Filed under beach, events, travel
The Maribago Bluewater Beach Resort wasn’t what I expected–it exceeded my expectations! I didn’t expect us to be treated like that, and I didn’t expect the event to be as well-planned as that either. I thought it was just another beach resort. My bad.
First, when I got to our meeting place at SM Cebu, Agnes greeted me with that big smile on her face and hang an ID on my neck. I said, “Oh, there’s an ID?”
That was just the beginning of surprises. The resort’s PR person, Ruben Licera himself, was there to greet us. The resort sent vans to pick us up, and we were more than happy to hop in. When we got there, we were greeted by Guest Service Officers who met us with white shell necklaces and this tasty lemon beverage:
Read the rest of this entry »
Filed under blogging, events
Oh yes, I was. And unlike the iBlog4 Summit last year, I was mentally present this time. I didn’t sleep. Probably because I came with friends from the Cebu Bloggers Society—it felt good to not be alone finally! We had wanted to make our presence felt, and we didn’t fail in that. The organizers noticed us and acknowledged our presence, mostly because we were in our uniform CBS shirts (well, I wasn’t, because I left mine in Cebu.) They liked our shirt!
Because I was in my home court, I served as tour guide for Agnes, X, Jorich, Bryan, and Kevin, who were all in UP for the first time. They flew all the way from Cebu! I didn’t have to because I was already in Manila starting a new job and preparing for something else. 
I took them to Mang Jimmy’s for dinner, that diner so popular among the UP population, introduced them to the Oblation and Trinoma, and helped them get settled at my dorm.
Read the rest of this entry »
Filed under blogging
I moved yet again. My domain expired, thanks to my webhost, who didn’t renew it with the domain registrar even though I had already renewed it with them. It was already too late when I found out. By then the domain had already entered the redemption period, and per ICANN rule, domain owners have to pay a whopping $120-$150 to redeem their domains. I won’t pay that much for a domain.
My second option was to wait until the redemption period ends. That’s when the domain is released back to the web and the price goes back to normal, but it takes 75 days. I can’t wait that long. I’ve lost a lot during the long downtimes of my server this year. The site was down for almost a month straight in March, and I am paying all the while for the host. Besides, there is no assurance that I could get the domain back. Who knows domain parkers would get to it first before I could, or the registrar could auction it.
Read the rest of this entry »
Filed under beach, blogging, events, travel
Just when I thought that my summer escapades are over, here comes the Maribago Bluewater Beach Resort offering a special summer blowout for all bloggers in Cebu. Hooray!
I started the summer early, so when March rolled around, I was already very burned (and I don’t burn easily). I promised that my Bantayan Island getaway last March, where I burned my skin, would be my last, but I just couldn’t let this pass. It’s free, plus I get to spend time with my CBS family, whom I’d be missing soon. Besides, I haven’t been to the Maribago Bluewater Beach Resort.
There will be fun and games and prizes awaiting, and I hear a lucky blogger will win a gift certificate for an overnight stay at the resort. I hope I am that lucky blogger! Bloggers also get to dine and witness a cultural presentation at their Allegro Restaurant.
If you’re a blogger from Cebu and want to tag along, leave a message. You may also visit the Maribago Bluewater Blog.
Filed under Photohunt, beach, travel
My feeble attempt at catching the sunset in Bantayan Island, Cebu. This is purple, right?
Filed under Photohunt, beach, travel
Hooray! I am back in the blogosphere and in PhotoHunt! 
I celebrate my comeback with my favorite element—fire. This is a bonfire we lit on a weekend getaway to a beach in San Remigio, a town on the northern tip of Cebu which boasts of having the longest shoreline in the island province. It takes around three hours to get there from the city. I made the mistake of eating a rather heavy breakfast before we hit the road, so on the way there my stomach felt funny. I puked twice on the road. It was embarrassing, but all in all the trip was great because I was with great company. 
San Remigio is also a great diving spot, but I was such a coward that I didn’t try it even though I really, really wanted to. The diving instructor said I need to learn to swim first before I should try diving (maybe because he didn’t want to be responsible for me).
