Since i've arrived here in manila, i've already bought 6 pairs of shoes. But they are really good deals.
The best ones worth mentioning are:
TEVA Romero, running/trekking/hiking shoes.
TEVA Terra Cross buckle, trekking/hiking sandals.
HI-TEC Highlander, trekking/hiking shoes.
These are American and European brands.
No Chinese nor Filipino copies, thank you. They'd fall apart after several leisurely walks, and they'd bake your feet.
Tuesday, December 19, 2006
Manila's Old Quarter
last week, i went to the old quarter of manila, and walked around binondo, ongpin, recto... but not yet intramuros. quite dangeruos places but i enjoyed it, i think i'm going back there again soon, one visit is not enough. i can tell that it must have been a beautiful city centuries ago under the spaniards and the americans. i even remarked that if they maintained the beautiful buildings and monuments, we would have looked like madrid in the middle of asia. but the japanese occupation destroyed most of manila, it was one of the most heavily damaged cities. and it was not repaired properly after being destroyed. so now, you only see bits of its former beauty. you see a beautiful building occasionally, and then next to it is a smelly and dirty river. I walked along the chinatown of manila too, but nothing to see there. i will have to spare some time so that i can visit intramuros properly.
Monday, December 11, 2006
Siquijor
PM_0001
Originally uploaded by silly_jake.
Sun, sea, and sand. All these are less than 10 seconds away from our cottage. This is the beach that greets us in the morning.
Thursday, November 30, 2006
SIQUIJOR ISLAND
Hello pips,
Click on the links to the websites of Pia, Vix, Terai and Julius to read about our trip to Sijuijor.
It reminds me of a thousand inside jokes. And it always makes me laugh loudly (even in public places). Most of the time, I am successful at controlling my laughter, but sometimes audible giggles would escape, eliciting strange stares from my seatmates at an internet café. Worse, was in a public transportation, all I did was recall the phrase "Dinnes, The Journey" and it was enough to make me giggle.
More fotos at my flickr account.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/sillyjake/
Enjoy.
Wednesday, September 13, 2006
Fucking Murphy’s Law!!!
This is one BIG BITCH of a day! So, as expected, I was acting like one big cranky BRATINELLO! Damn, don’t serve one of those SALIDOÑOS to this BRATINELLO when it’s one of those days.
I didn’t get a minute of sleep last night because of my sporadic insomnia. So at 6am, I decided to go cycling, to get a work-out going. I was thinking that perhaps after cycling, the endorphins would make me feel good. Well, I got a bit of disappointment coz the front brakes of my bike were locked on ‘brake mode’ and the back tires were deflated. Hmmm! I just thought I wasn’t supposed to go cycling that day. I had breakfast and a cup of hot chocolate to relax… didn’t work! I decided to go back to sleep... didn’t work either. I just rolled there in bed.
By lunchtime, I got out of bed, and the maid cooked breakfast for me. I couldn’t find any other food that time, and I didn’t feel like cooking for myself, so I asked the maid to cook me one of those pancit canton. Guess what, the brain of our maid decided not to work as well. After boiling water, she put the noodles in, along with the flavoring, oil, and what not sauce that come along with it. Then, after cooking it for 3 minutes, drains everything. Naturally, flavoring, oil, etc etc DOWN DOWN THE DRAIN!!! And all that’s left is the pale and bland vermicelli.. FUDGE!!!! And she looked so FUDGEY surprised that it tasted bland. AAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGHHHHHH!!! Cook another one, get it right this time. *SIGH* This requires EMERGENCY ZEN MODE! Some neck stretching, breathe deeply, inhale, exhale, inhale, exhale. “I am calm, I am in a happy place, I am calm, I am in a happy place.” Well, she managed to cook the 2nd one correctly, but I did the whole deep breathing exercise the whole time I was eating those freaking noodles.
One way to keep my mind away from those unfortunate events was to go to work. And work I did, I went and did more surfing through the internet to get more details regarding the planned vacation of me and my friends. It’s working, it’s working, it’s keeping my mind away from the events that transpired earlier. Up until the moment that I wanted to print the stuff that I’ve researched. The F*CKING printer wont work. AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!! ZEN MODE, ZEN MODE!!! And zen mode needs reinforcement. So right now, I’ve lighted some aromatherapy candles, and played some nice ambient music. I could even try listening to Benedictine monks chanting. Hopefully, it works. If it still doesn’t work, I’m thinking of doing 120 sit-ups, and exhaust myself to sleep. If not still, I could drown myself to sleep with rum.
MAY THE CALMNESS AND SERENITY OF BUDDHA BE WITH ME!!
Wish me luck.
I might even succeed in keeping my BRATINELLO-side separate from my OBSESSIVE-COMPULSIVE PERFECTIONIST TRAVEL-PLANNER-side. So perhaps later, I might even be able to update my friends regarding our travel plans. Hopefully, the update will sound coherent and hopefully it will be free of psychiatric characteristics such as flight of ideas that identify a SCHIZ work of writing.
I didn’t get a minute of sleep last night because of my sporadic insomnia. So at 6am, I decided to go cycling, to get a work-out going. I was thinking that perhaps after cycling, the endorphins would make me feel good. Well, I got a bit of disappointment coz the front brakes of my bike were locked on ‘brake mode’ and the back tires were deflated. Hmmm! I just thought I wasn’t supposed to go cycling that day. I had breakfast and a cup of hot chocolate to relax… didn’t work! I decided to go back to sleep... didn’t work either. I just rolled there in bed.
By lunchtime, I got out of bed, and the maid cooked breakfast for me. I couldn’t find any other food that time, and I didn’t feel like cooking for myself, so I asked the maid to cook me one of those pancit canton. Guess what, the brain of our maid decided not to work as well. After boiling water, she put the noodles in, along with the flavoring, oil, and what not sauce that come along with it. Then, after cooking it for 3 minutes, drains everything. Naturally, flavoring, oil, etc etc DOWN DOWN THE DRAIN!!! And all that’s left is the pale and bland vermicelli.. FUDGE!!!! And she looked so FUDGEY surprised that it tasted bland. AAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGHHHHHH!!! Cook another one, get it right this time. *SIGH* This requires EMERGENCY ZEN MODE! Some neck stretching, breathe deeply, inhale, exhale, inhale, exhale. “I am calm, I am in a happy place, I am calm, I am in a happy place.” Well, she managed to cook the 2nd one correctly, but I did the whole deep breathing exercise the whole time I was eating those freaking noodles.
One way to keep my mind away from those unfortunate events was to go to work. And work I did, I went and did more surfing through the internet to get more details regarding the planned vacation of me and my friends. It’s working, it’s working, it’s keeping my mind away from the events that transpired earlier. Up until the moment that I wanted to print the stuff that I’ve researched. The F*CKING printer wont work. AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!! ZEN MODE, ZEN MODE!!! And zen mode needs reinforcement. So right now, I’ve lighted some aromatherapy candles, and played some nice ambient music. I could even try listening to Benedictine monks chanting. Hopefully, it works. If it still doesn’t work, I’m thinking of doing 120 sit-ups, and exhaust myself to sleep. If not still, I could drown myself to sleep with rum.
MAY THE CALMNESS AND SERENITY OF BUDDHA BE WITH ME!!
Wish me luck.
I might even succeed in keeping my BRATINELLO-side separate from my OBSESSIVE-COMPULSIVE PERFECTIONIST TRAVEL-PLANNER-side. So perhaps later, I might even be able to update my friends regarding our travel plans. Hopefully, the update will sound coherent and hopefully it will be free of psychiatric characteristics such as flight of ideas that identify a SCHIZ work of writing.
Wednesday, September 06, 2006
Apres Internship
What’s a day like after medical internship?
After the grueling 24 to 34-hour workdays, I’ve been having difficulty finding things to do. But then I realize that what I have right now isn’t bad at all.
..Wake up at 9am.
..Roll around in bed for another 15 minutes.
..Have breakfast at 915am.
Wheat bread with butter and liver spread.
Home made pizza with wheat bread, 3 cheese pizza sauce, fresh basil, cheddar cheese.
..Extend breakfast for 2 hours in the garden, while drinking Sri Lankan orange pekoe tea that I flavored with lemon, orange, cinnamon and nutmeg. While drinking tea, I read options where my friends and I will go on vacation. The options have to have a beach, can go snorkeling, and can go diving. Currently reading on Siquijor Island, Negros Oriental and Apo Island. The background music comes from my Beach House collection.
..Have a nice, long and leisurely cool shower.
..Make lunch.
Penne in Tomato-Parmesan, Spanish sardine, fresh basil, and chili-garlic sauce.
..Extend lunch for another 2 hours in the garden while drinking lemonade. And continue reading on the options on where to go on vacation. Background music comes from my Chill Out collection.
..Put the ‘Do Not Disturb’ sign on the door, and have a nice long siesta.
..Wake up just in time for dinner.
..Have dinner with the family.
..After dinner, have a nice warm cup of Spanish chocolate, with chocolate and mint cookies. And read some more on where to go on vacation. Background music: After Eight Chill Out.
Hmmm.. I wonder what will greet me first thing in the morning tomorrow.
Perhaps a nice warm cup of strong coffee, freshly brewed using local Robusta coffee beans.
Ahhhhh! This is the life!
After the grueling 24 to 34-hour workdays, I’ve been having difficulty finding things to do. But then I realize that what I have right now isn’t bad at all.
..Wake up at 9am.
..Roll around in bed for another 15 minutes.
..Have breakfast at 915am.
Wheat bread with butter and liver spread.
Home made pizza with wheat bread, 3 cheese pizza sauce, fresh basil, cheddar cheese.
..Extend breakfast for 2 hours in the garden, while drinking Sri Lankan orange pekoe tea that I flavored with lemon, orange, cinnamon and nutmeg. While drinking tea, I read options where my friends and I will go on vacation. The options have to have a beach, can go snorkeling, and can go diving. Currently reading on Siquijor Island, Negros Oriental and Apo Island. The background music comes from my Beach House collection.
..Have a nice, long and leisurely cool shower.
..Make lunch.
Penne in Tomato-Parmesan, Spanish sardine, fresh basil, and chili-garlic sauce.
..Extend lunch for another 2 hours in the garden while drinking lemonade. And continue reading on the options on where to go on vacation. Background music comes from my Chill Out collection.
..Put the ‘Do Not Disturb’ sign on the door, and have a nice long siesta.
..Wake up just in time for dinner.
..Have dinner with the family.
..After dinner, have a nice warm cup of Spanish chocolate, with chocolate and mint cookies. And read some more on where to go on vacation. Background music: After Eight Chill Out.
Hmmm.. I wonder what will greet me first thing in the morning tomorrow.
Perhaps a nice warm cup of strong coffee, freshly brewed using local Robusta coffee beans.
Ahhhhh! This is the life!
Monday, July 17, 2006
PROOST!
