Time for Time Out

with the scheduled outing of the ranks yesterday, some of us at qa took the opportunity to relax and unwind at subic.

housemeyt joban and even meridudes recommended Camayan at subic. roommie anne has been seeing it being featured in Umagang Kay Ganda and so we all thought of trying it out. it looks pretty decent and with the reco and all, yeah, we thought "why not?"

what was originally planned to be a staff outing turned out to be a QA gimik after all. well, blame it on miscommunication and lack of planning. but with plans of leaving soon, some of us determined to make one last effort to get together and have some fun. aba, last summer outing na ito na nasa Monde pa kami!

we were all excited to go but there were those who backed out at the last minute, which was pretty much all right in a way 'coz we were perfectly comfortable in the revo that we hired for the day. av and i woke up quite early to prepare some food for our baon. of which, john commented:"akala ko ba isang araw lang tayo dito, bakit parang pang-dalawang araw baon natin?" haha... to which the answer cound only be:" mga takot magutom kasi..."

we left the plant at around 5:30am and when we arrived at Camayan, we saw that it was just like a pantalan. buhuhu... sa mahal ng entrance at cottage fees, parang na over-advertised ang lugar. may kasikipan at walang gaanong amenities. may sudden drop din sa dagat so we had to keep a safe distance from the shore. ang init sa balat kasi tubig alat talaga. walang may gustong magtagal sa tubig. buti naman at may mga bata pang enjoy sa paglalaro sa buhangin at mga teen-agers na naglalaro ng beach volley. here are some pics.

we chose Camayan because it's located just beside Subic Ocean Adventure. madali nang mangabilang bakod. hehe. it was so wonderful watching the dolphin show and sealion show.

and here's me-anne's first kiss. =)

Bora getaway

whew! had a very relaxing weekend in the island of boracay. housemates and i had a quick trip to this island getaway last Undas. here are a few pics and some links to my and friend jing's' album.

and a fire dance while ATJ's music was giving himself away as the sun set on our second day of stay.

Im a B+ Pinay Traveller

My Lakbayan grade is B+!

How much of the Philippines have you visited? Find out at Lakbayan!

Created by Eugene Villar.

Friend Glo directed me to this website. For any idea on how well-travelled you are around our country, visit the site above.

Thanks Glo, for this one! Queennie even tried this before I did. o di ba, hindi naman kami excited masyado. ",)

Siam Trip

June's halfway over and I only have time to blog just now. It's my friend Tonki's birthday today and was just too happy to hear she's well and even promoted her daughter Pau's print comm in Pink. As I have mentioned in a previous post, a colleague friend has been assigned to Thailand for expat work there. Three of us from work took a quick trip to the land of the elephants and stayed at Ate Jo's flat when this month started. We came back last June 5th. And in all our excitement and busy workload upon getting back, I have completely fogotten to blog about my recent lakbay.

It was not a totally uneventful trip, let me tell you. We did a super rush planning about a few days before we left, emailed 'te jo our itinerary and upon her reco agreed to just finalize once we arrive. Seems we penned in everything we read and saw on the internet worth going to, but hardly have enough time to do the rounds of Bangkok.

The day of our departure loomed dark ahead as the grey skies promised heavy rains the whole day. I had a very unpleasant encounter with my boss during lunchbreak but my pals were telling me to forget about it lest our trip will be spoiled. Needless to say, seems that everything that could possibly go wrong went wrong just before we left. But refusing to let anything spoil my mood, just dove in for the rest of the weekend with hearts anticipating days of fun. And that's just what we got: fun, sun, tan...

more gala....

more fun, more sun, more tan....

and of course....

and....

it was really super tiring yet super fun. I want to go back. Hint, hint, 'te jo.... ",)

You can read more about what we did and where we went to from Q's adventures blog.

new movements

am sensing new movements at work... sigh...

apart from me and our microbiologist being merged into the in-process section, our chemist supervisor is being sent to the Land of Smiles for expat work there. another colleague leaving.. so sad. seems our seasoning plant there badly need assistance from the more experienced leaders here in the Phillys. way to go, 'te jo!

