November 20, 2011

Blotted then Inked

Due to a series of unfortunate events, I was not able to update my blog or create a new post. I don't have anything significant to blog about for the last couple of weeks for it has been a roller coaster ride for me. Well November is my birthday month. I am actually a Valentine baby, as I would love to claim. I was probably created in some time in February of 198*... hehehe.. now isn't the time to disclose my age... besides I stopped counting my age at 24... lol! it's funny that whenever I fill out forms I still put 24 as my age! And then I realized I couldn't lie for my birthday says how old I really am... but, as the cliche' saying goes, age is just a number...




So for my birthday, I decided to get inked... I know that people are thinking that I did this out of the emotions I have been having recently. But they're wrong... This is not a product of a faulty decision-making when someone's not in a good state of mind (or feelings, for that matter).. And definitely not a spur of the moment idea... Unfortunately for the envious and haters, I am not pathetic and a loser... I wanted to get inked since last year, but I wanted to put a lot of thought into it and my birthday this year felt like it is time to finally said: "I'm getting that tattoo, I just want to get it over and done with!"

October 16, 2011

Ford Philippines - Fiesta Anniversary Party

And then one day a post from Ford Fiesta Philippines said that they'll be having an anniversary party for Ford Fiesta owners, members should submit some requirements in order to be part of the event.


photo taken from Ford Fiesta Philippines Facebook page

So he did and a few weeks later he received a phone call confirming his attendance and informing him that he would receive his invite through email. This is what the invite looked and you need to put this on your windshield so you can enter the venue which was at MC Home Depot in Bonifacio Global City.

September 11, 2011

Foodie Trip: Kopi Tiam

I may not be a hard-core food critic but I'm a hundred percent foodie! I love food and I love to eat (that's why I easily gain weight lol!). I have a long list of my favorite dishes and desserts. You can't force me to choose just one. I have a group of friends, a.k.a. Pokerfaces, who I have been friends for 7 years now... and counting! For several months now, a couple of us get together and bond over food. Almost, or every other Sunday night, we look for new  places where we can dine and just converse about anything under-the-sun.





A few months back, we have discovered this restaurant near Camp Crame, named "Kopi Tiam". It's one of the restaurants from the North Park group.

September 7, 2011

Missing Coron...

Missing Coron.... I never liked the rain... it makes my days seemed so gloomy. I can't do much and makes me feel lazy... it may sound exaggerated, but when it rains I feel like anytime it'll be the end of the world... Since it's been raining occasionally and almost every week now, I suddenly wished that it was summer once again... and then I thought of Coron... I miss Coron... 



Coron from up above


Coron is one of the most beautiful Philippine destinations I've ever been too. Well, it's on top of my list... I've been to few tourist spots that claim that they're the best. But for me nothing, still, beats Coron; especially its beaches! I've been there twice (once in 2010 and the one was in early 2011) and I will always go back whenever I have the chance. It's a complete paradise in Coron! There's so many things I love about Coron... the destinations, the locals, the town, the food, and our host! You'll be surprised to find yourself to be the one  surrendering from all the things that you can do and from all places that you can go to.


Missing Coron...Mommita's Lodge

Where we stayed: Mommita's Lodge. Our accommodation was a referral to a friend, who was with us during our first trip: Mommita's Lodge. It's not a hotel or any fancy place to stay, but you will be overwhelmed from the hospitality that this place will make you experience.




I think it's their house converted into a lodge with spacious areas and a couple of rooms and toilet/baths. The  place is well maintained and always clean.

Missing Coron... Barracuda lake

This lake somewhat gives me a sense of eeriness. Stories say that it was named after a barracuda that supposedly resides within its waters. The trek to get there is shorter than Kayangan's, but steeper. Thank God that the second time I visited this place, there were already wooden ladders and they put wooden pathways on the side of the lake (like those at Kayangan's)




The depth of the lake is as tall as the surrounding cliffs, our tour guide told us. There were divers when we arrived, and I don't know if they were just playing with our minds, but they said they saw the barracuda swimming in the deep water. Barracuda lake is one the top diving sites in Coron, btw.

Missing Coron... Other Popular Beaches in Coron

Atuwayan Beach
This is where we had our lunch during our first trip to Coron. The sand is brownish but very fine. The water, is as usual, crystalline clear.




There are kayaks the you can rent as the water is quite calm and the beach is in a a cove. Corals and fishes are also bountiful and just a few steps away from the shore.

Missing Coron... Helldivers' Bar

Since I am a WWII fan (not the war itself, but the stories and memorabilia from that era) I loved Helldivers' Bar! Helldivers were bomber planes back in WWII, I guess.




The bar have a collection of WWII memorabilia displayed in some parts of the place. Some of which were taken from the shipwrecks sunk on the seas of Palawan. The drinks and the food are just ok for its price.

