FIRST TIME TO ISLAND GARDEN CITY OF SAMAL

oohhh well, sad but had to cut my story on the so short yet so special itinerary i had in Davao, that is meeting and seeing rovie (maybe some other time, we could have more time bonding).

moving on with my saga, buddy and i left  rovie's place as we were already called to proceed to meet our group at Gaisano Mall, Ilustre, so another directional and map reading activity took place, surprisingly it's just near from Ulas and with just two rides of jeep we arrived earlier than the call time.

we took sometime to stroll around the mall and dropped by an Internet Cafe, to comply and reply with some emailed work.

and since it's almost lunch time when we all meet, Mami Hazel (our host person here) brought us at "Nanay Bebeng's Eat all you can Restaurant and pigged out just like a hungry lion haven't eaten for weeks.. (just kidding, ha ha..)  --all i can say is that, the food is superb, it fills more than my tummy's usual intake. and to effect, i forgot the word "DIET".

whatever.., forget about diet, anyways, it happens only once... and everytime ... he he

  we thought we are going back to Panabo City this day as we weren't able to have a good glance of the place the last time we stopped over as we arrived late and left too early, well, we thought wrong,
because our way now is to the ISLAND GARDEN CITY OF SAMAL (IGACOS), excited about the trip, and what awaits us in there i made myself comfortable with the thought that "this is my time in Davao, i'll make the most of it...." :D

unforgettable sunset pose while waiting in queue to be loaded with the ferry
that will transport us to the Island... 

we dropped by at the Blujaz beach resort
to try the beachside ambiance 

finding serenity while sea watching and
overlooking city lights on the other side.. 

of course, never be the last to dipped in the saltwater
as always, our favorite activity: to get wet!

plus the staff has their own artistic way of serving their foodie thing..
and i like it...

..if you plan something different and unusual in your planned or unplanned vacation, adventure, escapades or whatever you call it.. go try the SAMAL ISLAND for yourself....

hold on guys, cause there's more exciting fun and discoveries in this fun-filled Davao experience we had.

Davao's special Itinerary

where did i stopped the last time?
ahhh, that was a slept over at Panabo City
so, to continue, on the third day..
indeed, a hard day for me,
still longing for that dream sleep as the other day was so exhausting
we were awakened at 3:00 o'clock in the morning, as we need to be at davao at 4am
to  send two of our colleagues at the Bus terminal going to General Santos City and Cotabato City as they have to report for work..
so there, despite the groogy feeling of being soo sleepy
i just thought that our day has just begun,

and i had one special itinerary for today, that is to go and visit rovie (bestfriend in highschool, and haven't seen each other for sixteen years and eight months after graduation in Highschool, and now a blogging buddy ).

rovie - has been inviting me to visit and see her in davao many times then, but due to the distant and always busy schedules of me in the past past years, i cannot fulfill my promise to her that someday, oneday, i am going to see her,  until this time.

at some point, there were hesitations as to go or not to go to her place because of time constraint plus, my point of origin is from the south most of Davao and her place is from the North most, and when she told me of "Ulas" (her place) i couldn't find it in the EZ MAP i'm holding, i am in a kinda panicky mode as to how am i going to reach her place?

Nonetheless, i've decided to see her, even just for a while since i know if i let this day passed i won't make it anymore, and with the patience, guide and expertise of my buddy in map reading and direction we reached  rovie's place earlier than her estimated time of our arrival.

our meeting didn't even lasted for an hour, as another appointment is waiting for us somewhere in the city, but what's important with seeing her is the fact that after 16 long years of not not seeing each other in person, we got the feel of each others physical comfort today and it would be a forever cherished reunion with her, with her better half  Papa Bren and the "makulit at wala sa mood" little Bella.

flo: have we grown old?

rov: not much that old, i guess more on wisdom...(laughs)

flo: ...and weights and heights too...
rov: yeah, right... (laughs)

..let's add some grown curves and waves too.. ha ha ha!

with this post, i made a recollection on our Highschool's "tweetums" mode with rove and the rest of our group, indeed a memory worth remembering...and i miss them, a lot..

one thought that comes in my mind is the so-called "treasured friendship", no matter the time and distance which makes you apart, there is always that one moment in your life that you opened yourself to let those moments live again.
***********************************************
ei, before i get emo on this part, i'm planning to update this post, by putting some of our old pics with rove to compare now and then... watched out for it, guys, i just need to dig on my photo albums and scanned those pic to post. soon.

that's it for now!

