lost in a wonderland

beautiful mess 2

2009-11-09T14:54:00.002+08:00

i remember being a ten year old back in 1934. one day after school, my mother brought me along to visit her sister in the office building where she worked. upon arriving, my aunt took us to the building's cafeteria. the song you're getting to be a habit with me from the movie 42nd street was playing on the phonograph as we entered. on one side of the cafeteria was this long counter with several stools lining it. my mother and aunt allowed me to sit on one of the stools to drink the chocolate malt shake my mother bought me while they had their chitchat on one of the tables. oh, i knew i had to sit still and behave, but those high stools were such a delight that i began spinning, spinning, spinning on it until i felt dizzy; my mother stared in dumb disbelief while my aunt just laughed at my childish antics and said that it's a miracle i didn't lose my malt shake in the process.

i have almost forgotten all about that certain visit until i saw the cafeteria again on my 85th birthday last may, when i decided to drop by this building after so many years.

note: oh-kay, i'm kidding about being 85 years old. but seeing this old cafeteria sure stirred up the imagination. :) btw, the first pic is the original; the second one was tweaked to look a bit older... err, does it?

again, the date is on the lower right corner of both fotos. i'm not kidding when i said that it was on my birthday when i went to this building. hehehe.

beautiful mess

2009-10-26T01:39:00.004+08:00

books and papers on the shelf and more of them are scattered on the floor--everything's peppered thickly with lots of dust... yes, the absolute mess in this room really caught my eye. and i love it. everything's just in place for one of the most wonderful spontaneous photo ops ever. :)

the first foto is the original shot, which i took with my fone cam.

some experimentations with brightness and contrast and whatever. if not for the graffiti on the right side, one might think this was taken in 1909 and not 2009. hehe.

travel Q and A

2009-10-21T21:38:00.003+08:00

copied this from a friend. you can do this too if you like. :)

1. would you rather travel by plane, bus, train, or boat? why? -i actually enjoy traveling by plane, bus, train and boat. =) any mode of transportation's fine with me as long as i get to my destination.

2. name the countries you've been to. which is your favorite and why? - us, australia, malaysia, thailand, france. i like all, but i wish i could have spent more time in france, which was all of 3 days. hrhrhr.

3. where in your country have you been? which place is your favorite and why? - aside from my beloved metro manila... batangas, cavite, laguna, quezon, legaspi, sorsogon, naga, baguio, banaue, cebu, leyte, northern palawan, pampanga, pangasinan, nueva ecija. my favorite would be palawan coz it was sort of like a pilgrimage to where my lola spent her childhood years (in culion island). went there with relatives and aside from exploring culion island, we went on an island safari, staying in one for 3 days 2 nights; island hopping around the calamian group of islands, and of course visiting calauit, coron and barracuda lakes and makinit hot springs. all these for one glorious week. :)

4. what do you do to kill time if you have a layover in the airport/terminal/pier? - if there's someone with me, then mega chika galore. if i'm traveling alone, i read and listen to music from my mp3. if i get bored from reading and listening to music, then i go people watching.

5. if you have a choice to go to either france or italy, where would you go and why? - there is no question. i will go to both countries. hah! ;-)

6. if you go to the beach what is the main thing that constantly bothers you? - as much as possible i don't allow anyone or anything to bother me while i'm at my most favorite spot in the world. (any beach, that is)

7. how long has it been since you last traveled? - 1 month

8. where did you go on your first airplane ride? - los angeles, ca

9. what three things do you always bring with you to your travels? - moleskine and pen (yeah, i'm old fashioned like that), and camera.

10. what is something you would definitely see in a highway? - aside from the usual vehicles, i expect to see fields... lots and lots of green fields!

11. do you over pack or under pack? - i guess overpack. i always say i have to travel light but i always end up with lotsa extras.

12. if you could visit a country for its cuisine only, which country will it be? - japan and greece

13. do you think flying first class is worth the money? - doesn't matter. i get upgraded anyway ;-) LOL

14. have you ever had to use a barf bag? - never

15. would you rather have an uninterrupted one-month (28 days) vacation in a year, or four seven-day vacations spread throughout the year? - the latter would be good. that way my vacay time won't be used up all at once, and i can choose different destinations.

16. would you go on a vacation alone? - someday.

17. if i cover all expenses for your vacation, where would you go? - norway

18. both pilots of the boeing 747 you are on have had a heart attack, the stewardess asks if anyone would be willing to try and land the plane with help from ground control. would you volunteer? - i just hope and pray that there is a pilot among the passengers. :D

19. what is one thing you find annoying that people do at the beach? - i only see myself when i'm at the beach. heheh.

