Barkada Trip 2008: Bantayan Island, Cebu

This is the second time my friends & I went on a trip outside Davao! I was with my long time friends Roby, Peachy and Dexter. 

Arrived a day earlier at Cebu . My friends, Chin and Cham fetched me at the airport. Chin is my classmate from Davao but is now working in Cebu while Cham is Chin's friend and also from Davao.  Then they toured me around Cebu and had early dinner at Moon Cafe in Ayala. They also let me sleep in there apartment. Yey! The next day, me and my friend, Randy, who's also from Davao and now works in Cebu, fetched Roby, Peachy and Dexter at the airport. Had lunch at SM then went to the North Bus terminal near Makro. We decided to take a van because it's already 2pm and we might not be able to make it to the ferry's last trip, which was 5:30pm, if we take the bus. And we're scared to spend a night in Hagnaya. Haha! :p  You can actually rent a van but it's too expensive for a group of 4 so we looked for routes that will pass by Hagnaya port. Most of the drivers didn't want to do "sidetrips" but luckily we convinced one. Yey! (Forgot how much we paid for the fare. :p)

From Hagnaya Port we boarded on a ferry that took us an hour to arrive at Sta. Fe wharf. 

Ferry ticket prices:

1st class (aircon with TV) - 150 pesos

Regular (deck with TV) - 135 pesos 

Children - 50% off

We arrived at Sta Fe wharf around 6:00 pm. I suggest you book your accommodation early especially during peak season. We checked in at Sta Fe Beach Club, had dinner, checked the shoreline and went to sleep (because we are soooo tired from the trip!).

Woke up early! Hello, beaches!!!

Bantayan Island

Bantayan Island is one of the most beautiful islands in the World. Located in the central part of the Philippines, Bantayan Island is one of 167 surrounding islands of the province of Cebu. Located just to the northwest of Cebu, and west of Leyte and Bohol islands. Bantayan Island is a small Atoll just 7 by 10 miles with a population of over 120,000 people. 

When you step off the ferry from Hagnaya at the port of Santa Fe on Bantayan Island, you instantly feel a sense of peace, with time slowing down and all the cares of life ceasing with every passing moment. - http://www.bantayanisland.org/

Then we went to Ogtong Cave. It's a five-minute "trisikad" ride from Sta Fe Beach Club and you can have a tour inside and even swim on the beach and pool.

We also went to the Bantayan Market which was located at Bantayan proper, a few kms away from the resort. You can a buy a LOT dried fish and squid there which is of course a popular food in Cebu. Since it's cheaper (and still can haggle) there we already bought our pasalubong. Then before going back to the resort we passed by the Bantayan Church. It was a very old Church built in 1580, got destroyed by a fire but eventually reconstructed.  

Peachy was sooo lucky to capture the beautiful SUNRISE.

We didn't have good pictures of the food but there are a few restaurants around. :)

On our way back to the city we took the bus and got off at SM.

We checked in at Alba Uno Residences. I must say they have beautiful rooms!!! And they have free wifi at the reception area. 

Tour around Cebu!

Had so much fun!!! Me back to Manila, them back to Davao. xx

Paternal Cousins

My sister and I are the 1st set of grandchildren, the oldest among our paternal cousins. The 2nd set are the siblings, Rod and Paw. The 3rd set, also siblings, Jc and Kenth. We are closest to Rod and Paw because we bonded a lot during our childhood years, poking fun at each other. Kenth and Jc were still babies at that time.

Then in 1993, my family left Mati. It was after a year after my Papa's death  that Mama decided we have to transfer to Davao, live and study there while she was went here in Manila to work. When my grandparents were still alive we frequently visit them in Mati, usually every summer and or christmas. Lolo and Lola spoiled us a lot. Even my uncles' were very much supportive to us and we are very thankful for that. We still bonded with Rod and Paw, even with Jc and Kenth who were already toddlers who keeps on running around in our lolo and lola's house. :) Then there came the 4th set of cousins, Ricky, Kikay, Jay and Ara. They were the new babies of the family. (the later set im not sure of the sequence. :( )

After our grandparent's death we stopped going there. We were busy with school. And then there came family conflicts. It felt awkward to go back there. So for a long time we did not see our cousins but we knew there were new sets of babies in the family 

It was early last year when i found some of my relatives from Mati on facebook. I was excited to see my cousins, particularly. 