MY ULTIMATE "MARANG" CRAVING @ILOILO CITY

thank you very much central market plaza for satiating my ultimate craving with my favorite fruit "Marang". it's been my 5th day of stay in Iloilo City and i can't remember a day that passed without asking my buddy to bring me to their market, hoping i could chance upon a Marang for sale, i don't know if its just a product of my imagination or am having a delusion, because i am smelling the awesome Marang smell when i passed by a certain street at the central market,  but when we searched the place it just ends  in frustration, then went home teary eyed (over naman! haha!). Nevertheless, on my last night stay here for this visit, buddy and i took a rushed walk at the central market and there again the smell i am smelling, this time i knew it's not just a make believe, because i am seeing Marang at the Stand, and the clock is ticking fast and soon we'll be leaving, so i jumped at the seller and grabbed the biggest Marang of all, with mouth open wide and eyes never blinking we ate the same there and then.
i recalled the last time i tasted Marang after the decade of longing was when i was at General Santos City and over a month ago, and again this time....eaten MARANG as if it's my very first time after a long time.

MY MOST PRECIOUS TRAVEL TO ILOILO CITY

had anyone here, been to ILOILO?
i've been..
 i couldn't tell much of it's History
all i know is that i spent some precious moment
here even while at  a hectic work and with an amidst inclement weather
as the rain never stops to pour especially at night.(it must be Quiel)

my comrades were kind enough in accomodating me

one of those footmarks i had at ILOILO

and make an awesome tour within the City (that is of course during my free time)

not much to say, but thanks guys
for the most wonderful stay in your place...

promise me when i come back you bring me to
bora, together with my scuba gear....

DETERMINATION

behind every courage is the determination to conquer the giant shadow beside and inside every human.

sneaked - out and caught

have you ever tried sneaking out and caught?
well, wednesday is the most boring day i had since monday, LOL
in the morning after whispering  goodbye to my samsung II  and to my  pillow, got up in bed and prep to work,
at work there's nothing much to do but to kill  time to starve..

after awakening feeling empty in a nap, i looked around and guessed that the boss next door is watching tv as i heard the volume too loud, while the other boss is asleep at the next building.

humdrum as i am, i pulled out jb for company and we sneaked out in the four corners of our cube, and in a rush we were able to got out before the bosses would notice our absence.

while on the road riding in tandem and mental noting where to go and what to do, the rain suddenly caught us in the middle, and we've got nowhere to hide so we took the consequences as we were guilty as charged.

9/11 - a day to remember

9/11 has long been a tragic history in the life of every mankind. as who would ever forget the suicide attack made by the heartless terrorist with an end aim of destroying and burning pathways to world peace.

9/11 is indeed a day to remember, with same day last year, i recollect that this day was marked as an extraordinary day in my journey, as to others this day, their lives has ended, literally, while to others theirs has just begun, changed, renewed or reliven.

as to me 9/11 is everything ...as it was the beginning of all the first time experiences in my life and at the same time an ending of some dreams painful and blissful.

beginning - 9/11/10 - from a naivete, non-complaining, gullible, obsessive-compulsive and intuitive - introvert person who built walls to ward off people coming near the bench of my being i turned into slightly objective, risk taker and got out with that protective shelf i built,  i've explored, wandered and defiant to name a few. most of all, i've welcomed dream and dreaming with, found a wandering soulmate,  and pursued together mr. happy-ness and juggled with the ms. rare.