Missing Coron... Limestone Cliffs

My jaw dropped the first time I saw these limestone cliffs, all I can say was: "Ganda! (Beautiful!)" These are the moments when you say to yourself, God is really powerful that He is able to create things like these... these are the moments that take your breath away...*sigh*



Missing Coron... Mount Tapyas

We climbed all the 700+ steps of Mt Tapyas, on our last day of our second trip. We got out of our beds at 5:00 am and reached the view deck, where the cross is, just before the sun rose. It was a breath-taking view. The view from the top of Mt Tapyas is an enlivening panorama of Coron Bay and the neighboring islands.





I often don't get to see the sun rise, so this is one memorable moment for me. But if you'll ask me if I'll climb Mt Tapyas again? Probably not! Lol! I thought I was going to faint halfway through our climb! had to make a several stops just to catch my breath and get some few minutes of rest. I felt so unhealthy, when on our way down, we saw some locals jogging their way up Mt. Tapyas.

Missing Coron... Maquinit Hot Springs

Maquinit Hot Springs

One mountain in Coron is a dormant volcano and where there is a volcano, hot springs are nearby. The first time I took a plunge, the water felt so hot. But when the heat conducted through my entire body, I wallowed and that was one relaxing dip!


the hot spring pool surrounded by mangroves


The floor of the pool was full of smooth pebbles, so when you're walking around, it is as good as having a foot massage. The best time to go there is at night after your whole day of trekking, snorkeling and swimming :)

READ MORE ABOUT CORON, PALAWAN:
Coron 2014 Trip:

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Missing Coron...Best Beaches in Coron: Malcapuya Island

These are my top 3 beaches in Coron

Malcapuya Island is probably my most favorite and the most beautiful island in Coron. Its long stretch of shoreline reminds me of Boracay in some way minus all the establishments and bars.




Malcapuya's sand is powdery and pinkish. Its fineness falls between Boracay's Station 1 sand and Station 2 sand. It was like walking on refined sugar! One of the best sands I've seen and walked so far :)

September 6, 2011

Missing Coron... Best Beaches in Coron: Banana Island

These are my top 3 beaches in Coron

Banana Island
On our second trip, Banana island was one of our beach destinations, instead of Bulog Island (tourists are not allowed anymore). By the look of it, it's one island that tourists frequent the most. There are alot of cottages in the island where you can stay all day or overnight. The owner of the island was there and she was fishing using her small boat and was manually putting the fish line and baits.




Unfortunately the little fishes outsmarted us. So we gave up and decided to just walk a little further from the shore. We were shock when we got near the corals and seaweeds! There swim the larger versions of the  baby fishes that we were trying to catch! And we can see them without dipping!

Missing Coron...Best Beaches in Coron: Bulog island

These are my top 3 beaches in Coron

Bulog Island
It was almost a 2-hour boat ride to Bulog and we were getting bored. I kept on asking the tour guide like I was Dory of Finding Nemo: "are we there yet?". She said "It's that island" while pointing to a tiny island. I answered: "ok..." And as we were nearing the island everyone of us gasp from what we saw from afar:


after hours of somewhat endless boat ride.. this is what will greet you...Bulog Island

We were just muttering "Ang ganda.... (Beautiful...)" in awe of what was in front of us. We were  immediately filled with excitement!

Missing Coron...Siete Pecados and Twin Lagoon

This Coron destination is a group of 7-mini islands, hence the name "siete". Just a few meters away from Coron port, Siete pecados is a protected marine sanctuary with a variety of corals and fishes. Our tour guide told us about one of its legends, she said that there were seven sisters who went swimming against their mother’s wishes, on their way home they're boat sunk and they all drowned and afterwards, seven small islands sprouted from the sea.




The first time we visited this sanctuary, it was almost sunset, so we didn't get to enjoy it that much and the current was also very strong. So the second time around, though I'm always scared to snorkel, I didn't want to miss it; and look what greeted me, schools of fish that are very excited and hungry for the bread that we fed them:

Missing Coron... Kayangan Lake

Named as the cleanest lake in the Philippines, Kayangan is one of the top stops in Coron! But make sure you have the strength to trek just to go there! You need to hike quite a few steps up and then quite a few steps down just to reach the lake. But once you reach the lake, all the stress and tiredness will be blown away, yes, you will surely be blown away by it's beauty. 




The water is aqua blue and a mixture of fresh and salt water. The place is peaceful, you can just sit on the wooden paths for hours, or you can opt to snorkel or dive. The lake is very deep but the visibility of limestone formations underwater is terrific!

August 31, 2011

A-TTEN-TION! Army+Navy

A few days ago, we tried ArmyNavy... well, that's out of curiosity. They offer your usual fast food dishes, i.e. burgers, fries, onion rings etc. But they also serve burrito, which the one thing that you can't easily get when you crave for it; unless you head off to a Mexican restaurant.




