Road Trippin' to Simala, Dalaguete Beach Park and Molave Milk Station

Our friends Jovie and his wifey Pinkle  invited us on a Road Trip to Simala Shrine last Sunday- July 7, 2013. It was a beautiful, sunny morning and certainly a great day for a Road Trip.

We got to Simala around 11 AM. I was amazed how Simala has changed over the past year. It looked so simple before and now, it looks more like a palace. Nevertheless, I enjoyed going through the steps with the station of the cross statues in gold.

We then went inside silently and prayed. Ronald and I are thankful of all the blessing we received. Specially since our last prayer got answered. Thankful that our relationship is now more than a decade and we still feel strongly about each other. Thankful of all the blessings, love, understanding and support given to us by our family and friends. Thankful of the good health and after all that we have been through, we are still together.

With half the day spent, we decided to go to Dalaguete. Pinkle suggested the Dalaguete Beach Park. It's a white sand, public beach located just along the Argao-Dalaguete border. About 2-2.5 hours from Cebu City. I was very surprised seeing the white sands, the beautiful shoreline and the silhouette of Bohol Island not far from where we were. I instantly love it! 

I can just sit here and relax, let time pass and let the view sweep my busy life problems away!  I've always been a beach girl. I just love the white sand, the heat, the water and the wind. I have had a lot of great memories at the beach, it makes me want to stay a little bit longer.

Even though it's a public beach, it is clean and well maintained by the government officials. You can get it in with a minimal fee of Php 20.00 and another Php 20.00 parking fee. Their cottage ranges  from Php 150.00 - 250.00. So it's very affordable! A lot of locals bring their mats with them and just sit on the white sand instead.

A lot of people come on weekends - Sunday, but it should be pretty deserted on weekdays. It's like a hidden beach resort that a lot of people don't know about.  Another destination to visit again soon! Maybe we get to stay overnight and sleep on a tent.

After a dip, we decided to stop by the Molave Milk Station for some carabao's milk and ice cream. Since it's out of the way (other side of the mountain), they decided to take the shortcut from Sibonga-Dumanjug route to get to Barili (where the Molave Milk Station is) instead of going back to Car-car and then take the Barili route.

We were in for a surprise when we we saw a sign saying 74 kilometers, silently I computed the distance. If we are running 50 kilometers per hour, it will take us 1 hour and 20 minutes, more or less to get to Dumanhug. We decided to go ahead with the route since we were already half way.

And then it hit us, the cellphone signal started to keep on disconnecting, on and off and on and off. And the road went from cement, to asphalt and then dirt road. We started to think that we should turn around and go back to Dalaguete. We then became paranoid and started talking about the WRONG TURN movie. The guys started talking about the the kids and a few people walking along the road, they were looking at us, in a weird way and the the sun started to come down, it then started to get darker outside. I said "do we need to turn our t-shirts inside out?" just to clear the tension. We started laughing at our thoughts and started joking around. Ron then said to watch out for the people around us, they may start turning into "mananangals". Haha, we then started to think about the Manilyn Reynes movie "aswang". 

It was one hell of an adventure! After an hour or so, we arrived at Dumanhug, and made our way to Barili. The carabao vanilla ice cream certainly is worth the adventurous ride! Thanks for the great company Jovie and Pinkie for being a great sport! Haha!

We headed back to the City and went to S&R for some dinner and shopping. It's our first time there and we were amazed by the menu and the pizza was so good! Someday, magpapa member din kami! They have very yummy pizza and chicken!

As we headed home another unforeseen incident happened, a forenger (foreigner) suddenly shouted at Ronald for being an ASS! The forenger wanted to overtake us but since we were faster than him, he missed the exit. Of course, Ronald, the hot head and always willing to fight back started shouting back at the forenger! Jovie and Pinkie was in for a SHOCK! For me, it was a constant thing, it's always been like that if Ronald is the driver. Good thing the forgener escaped when he had the chance. I'm sure Ronald will not back down. Specially not to a forenger opponent.

What a day! It was definitely an adventure worth telling! Till next time Jovie and Pinkle!

The 3rd of Fireworks Hunting.

Sinulog 2013 was a blast!

I say it was the best Sinulog experience I've had so far, the highlight of my experience was the fireworks in Ayala. I would never miss it for anything in the world! It's been a tradition for me and my husband to go street dancing and then watch Ayala's fireworks for 4 years now and I always feel overwhelmed by the people partying with Red Horse on their hands and see how many people crowd at the Ayala parking lot just to see the fireworks!

As usual, palpak na naman! My husband and I brought our Canon and tripod with us for the fireworks. But when the fireworks started, we realized we didn't bring with us the mount. Haha, so we were not able to shoot good stuff again! We actually thought we came prepared, just like last time.

