Sometimes you have to run away so you can see who will run after you.
Sometimes you have to talk quieter, just to see who’s actually listening.
Sometimes you have to take a step back, just to see who’s still standing by your side.
Sometimes you have to make a wrong decision, just to see who’s there when it all falls down. Sometimes you have to let go of the one you love, just to see if they love you enough to come back.

Why Filipinos---

Something that I've learned from a friend's blog today. Open Google and type "Why Filipinos". The results are kinda funny, hehhe, especially the first one. :)

Dumaguete Wedding... And Then Some :)

I had the most awesome time in Dumaguete last week when I attended the Boniel-Gayo Nuptials. The wedding was fun, the crowd was very responsive, and I definitely enjoyed hosting the event.

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I arrived at Dumaguete at around 10AM so I had about a couple of hours to freshen up for the Lunch Reception at The Bethel House. I took the land trip to Dumaguete so my back was aching for being stuck in the van for 4 hours. I took a 30-minute nap at Hotel Nicanor and then I took a loooong cool shower.

Note: If you haven't tried taking a land trip to Dumaguete, you'll be amazed at how easy it could be. Two options: You can always take a bus at the Cebu South Bus Terminal, and take the one that says "Dumaguete". It'll go straight to Bato Oslob, and will land in Sibulan in Dumaguete. Fare is P151. And then another option for you is to rent a van. It's a bit more expensive but there's a lot of trade off in terms of comfort coz taking the van is so much better.

I decided to attend the second reception at El Camino Bar and Restaurant. It's about a 5-minute drive from the Boulevard and all you have to do is to ride a tricycle. That's what's amazing about Dumaguete--- everything's just so accessible.

I'd like to thank the couple Sheanne and Delon for the invitation. I had so much fun. Till next time.

Omigoddd You Guys, It's Angel's Birthday!

Happy birthday, Gel!
You will always be one of the very few people I constantly look up to.
You are a real person, and I thank God that I have someone like you in my life...

All the best for you for 2010...!

Archie's Goes Pink

Archie will be introducing its first gay character in their September 2010 issue. I got this news from the Washington Post website and I found it really interesting, I mean, don't you think it's high time Archie's explores the Pink Market?

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The openly gay character is named Kevin, a hot new guy in Riverdale High. :)

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Anyway, CNN revealed the plot and it introdues Kevin's character as someone who beat Jughead in a burger-eating contest, and later on caught the romantic attention of no less than Veronica Lodge.

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Nice :)

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*photo courtesy: Yahoo News

Percy Jackson Overload and Age Rewind...

I got a very special gift from Hunky-Chardie today. I was grinning from ear to ear when I knew my package from Lexington had arrived, plus the fact that I get to see him in person again and not just settle for our nightly YM conversations anymore. It's always nice when someone close to your heart comes home.

I finally have all the 4 books of the Percy Jackson & The Olympians Series. Yes, all the four books, isn't that neat? Nothing beats the Wal-Mart book aisle. Now I don’t have to wait for copies at Fullybooked.

And then I also got my usual Maybelline Age Rewind concealer. I've been using this since 2007 and you can't find that in any Maybelline stalls here in the Philippines. I bought 2 bottles when I went to the US. I LOVE IT---it's like photoshop in a bottle, and it's just $7. Nice. :)

Thank you, Chardie. You're the best!

Loving You

One boring Sunday, decided to just stay home and not do anything. I had Maxwell and Robin Thicke songs on auto-repeat mode in my iPod. I personally think these two guys have the most amazing falsettos. I got up in bed and decided to try out a few vocal exercises to find out if I still have my falsettos and whistle register. I thought Minnie Riperton's Loving You is a good place to start.

Beautiful Bullshit Sweet n' Spicy Buffalo Wings

A lot of people have asked me about my Sweet n' Spicy Buffalo Wings recipe. I brought a big serving good for 20-something people in the office during Karen's birthday and all of a sudden I'm being bombarded by a lot of inquiries about it.

I should think of it as a compliment, I mean, no one would bother asking if they didn’t like it in the first place. :)

I don’t want to disclose my exact proportions (and the exact ingredients) coz it took me like 20 trials to come up with my own. But for friendship's sake, here's a little improvised recipe that I designed, and don’t worry, it yields almost the same results.

