24 Apr 2012
by angkuletin Friends and their Interests Tags: anniversary, contests, give aways, The Beauty Junkee
My friend and beauty blogger Martha Sta. Barbara of the Beauty Junkee is celebrating her blog’s third anniversary and she is giving away prizes worth over P70K! Congratulations Tamarts on your blog’s third anniversary, but more importantly, congratulations on your graduation!
I really must say I am SO proud of you guys in this photo and I truly find it inspiring! Congratulations to everyone! I love this photo! It makes me wanna go back to school and finish my masters thesis!
Some of the 2012 graduates of the Department of Theater Arts, College of Arts and Letters, University of the Philippines Diliman, in their sablay.
Going back to her anniversary give-away, Martha is giving away goodies worth more than P70K to 16 lucky contest participants.
Though I am not much into make-up, I am a fan of Martha’s blog. I read her entries simply because they are interesting and it’s always like reading a beauty magazine. I ask myself, “Hmm, what is new on the market today? ….Lemme check out Martha’s blog!” I like the fact that she is always so honest and down-to-earth. I also like the fact that her blog site is all about loving oneself and embracing femininity – which I think, every woman, should do regardless of their interests in life.
Check out her contest give-aways here and get a chance to win any one of her (16!!) fabulous prizes.
Contest runs from April 1 – May 31, 2012. 123 entries as of the moment and counting! Good luck everyone! 
Congrats again Martha and have fun in Boracay!
09 Apr 2012
by angkuletin Palawan Tags: Badjao Seafront, Baker's Hill, Butterfly Garden, Crocodile Farm, Immaculate Conception Cathedral, Mitra's Ranch, Palawan, Puerto Princesa, travel
When I was 23, I looked 14, is what I was thinking when I was going through these photos. It was 2005, we were on a school break, and I decided it was a good time to take the bus to Puerto Princesa and endure the 12-hour day trip. The roads were so bad back then that the 238 km (148 mi) trip took that long. There, I met up with H who flew in from Manila, and we took off on a day trip of Puerto Princesa. He arrived early in the morning and we went straight to the Puerto Princesa Catholic church, also known as the Immaculate Conception Cathedral before going for lunch at Badjao Seafront Restaurant. (Just click on the thumbnails to view full size).
IMMACULATE CONCEPTION CATHEDRAL
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04 Apr 2012
by angkuletin Palawan Tags: 2005, Cadlao Island, El Nido, Entalula Island, Helicopter Island, island hopping, Malapacao Island, Natnat Beach, Snake Island, travel
On March 4-5, 2005 , H came back to visit El Nido for the last time. We went aboard Kool Fox with Eric and Derick on the wheel to go around Bacuit Bay, visit some places we have not been to last time and revisit our favorite ones. We visited the lagoons and then landed on Entalula Island.
Entalula Island
Entalula Island seems to have the finest white sand in the Philippines, even finer than the sand on the beach of Boracay. This is a private island and only guests of El Nido Resorts are allowed. This is perfect for those private lunches that the resorts offer to their guests free of charge. The resort staff bring the tables, chairs, umbrellas and everything else. It is JUST beautiful!
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03 Apr 2012
by angkuletin Palawan Tags: 2005, Caalan, Cadlao Lake, El Nido, Lapus Lapus Beach, Lio Beach, Palawan, Pinagbuyutan Island, Seven Commandos Beach. Bocal Island, travel
Our being out every weekend was especially documented during the months of September to November 2005. I have just arrived from a few days of leave in Manila and came back with a waterproof camera that I took nearly everywhere with me all the time.
On those days, we had access to a red paddle boat that allowed me and my friend Likha to paddle to the island nearest to the town, Cadlao Island, and explore other beaches. Sometimes we also had other friends along with us. It was a great abs and arms workout but it was also the fastest way to get sunburned. The sunblock surely was our greatest best friend.
September 18, 2005
In the morning, Likha and I were off explore Cadlao aboard the red paddle boat. It was absolutely flat when we went out but the waves got really huge on the way back, we had to row the boat sideways. This made the return trip longer by maybe 20-30 minutes but we made it! I did row like a man for we had no life jackets with us. Rose and Del on the house on the hill were watching us worriedly, afraid we would not make it. I’d like to thank my sunblock by the way for making my face shiny on these photos and yet totally protected from sunburn.
In the afternoon, we boarded a boat with Rose (Likha’s mom), and our friends from the Peace Corps, to explore the other side of Cadlao Island.
The peace corps back then lived in these two cottages right by the water on Caalan. When they left, the cottages were bought by a Fil-Brit couple, who in turn, built what is now known as the Golden Monkey Cottages. I used to see them walking around with their monkey. In the photos below, we we’re waiting for our ride right on the beach in front of the cottages.
We usually explore the west side where Natnat Beach is because it has such a beautiful snorkeling site, but this time we explored the east side, dropped by Bucal Island and actually went up Cadlao to see the lake. That involved a trek through limestone cliffs and some planks while on the lake itself.
