Our ref works!

I have been in such a financial turmoil for weeks now - so many things to buy, so many things to do and so
little money! Imagine how happy I am when my ref finally worked, ahhhh *sigh of relief* one item off my to-buy list. I'm a happy camper now. :)

For some reason I'm having a hard time making ends meet, tuition, grocery, kids' allowances, bills and house
repairs - At this rate by the end of the year I'll be in neck-deep debt. I need help! Fast!

I write my biweekly expenses in my magic notebook every cutoff and I try to figure out what I can cross out on my list and imagine my surprise when I realized that theres not a single item on the list that I can cross out :(

Haaay buhay.. I'm not complaining here.. just in desperate need to rant here.. hehe

Good luck to me, then! :p

Memory for keeps: Safeway Manila CSR initiative

A lot of people were affected by Bagyong Ondoy - there were a lot of goverment and non-goverment groups trying to help in any way they can - rescue missions, food distributions, donations..

My family was affected by Ondoy - flood water rising up to the chest came inside our house during the typhoon - there was nobody there to move all our stuff to the second floor, so our things floated for 12 hours in flood water - washing machine, ref, treadmill, microwave, over toaster, tv, desktop computer and dvd player, plus my whole cabinet of clothes! It was heartbreaking to know that we will be starting from scratch again.. When I arrived home we started cleaning, brushing walls, picking up clothes and stuff from the mud covered ground. Even in our best efforts to restore the place to anything that resembles a home, wala tlaga e..

I know there are a lot of families far more affected than we are, so it did not cross mymind that anybody would extend any help. I have to admit that being the 'ate', i was so pressured on how to manage my income to meet our needs, and the added pressure of getting the house into tiptop shape is getting to my nerves.  Haaay. So it was like a ray of sunshine when my Safeway Manila family extended some help - there was a box full of stuff we basically need, it was a well thought of intiative, there were clothes, canned goods, toiletries and even treats for my brothers and sisters. Words can't express the gratitude I feel towards my co-employees!

That box did not give back everyhting we lost, but it gave us the strength go move forward and rebuild the life we lost. A shoutout to ever Safeway employee who contributed! Hugs to all..

Memory for keeps: Coron 2009

The trip to Coron was one of the things I needed to do for myself - I wanted time to think and unwind, all the drama in my life is finally taking its toll on me.

It was one of those bahala-na-trips that makes it kinda adventurous. I wanted to go as far away as possible from all the pressure I feel whenever I am in the office.

I booked cebu pacific tickets to Busuanga and back to Manila, I set it for September 25 to 27 -bahala na kung tumuloy or hindi! I really did not plan anything - parang things just started to fall into place. (^^,)

Soon my trip became controversial because of some unfortunate events that happened - yes, I blame it on miscommunication. I really had to get away from all the chismis, the hurtful words and the pressure to do the so-called right thing.

So come September 24 - I packed my bags and lay awake all night anticipating the trip. 5am I started doing my morning rituals while eating breakfast - I was'nt comfortable to fly with a bad weather but thanks to texts of encouragement from Archie, I finally mustered the courage to leave the house and go to NAIA for my 9:45 flight.

Its raining! - waaah and my 9:45 trip was cancelled! what to do? Is this a sign that I should not continue with this trip? Stubborn me, I lined up at the Cebu pacific desk and rebooked my flight for later that afternoon. Boo-yah! a slot was available for the 1:45 trip! This was sooo meant to be!

I made friends while I was waiting for my flight - there were a lot of people going to Busuanga, some for vacation and others just for business purposes. A lot of people were frustrated of the weather but still all of us were looking forward to finally be in Busuanga.

1:45pm - All the passengers for flight 5J531 were finally in the plane, ready for take off. Our plane was a small one, it was a propeller-type plane that I estimated to be 80-seater. I expected the flight to be uncomfortable, considering the weather and that it is a samll aircraft. After 40 minutes in the sky we finally saw land. Wow! The pictures found in the internet did not do justice to the place. It was beautiful! beathtaking! Even my camera did not do justice to the islands of Palawan. The place was perfect despite the rain.

Busuanga airport is relatively small as compared to other domestic airports - upon exiting the arrival area you will find lots of van drivers with sign boards willing to take anybody to Coron town proper for 150 pesos. Good thing my van fare was covered by the tour package I availed. Then I met Tawini the driver who took us to town - he is one animated character. You can contact him through 09208130967, if ever you come visit Coron and need his assistance.

One thing I like about Coron is that since it is a small town, everybody knows everyone and nobody can ever get lost! People are so friendly and hospitable.

The first day we just ate our hearts out, since it was raining I decided against climbing Mt. Tapyas which I heard was 700+ steps up! We decided to dine at a place called Kawayanan grill where we ate Nilasing na hipon, seafood kebab with seaweed ensalada and kangkong enselada. It was'nt the best meal of my stay there but it was really cheap, for a price of 400 for the complete meal - I think it is worth recommending.

That night we went to Maquinit Hot Springs via tricycle from Darayonan Lodge, at first I hesitated to dip into the steaming water - might be a bit to hot for me but since all the people seemed to enjoy the water I tried it ---- ooooohhhh refreshing, the heat relaxes the body.. According to the people there, the spring becomes part of the sea during high tide. Nice place to go back to.

By 11pm I was sleeping - was sooo tired! And I'm soo looking forward to out island hopping adventure the next day...

It was raining the second day - I was a bit hesitant to go on with the the island hopping good thing I got reassurance from the the people we were with. After breakfast we went to the port and found the boat we will use for our Island Adventure, by 9am we were out to sea with a few waves tossing our boat back and forth. Our first stop was at Siete Pecados, it was a snorkeling site near the Coron Islands - I was'nt expecting much since it was raining and all but lo and behold - the seabed was embedded with an intricate web of corals and the fishes were amazingly close to us while dipping in the water! It was a spectacular site! Words can't do justice to the underwater treasure there is in Coron.

