More Batangas Pictures

As most of my regular visitors would notice, updates on this blog has been a bit scarce lately, I guess I'm still catching up on what work and other stuff I missed while I was "away" that blogging just has to take a backseat for a while longer... Anyways, to make up for the lack of updates, I am posting more pictures from the outing last May 16:

Company Outing

Last Friday, we had our company outing at La Luz Resort in Batangas. Despite a few hitches, it turned out to be quite fun... here are some of the moments I got to capture:

Tubbataha Reef

Have you seen Tubbataha Reef? Sad to say, I have not yet gone to this beautiful and rich part of the Philippines. But from what I have been hearing and seeing about it on TV it is now one of the places I would like to visit someday. What's even more interesting about it is that it is now nominated to be one of the new seven wonders of the world. Currently, it is on number 8 so if you want Tubbataha Reef to become part of the new seven wonders, don't hesitate to vote for it now. It will bring more pride to our country and probably more tourists also. If you've seen the beauty of Tubbataha for yourself, then all the more reason to vote for it, if you're like me though, who has yet to see its full glory, but is planning to... you can vote also!

There are two more wonderful places in the Philippines which have been nominated in the new seven wonders -- The Chocolate Hills in Bohol and The Puerto Princesa Subterranean River National Park in Palawan. Let us bring pride to the natural wonders of the Philippines and vote for them now.

Back from Baguio

I arrived at around 10pm last night from a three-day seminar in Baguio... Now I feel so tired, and I took extra vitamin C supplements because I feel a bout of colds coming. I must tell you that I have been to Baguio several times before already and I've stayed at Teacher's Camp several times already also but this is the worst experience I've had visiting Baguio and Teachers' Camp. First, the room that we were assigned didn't have a comfort room of it's own so we had to share a common CR and shower stalls with almost a hundred other participants. And then the room also didn't have a single electrical socket so we had to go out to the hallway and plug our cellphone chargers there and stand there waiting or sit on the floor of the hallway or leave our phone there for anyone to see and get! In the morning I had to wake up super early so I would be able to take a shower because like I said we had to share 6 shower stalls with many others, and if you're late in taking a shower you would experience very little water supply or none at all and you have to wait several minutes for them to replenish their water in their tanks or something to get water again. But what's worse is there is not a hint of a heating system for the water so you end up taking a shower with freezing cold water! Haaay, I don't mind that so much because I like getting cold showers (although normally not that cold) but most of the participants are already middle-aged and some are even as old as my Mom so you can just imagine their agony in having to endure the cold weather as well as the cold showers as well! And then the overflowing number of participants rendered the dining hall jam-packed! If you were one of those people who walks slowly then you would have to endure the long lines queued to have breakfast, lunch or dinner. And if you're one of the really, really unlucky ones, after lining up and waiting for a long time you end up with a different, less tasty, hastily prepared make-do of a meal because the supply of the meal that the earlier diners were served has already been consumed. Haay, naku! And as if matters weren't bad enough... it rained, and rained, and rained... the 2nd day of the seminar granted us rains that made it even harder for us to enjoy Baguio. It's a good thing that the last day was a bit more cheerful because we were blessed with sunny weather and the organizers decided to fast-track the last topics so we could go home early. I am not blaming anyone though, this is just a typical rant, stating my dilemma about the situation... I know that Teacher's Camp is under a lot of renovation now and that the unexpected influx of participants gave the organizers of the seminar a situation where they had to make-do with a lot of things, but hey... I'm entitled to whine a little, right?

I still like Baguio though, I love the weather and I like seeing flowers bloom all around you so I would still come back and bring my hubby there (who is from Ilocos Sur, a stone's throw away from Baguio, but he has never been thre) this January... I would just have to make sure that we would have better accomodations and we would be able to enjoy the scenery and the weather! Anyways, I'm here now... home, safe and devoid of pasalubong because we werent able to go out and scout for the usual things we buy from Baguio, but there's still January...

