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As an archipelago, Philippines stores a lot of surprises to all of us. With its crystal clear beaches, untouched forest, unrecognized historical sites, preserved reef wildlife and more. One of these is Negros Occidental.

If there is one word I can describe our Negros trip, it was whopping! I’ll start first on our day one. It was raining in the afternoon and my workmate kept on saying that our trip might be delayed or cancelled. And yes, it was delayed for an hour but thanks to Cebu Pacific that they gave us snacks (pangtawid gutom for dinner lol). But thanks God, we arrived safely at Bacolod–Silay International Airport. In our way to Bacolod City, you could notice that they have wide lots to be developed yet. You couldn’t feel unsafe because the driver is friendly.

Since we arrived 8 in the evening at the city proper, we have decided to eat at Orange Karenderia at 22nd St, Bacolod City. I have tried already in Cebu City so I recommend it to my colleagues since it’s also cheaper.

Transportation at night is quite difficult because there are only few taxi in the city so you have to familiarize the jeepney routes before your travel. It’s a good thing we google map. It’s easy to locate our destinations. The time we have arrived at the pension house, I won’t name it for privacy, but it wasn’t what we’ve expected. My friend and I booked it in Agoda but we didn’t read the comments of the other travelers who have stayed their. I swear, it’s a creepy building and you can smell it once you’re already inside. Reminder: Do not rely on the pictures posted at the booking site. The hallway is creepy too. When we get inside the room, we saw cockroaches on our beds. We couldn’t find any cheaper at that time so asked the attendant to transfer us to a new cleaned room.

Outside the pension house

Less vehicles at the downtown area in the morning

The next morning, we went to The Ruins in Talisay City. It is just 30 minutes away from Bacolod City. From city proper, ride a Bata or Libertad Route then tell the driver to drop you at Pepsi Bottle. It is just a walking distance from the drop off to the tricycle terminal going to The Ruins. But in our case, the driver of the jeepney offered to take us from there directly but we have to double pay him. It’s less hassle. You will be amazed on the green fields, mountain view and spacious of the area. You can play around with your friends.

The Mansion

Little bridge at the small pond

Inside the mansion

We spent one hour inside, savoring our time in appreciating its beauty. Entrance fee is Php 100 each. You don’t have to worry for the transportation going back to Bacolod City because there are tricycles outside the gate. We asked the driver to drop us at the jeepney terminal and we rode again Libertad or Bata jeepney route going to downtown to get our things.

After our lunch, we’re not really sure of what jeepney to ride going to Burgos Market. We took our meal at Mang Inasal because it was just at the next corner of the pension house. I asked the manager, and she’s very helpful in telling me the direction. We rode a jeepney going to Homesite and dropped us at the Burgos Jeepney Terminal. Our next destination is Campuestuhan Highland Resort. We haven’t expected that the fare is quite expensive. It costs Php 100 each one way only. We have second thoughts but since we were already there, so push!  I was really amazed with the locals for being so friendly, helpful and they smiled at you even you just looked at them. They would even suggested what to do so you can pay less.

Once you reached Brgy Alangilan, you’ll notice hectares of manokan farm.

The passengers 

Group hug pose as we imitated the photgrapher’s choreo

Playing around of our poses

Wave pool for the first time

A pool with bubbles

                              The pool wave was not operational the time we arrived but we heard a loud sound like a warning in movies when there is war to come. We just found out after that it was the that they will turn on the wave.

Carried our bags to Calea

Bacolod escapade wouldn’t be completed if you can’t try the mouthwatering ice cream cake in Calea. We didn’t care if we were carrying our bags and pasulobong in at the area. Although it was already hurting on my shoulders but I don’t have a choice. Some of my colleagues want to rest for awhile and looked for a hotel or inn that has an hourly rate but there was none. We tried to check the new place called Trap door just at the back of Orange Karenderia but we were shocked because it occupied small space and it was full already so we headed straight to South Bus Terminal to catch the early trip going to Sipalay City – the so called little Palawan.

We took the 2:00 AM bus and arrived at Sipalay City by 6:45 AM. The conductor asked me if we have contacts for our transportation going to the resort. Luckily, he has a contact. Just a reminder, fare from Poblacion to Tinagong dagat is only Php 25 only. In our case, the driver asked us Php 60 each but one of my colleagues asked him for a lower price so he gave us Php 50 but still not the minium fare.

View from our room

Just accross is the drop off going to Sugar Beach

After we had our lunch at the resort, we went to Sugar Beach which was a 30 minutes ride from the resort. From the drop off, we rode a small banka that only costs Php 5 per head – it is just very near. We swam for about 30 minutes only because our next destination was The Perth which was near in Tinago.

