HALLER BALER!!!

Last January 16-17, 2015, my co-workers and I decided to go on a trip to Baler, Aurora. All of us of course are excited to go surfing in the Pacific Ocean, but none of us knows how to surf.

Baler is the provincial capital of Aurora, and is known as one of the "top surf spots" in the Philippines. Truly, the town is very blessed with beautiful natural attractions and is a place where you can relax and also find adventure.

From our office in Eastwood City, the van picked us up at around 2 AM. We all came from our Friday shift and the 6 hour drive to Baler gave us enough time to sleep in the van and recharge. At around 7 AM, we reached the town proper, there we decided to grab our breakfast at The Rolling Stores beside Museo de Baler. There we had our hefty but low cost meal with lots of viands to choose from. I am still wondering why it was called The Rolling Stores, even the vendors there don’t know.

Right after breakfast, we went straight to our lodge called Home Stay, it was just a stone throw away from Sabang Beach. At around 9 AM we are all resting comfortably in our room, the owners by the way are very warm and the place has nice aura, you’ll really feel at home. There is clean water, air-conditioned and has Wi-Fi.

The instructors are very good surfers and kind, as for mine, he is a little obnoxious, well maybe because I was not able to stand on the surfing board, I felt like I did not learn, but I guess he was just disappointed because he is a bit small man and he is teaching a huge woman like me. LOL! Nonetheless, I’m still thankful for kuya instructor for his patience and strength in pulling me when I am being swallowed by the waves.

That one hour rent of the surf board is a very long hour for a beginner like me. For the first 30 minutes, I was already exhausted, I am already catching my breath because the waves are drenching my face every 10 seconds. I haven’t even get to breath normally, and yet, I am pushed towards the shore and need to try standing, which I failed to do. After this, I came to realization, surfing is not for me, I don’t have good sense of balance, I am too heavy I cannot lift my own weight and need to really learn how to swim first so I would be braver to conquer the waves. LOL!

It was around 11:30 AM went we went back to the lodge to dry up a little and prepare for lunch. We went to a local restaurant called Kusina Luntian. I was very fascinated because the place is made of bamboo and it's a nipa hut. We ate on banana leaveS and sat on the floor. The food is very affordable and delicious as well.

After lunch we went back to our lodge, this time we can now feel the body ache from our surfing. We rested for a while then we decided to make the tour to the falls and balate tree since the news said that it will definitely rain the next day.

From our lodge we took a tricycle to go to the Mother Falls in Barangay Ditumabo in the town of San Luis. After the 1 hour ride, which cost 700 pesos for four passengers, we trekked for almost another 1 hour to see the beauty of the Mother Falls. It was not an easy trek, the trail is rough and rocky, and could sometimes be slippery. We also need to cross the river and some bamboo bridges, but through all the hardship, it was indeed a rewarding trek.

It was almost 3:30 PM when we reached the Mother Falls. There are so many tourists that time, we barely fit the platform where people who won’t swim stand to take photos. At first I was hesitant to try the water because I do not know how swim, I asked my co-worker to stand and reach the bottom so I can see if I can handle the depth, well, it turned out that some parts are deep and some are nearly 5 feet. So I was brave enough to dip in the ice-cold water of the Mother Falls. It was an amazing experience, all that pain in our legs because of the long trek was gone.

I think we only stayed for 20 minute in the falls, it was too cold plus it’s already 4 PM and we need to get down to go to the famous balete tree before it gets dark. After 40 minutes of trekking down we need to ride the tricycle again for another 30 minutes. We reached the Balete Park at around 5PM. Standing 600 years now is the old century Balete tree located in Balete Park at Maria Aurora, Aurora. The tree is also known as the “Millennium tree” of the country because of its age. They say it would take 60 men to encircle its huge trunk. Having the first glimpse of the famous tree I was fascinated by how it looks, really gigantic. Also, good thing there was a young man who helped us take photos with the Balete. We were amazed by his talent in taking great pictures, perhaps he has been taking photos of tourists for a while that is why he is now a pro in getting the perfect angles.

After the tiring tour, we went back to our lodge, rested and showered. We then ate dinner at Bay-ler View Hotel. The food is great! Everything is delicious, the prices ranged from 200-300 per order, but it’s for sharing. Eating here is so beautiful, hearing the crashing of the waves and the feeling of the cool night breeze.

The next morning, the rain started to fall. We did not go anywhere away from Sabang beach, it was actually a day for us to relax and just take more photos. I woke up early, and was able to buy their famous Suman. Unlike what I am used to eat in Manila, their suman is made of brown rice, which makes it healthier plus it is also yummy. We were also able to visit Costa Pacifica, the place is really beautiful, like a 4 star hotel. We were able to taste their famous melted Chocolate Chip Brownie.It is so moist, brownie topped with caramelized bananas and whipped cream. Heavenly!

Indeed there are other places in Baler that we failed to visit, and this is why we have a good reason to come back. Baler is a very beautiful town, makes me think of my dream beach house. I guess if you love adventure and would like to swim, surf, trek, also party at the same time, Baler could just be the perfect place for you!

Thanks for reading and have a blessed day!

My Hobbies

Music is not just a hobby, it’s part of my life essentials. Every day, when I set-up my work station in the office, I will put out three things, my laptop, my mouse and my earphones. Before I even start reading my emails, I will play some good music first, it puts me on the mood, awakens my spirit like a cup of coffee and puts me to my working mode. I like any genre, I listen to anything which suits my mood. As I am writing this blog I am listening to Ed Sheeran and Ariana Grande. I listen to varieties of foreign artists and Hillsongs, of course I like OPM too.