PROOST! This means 'Cheers!' and it's the most important word that i learned from Alex and Bart. Well, i think you know what we do when this word is being used. Beer and cocktails, anyone? And of course, talk and laugh about my version of 'home of hope'. 'Home of hope' is a foundation for children but i mis-heard it when it was first said to me. i heard 'homophobe' instead of 'home of hope', so imagine the horror on my face when i learned that a foundation has been named 'homophobe'. :)
Tuesday, July 11, 2006
Dr. Alex and Dr. Bart
Saturday, June 24, 2006
Virginia Sausage Totally Corrupted
Sausage
When i woke up today, i kinda dragged myself to the kitchen.. still sleepy and lazy to get up. And then i started eating a sliced sausage on the kitchen table, and then i asked the servant what it was... and she replied: "Vagina Sausage". Hmmm, i think i'm still groggy coz i didn't hear it right. So i asked again what it was.. "VAGINA SAUSAGE"... I broke out in loud laughter all by myself. My father saw me laughing by myself and i told him what happened.. he ended up laughing boisterously too. Virginia sausage was totally corrupted and molested.
Chococcino
Spanish Chocolate
Buenas noches!
Me and a bunch of friends decided to hang-out in a coffee shop (Coffee Beanery) last night. I decided to order a 'chococcino'. The waiter explained to me that it was a combination of hot spanish chocolate with fresh milk. Doesn't that just make you salivate? I was anticipating having a cup of hot thick dark bittersweet spanish chocolate, and i was thinking of adding as much cream as i please to my cup. And then my cup arrives, with a nice creamy froth on top with a syrup spiral to decorate it. And then i sipped... LAS-AY NGA MILO!!! (BLAND MILO! 1:20 dilution which is only done by the ungas-ungas mommies of the uma of Negros.) I am freaking capable of making a better cup of chocolate using Ovaltine 3in1. So people.. this comes as a caveat when planning to have a drink in Coffee Beanery. Chococcino! BAH!!!
Monday, June 12, 2006
In front of Villa de Oro
In front of Villa de Oro
Originally uploaded by silly_jake.
Day 4
This is the part that is least enjoyable.. leaving Boracay and going back to the real world. We woke up at different times.. I woke up last. Hehehe! I wonder why? *Wink, wink*
On the bus stop in Caticlan.. it is easy to make the observation that Filipinos don’t know how to form a queue. Instead, they push, grab, elbow, and pull themselves to get to the front.. well, those are the f*cking uneducated squatters anyway, not us! But you are going to get a push, a grab, an elbow, or even a punch if try to cut your way in front of one of my friends. *Raise eyebrow while watching squatters wrestle themselves to death getting to the front.*
When seated, I realized that my seat and the seat in front of me are quite dysfunctional. That’s how I met Phil, an American Dive Master, touring his way through the dive sites in the Philippines. When he would lean back on his seat, it goes so far backward that my space is easily halved. However, my seat does the same but to a lesser extent. Well, he kinda got worried about his seat but I reassured him that its OK coz I’m ‘paper thin’ anyway, still lots of space for me. After that, we talked about the places that he has been in the Philippines, and he was asking about how to travel to some of the places that he still planned to visit. Among them were Apo Island just off Dumaguete, Bohol, and Cebu. After a while, I had to sleep my hangover away during the bus ride. And then enter a booming voice from just beside Phil. Marvin Yu Zapanta! Here is the context of the situation: almost everybody on the bus is exhausted from all that activity from Boracay, and they just want to get some rest during the boring bus ride. I don’t think anybody appreciates a voice with a loudness that rivals that of a jet engine when you are trying to sleep. Again, Marvin Yu Zapanta! Most especially for Phil, who was just to his right, getting much of those decibels right in his face. Nor did Lynor and RJ appreciate it, who were just to his left. Again, Marvin Yu Zapanta, alleged English literature teacher, but who couldn’t even f*cking get his English straight. *TAGALUMAPAW AND TIKAL!!!* *Lynor, I think this is the part where you stand up, with eyes glaring down at Marvin, kag nag-paninghawak up to the level of the armpits, and yelled ‘WHAT, WHAT, WHAT?’* And then he even had the audacity to tell Phil that he learned Korean in so-so weeks! *My gosh! The air coming from him!! It was like watching a human typhoon, wind gusts reaching 250 km/hr! Mahangin talaga sa seats namin!!!* Want more hilarious stuff? Here it goes. Phil was asking me if I knew how to dive, well, I told him I don’t know yet but I’d like to in the future. I told him instead that I snorkel and there are great sites in Boracay, Carbin Reef, Bantayan Island.. and I’ve been told Danjugan Island too. Now, he asked the same from Marvin coz Marvin offered to take him around Negros while he was there. So, could Marvin, in fact, help Phil in his quest to find the great diving sites and the natural underwater treasures of the Philippines? *Drum roll please!* And then he told Phil.. he has never snorkeled and he doesn’t even know how to swim. MWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!! MWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!! MWAHAHAHAHAHA!!! Reliability to help Phil... 17 out of a potential 100!!
Well, for the rest of the f*cking ride from Caticlan to Jaro, Iloilo, all we heard were his f*cking kayabangan. Except for an intermission, when this girl entered the bus, she looked like she came from a nightclub with flickering lights (People, I know that you know these kinds of bars.. *wink, wink*).. what she was wearing was complete with sequins and stuff. Anyway, it didn’t escape the eyes of Milan, sabay tadyak kay Lynor immediately! Gets guid dayon sang tanan!!! Another intermission from Marvin’s tikal, bus stop to get some food. This one particularly agitated Milan. He came back to the bus and I could see the flames coming out of his eyes and ears while he animatedly told me *The nerve of this restaurant!! They charge more compared to the restaurants in Boracay! And look where they are situated.. in the MIDDLE OF A PALAYAN!! The nerve to charge that much! And they even had scripture lines written in the walls, yet they are ripping us off!*
When we got to Jaro, it was quite a reprieve from Marvin’s kayabangan! Little did we know that it was time for another significant event. During one of the jeepney rides, RJ suddenly turned and stared very sharply at this guy sitting beside her. We didn’t know what happened then. But then RJ told us that the guy was making ‘pasimple touch-touch the boobs and butt’.. maniac pala!! Ang gago niya!! Si RJ, harassed sa jeepney! My goodness, the adventures and misadventures never end.
Let’s cut to the boat terminal.. we were early for a change.. we didn’t have to catch anything while running. So this time, na-stress kami because we weren’t on the run. So picture-picture na lang. And I had time to eat the Andok’s chicken, the only one left who hadn’t eaten lunch coz RJ, Milan, and Lynor had already eaten theirs at the bus stop in Caticlan.. and the chicken and rice were eaten like a sandwich.. maabilidad!!! But off course, before eating, hygiene muna.. no alcohol, no alcogel, so make do with wet wipes.. wipe the hands, then after wiping the hands, wipe the face and neck, and keep the wet wipes, eat the chicken and rice like a sandwich, after eating.. use the wet wipes as tongue brush.. abilidad din yon!! Before boarding, all of us had a collective objective.. to be seated as far away from Marvin as possible.. because we saw him in the boat terminal too. And, by a stroke of luck, he was seated just 2 seats away from us!! Damn! What luck! What luck indeed.. because of the proximity of his seat.. we caught some of his conversations with his friends.. and what a REVELATION! He was getting stressed in the boat!! But why? Because he was no longer seated beside Phil!!! Apparently, Phil had the same objective as us.. to be seated as far away from Marvin as possible.. coz his seat was miles away from Marvin.. MWAHAHAHA!!! Now, things could be pieced together.. all that kayabangan was to possibly impress Phil... Mwahahaha!!! MAN IS A LOGICAL ANIMAL... EVERYTHING IS DONE FOR A REASON!!!
Now, time for us to get crazy! The 4 of us, realizing that Marvin has become a very juicy topic for my blog, labored in very imaginative and creative ways to get a picture of Marvin. Let’s start with taking pictures of the 4 of us.. doesn’t work.. then RJ posed on the pole (para hindi halata!).. as if RJ is the actual subject (btw, while RJ was posing, the guy behind him didn’t know if he’d smile or pasimple no reaction.. we’re not interested in you honey, if you only knew), RJ was just a decoy, a deceipt within a deceiptful motive, let’s move on, now it’s Milan in action.. and VOILA!! Marvin Yu Zapanta! You can almost hear the tikal from his facial expression. Mission accomplished!!
Boat docks in Bacolod.. didn’t I tell you would get a push, a pull, a grab or an elbow from one of my friends if you try to cut yourself in front of one of my friends.. well, this time it was because of loitering while everybody was going out.. the culprit.. Marvin.. the pusher.. RJ!!
Dewey meets us at the dock.. and off we go to get some dinner.. destination Jollibee Take Out. Everybody had straightforward orders, and then my turn, ‘So if I don’t want drinks, I don’t get drinks but I still pay the same amount as the combo with drinks?’.. Lynor was pretty quick to remind me of my meticulousness.. she simply reminded me of my line: “Ano ni ang fresh apple juice? Apple juice sa tetra pack nga gin butang sa baso?”
The end pips!
August naman?
Fave Bora Pic
Fave Bora Pic
Originally uploaded by silly_jake.
Party Night 3
Nestea’s Set Point Party
It was held just in front of Hey Jude. It was great! DJ Manolet Dario was playing awesome music. The Nestea boys were spraying mist all over the place, and the Nestea girls were there too. Whoohooo!!! There was also media coverage.. coz we had a close encounter with them.. quite literally when I said “close encounter”. Sometimes, when you are having a nice high and you are really into the music, you kinda close your eyes and just dance and feel the music. What you don’t expect, however, is to find a huge video camera pointed at your face from 2 feet away. No wonder the light and the warm that you felt on your face. That’s exactly what happened to me. And after me, RJ got the same close encounter.. complete with the “closed eyes” dancing. Milan got a bit scared of the camera though, because he never asked permission from his parents to go to Boracay.. hmmmm, what would they think if they saw him dancing on tv? We transferred a bit to Pier One, but the party was boring there. We went back to Hey Jude where I stayed while RJ, Milan and Lynor decided to go back. I met James there again, the usual casual talk. I also met one of the female bartenders, Alexes, and I was teasing her about having some drinks while still on-duty.. and then all of a sudden Borgy Manotoc came along and decided to join me in teasing the bartender. It didn’t take long before he bought me a drink.. along with Alexes, and James. Dig that people! Rubbing elbows with Borgy!
Sunday, June 11, 2006
Holy Mary, and Unholy Mary
Day 3
Four of us decided to stay longer (RJ, Lynor, Milan and me), while Dada, Karen and JR, and Ruscel and Gale decided to go back to Bacolod.
Late wake-up for everybody, especially me, coz when I woke up, Lynor and RJ had already gone back from their trip to the tip of Station 1, and Milan already had his swim.
The order of the day was pretty much “individual time”. You can do whatever you want, we just set a time to meet because for tonight we decided to eat at the beachfront.