But as usual, paraparaan na naman just to get the shots we want! Below are a few of the shots we have taken. I hope you guys enjoy it, like you are watching it live!

Credits to Ronald Conde for an amazing job!

Fresh Cup Of Tea, Some Exercising and FUN with ZUMBA!

Nothing like a hot cup of tea on a cold, rainy Sunday afternoon!

I was recently diagnosed with Hypertensive Urgency which got  me admitted to the hospital for three days. The thing that got the doctors alarmed was I never got any common symptoms like blurry vision or other vision disturbances, Headache, Dizziness, Nausea or appetite changes. They had me tested for other possible  conditions like diabetes, heart enlargement and cholesterol. Thank God they are all normal!

Having been admitted and diagnosed, I am now conscious with my eating habits. I wanted to change my lifestyle and loose weight. I've been struggling with my weight for the longest time, but now I need to struggle harder and get the results that I want. 

First thing to change is my coffee drinking. The doctor specifically said that it boosts pressure. .A friend told me to switch from drinking coffee to tea as it lowers blood pressure.I googled it and found out that she is indeed right. It also has L-theanine which explains why tea has rejuvenating effects. It helps reduce the negative effects of stress which is great since I do have a stressful job!

I then started drinking Lipton Yellow Label Tea and got addicted to it. I prefer to drink it before every meal.

L-theanine is also purported to increase concentration, promote weight loss, and boost the immune system. In addition, some proponents suggest that L-theanine can prevent stroke, Alzheimer's disease, and some forms of cancer. WOW, isn't that amazing?! That's a lot of positive effects from a cup of hot tea!

More medical benefits are explained on Lipton's fact sheet. You may download it here. Of course, too much of something, no matter how good that something is for the body will eventually become unhealthy. So  2-3 cups a day is the maximum for me.

Next is Cardiovascular Exercise! It's the best exercise for both the lungs and the heart. It improves your endurance,tolerance and helps you relax. I then started jogging early in the morning from Bacayan down to Talamban proper and vice versa every Sunday and Monday morning. It's kind of nice to be out so early in the morning, the air is fresh and a bit cold which i liked so much! During weekdays, I just do sit ups and stretching and Zumba dancing.

One Sunday afternoon, Jessica Soho featured Zumba being a popular work out in Latin and North America and is slowly  being introduced here in the Philippines. It's fun, funky and very very effective!  A friend gave me a copy of of the Zumba Fitness and it was indeed fun. Tried it for 5 minutes and I was sweating like a pig already! I like it since I always love dancing, and Zumba incorporate Latin music to International music!

Here's one of their beginners class. Shake that booty! Shake that booty!

Well I guess i need to get used to this lifestyle to get better. It's bad enough that I have a condition at such a young age. I am just glad that I now know about it and so I can do something about it.

DAVAO + GENERAL SANTOS + LAKE SEBU + GLAN

It's a long-awaited trip and have been planning it for the longest time and we finally got to visit Tetet's hometown! We went to Davao first, then traveled by bus for about 4 hours to get to General Santos and then Van to Polomolok, South Cotabato.

Everything was just perfect! The air felt so clean and fresh. We arrived around 7:00 PM and as soon as I got out of the VAN, I suddenly felt the cold air rushing through me. Wow, it's like Baguio minus the smell of the pine trees!

Do enjoy my pics as we toured around SocSkSarGen and thank you so much to Tetet and her family's hospitality. It was such a great experience!

while on the bus to General Santos

Mt Matutum I believe is an non active volcano

The next day, we went to the 7 falls of Lake Sebu and it has the most magnificent view! It's a series of cascading waterfalls one after the other. I think it is the main tourist spot of Lake Sebu. It's the place one shouldn’t miss. I didn't ride the Zipline though, it was just too high and too long and I didn't feel like it. But it would have been nice to see the aerial view of the 7 falls. Damn! Seeing the photos that I found from other blogs make me want to go back and ride the ZipLine, haha! But I am so thankful to have the opportunity to visit the  place. It has the most breath taking view!

 

We then went to Punta Isla Lake Resort where we ate our lunch! Everyone ate a big meal, I specially love the Chicharon Tilapia and the one wrapped in cabbage with a curry paste. I would love to go back and savor them again.

Lunch at Punta Isla Lake Resort

Sarangani's Provincial Capitol

sayang, PACMAN was not there at the time

The next day we went to the beach! We went to Isla Jardin del mar, a white sand beach, they said it was once a secluded cove along the shorelines of Glan, Gumasa. It is a very relaxing and romantice place, specially during sunset. It ts the perfect place to watch the sun go down the Celebes sea horizon.

