Goodbye blogger

Hi friends,

I moved my blog to wordpress. I have been editing these past few days and now, I'm finally done. Please visit me at my new home: http://tepaicruz.wordpress.com/

SEE YOU THERE.

xoxo.

Valentine's Date with Nature :)

During my rendezvous with Marvsz at Baguio last Christmas, we discussed some of the travels that we are planning to do for 2015. One of the destination on our list is Mt. Pinatubo. Since my February is full, except February 14, we decided to do a Valentine date with nature :) Good thing Tripinas offers Pinatubo tours every Saturday. We availed their Mt. Pinatubo tour for PHP 2090 with round trip transfers, 4x4 ride and other fees in Pinatubo.

Meeting time was 2AM at Mcdo El Pueblo in Ortigas so yes, I did not sleep because I have to leave the house at 1AM. We bought our lunch at Mcdo since there are no restaurants/fast food chains in Pinatubo. The trip from Manila to Brgy. Sta. Juliana (base camp) is 2 hours. From the base camp, we were assigned to our 4x4 and tour guide. The 4x4 ride was exciting at first but after a few hours of the ride, my butt started to hurt. If not for the beautiful scenery, the 4x4 ride would be hell (HA HA!)

Waiting for the sun to rise

Before the trip, we were told that we could choose the long or the short trek. Since our group opted for the long trek, we walked for around 1 and an half to 2 hours. It was fun except that I have been inactive for a long time so it was really tiring. 

There were a lot of river crossings so it's advisable to use trekking sandals rather than rubber shoes. Good thing I have ninja moves to avoid getting my shoes wet. Hehe. We arrived the crater lake after a few hours and lo and behold, the 4x4 and long trek was worth it.

It was truly majestic. I have no words for its beauty. After a long sense of awe, I got hungry so I took out my chicken nuggets and ate while enjoying the view. It was love that I felt for nature and this country when I saw the crater lake. It was one of the best Valentines to date. (Well, I don't really go out during Valentines ever since because I don't like crowded places haha!) There are really more places to discover here in the Philippines and I'm just starting :)

Anyway, at around 11am, we started going back. I badly want to go home because I was super tired already (LOLA VIBES FOREVER!). On the way back, we only had a 15-20 minute trek then we rode the 4x4 again. I was really tired and the sun was scorching hot so I did not enjoy the 4x4 trip back. 

My travel buddy

We left for Manila at around 3pm and arrived Ortigas at 5:30pm. I was super hungry so Marvsz and I had dinner at Metrowalk then headed to Citigolf for a few drinks. 

It was a fun day despite the sweat and energy lost from the trip :) Over drinks, Marvsz gave me tip for my upcoming Pulag trip and I can't wait! I conquered Pinatubo, next on my list... MT. PULAG! Woot!

Impromptu Boracay Trip

DISCLAIMER: Photo heavy entry

My cousin from Canada arrived the country last Jan. 14 without any plans and itinerary. She just knows that she's going to Ilocos with her aunties then wants to go to Boracay for the rest of her trip. Since her mother doesn't want her to go alone, I accompanied her to Boracay. 

I just went to Boracay last November so I just suggested to her the things I did last time. 

We drank beers, 

watched the sunset,

Cotton candy clouds

joined the pubcrawl,

met new friends,

read books at the beach,

para sailed,

Inspired and renewed

Last weekend, our dearest Pope Francis humbled the Philippines with his presence. Even if I just saw him for a few seconds, I am very happy that he went to our country and bring hope to our countrymen. I think his visit just reminded the Filipino people that God is present even in our miseries. As I listened and reread his homilies and speeches, I can't help but reflect on my own life. These reflections allowed me to see things clearer and set my priorities straighter. I've been standing on a crossroad for months now and I don't really know what path to choose; but Pope Francis' messages reminded me to love and get ready to a life full of surprises.

I believe Pope Francis left a mark to the whole Philippines. It left a mark that will scar me for life. It reminded me that my mission in this country is to be with the poor, oppressed and less fortunate. Just allow yourself to love them and be loved by them. Be brave in having encounters with them because they are people too. People who had less opportunities and privilege than us. They are people who deserves so much love and respect too. I would like to quote a tag line that Gawad Kalinga has been using for a certain project which is "Hunger ends where caring begins." I believe that everything starts with caring. When we start caring for other people around us, then love and peace can overflow within us and our country. It all starts with us and I believe that we should start now.