Believe it or not, I grew up in a coastal city and the beach is my favorite place to be, but I have not learned to swim after all these years. No one taught me to swim when I was a kid, and I think the fear grew bigger as I grew older. Now I wonder if it is still possible for someone in her early twenties to learn such a basic skill?
Filed under culture, personal, religion
Misa de Gallo or Simbang Gabi is a traditional evening mass in the Philippines, held at the crack of dawn from December 16 to December 24. It’s very much a part of the Christmas celebration of Filipinos that people make it a point to be there everyday for nine days. I’m not Catholic, though, so I never went to one growing up. I only read about it in books and heard about it from friends, and to me it sounded like a fun and colorful tradition.
So when my roommate announced that she was going to the Misa de Gallo this year, I volunteered to go with her. She had a laughing fit when I said that; she thought it was a big joke because I usually wake up at past nine, the earliest. The few times that she tried to wake me up earlier than that (sometimes I ask her to–I usually don’t hear my alarm clocks), she would fail, even if waking me up sometimes becomes a physical feat for her (wrist-grabbing, pinching–those stuff).
Read the rest of this entry »
Filed under blogging, events
Looks like the Cebu Bloggers Society is hamming it up. Everyone is so enthusiastic about coming up with activities that I can barely keep up with the group! (My presence borders on being an apparition of sorts.) I did make it to our first Christmas Party last Saturday at the Jardin de Busay Estate. One member was generous enough to let us hold the party at his family’s house, which was on top of a hill. Truly a garden in the sky.
I admit I was most excited about the promised dip in the swimming pool, but we ran out of time. I helped cook a Chinese dish instead, if wrapping meat into empanada-like rolls can be called helping at all. I’d rather not post photos of the party because I’m sure the photos would ruin my already tainted reputation. We do have a safe class pictures though:
Thanks, everyone! I had a fun night!
Filed under events, personal
I got converted to the Belle de Jour way when a friend in Manila sent me a Belle de Jour planner last year as a random gift. I loved it from the moment I lifted it from the package. It was not like the other planners or organizers that I’ve had. It had an expense tracker, a birthday tracker, a menstrual tracker, and a vacation tracker, to name few. There was a quote for the week every week, and every month there was a theme and tips for the season.
But the best part was that it came with 36 discount coupons to different boutiques and coffee shops!
So when I heard that Belle de Jour was soon releasing the 2009 power planner, I reserved mine right away. Here it is now!
It’s a lot better than the 2008 planner, although that one was already love. I especially likee the cover design. It has more discount coupons, too! It has 60!
Read the rest of this entry »
Filed under culture, family, people, rants
I am of the opinion that a parent should at some point be free of primary responsibility over a child. Say, when you are 18 freaking years old, you should already know how to feed yourself, do your own laundry, and wipe your own ass.
I know we Filipinos like bonding so much that we tend to keep several generations under one roof, but I don’t like it. To me, parents should already be enjoying the sunset of their lives when the children are grown. They should only be enjoying their lazy afternoons and dote on their grandchildren.
A child should move out of the family nest, if not upon reaching legal age, then upon getting married. That is the only way for the child to learn how to handle responsibilities. This might be hard to do in some circumstances, but don’t you think it is only fair that a child who still lives at home at least contribute to the family coffer and not totally depend on the aging parents? It’s not about the money, it is about the backbone. And although a grandparent can help watch over a grandchild, the parent still should have primary responsibility (especially the financial worries) over the grandchild.
I’ve been independent since I was 17, and financially independent since I was 21. I haven’t asked for a centavo ever since. I am not saying though that I am a model child. Far from it. I can’t cook decent meals for myself and I hate doing the laundry, but I don’t ask my mother either to do my chores for me.
What I am saying is that we should at least try to be self-reliant, to unburden our parents of the worries they had when they raised us and watched over us for several years.
You know why our country is so poor? I don’t think it’s because of the corruption in the government. I’d like to go back to the basic, and it starts in the family: so many of us do not have backbones.
