Eagle Point Resort

Relatives from the United States visited the Philippines last February 4. They already went back last February 15. It was our first time meeting two of our cousins from the US. They're the only ones we haven't met. Names? Daniel and Marc. They're really cool and funny. We met them when we were in Eagle Point Resort in Batangas, Philippines. I was with my other cousin loitering around the lobby when we saw two American dudes each carrying a couple of bags.

So what did we do in Eagle Point Resort? Eat. Eat. Eat. Eat...and eat. We just kept on eating!!! HAHA! One thing we all have in common is that we really love food. Even cousin Daniel says so.

What other activities? Uhhh.. We also went snorkeling. I was a bit nervous because I don't really like swimming in sea. I know how to swim but I prefer the swimming pool. You'll never know what deadly lifeforms you're swimming with. Sometimes it can be scary. Or is it just me??? HAHA! Still, I wanted to try snorkeling for fun. My cousins were teasing me about sharks but heck, there really was! The resort was keeping it as a pet. No worries.. there's a tank for them. HAHA!  I'll tell the story later about the sharks. HAHA! For now, I'll go with snorkeling. HAHA! So yeah... it was a first for me. There I met Nemo, Marlin, adn Dory. HAHA! I saw many fishes and some weird-looking corals??? Looked like a brain to me. HAHA! Not to mention the sea urchins! Ugh... Kinda scary when there were so many of 'em. Gives me the chills too.

Kudos to cousin Daniel who did not wear fins nor life vest. He was wearing these but one of our cousins wasn't able to bring so he gave it to her (Kate).  How nice of him.  :) Kate's really brave. She doesn't know how to swim yet still went snorkeling with us. HAHA! We fed the fishes while we're at it. Oh! And there was also that time when we saw a long sea snake... not! HAHA! We thought it was a sea snake. We were like "Whoa sh*t!" and swam to the opposite direction. HAHA! And I was just above it! Daaayymmnnnn. That scared the hell out of us. HAHA! Sorry if there are no pictures. We were too busy having fun. :P

Okay... so off to the sharks. I said something about a tank, right? I'm not really sure if that's a 'tank'. HAHA! Anyway... we were feeding the sharks. There were French ladies testing their equipment for scuba diving.

They swam with the sharks. My cousins were being naughty. They kept throwing bait at the scuba divers so the sharks would go to them. HAHA! And take note... the husband of one of the ladies was just beside us as we throw the bait straight at them. HAHA! Well... we did ask if it's okay, and he said yes! HAHA! Crazy. But what's crazier was that he let his son swim in the tank! With the sharks!!! Big jaw drop for us. HAHA!

We were very surprised so we asked if it was okay because there are sharks in there and an employee of the resort said those sharks won't harm them. HAHA! Daniel dared us to go swim with the sharks too. He'll go if any of us goes. I wanted to take the challenge but seeing how gruesome the water is, I decided to back off. HAHA! Then again, there was a part of me scared to go swimming with the sharks. :P But maybe... just maybe... if the water isn't so dirty... I'll probably take the challenge.

Here are some random shots of the resort.

Philippine Fashion Week: Cary Santiago

It was the first time I've been to a fashion show. I've been aware of the Philippine Fashion Week for so long and always thought of seeing it in person. But then I end up hesitating and not attending at all. Not that I had invites. This time, I got lucky for being randomly chosen to be given free passes to the said event.

I will be dividing my posts by show. I took a lot of pictures (mostly poorly taken) so I guess blog posts about PHFW will most likely be a gallery of what I took. 

First fashion show I've attended was on October 26, that of Cary Santiago. I was seated a bit far so I had difficulty in taking pictures.

There goes the runway...

Look who I spotted while taking pics from a far!

Vice Ganda and Liz Uy! 

I wanted to take a picture with them and with the models but I felt shy. HAHA! Here are some photos taken by professionals. Grabbed from Philippine Fashion Week's page...

Here are some of my favorites...

I wanted to see Danica Magpantay. I was really hoping to see her in person. :">

Will be attending more fashion shows! 