Pope Francis united our country for 5 days. The poor, rich, disabled, talented, oppressed went hand in hand and braved the rain just to go to Luneta. I hope everyone, as much as they wanted to see him, wants to join Pope Francis in the peripheries. I hope this hype for being with the poor will never die down. I hope this hype for serving this country won't fade until our countrymen rise from poverty. Let this be our mission today and forever because everyone needs help, even if they don't say it.

Salamat Pope Francis. Going into the peripheries is now the coolest thing because of you ;) Haha!

EXPERIENCE LIFE

My word for 2014 was DISCOVERY and boy, did I discover a lot. I traveled around the country from Luzon to Mindanao, I found new interests, I had other means of income, I learned things about myself etc. I loved 2014 because I got exposed to different situations and I still remained strong and I think this is really the secret of life: Standing up in every hardship. Always remember to move forward!

So as I move forward to 2015, I plan to EXPERIENCE LIFE. After a year of discovery, I think it is time to start experiencing.

I don't want to see or just discover things, I want to feel things. I want to start feeling life as it unfolds in front of me and not just the good things but also the bad things. Before, I always run and hide because I'm too afraid of failure or getting hurt. I focus on one bad feeling and don't let other feelings come in. That's why I had missed opportunities. This time, I will face everything head on. Whatever life may throw on my face, I want to feel ALL the emotions. I believe that feelings strongly affects one's life and as I start to feel and understand things, I get more actions done. I realized that I feel so uninspired most of the time because I don't know how I am feeling. I don't have any motivations because I let anger and hatred rule my life just because of one thing that happened in the family.

But I won't let feelings rule my life because you know, sometimes when you let your feelings decide your actions, you can get a little stupid (especially in love. Chos!) I will just allow emotions to flow in my system and stop blocking most of it away. 

So I welcome 2015 in a more organized manner and stronger than ever.

Christmas at Baguio

Disclaimer: This post will be photo heavy.

This Baguio trip was planned months before Christmas and we were all excited because it will be the first time that we will not spend Christmas at home. Few days before the trip, we were buying jackets and scarves. It was so hard for me to pack because I realized that almost all of my clothes are suited for the beach (that's why I have to buy). I am a beach person, not a cold weather person!

Dec. 23. We left Manila a few minutes past 6am and the trip was fast. We arrived there at around 12 and we immediately settled at our little home for the Christmas at Camp John Hay Cabins, just a few minutes from Manor. 

Setting up the tents for the kids

 ANG KYOOOOT!!

There were 16 of us so someone really has to have roles for the trip. We even had a planning a few weeks before the trip haha! As for me, I am either one of the coordinators or the money keeper every family trip and this trip, I volunteered to hold the money. During the planning, we all agreed that we will be buying from the market and just cook at the cabins because it's such a hassle for us to eat out (with all the kids!). My afternoon was spent at the market with Kuya Mark, Sining, Ate Lyn and Ate Reshel. It was so exciting to see fresh veggies around. 

The whole market experience was supposed to be great but we encountered super bad traffic in the city :/ I got traumatized (CHOS!) and swear to never go out of John Hay haha!

On our first night, we had bonfires and drinks to enjoy the cold summer night in Baguio. The cabins was such a nice place to stay and I think we got one of the bigger cabins :) Yay for us! 

Dec 24. I love waking up to the very cold breeze in Baguio. It's so hard to wake up actually but with all the kids playing as early as 6AM, there is nothing left to do but get up and play with them. Di ka rin naman makatulog sa ingay nila! :/ Anyway, after eating breakfast at home, we had tsokolate, turon and bibingka in Chocolate de Batirol.

Surigao Adventure Part 2: Surigao City/Butuan

Part 2 of our Surigao adventure was supposed to be Siargao - Sohoton trip in Surigao del Norte but unfortunately for us, we were stuck in Surigao city because all ferries are cancelled because of Typhoon Ruby. So I'll just tell you how we killed time and made Surigao City fun (for us). 

If you read about my Surigao del Sur trip, we came from Hinatuan bus terminal. There's no direct bus going to Surigao city so we have to go back to Butuan. The ride was again 5 hours from Hinatuan then we rode a bus in Butuan's bus terminal headed for Surigao City. Travel time was around 3 hours. 

