| Monday, June 02, 2003 |
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Glad to be back in Manila. No matter how sucky traffic may be here and how ruthless people can be, it’s true what they say: There’s no place like home. Went for a more-than-a-week before-it’s-too-late vacation to Dumaguete, Bohol and Cebu. Arrived from a sunny, my-head-hurts-I-think-I’m-gonna-get-sick weather today to a it’s-May-and-it’s-raining-in-Manila weather. Ack! It’s enough to blow your mind and get sick in the process.
Wrote down everything that happened during my entire vacation. Well, almost everything. Here goes.
May 24, 2003
Ack! Was having a very nice dream when woke up because of alarm. Damn. 230a already. You might ask, 230am?! Who in their right mind will set their alarms to 230am on a Saturday?! Well had to wake up early because I had a 540am flight for Dumaguete City, Negros Oriental. Yup. That's right. I'm going on vacation once again! My sister kasi is here coz she was facilitating an art workshop for kids at Silliman University. We decided to "fetch" her and tour the city at the same time, kind of like hitting two birds with one stone.
Left the house this morning at 4am with little in my stomach, just water and some noodles. Figured there'll be food at the airport and served in the plane. Ha! When we got to the airport, there was a line a mile long waiting to go inside. Turns out to be a SARS protection procedure. They set up a camera that monitored the temperature of every passenger. Since there was only one device, it took awhile to enter the airport. By the time we got to the boarding gate after checking in our baggage, it was already about time to board the plane.
When we were leaving for the airport, I assumed that we were going to ride with Philippine Airlines. So I just tried to make myself comfortable in the car and catch some zzz's. Imagine my surprise when we entered the departure area for the old domestic airport where Air Philippines and Cebu Pacific were stationed. Ack! Would have to ride that Air Philippines plane once again. Had a "want-to-forget" plane ride experience with Air Philippines a couple of years back. It was the most terrifying experience I've ever had and from then on, I've sworn never to ride that plane once again. Well I don't really have a choice since my dad purchased the tickets. Good thing the plane ride was better now. No fear of plane crashing, no fear of losing conciousness because of head bumping against something bloodily. Just a smooth, 55-minute ride.
Had a close encounter with the showbiz kind when I saw Carlos Munoz and Paolo Contis at the airport. Turns out they were also on their way to Dumaguete to participate as escorts in the annual Santacruzan. Also saw Rep. Imee Marcos who was also invited to be the Reyna Emparatriz at the same Santacruzan.
Anyway, arrived in Dumaguete at around 7am and was hungry. When we got to the restaurant to have breakfast, I realized how hungry I really was when I saw all the food and wanted to devour everything in sight. Quickly controled my "desire" and just ordered fried rice, "danggit" and "longganisa". Oh it was heaven. Food has never tasted this good until today. Everything was just perfect, even the brewed coffee. Guess I was really that hungry. If served "ampalaya" (the worst-tasting vegetable there is) would probably devour it due to immense hunger. Although had to go to the bathroom afterwards, still worth it in the end.
After checking in at Sta. Monica Resort, we went our way to Tita Siony's house where my sister was staying. Omigoodness. Did not recognize my sister. Her hair was so long! And she got too "tan", for lack of a better term. She was even more "tan" than me! And she, uh, well, to put it gently, gained some pounds, especially on her hips and arms. Looks like she'll be spending a lot of time at the gym when she gets back.
Tita Siony showed me around the house since it was my first time there. She had a lot of really nice wooden furniture. There were wooden chairs, benches, chests, lamps and tables set against a deep red wall. Turns out my sister and her friends painted a tree on her wall that fit in with the native theme of the receiving area.
Went to Atlantis Dive Resort afterwards because I kept asking my mom to bring me there ever since I saw the brochure she had about the resort and fell in loe with the place. I actually wanted to stay there for our stay here in Dumaguete but was too expensive since there were going to be 10 of us. Had to settle for a visit na lang. Went to the front desk to buy some film and saw some necklaces they were selling. Oh they were just gorgeous. I've never seen any of it being sold in Manila. Too expensive, though. A simple necklace costs like P280, which is just too much for me since I would be the one paying for it. Tita Siony then told me that there was a place downtown that also sold necklaces at a cheaper price. Agreed and dropped the subject. Sat down at the restaurant since my mom and Tita Siony were sitting down at a table there. Gave me the menu when I did. Apparently, we were eating there, but not for lunch, just some morning snack. Ordered banana split since I thought everyone was ordering ice cream. They weren't. Oh well.