20. would you rather take the scenic route or shortest route? - scenic!

21. when flying, do you prefer the window seat, middle seat, or aisle seat? any reason for it? - window seat, preferably sa may wings. very nice experience looking out the window while the plane is banking to the side where you are. it's like roller coaster in slow motion! and no rails! wahahaha

22. how well can you read a map? - haven't tried. i rely on memory.

23. what is the longest overland journey you have ever made? - from manila to bicol, and manila to banaue; new jersey to maryland, san francisco to los angeles

24. nasa is giving away free space travel packages. would you take one to travel to the outer space? - why not?

25. do you spend most of your time with other tourists when you are on vacation? - not really. might be different if i'm with a tour group tho.

26. are you a beach or mountain person?- beach, beach, beach

27. what's your biggest travel fear? what do you do to avoid this fear? - as much as possible i don't try to think of accidents. i just pray i'll arrive safely at my destination.

28. do you take your hotel's complimentary toiletries home with you? - of course. it's complimentary. :)

29. what activities do you enjoy doing when traveling? - walking, walking, walking... sightseeing, trying out delicacies, taking pictures, more walking.

30. what are the top ten places you would like to visit before you die? - all of scandinavia, japan, reunion island, uk, russia, germany, italy, andorra, spain, china

with some friends on a DIY tour of what else but manila, my manila. ;-P

honesty

2009-10-12T21:13:00.003+08:00

got tagged by gypsy.

Can you fill this out without lying (it's not hard)? You've been tagged, so now you need to answer all the questions HONESTLY. At the end, choose at least 8 people to be tagged. Don't forget to tag me!

To do this, copy this entire message, then go to "notes" under tabs on your profile page, start a new note, paste these instructions in the body of the note, delete my answers, and type yours. Easy!

Next, tag people and list their namesat the bottom. Have fun! :)

1. What was the last thing you put in your mouth?
rosquillos (finally, after so many years of not eating even one piece)

2. Where was your profile picture taken? market market (this profile pic on blogger)

3. Can you play the guitar?
Nope

4. Name someone who made you laugh today?
my bro.

5. How late did you stay up last night and why?
530am this morning. was finishing up a script

6. If you could move somewhere else, would you?
sure. depends on the place tho

7. Ever been kissed under fireworks?
no. hah. heheh.

8. Which of your friends lives closest to you on Facebook?
sherry, one of my best friends :)

9. Do you believe ex's can be friends?
maybe. i dunno.

10. How do you feel about Dr Pepper?
like it when it's ice cold. mmmmm!!!!!!

11. When was the last time you cried?
i don't remember

12. Who took your profile picture
my friend D

13. Who was the last person you took a picture of?myself.
;-P

14. Was yesterday better than today?
About the same

15. Can you live a day without TV?
sure

16. Are you upset about anything?
can't think of anything to be upset about, i just have to do what i have to do. :D

17. Do you think relationships are ever really worth it?
what kind?

18. Are you a bad influence?
get to know me and then you'll know. ;-)

19. Night out or night in?
night out. rarely do that now. woooo

20. What item(s) could you not go without during the day?
eyeglasses, radio, laptop

22. What does the last text message in your inbox say?
announcement for tomorrow's small group

23. How do you feel about your life right now?
all right

24. Do you hate anyone?
...

25. If we were to look in your Email inbox, what would we find most?
e-newsletters i rarely read, jobstreet announcements, fb notices. how sad. lol

26. Say you were given a drug test right now, would you pass?\
yes

27. Has anyone ever called you perfect before?
no.

28. What song is stuck in your head?
dreaming from the soundtrack of the movie coraline

29. Someone knocks on your window at 2:00 a.m., who do you want it to be?
my cousin whom i haven't seen for 17 years. thank God for ym and facebook. heheh.