When we arrived Surigao at 7pm, we hired a habal habal driver to take us to a good hotel near the port. We were still very hopeful during that time that the weather will get better and we will be allowed to cross to Siargao. We stayed at E.Y Suites and it was so-so. It was okay for a night but if you're staying longer at Surigao city, I do not recommend this hotel. We slept early that night because we were too tired from the 8 hour travel we did. 

The next day, we woke up early (5:30am) to check on the port's situation. We arrived the port and we saw that trips are cancelled but we were still very hopeful so we stayed there for a few hours. We made friends with the stranded people there and most of them are stuck there for 2 days already. We left at around 9:00 because we got hungry and we decided to just give up and try again the next day. After breakfast, we looked for a better place to stay for the night and we found the best hotel ever in the whole wide world. Char! We stayed at The Grande Suites in Surigao City. Okay. Here's the best thing about this hotel, for the price of 1380, we had free dinner and breakfast (which were both yummy, mind you!), free ride anywhere in Surigao (as long as Kuya Kent, the driver, is there), free wifi and super nice rooms. They even upgraded us from Standard to Deluxe for no particular reason. Plus, the staff are super friendly and funny :) It was one of the best staycation I had just because of the staff there.

Anyway, after settling in, we decided to visit Mabua Pebble Beach. The winds are getting stronger but this did not stop us. What is amazing about Mabua is the pebbles in the beach. People doesn't even know where the pebbles came from. We just stayed there for a while to have pictures then left afterwards because there is nothing left to do. Also, the waves were getting stronger because of the storm so we had to leave for our safety. Kuya Kent told us that if there's no storm, we can see Samar and Leyte from where we are standing so that's how near we are from the storm which kinda scared me.

The rest of the day was spent at our hotel because it's raining and the winds are really getting stronger. We just watched the news the whole day and updated ourselves with the storm. We really felt unfortunate that we are stuck in Surigao but also fortunate that we found a good hotel with the most friendly staff. 

The next day, we tried going to the port again but still no trips for us. We gave up on our Siargao dream but we promised to be back. 

The faces of people that will be back!

We just decided to hear mass at their cathedral even if it's in Bisaya. 

The closest to Siargao that we can get

Surigao Adventure Part 1: Surigao Del Sur

I love piso fares just because I get to travel cheaper here in our country. I suggest everyone to grab the opportunity when piso fares are being held. So Last June, Cebu Pacific had a piso fare and I booked for Butuan with Ter. Honestly, I have a very limited knowledge on what to see in Surigao but I booked anyway. When I researched about it, I got real excited because there are numerous places to discover :) This will be the first time I will blog in details (itinerary, budget and all) just because I had a hard time researching about Surigao del Sur-Norte trips. I hope this can help someone in the future.

We only have 6 days to visit both Surigao del Norte and Sur. At first, I thought it will really be easy but we didn't know that Surigao del Norte and Sur are very far from each other. Plus you have to travel back to Butuan to travel to both provinces. We planned on going to Surigao del Sur first then to Siargao. What we did was go to Britania group of islets first then see the Enchanted River and Tinuy-an Falls. I will post detailed IT and budget at the end of this post.

So we arrived Butuan then headed for Butuan's bus terminal. Just ride a multicab in the airport that is headed for the bus terminal. Ter and I preferred riding the bus rather than the van because vans get really packed and hot.

We arrived the bus terminal and rode a bus going to Tandag. Just tell the conductor that you will go to Britania group of islands. If they don't know that, just tell them to drop you off at Brgy. Salvacion at San Agustin. Travel time is around 5 hours going to Britania so ready your butt for the long ride!

We reserved one night at La Entrada and it is one of the best resorts ever! We arrived there at around 7pm already. Good thing their restaurant is still open because we haven't had dinner yet. The food was great and the price is reasonable! Everyone was really friendly there. I SWEAR! The rooms were nice and we were assigned in the area where it was surrounded by mangroves. We didn't see it when we arrived because it was so dark already but the following day, the beauty of the mangrove trees greeted us a good morning :)

Mangrove trees around the restaurant and rooms

We asked if tours will push through but they were  unsure because typhoon Ruby is slowly entering PAR. It was very unfortunate that Typhoon Ruby joined us on our trip :/ While waiting for the confirmation of tours, Ter and I just took photos of the islands (because we thought that that's the closest we can get to Britania group of islands) 

Good thing the administrators of La Entrada allowed us to see 2 islands of the Britania group of islands. Normally, there are 4 islands available for tour but we are super okay with 2. 