Phantom of the Opera

That's right! Looks like I'll get the chance to watch the world's most successful and popular musical, and the longest running show on Broadway, The Phantom of the Opera! Lucky!!! Thank God my parents likes to watch musical stuff! HAHA! I'll be watching with them on October 6! Woohoo!

Some of my friends were able to watch it already and of course, there's the positive feedback. I can't wait to see it! 

Ilocos Road Trip

It was a tiring journey to the upper end of Luzon. A 12-hour trip can be both tiring and boring if you're just sitting, doing nothing but stare out the window. Tiring because I couldn't sleep well inside the car [Yes. I feel tired if I can't sleep well, even without doing anything], and boring because I've got nothing better to do but sit or sleep. HAHA!

We were with another group of people. Friends of my mom with their families. We were ahead of them because they had this schedule which we cannot fully follow.

Here are some of the places we visited including churches, beaches, museums, and other historical areas of Ilocos Sur and Ilocos Norte. [Philippines]

First stop: Vigan, Ilocos Sur. It was pretty much filled with old houses. But honestly, I've seen more in Bulacan. Here's the Heritage with its pasalubong or souvenir shops. :)

We took a Kalesa ride with a Php150 ($3.50) per hour rate while we visit several tourist spots of Vigan.

Loom Weaving

It was a good thing we were a bit earlier than other tourists. When we were heading to the next destination, a bus filled with students[?] came. >_<

Tobacco field

I took this pic on the way while riding the kalesa. 

Baluarte

It was around noon when we came here. It was SOOO HOT! But it was worth it. We took a lot of pictures with the animals. We love the tiger part! And the parrot! HAHA! 

RAWR!

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Ilocos Norte

Paoay Church

Someone was getting married so we didn't go inside the church.

Burgos Light House

It's not that far but I still had a hard time getting to the top. I blame the steep stairs! Ugh. [HAHA!] 

Windmill

Pagudpud

My father couldn't contact the hotel for reservation so it was a risk on our part when we arrived at Pagudpud. It was quite an uproar. My mom's friends had their reservations but three of the rooms didn't have AC and there's no room for us. Our family was in a bit of panic. The other party also has some problems they had to deal with. For us, it's "Where are we going to spend the night?!"

Okay... honestly, I didn't panic. HAHA! I was busy taking pictures all over. HAHA! Well... they did find a room or two, but it's not the same "hotel". There's no TV, no heater, no bouncy bed. And it cost us [specifically my dad] how much?! Well...other places were fully booked. It's "Take it or Leave it". :(

We also went to museums in Ilocos. Museums such as Elpidio Quirino's House, Ferdinand Marcos Presidential Center as well as that of the Crisologo. There's also the Hidden Garden and Jar Making in Ilocos Sur but we didn't stay long. 

Quiapo findings

I decided to go shopping on my own today but since I'm on budget, I went for a cheaper place. Malls won't do me good so I went to Quiapo. It was my first time going to Quiapo... alone. I always went there with my mom so it was a whole new experience for me. I vaguely remember how to get there because all I did was follow her and not bother to look around that much except for the places that really interest me.

Those from the picture are the things I bought. My objective for the day was to find materials for my upcoming craft projects which I'll be starting once I get back home (province). I left most of my craft materials there so I can't do crafts right now.

I remember the shops where I bought materials when I was in high school.  I took LRT and dropped off at Carriedo. At first, I lost my way because I couldn't find Villalobos street where you find beads and many other materials for jewelry making at a good price. Turns out I went the wrong way from the very beginning after I went down the train station. HAHA! I brought a map I got from google to find Villalobos street, but it seems that it was really useless. HAHA! When I finally gave up and went back to the LRT station, I visited some shops then suddenly I started getting familiar with the place and went for a stroll around. And so.. I found Villalobos street. [Congratulations! HAHA!] Now I completely know the route for it. HEHE!

I visited many shops includng  DIY Beads, Wellmansons, Pot of Gems, Butingting, and Chain Beads Components. These can all be found at Villalobos Street of Quiapo.

The last time I went to Chain Beads Components, there were enamel charms that were all so cute that I bought a lot which made me run out of money fast. HAHA! But today... I didn't seem to like what was displayed. Or perhaps it's because I just didn't notice it. Also, compared to other shops I think that their price is a bit higher. 