September 25, 2005
Early morning had us taking a trike to the baranggay of Corong-Corong 3km outside town proper and boarding a boat to Lapus Lapus beach, where a friend of Rose has a beautiful home overlooking the beach. It was the home of a Fil-American yogi and it was evident on the simplicity of the home. Out on the rocks, a balcony was set up especially for yoga and the classes that she holds when she is in the country.
From here, one can see Marimegmeg Beach, Depeldet Island and Pinagbuyutan Island.
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03 Apr 2012
by angkuletin Palawan Tags: 2005, El Nido Resorts, Lagen Island, Miniloc Island, Palawan, travel
Living in El Nido and working for the wonderful couple that we fondly called Ati and Koya was one of the best things that happened to me. Koya principally looked after the school while Ati’s official work was at the resort. So on weekends, when Ati had time, we we’re off island hopping or going to the resort with their kids Pat and Jam, and the other teachers. It was always fun!
We’d take off with Kuya Mesach in the Geographic, a bright yellow boat that was so named because it appeared on the cover of an issue of National Geographic, and have a day off in the water and sun!
I do not know how many times I have been to Lagen, Miniloc, as well as Pangulasian – another island that had a resort that originally opened in 1992 but burned down shortly after Lagen Resort opened in 1998. Pangulasian, also known as the “Island of the Sun” will open its shores again starting this May with its canopy, beach and pool villas. Read all about it here.
Going to the resorts was always a welcome treat, especially if it involved eating. I had absolutely loved the buffets at the resorts. For me, they are still the best so far, even though I have been to many other resorts and hotels.
When H came over to visit, we were treated to a trip to the resorts. We first dropped by Miniloc because it has a wonderful beachfront with its own snorkeling area. All one needed to do was jump over the breakwater and there they all were. (Click on the thumbnails to view full size.)
Miniloc Island Resort is very laid-back. Compared with Lagen Island, More
02 Apr 2012
by angkuletin Palawan Tags: Bacuit Bay, El Nido, limestone cliffs, Palawan, taraw
Climbing the towering limestone cliffs, called taraw by the locals, of El Nido town was something we viewed as an activity we did when we were bored. And at that time, we we’re bored a lot. Yes, we climbed often enough that the 45-minute climb, considered as half-truth by tourists who climb the taraw for the magnificent view of El Nido town and Bacuit Bay, was sometimes only 30 minutes to us, depending on who was climbing with us.
H was over for a visit and we we’re all off for semestral break. H, having come over from Manila through Puerto Princesa and endured the grueling 10-hour trip by non-aircon bus on half-paved dirt roads, couldn’t possibly leave El Nido without going up the cliffs. So we did.
The best time to go up the cliffs is early in the morning, the earlier the better. Any later and the sun would be scorching hot. It’s hard to appreciate the view when you are exposed under the harsh sun with no shade whatsoever at the top. Not being actual morning persons, we started the ascent at 9am and was at the top before ten. We stopped often to take photos.
Just a warning, this climb is not your usual climb. When my brother was in El Nido for a visit in 2003, he declined to go up the cliffs because he did not want his expensive Nikes to be damaged.
I found some really good accounts of their own climb up the cliffs and let me quote some of them:
From TheKillerFillersdotcom: “Mountaineering experience won’t prepare you for climbing Taraw. It was serious rock climbing from the first assault. And when I say serious, I meant serious like 80-degree-5-storey-high-limestone-piercing-death-drop serious. I wrote many climb stories and talk about death cliffs all the time and I want to take that back for if death cliffs have a picture in the dictionary, the cliffs in Taraw should be it. There were times you will need to pull yourself up with the strength of your arms just to get to the next stepping stone and I am not the leanest person you’ve seen, so go figure.”
From IronWulfdotnet: “I thought this was gonna be easy. Like walking on regular mountain trails and winding roads… My mountain climbing experience didn’t prepare me for this. We were traversing the sharp and jagged limestone trails and pulling ourselves up along almost vertical walls… A few more climbs to the peak, the trail became more challenging and dangerous that one step could send me plummeting down to the sharp rocks.”
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01 Apr 2012
by angkuletin Palawan Tags: Dilumacad Island, El Nido, El Nido Resorts, fishing, Helicopter Island, Nikon D40, Palawan, Pentax Optio WP, sunset, sunset cruise, sunset fishing, turtles
Two things:
1. Sunset Cruise
Offered by tour operators, it involves just chilling out on a boat in the middle of the sea, with a bottle or two of beer and some packed barbecue, while the sun sets in the background. Quite a normal activity one would say, except they add a twist by putting you on a small outrigger boat – with a bottle of San Miguel beer, dare I say.
I have never done this.