  It was quite disappointing because I never thought the pool is so small like around 15 sq m. It was a good thing that there were only few people at the Perth and the view was so amazing so never mind the pool. You could relax there for a long time. The islets were incredibly placed accordingly and the sunset was amazing as well!

          The trip was really tiring because we took the Sipalay City to Cebu City route via Dumaguete. We travelled 13 hours but thinking of the places and the locals I’ve encountered, it was all worth it!

Lagaw sa Negros As an archipelago, Philippines stores a lot of surprises to all of us. With its crystal clear beaches, untouched forest, unrecognized historical sites, preserved reef wildlife and more.

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Win the battle to save elephants

It saddens me every time I heard or read news about endangered species. One of my favorite animals that is in the list are the elephants; even though I haven’t seen them yet but they are close to my heart. People must know that their situation now is dire. Poachers are slaughtering them to get their tusk and ivory at a very alarming rates. This action entails to poachers as merciless. Perhaps, the only thing they’re after for is money. This is the only factor that can be seen on why they are doing such illegal actions. On the other hand, there is a new technology to help in finding the origin of the tusk by building a robust elephant DNA database according to National Geographic. With this, law enforcers and the government can identify the smuggling networks and poaching hot spots. Thus, the slaughtering of elephants stops and the poachers and smugglers are prosecuted. 

With the information mentioned above, let us help to save the elephants from being wiped out forever. Just let the law enforcers know who the smugglers are then where the poaching hot spots are. In doing this hand in hand, together we change their future.

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Why do we make mistakes? Blame your brain, the original autocorrecter Yuka Igarashi, theguardian.com

Does Siri make us lazy? Does Facebook make us lonely? Does Twitter make us stupid? Will Google Glass make twitching, distracted Glassholes of us all? If you've read a magazine, listened to a radio show, browsed (or clicked on) the non-fiction sect…

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The problem is not the problem; the problem is your attitude about the problem.

Captain Jack Sparrow

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One of my dreams is to travel different distinct places and to discover different cultures and people. These photos taken by Jim Richardson inspires me to pursue my dream someday. One day soon!

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I was starstruck when I saw the trailer of this telenovela (Rooftop Prince) on TV. I said immediately after the trailer that I would surely like and love this Korean telenovela. Indeed, the means justify its end. The photo above is the scene where I cried. It's so painful seeing someone you've loved so much disappearing in front of you. The worst thing is, you don't have any idea on how to see him; it was an impossible step because he was living in the past. 

photo from: google images

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Kudos to the song writer of this song. It inspires the whole world. And to One Direction for singing it by heart.

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Those fierce and hot looks of the Victoria Secret angels. I wish I could also have those sexy bodies and height to be a model. But those are just dreams of mine. :) They are really stunning!

photos from: Backseat Stylers

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He's just another man I'm crazy in love with. :D

Photo from: Sam Emerson

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Misinterpretation

Yesterday, my high school friends and I had a get-together because we never hanged out since the school year begun. We ate at McDonalds and it was a treat from N.J. The bonding was in bad timing because it rained. The rain poured hardly and I am the only one who brought umbrella. Luckily, there were kids outside who offered umbrella and just paid them at any amount. They let me rode on jeepney first before they went home because I was the only girl present. I really appreciated that. 

I was on the jeepney then and I lend my fare to the driver. I payed P6.00 as what the usual fare I payed every time I went to/from LKK Center from/to Cogon. He was complaining because it was holiday and students were not in school. He said "Dili man ting skwela karon para magbayad kang six pesos." I didn't say anything. I just lend to him one peso so that he would shut his mouth. That was his concern all the time while we were waiting for the passengers to occupy the vacant seats.

The jeepney was about to go. There was this woman at the age of 50 perhaps, who payed 50 pesos and she said one SP and one regular. The driver again complained because there's no school since it's holiday. The woman argued with the driver. "Gikan maning mga bata sa atrium kay naa ilang contest. Unsaon nimo pagkabalo nga nag drive ka ra man. Didto man jud mi gikan og wala man sad mi nanglimbong." Some of the passengers chuckled when the driver said "Naa ba diay activity sa mga bata ron nga holiday man." It seems like the driver didn't know about these things and the woman didn't raise any arguments anymore. However, the driver didn't stop from talking. He said "Maski man gani ng mga nangskwela pa SP gyapon pero wala diay gud to tuod nisulod sa skwelahan." His idea about availing SP is that one should need to go to school so that you could pay the SP fare. What the heck? How could you tell that? I guess, there must be a seminar again to all jeepney and motorela drivers about this so that there will be no misinterpretations. The information they got was wrong. That was ridiculous.