For my part, my day started after lunch already. I sent a couple of postcards to Nico and Felix. And after that, it was shopping, shopping, and more shopping. Celebrity sighting, Geff Rodriguez, he’s quite a friendly guy. He would return your greeting when you greet him. When I got back, RJ and I decided to have that massage that came free when buying the Nestea Green Tea products. We have been planning to do this since day one, so off we went, but upon arriving there, they were already closing up. We decided to go back, and just chill and prepare for the final party night. On our way back, we saw Wendell Ramos who had a staring competition with RJ. You think RJ would budge? Nah, I never thought of it! Other celebrity sightings: Brad Turvey, Amanda Griffin, Jennifer Lee, Robby Manaquil.
For Dinner: we had to scout the entire Station 2 and Station 1 for the best place to eat and the best deal too, and the best place was Shena’s Restaurant. We had an entrée for only P150, beef cordon bleu, fish in tartar sauce, squid in chili sauce.. they were all delicious, particulary the squid in chili sauce, the chili gave a nice “bite” to the dish. We also had mango rum and banana rum shakes, yummy, yummy, yummy. We will definitely go back to Shena’s Restaurant when we get back to Boracay.
Four of us decided to stay longer (RJ, Lynor, Milan and me), while Dada, Karen and JR, and Ruscel and Gale decided to go back to Bacolod.
Late wake-up for everybody, especially me, coz when I woke up, Lynor and RJ had already gone back from their trip to the tip of Station 1, and Milan already had his swim.
The order of the day was pretty much “individual time”. You can do whatever you want, we just set a time to meet because for tonight we decided to eat at the beachfront.
For my part, my day started after lunch already. I sent a couple of postcards to Nico and Felix. And after that, it was shopping, shopping, and more shopping. Celebrity sighting, Geff Rodriguez, he’s quite a friendly guy. He would return your greeting when you greet him. When I got back, RJ and I decided to have that massage that came free when buying the Nestea Green Tea products. We have been planning to do this since day one, so off we went, but upon arriving there, they were already closing up. We decided to go back, and just chill and prepare for the final party night. On our way back, we saw Wendell Ramos who had a staring competition with RJ. You think RJ would budge? Nah, I never thought of it! Other celebrity sightings: Brad Turvey, Amanda Griffin, Jennifer Lee, Robby Manaquil.
For Dinner: we had to scout the entire Station 2 and Station 1 for the best place to eat and the best deal too, and the best place was Shena’s Restaurant. We had an entrée for only P150, beef cordon bleu, fish in tartar sauce, squid in chili sauce.. they were all delicious, particulary the squid in chili sauce, the chili gave a nice “bite” to the dish. We also had mango rum and banana rum shakes, yummy, yummy, yummy. We will definitely go back to Shena’s Restaurant when we get back to Boracay.
Pre-Party
Party Night 2
Once awake.. let the alcohol flow. This time though, “Gale” decided to join us. Oh sorry, let me all introduce you to Gale, we knew him earlier as Galileo, and he has completed his metamorphosis in World-Record-Time, from larvae to Mariposa (or do you prefer Paru-parung Bukid) in a span of 48 hours. Bravo!
We had new names for each other while kidding around. Sorry peeps, this is more of an inside joke among us.
Milan - Cingular and Wireless
Jake - Addict mobile
RJ - Touch mobile
Dada - Daylight
Lynor - 24/7
After getting loaded on the alcohol, we went off to Pier One again to party. On our way there, we spotted KC Montero, Brad Turvey, Borgy Manotoc, Ornussa Cadness, Cindy Kurleto.. and Gale was pulling on us to have his picture taken.. any takers from our group.. “No”.. just as I thought, “Gale, let’s go.” was more in character.
When we arrived in Pier One, the party was dead as a doornail again! And what on earth are they playing? Hip-hop and R & B on a glorious night? What a waste of party time. And my goodness, nobody was dancing again. Well, let’s sit up front this time. We (meaning RJ, Lynor, Dada, and Milan.. while I sat down and looked-on) danced a bit and tried to get into the R & B rhythm. Well, as can be expected, my tolerance for the R & B music did not last long.. and I had to go and look for a better party.
I walked all the way to Nigi Nigi to check out all the parties along the way. And most notable among them was the one at Hey Jude, they played good house music, techno music, and trance music. Excellent! And it’s at Hey Jude where I stayed for most of the night. I met lots of people there, but forgive me coz I can’t recall most of their names. There was this cool guy whom I talked to, who seemed to be thinking in the same line of thought as I was. We both agreed that Hey Jude was playing the best music at that point in time, and we were both dancing and just feeling the music without a care in the world. And then there was this girl to my right, she introduced herself, but you know me and my special relationship with names, so let’s move on.. she told me she works in one of the bars in Boracay.. and that was it. Exotic-looking girl, works in a bar.. you know the “type”, and that made her easily forgettable. And then to my left was James, an Englishman, we talked a bit, pretty much casual talk. And then there’s Noel, the cool bartender from Iloilo who was the one mixing my drinks according to my specifications.. cool, sweet and strong! Well, I think I spent until 3 a.m. at Hey Jude, but I wasn’t contented with the party yet.. I went back to Pier One.. this time they were playing awesome club music and there were fire dancers around.. so I just danced my drunkenness away at Pier One until just shortly before sunrise. When I had my fill of the party, I walked home, and while walking home, I saw the MAGNIFICENT PHILIPPINE SUNRISE, it was BEAUTIFUL! And I still had my “high” from the party, which meant that I was still feeling “extra-crazy”.. so I went home (meaning the lodge), wrote on the mirror with my Nivea lip moisturizer, took the mirror with me to the beach (I passed one of the guards along the way, he had a bewildered look on his face looking at me as I carried the huge mirror), poured the famous powdery white sand of Boracay on the mirror, poured the excess sand away, gave the mirror a light tap.. and VOILA! DRUNKEN ARTWORK!! I brought the mirror back to the room again and passed the same guard, same look on his face. Now, all i have to figure out now is how to position myself on the bed.. after that it’s Zzzzzz.
Once awake.. let the alcohol flow. This time though, “Gale” decided to join us. Oh sorry, let me all introduce you to Gale, we knew him earlier as Galileo, and he has completed his metamorphosis in World-Record-Time, from larvae to Mariposa (or do you prefer Paru-parung Bukid) in a span of 48 hours. Bravo!
We had new names for each other while kidding around. Sorry peeps, this is more of an inside joke among us.
Milan - Cingular and Wireless
Jake - Addict mobile
RJ - Touch mobile
Dada - Daylight
Lynor - 24/7
After getting loaded on the alcohol, we went off to Pier One again to party. On our way there, we spotted KC Montero, Brad Turvey, Borgy Manotoc, Ornussa Cadness, Cindy Kurleto.. and Gale was pulling on us to have his picture taken.. any takers from our group.. “No”.. just as I thought, “Gale, let’s go.” was more in character.
When we arrived in Pier One, the party was dead as a doornail again! And what on earth are they playing? Hip-hop and R & B on a glorious night? What a waste of party time. And my goodness, nobody was dancing again. Well, let’s sit up front this time. We (meaning RJ, Lynor, Dada, and Milan.. while I sat down and looked-on) danced a bit and tried to get into the R & B rhythm. Well, as can be expected, my tolerance for the R & B music did not last long.. and I had to go and look for a better party.
I walked all the way to Nigi Nigi to check out all the parties along the way. And most notable among them was the one at Hey Jude, they played good house music, techno music, and trance music. Excellent! And it’s at Hey Jude where I stayed for most of the night. I met lots of people there, but forgive me coz I can’t recall most of their names. There was this cool guy whom I talked to, who seemed to be thinking in the same line of thought as I was. We both agreed that Hey Jude was playing the best music at that point in time, and we were both dancing and just feeling the music without a care in the world. And then there was this girl to my right, she introduced herself, but you know me and my special relationship with names, so let’s move on.. she told me she works in one of the bars in Boracay.. and that was it. Exotic-looking girl, works in a bar.. you know the “type”, and that made her easily forgettable. And then to my left was James, an Englishman, we talked a bit, pretty much casual talk. And then there’s Noel, the cool bartender from Iloilo who was the one mixing my drinks according to my specifications.. cool, sweet and strong! Well, I think I spent until 3 a.m. at Hey Jude, but I wasn’t contented with the party yet.. I went back to Pier One.. this time they were playing awesome club music and there were fire dancers around.. so I just danced my drunkenness away at Pier One until just shortly before sunrise. When I had my fill of the party, I walked home, and while walking home, I saw the MAGNIFICENT PHILIPPINE SUNRISE, it was BEAUTIFUL! And I still had my “high” from the party, which meant that I was still feeling “extra-crazy”.. so I went home (meaning the lodge), wrote on the mirror with my Nivea lip moisturizer, took the mirror with me to the beach (I passed one of the guards along the way, he had a bewildered look on his face looking at me as I carried the huge mirror), poured the famous powdery white sand of Boracay on the mirror, poured the excess sand away, gave the mirror a light tap.. and VOILA! DRUNKEN ARTWORK!! I brought the mirror back to the room again and passed the same guard, same look on his face. Now, all i have to figure out now is how to position myself on the bed.. after that it’s Zzzzzz.
Waiting for the sailboat
Waiting for the sailboat
Originally uploaded by silly_jake.
COSTUME CHANGE for Day2: Gone are the inhibitions of day 1. Lynor sheds clothing and bares lots of skin.. it’s bikini day! The tinier, the better.
Now it’s time for an adventure that we will never forget. Lynor and Dada met a guy where we could rent one of the sailboats. So we all did our preparation. By the time we were done preparing, it was already 2:30 p.m. We still had to walk a bit to where the sailboats were, and when we were there, we still had to wait for the sailboat and the guys accompanying us. This will be significant later when we arrive. We sailed for some time to Crocodile Island (Take note Dada, it’s Crocodile Island, not Alligator Island.) And while sailing, I could actually ski with my bare feet, it was pretty cool. And when we arrived at the island, everybody was excited to put on their goggles and snorkels and dive. So dive we go!
Upon diving, we all had our individual explore time. “I don’t know if it is just me, or are the fishes here just super strong.” That was what I was asking myself because, no matter how strong I swam, I don’t seem to move at all, while the fishes around me just swam with ease.
Well, it turned out I wasn’t alone. Lynor, no matter how much swam, still didn’t move, or if she moved, it was backward.
And then there’s Milan.. he dived in the water.. and he was so amazed with what he was seeing that he decided not to surface for some time. But when he finally decided to surface, he was horrified to see that the boat in front of him is white and not the red sailboat where he rode in. Well, just hold on to the white boat and make friends na lang.