Vitamin SEA

A happily ever after

I can't help but feel nostalgic about what happened yesterday. My friend for 13 years just got married to the love of his life and up until now, I can't believe that that just happened. When you have seen a person grow and move from one relationship to another, it will be so hard to accept the fact that this major milestone happened in her life. 

Mr. and Mrs. De Lara... Whuuut.

But I am genuinely happy for her and seeing her walk down the aisle was the reason for the bucket of tears that fell from my eyes yesterday. I am a sucker for weddings and seeing someone close to you get married is something something. 

Their cherry blossom themed wedding was wonderful and we all had a blast.

I want to take the tree home

The wedding started at 2pm and I still haven't had lunch so yes, my stomach was grumbling the whole time. The wedding went well, except the part where the ring got lost for a minute (lol.) After the wedding at Mt. Carmel, we headed to Oasis for the reception. Since the couple were still having their photo ops and retouch, we had our own photo shoot.

Mature (looking) friends

Ma'am, sir. Parasailing, helmet diving.

I'm not a big fan of Boracay because I always prefer a quiet stroll on the beach rather than the drink-until-we-get-wasted-on-the-beach scene. But it's nice to go back there once in a while and I'm glad we went there in November, less people. So last weekend, I visited this beautiful island with Mariz, the Boracay virgin. Char! Our flight was at 5:10 in the morning so I haven't slept yet because I drank with my friends the night before. We booked at Frendz resort days before and availed of their airport transfers so it was very convenient for us. We arrived Frendz resort at 7:00am and planned on getting some sleep first before going to Mt. Luho but unfortunately, check in time was at 2pm. We didn't have any choice but to go around and do pasalubong shopping (I felt like a walking zombie roaming d'mall while Mariz was buying pasalubong.) We decided to have lunch at around 10am at Smoke then just rest on Frendz' beach beds.

We slept at their beach beds until 1:00pm (SUPER HOT) then headed to Frendz. Good thing the room was fixed earlier. Frendz has an okay room for budget travelers. It's also a place where you can meet new friends (hindi frendz), mostly foreigners. So our original plan was to rest for a while then head to the beach to watch the sunset. Unfortunately, we overslept! I woke up and it's 7pm already. I guess I was that tired. So our first day was really not well spent haha. We just had dinner at D' Talipapa (best seafood in the island) then decided to see the sunrise at Mt. Luho the next day.

Unforunately (AGAIN!), we overslept and wasn't able to go to Mt. Luho for the sunrise viewing. Harhar! We just had a quick breakfast then hired a tricycle to take us to Mt. Luho viewing deck. IT WAS BEAUTIFUL. It was my first time to see the whole island and the vast ocean of Boracay. Seeing views like that always give me a sense of awe and amazement. I just can't believe how beautiful this country is.

We went to Puka beach after for a quick photo op. Waves there were pretty crazy and I can't believe that some kids can swim with that kind of waves.

Oh Baguio, you're so pine!

I was having dinner at my brother's house one evening then he asked me if I wanted to come with 2 of his friends to Baguio since the others can't come. How could you say no to an offer of rest and silence for 3 day, plus free accommodations? So yes, that weekend leveled up my being kaladkarin.

So we left last Saturday. My brother told me that he'll pick me up at around 5:30am. Major fail because I woke up at the sound of the car honking like crazy bwahahah! They waited for me though to fix up then off to Baguio we went! It rained the whole day, even in Baguio, so I wasn't really ready for the super cold weather. Forgot my scarf and I should have brought more jackets but I survived :)

It has been a while since I last saw Baguio this foggy so yes, I became more excited to do my itinerary for the day: SLEEP.