on another count, i'd say this is good news after all. hey, we'll have free board when we go visit you there in thailand. ohh,.. i'm counting winks now. teeheehee...

trip to singapore and KL

had a hiatus. hehe...

toured some sites of singapore and kuala lumpur together with my mom, aunty and chi. we visited sentosa saturday feb 24 via an RMG tour. we were dropped of at Mt. faber for a cable ride to the island. first on the itinerary was the underwater world, then the Dolphin Lagoon where we watched the antics of pink dolphins, and the Merlion show and tour. but we did not return to the hotel with the rest of our tour-mates (",). instead, we stayed at sentosa for the afternoon and went back to the city on our own. it was quite timely for us coz there was a flower show there in celebration of chinese new year's fire pig. the theme was about rhymes in bloom. it was such a feast for the eyes! wonderful, colorful, bountiful hues everywhere! mom and aunty had an exhilarating Skyride. we got back via train to VivoCity. again, had a blast malling and picture-taking.




when we got back to the hotel, we were told that there was going to be a big revelry / party that night. it was a shindig/ float parade held annually after chinese new year. they even had Orchard roadblocked for the night. so we rested our feet for a few minutes back in our rooms and off we went again for the night dining out on rojak and clubfooting it on singapore's nightlights. singapore is quite a sight at night. the lights are just wonderful.

we went back to the hotel exhausted. the next day, we had the city tour. we started with a feel of Little India's colorful shops, stopped at Esplanade, drove past the financial district, shopped at Chinatown, drooled over Palmer House's export-quality jewels, and strolled along Singapore's 'green lung'- the Botanic Garden specifically, the National Orchid Garden.

we had lunch back at the hotel and took a light nap before embarking again on a foot trail to Sim Lim Square where the electronic gadgets were pulling strongly on us. the four of us had a difficult time deciding on which items needed the most buying. i personally had to constantly remind myself, hey girl, watch out for your budget..budget.. budget. but we managed all right. then we took a taxi to the Night Safari. there, we took the 45-minute tram ride around the area and sighted tigers, lions, hippos, anteaters, giraffes, rhinos, elephants, among others. we also watched the Creatures of the Night show and had good fun with the interactive live show of the owls, raccoons, otters, hyenas, etc.

the next morning, we got ready for our KL trip. off we went to Golden Mile Complex. i was able to make reservations for a bus ride to KL via Transtar coach in advance. my mom and aunt enjoyed the ride so much. meals and snacks were served on board, see. amenities also included video on board and massaging seats. they even wished we had one in Mindanao for the long distance travels from one end to the other. chi was meantime laughing at the Malaysian show she was watching, I don't know. said she didn't even understand what they were saying. well, i slept most of the way.

we stayed at the busy part of KL, Bukit Bintang. we were able to see Petronas towers at night. what a magnificent structure it was. even when we were already several blocks away, getting lost in the middle of KL, the Petronas towers kept looming from above. Grabe!

angling to sample malaysian food we then dined on spicy nasi lemak, chicken satay and vegetable fare.

we had the city tour on the 4th day, feb27. we visited the National Museum, had a photo stop at the Royal Palace, sunned ourselves at the Independence Square and Sultan Abdul Sammad building, observed batik-making, then marveled at the Royal Selangor Visitor Centre's pewtermaking skills. i even tried my hand at knocking pewter mugs. realized i had to improve on my strength and smash.

afterwhich, we got on the Transtar coach back to Merlion city. arrived at the hotel late night already. the last day, my birthday, was spent on last minute shopping. got out of bed late because i was having the hives or something. suffered some form of allergy, not sure which. we shopped, attended mass at St. Joseph's Church, went by National Lib and met up with a former colleague, Cathy. had dinner together, went back to the hotel and headed to the airport for our home-bound trip.

had a grand time!