--this was also the day of my first open water experience in scuba diving, the life underwater --was the experience that i would never trade for anything and so with the thing that comes with it, i never planned nor expected it would happened and with arms wide open i embraced all the risk it entails. it didn't ask for my life once, but twice, thrice and more, yet it didn't not caused me to take aback. cause i believe that life is worth taking the risk.    


the ending - 9/11/11 - the trouble with finding happy-ness is the painful fact that it never lasts... i have known it long that in time comes goodbye, but i never knew it would be on the day with the same day when it begins... i hadn't had enough of having and giving, but time has not been my friend., it didn't gave me the chances i needed. and today, i turned and walked away from dreaming. waved goodbye to the soul in my mirror with love as my only provision. 

 9/11.

hard time to forever

i'm having a hard time laying my thoughts recently, must have been that few days from now i'll be putting my views into new and different perspective, leaving behind the old and familiar things and routines in my daily waking hour...as the clock ticks it rings to me that i'm running short of time to do the things that need to be done, people and places that need to come and see, must have things thats been overlooked or discounted but mind it no more as to strive is futile. for the part that wasn't achieved nor get done, i'll leave it to fate and the good luck. time pass inevitably and i wish i could hold it to stop, so i would stay forever this way,but i won't either, for i know i wouldn't be happy anyway...it's just the thought of letting go and moving on thats hard to own up..

Je t'aime pour toujours...

solace

keeping at guard with your sanity is finding solace with your sobering thought

STRANDED

it doesn't matter being stranded to wherever, far or away, as long as i am stranded with you...

reunion with my fave fruit MARANG only in gensan

MARANG (Artocarpus odoratissimus) is  also called johey oak, green pedalai, madang, tarap, or breadfruit cousin. it is an exotic tropical  fruit that resembles like that of the jackfruit and can only be found in southeast asia.  


you don't have an idea how i missed "marang" it's like a decade now since i haven't tasted one. so on my fifth day in gensan, i got the chance going to the city, and there, i make sure that i picked one and satiate if not my empty stomach then just my watering big mouth.. LOL

for only five pesos

giggling for more!!

no matter how i crave for the fruit i manage to share the other piece to"didith," my close friend, colleague, batchmate, classmate and a neighbor at the province of Cagayan.  she was the one who guided and toured me in gensan for two-hour of sneaking at work.

wait a minute, she got the big one... huh!

just to share her part of the story... "didith" is also a stranger in this place wayback 2009 but when career development calls her, she accepted the offer to work here and maybe one of the reason why she's here is to unite me and marang one day, and it happened (my big thanks)..


she promised me to send  more products from here ...LOL


..will tell more funny stories,soon...

UNCERTAINTIES

the uncertainties of the immortals begins in a journey at the end of a road less traveled...

welcome general santos city

GENERAL SANTOS CITY the boxing capital and city of champions has been in my list of places to go before travelling abroad, is now conquered.



i've been excited to land at the city of gensan since this is my first time here, excited as always because i know my experience here would be more than extraordinary. i'm thankful for the opportunity for it never occurred to me, that i'll reach gensan this year with a free travel expense. it's not bad to work hard though, aside from the experienced and exposure i gained i was able to meet different kind of people, cultures, events and places, which happened only to few, ordinary and lucky being.



i was staring at the big and heavy things which would transport me to my destination





excited, are you..?

and after the pilot announced that we are ready to touch down i immediately took a snapshot with the first thing that comes to my sight @gensan

almost heaven

this i shoot at marlborro country, BATANES ... i soooo like it :)

even if you're heart is fill with sadness, soon it will all be gladness.. LEARNING PATIENCE it is...

endless roadtrip

i've got body pain post travel, so it's nice to get a nap
as soon as you arrived...

i've been busy lately due to work and travel toxicity, i've got less time to update my blogs and stories and due to changes of job location i've been traveling every weekend from manila to northern luzon and vice versa, and despite the long hours of travel i've been comfortable riding in a bus to convey me to my destination. travel stress is unavoidable, but it doesn't matter  for i always set time to debrief myself from a stressful situation such as this, i'm thinking one after next week end.

yes, that would be after next week, because this weekend i am scheduled to go to GENERAL SANTOS CITY for a weeklong work. how about that?

well, i'm a bit excited cause that would be my very first step to manny pacquiao's native land. :) 

see you there....

going elsewhere

puerto galera, oriental mindoro

where would you like destiny to bring you...

