Sunday, March 23, 2008

Bohol-Cebu Adventure

I completely forgot about writing an entry on our adventure in Bohol-Cebu last March 1-3, 2008. It was really fun but very tiring! I didn't realize that the itinerary I created for our group was very "loaded", and I have neglected the fact that most of my companions are "senior citizens" (not all but almost, hehehe..). Anyhow, I still enjoyed this much awaited vacation! :) Upon arrival at the airport on March 1 (7:00 am aboard Cebu Pacific) we went first to Bohol Tropics Resort to have breakfast with Tita Choy (the mom of my brother's girlfriend). Ganda ng resort! Sarap din food.. after that hearty breakfast, we proceeded with our Bohol Countryside Tour. Our driver was Kuya Noli and his boss is Kuya Rod Balaba. Super bait at napaka-accommodating! Here's our itinerary:

1. Blood Compact Site
2. Baclayon Church
3. Prony-Biggest Python in Captivity
4. Loay Backyard Industry
5. Clarin Ancestral House
6. Tarsier Sanctuary
7. Loboc River Cruise (with buffet lunch)
8. Loboc Church
9. Bilar Man-Made Forest
10. Chocolate Hills
11. Hanging Bridge
12. Dauis Church
13. Hinagdanan Cave
14. Bohol Bee Farm (dinner)--one of the best i've tried! organic salad was good and tasted healthy, hehe.. loved the camote bread with the honey spread, pesto spread and mango spread. yum! :)

On our first night, we stayed at Dumaluan Beach Resort 2 in Panglao Island to prepare for our dolphin watching adventure the next day. Grabe, ang daming reklamo ng nanay ko sa resort! hmm.. the place was ok for me, though. basta may matutulugan lang, ayos na ako ro'n. Papa and I also had a dip in the pool, kasama rin sina Jolo and Ella. Late na rin kami nakatulog..

On March 2, we woke up early for our dolphin watching escapade. Late na nga kami kasi dapat 5:30 am umaalis na kami sa island, but we had breakfast at 6am then 6:30am na kami nakaalis. I was really worried because the boatmen told us that most of the dolphins only appear before the sun rises. The trip took some minutes before we reached the area where most of the watchers are. Ang daming dolphins!!! ang saya talaga! I've seen dolphins during shows but never in their natural habitat (open sea). I've seen those in Ocean Adventure in Subic but they're still "technically" in captivity. After that dolphin watching treat, we went to Balicasag Island to buy souvenirs (from our boatman's own family store, hehe..) and to snorkel. Ganda ng fish sanctuary! daming fish! Limited lang time namin coz we had to go back to the resort by lunchtime to prepare for my brother's departure. He and his girlfriend have to go back to Manila coz they still have class the next day. They're flight is at 2pm, Cebu Pacific and we arrived at the airport at 1pm. Photo-finish na nga kasi sila na last na nag-check in, harr!!

We ate lunch at Jollibee at Island City Mall. Yung iba sa Chowking. Then we proceeded first to Villa del Sol to check-in then to Bohol Bee Farm to buy some spread and honey puree. Nag-tour din kami sa farm. They grow their own veggies and herbs, galing! organic talaga sila. After that, we dropped the "oldies" at Dauis Church because they want to hear mass while papa and I went to Aproniana Souvenir Shop to buy some souvenirs (peanut kisses, kalamay sa bao, magnets, shirts) then to Mag-Aso Falls. grabe, malayo pala yung falls! We arrived there medyo padilim na. It was so scary kasi rumaragasa yung tubig. Sabi ni Kuya Noli, umulan daw siguro kaya medyo mataas ang tubig. It may be really majestic kung calm lang yung waters. Pero grabe yung kaba ko! we had to go down some 100+ steps to reach the area of the falls. Nung pag-akyat nga, hindi na ako humihinga. hehehe.. On our way back to Tagbilaran City, we requested Kuya Noli to drop us at St. Joseph's Cathedral to hear mass. He just fetched the "oldies" in Dauis Church. Lucky for us we chanced upon the English mass (6:30pm). Then we had dinner at Villa del Sol: inihaw na isda at liempo, adobong pusit, chinese soup, ginataang gulay. ang sarap! milagrosa kasi yung rice at fresh talaga ang mga pagkain.. busog! We slept late din. papa helped me in computing the expenses (I was the designated treasurer kasi). Nagising pa kami nung madaling-araw kasi ang daming ipis! nag-spray ata sa house.. harrrr!

On March 3, we left early for Cebu via Weesam Express FastCraft, 7am trip. As usual, muntik na naman kaming ma-late, hehehe.. Pinagbaon na nga lang kami ni Tita Sol, sarap!--tortang talong, tapa at longganisa. Kaso late na rin umalis yung ferry because of a school field trip. We left Tagbilaran City at 7:30am. Pero mabilis yung ferry, we arrived Cebu at 9am. Sir Lorenzo Javier of TransCo Engineering-Central Visayas Projects fetched us. Ang bait-bait! He toured us around the city-- Fort San Pedro, Magellan's Cross, Sto. NiƱo Basilica, La Fortuna Bakery, Taoist Temple, SM City Cebu (where we had lunch at Goldilocks), Magic Melt Goodies, TransCo Banilad Office and Engineering Office, Shamrock, R&M Goodies, and Tabo-an Market (danggit and daing na pusit). Ang babaho namin after the Tabo-an escapade! hahaha! We went straight to the airport na kasi mahuhuli na naman kami. Our flight to Manila via PAL is at 8pm, we arrived at the airport at 630pm. Thank God! We just ate dinner at one of the stalls, La Paz Batchoy kinain namin. Ang sarap! yum talaga! Pagod kami lahat but we were happy.

It was really one great adventure! Sana makarating pa ako sa ibang mga tourist spots sa Pinas. :p Thank you, Lord, for this opportunity! :)

Friday, March 21, 2008

engagement

papa and i got engaged on february 1, 2008.. he proposed at bubba gump shrimp resto in trinoma. nakipagkuntsaba sa staff ng bubba gump.. the ring was placed on top of the vanilla ice cream of the chocolate chip a la mode dessert. cute kasi yung ring, di ko ka'gad napansin. haha! papa kept on asking kung masarap ba yung dessert, sagot naman ako ng oo, masarap. i even noticed that the lights were dimming kasi kami na lang naiwan na customers.. kala ko nga pinapaalis na kami. yun pala it was part of the plan. the staff were all looking at me, and the whole time i was thinking that they want us to go home already. yun pala, hindi ko kasi nakikita yung singsing kaya inaabangan nila ang reaction ko. hehehehe... it was a memorable experience. medyo malaki pa nga yung size nung tiffany ring, pina-resize pa namin. liit kasi ng daliri ko, size 4 ako eh size 5 ang smallest na readily available sa market. hehe.. :)

this is the start of something new.. (chareng!)