June 2010 when we finally meet again. It was during our relative's wedding in Davao

Kenth, JC, Me, Sis, Rod

I was really really happy to see them again.

Earlier, Mama was checking her facebook and told me that my cousin, Kenth, just uploaded pictures and saw two other girls who both looked like my uncle. And so i checked the pictures. We were puzzled as to who is who. Kept on browsing the album and later convinced ourselves that the two girls were my cousins, siblings of Jc and Kenth. We knew that the the older one was Kikay but the sad thing is... i didnt know the name of the other girl. :(

Terrible. I know i still have OTHER cousins whom until now i also don't know their names and  that makes me feel so bad right now. We are a family. We carry the same last name... but it feels like we're strangers to each other.  I wish I knew more things about them.

So now i am really hoping to meet the kids (are are they still kids?). I am not sure when but i pray it's gonna be soon.

Barkada Trip 2007: Mati City

This was our first ever barkada trip. :) I was with my friends, Kharen, Roby, May, Peachy, Alma, Renan, Eric and Jeremy.

When: December 16-17, 2007

Where: Mati City, Davao Oriental

Touchdown. 3 hour bus drive from Davao City to Mati. Excited!

We rented a van from Mati to Dahican.

Lunch @ Seaside... May and Chay all smiles. (huwag ka, gutom na gutom na kami nyan!!! haha!)

We also checked Cinco-Masao beach resort but majority of us don't know how to swim so we decided to stay at Botona  Beach Resort, only because of its shoreline. Haha!

It was already night time when we arrived at Botona.

These pictures are blurry but the cottage and the garden are really nice.

The room we got had 2 beds. :)

Lasheng na. :p

Swimming day:

The white sand beach of Dahican. Most of my childhood summers & easter sundays
were spent here that's why i was so negra then. :p

waves baby! :p

I didn't swim so i was busy taking pictures of them. We were experimenting the continuity feature of the cam so this explains the crazy jump shots below. Oh there were lots of these but had to choose the best... They were so funny! *smiling*

spell fun!

volleyball dance :p

chay & me : pacute!

pretty girls. :p (where are you, chay and roby?)

i love these shots. crazy me. haha!

last group shot before leaving Botona!

@ the capitol (hunger games? should have taken a pic of the capitol bldg. :p)

back @ seaside to buy empanada as our pasalubong ;)

Next trip... Cebu 2009 with roby, chay and dexter.

@  Bantayan Island, Cebu : will blog about it soon. :)

Justin Bieber: Never Say Never

Read a lot of good reviews about this movie not just from JB's die hard fans but also from those who don't even like him or his songs . So last week, Yshelle and I finally watched Justin Bieber's movie, Never Say Never, a week after its first screening. :)

There were few people inside the cinema. Maybe there were less than 15 groups in the balcony, mostly teeners with adult chaperons. :)

It was sooo good. It was very entertaining. I learned a lot from the boy's humble beginnings. I was not a BELIEBER before watching the movie but i am now. Haha! Seriously, Justin Bieber is one talented boy! Plus, the boy is lucky to have a very loving and supportive family. I was so touched whenever his grandparents talk. You should watch it so you'll know what i'm talking about. 

Aside from showing the world that Justin Bieber is not your ordinary youtube sensation, but a boy with a talent and passion for music, the movie is about dreaming big. If you have the talent, go for it. NEVER SAY NEVER. Let the kids watch it so they'll be inspired. :)

And as parents (and titas), we should help our kids hone their talents. Guide them in their decisions. Support them all the way! :) 

Here's the official movie trailer:

After the movie, we had dinner at Old Spaghetti House. She ordered Kid's Spaghetti and I had steamed chicken. The pasta was good but the chicken was uughh.... tasteless. :(

enjoying her spaghetti :)

Jodi Picoult's Keeping Faith & Change of Heart

Im not a bookworm but from time to time i read novels (does that make me a "seasoned reader"?). My earliest recollection of reading was, i think, Sweet Valley High, because my sister had a collection of it so i gave it a try... I never got hooked.