FROM FILMORE TO STARBUCKS @JUPITER--ANOTHER KEEP ON WALKIN' MODE

TALE OF STARBUCKS HERE AND THERE (part 5)

(if you were reading this, please find time to read prior blogs related to this posts ) 

FORGIVE ME  for i couldn't find any of the file photos i've saved as proof that i've been to STARBUCKS JUPITER, i've been scanning all my files in my external drive, hoping to find it stored in some of the hidden files or maybe saved it somewhere else, but to no avail. oh well, pardon me for that and for keeping you wait this long to finally publish this chapter of the story.  .. 


here's how's the tale goes...


earlier, when i looked at the Starbucks Planner and read about STARBUCKS JUPITER, i even joked Crescendo with words like "STARBUCKS having branch at the outer space?" that's because, i haven't known JUPITER ST. in MAKATI CITY yet.


now, you'll be asking, how did i get there and what significant this story has? 


oh well, it wasn't really in the plan to get there yet, however, time calls the right timing to visit the place is at hand, since i'll be doing some business at MAKATI, then i thought why not take the chance of going on a double purpose (recalling what boss told me on taking chances or hitting two birds in one stone so TAKE IT, TAKE THAT or MISS IT!). and the next thing i knew i'm on my way...


in recollection, it was on the 12th of May this year when my friend "Zerline" asked me to be her reliever for two-days at her work at  FILMORE, MAKATI  while she's out of town attending some convention of a sort. 


so, i took the offer not for the money but as to taking chances of the  experience i'll get in this job for this is my very first time to record and try they're so called job after five, while the other share of the reason in accepting this part-time job is to return favors she had for me in one time or another. 


it was my first time goin' to FILMORE though, so i asked  "Zerline" to provide me the direction  going to the clinic where she worked as OFW evaluator,  and after working on the first day, gay crescendo fetched me at the clinic with a map taken from google  as to where Starbucks Jupiter can be hounded.   


it's six in the afternoon, and from Filmore St., we walked heading AYALA AVENUE and kept on walkin' up to BEL-AIR, MAKATI, to the left, to the right and it's seven thirty in the evening and JUPITER at last, on our way to the store, we came to pass traffic lights, crossroads, big buildings, hotels, towers, cars, jeepneys,  good garbs, ties and trousers, buses, horns, noisy dispatchers, security guards, street vendor, pollution, smoke, dust, dirt, sweat, foreigner, worker, couples, lovers, the sympathetic and the apathetic, the cynics and the pessimists, we've seen all that, and wondered how lives differ from one another? buddy and i had an academic debate on that plus a peck on the cheeks, then it became a shared thought.... (for the resolve here's a coffee cheers! =))

for the love of coffee..

whew!, that was quite a walk,  for it was another more than two-kilometers of distance we walked but unlike the "keep on walking mode at Starbucks, Camp John Hay," there were no chilly or windy weather in MAKATI, dehydrated almost, i'm just glad i wore flat shoes that day, so my feet didn't complained of over walked, it's just my leg muscles that cramps...but it doesn't matter anyway, for as long as there is a freeway, i will ramble... LOL  !     




LEARNED VIRTUE:  TAKE CHANCES, take every opportunity that comes along as it may only knock once, never let it slips away, SEIZE EVERY MOMENT because this is your only time, HERE AND NOW...and regrets no way, because you're on to a HAPPY JOURNEY!




p.s.
i promise once i'll find the still shots at Jupiter, i'll post and update this chapter of the story. meantime, i just took a snapshot on the leaf of the planner where i recorded the date of my visit to each store. 

located at Ground Level, Yupangco Bldg.
Jupiter St. cor. N. Garcia St., Bel-Air Village, Makati City

thank you... and please watch out for more.....