Next went to El Dorado Beach Resort, where I thought was just going to take pictures of the place and the view. Turns out we were there to eat. Again. But not lunch. We were there to eat another morning snack. Well, ok fine. Ordered the Pizza Mushroom, which had tomato sauce, mozarella cheese and, what else, mushrooms. Good since it had lots of mushroom. Yum.
Afterwards, went to Handumanan, the place to buy native products of Dumaguete. Got myself a new necklace and a new anklet (since I lost mine in Boracay). Am happy now. Also since I only spent P52 on both jewelries already.
Went to Lab-as Restaurant where we finally ate lunch at 1p. Wasn't full by then, though. I wonder why. Anyway, we ordered shrimps, crabs, and oysters. Yum. Since already ate breakfast and two morning snacks, I decided to not eat rice anymore and just stuffed myself with the all that seafood. Loved the shrimp but was disappointed with the crab because it was too thin, hardly any meat in it. Hmph. Oysters were sooooo big! It was even bigger than the two crabs put together. Ack. But the vinegar sucked and didn't enjoy eating the oyster.
Went looking for bakeshops after to buy food to bring to trip to Bais tomorrow morning and ended up with little food. Well, while I'm typing this, my sister is still out looking for more food to bring.
Afterwards, got ready to watch the Santacruzan at downtown Dumaguete. Heard Brad Turvey was going to be there and sure enough, on our way to Atlantis Dive Resort, we saw him entering one of the hotels along the Boulevard. Ack. He is just too fine. Anyway, wanted to see it also because had nothin else to do. We got there a little after 3:30p and got "seats" in front of Globe Telecom at the Boulevard and waited for the parade. They didn't arrive until a little after 4p, I think. By then, our place was filled up with people and more people were trying to invade the streets to catch a glimpse of their favorite stars. Police and the traffic management people had to put up barricades to control the people. Finally, the parade reached our "station" led by Rep. Imee Marcos as the Reyna Emparatriz. Saw Carlos Munoz, Paolo Contis there as the escorts. Also saw Carlos Maceda, with his hideous hair. Eek! Saw parade of the dance showdown. There were two stand-outs there. One group was wearing blue and white with angel wings. And the other group were too colorful for words and looked like butterflies. I think the one with the wings won.
Don't you find it strange that the dentist always picks the worst time to ask you the most inquisitive questions? That when they ask you questions they sometimes need the answer to, they ask it when they have all these apparatus in your mouth? I mean, hello. Ano ba?
Just had to comment about a little thing I noticed was the wedding singer singing "Our Father'. She was singing a different version of the hymn, the one that I wasn't familiar with. So all of us were solemn and singing in our hearts when the singer said "Our Father, which art in heaven..." I was taken aback. I mean, it was supposed to be "who art in heaven", not "which art in heaven". There's a reason it is who and not which. Because God is not a thing. He's the Supreme Being. I remember my theology professor was commenting about this when, while attending mass, the choir or the commentator said which instead of who. He really couldn't react because he didn't know if he was going to laugh or get mad. By the way, I am a Catholic and I am talking about Catholic beliefs. Please do not misinterpret this.
As of 8p tonight (Manila time), San Antonio Spurs at Dallas won Game 3 of the Western Conference Finals. They now lead the series, 2-1. Game 4 will be on Monday, 9am (Manila time) I think, at Dallas again. And then Game 5 will be on Thursday (Manila time) at San Antonio I think. Hope the Spurs win Games 4 & 5 to advance to the NBA Finals.
Tomorrow, we'll be going to Bais City for some whale and dolphin watching. I do hope the waves will be calmer this time so that the whales and dolphins can make an appearance. Last time my sister went there, around 2 weeks ago, the waves were so strong, the whales and dolphins hid and they had to travel farther to search for them. But they got nothing. Hope that won't happen to us.
I think I gotta sleep now. I haven't had a decent sleep yet and we'll be puyat throughout our entire vacation. Ack! Gotta sleep. Gotta sleep.
May 26, 2003
Woke up at 4am to go dolphin watching yesterday. Ack! Took us 4 hours, from the time we woke up, to see these magnificent creatures in action. My sister and I actually used two cameras to be able to capture their amazing abilities and it still didn't seem to be enough. Should have brought my digital handycam along, to be able to capture their show. Went to Sandbar next where, among the deep black sand waters of Negros Oriental, it stands out as the only part where the sand is white and only 3 feet deep. The good news about this stand-out water is the sand doesn't get everywhere because it was too big and too coarse to stick on your clothes. The bad news: There are no plants or trees there that can shield you from the sun. In just a few minutes, I became darker than the normal tan.
Left for Bohol this morning at 6:45am via Suoercat. Arrived here at 8:30am and had breakfast at MR Restaurant near the Pier where we had crabs, shrimp and fish for breakfast. First time I ever had breakfast that hearty.