30. Wanna have grandkids before you're 50?
no.

31. Name something you have to do tomorrow:
fix the house.

32. Do you think too much or too little?
oh, man. too much. lolol

33. Do you smile a lot?
maybe. i don't really think about it. :)

acey-chan, kuri, domjullian-----you're tagged! :D

----------------
ps. as much as i love blogging i really don't have the time to do it nowadays, except sporadically. i even thought i wasn't going on food trips that much this year when i realized that all my food trip fotos are posted in my fb. wahaha.

pasaway

2009-10-07T11:15:00.002+08:00

walking brings about so many surprises. just like this one while i was walking around the neighborhood one day.

sinabi nang wag pumarada, hala sige pa rin! tsk, tsk.

yeah baby, i'm on a signspotting roll. ;-)

a brewery stewery

2009-09-24T08:50:00.004+08:00

i saw this sign on a coffee dispenser in a convenience store somewhere in qc last july.

i guess at that time, the coffee is just warming up until someone buys a cup of it. ;-)

anyway, someone must have noticed, coz when i went back there just a couple of weeks ago, this is the sign taped on the dispenser:

now at least i know that i can get freshly brewed coffee! yey! haha :-)

"bawal umihi dito"

2009-07-23T22:26:00.010+08:00

roughly translated in english, it means "do not urinate here." one can see this sign mostly painted on fences or building walls, and is meant to discourage men to just "go" anywhere.

one certain building in manila caught my attention as it was painted on almost all its sides with the sign, plus some variations. good thing that the building is currently under renovation; these signs will be gone when it's time to give the building a new paint job.

hey... can u read dis? dis sign is talking 2 u. yes, u, man!

the guy who did this couldn't be more emphatic...

...in forbidding men to urinate on this particular doorway.

i wonder if the person who wrote this got one peso for every guy he catches urinating on this wall...

and the person who wrote this must be richer than the first one.

punishment awaits the unfortunate man who dares urinate here.

full frontal view of the sign (taken on another day)

:-)

postcards

2009-07-17T22:30:00.006+08:00

it is said that sending postcards is a dying art. living in the digital age, when people find sending e-mails more convenient than walking over to the nearest post office, i am inclined to agree. coz whenever i travel, my friends would receive long, and i mean looooooong emails from me telling them all about my latest escapades. and then when i started blogging, there was no looking back. those of you who have been following my blog would know how long some of my posts are. all that i've written would not fit one half of a postcard. but i also believe that sending postcards or letters by snail mail gives a more personal touch from the sender.

so call me old-fashioned, but even before i took writing emails and blogging seriously, i loved sending postcards to friends whenever i go out of town. when i was staying with my uncle and his family in new jersey seven years ago, i even went to new york city just to mail some friends new york postcards. this is so that they would have that "authentic feel" of new york city. ya know, with the new york stamp and all. i felt that if i mailed them from new jersey it would feel fake. hehe. but that's just me. btw, my uncle's family lived in that part of nj just across manhattan, so it was easy to get to nyc.

i also love receiving postcards and letters in the mail, so another time, i ordered... err, requested some friends to send me some snail mail when i was away for quite some time. considering the length of time mail goes out from the philippines, i made sure that they sent me the cards one month at most before i had to go back home. am i demanding or am i demanding? lol! but really, receiving something in the mail is such a nice suprise. that feeling of anticipation when i open the mailbox, and then i see something from a close friend with my name on it. now what a nice surprise that would be! however, love letters from companies that bill me so do NOT count. ;-P

a part of my postcard collection i unearthed one day while spring cleaning

one time i was thinking to myself that while my friends are receiving postcards from me, why not i, too? it would be something really different. so i made it a point from then on to send postcards to myself as well from my out of town trips instead of just buying them to send to friends or add to my collection. at present, i have a grand total of 3 postcards i sent to myself. heheh. here's one that i sent in 2007.

i'm just greeting myself here :D

now it may seem strange for someone to send postcards to oneself. i dunno, but personally aside from that exciting feeling of receiving something in the mail, it is also my way of getting a souvenir from my travels without having to collect tickets (bus, museum, plane, train), brochures, newsletters, pamphlets, etc. Not that i don't have those, i do, but they only accumulate a lot of dust and take up so much space. and i simply cannot find the time to do a scrapbook of my travels so i end up throwing them away (not without keeping them for years first). and so, collecting postcards is the way to go. getting the stamp with the postcard is an added bonus as well.

dyou have a postcard/snail mail story? feel free to share :)

happy weekend, everyone!

subic road trip pt. 2

2009-07-03T22:52:00.009+08:00

13 june 2009

the road trip back to manila was just as adventurous as it was the previous day. the only difference is that it didn't rain on our way back.

42 kms. more to... somewhere

so sunny!

as we drove along sctex once more, i could not help but notice that everything is greener than last january was. just compare the following photos i took last january and on june 13.

1 january 2009 (also posted in one of my january entries). look at that hill on the right.