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

**** i just have to highlight the place i've been for a more evident recording****


1.6750 = Ayala Avenue, Makati City
2.Cebu Ayala = Cebu CIty
3.Camp john hay = Baguio City == APRIL FOOLS DAY
4.Lipa = Lipa City, Batangas
5. Solenad = Sta. Rosa City, Laguna==HOLY  THURSDAY
6.Boracay = Boracay
7.Corinthian Hills = Quezon City
8.Katipunan = Quezon City
9.Intramuros = Manila
10.SM Sky Garden = Northedsa, Quezon City
11.Bacolod = Bacolod City
12.Jupiter = Makati City == MY VERY FIRST TIME TO GO ON MOONLIGHTING
13.Tagaytay = Tagaytay City
14.32nd and 7th = Global City, Makati City

cant smile without you

i'm feelin' blue,
and it's because of you
i'm letting you go
but please take me with you
because baby, i just can't smile without you....

i feel sad when you're sad, i feel glad when you're glad...
and baby, I just can't SMILE without YOU..

**********************************************************************

Ah

You know I can't smile without you

I can't smile without you

I can't laugh, and I can't sleep

I don't even talk to people I meet

And I feel sad when you're sad

I feel glad when you're glad

And you must know what I'm goin' thru

I just can't smile, without you

You came along just like a song

You brightened my day

Who'd believe you were part of a dream

That only seemed light years away

And you know I can't smile without you

I can't smile without you

And you must know what I'm goin' thru

I just can't smile, without you

Some people say the happiness wave

Is somethin' that's hard to find

Into the new leavin' the old behind me

And I feel sad when you're sad

I feel glad when you're glad

And you must know what I'm goin' thru

I just can't smile, without you

Into the new, leaving the old behind me

And I feel sad when you're sad

I feel glad when you're glad

And you must know what I'm goin' thru

I just can't smile, without you

You must know what I'm goin' thru

I just can't smile, without you

STARBUCKS and ME going back to SOLENAD

TALE OF STARBUCKS HERE AND THERE (part 4)

(if you were reading this, please find time to read previously related posts) 

it is located at Solenad, Nuvali, Sta. Rosa, Tagaytay road corner,
nuvali Blvd, Nuvali, Sta. Rosa, Laguna, Philippines

(photolink:  http://food.clickthecity.com/b/ig2cb49)

it's not because i've been to Starbucks - Solenad then, then i won't include it in this year's hunt of Starbucks 14 stores. well, you got that wrong, because i did came back, and since this is my second time here, there wasn't much hassle in my travel, but just the risk that it's close to midnight yet we're still on gallivant at STARBUCKS, SOLENAD, NUVALI, STA. ROSA, LAGUNA. which was quite far when conveyed by a tricycle from a good friend's lair, "Aiza" at  BALIBAGO, STA. ROSA and where i and myself spent the holyweek.  

..gabb, aiza and me and .. a bit tired and sleepy
yet on the go for the storyline...

...finding time to talk the talk we'd never talked..

a snapshot before we finally left
 (sorry for the poor picture quality, camera's battery is dead)

LEARNED VIRTUE: "VALUE" your relationship with others  and keep it "TIGHT",  bond and do odd yet funny things together, illuminate life and keep it light so that while you're in pursue with your destiny you are in a HAPPY JOURNEY!      

***************************************************************************

EXTRA:

the still shot of my visit @ Starbucks, Solenad the first time and again it's my post birthday treat early June last year with a dear friend "Mami Haze", from here we did some fish feeding and boat riding for the fun.

  

...because seXy KM said try frapp!

fish feeding and SB venti on hand...lol

..going for the boating, still with SB venti..

enjoy your ride....

P.s. 

watch out for my next starbucks quest story..