Went to see the tarsiers again this morning. Hehehe. They look hideous but I'm still amused by them. I saw a baby tarsier for the first time, next to its mother, feeding it. Then went to the Chocolate Hills, where we climbed up some steps, 214 to be exact, to view all the Chocolate Hills at once.
June 1, 2003
It's Sunday night and I'm still in Cebu. I'm so bored here. There's nothing to do. All I do is watch TV and sleep. Ack! What kind of life is that? Sometimes I go to the mall but there's not much you can do there except shop. Shop for what? For things I can already buy in Manila? No thanks. Hay naku. I think when I get back to Manila, the first thing I'll do, besides go to the gym, is go to the mall. Hay naku. I miss Metro Manila malls. Halata bang shopaholic? Hehe.
I'm watching the PBA All-Stars game right now between the Commissioner All-Stars and the Governor All-Stars. Governors are leading now by around 14 pts, I think, at the 3rd quarter. Bakit ang pangit ng scoreboard ngayon sa PBA? Jimmy Alapag's part of the Commissioner All-Stars and when he was being introduced, the announcer said that he was currently No. 1 in assists. Well, during the game, he showed the people why. He actually reminds me of John Stockton of the Utah Jazz. The lead is now down to 1 in the 4th quarter because of Asi Taulava's powerful slam dunk. And with a foul to boot! Hope he sinks it to tie the game. Oh yeah, Rico also fired a 3-point shot that went in, the 2nd one since he started as a rookie for the Blue Eagles team. Can't believe Mike Cortez still hasn't scored any points. Although he's had a lot of assists already. Hmmm, maybe I'm wrong though.
Went to major overhaul and, in my opinion, succeeded. They fixed all the rooms and cottages and it's a far cry from its icky conditions a couple of years ago. It has, not one but, two swimming pools to practice your swim form. It also has a pathway that makes you feel as if you're walking along a forest trail with trees so tall, you can't even see the sky anymore. Basically, the whole resort is much more sunny and breathable than before. I do think it will be hard for you to leave once you've checked in there.
PBA Alert: Jimmy Alapag just fired a 3-point shot and it went in, giving them a 3-point lead, 122-119, with only 1:10 left of the game.
Went to Maribago Bluewater Beach Resort for the first time last Wednesday. Have to admit, it was very, very nice. The room they gave us looked great and had an excellent location, right beside one of the pools (they had 2 swimming pools). They also had two ponds there that had 6 sharks swimming around. That was cool since I've never seen live sharks before this. They were still small, around 2 feet long, but they're still sharks, you know. Since I was on a bridge looking down on them, though, I didn't really see its front part.
PBA Alert: The Governor's All-Stars won with Kenneth Duremdes' buzzer-beating lay-up, 124-122.
Went to Plantation Bay the next day where I went diving (for free! for the first time. We (the instructor and I) went down to around 12 feet. It was so beautiful! There were so many fishes, with different colors, moving in schools, alone, or with a buddy. There were different shapes, sizes and colors of corals. And I saw two sea horses for the first time. They were really beautiful, stretched at about 5 inches long and resting on top of the corals. Well, before I could look at more marine creatures, my dad "demanded" that I get out of the water already. My dad's like that. He doesn't like it when we're doing some kind of water activity and he can't see us. Guess I'll just have to continue this at a different place where he won't be there.
Saw Bruce Almighty starring Jim Carrey the other day. It wasn't really all that. It was a funny movie with a lesson to boot but it's not Jim Carrey's funniest movie. That award goes to Liar, Liar. It's still a good movie, though, with an even better message. It's a lot similar to Big Daddy, really, where Adam Sandler did less laughs to really tell the story but still came out funny. Wish more comedies were like that.
Watched the first episode of
Good thing I wrote all of that down because I wouldn’t have remembered all of that otherwise.
I thank God because I was able to visit these places for the first time and some for the second or third time. The only bad thing was that I didn’t get to go to Church last Sunday. I was still in Cebu that time and mass was usually in Bisaya, which I do not really understand. I mean, sure I can understand snippets but not an entire homily. I know I know. That’s not an excuse. But when I go to mass, I go to hear the words of God and apply it to my life. I don’t just go for the sake of going and so I won’t have to add to my list of sins. Haven’t had confession in more than a year also. Hmm, I think I better add that to my list of things to do before I leave for San Francisco.
Speaking of San Francisco, I don’t have my visa yet! Ack! I figured I’d take care of it when I came back from Cebu and I just got back this afternoon and I haven’t talked to someone at the embassy because it’s so darn busy! Oh well. Will call again later. |
posted by Jax @ 6:22:00 AM   |
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