I have mentioned on my blog on some random facts about me that I have been a choir member since grade school until now that I am working. I enjoy singing in an ensemble and the harmony that our voices create gives me adrenaline rush. In my past time, I often go to YouTube listening to the best chorale group in the Philippines. I have always enjoyed watching and listening to The Madrigal Singers. They are the best! They never fail to give me goose bumps while listening to them. They make any choir piece seem so easy to sing, and they sing effortless! They can hit high notes even if they are sitting. 

Photo above is my PLMSCS family and photo below is my Shared Voices Glee Club

 

Here is a video from one of our concerts before, I love singing with them!!

I also like watching make-up tutorials in YouTube. I don’t wear make-up on every day purpose, I just put some when I feel very girly or when I look stressed and the universe is begging for a descent touch up LOL. I love watching Michelle Phan, she is the best! I learned many DIY beauty tips that we can find at home, more specifically in our kitchen. I also enjoy watching Promise Phan, she is a great make-up transformation guru. Last year I also started watching ItsJudy’sLife in YouTube, she gives reviews on the latest beauty products in the market plus I enjoy watching her adorable family vlogs. She is a Filipino based in Washington, it amazes me every time I hear Judy’s mom talking in Filipino and I feel proud when they feature Filipino culture, they are sure proud of where they came from.   

I also like watching cooking shows or videos of different recipes in YouTube. I still don’t know much about cooking, I often just fry eggs, omelet is my specialty LOL, but I am planning to enroll to a cooking class in the future, so when I finally got my dream kitchen in my dream house, I can cook and bake anything I watch in YouTube.

Photography is also my thing, I am not yet a good photographer but I am trying to learn taking beautiful photos, not just taking selfies. I like looking at picturesque of Mother Nature, flower and animals. I like taking pictures of mouth-watering foods too!! If I have a good quality camera, I think I can consider this as a potential business in the future.

Thanks for reading and have a blessed day!  

Friends for Keeps

This is my 4th entry for the blogging challenge and it’s about friends.

I got so many group of friends. Some from elementary, in high school, college and at work. But I think I would love to blog about my high school friends now (hope my other friends won’t be able to read this) Lol.

Well... I have a solid group back in high school. We called ourselves G.G.G. (Gang Green Gang). Yes, we were green (well at least at a level that is still acceptable for conversations). But we have our own language. It was like when we give each other “that” look, we can easily understand what we meant and will automatically know what needs to be done.

So, let me first tell you how we started, it was year 2005, second year high school. Our section, Thales, has an interesting mix of students. Some of us were member of a group called COLDS (where I was once a member), some from LAKBULAK and some from Illuminati (the so called me, myself and I people who blends or hops in any group). We all have our own groups at the beginning, but to cut the story short, we had issues with our own groups back then, and we found comfort in each other and by mid of that year, we finally found ourselves inseparable.

We had lots of fun back then, after school we always go to the mall and sing in a Videok house. We used to go to a photo shop and pay 50 pesos for a studio picture. I don’t know, I have observed that my sibling also have plenty of studio pics back in high school. Maybe it’s just that period of adolescence where we are so happy to take photos (well back then smart phones are not yet invented, perhaps nowadays the studio pics is not a bang since we can see the new generation taking a lot of selfies).

In G.G.G., I could say that I am the craziest, also the B.I. (bad influence). There are lots of intelligent students in our school, and of course in our group as well. But I kinda pushed them to have fun instead of studying a lot of time. We have our McSession, where we go to McDonald’s after school, order Mcfloat and fries and just chat about anything (well usually gossips). We maybe not at the top of our class but we were always active in all school activities, I can say that our group is pretty creative. We joined the speech choir, plays, and any contest and we always give our best to win, we were so competitive.

In high school of course we started to have crushes and think about our love life. I can still remember when we use to stalk my friend’s crush. She will treat me at McDo just to accompany her in a computer shop where her crush played DOTA after school. It was so funny, I was like a secret agent that needed to get as much information as I can to share with her!!! Facebook was not yet the thing back then, it was Friendster. It was so funny because when you visit your friend’s profile, you were required to leave a “testi” because she/he will definitely see who has viewed her/him.    

High school with G.G.G. was really fun and adventurous indeed, I cannot imagine how I could survive without them. After high school, we have taken different paths, different universities. But somehow during college, we spent time to see each other and catch up on each other’s lives.

Now I am proud to say that we are all doing well. Each of has a profession and hopefully will have someone in the group to get married, hahaha been wanting to attend a wedding of a friend. Juju used to work in ABS-CBN as a segment producer, now she is taking up her masters in UK. Mehmeh is now working as payment associate in a private company, Dakki, is now serving the Lord and working as a volunteer in her church, Kimmi is on her third year in med school, Dawn is now working for GMA, Jepoy is still studying but soon will graduate, Ameh is working as HR in health care organization and me, I am now a business management analyst. I am glad that although we have been slacks and easy going in high school, we are still able to finish college and be something.

I believe my high school friends has a lot of influenced to who I am now. I seldom have contact with them now, but definitely, G.G.G. is always in my heart.

Thanks for reading and have a blessed day!