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

**** i just have to highlight the place i've been for a more evident recording****


1.6750 = Ayala Avenue, Makati City
2.Cebu Ayala = Cebu CIty
3.Camp john hay = Baguio City == APRIL FOOLS DAY
4.Lipa = Lipa City, Batangas
5. Solenad = Sta. Rosa City, Laguna==HOLY  THURSDAY
6.Boracay = Boracay
7.Corinthian Hills = Quezon City
8.Katipunan = Quezon City
9.Intramuros = Manila
10.SM Sky Garden = Northedsa, Quezon City
11.Bacolod = Bacolod City
12.Jupiter = Makati City
13.Tagaytay = Tagaytay City
14.32nd and 7th = Global City, Makati City

STARBUCKS AND ME AT CAMP JOHN HAY, BAGUIO CITY

TALE OF STARBUCKS HERE AND THERE (part 3)

(if you were reading this, please trail back to the first parts) 

it is located towards the golf club pass the nearby export depot
and  Carlo's pizza. in between Cantinetta and waffle's place

..so very True, if you're guess is CAMP JOHN HAY, BAGUIO CITY - this has been the first store i'd been out of the 14 featured branches in the Starbucks 2011 Planner, and true too, that, going there wasn't easy for a first timer like me, with no idea as to where the place can be found, therefore, i had a lot of mis-turns and mis-steps in an about one hour of hike from the entrance of Camp John Hay to the coffee shop. it is an undulated more than two (2) kilometers expanse. And thanks for the chilly weather in Baguio, it spared me from dehydration.

What's so special with this trudge, is that, it's happening on APRIL FOOLS DAY, and because i am a FOOL i made myself a blot here at CAMP JOHN HAY, STARBUCKS.

  

Enjoying the long walk

it's such a long way up to my destination but i
even manage to pose for an emo mode in a while

it seems like an endless walk and almost at the verge of losing hope in finding starbucks, so i took another stop-over in here, got some rest and asked if  starbucks does exists in the woods?

the lady i've asked told me to just keep walkin'
and enjoy the journey, you're  almost there..(she's right 1.5km more up and hilly and in an awesome pace and i'm there)

whew! after an hour of leisure walking with slip - ups and doubts as to 
what road to head on , finally @ cottage 661

what a blissful place to spend an idle afternoon, chat nonchalantly and,
take time to get in touch with the inner you... 

and to my surprise! here's a perk for this visit.. this is a free taste to a product they are about to launch, and i'm so sorry, i forgot what was it..weeh! =)
 i can say, This quest is recorded to be more than extraordinary aside from it is being the first to find in the trace, there is more  in the core of being here. (and for those who would ask why, i say: go, see and feel it yourself...)

...and don't ever forget to take a memorabilia with you,
for the recollection of memoirs, LATER...  

...and again for the record, I JUST HAD THE MOST UNFORGETTABLE APRIL FOOLS IN THE 32 YEARS of my being.

 LEARNED VIRTUE : "PERSEVERANCE" yes, i've almost abandoned the mission if not of my insistence, that, indeed, there is Starbucks out of this woods, chum too is hopeless and petulant of my idea in finding starbucks here. DETERMINATION AND POSSIBILITIES too can aid you to satiate your endeavor to a HAPPY JOURNEY!

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

whew! indeed, a journey....guess again the next destination..?
there's more in  store, so please keep on reading....

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

**** i just have to highlight the place i've been for a more evident recording****

1.6750 = Ayala Avenue, Makati City
2.Cebu Ayala = Cebu CIty
3.Camp john hay = Baguio City == APRIL FOOLS DAY
4.Lipa = Lipa City, Batangas
5. Solenad = Sta. Rosa City, Laguna
6.Boracay = Boracay
7.Corinthian Hills = Quezon City
8.Katipunan = Quezon City
9.Intramuros = Manila
10.SM Sky Garden = Northedsa, Quezon City
11.Bacolod = Bacolod City
12.Jupiter = Makati City
13.Tagaytay = Tagaytay City
14.32nd and 7th = Global City, Makati City