Memories of Palawan

Shucks!!! It's been more than a month since my last post. Haven't had the time lately. I think my posts'll be coming in trickles in the next couple of months. I've been assigned to sub for my colleague who handles in-process QA. She'll soon be taking off for a maternity leave in December but has already started being in absentia for the last three weeks. So, this beauty has been doing the rounds of Biscuit production for the meantime. Anyway, I'll try to squeeze in some blog time. I know I will.

My friend Queen just got in yesterday from a weekender in Palawan. Suddenly, I miss Gigi, my double sis, ex-housemate and friend from way back in College. She now lives in Puerto Princesa and is a chemist analyzing for levels of contaminants in export fishes and marine products. Wow, heavy... heavy metals ang handle niya ngayon. Hehe, tama ba, GG? Will you be home for Christmas? I heard Bogs will be coming with you. You should take him to LB. You should. Everyone's pretty excited to meet him.

with Gg and Bogs

Palawan has lots of tour-worthy spots.. went there last March with my colleagues at work. Hailed as "the last frontier", it boasts of verdant rainforests and teems with abundant natural resources. See our pics!

inter-island hopping on Honda Bay and Underground River tour ... and at Wildlife Conservation Center

In the whole 3 days that we were there, I couldn't stop myself from marvelling at its unspoiled beauty. Well, save for the mini-patches on some mountains that have been ravaged by kaingeros. "Kaingin" is a Filipino term referring to the slash and burn practice by upland farmers. It is a shifting cultivation system of farming wherein forests are cleared of trees then planted with a particular crop like maize, which will then be burned and replaced with another crop like cassava, then burned again and replaced by still another. And on and on the cycle of shifting cultivation continues. Kaingeros are what we call this type of farmers. And the cleared forests, denuded for a time prior to the next planting, somehow look so barren from afar.

Palawan is the largest province in the Philippines in terms of total land area. Mainland Palawan is a long stretch of island and there are several more little island paradise scattered around. If you want to get from the heart of Puerto Princesa to the different tour sites, you’ll have to schedule separate days for the northern and southern tips. And with plenty other smaller islands to go to, another day for island-hopping will add more fun to your trip. When we went there, we were just able to make the tour of Underground River, Honda Bay islands and city sites. I plan to go back there separately for Coron island and also El Nido plus Calauit island. And maybe someday, too, the World Heritage Site Tubbataha Reef for its ecodiversity— i wish I’d have learned to dive by then.

scenic view of the beach at Sabang

just enjoying ourselves

Palawan sure is a premier tourist destination in the country. It is blessed with rich flora and fauna and virgin forests that would just make you fall in love with it. And what I loved most about the place is its moderately priced foodfare. Oh yeah, foodie lover that I am. Compared to the other places I’ve been to so far, my Palawan trip was the cheapest in terms of food. Well, I mean, I’m talking seafood here- fresh, sumptuous, delectable seafood. My Sagada trip was pretty cheap too, but dining didn’t include seafood so I can’t equally compare it with my other nature jaunts to the south, in the likes of Boracay, Bohol, Cebu, Samar-Leyte and Davao. Sagada I can more liken to a Baguio or a Marawi trip.

Thinking of visiting Palawan?! I'd give you a thumbs-up. I want to go back! Come to think of it, now's a good time for planning trips for next year.

Googling Gogglies in Bohol

My friends and I spent two nights in Panglao and headed to Tagbilaran City on the third day so we could visit some more ‘tour-able’ spots. It was a 2-hour drive from Panglao to Chocolate Hills because we had to make a tiny turn in Bingag, Dauis for a peep down Hinagdanan Cave and a handful of shots at Dauis church.





We slept most of the way and when I opened my eyes I noticed that we were already passing by several of the famous marine rock formations. Scattered around the municipalities of Carmen, Batuan and Sagbayan, are the similarly-shaped 30 to 50-meter high molehill structures called Chocolate Hills.



The view of the hills on the viewing deck is quite spectacular. I call them choco-mint hills.. as they’re quite green-brown in color actually. Their marine stone base makes it quite difficult for trees to grow on top, although there are still some small trees that manage to survive. Mostly small and big plants make up their foliage thus their brownish color, especially on hot summer days when the shallow-rooted foliage dry up.