13 june 2009. as you can see, the rice fields have been already harvested. this is also approximately the same spot i took a picture of last january judging from the trees.

same hill taken from another spot. that particular hill is more lush than it was 6 months ago.

so. what happened to our humongous pizza-and-burger dinner the night before?

they became breakfast, of course.

we headed back to manila at around 8am and stopped by the first pit stop after leaving sctex. there we had our pizza nuked in the microwave as the remaining slices could not fit into the store's lone oven toaster (the attendant was nice enough to microwave the pizza for us btw). as for the burger, it still tasted great even when cold.

9 remaining pizza slices for breakfast

one of the two remaining hamburger slices

i guess it's obvious by now that i love to shoot photos while on the road (refer to my roxas/boracay and first subic trips). and why would i not want to take pictures? everywhere i look, there is an interesting sight to be seen. cruisin' down nlex this time, it was all about trees, baby!

the lush trees on each side of the expressway remind me of a particular highway i passed which leads to upstate new york, coming from the jersey side of george washington bridge (turnpike, is it called?). there are also lots of trees on either side, almost exactly like nlex.

here

and here. certainly any passenger (and driver, i dare say) would be relaxed and refreshed just by looking at the sceneries around. great job, whatever company you are that's responsible for the expressway's renovation and maintenance. mntc, that's the company, right? oh yeah. i also hope that in ten years' time the expressway would have finally reached baguio, and in another five years the ilocos and cagayan regions. woot! lol :D

want weird? take a look this one:

what is wrong with this truck? and is this even allowed? with sights such as this, i promise never to sleep again while on the road. lol!

and oh. there was even a huling hirit (last hurrah) as we left nlex. all of us got distracted by this certain billboard with a dazzling model. is it aiko melendez? pia arcangel? ohh, no. when we realized that it was hilda koronel on the billboard modeling for some boutique (or is it for a make-up company? i forget.), we completely missed the off-ramp leading to edsa and had to go straight on to a. bonifacio avenue and into traffic. talaga nga naman si hilda koronel, o! hehe! but really, she's simply stunning in that billboard.

i must say that this trip is rated a million A's. what with the spontaneity of the moment, the series of adventures and misadventures that followed, and the most important of all---the fun, fun company. there wasn't any dull moment at all; us ladies seemed to laugh in every situation we found ourselves in, even when we were already getting tired--especially when we were looking for a place to stay. conversation never lagged, and we got to know just a little bit more about each other's lives. oh-kay i'm getting all sappy here, but hey, it's true. :)

oh, yes. this adventure of ours certainly made our bond stronger.

on to ze next adventure!

subic road trip

2009-06-19T17:05:00.000+08:00

i didn't expect to be back in subic after 6 months. if the last time was all about celebrating the new year with family, this time it was about four adventurous, (single) ladies (moi, l, mm, mj) out to have some crazy fun. ;-) and by crazy fun i mean spur of the moment, taking whatever comes our way and no-extra-clothes-except-for-the-ones-we're-wearing. (and risking the wrath of some people, which made it even more exciting lol)

when you're out on a road trip with friends, it seems like the world is opening up to you. the road stretches out, beckoning you to go on until you reach your destination. and wherever we looked as we drove along the highways (nlex and sctex), we were like, wow. everything. is. so. beautiful. our raucous conversations were peppered with moments of silence as we took in the sights.

we left manila at 3pm and arrived in subic at around 5.

driving along the nlex. as far as the eye can see

adventure...?

once we entered sbma we just followed the arrows to the different attractions (in the direction of ocean adventure). as zoobic and ocean adventure are situated at the far ends of the earth, we opted to go to treetop adventure instead. treetop adventure is located at the JEST area and has four kinds of attractions: tree top adventure, where one can enjoy trekking and taking a leisurely motorized cable ride among the highest branches (P350/person); forest trekking adventure (P100/person); superman ride (self-explanatory :-), P200/person); and tree drop adventure, where one can descend the 60-foot tree any way he/she likes: by rappelling, the lizard, or the australian style, in which you drop face first. sweet! (P150/person)

because the four of us are adventurous, we decided to try the superman ride. and because we arrived late in the afternoon, the ticket booth was already closed. end of supposedly first adventure in subic.

we contented ourselves with pictures :D

thataway!

food trip, as always.

well, we had another agenda on our list anyway. what adventure is complete without a food trip, right? so we headed out to xtremely xpresso, this ultra-cozy coffee shop that serves a wide range of items, from pizza, pasta, sandwiches, coffee and pastries. xtremely xpresso is also the home of the humongous big ben pizza (P699) and ben's delight burger (one kilo of beef patty! P280). eating at xtremely xpresso is one of my unfinished business from last december/january as i really wanted to try their ben's delight burger after being able to try the normal-sized burger with wasabi dressing (a juicy 1/3 pounder for only P80).