There’s also Dada. Dada is the weakest swimmer among us.. so she decided to play it safe. Just swim close to the boat.. but even that didn’t spare her from the forces of nature. When she surfaced, she had this “bold-star look”, it looked as if her life vest was ripped from her in a very forceful manner. Or perhaps she was raped by dolphins.. I’ve read somewhere that they are the only creatures on earth (Besides humans) that have sex for pleasure. (RJ, Milan, and Lynor.. you guys have to help me with this.. I am trying to recreate the picture again.) We know that Dada looked exhausted when she surfaced, and that her life vest had been torn from her... now, do you guys remember if she surfaced with a SMILE? If she surfaced with a smile, then perhaps.. hmmmmmm!!! GOOD DOLPHIN!!! Dada also tried clinging to the sailboat, that didn’t work either. I couln’t help but have the image of a lechon on a bamboo pole.
Most interesting though, was RJ. Like Milan, she was so amazed at what she was looking at that she didn’t surface for quite a while. And then when she surfaced.. STRESS! She surfaced so far away from the sailboat. And then even MORE STRESS. The eternal struggle to get back to the boat. “Mas damo pa ko tubig na na-inom kay sa isda nga nakita!!” Mwahahaha!!! Recommend rehydration with 20 gallons of seawater. Hehehe!
In short, the current was freakishly strong. And the guys at the sailboat knew all along.. but never told us!
Time is up at sea. Time to go back. We all looked dead during the sail to the beach, but we were still able to see a lot of flying fish trying to escape some tuna fish in a feeding frenzy. Man, those tuna fish are pretty strong, they can jump out of the water too, when chasing their food.
Arrival at the beach: 4:45 p.m. Then one of the sailboat guys tried to hustle us.. charging us another P500 or P1000 for spending too much time at sea... Grrrr! We clearly left the lodge at 2:30 p.m., then we had to walk where they were, had to wait for them, and then wait for the freaking sailboat, so we clearly left at 2:45 and arrived at 4:45, exactly 2 hours as transacted.. and now he’s overcharging us. The nerve! Well, it must have been written in our faces that we weren’t happy with what was going on.. and that we were still holding the money and we can just walk out without paying.. coz he soon stopped hustling us. And he had the audacity to ask if we wanted another ride tomorrow, all 4 of us turned our back at him and walked out without saying a word.
Ok, time for some sleep before going out tonight.
Boracay, Day 2 (5 May 2006)
All of us woke up at different times.. different amounts of alcohol consumed last night equals different wake-up times. Hehehe! But the 5 of us had time to swim at the beach at the same time. And also play some volleyball.
It was a pretty lazy day. Walking around, more shopping, individually, in pairs, by 3’s, anything went. RJ and I walked around, saw the cool Nestea green tents just as we went out of the lodge.. we inquired from the beautiful Nestea girls in cool-blue Santa Claus outfits and the handsome Nestea boys, they told us that for a minimum purchase of P50, you get a free massage in the Nestea tents, quite a deal! RJ and I decided to buy some Nestea products from the Nestea boys and girls as soon as we get some free time, and get our massage. Now we go to D’ Mall. RJ noted a nice bikini in one of the stores, and she went there to try them. While she was trying them on, I was just outside doing some people spotting. I saw a tall, tanned guy that could pretty much pass for a model, he just passed by.. and then a little while later.. he passed by again.. this time he was holding-hands with a tall tanned girl that could pretty much pass for a model. It was only later that I realized that those 2 were in fact Borgy Manotoc and Ornusa Cadness. Hehehe! Me and my ignorance when it comes to celebrities. And that wasn’t the last encounter. On our way back, I saw a pretty lady, and I remarked “RJ, don’t we know her.” Hehehe! “Jake, that’s Cindy Kurleto.” Bloopers! But I wasn’t the only celebrity-ignorant person in the group. Earlier that day, Milan and RJ were walking when RJ remarked “My, what a good looking boy.” Take note, she didn’t say good looking man, she said good looking BOY. And she was immediately corrected by Milan.. “Good looking boy huh, that’s Brad Turvey.” Well, they are just pretty faces to us. But forget the celebrities, what made RJ’s day was seeing Gary Dolatas.. her former crush... Hahaha! She went crazy!
Another thing about day 2, it was EQUIPMENT MALFUNCTION DAY. RJ’s fone battery got drained, and Dada’s charger was incompatible with her fone. I was tapping my toothbrush on the faucet, and it broke into 2.
And then there was the issue of the VENN CHALLENGE: “RJ, hindi ka mapapansin sa Boracay.” Really, to challenge RJ is quite a dangerous thing to do. CHALLENGE ACCEPTED!!! Only now, the issue isn’t really getting people’s attention in Boracay, it’s proving him wrong. And boy, was he proven wrong. People of all colors: brown, white, tan, yellow, black; both male and female genders; they noticed RJ indeed, and I was the one keeping score. One foreigner remarked: “Look at that!” A girl remarked “Bongga!” and then a little girl said “Mama, artista yan, parang nakita ko sya sa isang show.” Mwahahaha! HYPOTHESIS REJECTED, 99.9% CONFIDENCE.
It was a pretty lazy day. Walking around, more shopping, individually, in pairs, by 3’s, anything went. RJ and I walked around, saw the cool Nestea green tents just as we went out of the lodge.. we inquired from the beautiful Nestea girls in cool-blue Santa Claus outfits and the handsome Nestea boys, they told us that for a minimum purchase of P50, you get a free massage in the Nestea tents, quite a deal! RJ and I decided to buy some Nestea products from the Nestea boys and girls as soon as we get some free time, and get our massage. Now we go to D’ Mall. RJ noted a nice bikini in one of the stores, and she went there to try them. While she was trying them on, I was just outside doing some people spotting. I saw a tall, tanned guy that could pretty much pass for a model, he just passed by.. and then a little while later.. he passed by again.. this time he was holding-hands with a tall tanned girl that could pretty much pass for a model. It was only later that I realized that those 2 were in fact Borgy Manotoc and Ornusa Cadness. Hehehe! Me and my ignorance when it comes to celebrities. And that wasn’t the last encounter. On our way back, I saw a pretty lady, and I remarked “RJ, don’t we know her.” Hehehe! “Jake, that’s Cindy Kurleto.” Bloopers! But I wasn’t the only celebrity-ignorant person in the group. Earlier that day, Milan and RJ were walking when RJ remarked “My, what a good looking boy.” Take note, she didn’t say good looking man, she said good looking BOY. And she was immediately corrected by Milan.. “Good looking boy huh, that’s Brad Turvey.” Well, they are just pretty faces to us. But forget the celebrities, what made RJ’s day was seeing Gary Dolatas.. her former crush... Hahaha! She went crazy!
Another thing about day 2, it was EQUIPMENT MALFUNCTION DAY. RJ’s fone battery got drained, and Dada’s charger was incompatible with her fone. I was tapping my toothbrush on the faucet, and it broke into 2.
And then there was the issue of the VENN CHALLENGE: “RJ, hindi ka mapapansin sa Boracay.” Really, to challenge RJ is quite a dangerous thing to do. CHALLENGE ACCEPTED!!! Only now, the issue isn’t really getting people’s attention in Boracay, it’s proving him wrong. And boy, was he proven wrong. People of all colors: brown, white, tan, yellow, black; both male and female genders; they noticed RJ indeed, and I was the one keeping score. One foreigner remarked: “Look at that!” A girl remarked “Bongga!” and then a little girl said “Mama, artista yan, parang nakita ko sya sa isang show.” Mwahahaha! HYPOTHESIS REJECTED, 99.9% CONFIDENCE.
Saturday, June 10, 2006
Party Night One: Destination: Pier One
Along the way, we saw this lady in one of the darkly-lit small alleys, dancing wildly, apparently drunk to her toenails.. and then behold – it was Maui Taylor! Yuck! She looked so chipipay! Especially with an old white guy with her.
We arrived at Pier One and met up with Karen, Ruscel, Rufino, JR, and Galileo.. the place was dead! When we arrived, they were playing good music, and yet nobody was dancing.. just laying on the sand, on the beanbags, and just chatting and having some drinks. But to hell with those boring people, we arrived dancing, and didn’t have a care in the world, we just kept on dancing. And we ordered more alcohol.. Margarita.. which, to our horror, was quite expensive considering it was just a small pitcher. “What? They used water from the fountain of youth to make this margarita? Is it why it’s so expensive?” A little while later, we were dancing on the tabletops, and Galileo was showing signs that he was ready to bloom. JR was gaining confidence too, and was soon our group macho dancer. Milan was teaching him how to flirt with a girl but unfortunately, the girl’s father was there at the party as well. Ok, that would be a little dangerous for JR. Well, more alcohol, and the music was getting even better.. and soon, we were moving our way to the front.. and shortly after we did that.. people were soon dancing with us. Now this is a PARTY! We were soon joining a huge conga-line snaking its way all over the place. And then a little later, a girl was dancing and flirting with Milan. They danced a little more while I lay there on a beanbag, just chilling, watching everything unfold before my eyes. Still, more dancing and flirting, and then Milan dropped THE BOMB, he said: “Honey, I’m gay. I’m gay big time!” Boisterous laughter followed! The girl was laughing her heart out, but managed to say: “I’m gonna give my brother’s number to you.”
While all this was happening, Lynor met Vincent, but left it to Dada. Lynor, Dada and RJ also checked out the MTV Party at Summerplace. It turned out to be reggae.. not really their cup of tea, so they went back to Pier One.
Well, when we had our share of the fun.. and saw that the party was waning anyway, we decided to go back to the lodge. I might have stayed behind longer, but I don’t really clearly remember why, hmmm, all that alchohol I guess, all I remember is, when I went back to the lodge, 2 voices were calling me... it turned out to be Lynor and Dada.. they were swimming at 3 a.m.! Well, I’m also crazy so I joined them. The water wasn’t that cold. And weirder still, there was an outrigger boat docking near us at 3a.m. The people in it looked at the 3 of us.. they must have been thinking that we were weird swimming at 3a.m. We looked back at them, thinking how weird they were for traveling at 3a.m. Hehehe! After some swimming, it’s time to rinse ourselves and sleep. I went first, but I took quite a while rinsing myself.. leaving Lynor and Dada in the cold. Lynor was last, and by the time she was done.. everybody was sleeping soundly.. she had trouble finding space on the bed.. would she go oblique, or transverse, or squeeze herself in, and how to avoid that groove in the middle of the 2 beds.. but she did find a spot and it’s GOOD NIGHT EVERYBODY. Zzzzzzzzzz. :)
We arrived at Pier One and met up with Karen, Ruscel, Rufino, JR, and Galileo.. the place was dead! When we arrived, they were playing good music, and yet nobody was dancing.. just laying on the sand, on the beanbags, and just chatting and having some drinks. But to hell with those boring people, we arrived dancing, and didn’t have a care in the world, we just kept on dancing. And we ordered more alcohol.. Margarita.. which, to our horror, was quite expensive considering it was just a small pitcher. “What? They used water from the fountain of youth to make this margarita? Is it why it’s so expensive?” A little while later, we were dancing on the tabletops, and Galileo was showing signs that he was ready to bloom. JR was gaining confidence too, and was soon our group macho dancer. Milan was teaching him how to flirt with a girl but unfortunately, the girl’s father was there at the party as well. Ok, that would be a little dangerous for JR. Well, more alcohol, and the music was getting even better.. and soon, we were moving our way to the front.. and shortly after we did that.. people were soon dancing with us. Now this is a PARTY! We were soon joining a huge conga-line snaking its way all over the place. And then a little later, a girl was dancing and flirting with Milan. They danced a little more while I lay there on a beanbag, just chilling, watching everything unfold before my eyes. Still, more dancing and flirting, and then Milan dropped THE BOMB, he said: “Honey, I’m gay. I’m gay big time!” Boisterous laughter followed! The girl was laughing her heart out, but managed to say: “I’m gonna give my brother’s number to you.”