The most that cost me is when I visited this certain shop where they have stainless chains, rings and pendants which go about hundreds. I forgot the shop's name but it really made me buy several stainless stuff. HAHA! 

It was fun shopping at Quiapo even though I bought several unnecessary things for my craft creations that I will hopefuly start by next week. HAHA!

BTW, I just signed up at Bloglovin. 

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Loving Alabang Town

Field trip's one of my favorite activities and we just had one today. I won't be talking about where we went and I'll save you the "what-happened" talk. HAHA! My only highlight for this event is our stopover for lunch in Alabang Town. :)

Although the place isn't that big, its got this ambiance which attracts me. It was my first time there and sadly, I did not fully enjoy my stay because we were only limited of 1 hour. We can't forget that we were only there to eat.

And exactly where did we eat?

We ate at a Japanese restaurant called johnandyoko. Our friend, Ana lives near Alabang Town and often visits so she knows it well.

The restaurant was a bit expensive for students like me. Good thing I prepared enough cash with me. HAHA! If I remember correctly, I ordered Tori Kawayaki and Gohan rice. There's California Maki in the pic because that's what my friend, Jeth ordered. I forgot to take a picture of my food because I was so hungry that as soon as the waitress served it, I instantly digged in. HAHA! I had the same food order as my friend, Winnona. It tasted good. HAHA! Arvie [yes.. another friend :)] told me I've got some weird appetite. HAHA!

Right after eating, there wasn't enough time to go shopping so we headed back to the meet-up point. On our way, I found several nice clothes I wanted to try AND buy! It'll be nice to visit Alabang Town again. I wonder when will it be though? HAHA!

Celebrating at China Town

October 7, 2011 ▬ I just got back from dinner outside. We celebrated the 18th birthday of our friend, Jesson though he had his birthday last October 3. He treated us at a certain chinese restaurant in Binondo. We ate a lot and when I mean "a lot", it's really a lot. HAHA! It's been so long since we had fun talking, discussing whatever comes to our mind. There were some dead air but there's always someone who will start a new topic of conversation. There were five of us. Other members of our group weren't able to come. Some of the reasons: they have class, they live far away, they'll be going home late. Still, the fun won't stop just because we're missing some people, but it would have been better if they were there.

At first, I was in a bad mood because we took jeep as a means of transportation and smoke I inhaled made me feel very uncomfortable. I don't mind using jeep instead of taxi. I just don't like the smoke. Not only that, I was being secretly emotional. HAHA! It was obvious that I was on a bad mood and I felt so embarrassed with the way my friends were behaving. I didn't really care at first, but people started staring and... it didn't feel right. Then suddenly, it started raining. Just a drizzle though. So we searched for a suitable restaurant, but most of it are already closed. It was around 8pm when we were strolling around Manila China Town. 

After eating, then we started talking more about philosophy, beliefs, love, relationships, kissing, and many other things. It was a fun and enjoyable, yet sometimes confusing conversation. Confusing at least on my part. HAHA! I hope this will not just be the end of it. From time to time, we'll be having this kind of dinner among friends and enjoy ourselves. Besides, we're not doing anything bad. We don't drink alcoholic beverages nor do we smoke. We just talk. I don't see any harm on that.  It's also good for the mind. We relate our conversations to different topics of our subjects. :)

Seeing that we were the only ones left in the restaurant, Jesson paid for the whole dinner which amounted to Php1500. I think it was worth it because seeing how many dishes were served, we were able to finish it. That's how we love food. HAHA!

Next is the penthouse above our friend, Kierby's home. We also went there to talk. Yes, we just talk about things. I also asked some of their insights or opinions about my current position of whether the current course I am taking is the right for me. We weren't there for long because our friend, Kim's mom is worried. We don't blame her that the evening had to end like that. We understand and it's no big deal. We all had fun. I'm sure of it. I really wish we'll do this again. 

Oh! And this time, I insisted on taking taxi, but the inside of the vehicle smells like smoke from cigarette. HAHA!