daisy Valdez when I first went surfing with PJ (Valenciano) and Gerard (de Sagun) in April 2008 in Baler. In fact, it was Jason, also known as Balat, who taught me the basics of surfing out there at Charlie’s Point.
I hope everything is well with the guys in Baler and San Juan after the ravages of these two typhoons, most notably Pepeng. I could text and ask, except that I lost my phone and every little phone number of almost every person I know.
I am sure though if I ever get to see waves like these in LU, I would just sit back and watch. I would still be very much afraid I suppose since this is basically what I can muster my confidence for…
July 18, 2009
And on a long board at that. I wonder how I would fare in that fish….
Eric dela Cruz, Olive Nieto, Katte Sabate and Zaf Masahud
I am a big fan of Closer (the film since it’s the only one I have seen) but it’s based on a play. Mara Marasigan chose to do Closer for her finals in Directing II, taught by Dr. Alexander Cortez, this semester. Since it has my friends acting in it, I am heading over there to watch it and show support. Hope you guys have a good time and break a leg!
CLOSER
Playwright: Patrick Marber
Direction: Mara Marasigan
Cast:
Eric Dela Cruz (Acting II finals under Dexter Santos)
Olive Nieto (Acting II finals under Dexter Santos)
Katte Sabate
Zaf Masahud
Photo lifted from Nieto’s Multiply site. Click here for more.
Hey guys, I wish you also had a poster!
October 16, 3 & 7 pm
Teatro Hermogenes Ylagan (THY), Faculty Center, UP Diliman
Thank you for always being there for me, even though most times, you just sit there saying nothin.
It’s enough for me that you’re there just sitting and listening.
Thank you for always giving me a cup of coffee, or at least trying to always, and feeding me too when I’m over at your house. You know I hate cooking. I’d rather starve.
Thank you for adopting me every now and then.
Thank you for sharing with me your books, films, tv series, music and so on and so forth. Most importantly, your thoughts, your views, your funny little anecdotes.
Thank you for being understanding and never judgmental.
Gosh I have so much to thank you for, I’m almost tamad to enumerate and write them all down.:P
Thank you for being such a good friend through and through.
Cheers to nine years of friendship and to all that it entails.
Cheers to more years of friendship and all that it means.
I love you to the core.
A play to me is invariably a social event. Though sometimes it is just a bit of a social event and sometimes very much a social event depending largely on how many friends I get to see or chat with before, during and after the performance.
The Madonna Brava ng Mindanao performance last Friday, October 9th, turned out to be a very much of a social event for me. For that I was very grateful for Nick inviting me to come watch with him and Anj.
Going through the usual Friday night traffic all the way from Eastwood where I picked Ryan up from work all the way to CCP in Roxas Boulevard was time-consuming. I left the house at about five thirty in the afternoon and arrived with Ryan on a taxi in CCP at about seven forty-five. We paid the cab driver P300.
The first person I saw was Babit de Luna standing in the inner lobby and holding a ticket for the opening night of A Streetcar Named Desire. Yes, the English version, with Ana Abad Santos and Meryl Soriano in it. I was there to catch Madonna Brava, since it had two nights left in its run, and the two versions of Streetcar would have to wait for some other time. I hope that it would either be not on a Friday night or we would have had the car back by then. He told me Tony Mabesa had required them to watch and introduced me to another graduate student he was standing with.
Ryan came to me pointing excitedly towards the end of the other side of the lobby and there was Katte Sabate standing there in a long black dress, her long, curly, fabulous hair marvelously trailing behind her. I went over to give her a hug. I had not seen her since that July night at Taumbayan, a small cozy place somewhere in Timog. Behind her were Eric de la Cruz and Olive Nieto making funny remarks about Ryan. I waved and smiled at John Victor Villareal.
We went out of the lobby to hang out and shortly thereafter, Nick and Angeli Bayani got off a cab.
The 8-copy boxed set of Sookie Stackhouse novels arrived today at about three in the afternoon. Boy, that was fast considering that I only made it known that I wanted it six days ago. I am quite impressed now with Amazon and UPS. Ryan was really sweet to purchase it for me, a good chunk off his Amazon GC which he got from speaking at the blog conference at Trend Micro. We had initially thought it was going to get here, since the warehouse is in Canada, early to mid-November but the shipping which I believe had cost him an additional $9.00, had been fast and efficient and he had actually given me, excitedly of course, with an update of where the package was almost everyday.