While all this was happening, Lynor met Vincent, but left it to Dada. Lynor, Dada and RJ also checked out the MTV Party at Summerplace. It turned out to be reggae.. not really their cup of tea, so they went back to Pier One.
Well, when we had our share of the fun.. and saw that the party was waning anyway, we decided to go back to the lodge. I might have stayed behind longer, but I don’t really clearly remember why, hmmm, all that alchohol I guess, all I remember is, when I went back to the lodge, 2 voices were calling me... it turned out to be Lynor and Dada.. they were swimming at 3 a.m.! Well, I’m also crazy so I joined them. The water wasn’t that cold. And weirder still, there was an outrigger boat docking near us at 3a.m. The people in it looked at the 3 of us.. they must have been thinking that we were weird swimming at 3a.m. We looked back at them, thinking how weird they were for traveling at 3a.m. Hehehe! After some swimming, it’s time to rinse ourselves and sleep. I went first, but I took quite a while rinsing myself.. leaving Lynor and Dada in the cold. Lynor was last, and by the time she was done.. everybody was sleeping soundly.. she had trouble finding space on the bed.. would she go oblique, or transverse, or squeeze herself in, and how to avoid that groove in the middle of the 2 beds.. but she did find a spot and it’s GOOD NIGHT EVERYBODY. Zzzzzzzzzz. :)
Saturday, June 03, 2006
Shopping! Destination: Talipapa
One of the small alleys leading to the Talipapa was just near where we were staying.. so we decided to check it out. And right then and there.. at the first store.. the okrayan flowed in steady streams.. none of the merchandise were spared. Hehehe! That’s what you get when our batteries have been recharged with some food and some rest. Well, I guess the most interesting part was at the accessory store. Hmmm, touch-touch the merchandise muna, and then take it out of the display shelf, and then try it on.. then call for reinforcement.. and then BLAST-OFF! “Jake, this one looks like it was inspired by a potato chip!” There was no stopping Lynor.. she was on a roll from then on! She grabs another one, and then remarks.. “Hmmm, this one is also potato-chip inspired, but it also has monggo-beans along the chain.” And then there were talong-inspired necklaces, and other vegetable. Talk about organic, man! And then there was this necklace with a lady as a pendant. Boy, was the lady anatomically disfigured.. her boobs were at the level of her abdomen.. so we thought she must be old.. but on closer inspection, there was this huge bulge at her crotch.. so she’s not only old.. she’s an old hermaphrodite, or perhaps an old transvestite.. either way you take it.. I don’t think it would flatter you to wear that necklace. And then what really did it for the girl was this intergalactic-inspired necklace which I remarked “Earth to Lynor, Earth to Lynor, do you copy?” By then the lady said “Sumosobra ka na kuya ha.” Mwahahaha! We had to move on after that.
At the talipapa, there were countless other stuff... and Milan was the expert in making ‘tawad’. Sarongs that cost close to 200 pesos, he would kid-around and make tawad – “Abi ko, 50 pesos lang ni.” And then more necklaces and bracelets, everybody was trying on what they fancied. Lynor looked good in one that looked like fishscales.. but eventually she saw another potato-chip inspired necklace with shiny jewels studded at the chain.. and she bought it.. the pendant had a nice emerald-green uneven color that had shiny parts.. well, I guess it was a spinach-flavored potato-chip. Hehehe! We spent hours at the talipapa, to the extent that the sun had already set while we were there, and then we began to realize again.. our blood glucose levels were low again... and we were quite far from our favorite Jaspers.. so we had to eat at the nearest place that we saw. And in the middle of dinner, RJ goes “Oh my gosh! I tried on this bracelet but I never paid for it, and now I don’t know which store I tried it on.” Hehehe! Blooper.
Now it’s back to the lodge, freshen up and let the drinking start.. of course while watching FTV to get inspiration for tonight’s party.
I took care of mixing the drinks, for which I was called the Bartender.. Milan was handing out the drinks, for which he was called the Waiter.. Dada was the one drinking, for which she was called the Tomadora.. and Lynor was the one urging Dada to drink some more, for which she was called the Bouncer.
So, let the drinks flow.. along with the drinks, so does our imagination. So while watching FTV, you take your pick what you are going to wear to the party.. will it be Athenian-inspired with all the shoe strappings up to your knee, will it be skimpy, will it be Philippine-tropical and floral, will it be barely there.. or will it be bare? But when the FLYING COBRA was conceptualized, I think we’ve had enough alcohol and its time to go to the party!
At the talipapa, there were countless other stuff... and Milan was the expert in making ‘tawad’. Sarongs that cost close to 200 pesos, he would kid-around and make tawad – “Abi ko, 50 pesos lang ni.” And then more necklaces and bracelets, everybody was trying on what they fancied. Lynor looked good in one that looked like fishscales.. but eventually she saw another potato-chip inspired necklace with shiny jewels studded at the chain.. and she bought it.. the pendant had a nice emerald-green uneven color that had shiny parts.. well, I guess it was a spinach-flavored potato-chip. Hehehe! We spent hours at the talipapa, to the extent that the sun had already set while we were there, and then we began to realize again.. our blood glucose levels were low again... and we were quite far from our favorite Jaspers.. so we had to eat at the nearest place that we saw. And in the middle of dinner, RJ goes “Oh my gosh! I tried on this bracelet but I never paid for it, and now I don’t know which store I tried it on.” Hehehe! Blooper.
Now it’s back to the lodge, freshen up and let the drinking start.. of course while watching FTV to get inspiration for tonight’s party.
I took care of mixing the drinks, for which I was called the Bartender.. Milan was handing out the drinks, for which he was called the Waiter.. Dada was the one drinking, for which she was called the Tomadora.. and Lynor was the one urging Dada to drink some more, for which she was called the Bouncer.
So, let the drinks flow.. along with the drinks, so does our imagination. So while watching FTV, you take your pick what you are going to wear to the party.. will it be Athenian-inspired with all the shoe strappings up to your knee, will it be skimpy, will it be Philippine-tropical and floral, will it be barely there.. or will it be bare? But when the FLYING COBRA was conceptualized, I think we’ve had enough alcohol and its time to go to the party!
Arrival in Boracay
Day 1 (4 May 2006)
Arrival at Boracay: at Boat Station 3!, which menas a walkathon to Station 2 where we will be staying, carga-carga our 2 bags each. Lynor only brought 1 bag, I don’t know how the hell she managed it, but she told me later that her things double-up for another purpose.. like the sarong.. it doubles up as habol/blanket.. if you get wet, it doubles up as a towel. And of course, the AMAZING BANDANA aka BLINDFOLD aka SCARF aka BIKINI TOP aka TAPIS! Multipurpose! “Pwede pa place-mat and table napkin?” OK, back to the walkathon, we arrived at Sander’s White Resort where we will be staying, only to be told that the room occupants haven’t vacated yet. OK wait a little bit pa, blood glucose level = 90. Fifteen minutes later, nothing happens, blood glucose level = 85. My gosh, it’s already 1pm, they’re supposed to be gone by 12nn, 30 minutes later, wala pa rin! Blood glucose level = 78! Gutom na! Irritable na tanan! Civilized pa naman, pero struggling with the monsters within already. Finally, the room becomes empty, we put all our bags in and by 2pm, Mario was guiding us around the places where we could eat with reasonable prices (that’s Jasper’s), where we could do our groceries, do our shopping, hang-out, and he also showed us the little alleys that become short-cuts if you are familiar with them. If you are, however, a geo-idiot like me, those little alley ways become the perfect recipe for getting LOST! On a positive note, getting lost could be quite an adventure, on a negative note, it could be quite a nightmare. After lunch, we were pretty much on our own.. did some groceries, checked out the cool hang-outs. And note, everybody was wearing shirts and shorts.. good to note this coz this will change in the course of the following days. Celebrity sightings: KC Montero, Alex Compton.
After doing our groceries, we went back to Sander’s to rest a bit. It was here where the famous line was said “Paki-cerrado ang puerta, mag-gwa ang aircon.” Shuweng! (“I didn’t know airconditioners could walk now.”)
After waking-up, the prime objective was now shopping!
Arrival at Boracay: at Boat Station 3!, which menas a walkathon to Station 2 where we will be staying, carga-carga our 2 bags each. Lynor only brought 1 bag, I don’t know how the hell she managed it, but she told me later that her things double-up for another purpose.. like the sarong.. it doubles up as habol/blanket.. if you get wet, it doubles up as a towel. And of course, the AMAZING BANDANA aka BLINDFOLD aka SCARF aka BIKINI TOP aka TAPIS! Multipurpose! “Pwede pa place-mat and table napkin?” OK, back to the walkathon, we arrived at Sander’s White Resort where we will be staying, only to be told that the room occupants haven’t vacated yet. OK wait a little bit pa, blood glucose level = 90. Fifteen minutes later, nothing happens, blood glucose level = 85. My gosh, it’s already 1pm, they’re supposed to be gone by 12nn, 30 minutes later, wala pa rin! Blood glucose level = 78! Gutom na! Irritable na tanan! Civilized pa naman, pero struggling with the monsters within already. Finally, the room becomes empty, we put all our bags in and by 2pm, Mario was guiding us around the places where we could eat with reasonable prices (that’s Jasper’s), where we could do our groceries, do our shopping, hang-out, and he also showed us the little alleys that become short-cuts if you are familiar with them. If you are, however, a geo-idiot like me, those little alley ways become the perfect recipe for getting LOST! On a positive note, getting lost could be quite an adventure, on a negative note, it could be quite a nightmare. After lunch, we were pretty much on our own.. did some groceries, checked out the cool hang-outs. And note, everybody was wearing shirts and shorts.. good to note this coz this will change in the course of the following days. Celebrity sightings: KC Montero, Alex Compton.
After doing our groceries, we went back to Sander’s to rest a bit. It was here where the famous line was said “Paki-cerrado ang puerta, mag-gwa ang aircon.” Shuweng! (“I didn’t know airconditioners could walk now.”)
After waking-up, the prime objective was now shopping!