 

While uploading the pics on FB, I started to browse through my list of places to visit, and noticed Glan's famous beach is one of it. I am glad I have one place crossed out.. Yey!

BROMANCE Brewing

I had so much fun at our trip to GENERAL SANTOS CITY that I edited a few pictures of Ronald and Efren fooling around while we were going from one place to another. Boy I had so much fun editing it as both guys were on the go and never hesitated to follow my lead.

BROMANCE is a slang word for brother romance.It is a close non-sexual relationship between two (or more) men.

Love you Ronald and Efren, these pictures are for you guys and thank you for making this trip so much fun!

Bromance S01E01

Bromance S01e02

Bromance S01E03

Bromance S01E04

Bromance S01e05

season ending

Addicted to DEKARON Online GAME

Ronald and I have been playing Dekaron for 4 years now. First server we played was EG Dekaron. We played there for almost a year. The name of our Heroes were sophiaIzzz (Incar Magician), Devilgrave (Azure Knight) and jloscrib (Aloken). Our first Max hero is sophiaIzzz and was a member of a guild called YounGunzInc. Most of the players are pinoy but we were particularly close to a group of overseas pinoy workers in Saudi Arabia. I'm a bit proud being on that guild as you can feel the friendship among players and there was never a dull moment, even if one get killed on battles. 


But, something happened. A GM sent sophiaIzz to prison and said that I was using TELE - HACK, that's when I started hating the game. He posted a video with sophiaIzz using a Tele hack. I was heart broken and disappointed as we never tried using any hacking software just to level up. 


They posted the video on YouTube and so I poured my heart out on how i feel about our character being sent to prison and then got banned. I posted a lot of comments, but they deleted it, so I downloaded the said video and posted it myself. We sent a personal message to the head Game Master and told him about my character, they reviewed it and eventually  freed our character. Thank God!

But, it's not the same anymore, me and my husband lost interest. And eventually stopped playing.


After 2 years, me and Ronald got married and got our own place. One night, I was alone at home with nothing to do and got tired of watching sitcoms, I started searching for Dekaron servers and found DEKARON NEMESIS. I downloaded the game and opened a new account, I then named my favorite hero as SophiaIzzz. She is max now with 2 Birth Rights and Max Rebirths. She is now a member of a guild called RED. I started loving the game again and Ronald got addicted.


We started voting online to get Coins, which are free, so we can buy stuffs for our hero. We then started donating, our first donation was $50, in return we got 28k tickets. We were able to buy max weapons and armor, plus rings and gems. SophiaIzzz became a monster, low level characters started calling her mumu or simply Miss Sophia.


It is fun and exciting, it's a level up and a PVP game. It's through the game where I feel strong and that I can be myself around anyone. Because, they never get to see the physical me. I get to joke around and laugh with other characters. I get to be strong and defend my guild members and even other friends from other guilds. I get to KILL unwanted characters and never feel bad about it. I get to be a winner and not a loser.  It boost my confidence a bit.


It's through the game that me and Ronald get along so much. His hero's name is Devilgrave and he is a Knight. I often call him my Knight in shining armor. Haha, parang fairy tale. My friends on the game knows I'm married and that I'm 27. I have friends who are 14, 17, 18 and some are older than me, ages 30 and 35. 

Here's SophiaIzzz while leveling with IDMBoy..

                               Here she is now..

The 2nd of Fireworks Hunting

Sinulog 2012 was amazing! Although I was only able to get to the streets around 6:00 PM. Almost everyone are already drunk and the contestants are all sweaty. We decided to wait for Ayala's firework display.

We bunked near the Pioneer bldg in Ayala and waited for 8:00PM schedule fireworks display. A bit excited. We got a new tripod and we are looking forward to getting great shots of the fireworks display.

With nothing to do for two hours, we fondled a few settings on the camera and shot a few pics..

So many people waiting for the fireworks!

And then the fireworks started! I got really paranoid as we were directly below the fireworks! Instead of firework hunting, I started to hold Ron's hand and let him do the hunting! Haha.. With the ooohhhss and aaahhhs you hear from the back ground, I hear shrieks, squeals and howls. Hehe, seems like I am not the only one feeling concerned while seeing a few strands of fireworks fall a few meters behind us with fire on them! Yeah! Freaky, huh?!!.

But Ron just laughed at me started shooting, reassuring me at the same time that all is well. Hehe, he never fails to amuse me. Glad to have him beside me with such a romantic time seeing bright colors above.

Here's a few scraps. Hope you enjoy the  fireworks!

this one I like a hundred times!

so colorful!

so many fireworks that came up at one time!!

the sky is full of 'em!

wishing for a wide angle lens, eh?!

notice how big the fireworks are?! That's means we are truly

just below it..

can't help but feel paranoid again.. hahaha!