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Reminiscing

Looking back to my memories in Cebu, I met a guy in a social app called "skout" wherein you could meet guys all around the world. I downloaded it and try to use it. As I scrolled down the pictures of different male's faces, I was stuck with this one guy. Although the picture didn’t expressed that he had a good looking but I could sense the opposite side of my thought. I went to his profile pictures and yes, he was more than what I've expected. 

On that day, I was out of battery so I charged my phone. The house was so serene that I haven't heard a noise from the living room and upstairs except the cars passing by the street. I decided to turn on the wifi which was situated upstairs since my cousin and uncle were out. I sat beside the electric fan near the window so that I can still continue what I’m doing on my phone. I chatted the guy I was telling about. I said "Hi!" Few minutes later, he replied "hello!" My heart was pounding fast as if I was chased by a dog drooling to eat me. Then, we were telling stories about ourselves. It was nearly lunch time and he had to go. I was captured with his message. He said that our chat might be in a bad timing. He wanted to chat me again tonight. I told him that maybe I couldn't make it. He felt bad about it.

After we took our lunch, I chatted him since he was still online. My cousin hadn't yet arrived so I extended my time chatting with him. The revelation came to the picture when he mentioned that he was working at his wife's company. He's married! (I shouted in my mind) I calmed but my heart seemed like out of oxygen. I told him that I am brokenhearted because he was already married. He just laughed at me. I could sense that he was really in love. He had an arranged marriage but they're just lucky because they both liked and love each other. They both had a crush to each other since high school.  I told him that I have to go since my cousin will arrive soon. He was hoping that we could chat later at night. I just didn't made any promises. I asked for his facebook account so that when I'll be home, I could still reach him.

That was our last chat and I uninstalled the app since I could rarely connect to the internet using my phone. And I might not catch him online when I get online too. When I got back in CdeO, I went to his fb account. I congratulated him since he was promoted to a higher position. He replied to my comment and he said thank you. That was the last word I heard from him. But he kept on posting on fb, the truth was that he just  he ignored me and that really hurts. I'm not after his feelings anymore because he's already married, I just wanted to be his friend, that's all. He didn't even reply to my messages but that was just okay with me since we didn't meet in person.

Until such this day had arrived. I saw his profile picture on the chat box of facebook. It was saying that R.I.P. Enzo Onghua. At first, I really didn’t believe it because I used to his words. He loved teasing and fooling around. I went to his account and I was shocked. It was true! Enzo is gone. My dream boy died! I couldn't really believe it because his last posts were full of energy. It was a sudden death of him. He died due to ruptured cerebral aneurysm. He's still young and his dream to study medicine in Ethon College was now just a dream to all. I won't forget him for the rest of my life. 

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A little house situated in the middle of Drina River near Serbia. 

Photo from National Geographic

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Survival of the Fittest

This photo was taken at the Puncak Alam UiTM Campus. This tree was the only one soaring above others in the fight for sunlight. During this sunrise scenery photo outing, I was compelled to take this photo when I saw that tree. 

This scenery picture I've waited to see in my life. 

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London 2012 Opening Ceremony

The #OpeningCeremony of the London 2012 Olympic Games (@Olympics) is officially underway! Instagrammers are there capturing the experience. See some of their photos above and view more photos taken at the Olympic Stadium here.

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This is amazing!

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The Monster

Weather forecast yesterday stated that there was two low-pressure area near Luzon and Eastern Mindanao. It would probably turned out as typhoon by today- and it really was.

The weather yesterday here in Cagayan de Oro City was gloomy. My mom called my brother to check how was the weather in our place- Camiguin Island. He told her that the heavy rain pours. Upon hearing that, we were monitoring about their situation. It was already 7:30 in the evening. The water level rises and we were not there to help them. I was about to cry since it will be the first time that our place will be flooded. I could also sense that my mom was really worried. I called my nieces and their voices were shaking and full of fear. I could also hear the rain pours heavily. Some roads were closed. Text messages were sent to my friends, trying to check their situation.

It was 10:25. We can't sleep. We received text messages from our family friend that the dike and bridge were destroyed. Some houses were washed away. This is a tragic for my fellow "kababayan". It was just a luck for them because the water level arose early in the evening. They got a chance to evacuate to higher places. Thank God, no one was hurt but the damage was big.

This morning, the flood was already gone but the rain didn't stop yet. We are hardly to communicate with them because there was no signal due to blackout. All we can do is to pray for their safety.

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Two, three triangles.