so yes. as we sat comfortably on the couches, we ordered the big ben pizza and ben's delight. it was funny to see the eyes of the other patrons follow the journey of the pizza and burger to our table, and seeing four ladies making a noble attempt in finishing off such large portions of humongous grub.

big ben pizza. 22 inch thin crust pizza loaded with lotsa toppings: sausages, ham, olives, onions, green bell peppers, mushrooms, and cheese!

ben's delight burger, before we had it sliced into 6. for a 1k of beef patty, it sure was juicy even after it was grilled. served simply with lettuce, tomato and bacon. are you up for the challenge?

almost homeless

we enjoyed our time at xtremely xpresso so much that we realized that it was kind of late to be heading back to manila. and because that day was a holiday (june 12, philippines' independence day), most of the lodgings around sbma are either fully booked or the room available does not fall within our budget. the four of us trudged along waterfront road trying to find a room to no avail. as we neared the lighthouse (the last inn along waterfront rd.), we again bumped into some friends from church (we saw each other in xtremely xpresso earlier) and we hung out together at the lighthouse for a while. we then went our separate ways but not without them promising to contact us if they found a place for us to stay.

the lighthouse. the topmost part changes colors.

friendships

when we were sure that we won't find any room to stay, we decided to head back to manila. we haven't gotten far when one of our friends called to say their group has found a place for us, a condo for rent at 2k per night. sweet.

the place is subic world plaza, a new korean-owned three-storey condominium near subic international hotel. 2k per night, P300 for an extra person. the room is quite large, with enough space for a kitchen and living room. it is airconditioned and it comes complete with 2 twin beds, tv, mini refrigerator. it also has a nice bathroom with hot and cold shower.

@ the 3rd floor front desk

everything was well and good, until i got into bed. for almost immediately, i started to sneeze and sniffle nonstop.

seems like the room wasn't occupied for quite some time, and the sheets remained unchanged until we got there and used them. when i woke up early the next day the sneezes started again. oh, glorious dust galore.

will be posting more pics soon :)

note: cheers to mm for the other pics :)

at el hogar filipino

2009-05-23T11:01:00.002+08:00

this is one of the things i did on my birthday... go to el hogar filipino building along juan luna st. in binondo. it is my most fave building there coz even though it's in a totally unkempt state (which is the understatement of the century, btw), i believe this place has a great potential. after all, countless commercials, music videos and tv shows have been filmed here. but strangely though, the building's beautiful mess makes it all the more enticing for me.

as you can see, the video is in sepia tone, which makes the place look really ancient. (i actually forgot to set it back to color, that's why. lolz) and if i were you, i guess i'd lower the volume. ;-)

birthday wish

2009-05-01T01:00:00.001+08:00

this one is a long overdue tag/post but i think it's just in time for my birthday, which will be sometime this month. ;-) got tagged by dodong flores to do this one.

here are the rules:
1.Make a list of what you want on your birthday.

2.The list should be 15 numbers

3.Post the image of this award in your posting

4.Give it to 10 friends of yours.

in random order:
1. be able to go to the beach.

2. or spend some time in binondo, which i haven't visited for a looooong time. maybe by my lonesome or with someone who wants to go with me. anyone wanna come with me? :)

3. sunny day! i know the month of may is the start of the rainy season, but i really hope it would be sunny on my birthday coz it always rains on that particular day every year. sooo gloomy.

4. a new cell phone wouldn't be so bad. ;-) am not looking for one with a camera and all those techie whoozies; as long as i'm able to text and call, it's fine. =)

5. if i won't be going to the beach or binondo, anyplace where i can spend time with some close friends would be great. especially with those i haven't seen for a long time.

6. sarah brightman's latest cd, symphony.

7. any cd of white shoes and the couples company.

8. a good mp3 player.

9. really good speakers for my laptop.

10. the latest cd of daishi dance, the green set. if not, the piano set is also good.

11. new moleskine notebook. the pages on my old one are running out :)

12. good health and safety for my loved ones.

13. blueberry cheesecake. no candles, please. lol

14. a nice lamp.