We passed by the Man-made Mahogany Forest on our way to Sevilla Hanging Bridge then headed towards Loboc. After our wonderful one-hour riverboat ride and lunch down the green waters of Loboc, we walked towards the store where tarsiers in captivity are being displayed to tourists.

I’ve been googling this tiny goggly wonder for several minutes while a young couple took turns getting photographed with it.



My two friends meanwhile were taking pictures of the rangy others clinging to the San Francisco plants. I, too, managed to photograph them cling-ons…

And here’s me with the little furball wonder.

If you look at them intently, you’ll notice that they have frog-like legs, sticky gecko-like fingers, bat-like ears and owl-like eyes. Ohh, their eyes are so astounding.. you won’t miss them. Hahaha… Actually their huge chestnut eyes cannot move. Like an owl, the tarsier has a joint between its skull base and spine to allow 180 degree head movement. And when I held one, I noticed that its tail was so much like that of a rat. But it was so adorable while I held it. It felt so cuddly, I almost placed it inside my bag to take back home with me. And even when we were already on the way back to the city, I still wanted one so much. Oh if I could only keep one. But they are said not to live long in captivity as these tiny critters are very susceptible to stress (noise, pollution, etc.)... and knowing me.. I’m not really the caring pet lover kind so all the better for little Tarsy.

And then I learned that the Philippine tarsier is in the Red List of endangered species. Of course, I had to learn more about them. So here’s added info for those of you who are planning to visit the tarsiers of Bohol one day. There are now 7 formally-recognized species of tarsiers. The one here in the Philippines is of the Tarsius syrichta type, uniquely found only in the central Philippines like Bohol, Samar, Leyte and somewhere in Mindanao. They are so named due to their special elongated tarsal bones. The padded tips of their digits, their elongated hindlimbs and tail let them adapt well to an arboreal lifestyle. Their long, thin, tufted tail actually serves as a balancer and prop. Tarsiers are nocturnal in nature. But those kept in captivity, like the ones we visited, have already adapted to a diurnal life due to being constantly awakened by the owners to be petted by visitors (like me). But a sanctuary is being built in Corella Bohol where they are kept in their natural habitat. As my way of helping that tarsiers don’t eventually die off this planet, I just donated to the owners. These animals are insect eaters. They say donations go towards buying their food. (I hope!) Hopefully, too, this little blog of mine will help spread the word about not buying tarsiers and keeping them as pet. See, I’ve learned. Let us allow them to grow and live naturally, and let them multiply their numbers.

Did you know?

• A tarsier often makes contact by seizing its mate's tail. The Philippine tarsier may sit with their tails intertwined.
• A tarsier's life span is about 13 years.
• Although they live in areas where snakes are common, snakes are rarely killed by them. A snake detects its prey by snesing body heat, and it is thought that a tarsier decreases its body temperature while sleeping, a time when it is most at risk.

To learn more about tarsier the following links may be helpful:

Primate Factsheets: http://pin.primate.wisc.edu/factsheets/links/tarsius
BundokPhilippines: http://www.geocities.com/Yosemite/3712/tarsier.htm Tarsier Org: http://www.tarsier.org/

Bohol lakwatsa

Thank goodness for long weekends! Because of the Ninoy Aquino holiday, I was able to go out on a travelling romp down in the island of Bohol. Went there with my two friends, teret and vivsky. They've been planning to get out of their office and only finally managed to do so now after two years since their trip to Camiguin. After some other pals backed out, i readily consented to go when teret called me up to ask if I can come with them.

Wow, we were all pretty excited about the trip especially since it is the first time for us to go there. And luckily, the people speak Bisaya, my native tongue. We felt confident we will not get lost since i can talk the language. We had a wonderful time. The days were lazily spent idling around in the beach, eating out and just lazing under the sun by day and gazing at the stars by night while playing a game of "Paramihan ng ...."

Check out these pictures: