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.

LET IT GO!!!

I got this really really nice article from one of my former superiors, and I found it so touching. I want to share this to you now---

LETTING GO
By T.D. Jakes

There are people who can walk away from you.

And hear me when I tell you this! When people can walk away from you, let them walk. I don't want you to try to talk another person into staying with you, loving you, calling you, caring about you, coming to see you, staying attached to you. I mean hang up the phone.

When people can walk away from you let them walk. Your destiny is never tied to anybody that left.

The bible said that they came out from us that it might be made manifest that they were not for us. For had they been of us, no doubt they would have continued with us. [1 John 2:19]

People leave you because they are not joined to you. And if they are not joined to you, you can't make them stay.

Let them go.

And it doesn't mean that they are a bad person, it just means that their part in the story is over. And you've got to know when people's part in your story is over so that you don't keep trying to raise the dead...

You've got to know when it's dead. You've got to know when it's over.

Let me tell you something... I've got the gift of good-bye. It's the tenth spiritual gift; I believe in good-bye... It's not that I'm hateful, it's that I'm faithful, and I know whatever God means for me to have He'll give it to me. And if it takes too much sweat, I don't need it. Stop begging people to stay.

Let them go!!!

If you are holding on to something that doesn't belong to you and was never intended for your life, then you need to...

LET IT GO!!!

If you are holding on to past hurts and pains ...

LET IT GO!!!

If someone can't treat you right, love you back, and see your worth...

LET IT GO!!!

If someone has angered you.

LET IT GO!!!

If you are holding on to some thoughts of evil and revenge...

LET IT GO!!!

If you are involved in a wrong relationship or addiction...

LET IT GO!!!

If you are holding on to a job that no longer meets your needs or talents...

LET IT GO!!!

If you have a bad attitude...

LET IT GO!!!

If you keep judging others to make yourself feel better...

LET IT GO!!!

If you're stuck in the past and God is trying to take you to a new level in Him...

LET IT GO!!!

If you are struggling with the healing of a broken relationship...

LET IT GO!!!

If you keep trying to help someone who won't even try to help themselves...

LET IT GO!!!

If you're feeling depressed and stressed ...

LET IT GO!!!

If there is a particular situation that you are so used to handling yourself and God is saying 'take your hands off of it', then you need to...

LET IT GO!!!