Fast forward... read lots of chiclit books, then the twilight and hunger games series + novels i forgot the titles already. :p and yes archie comics too. lol. NO Harry Potter. My imagination couldnt handle the complicated texts. Poor me. :p

Downloaded one of Jodi Picoult's books months ago but i just stored it in iBooks. Was just recently that i decided to read it cuz i was "thirsty of words" (chos!) and since there's was no more tv series to watch.

Keeping Faith

Synopsis:

Somewhere between belief and doubt lies faith. For the second time in her marriage, Mariah White catches her husband with another woman and Faith, their seven year old daughter, witnesses every painful minute. In the aftermath of a sudden divorce, Mariah struggles with depression and Faith seeks solace in a new friend… a friend who may or may not be imaginary.

Faith talks to her "Guard"constantly; begins to recite passages from the Bible— a book she's never read. Fearful for her daughter's sanity, Mariah sends her to several psychiatrists. Yet when Faith develops stigmata and begins to perform miraculous healings, Mariah wonders if her daughter-- a girl with no religious background-- might indeed be seeing God. As word spreads and controversy heightens, Mariah and Faith are besieged by believers and disbelievers alike, caught in a media circus that threatens what little stability they have left.

What are you willing to believe? Is Faith a prophet or a troubled little girl? Is Mariah a good mother facing an impossible crisis— or a charlatan using her daughter to reclaim the attention her unfaithful husband withheld? As the story builds to a climactic battle for custody, Mariah must discover that spirit is not necessarily something that comes from religion, but from inside oneself.

Fascinating, thoughtful, and suspenseful, Keeping Faith explores a family plagued by the media, the medical profession, and organized religion in a world where everyone has an opinion but no one knows the truth. At her controversial and compelling best, Jodi Picoult masterfully explores the moment when boundaries break down, when illusions become reality, and when the only step left to take is a leap of faith. -source

I LIKED IT SO MUCH! I was entertained. I can relate so much in the story maybe because i am a catholic and yes, i do believe in miracles. :)

Change of Heart

Synopsis:

Shay Bourne - New Hampshire’s first death row prisoner in 69 years – has only one last request: to donate his heart post-execution to the sister of his victim, who is looking for a transplant. Bourne says it’s the only way he can redeem himself…but with lethal injection as his form of execution, this is medically impossible.

Enter Father Michael Wright, a young local priest. Called in as Shay’s spiritual advisor, he knows redemption has nothing to do with organ donation – and plans to convince Bourne. But then Bourne begins to perform miracles at the prison that are witnessed by officers, fellow inmates, and even Father Michael – and the media begins to call him a messiah. Could an unkempt, bipolar, convicted murderer be a savior? It seems highly unlikely, to the priest. Until he realizes that the things Shay says may not come from the Bible…but are, verbatim, from a gospel that the early Christian church rejected two thousand years ago…and that is still considered heresy.

Change Of Heart looks at the nature of organized religion and belief, and takes the reader behind the closely drawn curtains of America’s death penalty. Featuring the return of Ian Fletcher from Keeping Faith, it also asks whether religion and politics truly are separate in this country, or inextricably tangled. Does religion make us more tolerant, or less? Do we believe what we do because it’s right? Or because it’s too frightening to admit that we may not have the answers?  -source

Then immediately after Keeping Faith I decided to read another Jodi Picoult novel. Fortunately, she didn't fail me with Change of Heart. I LOVED it so much. A thought provoking thriller about religion, death penalty, family and a bit of romance. 

The last 150 pages of Change of Heart i kept on crying. Lech! Will not read Jodi Picoult works anytime soon cuz reading another book of hers might just give me a heart attack. :p

In general i love Jodi Picoult. I like her style of writing. I like her genre - legal thrillers, mysteries and just a right amount of romance (at least for these two novels). YAY!

Oh and btw... today, April 2, is International Children's Book Day!!! :)