The Ambience
ArmyNavy's resto design and creative is creative, clean and somewhat sleek. The furniture and fixtures are minimal giving it a spacious effect. I don't know what it's like there, when it's a regular day.

August 26, 2011

Lipsmack for less!

My girlfriends and I recently purchased a handful of lipsticks from a Facebook seller (who sells Nyx Cosmetics.) I came to know about Nyx Cosmetics, on a one fine day, while I was browsing through Youtube for some make-up tutorials. And I came across 's channel and saw some of her reviews about Nyx cosmetics. Then I googled the website (http://www.nyxcosmetics.com) and found really pretty and quality make-up. RM and I searched for stores that sell them locally. To our dismay they sell Nyx cosmetics at much higher prices compared to the published prices on Nyx's website.




Well, RM and I have skills in online research (I hope someday we can make money out of doing that, say, online researchers?!) and we found really credible online sellers in FB. Last July one FB seller had the Nyx round lipstick on sale for only Php99 per piece! We had to order a minimum of 10 pieces so RM and I convinced another friend to buy. We ended up buying a dozen! It was supposedly RM's and CC's early Christmas gift shopping but they ended up keeping the lipsticks for themselves. Like shoes, a girl can never have too many lipsticks, agree? :-D

August 24, 2011

On Coffee Grounds...

I love coffee. I used to be a coffee addict until my physician told me that I have gastric acid reflux and I need to avoid most drinks with caffeine since it aggravates my acid reflux. Usually I would drink a cup before I go to work, then when I get to work I would drink another cup to keep me awake for the whole 8-hour shift. But that took its toll on me. Believe me, having gastric acid reflux is not the most comfortable feeling in the world! But since I have been medicating it the number of incidence has lessened and I am slowly infusing coffee back in my blood stream. I just make sure that I take meds regularly to counteract the effects of caffeine with the acidity in my stomach.




For years I have been going to Starbucks (and McDo, 711 and the pantry's coffee vendo) to get my caffeine fix but I didn’t know that they give out the left-over from the coffee that they have pressed. RM told me that I can just go to Starbucks and get a bag of the coffee grounds for free. And I can use it for several purposes.

August 22, 2011

Weekend Getaway: The Balay Indang Experience

A friend of mine told me about Balay Indang; where her mom and aunt always go to, to relax. I searched for it on the web and found pretty good reviews about it. People who went there raved about on how excellent the food and the place is. Looking at the photos on some of the blogs that reviewed it,  I was easily enticed and decided that this will be our destination for his parents' anniversary. I texted the number I got from one of the blogs and I received a reply right away. We exchanged a few more messages and our reservations were confirmed.




Balay Indang is a Bed and Breakfast destination. Although you can opt to only avail either their lunch, merienda or dinner buffets for a very very reasonable price. The place is by reservations only. They do not allow walk-ins or additional guests without 2-3 days of notice. I think their overnight stay comes with dinner and breakfast buffets and their rates/prices are per person.

August 20, 2011

Thank you Starbucks!

I dont get to enjoy Starbucks that often... I accompanied RM yesterday at Starbucks before our shift starts. She tried the new frap flavor Hazelnut Mocha frapuccino. She let me take a sip and I loved how nutty it was! While waiting for her drink, the barista gave her a coupon telling her that the next time she buys the promotional flavor (yes it is for a limited time only) she'll get a buy-one-take-one coupon! Sweet!




Btw, the other flavor is Mint java Chip.. unfortunately, I'm not fond of having mint in my coffee, I find the taste weird... I've never tried buying one, ever....

Weekend Getaway: Subic Bay Yacht Club

This is the Part II of our Subic trip. After having lunch and hanging out a bit at Xtremely Xpresso; we headed off to Subic Bay Yacht Club. SBYC is a membership-only marina/hotel/resort. But days before our trip, I have looked for places where we can spend the day in, around or near Subic.




While “extensively” searching the web, I came across the website of SBYC and browsing through, I learned that they are already offering day passes for non-members for a certain amount. I note down their contact number and called the following day to ask.

Weekend Getaway: Xtremely Xpresso - Subic

It's Ticoy's break-in! And the timing couldn’t be any more perfect, it’s our friends' birthdays too! They decided to come with us to Subic to celebrate the day that they will be a year older. It was a rainy week and our road trip was not spared. Our drive in NLEX was pretty smooth, and I concurred with NLEX’s slogan’s “Sa NLEX parang laging brand new ang sasakyan mo.” lol!  Though we can’t stop laughing when we saw that poster in one of the toll gate.


Xtremely Xpresso 's Big Ben Pizza


We also had a good drive along SCTEX. The view seems like you’re not in the Philippines, it was pretty and relaxing with all those green fields and hills. What I don’t like about SCTEX is that there were no stop-over at all, only a Portalet on the side of the road. 

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