Boracay, 4-7 May 2006: Arrival in Caticlan
Day 1 (4 May 2006)
We were met by Mario who’s going to be our guide. Most of the trip now becomes headache-free for me because we have a full-fledged and dedicated treasurer with us, in the person of Lynor. But of course, the trip wouldn’t be fun without our “more-than-occasional” lapses in concentration. Just when we were “mounting the PUMP BOAT” (“Hmmmmm, that phrase has a strangely Freudian undertone.. OK, back to the mounting.. Hehehe!”) RJ began to wobble while on the ladder of the pump boat (“Hihihi!”), hmmm, maybe its because she has all her bags carried only on one side. On one side – she had all her bags and she couldn’t use her hand on that side, unfortunately that was the side where the railing was where you could hold on. The other side.. well, WATER! TUBIG! BAYBAY! DAGAT! Thoughts in RJ’s mind while all these were going on: 1.) My phone! 2.) Felicitas is going to kill me if I take this camera with me to all those little fishes down there! 3.) I’m going to be dripping wet even before I arrive in Boracay. Manong to the rescue! He grabs RJ before she takes the Nestea plunge. Whew! Now that we are all in the pump boat (“Hihihi!”), off we go to Boracay! My gosh, I’ve just realized that there is no way that you could ‘de-Freudianize’ the word PUMP BOAT!
We were met by Mario who’s going to be our guide. Most of the trip now becomes headache-free for me because we have a full-fledged and dedicated treasurer with us, in the person of Lynor. But of course, the trip wouldn’t be fun without our “more-than-occasional” lapses in concentration. Just when we were “mounting the PUMP BOAT” (“Hmmmmm, that phrase has a strangely Freudian undertone.. OK, back to the mounting.. Hehehe!”) RJ began to wobble while on the ladder of the pump boat (“Hihihi!”), hmmm, maybe its because she has all her bags carried only on one side. On one side – she had all her bags and she couldn’t use her hand on that side, unfortunately that was the side where the railing was where you could hold on. The other side.. well, WATER! TUBIG! BAYBAY! DAGAT! Thoughts in RJ’s mind while all these were going on: 1.) My phone! 2.) Felicitas is going to kill me if I take this camera with me to all those little fishes down there! 3.) I’m going to be dripping wet even before I arrive in Boracay. Manong to the rescue! He grabs RJ before she takes the Nestea plunge. Whew! Now that we are all in the pump boat (“Hihihi!”), off we go to Boracay! My gosh, I’ve just realized that there is no way that you could ‘de-Freudianize’ the word PUMP BOAT!
Survivor, Medical Interns Edition
Day 1 (4 May 2006)
We managed to make it on the boat on time… barely! Now, the adrenaline begins to subside, and we begin to focus on other things.. namely our stomachs. None of us managed to eat breakfast, and it’s a 6-hour trip going to Boracay.
The ferry ride was uneventful, and so was the ride from the port to the bus terminal. While on the bus to Caticlan, however, the lack of coffee and breakfast began to take its effect. My tummy began to grumble , and I had to find a way to appease my complaining stomach. At first, I saw a kid selling some quail eggs, it was pretty cheap (P10 for 5 quail eggs), I bought it and was soon eating it. It just wasn’t enough, my stomach was still grumbling. At the next bus stop, another kid was selling 5 small corn on the cob – again for only P10, which I bought. My seatmate was shocked to see me ravage the 5 corn on the cob in 3 minutes, I must have been really hungry! After the 5 corn on the cob, I was doing OK. The rest of the bus ride going to Caticlan became a lot more comfortable for me now that I have food in my stomach.
We managed to make it on the boat on time… barely! Now, the adrenaline begins to subside, and we begin to focus on other things.. namely our stomachs. None of us managed to eat breakfast, and it’s a 6-hour trip going to Boracay.
The ferry ride was uneventful, and so was the ride from the port to the bus terminal. While on the bus to Caticlan, however, the lack of coffee and breakfast began to take its effect. My tummy began to grumble , and I had to find a way to appease my complaining stomach. At first, I saw a kid selling some quail eggs, it was pretty cheap (P10 for 5 quail eggs), I bought it and was soon eating it. It just wasn’t enough, my stomach was still grumbling. At the next bus stop, another kid was selling 5 small corn on the cob – again for only P10, which I bought. My seatmate was shocked to see me ravage the 5 corn on the cob in 3 minutes, I must have been really hungry! After the 5 corn on the cob, I was doing OK. The rest of the bus ride going to Caticlan became a lot more comfortable for me now that I have food in my stomach.
Sunday, May 28, 2006
The Amazing Race, Medical Interns Edition: Bangenge ang Departure!! Surprise, surprise! It’s 6 a.m. not 6:30!
Day 1 (4 May 2006)
From one side of the fence (my side, Jake’s side): ABA! Leisurely ang shower.. then a fonecall from Dr. Milan Ratunil. The maid answers the fone while I’m still in the shower. Normally, the maid would disturb me while I’m in the shower, informing me immediately of the fonecall, no matter how trivial the call would be. For example, she informed me immediately when a friend of my brother called asking where my brother is.. hmmm, not here in the shower! (but I kept that remark to myself.) But this time, she didn’t, so I assumed it must have been totally insignificant. When I went out of the shower, I passed by her and she didn’t inform me too, so it must have been really insignificant. While I was changing, I kinda got bothered by the fonecall that the maid did not tell me about, so I asked her what it was about it. And then KABOOM! She told me that it was Dr. Ratunil, informing me that we will meet na lang at 6 a.m. “WHOA!!! Meet where?” The original meeting time was 6:30 a.m. and it’s now 5:50 a.m. and I’m standing here taking my fucking leisurely time changing. Had I not asked... Grrrrrrrr!!!! SO PANIC! STANLEY LET’S GO! So off we go to the dorm.. take note pipol, to the DORM! Halfway there, I had to fone Milan coz I was getting pretty worried, and to my horror, I was answered not by the customary polite “Hello!” Instead, I was answered by a voice that was apparently in PANIC as well. It was a panic level that matched my panic level and perhaps even more. Dr. Ratunil, on the other line, said: “Jake, we’re on our way to the pier, we will meet you there, ferry leaves at 6 a.m.” All of these details we’re given to the maid?! WHOA!! Of all the details to miss it had to be those, off all the fone calls not to inform me, it had to be that fonecall, of all the circumstances to do that it had to be this day when we leave for Boracay!!! “Stanley, we’re going to the pier!” It is freaking 6:53 a.m.!! All those details given to me in an eight-second fone call! It was like an eighteen-wheeler truck crashing at me head-on! PANIC! DOUBLE PANIC! TRIPLE PANIC! Brown bag for Dr. Hofileña please!
From the other side of the fence: at the dorm with Dr. RJ Villaflor (RJ/Ate), Dr. Donna Dee Macabudbud (Dada), and Dr. Milan Ratunil (Milan). While I was taking my leisurely shower, ABA! Leisurely din and pagluluto ng pansit canton! Not a care in the world! And ABA! De-plantsa-plantsa pa! And then a fonecall from Dr. Lynor Nerpiol (Lynor/Manang). The fonecall goes something like.. guys, the ferry trip we are taking at 6:30 a.m. got cancelled so we are taking the 6 a.m. one. WHOA! So, TRALALA ANG TANAN!!! Untata na ang pansit canton, untata na ang plantsa-plantsa!!! GO!
So, everything can now be pieced together. Shortly after Lynor foned Milan, Milan foned me and set-off my own set of panic sequence of events.
Skip to the pier: Dewey (Dr. Dewey Demandante), driving RJ, Milan, and Dada, goes to another dock. Lost! Talent ang pagka-lost! But they eventually find the correct dock for Ocean Jet.
My turn. Skip to the pier: Stan and I headed to the correct dock on the first try. Ok, now pay the toll fee of 10 pesos, sabay confirm if indeed this is the dock for Ocean Jet. The tollguy confirms it’s the dock for Ocean Jet, pero he added “Check nyo lang sir kung ara pa ang barko.” UNWANTED COMMENT! WAAAAH! At that point, I really wanted to just throw the 100-peso-bill to him, and go, speed to the terminal! Pero I had my restraints pa, so cool pa, pero medyo 160 beats per minute na ang heartbeat ko. Now, park beside the Ocean Jet terminal, go out, and again confirm from the tindera ng bubblegum if this is the terminal of Ocean Jet. The tindera confirms that it is indeed the Ocean Jet terminal... pero she added “Fully-booked na sir.” ABA! UNWANTED COMMENT AGAIN! But this time, I would not let the comment pass. “Basi nabaklan na ko ticket sang mga upod ko ya!!” And zoom! Run like THE AMAZING RACE!!! When I entered the terminal, RJ, Milan and Dada had just arrived. Did we make it? Coz the sight that greeted me when I entered the terminal was a huge line of people at the ticket booth. Did we make it? YES!!! Lynor already bought tickets for everybody and, and, and, she was about to give me an award for making it on-time. Not even morning endorsements could make me on-time. Pero Boracay! Mas Importante!! Dr. Karen Meana (Karen), and Dr. Ruscel Dogoldogol (Ruscel) were already there too, and their brothers, Karen’s brother: JR, and Ruscel’s brother: Galileo (please take note of his name at this point.) OK, now all of us had 2 seconds to catch our breath, after that we had to haul your ass on the boat coz we were like the last passengers. Now, distribute the tickets for the seat arrangement. Hindi pa tapos ang action! More, more, more! Up on the boat we go, then look for our seats, most of us found seats immediately. One of the seats for our group was 47H, and it appeared JR was supposed to sit there, pero this lady marches in, asks the guy at 47G or was it 47i if 47H is taken. Detecting something, I told the lady that the seat is taken. ABA! Sit her ass down gyapon ang lola! Again, again, again. This time, sabay kuhit na sa shoulder nya. “Ma’am, taken na na ang seat. Siya ni dapat ang mapungko dira.”, I was pointing to JR while saying that. Shocked speechless na si Milan, witnessing the entire event unfold before his eyes. Zipper the mouth na lang! It was a good thing one of the officers offered his seat for JR. Otherwise.. hmmm, fill in the blanks. And it was also a good thing that Lynor wasn’t able to notice it... otherwise... hmmmm! Hands at waist na tani, with matching glaring eyes, and kilay rising to skyscraper levels. Don’t mess with this bunch right now. The combined effect of waking up early, being made to rush, worrying about the arrival of friends, worrying about making the boat, and skipping the daily maintenance dose of coffee... well, 60 kilograms of flesh in pure adrenaline rush standing right in front of you.. times 9! BEWARE! THEY BITE!!
Well, good thing most of the ferry ride was boring, it allowed the adrenaline rush to subside.
Just a reminder, most of the stuff written in this segment happened between 5:50 to 6:05 a.m., 15 minutes! And we have 4 more days to go. HAPPY READING!