I had actually plowed through the first five novels in its pdf form in a record time of two days, an activity which gave me a bad eyesore, like my eyeballs were gonna pop out of their sockets at any minute, much to my regret. Ryan had said, “Buti nga sayo,†to which I could do nothing more but concur. Gosh, I guess I have really missed reading much.
Lia too had excitedly plowed through the package.
Mad scramble over Puglee to get to the books
She had shown her appreciation too by giving the boxed set a good lick-through.
Lick it good!
Can I have these someday?
If I knew how to use the Photoshop more than adjust curves and levels, I would have made her saliva in this photo the color of red, just to go with the theme.
True Saliva
***
As a side-note, this morning we finally made it to our new pediatrician, whom I have found that I liked very much. True, she was two hours late for her clinic hours in Marikina, saying she could not get away from St. Luke’s fast enough and had made Ryan miss his lunch meeting with his German boss who is in the country (a thing I am more than sorry and embarrassed for). It is a Monday after all. We did not make it to the clinic last Saturday as Ryan had been sick the entire weekend. It had been really hard going around without a car since we have not heard from the mechanics yet, and we had to take taxis back and forth. It was really difficult to find a cab in the sweltering, relentless midday sun and I actually found myself at one point sitting in the curb, the heavy, sleeping Lia in my aching arms. (I was tempted to hold out my hands and say, “Palimos po.â€) We finally got home, exhausted, only to find out that the cell phone I had in my shorts pocket had slipped off and had been, I believe, left in the backseat of the taxi. My point here I suppose is, I have lost my cell phone, the almost 500 contacts I have in my phone book and my Globe number which I have had for I-cant-remember-how-many years. Gosh, it might still even be the sim card that went with my N-Gage phone which I purchased in 2003.
Wow, I remember this album. I got it for my 14th birthday. It was on cassette tape. A friend from Ateneo de Naga gave it to me. Was it the day or the day before or the day after, I have quite forgotten (sorry! hahaha!), my birthday and he and and another friend of his came over to my house in Pili with this gift. That was really sweet. I actually have this big smile on my face while I’m writing this.
And this was my song for Ryan, back in 2000. Cheesy!!!! Hahahaha. This was the song used for the AVP of the pre-nup photos taken by Gel Motilla for our October 2006 wedding.
Forgiven Not Forgotten (1995) Track Listing
1. “Erin Shore” [traditional intro, instrumental] – 0:27
2. “Forgiven Not Forgotten” – 4:15
3. “Heaven Knows” – 4:18
4. “Along With the Girls” [instrumental] – 0:49
5. “Someday” (The Corrs, Foster) – 3:51
6. “Runaway” – 4:24
7. “The Right Time” – 4:07
8. “The Minstrel Boy” [instrumental] – 2:12
9. “Toss the Feathers” [instrumental] – 2:50
10. “Love to Love You” – 4:08
11. “Secret Life” – 4:31
12. “Carraroe Jig” [instrumental] – 0:52
13. “Closer” – 4:05
14. “Leave Me Alone” – 3:40
15. “Erin Shore” [instrumental] – 4:14
I have Forgiven not Forgotten (1995), Talk on Corners (1997), In Blue (2000) and The Corrs Unplugged (1999). After In Blue, I became increasingly disgusted with their music and have not purchased any of their succeeding albums. Ryan got me the unplugged cd for Valentine’s Day (I think? hahahaha!) and it was one of my favorite albums to listen to while I was in El Nido. I and my friend and co-teacher Eric, would sit outside the house and he would play “Everybody Hurts” on his guitar for me.
I suppose this is another of those trips down memory lane. Excuse me for not forgetting.
I had been working on a thought for some time now. I had been slowly processing my thoughts and feelings so that they would come out right. Maybe I will get to process out my thoughts and I would get to write them down in a coherent way some time. For now, this poem just about sums it up.
Your children are not your children.
They are the sons and daughters of Life’s longing for itself.
They come through you but not from you,
And though they are with you, yet they belong not to you.
You may give them your love but not your thoughts.
For they have their own thoughts.
You may house their bodies but not their souls,
For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow, which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams.
You may strive to be like them, but seek not to make them like you.
For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday.
You are the bows from which your children as living arrows are sent forth.
The archer sees the mark upon the path of the infinite, and He bends you with His might that His arrows may go swift and far.
Let your bending in the archer’s hand be for gladness;
For even as he loves the arrow that flies,
so He loves also the bow that is stable.
– Kahlil Gibran
***
Lia my daughter, though we may be inseparable now, though you are completely dependent on me now, there will come a time when you will let me go and we will go on to live our own separate lives.
Although you came from me, you are not mine, you are you and you are yours alone.
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