15. a dog. heehee.

so there you have it, folks. won't be tagging anyone for this but feel free to tag yourself if you like :D happy weekend!

wet sneakers

2009-04-27T22:20:00.006+08:00

i know i haven't blogged in here for quite some time; my brain is so fried and add to that, haven't gone food tripping nor had any misadventures in a while so no postable posts. (u blogfriends who are also my facebook friends know what's up tho) heheh. but i knew i had to post this one. it's been raining since the second week of april up until now, which is a very strange thing to happen as it's still supposed to be SUMMER. ok, i just can't accept the fact that the weather is like the rainy season, which is supposed to start by the last week of may. apparently the rainy season has made an early start. so much for my tan lines.

as it rained for the nth time this SUMMER, my beloved old, dilapidated travel buddy (aka chuck taylors) took in water once again while i was walking home from the office last monday. am just glad i didn't sink from all that rainwater. heheh. however, the squish-squish of my sneakers wasn't a fun feeling.

why do i insist on wearing my old pair of chucks when i already have a new pair to destroy, err, enjoy? well, the old ones feel the most comfy. yes, even when water seeps in.

the water seeped in more at the front than at the back. the watermarks are visible inside, on the side down to the heels. and oh, look how worn out the sneakers are. que horror!!! LOL

'til my next misadventure! ciao!

soundtripping: till

2009-04-03T20:10:00.002+08:00

i first heard this song in a radio drama i used to listen to, about 12 years ago already. it has such a sad melody (that's why it's used in the most dramatic moment of the radio soap opera), but i love it. the song is performed in 1957 by roger williams and percy faith (separately, as instrumentals). in 1961 the american girl group the angels had til as their first hit.

other artists who recorded this song are as follows: shirley bassey, tony bennett, maureen evans, the vogues, bobby vinton, dorothy squires, and tom jones. (source: wikipedia)

press play!

till - roger williams

lyrics: (Words and Music by Pierre Buisson (original french lyrics, Charles Sananes, and Carl Sigman, english lyrics)

Till the moon deserts the sky
Till the all the seas run dry
Till then I'll worship you

Till the tropic sun turns cold
Till this young world grows old
My darling, I'll adore you

You are my reason to live
All I own I would give
Just to have you adore me

Till the rivers flow upstream
Till lovers cease to dream
Till then I'm yours, be mine

sctex sights

2009-03-17T00:24:00.007+08:00

The Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway (SCTEx) is a 94-kilometer four-lane expressway north of Manila, in the Philippines. Its southern terminus is at the Subic Bay Freeport Zone in Zambales, it passes through the interchange with the North Luzon Expressway near the Clark Special Economic Zone in Angeles City, and its northern terminus is at the Central Techno Park in Tarlac City, Tarlac.

Construction on the expressway began in April 2005, and opened to the public three years after. To date, it is the Philippines' longest toll expressway. (from wikipedia.org)

driving along sctex is such a breeze. no tricycles, speeding buses or lumbering trucks impede the progress of other vehicles, and definitely no bayans (something like city centers) to pass where traffic is denser. travel time to subic from manila is cut by about 30 minutes, depending on the speed of the car. as for the other exit ramps to the towns where sctex passes through, most are still under construction from the time we passed there.

for someone born and bred in the city like yours truly, sights such as in the pics below is a refreshing change of scenery. green fields and hills abound left and right; it seems like there's no end to them.

here are some shots that i took from the van.

rice fields. it's almost harvest time!

these particular hills can also be seen along olongapo-gapan road.

take a closer look

so many hills there are, that those who worked to construct this highway had to cut across some hills. reminds me of the freeways in california, only these are much greener.

more lush greenery

seemingly endless stretch of asphalt lined with green.

recycle, reuse and reduce

2009-03-06T20:59:00.006+08:00

the sign says it all. =)

note: this photo was taken in a school in antipolo. there are other signs like this around the campus, signifying that the students are being taught to save the environment at an early age. i hope that not only the students of that particular school will be active in saving the environment, but all of us, even in our own little ways. throwing a seemingly insignificant candy wrapper in the trash is a good start. =)

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by the way, folks, a friend gave me a link to a really cool food website called food porn daily. notwithstanding its kinky name, it's looooove at first click, if not drool, i tell you!

want to see photos of luscious gooey double chocolate cheesecake swirl brownies and other drool-licious food? want to learn some new recipes?

then click here, people! =)

girls just wanna have fun...

2009-02-12T01:49:00.005+08:00

in salcedo village. hwehwehwe. ;-)

My friends F and T and I finally had our night out at Salcedo Village in Makati last 31 January after months of planning. As F is the one who is the most familiar with the area, she became our official tour guide. Battle plan, in this order: Hang out at Salcedo Park, dinner, and then have chocolate cake at Alexa’s Deli. But because Salcedo Park was still full of kids (we wanted the swings to ourselves. Hah.), we decided to have dinner first. Hungry as we were, we set our sights on the first restaurant we saw: (Aum) New Bombay Food Inc.