2. Fishing
I lived in El Nido without really going into the details of actual fishing. The most common I encountered was something they called kawil. “Teacher, nangawil kami,” is what my students used to tell me. It involved putting a bait on a hook and just waiting for the fish. The usual, except one had to catch the bait first, and they weren’t worms. During low tide, the sand and rocks get exposed and sea creatures would get trapped in holes in the sand or in spaces in between rocks.
During the months of February, March and April, the El Nido horizon would glow with a multitude of lights. One of the teachers even said it made her think Manila was just nearby as she had thought the lights were coming from Manila. The lights in truth came from the lights of fishermen catching squid.
If there was something I regretted not having done, despite the opportunities to, was go out with the fisher folks to catch squid, or at least watch them do it. The catch sadly did not reach the shores of the town, as they were sold right then and there to Taiwanese merchants aboard their own ships.
What I did do was go out with my friends Likha, Derick, and Eric, to fish as the sun was setting.
What we did first was catch an octopus stranded in little holes in the sand by leaving a trailing bait out on the beach.
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31 Mar 2012
by angkuletin Palawan, Travel Tags: 2005, Caalan, Cadlao Island, chronicles, El Nido, Makulay Lodge, Palawan, Pentax Optio WP, Rose
My very first camera was a gift from my mother on my 14th birthday. It was a cheap almost disposable camera that I loved to death and brought with me everywhere. It took really ugly photos, in hindsight, but photos that bring back a lot of good memories nevertheless. I’m still proud of the camera and the photos even if half the faces in the photos are now indiscernible.
I remember having a camera in grade school though and that the very first photo that I ever took that I was considerably proud of was a photo of Mt. Mayon and the Cagsawa Ruins. I was on a school field trip and I was twelve.
I tend to forget though that I had my first camera at 14 so when I am asked what my first camera was, I always say it was a Pentax camera that I got when I was 23. It was the very first waterproof camera – a 5.0 megapixel Pentax Optio WP that H (who then went by the alias B) bought for me in 2005. It was perfect for the life I lived back then – a life in El Nido. Though this camera was quickly eclipsed by so many other cameras that came right after, it will always go down in history as the sturdiest camera I ever owned. I handled it as one would handle a gadget in the islands, exposed to sun, sand, salt water, dust and all kinds of things, and never really took care of it; and yet it lasted five years. It recorded its last underwater video while we were snorkeling in Balicasag Island in Bohol in 2010.
The first photos I took in El Nido with my brand spanking new Pentax Optio WP were of the house on the hill.
Armie, who had been living in El Nido for two years, brought us, her new housemates, to the house for the first time. There, we met Rose, a beautiful dark-skinned, slender woman with deep set eyes who lived alone in the house most of the year. Everything about the house bespoke that an artist lived there. I fell in love with the place the moment my hand opened that wooden screened door.
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30 Mar 2012
by angkuletin Personal, Travel Tags: background story, chronicles, introduction, past
My unscientific stereotyping of Facebook users based on status updates and posted photos:
Toddler pictures: late twenties to early thirties
Child(ren) and toddler: early thirties to forties
Travels: singles with quarter life crisis
Old photos: quarter life crisis
Foodies: single females with quarter life crisis
Hobbies/running/photography/biking/diving/etc: single males with quarter life crisis
Pet pictures: single but looking
Bitter status updates: just turned single
Couple pictures: newly minted “in a relationship”
Status updates defining love: either “it’s complicated” or in a heterosexual relationship
Youtube/myspace links: maraming oras sa trabaho
Digg: bored
Religious quotes: your parents
Spam: gullible
Zynga games: escapist
This was posted by someone called H on Facebook and I happen to fall under “late twenties to early thirties” and yes, “quarter life crisis”, at least if I have every intention of living up to a hundred twenty.
Yes, I have been posting a lot of old photos. Not for anything but because my mother passed away, my father has “gone missing”, my siblings’ families are in other countries and I was left all alone at our family home in Camarines Sur, with nothing but a lot of people that I miss and a lot of mementoes of their once all being there. Since my mother has been gone for a year, that gave me license to clean up our home and move things. That’s when I went through all the family albums, all the childhood toys and clothes, and all the things I left in my bedroom when I left when I was seventeen. A lot have changed and yet nothing really has. The more things change, the more they stay the same, so the cliche goes.
It was fun to know that people that I thought I met just last year were actually people that I knew from years ago because they showed up in the photos of me and my siblings. Some of them were still skinny, some of them still had hair, some of them looked “really hot” but yes, they are still the same people.
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29 Mar 2012
by angkuletin Aklan Tags: barbecue ribs, Kalibo, Kalibo Cathedral, Kitty's Kitchen, lunch
On our way back to Manila, we left Boracay early and afforded us a little time in Kalibo to grab some lunch at Kitty’s Kitchen and drop by the Kalibo Cathedral.
KITTY’S KITCHEN
Kitty’s Kitchen is recommended for its barbecue ribs so that’s what we tried – and we we’re not disappointed. (Click here to see a list of other establishments in Kalibo and their specialties)
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