{Life Lately: The weekend that was}

This past weekend was so fun I wouldn't want it to end but hey, I got to get back on reality so I'll just blog about my weekend so I can read it anytime I want :)

FRIDAY

After a quick catch up dinner with AJ, I headed to Conspiracy for Ebe's long gig. I think I said it before but I will say it again, I love Ebe Dancel and his music. While waiting for Ebe, the conversation over beer and nuts is about people's problems on their love lives (I'm just so lucky, I'm done with that phase of grilling haha!). I'm not really sure if this was a preparation for Ebe but it was a good conversation with great people. Makes me still believe in love ❤

While Ebe was playing, all I could think of is how amazing his songs are. It just hits you right to the core! Amid all the heartbreaking songs, he still makes me want to fall in love again and again. Salamat Ebe.

The gels

#wathaak

SATURDAY

I'm not sure if I can write about this without tearing up but we had Marianne's bachelorette party last Saturday. We planned for one week and surprised our bride-to-be with the most wholesome bachelorette party! I won't go into the details but we all had fun. We had a short program, a few games (remembering it still makes me laugh haha), some sex tips, drinks and heartfelt messages for the bride-to-be. 

I just can't believe that Marianne's getting married. I've been friends with her since Grade 5 and I really saw how she grew as a wonderful person. I'm just so happy that she's happy and I can't wait for baby Mariannes/Pauls (hopefully next year or early 2016!). I know in my heart that she will be a great mom! 

The bride-to-be

BFFs

Commuting. More fun in the Philippines.

I was browsing through Facebook this morning for my daily dose of news and cute videos (hehe!) then I stumbled upon this news: LTFRB exec proposes EDSA traffic scheme. When I read this, I thought of many reasons why this is not going to work in our current transportation system. I think this proposal will be a good idea if we have a better public transportation system. I mean, seriously?? Are you proposing this now? Have you seen how the buses/jeepneys/taxis acts like they rule the road?? And you guys are the one who give them the license to run. Please, fix the public transportation first before giving out proposals like this one. (I'm sorry, I just hate those buses/jeepneys who doesn't know how to follow the traffic rules and who feels like they can stop anywhere they want!!)

Okay, the problem may be because of the huge volume of private vehicles on the road everyday because people who can afford cars will definitely buy one (and cars are so affordable nowadays). They wouldn't want to risk their life riding a jeepney or bus that may contain snatchers or drivers who doesn't even know defensive driving. Have you seen how these buses drive in Commonwealth? Hanggang may butas, lulusot! HELLO, we have a yellow lane for you guys! Also, if you've been watching the news regularly, there will always be news about a jeep/bus that got into an accident or bus that caught fire. If the authority assure the people that the drivers of the public transpo can drive safely and will stop at their designated stops, then I believe more people will use the public transpo. Offer the people a system that they can believe in and I assure you, there will be lesser private vehicles on the road. Would people choose this over the hassle of bringing a car??

Parking is a pain in the ass (especially in Makati or Taguig) so personally, I would love to commute rather than bring my own car but since, I'm too scared to ride a bus or the MRT, I'd rather have a hard time looking for a parking than risk my life or waste my time in line.

I think this is where MMDA/LTFRB should focus on. Invest on an efficient public transportation system then implement it. We may have a better system in the future but implementation sucks here in the country. For example, when the MMDA released the bus segregation system in EDSA, I think it was a good idea but it wasn't implemented properly. So yes, it was a fail. I hope the authorities can impose right discipline to the drivers and the commuters.

There are always two sides of the story thus, authority should also discipline commuters who doesn't know where to wait/go down. Another reason why the MMDA's bus segregation system failed is because commuters doesn't know where to go down. They would like to go down to the place convenient for them (and they do not think of the hassle they are giving to cars behind the buses they are in!!!) They don't want to go down at designated stops because it's far from their destination... then ride a taxi if you like to go down right in front of where you are going!! (Sorry, another pet peeve!) Also, commuters sometimes wait at the middle of the road for jeeps/buses! As in middle of the road. So obviously, jeeps/buses will stop at the middle of the road too which causes inconvenience to cars behind them! For the commuters out there, know your place, please.

I know that this is possible because other countries have excellent transportation system that people follow. I saw how efficient it is in Singapore and I believe that this is possible for the country if we all help each other. Also, lesser cars on the road means lesser pollution! (yey!) Create a better system for public transport, train drivers to drive properly!, implement the system properly and discipline commutes. If this can be done, then I think we'll have smaller problems in our hand (then you might not need this proposal of banning private vehicles.)