From one side of the fence (my side, Jake’s side): ABA! Leisurely ang shower.. then a fonecall from Dr. Milan Ratunil. The maid answers the fone while I’m still in the shower. Normally, the maid would disturb me while I’m in the shower, informing me immediately of the fonecall, no matter how trivial the call would be. For example, she informed me immediately when a friend of my brother called asking where my brother is.. hmmm, not here in the shower! (but I kept that remark to myself.) But this time, she didn’t, so I assumed it must have been totally insignificant. When I went out of the shower, I passed by her and she didn’t inform me too, so it must have been really insignificant. While I was changing, I kinda got bothered by the fonecall that the maid did not tell me about, so I asked her what it was about it. And then KABOOM! She told me that it was Dr. Ratunil, informing me that we will meet na lang at 6 a.m. “WHOA!!! Meet where?” The original meeting time was 6:30 a.m. and it’s now 5:50 a.m. and I’m standing here taking my fucking leisurely time changing. Had I not asked... Grrrrrrrr!!!! SO PANIC! STANLEY LET’S GO! So off we go to the dorm.. take note pipol, to the DORM! Halfway there, I had to fone Milan coz I was getting pretty worried, and to my horror, I was answered not by the customary polite “Hello!” Instead, I was answered by a voice that was apparently in PANIC as well. It was a panic level that matched my panic level and perhaps even more. Dr. Ratunil, on the other line, said: “Jake, we’re on our way to the pier, we will meet you there, ferry leaves at 6 a.m.” All of these details we’re given to the maid?! WHOA!! Of all the details to miss it had to be those, off all the fone calls not to inform me, it had to be that fonecall, of all the circumstances to do that it had to be this day when we leave for Boracay!!! “Stanley, we’re going to the pier!” It is freaking 6:53 a.m.!! All those details given to me in an eight-second fone call! It was like an eighteen-wheeler truck crashing at me head-on! PANIC! DOUBLE PANIC! TRIPLE PANIC! Brown bag for Dr. Hofileña please!
From the other side of the fence: at the dorm with Dr. RJ Villaflor (RJ/Ate), Dr. Donna Dee Macabudbud (Dada), and Dr. Milan Ratunil (Milan). While I was taking my leisurely shower, ABA! Leisurely din and pagluluto ng pansit canton! Not a care in the world! And ABA! De-plantsa-plantsa pa! And then a fonecall from Dr. Lynor Nerpiol (Lynor/Manang). The fonecall goes something like.. guys, the ferry trip we are taking at 6:30 a.m. got cancelled so we are taking the 6 a.m. one. WHOA! So, TRALALA ANG TANAN!!! Untata na ang pansit canton, untata na ang plantsa-plantsa!!! GO!
So, everything can now be pieced together. Shortly after Lynor foned Milan, Milan foned me and set-off my own set of panic sequence of events.
Skip to the pier: Dewey (Dr. Dewey Demandante), driving RJ, Milan, and Dada, goes to another dock. Lost! Talent ang pagka-lost! But they eventually find the correct dock for Ocean Jet.
My turn. Skip to the pier: Stan and I headed to the correct dock on the first try. Ok, now pay the toll fee of 10 pesos, sabay confirm if indeed this is the dock for Ocean Jet. The tollguy confirms it’s the dock for Ocean Jet, pero he added “Check nyo lang sir kung ara pa ang barko.” UNWANTED COMMENT! WAAAAH! At that point, I really wanted to just throw the 100-peso-bill to him, and go, speed to the terminal! Pero I had my restraints pa, so cool pa, pero medyo 160 beats per minute na ang heartbeat ko. Now, park beside the Ocean Jet terminal, go out, and again confirm from the tindera ng bubblegum if this is the terminal of Ocean Jet. The tindera confirms that it is indeed the Ocean Jet terminal... pero she added “Fully-booked na sir.” ABA! UNWANTED COMMENT AGAIN! But this time, I would not let the comment pass. “Basi nabaklan na ko ticket sang mga upod ko ya!!” And zoom! Run like THE AMAZING RACE!!! When I entered the terminal, RJ, Milan and Dada had just arrived. Did we make it? Coz the sight that greeted me when I entered the terminal was a huge line of people at the ticket booth. Did we make it? YES!!! Lynor already bought tickets for everybody and, and, and, she was about to give me an award for making it on-time. Not even morning endorsements could make me on-time. Pero Boracay! Mas Importante!! Dr. Karen Meana (Karen), and Dr. Ruscel Dogoldogol (Ruscel) were already there too, and their brothers, Karen’s brother: JR, and Ruscel’s brother: Galileo (please take note of his name at this point.) OK, now all of us had 2 seconds to catch our breath, after that we had to haul your ass on the boat coz we were like the last passengers. Now, distribute the tickets for the seat arrangement. Hindi pa tapos ang action! More, more, more! Up on the boat we go, then look for our seats, most of us found seats immediately. One of the seats for our group was 47H, and it appeared JR was supposed to sit there, pero this lady marches in, asks the guy at 47G or was it 47i if 47H is taken. Detecting something, I told the lady that the seat is taken. ABA! Sit her ass down gyapon ang lola! Again, again, again. This time, sabay kuhit na sa shoulder nya. “Ma’am, taken na na ang seat. Siya ni dapat ang mapungko dira.”, I was pointing to JR while saying that. Shocked speechless na si Milan, witnessing the entire event unfold before his eyes. Zipper the mouth na lang! It was a good thing one of the officers offered his seat for JR. Otherwise.. hmmm, fill in the blanks. And it was also a good thing that Lynor wasn’t able to notice it... otherwise... hmmmm! Hands at waist na tani, with matching glaring eyes, and kilay rising to skyscraper levels. Don’t mess with this bunch right now. The combined effect of waking up early, being made to rush, worrying about the arrival of friends, worrying about making the boat, and skipping the daily maintenance dose of coffee... well, 60 kilograms of flesh in pure adrenaline rush standing right in front of you.. times 9! BEWARE! THEY BITE!!
Well, good thing most of the ferry ride was boring, it allowed the adrenaline rush to subside.
Just a reminder, most of the stuff written in this segment happened between 5:50 to 6:05 a.m., 15 minutes! And we have 4 more days to go. HAPPY READING!
Saturday, May 20, 2006
Bantayan Island, Holy Week, 11-16 April 2006
Day 6 (16 April ’06)
Departure from Bantayan. Wake up time: 6 am. Uhhh! It’s difficult to force yourself to get up when you’ve only had an hour sleep. But, we started freshening up, and packing the remaining stuff. The volleyball! It’s still with Jamil. Then I decided to stay behind while suon bebot, suon aj, and Stanley left for bacolod. Hehehe! It was just an excuse to stay behind one more day. Thank you very much to the Wilson volleyball. My volleyball has a design on it, it looks exactly like the volleyball in the movie Castaway, its name is Wilson. I got the volleyball later that morning. And I had the chance to have a leisurely walk at the beach without the crowd seen on Saturday, I even saw a patch of beach that was the mating ground of starfish. It’s like you have the whole beach to yourself by Sunday afternoon. :-)
Wednesday, May 10, 2006
Bantayan Island, Holy Week, 11-16 April 2006
Day 6 (
Departure from Bantayan. Wake up time:
Bantayan Island, Holy Week, 11-16 April 2006
Day 5 (
Saturday. That night was going to be the big party. So it was going to be pretty much a lazy day for me, just conserving my energy for the big party. Had my morning walk at the beach and my morning swim, around
Afternoon: walked to the beach again when I saw a big crowd surrounding something, then I saw
Well, night came, I didn’t go out until it was
Bantayan Island, Holy Week, 11-16 April 2006
Day 4 (
Raging hang-over! Forget the volleyball matches, I didn’t have a partner anymore anyway. I still felt sick the entire morning and most of the afternoon. I knew I had to hydrate myself and eat, but scared that I might throw up again. Good thing there was soup. That was pretty much my diet for the day. Afternoon came, I tried to swim my way out of my hang-over. Doesn’t work, I had poor coordination while swimming. Oh well, back to soup and coffee. By late afternoon, I had recovered, I went back to my usual hang-out at the beach. As soon as I arrived I told them that the dead lives to see another day. I saw Dwight, I apologized about last night, and he was pretty cool about it. And people were drinking again. This time I refused, slept early that night, by early I mean
Bantayan Island, Holy Week, 11-16 April 2006
Day 3 (
Volleyball games start today at
Night time is party time. I decided to rest until 10 before going out, so did Stan. I woke up first, around
Bantayan Island, Holy Week, 11-16 April 2006
Day 2 (
Lunch was again at Manong Pito, they have the best food, 2 kinds of dried fish and fish tinola. YUM! People there seem to be drinking all the time. I’d see them drinking before meals, during meals, and after meals. Hehehe. They drink mostly beer, they would have several big bottles of San Miguel Beer and Gold Eagle Beer, and they would offer us beer all the time. Well, since I’m too polite to refuse, I’d drink the beer, despite the fact that I don’t really like its taste and despite the fact that my stomach is rebellious with beer. What’s worse is that most of the time, the beer is not cold, it is beer warmed by the Philippine Summer Sun! Give me rum or scotch whisky anytime.. just not beer.