If I ever want good Indian food that’s within a reasonable budget, New Bombay’s it. New Bombay is located along H.V dela Costa St. in Salcedo Village. The place is quite small, with Indian carpets/rugs hung on the wall making up the ambience. Ambience notwithstanding, the food sure lived up to our expectations. (If you’re already hungry, the ambience doesn’t matter much anymore heheh.) Customers can choose to have their dishes mild or really spicy depending on their tastes. As for us, we had our Cheesy Chicken Masala and Shrimp Curry mild, while the potato and cauliflower dish was spicy. For our carbo, we had chapatti, which looks like a tortilla. For all our orders we paid P600. Not bad at all, and add to that the fact that we were full (but not too full for chocolate cake!).

before: chapatti, shrimp curry, potato and cauliflower dish (not pictured: cheesy chicken masala)

after!!! (the one in the foreground are the remains of the cheesy chicken masala. we were too hungry to remember to take a before pic of it lol)

T and I have heard so many praises from F about Alexa’s chocolate cake that this was the one we looked forward to the most. Unfortunately there wasn’t any chocolate cake left at Alexa’s that night, so we consoled ourselves that there would BE a next time. So instead, we bought vanilla cones from Mini Stop at P15 each.

we'll be back, alexa. :D

We went back to the park to see if the kids have already gone, but what do you know, there were more kids than ever. I mean, wasn’t it supposed to be their bedtime already? (it was around 8pm-ish.). We went on the swings for a bit, and then decided at the spur of the moment to go to Top Grill KTV along Jupiter St. At P75 per hour/head, it's already a steal. We sang to our hearts’ content for about two hours tops, and I think just a little bit more to the point where the attendant came for us about four times to tell us to get the heck out of the booth. Lol!

All in all we spent a little more than P400 for each of us for the resto and videoke combined. Just a regular spending for a regular Friday night out, I think.

Salcedo Park. 11-ish PM. Finally. Just a smattering of kids here and there. Yesz! We practically had the whole playground to ourselves. We even found a couple of kiddie playmates who showed T and me how to slide down the fireman’s pole. And just try swinging as high as you can, so high you could almost touch the sky. Ahh, yes. To feel young again. Fun, fun, fun! I’ll now indulge you to a vid of some pics we’ve taken at the park. :-)

Make photo slide shows at www.OneTrueMedia.com

subic sights from the sights of ms. lamon

2009-01-23T01:03:00.010+08:00

i am more in love with the beach than the mountains (or hills, whatever's applicable). in subic, one can experience both worlds, may it be doing the jungle survival tour or scuba diving or what-have-you. when i was in subic, tho, i did neither. but i enjoyed the sights there a lot, more specifically the roads (again!) plus some. i dunno but there's something about mountain-y/hilly roads such as these that i find appealing. must be the fields of green surrounding the gray asphalt. no, seriously, i love nature. =)

all of the photos are taken from the car at different points in time.

taken along tipo road after entering sbma. this view somehow reminds me of that toyota commercial way back in 1996. the song there was i love you always forever by donna lewis.

the hills are aliiiiive with the sound of music...

guess who owns this villa? ;-) you can find this plush avian housing by the sbma entrance along tipo road.

argonaut highway. we were on our way to ocean adventure here, which is a good 20-minute drive from the main hub of sbma.

green...

and more green. as you can see, it is denser in this part of the highway. seems like there's no end in sight but we did get to ocean adventure.

another sight that you'll see while driving along the highways inside sbma are the wild monkeys such as these. too bad for me most of them started moving away before i even got to turn on the camera. well, better late than none at all. =)

people are advised not to feed the wild monkeys as the monkeys might become dependent on humans. but of course, some people still don't heed that and give the monkeys scraps of food.

one lost monkey

fisherman's grill, san fernando

2009-01-16T12:47:00.000+08:00

this is where we stopped over at san fernando for brunch.

fisherman's grill is located on lazatin road just after the flyover from san fernando exit in pampanga.

aside from the obvious fact that it's a seafood restaurant, fisherman's grill also offers a variety of dishes made from beef, pork, chicken and duck. (kaldereta, adobo, pinaupong manok, etc.) yummy, yummy, yummy food!

food selection. in true filipino style, we call it turo-turo, which means you point at the food you want and they serve it to you. then again, the resto also has menus if you're too lazy to come up to the counter. ;-) anyway they have other selections which are only found in the menu, just like this one ;-)

camaru!!! (native crickets) this is a delicacy found only in pampanga. too, too bad, i wasn't able to order camaru as i already got my order (crispy crablets) when i learned that the resto serves it.