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Chicken base:
1 kilo chicken wings
1 cup cornstarch
2 tablespoons cayenne pepper
Salt and black pepper to taste

Sauce:
1/2 cup water
2 tablespoons cayenne pepper
3 tablespoons honey
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 tablespoon soy sauce
2 tablespoons kimchi sauce
Garlic, minced
Red bell pepper
Chili flakes

Mix cornstarch, salt, pepper and cayenne pepper to make the breading. Bread the chicken and deep fry until it gets golden brown.

For the sauce, saute the minced garlic, red bell pepper, cayenne pepper and chili flakes. Under low fire, add in the soy sauce, kimchi sauce, honey, brown sugar, water and balsamic vinegar. Mix until the sauce gets thick. Add in the fried chicken and top with a dash of cayenne pepper.

There--- my Beautiful Bullshit Sweet n' Spicy Buffalo Wings.


*For orders, please contact me personally. Thanks!

Gleeks Unite!

The second installment of Glee episodes is here. I failed to watch the first one last April 14 coz I had one busy week. I havent even had the chance to watch Idol for 2 weeks now and I havent had much time to watch the online streams, too. I heard Andrew Garcia was booted out and I'm very disappointed. Oh well, good thing there's still Glee 2 to keep my weekdays sane.

And if you're a big fan of the great Sue Sylvester like me, you might wanna watch this video. Sue stages her version of Madonna's Vogue--- that's Sue minus the track suit plus the corset plus the famous cone bra plus lots of laces.

Watch next week's episode of Glee dedicated to the one and only Pop Queen, madonna, in the Glee: The Power of Madonna week. Loves!

Bohol Bee Farm Experience

A lot of people have asked regarding the Bohol trip pictures I posted via Facebook three weeks ago. Some have paid close attention to the pictures I had at the Bohol Bee Farm, and personally approached and emailed me on how to go there, and the activities that are in there.

Suddenly my humble blog has become a little booklet of how-to's for people with whom I share the same interests. I'm no travel enthusiast myself, but I'm more than glad to help out if you ask me.


Anyways, The Bohol Bee Farm is both a resort and a restaurant located in Dao, Dauis, Panglao. If you have been to any of those beaches in Panglao, you'll know that the Bee Farm is just around the area. It is dedicated to making and serving organic agricultural products, from food to clothing and ornaments.

We skipped the farm tour coz we directly went to the Buzzz Restaurant just right at the middle of the farm and overlooking the sea. We did some researches prior to the trip and we learned about their unique menu.

Food was a bit pricey, around 120-150 per meal, but then of course you totally defeat the whole purpose of going there if you don’t try out their unique offerings. Here are some pictures of the awesome treats we ordered.

I especially love the spareribs meal, but my curiousity was focused more on the salad. It had flowers, you know the bougainvilla petals, and some others.

The food was yummy, and the flowers tasted like, uhmmm, flowers still (like what was I thinking?). If you are a big fan of eating, uhmmm, flowers, then you will surely enjoy the salad part. I'm not a big fan of eating bougainvillas, but it was a unique and fun dish that I surely will not forget.

The farm also has some really cute shops of everything organic: honey products, cloth and ornaments, wine, etc. I like their icecream shop coz it offered a gazillion Pinoy flavors. You might wanna try out their pandan and ginger icecream combo.

From Tagbilaran, there are many ways to go to Panglao, and specifically to Dauis. You may either take the metered taxi, or rent a van. I suggest the habal-habal ride coz it's way more fun, promise. :) Give it around 100-150 pesos.

If I were to give it some ratings, I'd give the Bohol Bee Farm 4 out of 5 stars for uniqueness and social responsibility.

Happy Birthday Karen!

Amo ni ang birthday greeting ko cimu...

Tani tagaan kapa sang malawig nga kinabuhi...

Kag tani tagaan kapa sang manami nga lovelife asta sa asta...

Happy Birthday!

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(And there goes my Ilonggo 101 crash course, hahaha)

Dumaguete Weekend

I'm travelling to Dumaguete this weekend to host the Boniel-Gayo Wedding reception. I will be taking the first trip Saturday morning straight from my Friday shift, and arrive at around before lunch just in time for the reception. Hope nothing goes wrong with my 4-hour trip else I'll be in super big trouble.

So Saturday lunch time, I will be working my ass off for the hosting job, and then catch some sleep at Hotel Nicanor right after.

And I'll be meeting up with Glenn Bacalso who would also happen to be in Dumaguete this weekend. Naks..

And then I will be meeting up with some friends there, and I just got an email invitation for the "second" reception. This sounds fun, like, read on: ~

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I have deliberated on whether or not to spend the whole weekend there (~maybe a little side trip to Casaroro Falls, the Twin Lakes, Siquijor or Apo Island). Today I have finally decided to give the Twin Lakes a go, and I'm super excited. I'll be going there alone by the way.

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I didn’t have a chance to view the Pre-nup pics of the lovely couple. But for posterity's sake, ladies and gentlemen, I would like to present to you the lovely bride!

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Congratulations Sheanne and Delon! Stay happy, stay healthy, and keep on spreading the love! Make lots of babies okay? *winks*

Because the Baby is now an Attorney...

A few weeks back we all learned about who passed and who didn’t in the most recent Philippine Bar Exams. I was fortunate enough to know that one of my closest friends in life, Pete, passed the Bar and is now ready for the real test.

We had a little Verkada get-together slash victory party for no less than the guy who we fondly call Vernie. We had our fill of Thai food at Siam, and even if the group wasn’t complete (we're badly missing Ayenne, Malou, Rain , Amita and Jehjeh), the mood was just as jubilant as it was back during those days when we would happily cluster around at a quiet little corner in McDo Ayala with cone twirls in our hands.

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Pete, I know you read this blog regularly. I want you to know how proud I am of your achievements, and you deserve only the best. This is just the beginning of something great. Always keep in mind what one of our professors told us back in college: that we are all born with a social responsibility. This just all narrows down to what good you ought to give back to the society, so use it well.

Congratulations!

Lambaklad Fishing

Tibiao Fish Farm

Strawberry Shortcake Goes Blonde

I spent my Sunday afternoon at Coffeebean with Jessica. I woke up really late that day that I missed Sunday worship service at Church. Sundays are usually the best time to just relax and unwind, and I haven't done any of those for the longest time.

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We spent the whole time coloring Strawberry Shortcake. We're that shallow :). A new coloring book and the smell of freshly opened Crayolas turn us on big time. Strawberry Shortcake's supposed to have red hair, but we thought going blonde would be a fabulous option. We were a bit hesitant about her makeover, but it turned really well in the end.

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See?

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Ripe

I may be one of the most shallow persons you'll ever know, and I delight on even the smallest, most meaningless things you could ever think of.

Remember this picture from last week?

This was taken during one of my trips to a friend's farm in Tibiao, Antique (yup, that's prior to my Boracay escapade). One time during that trip I was right under a mango tree that bore lots of fruits. For a city boy like me, the sight of a real mango tree with gazillion fruits amazed me so much that I asked the guide if I could pick one unripe fruit from a branch that hung low. I decided to keep it as a remembrance.

I had no plans to eat it, in fact, I knew I was just going to throw it away after maybe smelling and poking and tossing it.

I however forgot that I placed it in my bag.

Today, a week after the trip, I noticed that my bag was still unpacked. Typical. My work schedule has been really INSANE this week (~and I'm not complaining coz I LOVE it coz I'm a self-confessed workaholic~) that I never really had time to sort my things out when I arrived home from the long vacation.

There I found my little mango, all yellow and ripe.

Amazing.

I thought if I'd leave it in my bag for one more week, I'd get a mango pie. That would be weird and better. :)

Yeah, you might think I'm beginning to lose my screws. :) You can quit reading now. Hehehehe. I can start eating my mango. Chomp-chomp.

Laughs

As the saying goes---

There's nothing like deep breaths after laughing that hard.
Nothing in the world like a sore stomach for the right reasons.

Discovering Antique

I never really got to appreciate the Panay Region until I went there last week for a 2-day tour in their area. I got to travel from Iloilo to Antique, specifically in the quiet town of Tibiao to relish what they have to offer.

Antique, by the way, is 3.5 hours from Iloilo via bus or V-Hire. Fare is around P170.

Tibiao is known as the adventure capital of Antique. It kindof puzzled me at first, coz the term "adventure capital" sounded too much for a pristine town that had a backdrop of vast ricefields, mountains and dry rivers. This town is quiet, and I could barely see buses and people in the streets.

My questions were answered when we got to meet a few folks who were more than glad to show us the place. We arrived at Antique around after lunch. We stayed at Hometel (it's like P250 per bed++ which is exactly the kind of price that a backpacker like me was looking for), a small lodge-house situated right at the University of Antique - decent place, clean linens and since it is inside the university premises, security is a guarantee.

Things I did in Tibiao:

Snorkeling in Batabat Fish Sanctuary. From Tibiao proper, we took a tricycle ride to a nearby town, Batabat, and we were led to a small fishing village. We had to rent a small banca to get to the snorkeling area, it'sP300 for 2 bancas good for the whole afternoon (1 small banca can accommodate 2 or 3 persons)

Lambaklad Fishing. We started with our day 2 at around 4AM and rode a tricycle to a fishing town that had rafts that are used to howl fish. Yes we were going fishing today. We rode the rafts and headed to the middle of the sea, howled the nets and got our fresh catch-- today we got lots of squids and fishes, it was super cool.

Bugtong Bato Falls. We took a habal-habal ride to a small sitio where we had to start our trek towards Bugtong Bato Falls. Our walk lasted around 20-30 minutes and went past beautiful rice fields, terraces and countless rivers. We had to climb on rocks and stairs to get to the first fall, and rappel to get to the second fall. The rappeling part freaked me out a bit, coz there were no harnesses, only a single rope that you could cling on to. The view from the second fall was breathtaking.

White River Rafting. We had to rappel down and take another 30-minute walk towards the site where we had to do some kayaking adventure. One raft costs 500 so all the 8 of us had to share rafts coz it was quite costly. Due to El Nino, the rapids weren't really wild so it was easy to maneuver the kayak, I learned it in less than a minute in fact. :)

Kawa Hot Bath. From the White River Rafting site, we had to climb up to their make-shift spa center for a hot bath. There were like 3 big kawas in the area, I think they were made of copper. The guide told us that the kawas were antique and they got them from a sunken galleon back in the 16th century. When we got to the hot bath area, our kawas were all ready and they were ready to, well, cook us. :)

Hanging Bridge. From the Kawa Station, we had to walk like 10 minutes to get to the hanging bridge were you could get a good view of the river and the mountains.

Butong Bato Dive. From the hanging bridge, we took a habal-habal ride towards this point in there river that had a HUGE rock the size, lets say, of a 4-storey building. We had to climb the rock so we could dive from the topmost point. It was a thrilling experience and I did it twice.

Farm. The guide was kind enough to show us their farm. They owned a huge farm that had all the vegetables named in the Bahay Kubo song, some fruit trees and a Tilapia pond.

Caving. We took a 10-minute habal habal ride towards a cave at a very secluded part of the town. It was murky inside and I kindof didn’t enjoy being inside the cave. I was actually thinking of the Haiti earthquake that time. The trek around the cave was awesome though, coz we had to climb down on huge roots and branches.

Floating Cottage. From the cave, we took a 10-minute habal habal ride to Niel's resto to get our snacks. The food was expensive (I don’t know why), but they had 2 floating cottages that charges P20 per person. There's nothing more romantic than watching the sunset on a floating raft--- it was a moment with God, no kidding.

Tibiao Fish Spa. We took a habal-habal ride towards Tibiao Fish Spa. Dinner was already waiting when we got there (dinner rates starts at P120 per head), and after dinner, we dipped our feet on the small pool that had 5 species of fishes. The fishes were suppose to gnaw on the dead skins of our feet. It sounds weird, but the experience was fun and unique. The Tibiao Fish Spa is one of only 3 fish spas in the entire county.

If I were to rate Antique, I would give it 4 out of 5 stars.

Of course, the trip would not have been possible without the help of some really great friends in Tibiao. Thank you Kuya Nono of Hometel for the accomodation, and thank you Flord for the very memorable tour. And to the people of Tibiao, thank you-- you guys are the best!

Check out Katahum Tours here and avail of their tour packages. If you wanna explore Antique, then Tibiao is the place to be.