Afterwards, I got myself a Henna tattoo on my back and arm. The guy who gave me the tattoo also tattooed some celebrities in manila. I was their first client in Bantayan. I had to wait for 2 hours for the tattoo to dry up then I could rinse it, and in those 2 hours I must not sweat. Kinda impossible, being under a tent, with the afternoon sun blazing over us. So there were 2 people fanning me to keep me from sweating... Hahaha, I became the King of Bantayan! Despite that, however, my arm still sweats a bit, and parts of the tattoo smeared a bit, but not much. Now, time to rinse my arm. I went in the water, and while rinsing I realized that my fone was still in my short pocket, which by now was already wet! Huhuhu! L My Nokia 6030 which I bought recently!!! I took it out of my pocket, it was dead. I had to take the battery out immediately and had it air-dried. While waiting for my fone to dry-up, I met the gang of the tattoo artist. The tattoo artist is Juanlou, his senior and head of the tattoo federation of the
Stanley and I then entered in the 1st Beach Volleyball competition that was organized there, it was sponsored by Gatorade. We decided to enter so that we had something to do while we were there. Trip lang! And also because it costs pretty cheap to enter, all you had to do was buy 4 Gatorade’s being sold at 40 pesos each. There I met the organizers, Jamil and his friend, and also the other volleyball players. Most of them were Obet’s barkada, quite a few were from Cebu, among them were Ricki and Karl, and 2 of their friends who are surf and swim dudes, and only 1 was from
Bantayan Island, Holy Week, 11-16 April 2006
Arrival in Bantayan town port:
That night, I again took a walk. This time checking out the bar alley. There’s Marisqueira O Portugues where most of the foreigners were hanging out that night, and some local girls and waitresses getting friendly with the foreigners. And then there’s Hard Kock Café, very interesting name indeed. But the bar isn’t what the name implies, it’s just a regular bar. It’s fairly new and foreign-owned, I was told. Going back to the house, I got lost. I had to go around the place a couple more times to familiarize myself, otherwise I’d get lost every night. Interesting observation for that day: it was as if I had a beacon surgically attached to my back, coz when suon bebot’s family looked for me, the locals at the marketplace and at the bar alley were able to pinpoint my location at a precise time. They looked for an ilonggo in a red shirt and boom, precise coordinates and time were given by the locals. :-)
Monday, April 24, 2006
Bantayan Island, Holy Week, 11-16 April 2006
Arrrival in Bantayan town port: 1pm, 11 April ’06. Finally, some land after a boring boat ride. We took a van going to Sta. Fe, the community where the beach is, van fare is just 20 pesos. It was a 10 minute ride. On the way there, I injured the ring finger of my right hand, I don’t know exactly how it happened but I suspect that I could have brushed it against the zipper of my backpack or it got completely caught in the zipper while I was zipping it. It was quite a bleeder and I had no band-aids in my first-aid pack. Arrival in Sta. Fe. We placed our bags in nanay azon’s house where we will be staying. I had to buy some first aid strips, and it was a good thing that the sari-sari store had the heavy duty Medicare plastic strips, works very well. And then we were introduced to the family of suon bebot, we were introduced to manong pito, who owned a lot at the beachfront, right smack at the center of the beach strip of Bantayan’s beach. Just beside it is a place frequented by skimboarders.. they offer free skimboarding lessons, sell cool shirts, and have space where people can pitch a tent, and you can even have a band perform. When we passed by, they were also playing our kind of music.. beach house. We were also introduced to kuya david, nanay azon, obet and jun-jun, it’s their house where we will be staying at. After the introduction, we had our late lunch. It comprised of dried fish (sap-sap) and I can’t remember what else. But the dried fish tasted really good coz I haven’t had them for quite a while. Next, tour of sta. fe. We had to see the beach… and when we saw it, it was an instant cure for all the travel fatigue. A kilometer of powdery white sand, and crystal clear water! Paradise! The other parts that suon bebot showed us were the school, the old houses, the market, and a boat that had just unloaded its catch.. a few fish and around 5 or 6 sting rays, 1 or 2 of the rays were even pregnant and baby rays were going out of it post-mortem. After the place was showed to us, we were free to do whatever we want. A swim at the beach was definitely at the top of my list, and that’s exactly what I did. I must have swum at least 200 meters, the water is so nice, crystal clear and you can have the beach all to yourself. After swimming, I freshened up back at nanay azon and kuya david’s house. They have an artisan well where you drop a bucket attached to a rope and get your fresh water from there for bathing. It’s pretty neat.
That night, I again took a walk. This time checking out the bar alley. There’s Marisqueira O Portugues where most of the foreigners were hanging out that night, and some local girls and waitresses getting friendly with the foreigners. And then there’s Hard Kock Café, very interesting name indeed. But the bar isn’t what the name implies, it’s just a regular bar. It’s fairly new and foreign-owned, I was told. Going back to the house, I got lost. I had to go around the place a couple more times to familiarize myself, otherwise I’d get lost every night. Interesting observation for that day: it was as if I had a beacon surgically attached to my back, coz when suon bebot’s family looked for me, the locals at the marketplace and at the bar alley were able to pinpoint my location at a precise time. They looked for an ilonggo in a red shirt and boom, precise coordinates and time were given by the locals. :)
That night, I again took a walk. This time checking out the bar alley. There’s Marisqueira O Portugues where most of the foreigners were hanging out that night, and some local girls and waitresses getting friendly with the foreigners. And then there’s Hard Kock Café, very interesting name indeed. But the bar isn’t what the name implies, it’s just a regular bar. It’s fairly new and foreign-owned, I was told. Going back to the house, I got lost. I had to go around the place a couple more times to familiarize myself, otherwise I’d get lost every night. Interesting observation for that day: it was as if I had a beacon surgically attached to my back, coz when suon bebot’s family looked for me, the locals at the marketplace and at the bar alley were able to pinpoint my location at a precise time. They looked for an ilonggo in a red shirt and boom, precise coordinates and time were given by the locals. :)
Bantayan Island, Holy Week, 11-16 April 2006
Arrival in Bantayan town port:
That night, I again took a walk. This time checking out the bar alley. There’s Marisqueira O Portugues where most of the foreigners were hanging out that night, and some local girls and waitresses getting friendly with the foreigners. And then there’s Hard Kock Café, very interesting name indeed. But the bar isn’t what the name implies, it’s just a regular bar. It’s fairly new and foreign-owned, I was told. Going back to the house, I got lost. I had to go around the place a couple more times to familiarize myself, otherwise I’d get lost every night. Interesting observation for that day: it was as if I had a beacon surgically attached to my back, coz when suon bebot’s family looked for me, the locals at the marketplace and at the bar alley were able to pinpoint my location at a precise time. They looked for an ilonggo in a red shirt and boom, precise coordinates and time were given by the locals. :)
Sunday, April 23, 2006
Bantayan Island, Holy Week, 11-16 April 2006
Day 1 (11 April ’06)
Hello! My name is Jake Hofileña. My brother, Stanley Hofileña, and I went to Bantayan together with suon bebot and suon aj for this year’s Easter Holiday. Bus departure from Bacolod was around 5am, 11 April ‘06, had to brace ourselves for 2 hours of travel to the port city of Cadiz. The bus was small but pretty quick, and it was pretty cheap, bus fare was only 35 pesos. Arrival in Cadiz: 7am. We took a tricycle to their port. And then we saw the boat we were gonna take.. it looked like it came from the junkyard. Boat fare: 202 pesos. And then more bad news, the boat doesn’t leave until 9am, 2 hours of waiting. The boat finally left at exactly 9am. More waiting during the boat trip, we were told it was going to be 3 hours but it was actually 4 hours. Good thing my brother and I each had mp3 players to keep ourselves amused, that is if you can’t stomach the crap they are showing on the boat video entertainment. I found it impossible to relax on the boat, the seats are hard and rusty, and it’s pretty crowded. Don’t touch anything if you haven’t had your tetanus shots. In the meantime, I did some advanced sun-worshipping during the boat ride, put on some Nivea sunblock SPF 50, super strong for extra protection, went to the deck of the boat, and just enjoyed the sun and the wind on my face while listening to my own music. :)
Hello! My name is Jake Hofileña. My brother, Stanley Hofileña, and I went to Bantayan together with suon bebot and suon aj for this year’s Easter Holiday. Bus departure from Bacolod was around 5am, 11 April ‘06, had to brace ourselves for 2 hours of travel to the port city of Cadiz. The bus was small but pretty quick, and it was pretty cheap, bus fare was only 35 pesos. Arrival in Cadiz: 7am. We took a tricycle to their port. And then we saw the boat we were gonna take.. it looked like it came from the junkyard. Boat fare: 202 pesos. And then more bad news, the boat doesn’t leave until 9am, 2 hours of waiting. The boat finally left at exactly 9am. More waiting during the boat trip, we were told it was going to be 3 hours but it was actually 4 hours. Good thing my brother and I each had mp3 players to keep ourselves amused, that is if you can’t stomach the crap they are showing on the boat video entertainment. I found it impossible to relax on the boat, the seats are hard and rusty, and it’s pretty crowded. Don’t touch anything if you haven’t had your tetanus shots. In the meantime, I did some advanced sun-worshipping during the boat ride, put on some Nivea sunblock SPF 50, super strong for extra protection, went to the deck of the boat, and just enjoyed the sun and the wind on my face while listening to my own music. :)
Tuesday, April 04, 2006
Boredom
I had nothing to do today. So, out of boredom, i stiched my sandals with Panacryl absorbable sutures.
I also removed some ticks from the labradors and fed them so some large red ants... making my own national geographic episode.
I also removed some ticks from the labradors and fed them so some large red ants... making my own national geographic episode.
Sunday, April 02, 2006
Unfortunate
a boy in his teens rang the doorbell today asking for food. normally, i'd ignore these kids without second thought, coz mostly they're the ones that ask for money that they'd spend on drugs. but this time, the boy was asking for food instead of money, so i really had to see for myself. i gave him a bag of banana chips, a can of vienna sausage, and noodles. on further investigation, the boy came from manapla (50 km from where i live), he was sent here to buy medicine for his mother who has lung cancer that has distant metastasis. he lost his wallet along the way, and is now unable to buy the medicine, let alone food for himself. it was really tragic. after i gave him the food, he left and i was left thinking how he'll even be able to get back to his mother.
Last Duty Syndrome
31 march 2006
it's my last 24hour duty in the department of obstetrics and gynecology. i've been benign for the entire 2-month rotation except for one occasion. but this day shaped into one toxic day. the patient we admitted was pregnant, but preterm (31 weeks by LMP), in preterm labor, and a gravidocardiac. patient was known to have Lutembacher Syndrome (Mitral Stenosis and Atrial Septal Defect), so we were quite careful. UTZ was done, results showed the fetus to be 34 weeks old. but then she begins to congest, starts to have difficulty breathing, and physical exam showed rales mid to lower lung fields. hmm, patient continues to go into labor and we weren't able to control the contractions. so a decision was made to deliver the baby, but we had to monitor the patient's CVP to ascertain how much fluids is allowed to be given. during the CVP line creation, there were lots of difficulty. it was awful seeing the patient in pain, and crying. i thought i'm already cold and unemotional but this time i really felt bad for the patient. she never complained, she just asked 'what are you doing to me?' after it was taking quite a while to create the line, and she was already crying. it was awful. but finally the line was created. after a while, she delivered her baby. it was 35 weeks by ballards score. patient was then placed in the icu, but it was a good thing that there were no complications afterwards. i slept at 6 a.m. that day, and woke up 7:30 a.m. -- Last Duty Syndrome! my groupmate told me that i had to save the best for last. the following day, the baby was already able to feed. very good news indeed.
it's my last 24hour duty in the department of obstetrics and gynecology. i've been benign for the entire 2-month rotation except for one occasion. but this day shaped into one toxic day. the patient we admitted was pregnant, but preterm (31 weeks by LMP), in preterm labor, and a gravidocardiac. patient was known to have Lutembacher Syndrome (Mitral Stenosis and Atrial Septal Defect), so we were quite careful. UTZ was done, results showed the fetus to be 34 weeks old. but then she begins to congest, starts to have difficulty breathing, and physical exam showed rales mid to lower lung fields. hmm, patient continues to go into labor and we weren't able to control the contractions. so a decision was made to deliver the baby, but we had to monitor the patient's CVP to ascertain how much fluids is allowed to be given. during the CVP line creation, there were lots of difficulty. it was awful seeing the patient in pain, and crying. i thought i'm already cold and unemotional but this time i really felt bad for the patient. she never complained, she just asked 'what are you doing to me?' after it was taking quite a while to create the line, and she was already crying. it was awful. but finally the line was created. after a while, she delivered her baby. it was 35 weeks by ballards score. patient was then placed in the icu, but it was a good thing that there were no complications afterwards. i slept at 6 a.m. that day, and woke up 7:30 a.m. -- Last Duty Syndrome! my groupmate told me that i had to save the best for last. the following day, the baby was already able to feed. very good news indeed.
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