Shopping Spree

My mom and I went on a spur of the moment outing yesterday at the Mall of Asia. I didn't go to work, to put it simply, I played hookey for a whole day spent it with my mom who's currently on month-long vacation from work as per her doctor's orders. I guess she's starting to get bored all cooped up at home that she called me and asked me if I had anything specially planned for the day. i of course just told her that aside from boring office work, I wasn't planning on doing anything else. So when she then asked if I could accompany her to go "out", I immediately said "sure" because normally, my mom wouldn't even dare of asking me to absent myself from work just to accompany her, I felt that she needed someone to be with her at the moment so I told her I could bring her to MOA if she wants and so we went... Well, I didn't expect my mom to be super energetic and walk and visit all the botiques in the mall or anything because she's always complaining of aching joints and muscles anyway and I just brought her there so she'd have new things to see and I could treat her out to lunch or something but I guess having her first born by her side gave her an extra energy boost because we went window shopping, and she didn't even complain of getting tired or anything (well except towards the end of the day, and by that time, I was tired as well!). She even helped me in choosing from a wide array of choices of makeup from elianto and endured the long wait as I tried on cute flip flops from ipanema (I bought a cutesy salmon colored one!). We had lunch as sbarro and then continued with the window shopping until she came upon stitchin' moments where she bought several patterns for her new cross stitch project. We went home at around four in the afternoon... I miss spending time with my mom... I know it can't be helped that I live apart from her now but I just wish I could still spend time with my family more...

Getting Some R&R!

These past few months have particularly been tiring both physically and emotionally. To recharge for the next batch of overtimes and whatnots, my husband and I are planning to go on a short vacation this October and we have browsed the internet to look for an affordable yet suitable vacation package. While browsing, a site caught my fancy...

This site does not only deal with reservations for hotel accommodations but for vacation packages as well. They also have links for flights, resorts, motels and even car rentals. Hey, not all travel sites could offer all this and so much more! The site is very easy to navigate and has a variety of choices ranging from the luxurious to quaint. One can even search hotels by the amenities they offer or by the address. The one thing that I really liked about this site is that it gives you the advantage of knowing how much your choice of accommodations would cost you, I mean you don’t want to reserve something and find out that it would create a big dent on your credit card bill, right? It really is ideal for people who don’t have much time to go to different travel agencies and look for a package that would suit them. Hotel Reservations is really a blessing to busy career people looking for that ultimate getaway or even a place to stay while attending a business conference. It truly is fortunate that I came across this site at the most opportune time. Now, my husband and I are looking forward to a restful and memorable vacation thanks to Hotel Reservations. I can’t wait to be able to rave about the fun things we were able to do and the relaxation that we would experience because of the carefully chosen places we have reserved to go to!

Hiatus Over!

Hey! I go away for a long time and I get no visits? Hmmp! I guess, this goes to show how truly popular I am... Anyways, for the lurkers out there, yes, I am back and hopefully for good! I have just been from a three-week absence from the blogging world. Anyways, here are the reasons:

First, the Subic Seminar:
Gosh! This seminar is a combination of good and tiring things... Let's start with the tiring stuff... The seminar was jampacked with activities, tests and assignments. Although basically a review of previous knowledge, it became an opportunity to brush away the cobwebs that are slowly beginning to cover my brain cells. hehehehe! But the good news is that I got to do a little duty free shopping there! And of course I got to meet new friends! Oh, and best of all (ngek! di naman best pero kakatuwa lang kasi first time!) I got to experience my first Casino visit! We even spent several minutes at the slot machines! Now I understand why some people find it addicting...

Anyways, in the picture (sorry blurred, magalaw kasi e, dami passers by saka gabi na) you will see Carla, me, Marj, Abby and Arlene... plus Junet who took the picture make up the "Party Animals" (secret joke there!)

And here's one taken after a meal at the hotel. (Junet is the one standing... and don't mind the date-stamp kasi I forgot to set my digicam)

Then right after I got back from Subic, I got sick! I got the flu, and even though I dragged myself back to work, I didn't have the strength to compose something to publish for this blog...

And then, when I finally recovered, I had to finish a lot of paperwork as well as shop for gifts for my Ninang V, who celebrated her birthday last October 8; my inaanak, Aliyah who turned one last October 16 and my Inang Chayong (my grandmother) who turned 88 last October 19. So now... I hope I can go back to my normal blogging ways... The paperwork has receded, the gifts has been distributed, the celebrations (except for one) had been attended and now I have a bit of free time... hmmm, but I'm kinda tired na, (yawn) so I better get some ZZZZs first, be back for more kwento and pictures later.

By the way, thanks to Mhay for the colored text tip... sometimes kasi the answer is right before you all the while kaya lang you have to have someone to point it out to you pa.