My Favorite Things...

These are my favorite things these days...
Buy them at the World Trade Center Bazaar, Roxas Blvd Pasay City
Bazaar is from December 7 to December 17
See you there!

Check out the link below for more pics
http://morbiedolls.multiply.com/photos/album/53

Mananang-Doll, my favorite doll

Badminton Dollies

Vampies

Prisoner Dollies

Screaming Morbiedoll

Cute Brooches!

Brooches!!

Vacation... Coffee... Sun... White Sand... And All...

Palaboy sa Tabing-Dagat…
I headed to the beaches of Boracay after surviving the long hikes, storm, and the landslides in Batad. I planned to go steady in the beach before going to Iloilo to visit a friend whom I had plans with to go to Guimaras.

I’ve always loved going to Sagada (and now Batad), as these are places where I can really escape... I especially love doing nothing in these places… And this trip to Boracay is a new experience for me as this is my first time to go to the beach alone (and I feel that I am more of a mountain person than a beach person). Oh well, I can just stay in the beach doing nothing… (given that I also have a very limited budget…)

I arrived when there were still people who spent their All Saint’s Day in the island. These were the same people I could see here in Manila. And the irony was I initially felt isolated in the island even when there were a lot of familiar people, there was no such feeling I had during when I went to Sagada. I guess, that is the paradox with familiarity… there is always isolation…

Beach Bumming…
I shared the white beach with a very few people when the tourists left.

A typical day for me is to wake up just before the sun is up… see the sunrise then a little stroll in the beach then sip a cup of coffee from Café del Sol… swim a bit… nap on the beach… perhaps read something… then walk in the white beach… then swim… nap on the white beach again… ahhh… then eat when hungry… drink when thirsty… nap some more (on the beach again)… and coffee at sunset… hung out in the cottage…. perhaps dinner as well…Ang sarap maging batugan! (Lazy, doing nothing...)

The only time for me was....

sunrise... or

Sunset...

This Is The Life… blissfully unaware of what day it is… my only orientation of time is just sunrise and sunset… I’ve never been this relaxed in a very long time. No tranquilizer can ever give me this serenity. Why do I have to take those pills anyway when it can be just like this - I’m thinking I need not to go somewhere to be calm though going some place can make it easier to escape . I guess the beach has become to one of my favorite places and I even extended my stay, perching my trip Guimaras some other time. I was missing the point! I never needed to go to Guimaras to see my friend and I just wanted to see her, wherever… period!

Walk around.... then

Read a book... then take a nap...

Drink..... when thirsty...

Lounging in the cottage....

One of the things that I learned from being a palaboy and kaladkarin from Northern Luzon to Visayas these past few weeks is to embrace solitude. It is bliss… a great delight… And when you travel alone, everything seems to be a new situation… seeing the importance of things… seeing beauty in things…I was accessible to other people… I guess I was just happy to be alive and I look forward to things.

I have come across a lot of people when I was in the island. I had coffee with the French people from Batad (we had the same inn in Batad and I happen to see them in the island)… I went island-hopping with an American couple and a German… talked to some locals from an eatery owner, policeman, security personnel, bartenders, resort owners… met a physician and some long-staying foreigners in the island… and so on… These are just disposable friendships, but these are as valuable as my “true” friends as I learned other ways to see things in the very short time that I’ve known them.

a local... Beth, Jorven and Gerry....


Physician, named Nace (left) Tony and Flo (right) Mr. Shooli, bar tender (above)

I ended my last day by a Swedana treatment at Mandala Spa… what a treat…

Oh well, after six days I had to leave for Iloilo to see my friend… as I was in the bus I started missing being in the island (Nini, my friend told me that it was the so-called “fever”) but upon seeing my friend, Kenneth… anong fever, fever?! I truly miss spending time with her; I had the same good time I had in the island just by talking to her.

We drove around the city and it was such a treat seeing the old houses and some churches. The Cathedral of Candelaria in Jaro is one of the oldest churches… then the “bingka” – yummy!!!

Being with Kenneth was a perfect closure to life in the island… one of the things I realized is to also embrace the concept of constant departure… Hay…

Ruins, in Iloilo City

Then back in Manila, I went to SEX (Sinangag Express) with my friends here in Manila… what a way to wrap this whole trip!!!!

A Trip to Batad Rice Terraces, Banaue
from Oct 28 to Oct 31 2006

I went to Banaue alone. I played it by ear and I was able to tag along with 7 other people. Adeline and Kevin, a Vietnamese and German (?) couple, Bridgitte and Jeznene, mother and daughter, and O (yeah, just the letter "O"), Via, and Noel, officemates/friends. We all got together since we want to split the private jeepney fare from Banaue to Batad saddle.

The six of us (except the couple) stayed together in Simon's Inn and we went around Banaue together. From Banaue, it takes about 1 1/2 hours via private jeepney to get to Batad saddle. According to some guidebooks and even to people who have been there, it takes about an hour's hike to get to the lodging area from Batad saddle. But at our pace plus the taking of photographs, it took us 2 hours to get there. We were just excited, we took pics of the mini teraaces along the way plus the landscape knowing that we will see tons of them when we get to Batad proper.

Though I have seen it in the postcards, have heard some worms causes them to deteriorate (like the terraces in Happao)... it is breathtaking to see the rice terraces of Batad. Hay...

We went on to see the Tappiya Waterfalls. We started a bit late and we had to hike back until early in the evening (without flashlight plus some occasional rainfall). The 4-hour hike was very challenging for most of us but it was all worth it.

After the long hike... I was thinking... How am I going to hike up back the saddle with the muscle pains i was experiencing then...

The five people whom I have tagged along with were planning to go to Sagada (it's acutally one of my favorite places) the next day (Oct 30)...obvious ba, nakaladkad na naman ang palaboy na tulad ko.

The storm, Paeng hit Northen Luzon and this means that we have to perch going to Sagada. Well, as for me no Sagada at all as I am scheduled to leave on Oct 31.

We spent the whole day (Oct 30) in Simon's Inn during the storm. Some of us enjoyed massages while I enjoyed doing nothing. Like I am just experiencing Time.

We were told that there were three landslides along the road from Batad saddle to Banaue this meant walking the 12 kms of rough from Batad saddle to Banaue (instead of taking the jeepney)... oh oh... parang daan patungong kalimugtong. Luckily we found some vehicles trapped between landslides that took us to the other landslide. We still have to walk and cross the landslides on foot.

Upon reaching Banaue proper, friends/officemate, O, Via and Noel went to Sagada, Bridgitte and her daughter, Jenzene decided to go to Baguio, while I will head back to Manila.

Bridgitte, Jenzene and I stayed in People's cafe to await our bus.

Upon arrival in Manila, around 3 am, I stayed in Starbucks in People Support building met a friend who works in the same building then headed home at sunrise. Such a pleasant closure to my trip...