crispy shrimp!!!

longganisa!!!

crispy crablets!!!

me and my family were probably the first customers there. even with dim lighting, the ambience of the resto is very homey. it looks old as well, which of course is a good thing.

the emerald hall. no, the wizard of oz ain't inside. just us family and the food attendants. hehehe:-) by the way, there are two other halls on either side of emerald hall.

chandelier. the only lighting here comes from the big window on the side.

there are two staircases in the restaurant; one from the outside as pictured here, and another inside. i just love staircases. and btw, those yellow, green and red tiles are similar to the ones in my lola's house, only much older.

goin' up...

and down. :D

the road to subic

2009-01-07T15:55:00.010+08:00

one fitting way to end the year is to go out of town. as you probably know by now, i didn't have the opportunity to go out of manila that much in 2008. so i was definitely thrilled when the fam went to subic to celebrate the new year.

we set out for subic in the morning of 31st december. one can now reach subic in two ways: via olongapo-gapan road, which is the old route; or the sctex (subic-clark-tarlac expressway) which opened a year ago. both have their own exits straight from nlex (north luzon expressway): san fernando (olongapo-gapan) and sctex exit (sctex). we took the olongapo-gapan road as we had brunch somewhere in san fernando.

after experiencing a bit of traffic in one of the towns in pampanga, it was decided that we would divert to the sctex when we get to dinalupihan, bataan. when we got to dinalupihan, lo and behold! there was no exit yet from olongapo-gapan road going to sctex. so we simply just passed under the new expressway and went on to our destination on the same route.

yours truly went gaga over the sights. amazed by the vast expanse of green after about a year of staying in the concrete jungle that is my beloved manila. here are some photos taken on olongapo-gapan road. (sctex pics to come soon)

the eruption of mt. pinatubo in 1991 left the provinces of zambales and especially pampanga practically a barren wasteland. almost 20 years after, both provinces have thankfully gotten back on track.

i see fields of green...

gray asphalt too...

...and i think to myself, what a wonderful world. ;-)

cheers!

2009-01-02T14:32:00.003+08:00

something fun to start off the new year. ;-)

new year greetings

2008-12-30T01:16:00.000+08:00

2008 is drawing to a close, 2009 is coming in.
haven't done much travelling this year, (as you might have noticed from the rarity of my posts :D)
but i must say that i was able to reach for something
that i've always wanted to do. ;-)

diyos ko, anong nangyayari sa iyo? gumising ka! gumising ka lando!!!!! *sobs*

when i was younger i used to have this teeny-tiny fear of the upcoming new year and the song auld lang syne. maybe it was the loud blasts of the firecrackers or this feeling of foreboding that something bad will happen. well, bad things have happened all throughout history but with God's grace we have survived somehow :-) and yes, God is so good, i have grown to love the song auld lang syne. ;-)

here's to a blessed 2009 for y'all! just hit play!

Auld Lang Syne - Pham Xuan Thang

happy christmas!

2008-12-24T01:13:00.003+08:00

hi all, it's that time of year when good friends are near, and everywhere there's an air of christmas joy (hoo-hoo-hoo) ;p

yeaaaaanywayz, lemme share with you a different kind of holiday music from the trans-siberian orchestra. nope, the band's not from siberia as the name implies, but from america. they specialize in holiday music (traditional christmas songs as well as their own compositions) that are done with a twist. a rock twist, that is. the band as a total of five albums to date. and yes, any of their albums has been on my wish list for 3 years running. lol. :D

the vid shows a christmas lights display synched to wizards in winter, one of the songs in the lost christmas eve, TSO's latest album. i hope the person who owns this vid doesn't mind me posting it in this blog :D

as ever, just hit play! enjoy!

happy christmas, everybody! =)

ode to my travel buddy

2008-12-13T15:09:00.003+08:00

this month my dusty, rusty, trusty pair of chuck taylors will turn three years old. i bought them as a christmas gift to myself after getting the bonus. :D

so anyway, i decided to make a video tribute to the most wonderful pair of travel buddies (and office buddies, for that matter) ever. heheh. might be retiring them soon, tho. three years of wearing them 99.9% of the time i go out wore them out. lol.

just hit play!

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

to all the chocolate lovers

2008-12-02T17:16:00.003+08:00

i saw this sign at bubba gump in trinoma and nearly laughed out loud. anyway, i wholeheartedly agree with this statement. don't you? ;-)