Next stop would be Kayangan Lake - this is an enclosed body of water in between the mountains of Coron Island, we went there by boat but since it is a lake not connected to the sea - we had to go through a 15 minute hike up and down the mountain to appreciate the beauty of Kayangan, we had a Tagbanua guide with us, he allowed us to ride his balsa and tour the lake, it was so serene, the body of water was undisturbed by the rain, we were the only people there, Nica stayed with our bags while we toured the lake.. When you are at the middle of the lake, try to shout, it will echo along the muntains of Coron.

Next stop was supposed to be Banol Beach, but the waves were too rough along the beach and there's no way for us to manouver the boat to get to Banol, so we settled for a different beach but along the same coastline, once we docked on the beach (forgive me for forgetting the name :p), we decided to take our lunch there, we had crabs with pork binagoongan and ensaladang gulay sa suka. The food was provided by Darayonan, aaaaaaaah sarap! :) One thing I noticed about the beaches in Coron is that it is not commercialized and Tagbanua people take care of the surroundings. There were no shops or stores anywehere we went it was pure nature beybeh!

We rested for a while along the beach , took some shots and enjoyed the slight drizzle. The sand was beautiful and the water was clear..

Off we went to Skeleton Wreck to do some snorkeling - Coron is known for its diving spots where Japanese battle ships sunk during world war 2. The fishes were more visbile in this snorkeling site, there was also the ship which turned into a coral garden. It was an amazing spectacle, but I was a bit uncomfortable snorkeling here beacause it is a lot deeper than Siete Pecados. Chicco enjoyed it more he swam around with no life vest! Such a swimmer. :) He swimmed while me and Nica and Ryan were left on the boat. kid at heart hehe

Since I am such a kill joy, i begged off going to our final destination - Twin Lagoon because the waves were suddenly getting bigger. I was scared that the boat might tip over. As we were heading back home, I regretted my decision since a lot of tourists were still out in the sea, I might have a bit over reacted but since we were off course already there's no way for us to go back to twin lagoon :(

As we neared the port, the clouds started to part and Mr. Sun showed himself.. tsk tsk duwag kasi ako hehe

Upon arriving we were too tired to do anything else but eat.. then off to dreamland we went.

The next day, I was so anxious to go back to home since I heard from the news that Metro Manila was submerged in water - but that's a different story. Since there was a storm affecting the Manila area, and no flights back were available, we had no choice but to stay in Coron for another night. We took the oppurtunity to explore the town proper, we tried their version of street food and when we were finally exhausted to the bones we retired to our room in Sea Dive. We chose Sea Dive since it was one of the cheapest places there but when I tried to sleep in our room the roof suddenly flapped and soon there was intense rainfall. I was scared since Sea Dive is a structure on top of the water, so we decided to transfer to Darayonan again - good thing a room is available.

The next day Kuya Tawini arrived in his usual jolly manner and we were off to the airport hoping to finally fly bak to Manila that day. PAL Express was the first to land, then came Cbu Pacific and then Zestair and finally around 12pm our Cebu Pacific flight was ready for boarding... aaaaah saya!

Coron is one of the best places to visit - its for those individuals who want to experience a piece of paradise in the Philippines. One of the unexplored wonders of our Country, See you this summer Coron! babalik kmi :)

buh-bye Pepeng

After days of dreading Supertyphoon Pepengs' arrival, the whole Philipines can now give a collective sigh of relief. Finally- disaster is over - Papa Jesus is sooo good! Pepeng left the country with little impact and now the Filipinos can continue geting their feet back on the ground and overcoming the effects of bagyong Ondoy.

I feel so blessed that despite the calamities that passed I am still alive and my family is still intact!

From Ondoy to Pepeng

It was just last week when Ondoy hit the Philippines, the havoc that Ondoy caused is still visible on the streets of Quezon City - trash from people's homes are still on the sidewalks and the water markings still on the street walls.

I was enjoying my vacation in Palawan when Ondoy struck Metro Manila and the Calabarzon area leaving a lot of people homeless and in a state of disbelief. Even if we lost everything I still feel lucky - nothing bad happened to my family, my friends and my loved ones. What exactly happened during that day? While I was out enjoying the beautiful Coron islands - the whole of Metro Manila was filling up with water. Flights were cancelled that day and upon getting back to the Coron town proper we heard from tourists that Manila was declared to be in the state of Calamity. My heart started pounding and my stomach turned upside down as I watch the live newsfeed from ABS-CBN flash from the TV screen. I was worried sick of my family. I tried contacting everybody but to no avail, eventually I got an answer from my mom - she said that Gio and Dane were missing, the last contact she had with them was fromm 2pm - that was about 6 hours ago! I started praying for their safety. I did not get a good night sleep then - it wasn't until 10am the following day that I heard news from my brother and sister they were stranded along Espana with no food and no signal on their mobile phones. They were back on our apartment that same day, they told me that the house was in total chaos and that most of our stuff were either wet or broken. I was very anxious to get back to my family but the cloudy skies did not allow any aircrafts to land on Busuanga Airport resulting to another day of vacation for me.

September 28- Finally! I'm back in Manila, while we were landing we saw the flood infested areas - it was one of the most devasting sights of my life, I can only imagine the suffering that Ondoy inflicted to the Filipino people. The good thing that came out of going through Typhoon Ondoy is that it showed that every person has a heart and at times like this we help eaach other as much as we can.

Now after a week of struggling here comes another typhoon - Pepeng. Sad to say, this typhoon is stronger than Ondoy, let's cross our fingers and continue to say our prayers. God Bless us all..